text:
Investing Specialists
Ultimate Stock-Pickers' Top 10 Buys and Sells
What top managers were doing in the months leading up to the global equity market downturn.
The Morningstar Ultimate Stock-Pickers Team
By Greggory Warren, CFA | Senior Stock Analyst
Had we known that talking about a correction would bring one about almost immediately, we would have adjusted our portfolios before publishing our last article. As you may recall, we noted that it had been more than three years since we had a genuine price correction of at least 10% in the U.S. markets (as represented by the S&P 500 Index), and while we didn't see a near-term catalyst for a meaningful correction in the markets we were not alone in believing that we were due for one. We went on to highlight that there have been a few periods when the markets have charged higher for a number of years without too many pullbacks in excess of 10%, generally during periods of much stronger economic expansion than we are seeing today. However, we noted that corrections are generally unpredictable, with the past two weeks being a prime example.
The last genuine correction we had before this one (in which the S&P 500 dropped from 2,102 on Aug. 18 to 1,868 on Aug. 25) was during April-June 2012, when the markets pulled back 10% in response to concerns about corporate earnings, the Federal Reserve's removal of its quantitative easing program, and an expanding European debt crisis. While neither correction has yet been as dire as the May-August 2011 market adjustment (when the markets dropped close to 20%) or the one in April-June 2010 (when the markets fell more than 15%), it was a reminder that the markets can go down for a short period and still continue to march upward. In fact, with the S&P 500 bouncing back more than 6% in the last three trading days of last week, the index has risen more than 190% since the markets bottomed in early March 2009, with just four corrections along the way.
The root causes of the most recent downturn are numerous, but at the end of the day we feel that investors have been looking for a reason to sell for quite some time, despite shrugging off the Greek debt crisis and concerns about a China slowdown for much of the last year (evident in the declining prices of commodities essential to fueling its boom). What it finally took, though, was a dramatic decline in the Chinese stock markets, and a devaluation of the yuan, to start a cascade in U.S. stocks. This created a decent buying opportunity for some investors, with wide-moat-rated Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) /(BRK.B), which is one of the insurance companies represented on our Ultimate Stock-Pickers investment manager roster, being the first to hit the wires. In a late filing on Friday, Berkshire disclosed that Warren Buffett and his two lieutenants—Todd Combs and Ted Weschler—had added 3.2 million shares last week to the insurer's stake in Phillips 66 (PSX), bringing its total holdings in the company to 58.0 million shares (or more than 10% of the refiner's common stock outstanding). The disclosure also revealed that Buffett, who has received permission from the SEC to keep a holding secret while Berkshire builds up a larger stake, had given us all a bit of a head fake when his firm disclosed that it had no holdings of Phillips 66 at the end of June, when it was actually quietly adding to its end-of-March stake of 7.5 million shares.
What Berkshire has that many of our other managers wish they had is a ton of capital to work with that does not run the risk of being redeemed away when the market takes a turn downward. As you may recall, when we relaunched the Ultimate Stock-Pickers concept in April 2009 we made a point of including a handful of insurance companies—Alleghany, Berkshire Hathaway, Fairfax Financial Holdings, and Markel—on our list of top managers because, unlike their peers in the mutual fund business, the portfolio managers at insurance companies are not affected by investor redemptions during poor market environments. With constant redemptions a reality for our top managers, the downturn in the global equity markets the last couple of weeks likely only exacerbated the problem.
As we noted last time, cash balances for our top managers crept lower during the second quarter, with the 22 fund managers we follow holding an average cash balance of 5% of their total assets (and a median cash balance of 4%) at the end of June compared with 6% (5%) at the end of the first quarter of 2015. Those whose cash balances are less constrained had an average balance of 8% (and a median cash balance of 7%), which is down from 9% (8%) at the end of the March quarter. While we do have a handful of managers who report their holdings monthly (providing us with a more or less real-time look at their trading activity), we're unlikely to get a full picture of the buying and selling of our top managers during the downturn until sometime in late October. What we have in the meantime is all of the holdings data for our Ultimate Stock-Pickers through the end of the second quarter (and end of July for those who report monthly), which highlights the buying and selling before the current period.
From the discussion we've already had on the high-conviction and new-money purchases that made up the bulk of our last article, our top managers were able to put some money to work during the second quarter despite the market trading at close to all-time highs for much of the period. That said, the conviction buying that did take place was focused on high-quality names with defendable economic moats—exemplified by a greater number of wide- and narrow-moat names in our list of top 10 high-conviction purchases last time around. Not surprisingly, five of the high-conviction purchases we highlighted in that article—wide-moat CVS Health (CVS), Walt Disney (DIS), and Google (GOOG)/(GOOGL), narrow-moat Danaher (DHR), and no-moat Dollar General (DG) —also made the list of top 10 stock purchases this time. The big difference between the two lists is that we roll up all of the buying activity of our top managers in this article as opposed to looking solely at their individual high-conviction and new-money purchases.
As for the top 10 stock sales this time, there continued to be a fair amount of outright selling, although most of it (along with the trimming of positions that took place during the period) seemed focused on positions that have reached a fair value benchmark for our Ultimate Stock-Pickers or were acquisition targets. Even with all of this buying and selling, as well as changes to the Investment Manager Roster during the first quarter of 2015, our top managers remained underweight in energy, utilities, communication services, and real estate relative to the weightings of those sectors in the S&P 500 at the end of June. They also continued to hold an overweight position in financial services and basic materials, having previously pulled back on their consumer defensive exposure, which remains modestly overweight relative to the market (much like their exposure to consumer cyclical, industrials, health-care and technology stocks).
Our Ultimate Stock-Pickers' buying and selling activity during the most recent period also affected the list of top 10 holdings of our top managers, with wide-moat Procter & Gamble (PG), PepsiCo (PEP), and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) falling off the list in favor of wide-moat CVS Health and United Parcel Service (UPS), and no-moat American International Group (AIG). In P&G's case, the shares actually made our list of top 10 stock sales this time, with three of the 12 Ultimate Stock-Pickers that held the stock at the beginning of the first quarter selling it before the end of the June—with two of those sales being eliminations from these managers' portfolios. Of his sale of what had been a 2% holding in P&G in his fund at the end of the first quarter, Ronald Canakaris at Aston/Montag & Caldwell Growth (MCGIX), noted the following:
We initially trimmed the Fund's position in Procter & Gamble after the company reported fiscal third quarter results that exhibited lackluster organic revenue growth. Although the company benefitted from ongoing productivity initiatives, currency headwinds have masked the benefits to earnings. We subsequently eliminated the position given the limited prospects for a pickup in earnings momentum.
Canakaris also eliminated stakes in wide-moat Monsanto , Schlumberger (SLB), American Express (AXP), and State Street (STT) during the most recent period. He also made meaningful trims to positions in a handful of other wide-moat firms— Allergan , Gilead Sciences (GILD), Amgen (AMGN), AmerisourceBergen (ABC), Colgate-Palmolive (CL), and Wells Fargo (WFC)—contributing to the overall selling activity in these names and lifting them up onto our list of top 10 stock sales this time around. Canakaris had the following to say about some of this trading during the period:
[W]e sold the portfolio's positions in American Express and Schlumberger. We removed the small remaining position in Amex as earnings growth is likely to be subdued in 2015 while the company spends to retain cardholders due to the loss of its Costco partnership. We took advantage of a rebound in the Energy sector to exit Schlumberger, as the collapse in energy prices over the last nine months will likely lead to down earnings in 2015.We [also] reduced the size of positions in AmerisourceBergen and Monsanto following a rough quarter for each.
AmerisourceBergen was trading above our estimate of present value. The stock traded lower and detracted from results as investors focused on more difficult comparisons ahead and dilution from a warrant issuance related to its partnership with Walgreens Boots Alliance. We trimmed Monsanto, the Fund's only holding in the Materials sector, ahead of the company's earnings report given soft underlying industry fundamentals and confusion about the merit of its Syngenta acquisition. The crop chemicals/protection business is typically viewed as lower growth and with a lower multiple than that of the seed and biotech trait business. We further reduced the position following the earnings report, which confirmed the weak trends.
As for PepsiCo and J&J, which also made it onto our list of top 10 holdings this time, the former was also trimmed by Canakaris, which absent any meaningful additions by the nine other managers holding it at the start of the second quarter was enough to push it off of the list. With J&J, meaningful reductions by Nicholas Kaiser in both Amana Growth Investor (AMAGX) and Amana Income Investor (AMANX), as well as an outright sale by Weston Hicks and the equity portfolio managers at Alleghany , proved to be just enough to knock the health-care firm off of the list.
As we noted above, five of the top 10 stock purchases we're highlighting here—CVS Health, Walt Disney, Google, Dollar General, and Danaher—were represented on our list of top 10 high-conviction purchases in our last article, where we had highlighted stock purchases above a certain threshold based on early data we were receiving for our Ultimate Stock-Pickers. Four of the top 10 stock purchases this time around—CVS Health, Dollar General, General Electric (GE), and Danaher—were also new-money purchases for our top managers. For those who may not recall, we think of high-conviction purchases as instances where managers have made meaningful additions to their existing holdings (or have made significant new-money purchases) that have an impact on the compositions of their overall portfolios.
It was no surprise to see wide-moat CVS Health top the list this time, as meaningful new-money purchases by Alleghany and Aston/Montag & Caldwell Growth, as well as additions by Columbia Dividend Income (LBSAX), Markel (MKL), and Vanguard Primecap (VPMCX), made it the highest-conviction purchase during the period. Of his new-money purchase in the name, Canakaris, of Aston/Montag & Caldwell Growth, noted the following:
The merger of CVS and Caremark into CVS Health added meaningful purchasing scale and allowed for the development of a suite of innovative products for the combined business. The firm stands to benefit from an aging population, the remaining wave of generic drugs, and a dramatically increasing skew toward specialty drugs in the pharmaceutical pipeline.
Despite being best known as a retail drugstore, CVS Health is well-positioned, with substantial market share in both the retail pharmacy and pharmacy benefit manager spaces, Morningstar analyst Vishnu Lekraj believes. He notes that the firm has been actively deemphasizing its retail sales operation in favor of its PBM segment. CVS Health has faced significant prescription reimbursement pressure, as well as heightened competition, in its retail segment. Lekraj believes that all retail pharmacy players will have to contend with tough long-term headwinds as payers are layering on material reimbursement pressure, and sees the expansion of pharmacy operations by many mass and regional retailer/grocer establishments as a meaningful competitive threat to stand-alone retail pharmacies. Lekraj believes that the ongoing mix shift toward specialty prescription claims eventually will lead to higher gross profits in the PBM segment, which will drive higher returns on invested capital than the firm is currently producing. Despite being well-positioned for growth, with pharmaceutical spending expected to grow robustly over the next several years, CVS Health is currently trading on par with Lekraj's $104 per share fair value estimate. He would like to see a decent margin of safety for investors before he would consider recommending the name.
Looking beyond health care, the industrials sector received the most attention during the period, with UPS, GE, and Danaher all being bought with conviction. Of their new-money purchase of UPS, Chuck Bath from Diamond Hill Large Cap (DHLAX) noted the following:
We initiated a position in airfreight and logistics company United Parcel Service, Inc. We believe UPS is well positioned to grow earnings over the next five years through the combination of top-line growth, margin improvement, and share repurchases. The stock price has declined 11% year-to-date, largely due to margin pressures that we view as transitory. This weakness in share price provided the opportunity to buy a high-quality franchise, which enjoys high returns on capital and generates substantial free cash flow at a reasonable valuation.
This echoes some of the thinking of Morningstar analyst Keith Schoonmaker, who notes that UPS is the giant among the global parcel shipment companies and considers its economic moat to be the widest among all of the freight transportation firms. He highlights the fact that UPS produces returns on invested capital about double its cost of capital and margins well above its competitors, crediting its leading package density and outstanding operational efficiency, which is enhanced by extensive and ongoing technology investments, for the gap between UPS and its peers. Schoonmaker believes that efforts to grow in the health-care markets in developed economies, as well as in developing nations overall, should add to revenue growth longer term. He also thinks that the firm's existing operations have revenue expansion potential via pricing, as UPS operates in a somewhat rational oligopoly in its largest market—U.S. high-service parcel delivery. As for share repurchases, Schoonmaker notes that UPS has consistently generated strong cash from its operations, and after investments in technology and capital assets, dedicates much of the rest to dividends and share repurchases. Despite all of these positives, the company's stock continues to trade just under his $101 per share fair value estimate. Schoonmaker would prefer to see a more adequate margin of safety before recommending the name.
As for General Electric, the firm was a top 10 new-money and high-conviction purchase in both the fourth quarter of 2014 and the first quarter of 2015 and made both lists again in the second quarter. This time, following in the footsteps of Bill Nygren and Kevin Grant at the Oakmark fund, it was Clyde McGregor at Oakmark Equity and Income doing the buying. He had the following to say about his purchase during the June quarter:
General Electric is a company with businesses we have always admired, but we have questioned the stock's valuation and management's focus on returns when making capital allocation decisions. However, the appointment of a new CFO in mid-2013 ushered in significant changes. Since then, GE has, in our view, acquired assets cheaply (Alstom) and sold assets at good prices (Synchrony and its appliances division). GE is also significantly reducing its financial services business to focus on those lending activities that are core to its industrial products. The company has totally revamped its variable compensation plan for thousands of employees, emphasizing factors that drive return on invested capital, which should boost future results. Some investors may have a stale opinion of GE after the past 15 years of persistent underperformance, but we believe the remaining businesses will grow in excess of global GDP with high returns on capital. At less than 14x our estimate of normalized EPS and with over a 3% dividend yield, we believe the current valuation is attractive for this good collection of businesses.
Morningstar analyst Barbara Noverini remains positive about GE's outlook, particularly as the firm has accelerated its efforts to sell the majority of GE Capital, keeping only the specialty finance businesses that directly support its wide-moat industrial businesses. She notes that the company just disposed of another $8.5 billion in health-care sector lending to narrow-moat-rated Capital One Financial (COF), leaving it well on its way to creating a mix of products that is 75% GE Industrials and 25% GE Capital. Noverini thinks GE's core industrial segments still share the common theme of infrastructure development that served as the foundation for its business a century ago, but that powering the "industrial Internet" has come to symbolize the company's future growth platform. She goes on to note that GE's resilience in the face of uncertain global macroeconomic conditions supports her belief that, despite increased concentration on industrials, the portfolio's end markets and geographic exposure are well-diversified. Noverini expects persistent weakness in oil prices to continue to affect order growth and sales in the oil and gas segment, but remains optimistic that demand in power and water, aviation, transportation, and health care will continue to produce solid results in 2015. With the stock looking fairly attractive right now, trading at a 16% discount to our fair value estimate of $30 per share, Noverini thinks that GE remains well-positioned for long-term investors. At this point, only wide-moat Apple (AAPL), trading at 81% of our $140 per share value estimate, and wide-moat Exxon Mobil (XOM), trading at 77% of our $98 per share value estimate, are more reasonably priced.
With regards to Danaher, the name was a meaningful new-money purchase for the managers of Parnassus Core Equity Investor (PRBLX), which had the following to say about its purchase:
We added… Danaher, a holding company with an eclectic mix of subsidiaries ranging from sophisticated medical devices to a label printing business, [during the quarter]. What links all of these holdings is an outstanding culture anchored by a formalized system of continuous improvement called Danaher Business System (DBS).
Just after we starting buying Danaher's shares, management announced its intention to split the corporation into two separate holding companies. This transaction should be completed by the end of 2016. We think this restructuring is a good idea, because the resulting companies will have more focused strategies to grow organically and through acquisitions.
With Danaher's shares currently trading at 121% of our $73 per share fair value estimate, even after the downturn in the global equity markets, it is difficult for us to see a valuation rationale for buying the stock. Noverini notes that the shares have risen above her fair value estimate since Danaher announced it would be buying narrow-moat Pall then split itself into two separate, publicly traded companies. While Noverini believes the price paid for Pall was not cheap, she notes that acquisitions are core to Danaher's growth strategy, which has a solid record of trimming expenses and improving margins after transactions are completed. That said, at current price levels, it looks like most of this has already been baked into the company's stock price, making it difficult for her to recommend purchasing the shares.
As for the top sales, as we noted above there continued to be a fair amount of outright selling, with most of this activity (along with the trimming of positions that took place during the period) focused on positions that have with reached a fair value benchmark for our Ultimate Stock-Pickers or were acquisition targets. The sales of narrow-moat Chubb would have fallen into the latter category, with Alleghany completely eliminating its stake, and both BBH Core Select and American Century Value (AVLIX) trimming their holdings, if it weren't for the fact that the acquisition of the firm was not announced until the beginning of July (with both Alleghany and American Century Value reporting data quarterly). That said, it does look like the managers at BBH Core Select took advantage of the spike in Chubb's stock price to take some money off the table, noting the following about their stake in the insurer in their monthly fund update for July:
Chubb shares rose following the company's announcement that it had agreed to be acquired by Ace Ltd., a large, globally diversified property and casualty insurer headquartered in Switzerland. The proposed stock and cash consideration was in line with our estimate of Chubb's intrinsic value. Since we initiated our position in 2007, Chubb's focused and long-term oriented management team has meaningfully grown shareholder value through strong operational execution and intelligent capital allocation. We believe that Chubb presented an attractive acquisition target given its strong market position, brand reputation, and well-capitalized balance sheet.
Most of the other sales looked to have been done because share prices had approached our top managers' estimates of their intrinsic value. We would also point to Canakaris' comments earlier in the article about the meaningful cut that he made to his fund's stake in AmerisourceBergen during the period, which along with sales of Allergan, Gilead Sciences, Amgen, Colgate-Palmolive, and Wells Fargo were enough to lift all of these names onto our list of top 10 stock sales this time.
If you're interested in receiving e-mail alerts about upcoming articles from The Ultimate Stock-Pickers Team, please sign up here.
Disclosure: Greggory Warren owns shares in the following securities mentioned above: Colgate-Palmolive and Synchrony Financial. It should also be noted that Morningstar's Institutional Equity Research Service offers research and analyst access to institutional asset managers. Through this service, Morningstar may have a business relationship with fund companies discussed in this report. Our business relationships in no way influence the funds or stocks discussed here.
The Morningstar Ultimate Stock-Pickers Team does not own (actual or beneficial) shares in any of the securities mentioned above. Find out about Morningstar's editorial policies.
Securities Mentioned
AMG Montrusco Bolton Large Cap Growth I MCGIX $10.03 +0.50%
Alphabet Inc Class A GOOGL $99.37 +1.90%
Alphabet Inc Class C GOOG $100.71 +1.56%
Amana Growth Investor AMAGX $60.10 −0.07%
Amana Income Investor AMANX $55.84 −0.43%
American Century Value I AVLIX $8.15 −0.24%
American Express Co AXP $172.31 +10.54%
American International Group Inc AIG $63.33 −1.02%
AmerisourceBergen Corp ABC $164.16 −0.45%
Amgen Inc AMGN $253.65 −0.48%
Apple Inc AAPL $145.93 +1.37%
Berkshire Hathaway Inc Class A BRK.A $470,000.00 +0.01%
Berkshire Hathaway Inc Class B BRK.B $309.17 −0.57%
CVS Health Corp CVS $87.78 +0.14%
Capital One Financial Corp COF $117.58 +1.30%
Colgate-Palmolive Co CL $71.59 −5.22%
Columbia Dividend Income A LBSAX $29.26 −0.61%
Danaher Corp DHR $265.98 +0.05%
Diamond Hill Large Cap Inv DHLAX $30.47 +0.40%
Dollar General Corp DG $236.11 −0.43%
Exxon Mobil Corp XOM $115.61 −1.83%
General Electric Co GE $83.23 +2.58%
Gilead Sciences Inc GILD $83.73 +0.13%
Johnson & Johnson JNJ $168.23 −0.39%
Markel Corp MKL $1,396.55 −0.63%
Parnassus Core Equity Investor PRBLX $49.28 −0.04%
PepsiCo Inc PEP $169.62 −0.35%
Phillips 66 PSX $108.73 −2.48%
Procter & Gamble Co PG $140.57 −0.41%
SLB SLB $56.97 −0.87%
State Street Corporation STT $90.73 +0.55%
The Walt Disney Co DIS $109.54 −0.15%
United Parcel Service Inc Class B UPS $182.09 +1.33%
Vanguard PRIMECAP Inv VPMCX $135.57 −0.25%
Wells Fargo & Co WFC $46.12 +0.68%


text:
← Do be careful
More Fraser →
by Marce | July 17, 2017 · 9:30 am
T-shirts and shallow water
Garry's anchorage is the most calm and peaceful place we've dropped the hook in a long time. It was so still that I woke up several times overnight thinking maybe we were aground.
We're at the southern end of Fraser Island, the largest all-sand island in the world, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This calls for some hiking of course, and we went ashore with Christian and Peter to explore.
It's a big island, and while the trails are nice and mostly level, the scenery didn't change much mile after mile and we spent a few hours mostly chattering away and solving the world's problems. There are a few destinations on this end of Fraser but much too far to walk. Christian has been here several times and he said most people explore on 4-wheel drive vehicles to see the lakes and beaches.
At one point we could see a lake in the distance but there was no way to get to it from where we were. So it was back to the anchorage to plan our trip up the Great Sandy Straits to the northern end of Fraser.
The next day dawned just as still and we poked our way through very shallow water for hours, slowing down through various pinch points, following marker after marker. The Straits are significant, my internet sources tell me, as critical breeding grounds for all kinds of wetlands species and there is a subtle beauty to the landscape but for boaters it's just a pain in the butt to navigate the distance, watching the markers, timing the tide and avoiding the ubiquitous local fishermen who know the shallow parts like the backs of their hands and zip around with impunity. For Christian, whose boat has a deep draft, it was a tense day. For us, a little less so because we are shallow, but still, it was a long, slow slog to our anchorage just south of a resort before Hervey Bay opens up.
It's another quiet anchorage, and no sooner did we get Escape Velocity settled in but our phone dinged. It was Christian on Blackwattle letting us know there's a dingo on the beach, heading our way.
At last we're seeing some of the famous Aussie wildlife right in front of us!
Christian suggested sundowners on the beach. It was the perfect end to the day, and we finally feel like we're back to the kind of cruising that made us choose this life five years ago.
We love to hear from you!	Cancel reply
More Fraser
None of us has the means or interest in hiring a 4WD vehicle for a more wide-ranging tour of huge…
Do be careful
The closer we came to Wide Bay Bar the more extreme were the reactions whenever we mentioned that we were…
Bigger, faster
One of the big events that makes Sydney a sailor's dream destination is the Sydney-Hobart yacht race that starts on…

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
The Gratitude Mile
Individual Fundraisers
Ricky Nuttall - LFB
Service attached to: London Fire Brigade
Region: London
Length of Service: 16 Years
What attracted you to your role in the Emergency Services?
I've always wanted to be a Firefighter. Ever since I was a kid. I found the idea of running into a burning building exciting and I wanted to help people. Little did I expect the heartbreak of sometimes failed rescue attempts, to have such a lasting traumatic effect on me.
I believe that any and every incident we attend has the potential to leave an imprint on you. To create a lasting trauma. Knowing there's access to professional help, can play an invaluable role in maintaining your mental well-being and be an immeasurable support.
Firefighters leave incidents, but the incidents don't leave us. Knowing there's support out there for when we need it; to support us back to our lives, back to our work doing what we love best, will be a phenomenal support to everyone working in the emergency services.
Firefighters leave incidents, but the incidents don't leave us, knowing there's support out there for when we need it; to support us back to our lives, back to our work doing what we love best will best will be a phenomenal support to everyone working in the emergency services.
How has a major incident affected your well-being/that of those around you?
I believe that any and every incident we attend has the potential to leave an imprint on you. To create a lasting trauma. You never know how an individual or specific incident will do that though. Sometimes it's a collection of small incidents in quick succession. Sometimes it's one tiny intricacy of an overall incident. Sometimes though, and as was the case for me, it was one huge incident that was full of heartbreak and failed rescue attempts. On 14th June 2017, I was one of the first appliances on scene at Grenfell tower. One of 200 firefighters to attend on the night and an incident that required over 350 Firefighters to attend in total across the entire duration of the fire.
After the tragedy, I began to show signs of PTSD, but having never experienced it before I continued in life without looking or asking for support. I got worse and it was alarmingly fast. It wasn't long before I spent my days crying and my nights drinking too much. I had begun using drugs to numb my feelings and I spiralled into an angry bitter depression. I had started counselling sessions but they weren't helping fast enough. My relationships with loved ones crumbled and my heart felt empty. I felt empty. I got so bad, that one day, I sat on my living room floor and cried for 4 hours straight. I then realised that I couldn't feel this sad for the rest of my life and didn't see anyway I could recover. That was the first time I wanted to kill myself and it scared me.
How have you noticed your job impacting other areas of your life?
I feel that all too often, Firefighters are seen as an entity, a simple extension of our role. We aren't seen as human beings with all the complexities, intricacies and emotional needs that naturally live in us all. I always say that "Firefighters leave incidents, but the incidents don't leave us." This means that traumas are carried with me, to the pub, to a family wedding, to a family funeral, or to the birthday celebrations of my young son. Not much will hurt like seeing your joyless face on film, as you are captured watching your son blow out his birthday candles, struggling to force a smile across a tired and pain filled face. Your friends constantly ask what's wrong and you reply briefly, knowing that the truth you so desperately want to tell, will introduce sadness and uncomfortable silences, into what was an otherwise positive environment. My ability to leave people feeling subdued became remarkable in how unremarkable it was to me.
What would it mean to you to have the right support after a work call out/major Incident?
Having such a unique job really isolates you in terms of people's ability to support you. It must feel as frustrating to loved ones and friends watching you suffer, as it does to those that are suffering. A unique job requires a unique level of support. That support plays an invaluable role in maintaining your mental well being, in helping to prevent a decline that renders you anonymous socially and around family. It's often easier to be anonymous than it is to confront the truths of how you feel about yourself and the trauma you contain.
To have someone to talk to, someone that genuinely understands, someone that has been there, is truly invaluable. An immeasurable support.
GG Team Challenge
Gail Emms MBE
By accepting you will be accessing a service provided by a third-party external to https://www.ukesg.uk/
UKESG Ltd is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and Wales under number 11861609
and registered as a Charity number 1192712
Registered office, 7 Billing Road, Northampton, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom, NN1 5AN
Copyright ©2020-2021 UKESG Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Another WA Designs Creation


text:
J-Lo's Dress
The Menu Ending Explained
Alec Baldwin Details Fatal Accident On Rust Set, Says He Didn't 'Pull The Trigger'
Alec Baldwin was recently interviewed about the tragic death of Halyna Hutchins.
(Image credit: Paramount Pictures)
Safety has been an ongoing conversation regarding TV and film sets, especially as there have been a number of tragic deaths in recent memory. This most certainly includes the passing of Halyna Hutchins, who died on the set of Alec Baldwin's movie Rust when a prop gun accidentally discharged. Baldwin recently sat down to detail this tragedy, and maintains he never pulled the trigger.
News of the tragedy on the set of Rust quickly broke the internet, where some reported that Alec Baldwin might have accidentally fired the antique weapon (which somehow contained a live round). The 30 Rock actor recently sat down for an interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos, where he maintained that he never actually pulled the trigger. In his words,
I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them, never.
Well, there you have it. Alec Baldwin is an experienced actor, who is likely quite familiar with the safety protocols that come with using a prop gun on set. So he maintains he would never point at someone and pull the trigger, even if it was just during a rehearsal.
Alec Baldwin's comments to ABC marks the first longform interview the 63 year-old actor has done about the death of Halyna Hutchins. The full interview will premiere tonight on primetime, and will offer the actor-producer of Rust to give his perspective on the tragic on-set accident.
One of the biggest questions surrounding the accident that happened on Rust's set is why there was ever a live bullet in the prop gun that Alec Baldwin eventually interacted with. Dummies and live rounds are supposed to be kept very separate, which has led some to blame armorer Hannah Gutierriez-Reed. In that same interview Baldwin addressed the bullets themselves, saying:
Someone put a live bullet in a gun, a bullet that wasn't even supposed to be on the property.
For her part, Hannah Gutierriez-Reed's lawyers maintain her innocence. What more, they've even alleged that someone might have mixed a live round in with the dummy bullets to purposefully sabotage production. It's a bold take, and is part of why the ongoing situation continues to capture the attention of the public.
It remains to be seen how the investigation of Rust's set will play out, and if anyone will be charged related to the death of Halyna Hutchins. Some folks on social media pointed the finger at Alec Baldwin, who was also a producer on the project. He certainly seems remorseful, sharing his complicated feelings with:
I think back and I think of what could I have done? She was someone who was loved by everyone who worked with [her] and liked by everyone who worked with [her], and admired... I mean, even now I find it hard to believe that [she's gone]. It doesn't seem real to me.
The tragedy from the set of Rust continues to ripple through the entertainment industry, and has the potential to inspire real change in the way guns are used. Dwayne Johnson has committed to not using real weapons on the set of his movies, instead allowing visual effects to give guns a sense of realism. Some TV sets have also followed suit, in hopes of keeping the cast and crew safe.
The investigation surrounding Rust will likely continue for the time being. Be sure to check out the 2021 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.
Pamela Anderson's Netflix Director Opens Up About Tim Allen Denying Home Improvement Flashing Incident: 'I'm Not Surprised'
M. Night Shyamalan's Knock At The Cabin Has Screened, See What People Are Saying About The Apocalyptic Thriller
Britney Spears Is Reportedly Not A Happy Camper About Her Fans Calling The Police
Two Months After Olivia Wilde Split, Harry Styles Was Spotted With An Old Flame
Star Trek's Jonathan Frakes Shares Blunt Thoughts On Why Franchise's Future Is Through TV Instead Of Movies


Psi Chi is the National Honor Society in Psychology, founded in 1929 for the purposes of encouraging, stimulating, and maintaining excellence in scholarship, and advancing the science of psychology. Membership is open to graduate and undergraduate men and women who are making the study of psychology one of their major interests, and who meet the minimum qualifications. Psi Chi is a member of the Association of College Honor Societies and is an affiliate of the American Psychological Association (APA) and the American Psychological Society (APS). Psi Chi's sister honor society is Psi Beta, the national honor society in psychology for community and junior colleges.
You will be invited to join Psi Chi at the beginning of the semester in which you meet these criteria. After you receive this invitation, you must submit an application and pay chapter dues in order to officially join Psi Chi. An induction ceremony is held each Spring to welcome new members into the society.


If you're looking to help yourself or someone you love struggling with drug addiction in Rego Park, NY, Rehabs.com supplies a extensive online database of private luxury centers, as well as an array of other alternatives. We can support you in finding drug and alcohol abuse treatment facilities for a wide range of addictions to heroin, Adderall or any addictive substance or alcohol. Search for a top rated rehab center in Rego Park now, and launch on the path to sobriety.
Getting clean from Pentobarbital, Anexsia, alcohol or any other addictive substance you or your loved one is addicted to takes an specifically-tailored treatment plan. Two options of substance addiction treatment centers in Rego Park can help you succeed: either Residential or Out-patient Rehabilitation. Residential treatment offers enduring benefits with extended stays in a perfect rehabilitation program. Outpatient treatment options may be more convenient to you, but lack the constancy and resources of 60-day programs to get sober. Ultimately, your decision is your own, and we are here to help you choose the best fit.
Isolating yourself from the environment of the drug or alcohol addiction can help eradicate distractions and temptations that prevent complete sobriety. When viewing rehab as a therapeutic shelter, addicts will find private luxury facilities in cities outside of Rego Park, New York. Offering resort-like features, the top programs help achieve a state of physical, mental and emotional recovery. However, those looking for outpatient programs may find a clinic closer to home is a simpler choice.
A dual-diagnosis refers to someone who is simultaneously wrestling with a drug or alcohol abuse issue and behavioral or mental problems. For instance, an addiction to Percocet or Xanax combined with schizophrenia or ADHD. In these cases, a residential rehab center becomes almost a necessity, incorporating quality inpatient treatment with group support, such as one might find in AA. Luxury drug rehabs in Rego Park, New York will provide state-of-the-art treatment with upscale amenities for anyone requiring the very best drug treatment, just as Rego Park alcohol rehab centers will help those battling alcoholism to achieve sobriety.
Note About Insurance for Addiction Treatment: Texas Children's Health Plan, Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association and Mental Health Network often cover at least a part of your addiction therapy, and you can find out more about your own provider's policy or benefits here.


text:
Q: Use resources macro without :id in Phoenix Router By default the resources macro appends an /:id at the end of the routes for actions on single resources.
However, I have a case where a user must always be logged in to perform actions on themselves. I prefer to get :current_user from conn.assigns, not by passing in/showing any parameter in the URL. I know that I can always write out the routes one by one. I just wonder if there is a way to let resources generate such paths.

A: You can do this by using the :singleton option:

When a resource needs to be looked up without referencing an ID, because it contains only a single entry in the given context, the :singleton option can be used to generate a set of routes that are specific to such single resource.

Usage Example:
resources "/user", UserController, singleton: true

This will generate the following routes:

*

*GET /user

*GET /user/new

*POST /user

*GET /user/edit

*PATCH /user

*PUT /user

*DELETE /user

You can combine it with the :only or :except options to include/exclude certain routes

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Bałaguła – w okresie I Rzeczypospolitej oraz w okresie rozbiorowym, furmani żydowscy na kresach posiadający bryki z budami, trudniący się przewozem podróżnych na dłuższe dystanse.

Kultura żydowska
Pojazdy pozostające w dyspozycji bałagułów były stosunkowo wygodne, m.in. miały oświetlenie świecowe, co umożliwiało lekturę w czasie jazdy. Bryki bałagułów około połowy XIX wieku ustąpiły importowanym z Węgier najtyczankom.

Poszerzone pole semantyczne wyrazu oznaczało w Stanisławowie człowieka zaniedbanego, a na Wołyniu i Podolu – zniszczony, wyrobiony wóz.

Na Huculszczyźnie zajęcie to było de facto zarezerwowane dla Żydów i otoczone szacunkiem. Stanisław Vincenz tak opisywał zawód:
 bałaguła to znaczy nieco uroczyście: mistrz konia, bardziej nowocześnie: furman od szkapy. Dla oderwanych od regionu bałaguła oznacza niestety powolnego niedołęgę, a "bałagulić" – zwlekać bez końca. W naszym kraju właścicielami, a jednocześnie woźnicami są Żydkowie kuccy, kosowscy, telatyńscy, a nawet kołomyjscy, przez całe życie, ba, przez kilka pokoleń poświęcający się zadaniom komunikacyjnym,
 bałaguła żydowski nie tylko chętnie przyjmie kogokolwiek i gdziekolwiek na swój trzeszczący wóz. Nie tylko poczeka na każdego godzinkę, dwie, i jeszcze do południa, i jeszcze do przedwieczerza. Od każdego przyjmie list, pieniądze, przyjmie pakunek ciężki, od każdego przyjmie pieniądze do wręczenia po drodze.

Eugeniusz Czaplejewicz wskazał, że bałaguła u Vincenza stanowi kwintesencję kresowej różnorodności (żydowscy usługodawcy porozumiewają się bez większych problemów wieloma językami, są otwarci na podróżnych i ich potrzeby oraz wady, a także chętnie świadczą różnorakie przysługi mieszkańcom mijanych wiosek). Jerzy Ficowski w wierszu Do Jeruszalaim zawarł następujący ustęp: a w berdyczowie rejwach / karczma bałaguła / i pogromy i świece / zapalane gwiazdą. Według językoznawczyni, Pauliny Czwordon, zawiera on hipnotyczną nieomal enumerację kumulującą przejawy żydowskiego folkloru. Ficowski w wierszu Co jest przenosi właściwości bałaguły w materię czasu, który staje się w wyniku tego wyjątkowo powolny, niemniej ma możliwość zabrania z sobą wszystkich: W szabes / czas bałaguła / złazi z kozła.

Klemens Junosza w Donkiszocie żydowskim tak opisuje oszustwa woźniców: bałaguła tymczasem wyzyskiwał swych pasażerów, a spekulacya jaką na nich urządzał była dość oryginalna. Gdy przybyli do jakiego miasteczka, natychmiast udawał się do rabina i przedstawiwszy mu rozpaczliwe położenie nieszczęśliwej kobiety, otrzymywał od niego pozwolenie zbierania na jej rzecz składek. Żydzi powiadają o sobie że są "rachmonisbni rachmonis", to jest "miłosierni synowie miłosiernych", składali więc groszaki na rzecz nieszczęsnej "aguny" i te ma się rozumieć tonęły w kieszeni bałaguły.

Polska kultura szlachecka
Według Iwony Węgrzyn, bałagułą niekoniecznie musiał być Żyd, ale też młody szlachcic z Wołynia, żyjący w środowisku kolegów-utracjuszy (myśliwych, karciarzy i birbantów, trudniących się również końskim handlem). Nazywani byli oni też skórkowymi, czy baragołami. Nie nosili strojów szlacheckich, lecz chłopskie koszule i kozackie szarawary. Odrzucali dobre wychowanie i popisywali się swoją tężyzną fizyczną. Spędzali też nietypowo czas na ucztach "kozackich", konnych wyścigach nago, czy samotnych polowaniach na wilki.

W tym znaczeniu postacie bałagułów zainspirowały Honoriusza Balzaka, który odwiedził Berdyczów. Ich rysów można się dopatrywać w portrecie prowincjonalnych chevaliers de la Déœuvrance w opowiadaniu La Rabouilleuse (pol. Kawalerskie gospodarstwo) z 1842.

Przypisy

Kresy Wschodnie
Historia Żydów w Polsce
Historia transportu w Polsce

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Six of us had a wide range of dishes - street food, Thali, grill, and Biryani. They all had interesting delicious flavours. I particularly recommend the bhel salad and the squid as starters, and the seafood biryani and sea bass as main courses Lovely comfortable room. Charming service. .
Kept waiting 30 minutes then told "Theres no prawns".
There are precious few worthwhile restaurants worth the name in the immediate vicinity of Earls Court Road Underground Exit. Masala Zone had looked the only likely contender but oh dearie me. On entering it quickly became apparent that the waitress supposed to be greeting us/taking our order was linguistickly challenged in plain English department. Every jab of ours at the menu was greeted with puzzled frowns,request for repetition and a have vibe of hesitant uncertainty. Eventually we 'thought'our order had been noted and sat back in anticipation of a tasty meal. Other customers came in thick and fast.Some ordering large 5 person take aways or sitting at tables. Kitchen porters appeared too in ragged jeans shuffling amongst the diners on their way into work. The Chefs at the open plan kitchen chatted amongst themselves oblivious to the diners. After a while it seemed apparent that the customers were practically forgotten and/or invisible as they sat twiddling their thumbs waiting for something to happen. "Taken for granted"or even" taken for suckers"might describe the atmosphere better. 15 minutes passed,then 20 then 30 exactly by my watch & still not a single diner/take away customer had received any food whatsoever not even a glass of water. We had waited & waited & waited.All of us. It was now 6pm,30 plus minutes since they had opened. I was first but felt sorry for the other diners who were obviously in for a wait of up to an hour,not to be seated but to EAT!. Eventually waitress returned to the door check out.I enquired further about the progress of the ordered meal. "Theres no prawns"she said "The curry you ordered cant be supplied" or at least that's the gist as the mumbling explanation was none too audible. In exasperation I informed her to "forget it". At extra expense we continued to Knightsbridge where we did find satisfaction. As for Earls Court-nothing there now, "Forget it!
This is a chain and i have been to a few of their branches, and its a good charin. The first night we were early enough for their special, which was a good deal and tasty to boot. On our second visit, we had a more substantial meal, the thali with lots of little dishes of delicious things.
Generally great food, especially the chops and the rogan josh. The naans were poor – didn't feel fresh out of the tandoor but were flat and doughy. More choice in vegetables would also be good. The staff were attentive and obliging – full marks! The atmosphere was a good mix – lively and buzzy, but not intrusive enough to drown out conversation. Decor and hygiene were fine, so all in all, would go again.


text:
Reviews and Publicity
eBooks for Libraries
Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Henry Holt & Co.
Articles tagged "David Hepworth"
By Anne Spieth
Jun 15 ,2016
A WIFE OF NOBLE CHARACTER
Ann Leary
Anne Garrels
BEING A BEAST: Adventures Across the Species Divide
Ben Lindbergh
C.E. Morgan
David Hepworth
FOLLOWING FISH: One Man's Journey into the Food and Culture of the Indian Coast
GRIEF IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS
Helen Phillips
HOT DOG TASTE TEST
HOW TO TALK ABOUT PLACES YOU'VE NEVER BEEN: On the Importance of Armchair Travel
IN THE DARKROOM
LAST NIGHT A SUPERHERO SAVED MY LIFE: Neil Gaiman!! Jodi Picoult!! Brad Meltzer!!...and an All-Star Roster on the Caped Crusaders That Changed Their Lives
Liesa Mignogna
Lisa Hanawalt
MARY WEPT OVER THE FEET OF JESUS: Prostitution and Religious Obedience in the Bible
Max Porter
NEVER A DULL MOMENT: 1971 The Year That Rock Exploded
O Magazine
Pierre Bayard
PUTIN COUNTRY
REDEMPTION ROAD
Samanth Subramanian
Simon de Pury
SOME POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
St. Louis Post Dispatch
Susan Faludi
THE 14TH COLONY
THE AUCTIONEER: Adventures in the Art Trade
THE GLAMOUR OF STRANGENESS: Artists and the Last Age of the Exotic
THE GOOD LIEUTENANT
THE HOUR OF LAND: A Personal Topography of America's National Parks
THE ONLY RULE IS IT HAS TO WORK: Our Wild Experiment Building a New Kind of Baseball Team
THE SPORT OF KINGS
THE STAR-TOUCHED QUEEN
THIS IS NOT MY BEAUTIFUL LIFE
TRULY MADLY GUILTY
UNDER THE STARS: How America Fell in Love with Camping
Victor LaValle
Victoria Fedden
Whitney Terrell
WORLDS ELSEWHERE: Journeys Around Shakespeare's Globe
Yvonne Georgina Puig
2016 Summer Reading Roundup
Major media declared these 27 Macmillan books Summer 2016 must-reads:
TRULY MADLY GUILTY by Liane Moriarty (Entertainment Weekly, St. Louis Post Dispatch)
THE CHILDREN by Ann Leary (People Magazine)
THE SPORT OF KINGS by C.E. Morgan (O Magazine)
THE GOOD LIEUTENANT by Whitney Terrell (Buzzfeed)
GRIEF IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS by Max Porter (Wall Street Journal)
REDEMPTION ROAD by John Hart (St. Louis Post Dispatch)
SOME POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS by Helen Phillips (O Magazine)
A WIFE OF NOBLE CHARACTER by Yvonne Georgina Puig (St. Louis Post Dispatch)
THE 14TH COLONY by Steve Berry (New York Times Book Review)
THE BALLAD OF BLACK TOM by Victor LaValle (New York Times Book Review)
Nonfiction & Memoir
IN THE DARKROOM by Susan Faludi (O Magazine, People Magazine)
THE AUCTIONEER: Adventures in the Art Trade by Simon de Pury ("Good Morning America")
THE GLAMOUR OF STRANGENESS: Artists and the Last Age of the Exotic by Jamie James (St. Louis Post Dispatch)
LAST NIGHT, A SUPERHERO SAVED MY LIFE: Neil Gaiman!! Jodi Picoult!! Brad Meltzer!!…and an All-Star Roster on the Caped Crusaders That Changed Their Lives by Liesa Mignogna ("Good Morning America")
NEVER A DULL MOMENT: 1971-The Year That Rock Exploded by David Hepworth (O Magazine)
THIS IS NOT MY BEAUTIFUL LIFE by Victoria Fedden (O Magazine)
Travel & Nature
BEING A BEAST: Adventures Across the Species Divide by Charles Foster (New York Times, Wall Street Journal)
Read the New York Times interview with Charles Foster on his research for BEING A BEAST!
THE HOUR OF LAND: A Personal Topography of America's National Parks by Terry Tempest Williams (O Magazine)
FOLLOWING FISH: One Man's Journey into the Food and Culture of the Indian Coast by Samanth Subramanian (New York Times Book Review)
HOW TO TALK ABOUT PLACES YOU'VE NEVER BEEN: On the Importance of Armchair Travel by Pierre Bayard (New York Times Book Review)
PUTIN COUNTRY by Anne Garrels (New York Times Book Review)
UNDER THE STARS: How America Fell in Love with Camping by Dan White (O Magazine)
WORLDS ELSEWHERE: Journeys Around Shakespeare's Globe by Andrew Dickson (New York Times Book Review)
THE ONLY RULE IS IT HAS TO WORK: Our Wild Experiment Building a New Kind of Baseball Team by Ben Lindbergh & Sam Miller (New York Times Book Review)
HOT DOG TASTE TEST by Lisa Hanawalt (Wall Street Journal)
MARY WEPT OVER THE FEET OF JESUS: Prostitution and Religious Obedience in the Bible by Chester Brown (New York Times Book Review)
THE STAR-TOUCHED QUEEN by Roshani Chokshi (New York Times Book Review)
BILL O'REILLY'S LEGENDS & LIES: THE PATRIOTS
RAISING MEN
RAISING MEN: Lessons Navy SEALs Learned from Their Training and Taught to Their Sons
SOCCER WITHOUT BORDERS
SOCCER WITHOUT BORDERS: Jürgen Klinsmann Coaching the U.S. Men's National Soccer Team and the Quest for the World Cup
Sonoma Stompers
THE ONLY RULE IS IT HAS TO WORK
Books for Dads & Dudes
Father's Day is coming up this weekend! Here are some books for the dads (and dudes) in your life:
RAISING MEN: Lessons Navy SEALs Learned from Their Training and Taught to Their Sons by Eric Davis
Using a unique blend of discipline, leadership, adventure, and grace, Eric and his SEAL brothers share lessons about how to connect, and reconnect, with sons and teach readers how to raise real men—the Navy SEAL way.
BILL O'REILLY'S LEGENDS & LIES: THE PATRIOTS by David Fisher
The must-have companion to Bill O'Reilly's historical docudrama Legends and Lies: The Patriots! Heavily illustrated with spectacular artwork that brings this important history to vivid life, THE PATRIOTS is an exciting and eye-opening look at the Revolutionary War through the lives of its leaders.
SOCCER WITHOUT BORDERS: Jürgen Klinsmann, Coaching the U.S. Men's National Soccer Team and the Quest for the World Cup by Erik Kirschbaum, with a foreword by Jürgen Klinsmann
Controversial U.S men's soccer coach Jürgen Klinsmann reveals his thoughts on building a winning soccer team. "Kirschbaum examines how a shy German striker cobbled together his experiences as a player in four different countries to create a personal coaching philosophy. This work will be appreciated by soccer fans, especially with the United States hosting the Copa América Centenario in 2016." — Library Journal
THE ONLY RULE IS IT HAS TO WORK: Our Wild Experiment Building a New Kind of Baseball Team by Ben Lindbergh & Sam Miller
What would happen if two statistics-minded outsiders were allowed to run a professional baseball team? That's what Lindbergh and Miller got to do when the Sonoma Stompers, an independent minor-league team in California, offered them the chance to run the team's baseball operations according to the most advanced statistics. "For fantasy baseball junkies and baseball purists alike, this is a vivid, joyful exploration of recruiting and running a team by numbers—and instinct."
— Publishers Weekly
NEVER A DULL MOMENT: 1971 The Year That Rock Exploded by David Hepworth
A rollicking look at 1971—the busiest, most innovative and resonant year of the 70s, defined by the musical arrival of such stars as David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and Joni Mitchell. "An exuberant tour through a pivotal year in the development of popular music and culture." — Kirkus Reviews
Check out more music books here.
#FridayReads
A STRAY CAT STRUTS
A STRAY CAT STRUTS: My Life as a Rockabilly Rebel
Ben Ratliff
David Hajdu
Eighties music
EVERY SONG EVER
EVERY SONG EVER: Twenty Ways to Listen in an Age of Musical Plenty
Jace Clayton
LOVE FOR SALE: Pop Music in America
Mark Binelli
PRINCE: Inside the Music and the Masks
Ronin Ro
SCREAMIN' JAY HAWKINS' ALL-TIME GREATEST HITS
Slim Jim Phantom
THE SPEED OF SOUND
THE SPEED OF SOUND: Breaking the Barriers Between Music and Technology: A Memoir
UPROOT: Travels in 21st-Century Music and Digital Culture
WAKING THE SPIRIT
WAKING THE SPIRIT: A Musician's Journey Healing Body Mind and Soul
"Hyperactive!"
"She Blinded Me with Science"
Friday Reads: Music Books
Rock out with these books about music:
UPROOT: Travels in 21st-Century Music and Digital Culture by Jace Clayton
The writer and artist DJ/rupture guides this world tour of music and technology in an age of radical freedom and interconnectivity. "In this exhilarating book, Clayton, aka DJ Rupture, guides readers on an international tour of various forms of music and music-making technologies within many cultures. Clayton urges readers to embrace the power of music, recognizing its energetic and enduring capacity to capture and express shared emotions and to become a 'memory palace with room for everybody inside.'" — Publishers Weekly, starred review
SCREAMIN' JAY HAWKINS' ALL-TIME GREATEST HITS by Mark Binelli
Rolling Stone writer Binelli turns his sharp, forceful prose to fiction, in an inventive retelling of the outrageous life of Screamin' Jay Hawkins, a bluesman with one hit and a string of inflammatory guises. "This dreamlike album of real and imagined scenes from a complex artist's memory bank is as flamboyant a display of light and shadow as one of Hawkins' stage shows." — Kirkus Reviews
A STRAY CAT STRUTS: My Life as a Rockabilly Rebel by Slim Jim Phantom
The first-ever memoir by a member of the Stray Cats, featuring stories of a rock 'n roll life, friendships with icons like George Harrison and Keith Richards, and marriage to Britt Ekland. "An entertaining pop music memoir for fans of drummers, Eighties music, and/or rockabilly." — Library Journal
EVERY SONG EVER: Twenty Ways to Listen in an Age of Musical Plenty by Ben Ratliff
Veteran New York Times music critic Ratliff reimagines the very idea of music appreciation for our times. "A remarkable new book… [Ratliff] goes leaping from Beethoven to Big Black, from Morton Feldman to Curtis Mayfield, identifying continuities while delighting in contrasts." — The New Yorker
WAKING THE SPIRIT: A Musician's Journey Healing Body, Mind, and Soul by Andrew Schulman
"A professional guitarist whose venues have ranged from Carnegie Hall to the Improv Comedy Club, Schulman was pulled back from death in July 2009 by a medical miracle and decided it was give-back time. He's now the resident musician in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit at New York's Mount Sinai Beth Israel hospital in New York, where he brings music—and hence joy and healing—to critically ill patients." — Library Journal, pre-pub alert
PRINCE: Inside the Music and the Masks by Ronin Ro
A fascinating, authoritative biography, with a new introduction and chapter covering the past five years and Prince's death.
THE SPEED OF SOUND: Breaking the Barriers Between Music and Technology: A Memoir by Thomas Dolby
A remarkable memoir from Thomas Dolby, who rose to international fame with such hit songs as "She Blinded Me with Science" and "Hyperactive!" in the early 80's and found a second act as a tech pioneer. readmoreremove
Nonfiction Round-Up (1/22/20) January 22, 2020
AMERICAN DIRT is an Oprah Book Club Pick! January 21, 2020
Happy #PubDay and Women 2020 (1/21/20) January 21, 2020
Fall 2020 Catalogs Now Available Online! January 17, 2020
Macmillan Library @ PLA 2020 January 17, 2020
Lesa's Book Critiques
Library Journal's Pre Pub Alert
Macmillan catalogs
#ThrillerThursday debut Fantasy fiction memoir mystery nonfiction starred review starred reviews thriller YA young adult
To view our seasonal catalogs online, please visit Edelweiss.
To learn how to get pre-approved for Macmillan e-galleys on Edelweiss,
read this article.
Participate in LibraryReads,
the national monthly staff picks list.
Check out our 2020 Books for Teens!
See Emily's current "Day's YA" pick!
Get information about Book Club Resources here.
For more information about our children's publishers, please visit:
Macmillan Children's
For more information about our books for courses, please visit:
Academic Marketing
For more information about our distributed publishers, please visit:
The College Board
Media Lab Books
Page Street
Sounds True
Powered by WordPress | Theme Designed by: invoice templates | Thanks to tax rebates, SEO Consultant and 3 Mobile Phone Deals
Copyright © 2005-2010 Macmillan.


Diplomat Apartments, nestled next to the Riverside Park and the Speed River are low-rise apartments for rent in Guelph. Along with Williams & McDaniel's other Guelph aparments, Diplomat Apartments are the first industry certified rental apartments in Guelph.
Suitable for seniors and professionals. We're situated close to all amenities, including downtown Guelph, the Evergreen Seniors Centre and bus stops.
Please note: Square footage and pricing varies per unit. Try our online room planning tool!
1 Parking space included - assigned.


text:
« Women Sentenced in Baby Selling Case | Main | US Capitol Rotunda Closed as Police Investigate White Powder »
Gay Texas Judge Refuses to Perform Marriage Ceremonies
File photo. (http://tonyaparkerforjudge.com)(DALLAS) -- Texas Judge Tonya Parker cannot legally marry a woman in her state, so she refuses to perform any marriage ceremonies until there is equality. She finds it "oxymoronic" to perform a ceremony that cannot be performed for her.
Parker, an openly gay judge, told a group at a Stonewall Democrats of Dallas meeting Tuesday that when she turns a couple away, she uses it as an opportunity to teach them a lesson about marriage equality.
"I don't perform marriage ceremonies because we are in a state that does not have marriage equality and until it does, I'm not going to partially apply the law to one group of people that doesn't apply to another group of people," Parker said in a video of the Tuesday discussion. "And it's kind of oxymoronic for me to perform ceremonies that can't be performed for me, so I'm not going to do it."
A spokeswoman for the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct said the commission had no comment.
video platform video management video solutions video player
Parker is the first LGBT person elected as a judge in Dallas County and she is believed to be the first openly LGBT African-American elected official in the state's history, according to the Dallas Voice.
Parker described examples of discrimination in the courtroom that she has seen and been able to stop.
She once heard a case involving a man who allegedly molested a young boy in which a participant used the terms "homosexual" and "child molester" interchangeably.
"When a man molests a little girl, people don't call him heterosexual," Parker said in the video. "So, when this man molests this little boy, assuming [the] allegations to be true, you are not going to stand in my courtroom and call him a homosexual."
Another example she gave was the Texas Supreme Court's jury instruction that dictates that jurors cannot discuss cases with their husbands or wives.
"Well, I might have modified it a little bit," Parker said to her audience. "And I said, 'Do not discuss this case with your husband, your wife or your partner.'"
She said these are small ways of making her point but she believes it is important to go out of her way to do things that others in the LGBT community might not be able to do because they are not in her position of power.
"I want to help those folks to have dignity, in that moment that they are with me, to know that I see you," she said. "I see you."
Parker did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News. A court clerk said she was in court day.
Parker's goal as a judge is to "make sure laws are applied equally to everyone who comes to court and that we take the opportunity to put issues on people's radar's that might not otherwise be there."
Seven states currently allow gay marriage. Maryland would become next one next week, if the governor signs into law a recently passed bill as promised.
Friday, February 24, 2012 at 4:49PM by Carmen Cox Permalink
tagged Gay, Gay Marriage, Judge, LGBT, Lesbian, Marriage, Same-Sex Marriage, Texas in National News General, Politics


This is an easy quick recipe to make anytime! You can adjust the toppings to your liking. I used tomato, feta, kalamata olives, basil and, of course, Sciabica's Manzanillo Variety Fall Harvest Extra Virgin Olive Oil!
Crispy Flat Bread adapted from this recipe.
Arrange toppings on the flat breads, drizzle with olive oil and place back into the oven for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and serve.


text:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="wrap_content"
    android:layout_height="wrap_content"
    android:orientation="vertical"
    android:padding="5dp">
    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/tv_name"
        android:textColor="#f00"
        android:text="名称"
        android:textSize="18sp"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content">
    </TextView>
    <TextView
        android:text="电话号码"
        android:textSize="18sp"
        android:id="@+id/tv_phone"
        android:textColor="#000"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content">
    </TextView>

</LinearLayout>

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
MRI Scan Launched In Bhubaneswar's Capital Hospital
CityBhubaneswar
By OB Bureau	 On Nov 26, 2020
Bhubaneswar: Health and Family Welfare Minister Naba Kishore Das inaugurated the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan facility at Capital Hospital here on Thursday.
Speaking on the occasion, Das said the state government has been on a mission to provide world standard healthcare facilities to the patients. With the launch of MRI scan facility at Capital Hospital, the patients, particularly of the economically weaker section, can now avail the facility for free. The facility would be extended to other hospitals in future, he added.
The facility, which is first of its kind in the state, has been provided at an estimated cost of Rs 8 crore.
It has been launched on PPP (Public-Private Partnership) mode. The government had signed an MoU with Manipal HealthMap Diagnostics Pvt Ltd in this regard in March.
BhubaneswarCapital HospitalMRI Scan
Delhi Chalo: Farmers Brave Police Tear Gas, Water Cannons To Continue March
Odisha Bikerni On 'Tigress Trail' Vrooms Her Way Into 'Hindustan Ka Dil'
Odisha: Locals Demand Reopening Of Puri Jagannath Temple
Govt Medical College Principal's Properties Attached On Court Order In…
Green Corridor Created From SCB Hospital To Bhubaneswar Airport For Critical Patient


text:
Malaysia New Home For Coca-Cola Plant
Malaysia - Moving Forward Up the Global Value Chain
Malaysia: a Profit Center for Global Manufacturers
Malaysia's Banking Sector - Staying Strong Despite the Global Financial Crisis
Manufacturing.net: Coca-Cola Investing $302M In Malaysia
Coca-Cola announced yesterday that it plans to build a new bottling plant in Malaysia, an investment of $302 million. The plant, according to an AP report published at Manufacturing.net, is expected to be operational by 2011, and will directly create 600 to 800 jobs, and another 6,000 to 8,000 with local suppliers.
The expansion results from Coca-Cola's "amicable separation" from longtime bottler Fraser and Neave of Singapore, according to Glenn Jordan, president of Coca-Cola's Pacific Group. The contract, worth $127 million per year, will expire in September 2011. Coca-Cola will use a third of the $302 million investment for an eco-friendly plant in the southern Malaysian state of Negeri Sembilan.
International sales boosted Coca-Cola's fourth quarter profits by 55 percent, the company said last month. Asia accounts for 18 percent of Coca-Cola's global sales, and the company expects Asia to be its biggest driver of growth this decade.
RELATED TOPICS AND ARTICLES
Five Key Factors at Play When Satisfying Workforce Requirements
Front Line: Vocational Training Alliances in Tough Times
New Strategies for Learning and Development in an Increasingly Virtual World
Finding Talent in a Time of Economic Change
Has the Value of a Degree Changed?
Workforce: A Primary Ingredient in the Evolution of the Food Industry
Finding the Sweet Spot in Food Plant Location Decisions
How Is the Pandemic Affecting Location Decisions in the Food & Beverage Industry?
Radical Transformation in the Food & Beverage Industry


FESTIVAL VOLUNTEERS ONLY* - In exchange for a weekend festival ticket volunteers are expected to work for both days of the festival for 4 hours per day(19th and 20th January) and then a 1 hour induction on the friday 18th January.
ALL OTHER VOLUNTEERS - Volunteering during the summer school/festival training involves 5 hours per day, which allows you 3 meals per day plus camping.
Week 1 - International training project ( 6th – 11th January) Week 2 - International training project plus festival weekend ( 12th January-20th January) The Whole Shebang - This is our core volunteer group starting any time between 27th Dec and 7th January and continuing until the end of the festival. You'll make new friends, become part of the circus team and be a key member of creating a great festival. As part of this group you will not be able to participate in classes however you can attend the morning warm up and the end of day handstand fitness class.
What type of work are you skilled to do?
Have you got an Australian bar ticket (RSA)? - If yes, do you prefer bar work?
Are you a qualified/experienced barista? - If yes, do you prefer barista work?
Have you got cleaning experience? - If yes, are you willing to be one of the cleaning team?
Please indicate which general area you'd like to be involved in. Please note that we cannot guarantee that you'll be working in your preferred area, but we'll do our utmost.
Would you be a good team leader? Would you be interested in taking on a team leadership position?
Do you have a preferred time of day for volunteering?
- Who do we contact in the event of an emergency?


The TSZ181, TSZ182 are single and dual operational amplifiers featuring very low offset voltages with virtually zero drift versus temperature changes.
The TSZ181, TSZ182 offer rail-to-rail input and output, excellent speed/power consumption ratio, and 3 MHz gain bandwidth product, while consuming just 1 mA at 5 V. The device also features an ultra-low input bias current.
These features make the TSZ18x ideal for high-accuracy high-bandwidth sensor interfaces.


kampfgolem wrote: Oh and regarding the use of reverb, the people here are right - using an aux send (it might be called an effects send on your DAW) is your best option for a "natural sound"
This is only true for a reverb that doesn't allow for wet/dry mixing.
If your reverb has it, it's ways overkill to install send and return buses just for squeezing your stereo through a bit of reverb. Just not necessary. But of course, everybody has his own style.
In some DAW's, you can send the reverb to different areas of the left-channel and right-channel to give a recording a more "natural" sound according to your ears. Instead of having equal reverb on both right and left channels, you can have one type of reverb on the right channel and another type of reverb on the left channel so as to give a better stereo sound. Also, you "clip" one track of a stereo input so that it just a bit shorter in order to give the recording a "chorus" effect but not sound like you are using a "chorus" pedal, which would be a lot more "processed" and lose the more "natural" sound of a live classical guitar. The "aux send" option gives you control over where the reverb goes in the stereo field, which is very useful in that you only have a left and a right channel in recording. Sometimes, you don't want things blasting out of both sides of recording in equal measure. Also, you use "aux send" to apply different types of reverb or different amounts of reverb to your recording.
Speaking of reverbs: Most of the DAWs allow for a true stereo plugin where there are algorithms simulating the behaviour of sound in a 3D-room. I would always prefer such a reverb over dual mono, because there is no natural interaction of the channels in the latter.
Altiverb is certainly one of the best available, but almost every DAW have their own products that are at least workable if you don't exaggerate. One good trick to reduce the hardness and artificiality is to use a low pass filter on the HF tail of the frequency spectrum of the reverb, so that this kind of ringing typical for simpler reverbs is diminished.
8. Mix down to a stereo WAV file for export.
7. Apply reverb to all tracks individually via the FX send/receive.... I'd setup a new bus, call it reverb and add a reverb plugin to it. then use send options for each track and send them to this bus. This way you can; adjust the amount you send for each track, adjust the amount of reverb bus volume as well as the dry/wet mix and,,, EQ the reverb bus by dropping off some the low and high end frequencies. NB All the adjustments should be made when listening to the track so you hear the difference they make.
When mixing have a reference track at hand - this will be something similar to the end product you are aiming for. Its very easy to lose objectivity for what you hear.
Take regular ear breaks and save differing versions as you go, ears get tired and you can lose the sense of dynamics.
PS If you have a soundcloud account it would be great to hear how your music turns out.
For anyone still reading this old thread, I realized quickly that I was making things much too complicated with the above workflow. I got rid of the noise reduction and moved into my quietest room for recording. I stopped copying the track into two. I use just the single track and apply a bit of bass boost and a very carefully adjusted stereo reverb. Haven't found a better way so far, though I assume their are many different ways to success.
Next big move will be adding a second mic for true stereo sound at the source. If I had more money I might even do a third up the center, but my needs are modest and the gains are diminishing returns I think.


text:
Mt. Vernon High School Bands
Band Calendar
Suggested Equipment
Band Handbook
Booster Meetings
Signup Genius
MyMusicOffice
Muncie Music
ISSMA
Indiana Bandmasters Association
Indiana Jazz Educators Association
Pay Band Fees
Chaperones NEEDED!!!!
Each year during full day marching band rehearsals, we ask that parent volunteers come in and chaperone throughout the day. This basically consists of hanging out near where the majority of kids are & being available to help with basic first aid (bandages, ice packs).
On competition days we need 2 chaperones per bus (we take 2 buses) that will stay with the group during the entire time at the competition site, making sure kids are where they should be, helping with uniforms, props, or anything else that may be needed.
Please visit the SignUp Genius today!!
MVHS Music Department earns ISSMA All-Music Award!!!
2019 Drum Majors Announced!!!
Congratulations to the 2019 Drum Majors, Madelyn Lowell and Ethan Cottrell. We are so proud of everyone who tried out for giving it their all.
Indoor Percussion heads to State Finals, March 30th!!
Indoor Percussion, consisting of 22 members (only 4 of which are seniors), heads to State Finals at Ben Davis on March 30th. The ensemble has had an amazing run this season, and are feeling great as they head into competition on Saturday. They perform at 12:14 pm.
Spectator Admission: $20 adults, $15 students (K-12, College), and Seniors (65+), 6 & Under free!
Kroger Plus Card can earn the band money!!
Do you, your family, your friends or neighbors shop at Kroger? All you need is a Kroger Plus Card to help raise money for the band. Sign up at krogercommunityrewards.com or call customer communications at 1-800-576-4377, menu option #3. Use the MVHS Band Number of 40019. Register today!!
Winter Guard Starts off STRONG!
Both teams started off their season on January 26th at Plainfield after the cancellation of the January 19th event due to inclement weather. This season the JV team consists of 9 members with a show titled Warrior, Conquer from Within. They brought home a GOLD!
The varsity team consists of 12 members this year, and their show is titled Caged. They placed 8th overall out of 16. We couldn't be more proud of what both teams accomplished in their first competition. Varsity travels to Anderson on February 2nd, and JV has a short break from competition until March 16th. Way to go, Marauders!
54th Annual Extravaganza Concert Info/Program
Use the link below to bring up the concert program for the 54th Annual Extravaganza band concert! The concert takes place on Friday, May 11, and Saturday, May 12, at 7 p.m. Tickets are $5 each (but MVCSC faculty members get in free). The 8th grade band will perform on Saturday evening only!
2018 Extravaganza Concert Program
Mattress sale brings big bucks
Yesterday, Custom Fundraising Solutions gave the band a check for $6,750 for last month's mattress sale. It's not a record amount, but it's still nothing to sneeze at!
Band yearbook available online
What has become an annual tradition is now available online. The 2017-2018 Band of Marauders yearbook can be viewed here. You will have to sign up for Shutterfly to purchase the book; doing so is free.
Yes, the book is a bit pricey (more than $100). That's why you want to wait until Shutterfly has a 50 percent off sale. Sales will be announced through the band's Facebook and Twitter accounts.
Last year's yearbook (for 2016-2017) is available here. It can still be ordered. Again, wait until a 50 percent off sale is announced.
Varsity winter guard qualifies for IHSCGA state finals!
For the second year in a row, Mt. Vernon hosted an Indiana High School Color Guard Association competition--except this time, instead of an invitational, it was the state preliminaries for A Class teams. The event on March 3 featured four rounds, with 34 competitors. Also, a team of special-needs students, Destiny, performed in exhibition.
Of the 34 teams, only 16 moved on to the A Class state finals March 17. The Mt. Vernon varsity winter guard competed in the fourth round and finished in the top 16, locking in a trip to the state finals at Center Grove High School in Greenwood. This is the fourth year in a row that the varsity team has advanced to A Class state finals.
This coming Saturday, the Mt. Vernon junior varsity winter guard will compete in IHSCGA's state finals for Divisional Regional A Class at Center Grove. Good luck, team!
Thanks to director Thomas Thawley and his staff for all their hard work!
The varsity winter guard performs its 2018 show, "See ME," at the A Class state preliminaries March 3 at Mt. Vernon.


2002-2006 PhD in Electrical Engineering, title "Electronic Efficiency in the Construction and Technology of Magnetrons of 800W, 2.45GHZ and Π-mode oscillation", University of Oradea, Oradea, Romania.
1974-1977 BSc in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, 1977, Portsmouth University, Portsmouth, U.K.
1974 Diploma in Electronics, PALMER Higher School of Electronics, Athens, Greece.
1993 CEng, Chartered Electrical Engineer, The Engineering Council, U.K.


This article provides instructions to configure browser setting to grant access to Insights, powered by InsideView in your organization.
"User account identifier is not provided. Add *.insideview.com to the set of trusted sites".
This issue occurs when about blank, InsideView and Microsoft websites are not part of the trusted sites in your web browser and the system is unable to keep the session live.
1 Go to Trusted Sites Go to Internet Explorer > Internet Options > Security tab and select the Trusted Sites.
Select the Require server verification (https) for all sites in this zone check box if the site is not a secure site.
3 Turn off protected mode To turn off the protected mode for trusted sites, select the Enable Protected Mode check box.
4 Enable third party access To enable access to third party cookies, select the Privacy tab and click Advanced.
On the Advanced Privacy Settings dialog, select the Override automatic cookie handling check box.
Select the Accept option for both the First-party and Third-party cookies.
Select the Always allow session cookies check box.
For more information, read Microsoft's documentation available here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security-zones-adding-removing-websites.
1 Go to the Settings page Click the Settings option in the Chrome Browser.
Click the Content Settings option and then click Cookies.
3 Turn off block third-party cookies In the Cookies page, turn off the Block third-party cookies option.