« How To Write In Wiki Markup?
Setting Up Secure Wireless Networks in Homes?
In this modern age of technological advancements, each and every institution is moving towards wireless networking with increased broadband internet speed. Wireless routers and LAN cards play an important role in this technological advancements, allowing people at the two ends of the world to connect with each other at any instant. With the wireless technology, people can stay connected with each other even while out on the road. This has really bridged the gap of communication, with the help of which businesses have really prospered over the years. Along with the many benefits that a wireless network connection brings to us, there are various internet security issues which needs to be addressed. Setting up secure wireless networks in homes is not as difficult as it seems to be.
This tutorial shows you how to setup a wireless internet (WLAN) connection at home. The network allows sharing of internet access with multiple users to surf the web. With the inception of internet routers (like Linksys and D-link wireless routers) setting up internet networks at home has become easier and more simpler. Follow the step by step process given below for setting up secure wireless networks in homes.
First of all click on the "Wireless Internet Access" option available on the bottom right corner of the task bar. Once the menu opens, click on the "Open Network and Sharing Center" option.
A new window will open where you can see many detailed options and settings for your wireless network and internet connection. Click on the "Manage Wireless Networks" option which is available on the top left corner of the window, highlighted in the image below.
On the next window click on the "Add" button which is available on the top left corner of the menu, highlighted in the image. This option will allow you to add a new wireless network connection in your computer system.
Once clicked on the "Add" button, a new window will appear in front of your screen which allows you to select from two options. You can either create a profile manually or create an ad hoc network, which is more like a temporary network connection. Here in this tutorial we will be choosing the "Manually Create A Network Profile" option to setup a network connection.
Once done, a new window will appear right infront of you. Now you would be required to enter the details of your network connection along with a few advance options and a security key. After entering in the required details, click on the "Next" button to save the information and move on to the next step.
Now you will see a confirmation message informing you that your new network connection setting has been added successfully. If you wish to modify any option than you can simply click on the "Change Connection Settings" option, highlighted in the image below.
Once completed successfully, click on the "Close" button to save these settings and exit from the network setting window.


text:
PGA TourApril 2, 2016
PGA Tour: Stenson, Johnson trail by one
Henrik Stenson shot a six-under 66, the lowest score of the day, to move one shot back of the lead
GolfDigest.com Staff
Swede Henrik Stenson, seeking his first PGA Tour victory since the Tour Championship in 2013, shot a six-under par 66 in the third round of the Shell Houston Open at the Golf Club of Houston on Saturday, the lowest score of the day.
At 10-under, Stenson is tied for third place with Dustin Johnson and Russell Henley, all of whom trail co-leaders Jim Herman and Jamie Lovemark by one stroke. Stenson's round included seven birdies and a 42-foot putt from off the green on 18 to save par.
Johnson, who is looking to extend his streak of winning tournaments in eight consecutive years, shot a two-under par 70, a round that featured three birdies and an eagle.
Reigning PGA Tour Player of the Year Jordan Spieth shot a two-under 70 to get to six-under. He is tied for 14th, five strokes behind.
"I'm losing a couple strokes back to the field on putting and normally we're gaining strokes," said Spieth. "Inside 10 feet I've got to be solid and confident. I can't get into a rhythm. I'm stepping off putts. That's a tough feeling. It kind of bleeds into the rest of your game, too, because you feel like you've got to be more aggressive. So, it really comes down to the putter for me. I have to get better before next week."
Phil Mickelson started his round with three birdies on the first five holes, but triple bogeyed the sixth. He finished his round at one-under 71, moving to a tie for 19th at five-under.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Gloucester: 01452 300433
Cheltenham: 01242 237274
SPA Chartered Surveyors
Horsleys
so we can keep you up to date with all the properties that match your needs
Gloucester - Greenways Court, 77 Bristol Road
Gloucester - Greenways Court, 77 Bristol Road (Residential Investment)
Request a viewing View Documents
Location: Gloucester
Size: 622.80 m2 (6703.82 ft2)
Property Type: Investment
Status: Sale Agreed
Terms:Offers are invited in the region of £1,450,000.
Simon McKeag
Harry Pontifex
Fraser Mitchell
Request a viewing Print Property Details
Description Location Accommodation Rates Planning Terms Costs
Brand new development finished to a high specification.
Accessible location within 2 miles of the City Centre and 1.5 miles from Junction 12 of the M5.
The apartments are fully let on assured shorthold tenancies generating an annual rent of £87,600 per annum.
The total rentable area (excluding communal areas) is 6,705 sq ft.
Gated entrance with allocated parking and visitors spaces.
A purchase at the quoting price of £1.45m reflects a gross initial yield of 6.04% and capital value equating to approximately £215 per sq ft.
Greenways Court is a new development of 9 apartments constructed in two three storey blocks, with the front block comprising 3 apartments and the rear, 6. The buildings have a combination of brick, timber clad and rendered elevations under part pitched, part flat roofs.
The apartments have been finished to a high standard throughout and the accommodation includes open plan kitchen/dining/living areas, fully fitted kitchens with a range of appliances, modern bathrooms, patio or balcony and a selection of apartments also benefit from en-suite shower rooms and a study or 3rd bedroom.
The specification includes:
Independent air conditioning providing both the heating and cooling and there are digital temperature controls in all rooms which can be set to meet individual requirements.
Separate hot water tank with heating via electric immersion heater.
Solar panels are installed on the roof which power the freehold electric supply which subsidises the communal electrics, lights and electric gates.
Kitchens were supplied by Howdens and each has a built in oven, hob and dishwasher.
BT, Virgin and Sky all have connections to the site, allowing for a wide choice of internet and TV providers.
A secure communal bike storage will be provided.
CCTV covers all external communal areas.
Electric gates provide secure access to rear parking area; these can be operated by phone so occupants can open remotely for deliveries or visitors.
Each apartment has at least one allocated parking space, with a number of visitor's spaces.
A summary of the accommodation is set out in the tenancy schedule.
Property: Investment
Type: For sale
Address and Location
Greenways Court
77 Bristol Road
Quedgeley
GL2 4NH
The property is located in Quedgeley with frontage to the Bristol Road, Gloucester. It is close to Green Farm Business Park where occupiers include Farm Web and Kier Construction. It is some two miles South of Gloucester City Centre and 1.5 miles from Junction 12 of the M5 Motorway. Access to the property is off the A430 Bristol Road to Quedgeley, ½ mile South of Cole Avenue intersection of the A38 dual carriageway on the Gloucester ring road, A430 and Gloucester South West bypass. Gloucester is located approximately 9 miles (14.5 km) west of Cheltenham, 35 miles (56.2 km) north of Bristol, 55 miles (88.5 km) south of Birmingham and 100 miles (161 km) west of London. Quedgeley is a large residential suburb of Gloucester with substantial commercial development including a Tesco supermarket and range of business parks including Green Farm Business Park, Olympus Business Park, Waterwells Business Park and Quedgeley West.
Tenancy Schedule
Apartment No. Rent (per month) Bedrooms Commencement Date Term (months) Size
1 £800 2 03/07/2020 6 67.4 sq m (725 sq ft)
4 £800 2/3 29/05/2020 6 66.5 sq m (716 sq ft)
7 £800 2/3 01/06/2020 18 66.5 sq m (716 sq ft)
Total £87,600 per annum 622.8 sq m (6,705 sq ft)
All of the flats are listed within Band B for Council Tax purposes.
Consent was obtained in 2018 for the construction of two apartment blocks to provide 9 no. residential units. Application No. 18/01031/FUL.
The property is offered freehold subject to the occupational tenancies in place.
The property is not elected for VAT.
Each party to bear their own legal costs incurred in the transaction.
0266-3895-7643-9691-2241 (Flat 8).pdf Download Document
77 Floor Plans-Block 1 - FF.pdf Download Document
77 Floor Plans-Block 1 - GF.pdf Download Document
77 Floor Plans-Block 2 - SF.pdf Download Document
Greenways Court - Tenancy Schedule.pdf Download Document
Greenways Court.pdf Download Document
Your Contact Details:
*Name: Address:
Telephone number: *Email address:
All fields marked with an * are mandatory
Please detail best times/dates:
To schedule a viewing or request more information, contact:
Unable to find what you're looking for? Register your details with us.
ASH Chartered Surveyors for themselves and for the vendors or lessors of this property for whom they act, give notice that:
1 these particulars are a general outline only, for the guidance of prospective purchasers or tenants, and do not constitute the whole or any part of an offer or contract;
2 ASH Chartered Surveyors cannot guarantee the accuracy of any description, dimensions, references to condition, necessary permissions for use and occupation and other details contained herein and prospective purchasers or tenants must not rely on them as statements of fact or representations and must satisfy themselves as to their accuracy;
3 no employee of ASH Chartered Surveyors has any authority to make or give any representation or warranty or enter into any contract whatever in relation to the property;
4 rents quoted in these particulars may be subject to VAT in addition; (v) ASH Chartered Surveyors will not be liable, in negligence or otherwise, for any loss arising from the use of these particulars; and
5 the reference to any plant, machinery, equipment, services, fixtures or fittings at the property shall not constitute a representation (unless otherwise stated) as to its state or condition or that it is capable of fulfilling its intended function. Prospective purchasers/tenants should satisfy themselves as to the fitness of such items for their requirements."
Code of Practice for Commercial Leases in England and Wales
You should be aware that the Code of practice on commercial leases in England and Wales strongly recommends you seek professional advice from a qualified surveyor, solicitor or licenced conveyancer before agreeing or signing a business tenancy agreement. The Code is available through professional institutions and trade associations.
Created: 10/09/2020 16:00:47
Modified: 03/11/2020 13:15:49
Label: Gloucester - Greenways Court, 77 Bristol Road ShowOnSite: True TenureDetails: Summary: Modern fully let residential investment with with a total rental income of £87,600 per annum. NavigateUrl: ~/Properties/Gloucester_-_Greenways_Court,_77_Bristol_Road.aspx
Gloucester Office
3 Pullman Court,
Great Western Road
Gloucester GL1 3ND
1 to 5 Kew Place,
Cheltenham GL53 7NQ
ASH Chartered Surveyors is the trading name of ASH & Co. CS LLP,
registered in England and Wales under the number OC326084.
Registered Office: 3 Pullman Court, Great Western Road, Gloucester GL1 3ND
VAT No: 484 9406 09 Regulated by: RICS
Legal Notices & Privacy Policy
Tweets by @ASHCo_Property


The invitation – it was both an offer and a request – came from a friend, colleague, and fellow traveler: Attend the 2010 LPI Fall Conference, give us your perspective on the homebuilding vertical space, and share your thoughts on the financial aspects of Lean, on how to connect measures of operating performance to business outcomes.
SAI Consulting is the latest Market Partner of Lean Pathways, Inc., what is known as LPI (http://www.leansystems.org), an international Lean Business System consulting consortium.
The roots of Lean in LPI are deep and bonafide; they have experience with an impressive number of companies, starting with Toyota. The President of LPI is Pascal Dennis, who extended the invitation. Pascal and I go back, oh, at least seven years, with the same client, a large-not-as-large-as-before, privately-held production homebuilding company; Pascal and I would both tell you that our mutual client is a progressive homebuilding enterprise with a remarkable, visionary owner.
Over the years, as Lean has become more mainstream, it has moved past the early adapters on the sigmoid curve, and is now touching on the early majority. LPI sees this as a threat. The fear is Lean has lost its edge, has become an accepted part of so-called best practices, and is in danger of stalling, as companies forget many of the lessons of the past. LPI also sees this as an opportunity.
LPI is very intent on determining what the "next big thing" will be, very focused on understanding the makings of the next curve that will take Lean to a new, higher level. There are new industries, more diverse clients, new approaches to delivering what is essentially the Toyota Production System. There is a recognition that Lean Thinking needs to be extended beyond manufacturing, into the functions and processes that lie both upstream – in marketing, design, and engineering – and downstream – in distribution, sales, and customer service.
Most importantly, there is an understanding at LPI that Lean has to translate improvements in operating performance into business outcomes, like better profitability, higher Return on Assets, and stronger cash flow; there is a realization that there has to be a Return on Lean Investment.
From that standpoint, SAI is a nice offset to LPI. We operate in different verticals (homebuilding and, now, financial services), with different parameters and different requirements that require different approaches. Despite our noted expertise in process redesign and improvement, our homebuilding client base requires that we operate more to the project management end of the process-project management spectrum. After all, homebuilding is not manufacturing; it is essentially Project Portfolio Management with embedded processes.
Most importantly for LPI, SAI has a well-reasoned approach to results-based consulting.
We are not delusional. In these economic circumstances, we work with clients any way we can. We will work under either a traditional, fee-for-service consulting model, or under a results-based consulting model. However, we prefer to work with clients (and be compensated) on the basis of the results – on the basis of the business outcomes – that our consulting produces.
Under a traditional, fee-for-service consulting approach, the work specified in a contract is delivered and the consultant is paid a fee, either a fixed amount, or an amount based on time. As the consultant, we are careful to only recommend and deliver consulting work that satisfies a true need or solves a real problem, but, under a traditional consulting arrangement, we are paid — like every other consulting firm – on the basis of the work product delivered, not the value or the results that it ultimately generates.
Every time a client engages a consultant, there is a risk/reward ratio associated with that decision. For some clients, the risk/reward ratio associated with a traditional, fee-for-service approach is acceptable; a traditional consulting arrangement involves less cost. The risk is that the project may not produce the intended benefit. In addition to risk/reward ratios that turn upside-down, there are limitations associated with a traditional consulting approach.
The type of high-yield, value-driven, results-based consulting SAI wants to deliver often requires more than a traditional consulting approach can provide – a whole host of requirements that make a traditional consulting approach problematic. It often requires (from us) a more comprehensive approach, more flexibility, longer timeframes, more attention to capabilities, more risk tolerance, more working capital, and a willingness to wean the client of dependency on us. If high-yield, value-driven, results-based consulting was structured under a traditional consulting arrangement, the risk/reward ratio would be unacceptable.
The work consultants do should make a difference, their consulting should contribute value (in the form of benefits that exceed costs), and the consultant-client relationship should be based on partnering that produces meaningful results (not on intent or meeting work product specifications). Consultants need to provide more than expertise. Consultants need to obtain results, they need to share accountability for those results, and – in terms of compensation – they need to share in those results.
We would prefer to focus our work with clients (and base our compensation) solely on the value that our consulting creates on the client's behalf. We would prefer to work with clients (and be compensated) solely on the basis of the results that our consulting enables them to achieve, measured in terms of the actual improvements to business (financial) outcomes.
That is why we do results-based consulting.
The choice of a consulting approach alters the relationship, and it narrows the focus. Under either approach, clients should receive the same, high-level expertise, experience, industry knowledge, and consulting capability that distinguishes a good consulting firm from a lousy consulting firm; in LPI parlance, "Big Consulting Firm Disease" would be considered just a branch of the "Big Company Disease" tree.
The difference is, a results-based consulting approach makes the consultant the client's partner.
In his new book ("The Remedy"), the words of one of Pascal's characters are aimed at the relationship between customers and suppliers, but they apply to the relationship between clients and consultants: "Partner means trust, friendship, and shared goals . . . we have a shared path . . . either we succeed together — or we fail together . . . [it] is not just good ethics, it is also good business".


text:
Next-Generation Cities Will Depend on Ecological Design, But Which Places Will Survive?
We're going to have to work with the Earth if we want to thrive.
By Tatiana Craine
Filed Under Future Cities
There's no doubt about it, climate change is here… and well, changing our world every day. What was true of our weather and bodies of water 20 years ago may not be the same today, and it's vital that we keep discovering new ways of embracing what's coming next.
To celebrate their 100th anniversary, the Ecological Society of America is looking towards the future. In a special November 2015 issue of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, researchers turned their focus towards urban innovations in the face of climate change. Needless to say, humans are going to have to adapt to the ever-changing environment in order to maintain our standards of living.
Kristina Hill, an associate professor at UC Berkeley's College of Environmental Design and the guest editor for the latest issue of Frontiers, was kind enough to break down some of the ESA's research for Inverse.
What's the Future Look Like for Cities in the U.S.?
Hill emphasizes the need for harmony with nature, rather than control, as one of the chief ways that people will be able to thrive in a changing environment. One of the methods we'll probably see over the next several decades will be a change in the way cities' basic infrastructure is constructed.
"Our biggest cities — both those with the most people and those related to the most economic output — are likely to see re-investment in infrastructure to protect and help them thrive with climate change," Hill says.
So what does that mean for some of the country's most populated cities on the coasts?
"I don't think Miami is going to be easy to protect," Hill warns, citing the city's lack of protection from the elements. "That's the one city that might be a lot smaller 100 years from now and might even be abandoned. There's no clear way of protecting it from both sea level rise and storms, because it is built on sand and on limestone that are both highly susceptible to erosion or flooding from below as well as from the sides."
New Orleans, on the other hand, Hill believes will still be around: "I think New Orleans will eventually be isolated as an island, connected by bridges to the mainland."
Meanwhile on the West Coast, San Francisco is at risk if there aren't enough funds for its upkeep. "San Francisco is pretty high up, but its new development areas (Treasure Island and Mission Bay) are going to be very expensive to maintain, and might eventually be let go," says Hill.
Hawaiian vacations might also become a little more difficult in the future, as Hill notes that "Honolulu is also in trouble, and not tracking their situation very clearly."
However, there's at least one coastal city that might be able to adapt relatively quickly: New York City.
"I'll bet we are going to double down on New York in Manhattan, moving in the direction of a kind of 'hardened' island surrounded by very large levees or 'super dikes' that buildings can be built upon, even though it's very vulnerable," explains Hill. "But we might lose the Rockaways, parts of Staten Island, and parts of Queens or the Bronx."
Will There Be a Mass Exodus to the Midwest?
Climate change is going to have an effect on the coastal regions (like rising sea levels), but Hill doesn't think that necessarily means there will be an influx of populations flocking towards the midlands.
"We're going to double-down on most coastal cities," Hill asserts. "Human beings have very rarely abandoned cities, over the last 5,100 years. With our current level of building tech, I think we can figure out amazing ways to stay on the water in almost every city."
Hill explained that while there's hope that we'll be able to adapt, that adaptation to the weather might be slightly delayed… by a couple hundred years, maybe.
"We can't do the same level of spending everywhere over the next 100 years," Hill tells Inverse about the amount of money needed to create solid infrastructure that will be able to stand up to the elements. "But we are very likely to 'recolonize' lost neighborhoods over the next 100 years after that, as we learn more about building in flooded landscapes."
In fact, Hill believes that people from the midlands will actually move away from landlocked areas towards larger bodies of water.
"I think people will continue to move to the coasts, especially the West Coast where there are no hurricanes," says Hill. "The central US will see major heatwaves, floods, fires, and droughts, and may not have enough money to adapt to them quickly enough to stay. It's a matter of both having the money and economy to support adaptation and the technological capacity to manage new conditions."
Resources over the coming decades may need to be funneled to specific places based off of how readily and easily they'll be able to modify their current policies and infrastructure — on a budget, of course.
"Some [cities] will be too expensive to keep over the short run, and if they are abandoned, it may be centuries before people re-invest in those old locations," says Hill. "Miami is the best example of someplace we might abandon in the coming century, then maybe return to later in a different way."
A look at Hamburg's innovative HafenCity area.
How Can We Change Our Impact on the Earth?
Hill mentions the need to start a cultural revolution that strengthens our relationship with the environment instead of working against the tides, the weather, and other lifeforms on the planet. It will mean dedicating time to learn about the habitats around us on a basic, natural level, but it will help our diverse cities keep flourishing from New York to San Francisco.
"I'm hoping we will see more people learning to live with the dynamics of their local environment," says Hill, referring to getting smarter about wildland fires, changing plantings, and discharging greywater from our homes into our yards.
Additionally, people will need to find ways to raise their homes and understand more about how flooding works in their areas, rather than relying on public infrastructure (like levees): "That way, the public infrastructure will be able to do more varied things, and support habitat/recreation to help our regions thrive while they change."
People can make changes in their personal lives, but they also have to be accountable for what goes on in their communities and regional governments.
"Overall, people can do resourceful things at home, but the harder thing is to have the courage to invest in shared projects," Hill urges. "It will require us to take a leap of faith and trust public development authorities to re-develop districts of cities with private partners. It will require us to spend money and learn about how to produce good public policy together, not just one family or one house at a time."
In fact, Hill wants people to make sure the projects they're spending tax dollars on will actually benefit people while they're paying off those ventures: "Local citizens need to demand that current investments in infrastructure will be useful for at least the period in which taxpayers have to pay back the debt for those projects!"
Hill notes that there's a widespread problem of spending exorbitant amounts of money on old-world infrastructure that isn't ready for environmental changes. Highways and water treatment plants need to be ready, but our public policies and investing habits are not up to snuff yet. "If we spend billions to build new plants or roads that aren't ready for climate change, we will tie our hands and be unable to pay for adaptation for them," Hill warns. "We'll still be paying for the construction debt, when we need to adapt!"
Where Are the Leading Innovators?
Hill points out that Germany, the Netherlands, and Japan are leading the way on building innovative environmental infrastructure, especially in flood-prone settings.
"The Baakenhafen district of Hamburg's HafenCity area will have new mid-rise buildings in the water on deep pile foundations, and we need to watch those projects to learn from them," Hill says. "The Dutch have already built very cool urban districts with foundations in the water, near Rotterdam called Nesselande, and we can learn a lot from them as well."
Hill has been particularly impressed by the great waterproofing technologies of HafenCity and Nesselande, which have plenty of buildings with their feet or foundations under water. Hill also mentions that floating buildings and floating whole urban blocks are being developed in the Netherlands. Meanwhile, in Japan, they have built structures on super levees in Osaka.
One of Hill's ideas for integrating the natural and human realms of architecture is to combine concrete-and-steel structures with materials from the surrounding landscape to create a hybrid, living infrastructure that will withstand the elements.
Change Can Be Good — And We Need to Do It
Change is inevitable — face it, the world is already changing rapidly these days — but we need to make sure we're rising to the occasion and using the resources we have now while we still have them. Once we find out better, easier, and more cost-efficient ways to adapt, we'll still have to make sure we're engaging with the natural environment, our neighbors, and the rest of the world to learn from each other and ensure more than just bare-minimum survival.
"The worst case is if people retreat behind walls in fear, and don't understand what's going on outside those walls," says Hill.
In the end, Hill says that we'll need to be flexible with our housing, our infrastructure, and our cities if we want to thrive for generations to come.
"Money spent today has to support adaptation, in one way or another, or we're passing on a bigger problem to our kids and young people," Hill tells Inverse. "I think that's flat-out unethical, and terrible public policy."
Media via Joern Pollex/Getty Images , YouTube


text:
Q: Changing a library path in Netbeans I'm trying to run my C++ code in Netbeans but It gives me the following error:(It is compiled successfully)

dyld: Library not loaded: /usr/local/lib/libdiscpp.10.dylib

I can run it on terminal(mac), because I set the DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH to what I wanted but in Netbeans I can't . I changed it as an environmental variable like this :

DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH=/Users/nima/dislin

but it gives me the same error. anybody has any idea?

A: Assuming your NetBeans project type is general C/C++ Application:

*

*Open project properties

*In the left pain open the Build sub-tree, then click on Linker

*In the right pane find Additional Library Directories line, then click on its chooser (a little square with three dots on the right)

*In the popup window which opens you will be able to choose any (existing) directory you want to add to your library search path

A new project configuration will be created after that (by default you have only Debug and Release configurations) - don't forget to make it current when you compile and link.
I'm not in OSX, but the sequence should be the same.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Topps Tiles hit by General Election wobbles
Sales down 7 per cent in the past two months due to current political and economic uncertainty
Tom PegdenLeicester Mercury business editor
The new Parkside Tiles showroom at the Topps Tiles HQ in Leicestershire (Image: Leicester Mercury)
Sign up to FREE email alerts from BusinessLive - East Midlands
Topps Tiles sales for the past two months were 7 per cent down on the same time last year due to the "heightened political and economic uncertainty".
The business said shoppers were being more cautious since the General Election had been called, following a relatively steady 12 months.
Chief executive Matthew Williams said: "At the start of the new financial year, trading conditions have become more challenging, with consumer demand weakening further since the General Election was called in late October.
"Against this backdrop of heightened political and economic uncertainty, like-for-like sales in the first eight weeks have declined.
"Whilst we expect external events will continue to weigh on consumer confidence for the immediate future, we remain confident that our market-leading retail offer and growing commercial operations give us a strong platform from which to deliver sustainable growth over the medium and long term."
In its annual accounts, published today, the Leicestershire-based business said the recent weakening in consumer demand was "in line with our past experience".
It said: "A reduction in political uncertainty will be key to the short term outlook improving."
Matthew Williams is stepping down as chief executive of Topps Tiles (Image: Leicester Mercury)
The annual results showed revenues were up 1.1 per cent to £219.2 million in the year to the end of September, while pre-tax profits were down 1.6 per cent to £12.5 million.
Despite relatively flat results, the company was able to find £4.9 million to pay down its debt, year-on-year, to £11.3 million.
Topps Tiles, which has its headquarters in Enderby, next to junction 21 of the M1, said more than eight in 10 of the tiles it sells were its own brands, or ones that were exclusive to the chain.
It now has 362 stores, six less than last year, and has launched an online tool where customers can chose tiles and see how they would look in a kitchen or a bathroom.
A Topps Tiles store (Image: PA)
Mr Williams, who is stepping down from the board on Friday, said: "This has been another year of strategic progress for Topps, with a resilient sales performance in our retail business and significant development in our commercial operations.
"In retail, our strategy of 'Out-specialising the Specialists' enabled us to deliver like-for-like sales growth and further enhance our market-leading gross margins in tough market conditions.
"In commercial, we saw significant year-on-year sales growth as we continue to invest in constructing a market-leader over the medium term."
Shares in the business were down 5 per cent at 62p this morning.
Topps Tiles CEO Matt Williams is stepping down – says time right for a new challenge
Mr Williams announced earlier this month that he was leaving the business, which was founded by his father, for a new challenge.
Her has worked at Topps Tiles for 20 years, including more than a decade as chief executive.
In that time he has rebranded the business and moved into the commercial sector, buying the Parkside business in Leicestershire and taking an 80 per cent stake in Strata Tiles earlier this year.
Geary's Bakery sold
HSD wins HMS Victory contract
Fast food giant Jollibee eyes UK
Pukka Pies CEO Deborah Ewan
Topps opened its first shop in Manchester in 1963 and remains the country's biggest tiles retailer for DIY buyers and tradespeople.
He will be replaced by current chief finance officer Rob Parker.
Analysts at Liberum cut their forecast for Topps Tiles's profit before tax by 10 per cent after the news this morning.
Downgrading the company's target share price, they said: "A positive election result, bringing better macro and consumer optimism would give clear upside, but at this stage we prefer to set our estimates prudently."
Team behind Electric Brixton in London on look-out for new venues around UK
David Wilson Homes East Midlands built 726 homes last year - which it valued at £132m
Retail & High Street
home design diy
Retail & High StreetList of shops that have collapsed into administration in 2020 as UK lockdown hits high streetThe high street was under pressure before the pandemic - and many retailers are now struggling to survive
Businesses allowed to stay open during coronavirus lockdown as winter virus battle reaches crucial stage
CoronavirusMost businesses will be forced to shut under latest Government restrictions - but some will stay open
Retail & ConsumerWetherspoon due to report sales plunge after third lockdownWetherspoon will post its latest trading update on Wednesday, January 20
Welsh Government announcement on retailer rules and new workplace risk assessments
RetailFirst minister Mark Drakeford today set out tighter new rules for businesses that remain open in lockdown
Tighter Welsh supermarket rules - what will and won't be included
WalesFirst minister Mark Drakeford set to announce new rules at the lunchtime briefing


Seawater Greenhouse, a company that develops greenhouses in arid climates that use seawater for cooling and irrigation, have their Hackney offices in this building. To test some of their ideas at home, they wanted to add a greenhouse and maximise their office space. Wilton Studio gained planning consent for a two storey extension incorporating the greenhouse.
The new construction was carried out in a steel and timber structure with green oak stairs and fittings from the client's wood. The roof over the greenhouse is made from ETFE cushions. Plants grow in a nutrient solution in pipes and on the roof top garden that provides even more growing space.


text:
Tag Archives: Sean Foran
MUSICIANS WHO MOVE
Posted on September 17, 2013 | 1 comment
Gerald Clayton Picture: Ben Wolf
Wangaratta Jazz and Blues Festival, November 1-4, 2013
This preview covers a lot of ground, with the aim of letting people know what is on offer. The joy of a festival such as Wangaratta is that patrons can take risks and dip into unfamiliar territory.
JAZZ PROGRAM PREVIEW
Music moves us, musicians move us and musicians move. So many times when we read the biographies of favourite musicians, we find they have made leaps to new places and new music communities — sometimes returning home eventually, sometimes not.
On a recent Sunday night at Melbourne's Uptown Jazz Café, pianist Marc Hannaford played two sets at a farewell gig before leaving for at least five years in New York. He invited musician friends and colleagues to sit in. It was a great way to celebrate a big move in his life and career.
This year's Wangaratta Festival of Jazz and Blues brings us many artists who have made significant moves to new places as their music developed.
As in previous years, many of the musicians are expatriate Australians. The line-up, carefully crafted by artistic director Adrian Jackson, raises the (admittedly immaterial) question of how long a local musician has to be living overseas before being classified as an international artist.
In a year when piano is the chosen instrument for the National Jazz Awards, it is fitting that the headline artist will be thrice Grammy-nominated young US pianist Gerald Clayton, who has attracted attention as a rising star in a trio with Joe Sanders on bass and Justin Brown on drums. On this visit Pete Van Nostrand will be at the drum kit.
Clayton was born in Amsterdam, grew up in Los Angeles and now lives in New York. His trio's third album, Life Forum, was due for release in Australia by Universal on September 2.
Clayton will spend some time working with Monash University music students before the festival, so a few students could well end up with the trio on stage for one concert. Here is a sample.
Chris McNulty (Picture supplied)
Among the expatriate internationals making the trip to Wangaratta will be vocalist Chris McNulty, who has been based in New York since 1988, and this year won Best Australian Jazz Vocal Album for The Song That Sings You Here.
McNulty, who was in Melbourne for the Jazz Bell Awards, will perform with her partner, guitarist/composer Paul Bollenback, and bassist Ugonna Okegwo, both from New York, in The Magic Trio, a drumless collaboration they have shared since 2000. Bollenback will also lead a trio with Okegwo and Perth-based drummer Daniel Susnjar, who played with Paul when he was in the USA last year.
McNulty will also re-establish a link from her early days in a band with pianist/composer Paul Grabowsky, joined by Frank Di Sario on bass and Mike Jordan on drums.
Expatriate international Barney McAll is no stranger to Wangaratta. In 2011 he brought a choir and large ensemble to the festival stage for Graft, but this year he will appear solo and in a trio.
In what promises to be real treat, McAll will take to the Holy Trinity Cathedral stage to explore some of the gospel music he regularly performs on Sundays at a church in Brooklyn. Anyone who heard McAll's three solo pieces during the Melbourne Jazz Co-operative 30th Anniversary Concert on January 27 this year at The Edge, Federation Square, will look forward to hearing more.
McAll, who described the Wangaratta festival as "the bohemian grove of Australian jazz", told organisers he would be playing some spirituals and new solo pieces, including a preview "of my first solo piano recording, which will be called Every Piano Needs A House In It".
Joining McAll in his Non-Compliance Trio will be friends Jonathan Zwartz on bass and Hamish Stuart on drums.
Another Australian export, guitarist/composer Peter O'Mara left Sydney for New York in 1981, moved to Munich the following year and has lived in Germany and, more recently, Austria for 30 years. Last at Wangaratta in 2002, O'Mara will lead his quartet from Vienna in what Jackson describes as music "on the jazz side of jazz-rock fusion, very electronic, funky and pretty exciting". Expect a mix of what O'Mara describes as "modern jazz, odd-metre fusion and groove", in which expat American Tim Collins on vibes shares melodies with the guitar. Here is a sample.
More of the European input so vital to any festival will come from Dutch trumpet player Eric Vloeimans, who uses an electronic attachment on his instrument and, with his quartet Gatecrash, will also bring a fusion and funk emphasis. Expect a range from jazz to world, electro-funk and "contemplative soundscapes that are punctuated by a touch of wackiness".
Jef Neve
Belgian pianist Jef Neve was most recently at Wangaratta in 2010 with his trio (see Ausjazz's rave review), but this time will play solo piano as part of a world tour. Neve regards the piano as an orchestral instrument — "Everything is present: choir, strings, woodwinds, brass and, of course, percussion" — and says the "soul and sound of the instrument" is his main source of inspiration in his classically influenced playing.
Froy Aagre (Picture supplied)
Norwegian saxophonist Froy Aagre performed at Wangaratta in 2009 with members of the Brisbane band Misinterprotato, now known as Trichotomy, who she met at Canada's Banff Jazz Workshop in 2005. Sean Foran (electric piano) and John Parker (drums) from Trichotomy will join Aagre to present her new electric repertoire, which she says "fuses new electronic sounds into melodic, groove-based jazz" and is "a way to communicate joy to the audience".
That pretty much covers the FIFO (fly in fly out) jazz and improvised music performers, but the line-up of Australians at Wangaratta this year is so extensive and exciting that it is arguable they could carry the festival.
Sydney pianist and composer Mike Nock will join reedsman Julien Wilson, whose playing recently has been outstanding, and guitarist Steve Magnusson will re-visit the trio that was so successful in May at Stonnington Jazz.
Barney McAll's presence will enable two CD launches. Bassist Jonathan Zwartz will bring his nine-piece band together for the first time since the recording of The Remembering and Forgetting of the Air, which features McAll, Magnusson, Phil Slater on trumpet, Wilson on tenor, James Greening on trombone and sousaphone, Richard Maegraith on tenor and bass clarinet, Hamish Stuart on drums and Fabian Hevia on percussion. With this material and this line-up, no one should miss this.
McAll will also join Zwartz, Allan Browne on drums and Wilson — Julien recording for the first time in a classic tenor sax quartet — to launch their album of mostly standards, mostly ballads entitled This Is Always.
Julien Wilson, Sam Anning, Allan Browne
In another launch not to be missed (I know this because there was a recent preview at Bennetts Lane Jazz Club), expatriate bassist Sam Anning will join Wilson and Browne to celebrate Sweethearts, an absolutely entrancing album that serendipitously was recorded when Anning, over from New York, was delayed in Melbourne by a US visa problem, for which we all should be eternally grateful.
Expat drummer Raj Jayaweera, also be back from New York for the festival, will form the house band with Anning for the National Jazz Awards piano recitals.
The plethora of Australian jazz musicians in New York will be further depleted by the departure to Wangaratta of trombonist Shannon Barnett, who will reconvene her quartet — Nash Lee guitar, Chris Hale bass guitar and Hugh Harvey drums — and also launch a new band, U.nlock, with vocalist Gian Slater, Sam Anning and Raj Jayaweera with material the four worked on in New York recently. A key feature of U.nlock will be "voice and trombone sharing both the lead and accompanying roles", Slater says.
Barnett will also perform as part of clarinettist and vocalist Barry Wratten's New Orleans Pelicans with Michael McQuaid on trumpet and reeds, Steve Grant on piano, John Scurry on guitar and banjo, Howard Cairns or Leigh Barker (Saturday morning) on bass and Lynn Wallis on drums.
The much-missed trombonist will also assemble Dixie Jack, a local version of Ragstretch, a band with whom she has played in Denmark consisting of Copenhagen-based expat clarinet player and vocalist Chris Tanner, known for his classic jazz work with Julien Wilson in the band Virus, and guitarist Craig Fermanis, Sam Anning and Raj Jayaweera. Dixie Jack, consisting of Barnett, Wilson, Anning and Jayaweera, will play traditional jazz.
Classic jazz is well represented this year. Melbourne band the Sugarfoot Ramblers is led by Travis Woods on trumpet, with Jason Downes on reeds and graduates or current students of the jazz course at Monash University who share a fondness for New Orleans Jazz. Others in the line-up are James Macaulay trombone, Brett Thompson banjo and guitar, Marty Holoubek bass and Daniel Berry drums. From Sydney, The Cope Street Parade and The Finer Cuts, who have recorded with experienced trumpeter Geoff Bull, will also add their traditional jazz sounds. Allan Browne will join the Finer Cuts, who usually don't perform with a drummer, for one session.
The Wangaratta festival always draws musicians from across the country, providing a relatively rare opportunity for them to share the stage. The exciting sextet led by Melbourne's Paul Grabowsky will feature Jamie Oehlers from Perth on tenor and Sydney musicians James Greening on trombone, Andrew Robson on alto, Cameron Undy on bass and Simon Barker on drums. This band has recorded an album it hopes to release at the festival.
Satsuki Odamura, Paul Williamson and Peter Knight.
Another certain hit, Peter Knight's band Way Out West, now features Sydney-based koto player, Satsuki Odamura, along with Melburnians Lucas Michailidis on guitar and Hugh Harvey on drums as well as founding members, Peter Knight on trumpet, flugelhorn, Paul Williamson on saxophones, Howard Cairns on bass and Ray Pereira on percussion.
And Melbourne vocalist Gian Slater will team with Perth saxophonist Jamie Oehlers and Melburnians Paul Grabowsky on piano, Ben Robertson on bass and Dave Beck on drums in The Differences to play material from the album of that name.
Two concerts enjoyed by patrons of Stonnington Jazz in May will also be on the Wangaratta program. Red Fish Blue is an alliance of two musicians from Melbourne, pianist Sam Keevers and percussionist Javier Fredes, with two from Sydney, bassist Brett Hirst and drummer Simon Barker. And vocalist Josh Kyle and Keevers will perform Songs of Friends, which are their interpretations of songs by Australian singers/composers.
The Cup Eve Concert will feature Joe Chindamo with his trio and Monique Di Mattina performing music from her recent album Nola's Ark, which is a jazz blues hybrid.
AUSJAZZ RECOMMENDATIONS
In case it helps, the following are the concerts that I'd be keen not to miss:
Barney McAll's solo piano in Holy Trinity on Sunday, November 3 at 3pm
Jef Neve solo piano, WPAC Theatre, Sunday, Nov 3 at 1pm
Launch of Jonathan Zwartz album The Remembering and Forgetting of the Air, Friday, Nov 1, WPAC Theatre
Launch of McAll/Wilson/Zwartz/Browne album This Is Always, WPAC Memorial Hall, Saturday, Nov 2 at 2.30pm
Launch of Wilson/Anning/Browne album Sweethearts, WPAC Memorial Hall, Saturday, November 2 at 4.30pm
Barnett and Slater's U.nlock, WPAC Memorial Hall, Sunday, Nov 3 at 2.30pm
Paul Grabowsky Sextet, WPAC Theatre, Sunday, Nov 3 at 10.30pm
Way Out West, WPAC Theatre, Saturday, Nov 2, 11am
Wangaratta Festival of Jazz and Blues
Posted in JAZZ FESTIVALS, WANGARATTA JAZZ 2013
Tagged Allan Browne, Andrew Robson, Barney McAll, Barry Wratten, bennetts lane jazz club, Brett Hirst, Brett Thompson, Cameron Undy, Chris Hale, Chris McNulty, Chris Tanner, Craig Fermanis, Daniel Berry, Dixie Jack, Eric Vloeimans, Fabian Hevia, Frank Di Sario, Froy Aagre, Gatecrash, Geoff Bull, Gerald Clayton, Gian Slater, Hamish Stuart, Howard Cairns, Hugh Harvey, James Greening, James Macauley, Javier Fredes, Jef Neve, Joe Chindamo, Joe Sanders, John Parker, John Scurry, Jonathan Zwartz, Josh Kyle, julien wilson, Justin Brown, Leigh Barker, Lucas Michailidis, Lynn Wallis, Marc Hannaford, Marty Holoubek, Melbourne Jazz Co-operative, Michael McQuaid, Mike Jordan, Mike Nock, Misinterprotato, Monique Di Mattina, Nash Lee, National Jazz Awards, New Orleans Pelicans, Nola's Ark, Paul Bollenback, paul grabowsky, paul williamson, Pete Van Nostrand, Peter Knight, Peter O'Mara, Phil Slater, Ragstretch, Raj Jayaweera, Ray Pereira, Red Fish Blue, Richard Maegraith, sam anning, Sam Keevers, Satsuki Odamura, Sean Foran, shannon barnett, Simon Barker, Steve Grant, Steve Magnusson, Stonnington Jazz, Sugarfoot Ramblers, The Cope Street Parade, The Finer Cuts, Tim Collins, Travis Woods, Trichotomy, U.nlock, Ugonna Okegwo, Uptown Jazz Cafe, Wangaratta Festival of Jazz and Blues
THE GENTLE WAR — MISINTERPROTATO
THE oxymoronic title of the fifth album by this inventive Brisbane trio of Sean Foran on piano, Pat Marchisella on acoustic bass and John Parker on drums is a clue to its abrupt changes and contradictory mood switches.
Compellingly disquieting, this outing is less immediately accessible than 2008's Variations. But from the gloriously deep, resonant piano clinging to the bass in Foran's opener, Chase, to the meditative silences in Parker's closing Time, there is much to make us comfortable with what may at first be discomforting.
Agitation gives way to solemnity in Shut Up, delicacy develops gravitas in Not According to Plan and a sprinkle becomes a deluge in Cute.
The Gentle War pits struggle against serenity in an absorbing tussle.
File between: EST, The Necks
CD launch: Sept 26, Bennetts Lane, 9pm
Posted in CD REVIEWS
Tagged CD reviews, John Parker, Misinterprotato, Pat Marchisella, Sean Foran, The Gentle War, Variations


Hi guys, it's been a while but i'm back and with good news. I HAVE A JOB!!!! Last week I got a call back and the next day I signed a half year contract with a social media consultancy company! I start work on the first of june so I still have almost a month to relax and enjoy the great weather we have been having.
I could write loads about the great fruits and vegetables, the 15 different olives and oils, the wonderfull smells and the friendly owner but pictures say more than a thousand words right?


text:
The PE: Few Inland Republicans support pension bill
Posted October 14, 2010 at 6:01 am
10:26 PM PDT on Wednesday, October 13, 2010
By JIM MILLER
Sacramento Bureau
SACRAMENTO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger soon will sign legislation that rolls back retirement benefits for state workers, achieving a years-long goal after he and the Legislature's Republican caucuses demanded pension changes as part of any budget agreement.
But several Inland GOP members nevertheless opposed the measure or abstained from voting during last week's all-night session, amid heavy lobbying by the union representing prison guards.
The bill changes pension formulas for new workers to what they were before lawmakers improved them in 1999. The changes would apply to workers without collective bargaining agreements with the state.
In a floor speech late Thursday, state Sen. Bob Dutton accused the governor's office of trying to use the bill to punish the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, the largest union without a contract. Lawmakers ratify the pacts.
"What I'd really like to see is…the administration to go and deal with the CCPOA and actually bring a (contract) to the floor," said Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga, who became Senate GOP leader Monday. "Because this will end up being used, I feel, unfairly, against them as a bargaining tool."
Dutton later voted against the bill, along with four other Republicans in the Senate. In the Assembly, Paul Cook, R-Yucca Valley, and Kevin Jeffries, R-Lake Elsinore, were the only Republicans present who did not support the measure. Some Democrats also voted no or abstained.
Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear criticized the GOP lawmakers.
"Republicans who preach fiscal responsibility and then vote against pension reform or hide under their desks when it's time to vote have absolutely no credibility on government spending or reform," McLear said.
Of Dutton, McLear added, "It does not bode well for Republicans that their new leader cares more about taking care of the unions than he does the taxpayers."
New workers
The Legislature's majority Democrats, close allies of state employee unions, had resisted the proposal for months. They finally agreed to it last week.
For workers hired after Jan. 15, 2011, the bill requires non-safety workers to be at least 60 before they can begin collecting a pension based on 2 percent of their salary for every year worked. A 1999 bill lowered the age to 55.
Public safety workers will need to be 55 before they began collecting a pension based on 2.5 percent of their salary for every year worked. The 1999 bill set it at 3 percent at age 50.
It also bases retirement payouts on a three-year average instead of just a single year.
Recently negotiated deals between the state and employees unions reflect the legislation, officials said. Little more than 24 hours before the vote, the largest state employees union, SEIU Local 1000, came to terms with the governor.
That left the prison guards association as the largest union still without a deal, with none on the horizon. The union and the Schwarzenegger administration have a strained relationship.
As lawmakers prepared to vote on the budget package, union leaders and members flooded the Capitol to lobby against the pension bill.
In a letter to state senators, the union's executive vice president Chuck Alexander wrote, "State collective bargaining law already tilts in the direction of the employer. To further tilt that relationship in favor of the state will have long-term negative effect on collective bargaining and public safety."
Little time
Cook said there was little time to read the bill before a vote early Friday.
"It just seemed like they were singling out certain unions," Cook said of the administration. "I thought there was a hidden agenda from the governor and I didn't want to get caught up in that."
Jeffries contended that the governor abandoned GOP lawmakers during a 2005 pension fight.
"Now he's got religion and expects everybody to be on board," Jeffries said. "I don't like being caught up in a game and I don't like being rushed to vote."
Dutton said he thinks the bill will make it harder to recruit well-qualified correctional officers. He also doubts if the new contracts and the rollback of the 1999 law will produce the "pension reform people expect."
"Hopefully I'm wrong," he said Tuesday.
Assemblyman Brian Nestande, R-Palm Desert, voted for last week's bill. "We definitely need pension reform," he said.
Filed under: Budget, Finance, In the News, Pensions, Politics, Republicans, State Assembly, State of California, State Senate, Unions


WAYLAND: Samuel N. "Sammy" Mondesir, age 5 1/2, died unexpectedly on Friday, October 12, 2018 from complications due to bronchial asthma.
He was born in Boston on January 13, 2013 the son of Emilienne "Emilie" Cadiche of Wayland and Jean-Marie Mondesir of Ottawa, Canada.
Besides his parents, Sammy is survived by his Godmother and cousin Daphnee Piou of Wayland and his Godfathers and cousins Noah Piou of Wayland and Herby Raymond of NY. He is survived by several other cousins Hansy Piou of VA; Tony Michel of NY; David Michel of Boston; Randy Raymond of NY; Asa Cadiche of NY; McClean Brisseau and Derrick Brisseau both of VA. He was the nephew of Emose Piou of Wayland; Yolette Cadiche Raphael of MA; Yvrose Raymond of FL; Marcia Gordon of MA; Bernadette Bonne Annee of VA; Jean-Eugene Piou of Wayland; William Cadiche of NY; Herve Raymond of FL; Henry Raphael of MA and Evens Mondesir of MA. He was the great-nephew of Ivina Julien of Wayland. Also survived by his sisters Phalandia Mondesir and Cynthia Mondesir both of Canada.
Sammy was a student at the Veritas Christian Academy of Wayland and was a loving and warm child who loved to play soccer and was eager to learn. He loved to sing Christian songs and play the piano. With his family, he was a member at Trinitarian Congregational Church where he participated in all the children's programs. He would light up a room with his beautiful smile and was loving and outgoing and embraced life to its fullest. He will be fondly remembered by his family and friends as a loving, caring and active little boy.
Visitations will be held on Friday, October 19, 2018 from 5:00 to 8:00 pm at the John C. Bryant Funeral Home, 56 Pemberton Road (off Rte. 30), Wayland.
His funeral service will be held on Saturday, October 20, 2018 at 9:00 o'clock at Trinitarian Congregational Church, 53 Cochituate Road (Rte. 27), Wayland.
Interment will follow in North Cemetery, Wayland.


If you are running a restaurant, hotel, or school cafeteria, you know the importance of having the right utility cart for the job. Whether you are transporting full bus tubs back to the kitchen or delivering meals for room service, a transport cart with the right weight capacity, caster type, and handle design can make your job infinitely easier.
This guide is designed to help you narrow down the search for the best food service cart for your application by outlining factors like plastic versus metal construction, wheel types, ergonomic handle designs, and actual weight capacity.
Choosing plastic versus metal really comes down to the amount and type of use the cart will be getting, along with personal preference. Sometimes a metal cart is necessary, but in other instances a plastic cart will do the same job just as well or better.
Plastic: Carts made with plastic are often lighter and won't show wear and tear as easily as metal carts. Many of our plastic utility carts are chip, dent, and stain resistant where metal would show scratches and dents. Plastic bussing and transport carts provide an aesthetic appeal for bussing tables in the front of the house, but they can be used for transporting meals and catering supplies, too.
Metal: Many metal carts provide long-lasting durability to aid you in transporting just about any load that you need to move; however, they can be more predisposed to show dents and scratches than plastic carts.
Most are made from stainless steel for excellent rust resistance to keep your cart sanitary and safe for use. Our metal utility carts come in a variety of styles so that you can find the perfect cart for your application, from light-duty to heavy-duty usage.
When choosing a metal food service cart, keep in mind that the gauge of the steel plays an important part in the cart's durability. The lower the gauge, the stronger and more durable the steel will be!
This table takes these factors into consideration and uses general recommendations and weight capacities to give you an idea of which type of service cart would be best for your application.
94 queries in 0.412 seconds.


text:
HomeNewsEastern, Southern Africa loses 70,000 girls annually to pregnancy related complications
Eastern, Southern Africa loses 70,000 girls annually to pregnancy related complications
August 2, 2019 News, Sports & Health 0
Sandton, Johannesburg | URN | More than 70, 000 girls aged 15 to 19 years die because of pregnancy related complications within the Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) region every year. This is according to a study on Early and Unintended Pregnancy (EUP) conducted in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland and Zimbabwe.
The study conducted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), revealed that three to seven girls aged 15 to 19 in the region are either pregnant or have ever been pregnant.
Prof Hubert Gijzen, UNESCO's Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) regional coordinator, unveiled the statistics at the launch of UNESCO's Let's Talk campaign it Sandton, Johannesburg. The campaign that will be carried out in all ESA member countries is intended to popularize the need to end Early and Unintended Pregnancy (EUP) and empower teenage mothers to go back to school.
The Let's talk campaign launch was attended by education and health ministers, child rights advocates, legislators and journalists from more ESA countries who made a commitment to support efforts to end Early and Unintended Pregnancy's.
Angie Motshekga, South Africa's minister for education said a lot needs to be done to mitigate Early and Unintended Pregnancies in Africa, by enacting policies that support re-entry for teenage mothers and abortion in case of unintended pregnancy.
Motshekga and Gijzen noted that victims of Early and Unintended Pregnancy face a lot of stigma in society as they are often discriminated and termed bad examples to other teenagers in school. The duo noted that in Eastern and Southern Africa, once a teenager conceives, she is immediately expelled from school and home.
Leaders at all spheres were urged to educate parents, teachers and school administrators that girls who become pregnant are forced by circumstances around their life, for instance, poverty and ignorance.
Gijzen said that it does not make any change to task a teenager to explain why and how she became pregnant but she should be understood and supported.
Read Also: Abortion: The alternative contraceptive among youth in Uganda?
UNESCO's situation analysis on Early and Unintended Pregnancy (EUP) in the region shows seven out of 10 girls aged 15 to 19 in Namibia are pregnant or have ever been pregnant. Lesotho, Kenya and Uganda came in second, third and fourth position.
Early and Unintended Pregnancy (EUP)
Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA)
Let's Talk Campaign
Prof Hubert Gijzen
Unwanted Pregnancies
15 more Ugandans test positive to COVID-19, confirmed cases rise to 160
Kampala, Uganda | URN | Uganda's confirmed coronavirus cases have risen to 160 after another …..READ MORE
Women in Uganda at risk as contraceptives supply run out of stock
Kampala, Uganda | URN | There is a stock out of contraceptives in health centres …..READ MORE
Dr Atwine frustrated by non-performing Commissioners in Ministry of Health
Kampala, Uganda | URN | The Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary, Dr Diana Atwine has expressed …..READ MORE


See below for a frequently-updated, comprehensive list of upcoming running events in the local Alexandria Bay, NY area. Races listed here include both walking and running events of various distances — from 1-milers, to 5Ks, to marathons, and everything else in between.
Sorry, we did not find any running events in or near Alexandria Bay at this time.
Complete list of running events in and near Alexandria Bay, NY: Marathons, 1-milers, 5Ks, half-marathons, 10Ks, obstacle courses, walking events & more.
Alexandria Bay (NY) is a village in Jefferson County with an estimated population of 1,078.


The hexadecimal color code #999ad7 is a medium light shade of blue. In the RGB color model #999ad7 is comprised of 60% red, 60.39% green and 84.31% blue. In the HSL color space #999ad7 has a hue of 239° (degrees), 44% saturation and 72% lightness. This color has an approximate wavelength of 465.02 nm.


text:
Ink-Slinger Profiles by Alex Jay: Arthur T. Williamson
Arthur T. Williamson was born in Kentucky in July 1869 according to the 1900 U.S. Federal Census. According to the 1870 census, Williamson was the only child of John, a grocer, and Alvinie. They resided in Paducah, Kentucky.
In 1880, Williamson, his mother, a dress maker, and her brother, John Hughes, resided in Chicago, Illinois, at 251 Western Avenue. Specific information about Williamson's education and art training has not been found. The Lakeside Annual Directory of the City of Chicago (1887) had a listing for a "Williamson Arthur, engraver, bds. 104 Aberdeen".
The Daily Inter Ocean (Chicago, Illinois), December 22, 1894 had an advertisement for its Sunday Christmas issue with two full-page illustrations by Williamson.
The Daily Inter Ocean, August 26, 1896, announced a new series to illustrated by Williamson.
Mr. Porter's Letter.
The Inter Ocean prints today the first of a series of articles by Robert P. Porter. These articles will be profusely illustrated by Arthur T. Williamson, the well-known artist of Chicago. Mr. Porter, with his artist, has been commissioned to take a rapid run through the industrial regions of the West and Northwest and find out as far as possible the conditions with which trade, commerce, agriculture, and manufacturing are at present confronted, and faithfully report the same for the benefit of the readers of this journal. These articles will only deal with facts, and the illustrations, which will be of the best quality, are intended to add to their popularity….
…Mr. Porter and Mr. Williamson are now on a tour of the Northwest. They will visit the lumber and iron ore districts and make inquiry in the principal cities of Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, and on returning to Chicago will take up the same line of work in Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas….
The Cook County, Illinois, Marriage Index, at Ancestry.com, recorded Williamson's marriage to Bessie S. Crafton on October 25, 1897.
According to the 1900 census, Williamson's address 3341 63rd Place in Chicago. His family included his wife, son, step-daughter and mother. Williamson's occupation was designer.
The Holt County Sentinel (Oregon, Missouri), January 4, 1907, reported the death of Williamson's son.
De Witt Williamson, aged 8 years, died in Chicago, Wednesday, January 2, 1907, from diphtheria. He was the only son of Arthur T. Williamson and wife. Mrs. Williamson was formerly Miss Bessie Soper, of this city. They have two daughters left, both of whom are down with the same disease. Their many friends here extend sincere sympathy to them in their hour of affliction, and hope that the children now sick with this dread disease, may recover.
Chicago business directories for the years 1903 to 1905 listed Williamson's occupation as designer and address at 325 Dearborn. The 1909 directory said he was an artist in the Athenaeum Building at 26 Van Buren.
The Beacon Falls Rubber Shoe Company advertisement featured Williamson's three-panel strip which ran in the Boot and Shoe Recorder, February 24, 1909, and The Shoe Retailer, March 20, 1909.
Williamson's drawings of women appeared in the Inland Printer on September 1909; February 1910; and April 1910.
In the 1910 census, freelance artist and illustrator Williamson, his wife, daughter and mother resided at 3249 63rd Place in Chicago. Williamson's studio was located on Van Buren in the 1910 to 1912 directories. The 1914 directory listed his studio at 537 South Dearborn.
Williamson illustrated the serial, My Lady of the North, which was published in 38 chapters in many newspapers including the Willmar Tribune (Minnesota).
The Dry Goods Reporter, February 27, 1915, announced the release of Williamson's new product.
Here Are the Lucky Dits
"The Lucky Dit" is a statuette in art bronze, grotesque in figure but benevolent in aspect and occult in its powers. It was designed by Arthur Williamson, a Chicago artist, and its presence is
Arthur Williamson, Chicago artist, and its presence is said to bring good luck to its owner, and it is guaranteed to be an expert gloom chaser....
The Chicago Daily Tribune, June 4, 1915, published a death notice for Williamson's mother who died the previous day.
American Newspaper Comics (2012) said Williamson produced The Truly Travelers, for the Chicago Herald, from September 19 to October 31, 1915.
Williamson's home address remained the same in the 1920 census which said he was a magazine illustrator. The status and whereabouts of Williamson and his family after the census are unknown. Two of his paintings can be viewed here and here.
Labels: Ink-Slinger Profiles
# posted by Alex Jay @ 8:00 AM
Comments: Post a Comment


Most of us start our days the same way. We smack our alarm clock, wish it were Saturday, and get dressed. The scary thing is, the clothes we wear today reflect the votes we make for or against our climate's future.
Every purchasing decision we make is a vote. Think about the number of socks, underwear, t-shirts, and jeans you've purchased over the years. If you are a parent, think about how many times your kids have tapped into your wallet for those same items. The numbers are staggering. MSN Money estimates that the average-income, dual-parent household, will spend over $170,000 on toys, education, food and clothes on a child from the time she is born until 17 years of age. In 2010, it is estimated that the average two-child family will spend over $1,200 on back-to-school shopping alone. Multiply this by the number of US families, and we're looking at billions of dollars of revenue for clothing companies.
Amidst this segment of annual consumption cycle, two things are happening: first, kids are being told by huge corporations what is cool and green before going back-to-school shopping, and second, our planet is getting warmer – significantly in fact. Last year, NASA determined that the previous decade was the warmest on record, with 2005 the hottest year in recorded history, and it's a record well on its way to being broken. According to the National Climate Data Center, we just experienced the warmest April, May and June on record. All of our driving, eating, flying, and shopping is having an impact on our climate. Feeling guilty? Hang in there — it gets worse before it gets better.
The bad news. Even if we scale back as much as possible and try to remove ourselves from the cycle of consumption, we're still living on a warming planet. We can't stop the greenhouse gases emitted in previous decades from trapping more heat.
The good news. We cast votes every day for our future. Every pair of shoes, every shirt, every dress, every hat is a choice, choices that can be turned into votes for climate action and yes, maybe even revived interest from Congress in moving on climate legislation that will ease the management of greenhouse gas emissions for businesses and communities.
Companies track our consumer choices and then live or die by the money we spend. If we as conscious consumers really care about climate change and sustainability, we'll pay attention to the climate actions (or inactions) of companies and make more informed choices.
Climate-conscious consumers will take heed of companies like Timberland and REI which have shown self-motivated commitment to engaging consumers on the ways they are trying to tackle climate change (both are charter members of Climate Counts' Industry Innovators program). They'll notice Timberland's climate nutrition label which outlines the environmental impacts of a products packaging, chemicals, and the amount of renewable energy used to manufacture their products. They'll notice REI's investment of over 860 kilowatts of on-site energy generation. And, they'll flex their consumer muscles by telling VF Corporation (parent company of The North Face, Nautica, Wrangler... they appreciate it's finally gotten the message that corporate climate action matters.
Before you start spending on back-to-school clothes this year, think about where your dollars are going and tell those companies you're paying attention to their climate change actions…if you say something, they'll listen.


C-One Evolvo Semi-Automatic Pallet Wrapper - P.O.A.
All the advantages of a rotating arm stretch wrapping machine in a very low price.
The rotating arm wrapping machine is the perfect solution for heavy or unstable pallets.
C-One Evolvo has been designed to offer in a very low price all the advantages of a rotating arm stretch wrapping machine. Design simplicity doesn't have to mislead about the features of this pallet wrapper: frequency controller for every motor, standard power pre-stretch, maximum speed 18 RPM. C-One Evovo can be mounted on wall or on foot.
C-One Evolvo can really wrap even air!


Could the presence of methane mean life on Mars? No one can say for now.
Scientists have discovered rich plumes of methane on Mars that not only disappear quickly, but are replenished by unknown sources that could be biological or geochemical in origin.
"Either way, it's very interesting," planetary scientist Michael Mumma, with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., told Discovery News. "Mars is not a dead planet."
Mumma and colleagues used infrared spectrometers on three ground-based telescopes to monitor concentrations of methane in Mars' atmosphere over time and made a rather startling discovery: Not only does the planet have methane-rich plumes over several discrete sites, it also has an as-yet undetermined method for replenishing the methane that puts Earthly processes to shame.
On Earth, most of the methane in the atmosphere comes from cows' digestive processes and bacteria in wetlands and landfills. It also is produced by geo-thermal processes, such as volcanic eruptions and decaying coal.
The gas is broken down over time by ultraviolet light from the sun.
On Mars, "it's clear that there is a mechanism at work that is more efficient than photochemistry -- on the order of 100 times more efficient," Mumma said.
Whatever the source, methane on Mars should stick around for about 300 years, all things being equal. Instead, Mumma and his team, who published their findings in this week's issue of Science, found that over parts of Mars the methane is disappearing in a span of time as short as one year.
"We really can't tell if it's biological or geochemical at this time," Mumma added. "On Earth, it can be produced by either mechanism."
The definitive way to determine the methane's origins is to analyze its isotopes. Methane produced from biological sources on Earth has distinctively different isotopic ratios than methane generated by geochemical processes.
"There's nothing in place on Mars today that can take a whack at this puzzle," said Cornell University's Steve Squyres, the lead scientist behind the Mars rover twins, Spirit and Opportunity, which have been scouring the planet for more than five years in search of evidence for past water.
Isotopic analysis would require landing a well-equipped robotic science laboratory in a methane-rich area for local analysis, or retrieving samples for return to Earth. While scientists have hopes both missions will fly, neither will happen in the immediate future.
NASA last month delayed this year's launch of the Mars Science Laboratory to 2011 due to technical issues. Managers also eliminated a leading potential landing site, the methane-rich Nili Fossae, from contention because of concerns the terrain would be too risky for landing.
But scientists don't plan to sit around and wait for new tools. A new effort is underway to search for other gases that, like methane, are tied to biological processes on Earth. Targeted compounds include ethane, propane and hydrocarbons. .
Another line of inquiry will be expanded to try and figure out the chemistry and physics behind the rapid breakdown of Mars' methane. Based on data from as far back as the 1970s-era Viking probes, scientists suspect Mars has strong oxidants, such as hydrogen peroxide, to do the job, but they haven't pieced together exactly how the process would work.
Mumma says the first order of business should be to thoroughly map Mars' methane to determine where it is being released and how that process changes over time.
The biggest plume of methane discovered during the three-year study released about a pound of methane per second, roughly the same rate as the Coal Oil Plant Natural Reserve near Santa Barbara, Calif.


Important Old Features Missing in NEW SYSTEM!
1. Wishlist - Sale Filter is no longer available. Please put it back!
2. Available Downloads -now shows both Windows and Mac versions. Huge waste of time and space when I only need one version.
Please reduce the CLUTTER! And reveal the secret Account location where I can specify I only want Win or Mac ONLY.
Or if you forgot to put it in. Please ADD it as soon as possible.
3. I intensely dislike the Adobe Flash display of the Product Images. (I hated when Renderosity did the same thing!) I liked the way it used to be. You could see the main image, as well as other images, and as an option you could view them larger. Plus you could simply SAVE IMAGE.
a. After you click on thumbnal the resulting image is actually smaller than the thumbnail !
with my downloaded product so I know what the hell it is.
That's it for now. Let me know if you want more revelations of things that used to work well.
Another Point regards the promo images is Studio 4 Smart Content. Without being able to save the images (and yes sometimes the 2nd or 3rd image is better) it is hard to build products in Smart Content.
Also the old Download section was endless scrollable, now it is split into pages which are only numeric not alphabetic or sortable by download date.
There is an easy way if you are using Firefox (Don't know about other browsers) If you Right Click on one of the Thumbnails to the right of the main image, you get a menu, and you can select "Save Link As" and it will download the image to your system.
I did not realize that I could download image directly from the thumbnail, I was r clicking on the single images you get after clicking the thumbnail.
Great, this solves our problems.
3. I intensely dislike the Adobe Flash display of the Product Images.
Definitely another entry on my list of "things I wish DAZ would give up on as a bad idea". The way it's been done isn't helping, either — you don't see the "next/last" arrows unless you hover the mouse over the right spot. Why do it this way, it's about the least obvious system I've seen anywhere.
4. An indication on the product page of the download file size. The last iteration (126MB in 3 files) wasn't all that useful, because there was no way to tell if that was three 42MB files, or two 5 MB files and one 116 MB file, but at least it was something. Currently, there's no way to tell if I'll be able to download an item successfully on my slow connection.
If there are resumable downloads that Just Work, this isn't an issue.
On a very related note, an indication on the download page of the file size.
it might be flash at Renderosity but DAZ is using HTML5.
No flash player on my computer and I see the images just fine.
THIS is something I want back, ASAP! I don't need to see Mac-stuff, as I have PC only!
This is something I want...since I don't use Mac stuff.
I suspect they aren't going to spend the time implementing a PC or Mac preference because they are switching to Zip files, which will be the same for both platforms.
Well as long as it seems it's going to take to fix and implement the customers requirements on the new site, my guess is it's going to be awhile before we see zip files, or at least I hope so, because they are too many more important issues to address than having zip files, so I suggest giving us back our option of mac or pc product downloads, at least to appease us with something, because so many other things have been taken away. Wow, I have been venting my frustrations all over the forums. Maybe they should have gotten other crap to work first before the forums went up before I get booted. I think I need to lay low for awhile, once I get my 25 posts in.
Well, implementing a Win/Mac filter for downloads is website work, so I would think it might be faster (and less likely to break something else) to have the non-website folks work on switching to Zips.
If you are telling me that adding one thing would take longer than creating 14,000 zip files, then we are in for a long haul because from what I have been reading in the forums, people are requesting a buttload of switches/triggers (whatever they are called) that have been taken away to come back and with a few more added on.
I Agree with 'invisible Arrows' comment 100 Percent. Why aren't they visible?
I, too, wasn't a fan when Renderosity went to this format. I consider it an inconvenience that will eventually change when designers get bored with it.
It seems like every store is making it harder and harder to purchase an item and then download the information necessary for archiving it (e.g. photos and description).
Hey guys, EACH EXTRA CLICK YOU MAKE ME DO IS ONE CLICK ANOTHER PRODUCT OR POTENTIAL SALE THAT YOU OR ANOTHER VENDOR DOESN'T GET. I don't mind scrolling down a page, I do mind clicking. I only have so much time.
That goes for how many promo images I see on a page, too. If I still had dial-up, maybe It would be important to only see 15 images. Why is that your default? But I would rather have a default set for 120 images per page and then the ability to see 250, 500 or All images, and you don't even give me those options.
I still would like to see a store have a whole catalog page, PDF or whatever that has all the images, the size of the files, which figures the files pertain to and all the vendor's descriptions on it in one compact place that I can download in one click.
Sometimes I've put potential purchases back just because I know I don't have the available time to pull all the associated descriptive materials that go with them in my near future. Unless it's 90% off or something. Customer's archiving of descriptive materials is a reality that no one in the 3D sales place seems to have bothered addressing. What, you think I'm going to remember exactly what "amelius_1167dpc.exe" looks like or what it goes with in two years?
And no, don't go searching for that product; I made it up to make a point; as far as I know it's a fictitious combination.
I too would like to add to the list of frustrations.
The biggest one for me is the lack of file information on the product page. I've been collecting Daz products for quite some time (about a decade now) and as a result I have over 2000 items if I'm remembering correctly. Often times it's quite a while from when I purchase an item until I actually install it. On numberous occassions this meant updates had been released fixing problems in the intial release. Not always do you guys actually get notifications out informing of updates and so as a result I've developed the habit of checking file number and sizes before I install to see if I have the latest version or not. Now that this information is gone from the product pages I have no quick easy way to insure I have the latest updates. I really don't understand why this was removed either, I see nothing to be gained by making it impossible for customers to tell at a glance if they have all the files they're supposed to have and if they're the right sizes.
I also am dismayed at the lack of sort options for the itemized purchases list and that it's now set up as pages rather then being a scrollable list. Once I have identified an item that needs updating the way the itemized purchases is set up now makes it an unnecessarily long and difficult process to find the item you want to reset.
Also the last time I checked the sales cart now appears to lack a "move to wish list" option. In the past on days when you all release a ton of new files I found it much quicker to move everything to the cart firt and then move them from there to the wish list. Now it seems the only way to do that is from the product page which is extremely slow (2 plus minutes per item).
Which brings me to my final complaint, Which is that everything seems much slower. Presumably the main reason for moving to a new e-commerce engine was to improve site performance and yet everything is much slower then before especially moving things to the wish list. I really don't see where your customers are benefiting at all by the new site.
...Also the last time I checked the sales cart now appears to lack a "move to wish list" option. In the past on days when you all release a ton of new files I found it much quicker to move everything to the cart firt and then move them from there to the wish list. Now it seems the only way to do that is from the product page which is extremely slow (2 plus minutes per item).
This is true. I wonder why everything is slow with a new site. Perhaps they have it in debug mode, or outputting debug data. That would slow a site down. The forums seem to be snappy right now, though. I imagine that might change as more and more topics and posts build up.
As for the promo images, you can save them if you use this little trick...right-click on the little thumbnail and select Open in new Tab. It opens as an image file rather than a Flash player component. You can then right-click and Save image.
Or just right click over the thumbnail and select "Save Link as", it will save as the full size promo image and not the thumbnail image, at least that works for me.
I'll try to remember to check that out next time I get something. I just got the new freebie already, so next time.
If you click on the "My Cart" button and then on "Shopping Cart" in the lower left of the pop-up, you can check off items you wish to move to wishlist, then "Update Cart" when you're done.
Well, I just finished downloading my updated files and it was a pain... to find the pc files between the mixed and cluttered stuff.
Another request, the option "View your post" in the new forum is dissapeared.
Plain zip files are starting to show up! What's the manifest.dsx file that is in each one, with different sizes yet the same name?
Go to your profile (click your name or the profile button) and click "View all posts by this user"
We're guessing it's used by the Install Manager (which isn't yet available).
Old system has been faster.
...and you didn't have to hunt for it.
There are a couple of changes I've recently noticed that are likely not "issues" known or otherwise but rather they are things probably changed intentionally, although I don't understand why. One is that I don't see anywhere on the product pages where one can find items that are accessories to a particular item. On the old sites there was a link you could click on to see items that are add on's for a given item, like texture sets, poses, etc. This is something I depended on greatly to rebuild my runtime which is something one has to do sometimes, usually after a catastrophic hard drive failure. It's bad enough that I can no longer tell from the product pages if the file sizes I have are current or if I have an old set of files because I missed that an item was updated. It's also bad enough that I can't tell if I have all the files for a given item since the product pages no longer provides that info too but to not show files that are accessories for an item is more then just a major annoyance to someone like me, it also removes an opportunity for additional sales. I mean say I buy a clothing item for V4 if the link for accessories was there I might click it and see that there is a nice texture set for that item and buy that also but if there is no accessory link I might never know about that texture set and therefore not buy it. I'm just totally baffled that these issues that are likely causing a loss of sales seems to be okay with Daz and the vendors as I'm not seeing a huge outcry from anyone about the things no longer available on the product page.
the updated products sub forum in the main forum directory anymore. So how is one supposed to know if there is an update? You can't compare file sizes anymore on the product page with what you have on your hard drive, you don't get email notifications and there doesn't seem to be a product updates forum any more. I mean it's really starting to feel like all Daz cares about is getting money from people and promoting new products but once you buy an item it's "Sorry Charlie, you're on your own". I've been a customer for about 10 years and in that time I've accumulated over 2000 items that I've purchased, that's just too much to try and manage on my own without some assisteance from the website. Perhaps if I only had a few items I could periodically reset everything and see if the file sizes are the same but with over 2000 items that's simply not workable and would add an unnecessary strain to the server for me to try to periodically reset all of those items.
THANKS!...I have been doing this since I first started here... maybe "Lollipop for V4" means something to someone, but without an image it means nothing to me... I store all my files/models (that are not needed to be in a Runtime) on a separate HD, and even though I have MANY categories and sub folders to keep stuff organized, the image is always what I rely on in the end. Doing a screen capture of the slideshow is tedious.
I'm glad someone else mentioned this.
As a matter of fact, you didn't even have to save them, you could drag & drop them.


text:
NEO Whoppers takes down Metro Ice 7-2
NEO Whoppers 0 3 0 4 0 0 0 7 7 0
Metro Ice watched the game slip away early and couldn't recover in a 7-2 loss to the NEO Whoppers on Sunday. The NEO Whoppers scored on a single by Joe Mott, a walk by Nate Mitchell, and a single by Koby Wear in the second inning.
The NEO Whoppers scored four runs in the fourth inning. Warren AA NEO Whoppers's big inning was driven by walks by Takese Stubbs and Brant Alazaus and a single by Wear.
Aaron Weibe was the winning pitcher for Warren AA NEO Whoppers. He surrendered one run on eight hits over five innings. Wear threw two innings in relief out of the bullpen.
William Coon took the loss for Metro Ice. He surrendered seven runs on six hits over three and a third innings, striking out three.
Marcus Masters led Warren Metro Ice with two hits.
Wear went 3-for-4 at the plate to lead the AA NEO Whoppers in hits.
Takese Stubbs 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 0 0
Joe Mott 5 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0
Nick Mitchell 2 1 1 1 0 0 1 3 1 0 0 0
Koby Wear 4 1 3 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 0
Dez Stubbs 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
Gage Elza 1 2 1 1 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0
B. Wear 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
Nate Mitchell 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0
Brant Alazaus 2 1 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0
Total 27 7 7 2 0 0 6 14 7 0 0 0
Aaron Weibe 1 0 0 5 0 8 1 1 0 3 0 0
Marcus Masters 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
William Coon 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Jared Lee 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
Matthew Vadas 3 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
Matt Schultz 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
JT Taylor 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 0 1 0 6 3 7 7 7 0 14 7 0
← Big 5th inning propels Metro Ice past NEO Whoppers 13-3
Tom Jones walk off double puts Metro Ice up 1-0 in Warren AA LCS →


text:
What lies ahead for Ezra in bid to stay afloat?
byadmin	April 15, 2017	General
SINGAPORE: Troubled offshore marine group Ezra Holdings is set to face its next big test at its meeting with bondholders on Monday.
Much of the company's fate now hinges on the willingness of its creditors, including bondholders, to write off – whether partially or in full – its massive debt.
Ezra has $150 million of 4.875 per cent notes due next year, and faces debt of possibly as much as US$2 billion (S$2.8 billion). It sought refuge under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code last month, and has said it will meet investors to provide updates on the filing.
The firm's ill-fated joint venture Emas Chiyoda Subsea Services had filed for the same process earlier.
Ezra is the latest here to succumb to the grim industry downturn since crude oil prices collapsed in June 2014. A number of national oil companies and oil majors may have reported higher capital expenditures in recent months, but the strain on the offshore marine sector remains as companies still struggle with low orders and weak cash flow.
Ezra's financial woes have steadily deepened – to the point that its founding Lee family put up a prime waterway-facing bungalow in Sentosa's Cove Grove for sale last year.
A report by The Business Times said that the property, held by Ezra founder and chairman Lee Kian Soo, was being sold last week in a private treaty deal.
Details on the sale price were not available, but the report said the talk in the market is that as recently as two weeks ago, the owner was prepared to consider offers of about $16 million, or $1,390 per sq ft (psf) based on the land area of 11,515 sq ft. This is a far cry from the reported price tag of $26 million or $2,258 psf early last year.
Ezra chief executive and managing director Lionel Lee and his mother Goh Gaik Choo were also said to have sold a bungalow off Upper Thomson Road for $21.8 million in October 2015.
Ezra's meeting with its bondholders next week will be the first time the management comes face to face with investors after the filing, likely in the hopes of working out a compromise.
Representatives from the Securities Investors Association (Singapore) will be present as well.
Various possible scenarios await Ezra from here. The most optimistic is that Ezra enters Chapter 11 and, while under bankruptcy protection, the market recovers.
This would allow Ezra to return to profitability and repay its debts and, accordingly, exit Chapter 11.
Mr Wong Koon Min, partner at auditing and advisory firm Moore Stephens, says that Chapter 11 is designed to allow the company to stay open while its assets and debts are restructured to optimise payment to creditors. Some companies have successfully emerged from Chapter 11, he notes, citing American retail chain Kmart in 2002.
"However, filing for Chapter 11 is a further sign of financial distress, and business confidence in the company may further deteriorate as a result," adds Mr Wong. "Recapitalisation is generally the solution but this is not in sight."
Alternatively, Ezra could find a "white knight" to resolve its financial difficulties, allowing it to then exit Chapter 11.
But the emergence of a "white knight" in the near term may be premature as the situation is still too fluid and fraught with uncertainties, says a market watcher, who declined to be named.
At the other end of the spectrum is the possibility that Ezra fails to successfully restructure under Chapter 11. This could spell a flat-out bankruptcy in which the company stops operating and its assets are liquidated to pay off its debt.
Clyde & Co Clasis Singapore's restructuring team tells The Straits Times that it does not rule out such a scenario. It adds: "From court papers filed by Ezra, it appears that the liquidation scenario presents an almost nil recovery to unsecured creditors."
For Ezra bondholders, this could mean little chance of recovering their investments, if at all.
Ezra's creditors would also stand to gain little in such a scenario.
According to court papers, Ezra's largest unsecured creditors include all three Singapore banks: DBS Bank, with claims totalling US$281.4 million; OCBC Bank, with around US$207 million; and United Overseas Bank (UOB) with US$22.8 million.
In terms of secured debt, OCBC and DBS have claims of more than US$47.2 million each, while UOB has US$10.2 million. OCBC also has a secured claim of over US$26 million against Ezra Marine Services.
The Clyde & Co Clasis team notes that a significant proportion of Ezra's debt is attributable to bank facilities that were used to finance the acquisition of its highly specialised and unique offshore reel-lay vessels.
"What Ezra needs in order to successfully restructure and trade back into profitability is time, in order to realise value from these specialised and very expensive assets," it says. "A distressed sale of these assets in the current market is not feasible, since even if a buyer could be found, the price obtained would be a fraction of book value."
A WAY OUT?
Another scenario – and perhaps the most feasible – would be that Ezra enters Chapter 11 while both banks and bondholders agree to various restructuring proposals. These could include deferring the repayment dates of liabilities, converting part or all of the liabilities to equity, or waiving off some of the liabilities.
Such a scenario can come about only if both the banks and bondholders believe that allowing Ezra to continue its operations will result in better debt recovery than an outright liquidation, Moore Stephens' Mr Wong says.
Clyde & Co Clasis similarly notes that while Ezra can obviously restructure its costs and obtain short- term loans for working capital, "a more realistic path toward restructuring is a large debt-for-equity swap, coupled with new equity".
Still, it adds: "However, given the current market and, in particular, the state of the oil and gas sector, the likelihood of a sufficiently large injection of equity happening is unfortunately not high. There is reason to be pessimistic about a successful restructuring under Chapter 11."
UNCERTAINTY LOOMS
For Ezra, the real difficulty lies in coming up with a workable restructuring plan, as its business is tethered to the general health of the oil and gas industry, notes Mr Jonathan Oon, director of the shipping department at TSMP Law Corporation.
"With the uncertainty surrounding oil prices, it is hard to predict when there will be an uptick in the industry and, correspondingly, in Ezra's business," he notes. "Such uncertainty may well persuade creditors to take some form of a haircut on the debts owed to them."
The bigger question is whether Ezra will be able to abide by the terms of the restructuring, if agreed to by the creditors, adds Mr Oon.
Banks and creditors aside, Ezra's employees will also undeniably take a hit should the group go under.
Ezra operates in more than 16 locations in the continents of Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia and Europe under the Emas brand.
Mr Wong estimates that Ezra had 2,000 to 3,000 employees as of Aug 31, 2015, according to numbers on staff costs in its annual reports for previous years. Ezra has yet to publish its annual report for the year ended Aug 31, 2016.
Ezra posted a full-year net loss of US$887.7 million for the 12 months to Aug 31 last year, and has acknowledged about US$170 million in impairment for its interests in Emas Chiyoda.
Once a market darling, the firm last saw its stock trade at an all-time low of 1.1 cents on March 15, before a trading suspension was called, while market capitalisation sank to $32.3 million – well down from the $1.12 billion seen in 2007.- Straits Times
Previous Circuit mondial – La France ne verra pas les quarts de la "Cup"
Next Asuka Takita: Veterinarian embraces life on the African plains


David Bromberg had a long career as a session musician. He'd play dobro, mandolin, pedal steel, and any kind of guitar you got. He can play pretty much any style of music you name, and play it well. He also earned a cult following for his witty songwriting and dynamic stage shows. David Bromberg took time off for fifteen years or so, to sell and repair violins. He came back in 2007, and ever since has been making records whenever he feels like it. His latest is called THE BLUES, THE WHOLE BLUES, AND NOTHING BUT THE BLUES. Of course, he puts his own spin on it. Take this song. 900 Miles is a rather pretty folk song, recorded many times. Leave it to David Bromberg to make it sound like Howlin' Wolf. David Bromberg. 900 Miles.