Congrès socialiste internationale : Copenhague 28 août-3 septembre 1910 introduction de Georges Haupt.
by introduction de Georges Haupt.
Publication & Distribution: Genève . Minkoff Reprint, (c)1981-1982.
Kirchengeschichte der Schweiz Rudolf Pfister.
Publication & Distribution: Zürich . Zwingli Verlag . Theologischer Verlag, (c)1964-1985.
Einführung in die Linguistik für Textwissenschaftler Erhardt Güttgemanns.
Graa za hrvatsku retrospektivnu bibliografiju knjiga, 1835-1940 glavni urednik, Petar Rogulja ; odgovorni urednik Branko Hanž.
by glavni urednik, Petar Rogulja ; odgovorni urednik Branko Hanž.
Port of saints William S. Burroughs.
Author: Burroughs, William S., 1914-1997.
Publication & Distribution: Berkeley . Blue Wind Press, (c)1980.
English-Lingala manual John D. Odhner.
Publication & Distribution: Washington, D.C. . University Press of America, (c)1981.
IRS practice and procedure Michael I. Saltzman.
Publication & Distribution: Boston . Warren, Gorham & Lamont, (c)1981.
The sentences of Sextus edited and translated by Richard A. Edwards and Robert A. Wild.
by edited and translated by Richard A. Edwards and Robert A. Wild.
Publication & Distribution: Chico, Ca. . Scholars Press, (c)1981.
Author: Sixtus II,, Pope, d. 258.
Statistiese oorsig van swart ontwikkeling = Statistical survey of black development BENSO.
Publication & Distribution: Pretoria . BENSO, (c)1979.
La première personne : roman Pierre Turgeon.
Publication & Distribution: Montréal . Quinze . Agence de Distribution Populaire [distributor], (c)1982.
Hispanismen omkring Sven Skydsgaard : studier i spansk og portugisisk sprog, litteratur og kultur til minde om Sven Skydsgaard redigeret af John Kuhlmann Madsen.
by redigeret af John Kuhlmann Madsen.
Publication & Distribution: København . Romansk Institut, Københavns Universitet, i Kommisssion hos Museum Tusculanums Forlag, (c)1981.
GASTARBEITER : E. EUROP. PROBLEM.
by GASTARBEITER : E. EUROP. PROBLEM.
Publication & Distribution: AARAU . SAUERLÄNDER, (c)1982.
by Indicators of urban condition.
Publication & Distribution: Washington, D.C. . Government Finance Research Center, Municipal Finance Officers Association, (c)1982.
Publication & Distribution: COPENHAGEN . SESAM : I SAMARBEJDE MED NYT DANSK LITTERATURSELSKAB, (c)1982.
Popular culture and custom in nineteenth-century England edited by Robert D. Storch.
by edited by Robert D. Storch.
Publication & Distribution: London . Croom Helm ;$aNew York . St. Martin's Press, (c)1982.
The traditional music of Japan by Kishibe Shigeo.
Publication & Distribution: Tokyo . Ongaku No Tomo Sha Corp., (c)1984.
El problema agrari a catalunya : la qüestió rabassaire, 1890-1936 Albert Balcells ; introducció d'Emili Giralt.
by Albert Balcells ; introducció d'Emili Giralt.
Publication & Distribution: Barcelona . Llar del Llibre, (c)1983.
Fachkommunikation : Entwicklung, linguistische Konzepte, betriebliche Beispiele von Walther v. Hahn.
by von Walther v. Hahn.
Publication & Distribution: Berlin ;$aNew York . W. de Gruyter, (c)1983.
The Lorimers, a family of the arts in Fife : an exhibition for the 1983 St. Andrews Festival presented by the Crawford Centre for the Arts, University of St. Andrews, 9 February-13 March 1983.
by presented by the Crawford Centre for the Arts, University of St. Andrews, 9 February-13 March 1983.
Author: Lorimer, Robert Stodard,, Sir, 1864-1929$vExhibitions.
Author: Lorimer, John Henry, 1856-1936$vExhibitions.
An island in the moon : a facsimile of the manuscript William Blake ; introduced, transcribed, and annotated by Michael Phillips ; with a preface by Haven O'More.
by William Blake ; introduced, transcribed, and annotated by Michael Phillips ; with a preface by Haven O'More.
Publication & Distribution: Cambridge, England ;$aNew York, NY . Cambridge University Press in association with Institute of Traditional Science, (c)1987.
Author: Blake, William, 1757-1827 Manuscripts Facsimiles.
Sette lezioni sul linguaggio e altri interventi per l'educazione linguistica Tullio De Mauro.
Publication & Distribution: Milano, Italy . F. Angeli, (c)1983.
Publication & Distribution: [Highlands, N.C.] . Jargon Society ;$aEast Haven, Conn. . Distributed by Inland Book Co., (c)1982.
Author: Poe, Edgar Allan, 1809-1849, in fiction, drama, poetry, etc.
Author: Booth, John Wilkes, 1838-1865$vFiction.
Inventario dell'archivio preunitario di Carmignano a cura di Elisabetta Insabato e Sandra Pieri.
by a cura di Elisabetta Insabato e Sandra Pieri.
Publication & Distribution: Firenze . Edizioni all'insegna del giglio, (c)1983.
Chômage : mode d'emploi [Groupe Éducation-chômage ; dirigé par] Jacques Limoges.
by [Groupe Éducation-chômage ; dirigé par] Jacques Limoges.
Publication & Distribution: Montréal . Éditions de l'Homme, (c)1983.
Wellington's war, or, 'Atty, the long-nosed bugger that licks the French' : peninsular dispatches presented by Julian Rathbone.
by presented by Julian Rathbone.
Author: Wellington, Arthur Wellesley,, Duke of, 1769-1852.
Publication & Distribution: London . M. Joseph, (c)1984.
Author: Wellington, Arthur Wellesley,, Duke of, 1769-1852 Correspondence.
Joyce's Dublin by David Norris.
Publication & Distribution: Dublin . Eason, (c)1982.
Author: Joyce, James, 1882-1941 Homes and haunts$zIreland$zDublin.
Let truth be told D.J.M. Muffett.
Author: Muffett, D. J. M.
Author: Bello, Ahmadu,, Sir, 1910-1966.
Isles of discord : a file on the Falklands (Malvinas) Eugenio A.L. Ravenal.
Author: Ravenal, Eugenio A. L.
Publication & Distribution: Genève . Siboney and Ventura Books, (c)1983.
Gebete des Lebens Karl Rahner ; herausgegeben von Albert Raffelt ; Einführung von Karl Lehmann.
by Karl Rahner ; herausgegeben von Albert Raffelt ; Einführung von Karl Lehmann.
Publication & Distribution: Freiburg im Breisgau . Herder ; (c)1984.
Il, ou, Une étreinte du corps écrit Jean d'Arougence.
Publication & Distribution: Paris . Editions Saint-Germain-des Prés, (c)1983.
Publication & Distribution: STUTTGART . FISCHER, (c)1984.
The Ordnance Survey complete guide to the battlefields of Britain David Smurthwaite.
Publication & Distribution: Exeter, England . Webb & Bower, (c)1984.
Sabra & Shatila, inquiry into a massacre by Amnon Kapeliouk ; translated and edited by Khalil Jahshan ; with a foreword by Abdeen Jabara.
by by Amnon Kapeliouk ; translated and edited by Khalil Jahshan ; with a foreword by Abdeen Jabara.
Publication & Distribution: Belmont, Mass. . Association of Arab-American University Graduates, (c)1984.
A life in boats : the years before the war by Waldo Howland.
Communications and community in Ireland edited by Brian Farrell.
by edited by Brian Farrell.
Publication & Distribution: Dublin . Published in collaboration with Radio Telefís Èireann by the Mercier Press, (c)1984.
by STAATSRÄSON UND CHRISTLICHE SOLIDARITÄT.
Publication & Distribution: WIEN . VERLAG DER ÖSTERREICHISCHEN AKADEMIE DER WISSENSCHAFTEN, (c)1983.
KIJKEN ACHTER DE SPIEGEL : BEELD EN WERKELIJKHEID : REDE ; UITGESPROKEN BIJ DE AANVAARDING VAN HET AMBT VAN GEWOON HOOGLERAAR IN DE WISKUNDIGE ECONOMIE AAN DE ERASMUS UNIVERSITEIT ROTTERDAM OP 25 OKTOBER 1984.
by KIJKEN ACHTER DE SPIEGEL : BEELD EN WERKELIJKHEID : REDE ; UITGESPROKEN BIJ DE AANVAARDING VAN HET AMBT VAN GEWOON HOOGLERAAR IN DE WISKUNDIGE ECONOMIE AAN DE ERASMUS UNIVERSITEIT ROTTERDAM OP 25 OKTOBER 1984.
Author: Praag, Bernard M. S. van.
Publication & Distribution: LEIDEN . H. E. STENFERT KROESE, (c)1984.
Es begann in Prag : eine Frederic W. Nielsen-Monographie Milada Kouimská.
Publication & Distribution: Freiburg [im Breisgau, West Germany] . Toleranz Verlag, (c)1984.
The politics of California coastal legislation : the crucial year, 1976 Peverill Squire and Stanley Scott.
by Peverill Squire and Stanley Scott.
Publication & Distribution: Berkeley . Institute of Governmental Studies, University of California, Berkeley, (c)1984.
Reinhart : Nederlandse literatuur en slavernij ten tijde van de Verlichting A.N. Paasman.
Publication & Distribution: Leiden . Nijhoff, (c)1984.
Author: Post, Elisabeth Maria, 1755-1812.$tReinhart.
Categories of Medieval culture A.J. Gurevich ; translated from the Russian by G.L. Campbell.
by A.J. Gurevich ; translated from the Russian by G.L. Campbell.
Publication & Distribution: London ;$aBoston . Routledge & Kegan Paul, (c)1985.
Jo i els anys : memòries anotades d'un professor rodamón Josep M. Solà-Solé.
Publication & Distribution: Barcelona . Puvill, (c)1984.
Contes et mythes wolof Lilyan Kesteloot, Chérif Mbodj ; textes wolof recueillis par Seydou Ba ... [et al.] ; transcription wolof refaite par Pierre Guèye et Chérif Mbodj ; traductions revues par Malik Fall ... [et al.].
by Lilyan Kesteloot, Chérif Mbodj ; textes wolof recueillis par Seydou Ba ... [et al.] ; transcription wolof refaite par Pierre Guèye et Chérif Mbodj ; traductions revues par Malik Fall ... [et al.].
Publication & Distribution: [Paris] . Nouvelles Editions africaines, (c)1983.
Publication & Distribution: London . Robson, (c)1985.
Desde el exilio : cuentos Hebert Abimorad, Mario España Corrado, Leonardo Rossiello.
by Hebert Abimorad, Mario España Corrado, Leonardo Rossiello.
Publication & Distribution: Pontes [Sweden] . Casa del Uruguay, (c)1984.
Books by theme University extension online.


text:
REVIEW: 'Darby and the Dead' Feels Familiar With a Strong Message
What happens if you combine Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Mean Girls, and add a splash of Ghost Whisperer? Well, you get Darby and the Dead. The story of Darby Harper (Riele Downs), a young teenage girl who has the ability to see the dead. After a tragic accident sees the most popular girl in school pass away (Auli'i Cravalho), Darby is forced with an unlikely tag-along as she tries to make sure her frenemy manages to pass on but gets more than she initially bargained for.
The main concept is a fun idea to give the usual high school storylines an additional layer beyond the usual drama, but the film by Silas Howard is quite keen on trying to throw in as many ideas as possible. In addition to the "wacky" element of Darby seeing the dead, we also have her actively breaking the fourth wall throughout the story. It seems to imply we are also part of her gift, but it can sometimes be more distracting than anything else. Yet, it does also add some levity of social commentary regarding popular culture in high school. It only suffers from trying a bit too hard to replicate Ferris Bueller.
That very element does have the advantage of living off of Downs' performance throughout the film. She's definitely a highlight and even with a more clichéd direction at times, she still finds a way to balance her character's development of not falling too much into Means Girls territory. It's simply a shame that the story still relies mostly on familiar territory rather than taking it into a new direction with a premise of someone able to speak to the dead. Instead of exploring Cravalho's Capri from that perspective, we mostly follow the outcast to popular girl storyline throughout.
One thing you can't deny though is that the film has heart. It's cheeky self-awareness be more a way to make use of the story's trappings and build upon its characters. Darby is the main focus and the story doesn't shy away from showing her as a flawed but well-meaning person. The story manages to find that balance that doesn't turn it into a cautionary tale of popularity, but rather just showcasing that trying out new things is okay. Even with some of the usual story beats at play, the focus of this story and Darby's development makes up for it in many ways. In times of resisting change, there's something sweet of a story simply saying you don't have to be popular but you shouldn't close yourself off from the living either.
These are elements that work quite in favor of the film's way of riffing on the material. While it does follow similar plot beats, we get a twist on one of the usual romance storylines and another that is hinted at but never truly followed through with. So, it manages to avoid one cliché by simply being busy with other plot elements throughout its runtime. In turn, this works in favor of creating more believable reactions rather than something that feels like a forced plotline. Capri similar is able to avoid some aspects of the popular girl trope by simply being in a position that won't let her fully fulfill that role. So, there are elements where its base premise works in favor of not completely falling into what you'd expect form this type of story.
Even saying that, there's still a lot of heart. Howard's direction adds some visually interesting shots and the way it handles her supernatural elements does make for some interesting set pieces. Even with some of my complaints, there's still a self-awareness to the story that makes great use to it, especially when it comes to how Capri ends up passing away. It's a light-hearted adventure that knows its mostly following in cliché territory. So, it makes great use of those story elements even if it's not reinventing the wheel per say.
Darby and the Dead is an enjoyable ride, but could've used a bit more dead and less high school. There's an earnest attempt at using a clichéd storyline by adding a message that's more realistic. While it didn't always hit the mark, it's central messaging is definitely worth praising. It's okay to change and let go of the past while also still looking at it with fond memories. Letting go is part of the process and sometimes it's the hardest thing to do, especially when you yourself have to embrace change.
Darby and the Dead
'Darby and the Dead' Star Opens Up on the Challenge of Breaking the Fourth Wall
What to Expect TODAY from Disney's CCXP '22 Panel
REVIEW: 'Violent Night' is the Merriest Slasher of the Year
'Violent Night' is every bit the delightfully brutal slaughter-fest one might hope it would be.
'Sonic the Hedgehog 2' is a Saturday Morning Cartoon For Better and Worse
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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text:
New CAST Highlight enables mass adoption of Rapid Portfolio Analysis
CAST Highlight's speed, science and scale disrupt stagnant portfolio analysis market
New York, NY - October 21, 2013 - CAST, (Euronext: CAS), the leader in software analysis and measurement, today announced the latest generation of its portfolio analysis platform -- CAST Highlight -- which expands the types of systems it can analyze, unlocking the power of portfolio analysis for companies large or small. Now IT-dependent companies like banks, telcos, and retailers can rapidly inventory and analyze every application in their portfolio, gaining critical visibility while identifying the vulnerabilities behind the increasingly common outages and glitches.
In a year where companies such as NASDAQ, Knight Capital, Lloyds Bank, Heathrow Airport, and American Airlines have suffered costly and embarrassing IT failures, software risk is now top of mind for every IT executive. With CIOs constantly fearing an outage or security breach and application developers stuck spending more time on maintenance than code quality, an increasing number of companies are searching for a quick and easy way to gain better understanding into the health and state of the IT portfolios.
Traditional application portfolio analysis solutions have proved far more complex, slow and costly, than originally expected. The main issues being the collecting and centralizing of source code across multiple systems, CAST Highlight is designed to address this. Its low-cost SaaS model makes it 20 times cheaper than traditional enterprise software, without the need for costly hardware or licenses, and less disruptive for users, ready to deploy in minutes, from any location without the need to transfer source code.
On top of this CAST Highlight has transformed the time required for in-depth portfolio analysis, a process which has traditionally taken years to complete. Now CIOs can now analyze 250 systems in just seven days, rapidly assessing portfolios to uncover vulnerabilities, generate key performance indicators, and build 'heat maps' of software risk in your application portfolio in a matter of weeks. Key new features include:
Portfolio KPIs – To rapidly assess the 'software health' of systems against objectives
Ability to quantify short term risk – Preventing unforeseen glitches and outages
At-a-glance summary of technology, age, and size of systems – Prioritize where to invest
Use of standard metrics and industry benchmarks – Comparison against the competition
Improved Workflow Management – Quickly oversee multiple systems
Analyze PHP and Objective C applications
"This release expands the type of systems we can analyze and moves us closer to unlocking the power of portfolio analysis for companies -- large or small. As the stakes grow IT executives can no longer operate in the dark and Highlight gives them a fast, scientific solution that was never before possible in the world of portfolio analysis. Since launching in 2011, over 100 companies have gained insight into more than 1,000 applications -- that's over 500 million lines of code analyzed!" comments Alexandra Szynkarski, CAST Highlight Product Manager.
"CAST Highlight is a game-changer! A long awaited dream of CIOs to gain ultra-quick insight into their portfolios in a simple and secure manner without disruption on teams," adds Hari Thalapalli, Global Head for Business Consulting, Mahindra Satyam.
CAST Highlight provides users with data on risk levels, software complexity, adaptability, and Technical Debt, allowing CIOs and developers to identify systems that have high risk of failure or outages and prioritize IT investment. It supports a wide variety of coding languages including ABAP, C, C++, Java, VB, VB6, .NET, C#, COBOL, Objective C, PHP, PL/SQL, TSQL & PL1 code.
A FREE evaluation of this latest version of Highlight can be accessed here: http://www.castsoftware.com/products/cast-highlight/free-trial
For more information about Highlight, visit: http://www.castsoftware.com/highlight
For more information about CAST, visit: http://www.castsoftware.com
About CAST
CAST is a pioneer and world leader in Software Analysis and Measurement, with unique technology resulting from more than $100 million in R&D investment. CAST introduces fact-based transparency into application development and sourcing to transform it into a management discipline. More than 250 companies across all industry sectors and geographies rely on CAST to prevent business disruption while reducing hard IT costs. CAST is an integral part of software delivery and maintenance at the world's leading IT service providers.
Founded in 1990, CAST is listed on NYSE-Euronext (Euronext: CAS) and serves IT intensive enterprises worldwide with a network of offices in North America, Europe and India.
For more information about CAST:
Web: http://www.castsoftware.com
Blog: blog.castsoftware.com
Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/OnQuality
Katy Sullivan
Email: communications@castsoftware.com
Direct: +1-212-871-8335
Keso Kendall/Nathan Munro>
Positive Marketing
CAST@positivemarketing.com


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text:
Sunday Politics East Midlands
27/05/2012 Sunday Politics East Midlands
Subtitles Found! We found subtitles for the program 27/05/2012. Please scroll down to get them, or go here for a preview
Andrew Neil and Marie Ashby with the latest political news, interviews and debate, including shadow business secretary Chuka Umunna.
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Good morning and welcome to the And here, or will be anti-social
:01:37. :01:43.
behaviour reforms make life tougher for offenders? And is it time the
Apology for the loss of subtitles for 1678 seconds
number of ethnic minority MPs Hello, I'm Marie Ashby. Our guests
this week are Anna Soubry, the Conservative MP for Broxtowe, and
Toby Perkins, Labour MP for Chesterfield. Coming up: Keith Vaz
reflects on 25 years as Leicester East MP. His highs and lows. And we
ask if politicians need to work much harder to get more people from
ethnic minorities into Parliament. First, the case of Fiona Pilkington,
who killed herself and her daughter at Barwell in Leicestershire,
shocked the nation. The family had suffered years of harassment
despite making countless calls to the police for help. Now the
Coalition has launched a raft of reforms to replace the
controversial ASBO system and make the police more accountable to
victims. So will they work? Earlier the chairman of the Nottinghamshire
Police Federation Phill Matthews told our Political Editor John Hess
that they ignore reality. I think it just shows a lack of
understanding from the Home Secretary and Government about what
we do at the moment. We at within the law. What does she think we can
be forced to do that we are not doing at the moment? One is the
ASBO effective enough? They were once they were in place. They were
difficult and time-consuming to get. But once you got them in place they
were quite effective. All this is happening against 20% cuts in
police budgets? Yes. These are time-consuming to resolve and take
a lot of time and effort from the officers. While you are cutting one
in five officers from this county I do not think it will be achievable.
What is morale light among your colleagues just now? Absolutely
rock-bottom. The Home Secretary is not listening to the staff
associations in this country. We have tried to consult and she has
ignored everything we have had to save. A key plank of your govt's
reforms is this so called Community trigger which would force police
and councils to act if five households make a complaint. Phill
Matthews says his officers already do that Phill Matthews has also
told us there's a danger these reforms will take away officers
ability to distinguish between what's serious and what isn't.
have had constituents come to me and I have been very concerned
about the stories they have to tell about when they are making
complaints. Usually about groups of youths. I can think of one case
that was clearly racially motivated. I had to intervene but as soon as I
went to the senior inspector he took it very seriously and made
officers at street level take it seriously. It is important police
can make their own judgments. police are right to be concerned
but they need a big change to the way they work and operate. You get
some great police officers but you also get some of you, in my
experience, do not always take the sort of action people want them to
take an they should be taking. That leads to a number of people
becoming increasingly cynical. We know that things are not being
reported when they should be because when you ring the police
they do not do anything about it. It is not simply about cuts but
also about mind sets. These proposals are good because they put
the victim at the heart of it. Police and other agencies in
Leicestershire have learned some tough lessons from the Pilkingtons
case. The government clearly believes other areas of the country
now have to get the message too. When you are hearing from the
police who are the experts dealing with these things every day on the
ground, they say these proposals show that there is no understanding
of policing. There is a replacement for the ASBO which will not even
because people are to get a criminal record. It is a weakening.
A message going out there that you can do best and not even get a
criminal record. I think at the same time we are hearing about
police cuts and that morale is through the floor, people are going
to be pretty horrified. The message from Theresa May is that we are
going to make its offer for offenders. When Toby says that
people are not being given a criminal record, a criminal record
when you are 14 or 15 unfortunately lives with you for the rest of your
life. I am pleased that children will not get criminal records. I
think that is right. That blights them for the rest of their lives,
doesn't it? Isn't it a good thing that we do not give people criminal
records? There was a case in Nottingham of someone who had an
ASBO on two separate occasions and he abused it. He had ruined the
lives of shopkeepers and now he is doing six months in jail. He would
still be carrying on under the current system. If you commit a
criminal offence you should be dealt with for that. One of the
great treks that we are proposing is that you will be dealt with for
the criminal offence but latched on to that will be the anti-social
behaviour order but also address the reason be person committed that
the fence in the first place which is something that did not happen
before. A isn't it just a watered- down ASBO? It is not. It is about
recognising that all sorts of anti- social behaviour comes in different
shapes and sizes. It might be music played too loudly by neighbours or
stones thrown at windows. It is a huge range of offences? What we are
hearing from the police forces is that they do not think it is
realistic. The reality that the police are facing is that there are
16,000 less of them. They are increasingly stretched and the time
that is going to be taken is not going to be realistic. Next month
marks an important milestone for one of our leading Members of
Parliament. It's 25 years, yes a quarter of a century, since Keith
Vaz was first elected MP for Leicester East. Later we'll be
discussing whether constituency parties should select more ethnic
minority candidates to run for Parliament. First Eleanor Garnier
has been talking to Keith Vaz about his achievements, and his regrets.
The year was 1987 and Labour's Keith Vaz won the seat of Leicester
East one of just four black and ethnic minority MPs to be elected
that year. He was the first Asian MP since the 1920s and the first
ever Asian Minister in the Commons when Tony Blair made him Minister
for Europe. It was an immensely proud moment more for my family.
Minister for justice and then Europe. Interesting going to summit
meetings, strange I don't' think India has been admitted - what is
that guy doing there? Keith Vaz first made his mark in Parliament
as the outspoken supporter of people who'd lost money in the BCCI
banking collapse, and those he confronted included the Bank of
On the case have only just closed I am frustrated. It was a very long
campaign. Those responsible were not brought to justice. He's also
had an impact as Chair of the influential Home Affairs Select
Committee a role that's seen his profile soar. But what's been the
committee's biggest achievement? Probably it has been the phone
hacking scanda. But there have also been other victories. Gurkah.
There's a long list of celebrities Keith Vaz has been accused of
courting he's also criticised for taking himself too seriously 18'05
I was criticised for taking myself too seriously. You can be the most
important man in the world but you still make mistakes and do things
differently. In 2001 he was at the centre of a major controversy over
his role in passport applications by two Indian businessmen - the
Hinduja brothers - who helped fund the Millennium Dome. What one shd
do in circumstances like that is pause and explain and I don't think
That was a mistake in the way in which I handled it, I should have
been better. If we lack judgement it's because the average person may
not have chosen the right path - you learn from your mistakes. Of
course I do - I've made lots of mistakes that I'd like to change.
Through thick and thin he's retained the backing of his
Leicester constituents winning 6 elections on the trot. But how can
Parliament catch up with Leicester and become a better representation
of the Country's ethnic makeup? think it will happen but it I don't
think we need structural change. It has to be done through the
political parties because you can only get to parliament through the
one of the main two or three political parties. I think they
have embraced the race agenda in a very positive way. What's left to
achieve? You can't stop thinking about tomorrow there's more to be
done, everyday, there's lots more to do, everyday there's another
issue that has emerged, there is still a huge amount left to do
after I'm finished perhaps when I'm done I'll be a journalist! Keith
Vaz giving us an insight into his 25 years as an MP. I would like to
applaud his service to this country not only in the word he has done
but in inspiring ethnic-minority is to become elected representatives.
We ought to have 60 or at 70 minority ethnic politicians sitting
in Westminster. I am frustrated and impatient for representative
democracy. Ideally urged the parties to select the deluge of
talent that is in Leicester, my home town, and all around the
country to make sure they get selected and elected and serve our
society as Keith Vaz has done very well. There is a long way to goal.
There is a huge way to go. If we are honest about it we have a real
problem at the moment in politics. Denature and life of being an MP is
such that there are not enough good people coming through from all
walks of life. That is one of the key things I'd read with Keith Vaz.
We want MPs that reflect real life, he is absolutely right. But is that
really happening? You only became an MP at the last election, when
you look around the Commons, do you see today's Britain reflected?
someone remarked that Keith Vaz has been an massive help for other East
Midlands MPs. I think in terms of the issue, the start of the
question was slightly pessimistic. At the last General Election the
number of ethnic-minority candidates almost doubled. There
are 27 now it and it is right to be impatient, we need to do much
better but at the same time we recognised that the Labour Party
has a guarantee for an ethnic minority to get onto a very short
list. We are seeing candidates coming through and I think we will
continue to see improvements but we all need to put pressure on the
parties to increase the pace of change. Deep female shortlist was
pressed and we have had a great improvement in that case, should we
go down the same line in this case? I absolutely. It is the only way
democracies around the world can ensure that for a time limited
period they will become representative of the people in
this country. But once you have trained the structures, as we have
seen time and again, the Labour Party, under Conservatives, the
Conservatives made great strides in collecting 10 new black minority
ethnic MPs but at the end of the day there is still a race penalty.
The talent is not recognised. I know as a matter of fact there is a
deluge of talent that needs to be recognised and tutored and given
the basic opportunity so that they can fulfil their potential. It is
not a lack of talent. His shortlisting the way to go? There
is a very good argument that when you do it for a short period of
time just to jump over this huge hurdle that we have, we do not have
a parliament that begins to reflect modern Britain, I am not totally
convinced but I have got an open mind. Both parties really do go out
and make an effort to try to get people from all sorts of
backgrounds involved in our party and we are not doing that very
successfully. How can it be that Keith Vaz is our own minority MP in
the whole of the East Midlands? know there is a large ethnic
minority across the whole of the East Midlands saw two or may have
one MP is very disappointing but at the same time you have to look at
whatever methods are available to make Parliament more representative.
That is about sex and race and also about people who did not go to
university. I am one of the few who did not. We need to have less, if
you are professional politicians. We want people who have done
something else in their lives and then come into Parliament and have
something more to add. You have been beating best drum for a long
time but do you have any reason to be optimistic on this? I do for one
principal reason. ICD talent every day that wants to come forward in
spite of all the obstacles. What I am emerging -- urging political
parties to do, it is in their interest, parties cannot win the
next General Election unless the target black minority and ethnic
communities to vote for them. People will vote for a political
party when they know there is diversity of faces and views.
if we do not get more candidates, what are the dangers? The danger is
that people will switch off, they will say this democracy does not
look like us or sound like us or reflect our views. What we need to
do is Excite and engage. Everybody benefits from a diverse dynamic in
Government that we can see. I hope you will consider standing for
Parliament because we need people just like you. Thank you for
joining us from London. Now time for a round-up of some of power
other political stories in 60 seconds. You can't keep Barwell out
of the news. A residents group is campaigning to stop a proposal by
Hinckley and Bosworth to build more than 2,000 homes on the edge of the
town. We're used to charting the rise of young politicians on the
Sunday Politics. Not long ago we reported on Ian Campbell taking the
chains of office in Retford. Now Peter Wildgoose has been elected
Mayor of Matlock. He too is just 23. We also like to be there when the
balloon goes up. Rutland and Melton MP, Alan Duncan,has persuaded REG
Windpower to fly these blimps to demonstrate how high turbines
planned for Ketton will reach. The final decision rests with council.
Finally a Bulwell woman has smoked the most expensive cigarette of her
life. Discarding a cigarette end has cost her a �600 fine and �200
in costs after she failed to attend Nottingham court. And that is where
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text:
Home Survival Guide Bureaucrat to Start-Up: Jay Brandinger, CEO
Bureaucrat to Start-Up: Jay Brandinger, CEO
Helping Self Helpers
Corporate Angels: Children At Work
Published in U.S. 1 Newspaper on April 26, 2000. All rights reserved.
E-mail: BarbaraFox@princetoninfo.com
A crucial funding gap imperils start-up companies in
New Jersey, says Jay Brandinger. "The gap is between a company
in the startup phase and the time when it can get private sector funding,
and that gap is increasing," he says. "If the companies can't
get to the point where the VCs will look at them, what are they to
do?"
Brandinger has seen this problem from both sides. He used to be on
the inside of state government, as chairman of the New Jersey Commission
on Science and Technology (www.state.nj.us/scitech), but now he is CEO of a start-up,
Westar Photonics (www.photonics.com). For the Princeton Chamber he speaks on "Nurturing
Small Business" on Thursday, May 4, at 11:30 a.m. at the Doral
Forrestal. Also that day the eighth annual Entrepreneur of the Year
will be presented. Cost: $30. Call 609-520-1776 (www.princetonchamber.org)
Brandinger served in the Army before graduating in 1951 from Cooper
Union and had a 40-year career with RCA, including being vice president
and general manager of the videodisk division and being on the transition
team when David Sarnoff Research Center was sold to GE. He left NJCST
to head Westar Photonics on Deer Park Drive at Princeton Corporate
Plaza (www.photonics.com).
Brandinger will tell what it's like to be on the other side of the
fence — the way different organizations deal with high tech start
up companies, what it's like to try to get funding, where the sources
are, and where they aren't, and what surprises he found when he left
the state to start a start-up.
One surprise was how hard it is to convince potential funders of the
value of the technology. Another was how intractable large companies
are in their willingness to take risk to support start-ups.
What was no surprise to him, though it may seem strange to others,
is the differences between the way different parts of North America
look at the same subject. Venture capitalists on the East Coast tend
to be more like cautious bankers, he says, whereas on the West Coast
they are more like chance-taking entrepreneurs. This has unfortunate
consequences: "Back here in the East we tend to be rather conservative
in the VC business, with the result that companies face the valley
of despair to continue their development."
As for Canada: "We find that our neighbor to the north is quite
hungry for high tech companies," says Brandinger, "both at
the national and provincial levels, in the public and private sectors.
The governments provide funds and treat the companies in a holistic
fashion, examining all the questions — infrastructure, housing,
availability of technical resources at institutes and universities
— and including those in the package. In Canada, the government
can become a partner with the venture capitalist."
"The competition is really quite stiff," says Brandinger.
"It should be no surprise to anybody that the private sector has
to take the burden of developing the companies, through angel, venture
capital, and large company networks, but the state itself can with
a minimum amount of money help to change the risk factors that make
our venture people conservative and help expand their support of companies
in a start up phase."
Don't count on angel investors to make up the funding gap, he warns.
He puts angel investors in two categories: the hobby shop people who
have fun playing around in the company but may not be investing much
money, and the real business angel, who has many of the same criteria
as the VC. "It is a misnomer to think that an angel is willing
to go in earlier than seed stage venture capitalists," says Brandinger.
Brandinger can point to some programs he helped the state develop
for entrepreneurs:
Early Stage Enterprises (ESE), a venture capital firm
located on Route 518 that invests in seed and early stage companies
(www.esevc.com). Through the New Jersey Economic Development Authority,
the state contributed 10 percent of ESE's total funding, and ESE has
made some significant investments in New Jersey-based companies (www.esevc.com)
The incubator program that provides space for young companies
at an inexpensive rent and also some supervision. Brandinger says
he pushed for an academic study on the expansion of the incubator
program from Rutgers Bloustein School. This study painted a rosy picture,
and now incubator funds have been dramatically increased.
Technology Center of New Jersey, an EDA real estate project
that can accommodate businesses that have outgrown incubators.
Technology Transfer and Commercialization Program from
the NJCST. Now it is a subordinated loan program. Young companies
can get as much as $250,000 from the state and pay it back to the
"pool."
The "pool concept" was the principal on which the Economic
Development Authority was created (www.njeda.com). It started out
with a nest egg, has invested that money and been repaid, and is now
financially independent from state government.
Previous versions of the technology transfer program involved
actual grants, not loans, and linkages with academic institutions.
The young companies could take the state money and spend it for research
support at, for instance, Rutgers or NJIT. Now the money is not restricted
in use but it must be paid back to the "pool."
This is good, says Brandinger. "A company in the development stages
ought to learn how to operate a business. Either you are in business
or you are not. If you are only in business to get grant money, you
are not in business. You ought to be responsible enough to repay the
state for what you are helped to do."
"Now the shoe is on the foot, and I am saying the same thing,
but the program runs only one year," says Brandinger. "I had
strongly urged that the program be modified, with time, to support
the companies over a longer period. That was generally conceded but
it hasn't happened yet."
— Barbara Fox
Your friend's mother has just been diagnosed with a
terminal illness and is distraught. Or you are a human resources professional
and an employee is in your office, in tears, over having come down
with a rare disorder called Aarskog. Maybe you know where to turn
for help, and maybe you don't. The New Jersey Self-Help Clearinghouse,
though, probably has some answers.
This 20-year-old organization has contact information for more than
4,000 self-help groups on issues ranging from mental health, abuse,
and addiction, to bereavement, parenting, and disabilities. "We
run a unique non-profit service," says Edward J. Madara,
founder and director, "helping New Jerseyans find and form self-help
support groups for a wide range of stressful life problems. Often
these groups meet at hotels and conference centers along Route 1 for
their conferences. Hundreds of these groups hold weekly meetings in
church basements and at hospital or community facilities in nearby
communities."
One of the most recent groups is E.L.A.S.T.I.C. for those who suffer
from an allergy to the latex found in medical safety gloves and balloons.
The organization also helps people form new self-help groups, offering
workshops and an annual conference.
Manuals are available for starting groups on caregivers for the aged,
menopause, retirement transition, unemployment, car accident recovery,
living with depression/manic depression, and fibromyalgia and Chronic
Myofacial Pain Syndrome. A one-page hand-out on establishing a new
group is free with a self-addressed stamped envelope to NJ Self-Help
Clearinghouse, Saint Clare's Health Services, 25 Pocono Road, Denville
07834-2995, or call 800-867-6274 or 973-625-9565.
The clearinghouse's website at www.njshc.org has basic information
but the live links are limited to mental health resources. All the
other information will be available by phone or by buying the $25
Self-Help Group Directory.
"You be the judge" is the clearinghouse's motto. It does not
rate or evaluate individual groups nor does it endorse a group. "Self-help
means more control — and more responsibility — in your hands,"
says Madara.
The "Take Your Daughter to Work" idea takes
a new spin for the ninth annual Camp Hyatt Career Day on Tuesday,
May 2, at 9 a.m. at the Hyatt Regency. A front clerk at a hotel
desk or perhaps a pastry chef at a bakery? These are two of the jobs
fifth graders at the Chapin School can choose from. Students will
get to dress up in hotel uniforms, don aprons, and try on a career,
working side-by-side with professionals.
The program, sponsored by Hyatt, aims to give kids a head start in
the job market. More than 10,000 students in the U.S., Canada, and
the Caribbean have participated. Call 609-987-1832.
Community Options Inc., is partnering with www.iGive.com,
the first Internet venture to turn over online shopping profits to
charitable groups. In three years the site (www.igive.com) has donated
$620,000 to thousands of organizations. Members of the site can take
income tax deductions for the part of their purchase that is donated.
Community Options, based on Farber Road, offers employment services
and appropriate housing for more than 1,000 people in 11 locations
(www.comop.org). Yardville National Bank's vice president of
commercial mortgage lending, Jim Brotherton, has joined the
Business Advisory Council of Community Options.
The Fred C. Rummel Foundation has given $15,000 to the capital
campaign of the Rescue Mission of Trenton. The campaign aims
to renovate the 77,000 square foot Cracker Factory building that houses
the mission's store, administrative offices, maintenance shops, and
Alan Brooks Design at 20 Nassau Street recently raised
$1,400 for the Mid-Jersey Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis
Society during the April 9 MS Walk (www.alanbrooks.com).
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text:
Brazilian banks buoyed by rising demand for mortgages
MaryroseFison
Brazil's fast-growing middle class is driving demand for home loans and credit in Brazil. Maryrose Fison investigates how this expanding demographic group is helping retail banks weather a period of tough macro-prudential fiscal measures
The sight of seasonal labourers walking alongside Brazil's Translitorânea Highway wasn't uncommon a decade ago.
The Pan-American artery linking impoverished towns in the northeast with affluent cities in the south formed the most direct route towards work and a wage for the millions that were struggling to survive above the poverty line.
But today the BR101, as the motorway is officially known, looks different. Its lanes have been widened to cope with an increase in vehicles. Traffic jams clog the run-up to intersections at rush hour and the long lines of men that once snaked behind the hard shoulder have disappeared.
Flexible bank loans and cheaper cars have made auto-ownership a reality for millions.
The transformation of Brazil's infrastructure system is symbolic of the economic boom that engulfed the country between 2002 and 2010 and directly ties into the retail banking sector.
The increasing availability of credit combined with a thriving manufacturing sector and export industry underpinned record growth in 2010 when GDP rose 7.5%.
While output has slowed in recent years, the retail banking sector has been leading the charge in responding to rising demand from consumers for mortgages and more accessible banking services.
Testament to this trend in the volume of short and loan term loans issued to consumers this year is the volume of mortgages issued to Brazilians this year. In August, the volume of mortgages reached BRL8.25bn ($4bn), 24% more than in July and 4.9% more than the corresponding month in 2011, according to the National Association of Mortgages and Savings, Abecip.
Revenue from loans at Brazil's top ten banks rose from $50,920,301 thousand in June 2009 to $1,380,720 thousand in June 2012, according the Central Bank of Brazil database.
As infrastructure projects have made cut-off parts of the country more accessible, basic banking services such as deposit and cash withdrawal services have become more commonplace in more rural areas.
The number of Automatic Telling Machine (ATM) terminals in Brazil rose from 134,457 in 2004 to 165,567 in 2009, marking a 19% increase. The North experienced the greatest growth, with a 12.6% increase in concentration of ATM machines over this period.
Distribution of banks
Brazil's banking sector is dominated by ten key players. In order of size, starting with the largest in terms of the total value of assets, these are: Banco do Brasil, Itau-Unibanco, Banco Bradesco, BNDES, Caixa Ecônomica Federal (CEF), Santander Brasil, HSBC, Voratorium, Safra and BTG Pactual. (See Table 2: Top Ten banks based on total value of assets 2012).
While interest rates have historically been high, over the past six years the government has steadily reduced them bringing the current Selic (interest) rate to 7.5% in October, down from 16.5% in March 2006.
Sergio Furio, founder and chief executive officer at BankFacil.com.br, an online consumer finance portal, told Retail Banker International that this had provided stability to the banking system but not without a cost.
"Brazil's traditionally high interest rates created a banking system with high prices, extraordinarily wide interest margins for lending and a consumer not willing to move away from the poupança [a popular kind of savings deposit account]," he said.
"On the lending side, the lower interest rates have made it quite obvious that banks were charging extremely high prices for lending."
Going forwards, he said that retail banks would have to readjust to a "new normal" characterised by increasing competition, contracting profit margins and a constant need for efficiency.
"Significantly lower prices will require significant readjustment of business models.
This year, the government started a battle against excessive banking prices with Banco do Brasil and Caixa leading the interest rate reduction for credit cards and loans.
Itau-Unibanco, Banco Bradesco and the rest of the private banks had no choice but to follow the trend or suffer significant market share reductions plus reputational damage," he added.
"Far from isolated, lower pricing is here to stay. Government and recently revived competition are making consumers much more price conscious," he added.
Declines in profit margins seen earlier this year at three of Brazil's largest banks can be partly attributed to the fall in Selic rates.
Net interest margins fell from 11.1% to 6.1% at Itau-Unibanco, from 8.9% to 5.6% at Banco Bradesco and from 7.9% to 4.8% at Banco do Brasil between the first quarter of 2006 and the first quarter of 2012, according to a study published by investment firm PIMCO attributing the source of its data to Morgan Stanley.
Commenting on the study's findings, Masha Gordon, executive vice president at PIMCO, pointed to the fall in Selic rates.
"Brazilian banks have seen their profitability decline for the past several years but the state-owned banks have begun to accelerate the trend by becoming increasingly aggressive in providing credit at lower interest rates," she stated. "As the Selic has come down, so too have interest margins."
Yet the findings were not altogether bleak. In spite of macro-prudential fiscal measures hitting margins, demand for many banking products remained buoyant over the same period.
Consumer loans grew 20-to-25%, deposits grew 15-to-20% and the loan-to-deposit ratio remained below 10%.
To offset the downside affects of government growth incentives, banks have remained bullish in their outlook for the future and have developed original growth strategies for the coming years.
Omar Barretto, a press officer at Banco do Brasil, told Retail Banker International that the bank's goal for the year ahead was to become a benchmark for the industry as well as increase its efficiency.
"We want to be a reference for banking customers in quality, costs of banking services, accessibility and convenience. With that we will be able to strengthen our client base and business generation, increasing our earnings potential," he said.
To achieve this, the bank will use a relationship model for individual customers and companies known internally as the Banco do Brasil 2.0 Programme for Retail Transformation.
"It has the main objective of increasing Banco do Brasil's operational efficiency through modernisation with a focus on client services," Barretto said.
In the future, he added that the bank had plans to enhance its product and service offerings by expanding its proposition to a wide range of consumer finance needs.
"Banco do Brasil is looking for the diversification of business segments such as insurance, pension plans and savings bonds, credit cards and capital markets to amplify the source of revenue."
The nexus between Brazil's retail banking sector and demand for more accessible and flexible products reflects a deeper development in Brazil's demography.
In August 2011, the number of middle class Brazilians (defined as citizens who have a combined family income worth between BRL$1,000 and BRL$ 4,000) exceeded 50% making the middle class the majority sector of the population for the very first time.
Some 63% of the group comprises families with one or two children and 90% live in urban areas.
The rapid rise in income levels can be explained by several factors. A pioneering government welfare programme known as the Bolsas Familia (family grant) succeeded in lifting 20m people – a tenth of Brazil's total population – out of abject poverty over the past decade.
The combination of vast natural resources and a profitable manufacturing industry resulted in an increase in jobs, particularly at car plants, resulting in Brazil overtaking Germany as the world's fourth largest producer of cars in 2009.
The discovery of oil reserves off the coast of Rio and a strong commodity export industry further buoyed individual wealth. Beef, pork and sugar exports currently account for 40%, 15% and 60% of the global market respectively.
With a burgeoning middle class, rising income levels and lower unemployment, demand for mortgage products is expected to continue rising.
To tap into the increasing middle class as well as under-banked communities living in more remote parts of the country, retail banks have begun to expand their geographical footprint, opening more branches outside major cities.
River banks
One of the most innovative branch expansion initiatives to date is Banco Bradesco's floating bank. To reach those cut off from towns in the forested northwest, it built a bank on a boat which sails up and down the Amazon's tributaries enabling locals to open accounts and borrow money.
On the technology front, Bradesco has developed its mobile banking services to enable its customers to apply for and receive loans over an iPhone. It has also installed biometric sensors at its ATM machines, eradicating the need for customers to recall six-digit pin codes when withdrawing or depositing cash. The sophisticated sensor is able to identify customers based on the contours, shape and temperature of their palm on a touch pad.
Other stalwarts in the industry have made strides in reaching out to underbanked populations. According to its second quarter 2012 results, Santander Brasil has opened 100 new branches over the past 12 in line with a strategy to intensify relations with customers through improving infrastructure.
Its expanded credit portfolio grew 18% in 12 months and 4% per cent in the second quarter. Net interest income rose 20% over 12 months and net fees grew 2%.
The value of loans and credits at the end of the second quarter were $95,637m, 18% more than at the end of the second quarter 2011. Total assets rose 0.4% over the same period from $188,602m to $189,426m and customer funds under management rose 2.4% from $162,248 in Q2 2011 to $166,069m in Q2 2012.
Nevertheless, the bank posted attributable profit of €1.15bn, 16.6% less than in the first half of 2011.
In spite of increases in product sales, the falling Selic rate and resulting lower margins seen at some banks are likely to precipitate a debate about the sustainability of Brazil's prevalent banking model.
Furio anticipates that ongoing downward pressure on profit margins combined with a saturation of traditional bank channels will require an optimisation of customer acquisition costs.
"Branches are too expensive for a customer that requires less and less human interaction," he said. "The branch model in future will need to be smaller with fourto- six employers rather than 10-to15. Mailing and telemarketing, once a very effective channel to grow credit cards and personal loans, are getting more and more saturated with conversion rates below 1%."
"The online channel is still treated by institutions more as an operational channel with wire transfer and invoice payments than a marketing platform. With upcoming reduction in revenues, banks will need to become more efficient in the way they acquire customers. They will need to migrate from mailing and telemarketing to online customer acquisition."
With greater competition, banks are likely to start looking at ways to minimise costs without compromising on quality and service standards. Furio believes that lower margins will shift the focus within banks to achieving operational excellence.
"As well as the need to reduce customer acquisition cost, lower revenues will come with a need to optimise the back-end of financial institutions. Lean banking programmes will need to be implemented and this goes well beyond IT investment. It represents a completely new way of managing banks internally.
"Every aspect of the organisation needs to be measured and assigned to an owner. The objective will be making financial institutions more efficient by reducing processing time, transportation costs, unnecessary personnel or duplicated processes."
Brazil's Retail Banking - Competitive Dynamics
Brazil's Credit Cards Market Players - Competitive Dynamics
Tanzania: Immense Growth Potential behind Hurdles of Taxation
Brazil's Debit Cards Market Players - Competitive Dynamics
MVNOs in Latin America: Regulatory Changes Create Growth Opportunities for New Market Players


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Bloggin' 'bout Books: What's Wrong With Mormons? Nothing. Nothing At All.
What's Wrong With Mormons? Nothing. Nothing At All.
If you've ever listened to a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints describe his/her religion, you've probably asked yourself the question, "What's wrong with Mormons?" I mean, do they seriously believe God showed himself to an ignorant farm boy from New York? Do they honestly think Joseph Smith was a prophet? How can they possibly believe they have the only true Gospel on the face of the Earth? What's wrong with these people? C'mon, you know these questions have coursed through your mind before.
For each doctrine, Gladwell uses Biblical passages, history, quotes from noted theologians and logic to support the belief. His "evidence," especially in the beginning chapters, is rock solid. After reading his discussion of the Godhead, for instance, you will see very clearly why Mormons believe that God, Christ and the Holy Spirit are individual beings. If a close reading of Matthew 3: 16-17 doesn't grab your attention, try John 17 verse 1 or 3 or 4. I'm telling you, Gladwell's scriptural base and hard logic are irrefutable. Members of the Church will have heard most of the "proof" before, but it still makes for absorbing (and convincing) reading.
I have to admit that the latter chapters may not be as convincing to those who are not members of the LDS Church. Those sections deal with concepts that are uniquely Mormon - marriage which lasts for both time and eternity; families being sealed together; baptism for the dead; etc. Although Gladwell still gleans much of his "proof" from the Bible, he also uses the "Mormon scriptures" (The Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, The Pearl of Great Price) more heavily than in previous chapters. Still, he provides such a logical explanation of these practices, that one cannot help but say, "Hmmm ... that does make a lot of sense." Interestingly, I think the concepts above are ones that non-LDS folks actually find least offensive. Maybe not, though, since my feisty grandmother liked to declare that no one was going to baptize her after she died!
My only disappointment with this book lies in the editing. Typos, discordant sentencing, and clumsy wording definitely detract from content. Still, I think readers will respond to Gladwell's material as well as his earnestness for his subject. Will LDS churches be bursting at the seams on Sunday thanks to his book? Probably not, but that's not the author's purpose anyway. He states very clearly that "this is not an attempt to convert; only the Holy Spirit can do that" (iv). Still, I think a thoughtful reading of Gladwell's book just might have you saying, "What's wrong with Mormons? Maybe nothing, nothing at all."
Excellent review. :) Thank you for hosting Jay on his virtual tour.
This author is smart to pick up on the fact that for some strange reason, some people "fear" Mormons. I dated one as a teenager and my family was hesitant about me getting involved in even non-religious, social activities with the church. If we all took the time to just explore other religions I think we'd see we can all learn a little something from each other.
JM - No problem. I enjoyed reading the book.
Kristen - I totally agree. We have so much to learn from each other, if we could just get past all of our prejudices and misconceptions.
Thanks for this review. Through my work, my daughters friends who aren't LDS, and new people in our community, I find myself answering many questions about our faith. I will check out this book to see if it can help!


Not many visitors this time of year… but they are thinking of raising the "birdwatching fee" to $25 from the present $5, because some folks have been staying over 5 hours staking out the owls. Most people there for the birds only linger an hour or so and I'm guessing the fee increase will keep a lot of them away.
I didn't see this owl until it froze me in place with that spine tingling scream.
The famous long-ears weren't showing in their usual numbers but this lone individual was not hard to find, obscured as it was, in the tree they always use.
These owls are touching bills. I'm not sure why, but it seemed like the one on the left was begging and the other was just putting up with it.
Below is video of a 4-5 week old chick that fell 40 feet from the nest. It seemed in good health and will either be re-nested or slow released with other young owls at a rehab center.
A friend and I went to Stow Lake to see if we could get a glimpse of the normally cooperative owls on Strawberry Hill. The fledglings have grown old enough to disperse and the parents were making themselves scarce so we struck out on Golden Gate Park owls. But much of bird watching is about what you see when you are waiting around for other things to happen, and last night was no exception. We had been tracking a female Redtail who was sitting near what we think is an active nest. The male arrived with a recently caught squirrel and she set off in pursuit to relieve him of his meal. He managed to escape long enough to perch and spend about 10 minutes dining on a nicely exposed branch. Once the female made up her mind, she stopped making her persistent yet quiet begging calls, and launched off her perch, diving toward the male with great intent. He fell over backwards trying to escape his larger and stronger partner and she took over what was left of the squirrel. Above, she relocates with her prize. The squirrel may be hard to recognize because it has been, err… rearranged.
After months of seeing evidence of owls at the Palace of Fine Arts, on April 12th Siobhan Ruck and I found the first recorded breeding Barn Owls in San Francisco in nearly a century.


Marktastic » Top Gear: Killing a Toyota | It's not just Mark, it's Marktastic!
In honor of my recently departed pickup, I wanted to share a few of the best Top Gear segments that feature the Toyota Pickup.
This is of course the real Top Gear on BBC, not the crappy American version on History channel.
Who Killed the Compact Pickup Truck?


text:
3229: Tarragona Cathedral, Tarragona, Cataluña, Spain
Photo: © Bernard Gagnon and used under license
Mystery Worshipper: Aisla Sloper (accompanied by Mr Sloper).
The church: Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica of St Thecla, Tarragona, Cataluña, Spain.
Denomination: Roman Catholic, Archdiocese of Tarragona.
The building: Huge and complicated Romanesque-to-Gothic church on a small hill in the oldest part of Tarragona. Construction began in the 12th century and it was consecrated in 1331. Magnificent rose window over the west door. The interior features 19 – count 'em, 19 – chapels, including one to St Thecla, patroness of Tarragona, built in 1777 in late Baroque style over what was once the baptistery. The high altar is also decorated with scenes from the life of St Thecla. The cloisters have five little lily and goldfish ponds – one has small turtles (maybe terrapins?) that stick their heads out of the water and beg for bits of biscuit. Beware – they can nip!
The church: Difficult to tell. People seemed to be dropping in to mass, often with small children in tow, or on their shoulders, throughout the earlier part of the service. It all seemed very cheerful and relaxed.
The neighbourhood: Tarragona is a port city located in northeast Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Tarragona in the autonomous region of Cataluña. The Santa Tecla Festival is held in late September of each year. The festival is said to be a massive affair – the owner of our favourite tapas bar said it was the busiest time of the year for him and beat any part of the tourist season. The life of St Thecla is documented in the apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla. She is sometimes called the patron saint of computers and the Internet, as the Spanish word for key (of a computer keyboard) is tecla. The cathedral is built on the remains of a Roman imperial temple that is being excavated. On Sunday mornings there are lots of second-hand book and flea-market stalls in the square and surrounding streets.
The cast: Don't know the name of the priest in charge. He was a bearded, youngish middle-aged man with a very good voice who seemed to have a kindly nature and a sense of humour. He tried to coach everyone to sing the Sanctus in Catalan but we were all so shy it was an uphill struggle. He made jokes about it, which set the ladies in front of us laughing. We more or less got there in the end.
The date & time: 3 September 2017, 11.00am.
Conventual Mass at the High Altar.
About 15 people were in when we arrived (apart from the choir and other priests and servers), but many more must have arrived later as there was a line of about 40 (plus small children) to take communion and not all of us took communion.
The door was guarded by a rather tough-looking man who seemed to be there to deter tourists for the duration of the service. Our tentative "Misa – ¿altar mayor?" was met with a lovely smile and he silently welcomed us in and pointed us the right direction.
Plain basic unenclosed wooden pew. Nothing wrong with it.
Peaceful and at-ease.
I think it was "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" in Latin, but it could have been Catalan. (Catalan sounds much closer to Latin than Spanish does.)
No books. We picked up a couple of song sheets on the way in. One had the Kyrie, along with the Gloria, Creed, Sanctus and Agnus Dei in Latin, with the music. The other had the same chants in Catalan. The Creed, Gloria and Agnus Dei were sung in Latin. Enough of my school Latin and Mr Sloper's Catholic boyhood came back for us to be able to join in properly with these. The Sanctus was sung in Catalan. We did our best with it.
Marvellous medieval carvings on the choir stalls and organ case right next to us. I kept trying to sneak a look, then being drawn back to "eyes- front" by the two massive angels on top of the altarpiece.
A traditional Catholic service as far as Mr Sloper could tell, but without hymns. The singing of the Gloria, etc. was beautiful. The general pattern seemed very similar to Sunday morning holy communion in my own C of E parish church. There was just one reading – from St Luke, I think – but I don't speak Catalan, so am guessing.
? – I'm afraid I don't know. The congregation were quiet, still and attentive so he was probably good.
Sorry, I have no idea.
The peace – strangely – because I usually dread it a bit. People were smiling and saying "Peace be with you" in three or four different languages to anyone who happened to look their way. We shook hands with the two or three people nearest to us. Nobody seemed expected to do the rounds of the whole church.
Trying to cope with a crash course in Gregorian chant (if that's what it was) and Catalan at the same time. But I wouldn't have missed it for worlds.
There was no opportunity to hang around. The tourists (lots of them) were allowed in again and everyone got on with the business of the day. We went for lunch and came back on our tourist tickets for a good look round in the afternoon.
No after-service refreshments. It's not that sort of place.
9 – If I were a Catholic and lived in Tarragona I would be there. Although not a Catholic, I hope to go back some day, but will make an effort to learn some Catalan first.
Very much so. So did the cathedral itself. I've never before seen so many smiling images in a church. The Archangel Michael has a big grin on his face as he hurls Satan down; several Virgin Marys look distinctly smug and an Infant Jesus has a twinkly smile. The whole place feels cheerful and confident in spite of some representations of gruesome martyrdoms.
I came out with tears in my eyes. Ten days later I'm still trying to work out why, as I could only follow bits of the service.


There was a short discussion about the volunteers for IAB scribe. Dow is coordinating with them, and expects one or more to be available for the next business meeting.
Danny summarized the current state of errata for the IAB stream. He will review each of the open errata submissions and make an adjudication recommendation to the IAB via the errata tool. The board will conduct a final review at their next meeting.
Based on initial discussions there is a fair amount of interest in this topic, both inside and outside the IETF. However, a number of potential speakers have scheduling conflicts with the Beijing meeting. The board discussed the possibility of remote presenters, but it has not run plenaries this way in the past, and so it was agreed that live speakers would be strongly preferred. Jon will continue to work on a speaker list for this topic, but the board will also outline other potential plenary topics for IETF 79.
The IAB has been attempting to better capture information on the motivations, goals, and current state of liaisons relationships with external groups. Danny reminded the board to coordinate with the liaison managers they shepherd.
The board entered into a discussion of the New Work mailing list, which is used to for coordination between SDOs who may be investigating similar problems or technologies. The list has not had much activity as of late, and the list manager (Loa Andersson) indicated that he would like to hand the role to someone else since he is no longer on the IAB. In recent weeks the board has been discussing next steps, and converged on the need to groom the subscribers list (both I* and external). Spencer has been looking at the state of the list, and on the call he described the various roles of the individuals who are currently subscribed. This led to a discussion of the expectations of various SDOs regarding confidentiality, controlled access to information posted to the list, and any legal implications of being a list member. It was agreed that clearer guidelines are needed for list membership; Danny, Spencer, Olaf, and John will work to draft a recommendation.
6.1 Identifiers at the Applications Layer – DNS, URI/IRI, URN, Keywords, email addresses, etc.
Bernard, Hannes, and Jon have begun coordinating a possible IAB workshop on privacy in the December timeframe. They have talked to individuals within ISOC, W3C, and MIT CSAIL, and are looking for a room in either Berkeley or Cambridge. The next step is to identify potential dates, and draft a list of workshop objectives.
Dave Thaler noted that the IDN Encoding draft had been submitted for publication as an RFC. There is follow-on work on canonical forms that is related to this document. John added that the IDNA 2008 documents have now been published.
Andrei summarized the meeting that took place on Friday of IETF week, where the project group agreed to draft a framework document that delineates the current policy, operations, architecture, and oversight roles in this space. Marcelo is working on this with Andrei; the goal is to have a document by mid-September.
Andrei and Ross have been working on a template for more regular reporting by liaisons. They are starting with the ITU-T liaisons, and have been coordinating with Patrik to assess the kinds of liaison reporting that could be distributed more publicly. Bernard added that the IAB should improve their process for informing WGs chairs about inter-SDO news that is relevant to their WG. It was agreed that SDOs differ in their expectations as to whether liaison information is public or private by default, so liaison managers will need to work with their partner organizations case-by-case.
Dow reported that this task is still ongoing. A number of pages on the current website have been cleaned up or clarified, and he is investigating options for overhauling and/or migrating the site to some sort of content management system.
There was a recent request by RIPE NCC to change the administrative contact e164.arpa. IANA informed the IAB of this request, and asked for confirmation before making the change. Andrei confirmed that the information is correct. However, several board members raised an objection to IANA's request for confirmation via a signed letter on official IAB letterhead (for which there is none). It was agreed to clarify this requirement with IANA, and suggest the use of signed email as an alternative verification method.
There was a short discussion about who would serve as the IAB contact for Smart Grid liaison activities. Fred Baker is the IETF representative to the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel (SGIP). Dave Oran had been coordinating with Fred for the IAB, but Dave is no longer on the board. As shepherd for the Smart Grid liaison, Ross Callon will take over this role.
Danny and Ron Bonica have been discussing the announcement text for the upcoming OAM workshop in light of the workshop scope and goals (which have now been clarified). He will coordinate with Ron and bring a final draft to the IAB for review.
Glenn reported that J.F.C. Morfin had sent a note to him, Russ and Olaf, copying the IAB and IESG, questioning the publication of the IDNA documents while his appeal was still active. The board discussed the situation, including similar situations that occurred in the past and the current RFC Editor policy of taking direction from the stream owners. Glenn will send a response to J.F.C. via email.
At this point in the meeting liaisons dropped from the call. Ross and John Klensin also recused themselves from the appeal discussion.
The board had previously discussed changing the selection cycle for IAB chair from March to November. A follow-on discussion was planned during this call, but was deferred due to time constraints.
The group continued their deliberation of the J.F.C. Morfin appeal, reviewing the key points of the appeal and moving toward consensus on the IAB response to each point.


text:
Edward Snowden Asks Global Hackers to Develop Anti-Surveillance Technologies
By Jerin Mathew
Updated July 21, 2014 08:54 BST
Fugitive whistleblower Edward Snowden has asked hackers across the globe to develop technologies to counter illegal surveillance by government agencies.
Addressing a hackers conference known as Hackers On Planet Earth (Hope) via video link from Moscow, Snowden said he intends to devote much of his time to promoting easy-to-use counter-surveillance technologies which allow people to communicate anonymously with a high level of encryption.
"You in this room, right now have both the means and the capability to improve the future by encoding our rights into programmes and protocols by which we rely every day," he told the conference, which included computer experts, anti-surveillance activists, artists and other types of hackers.
"That is what a lot of my future work is going to be involved in."
Snowden attracted international attention after he leaked up to 1.7 million top secret documents about the NSA's surveillance programmes.
NSA Employees Enjoyed Sharing Nude Photos Obtained From Surveillance: Edward Snowden
Edward Snowden Seeks to Extend Political Asylum in Russia
Edward Snowden Cannot Mount \'Meaningful\' Defence in US – Wikileaks\'s Julian Assange
The Obama administration faced severe criticism across the globe as the documents revealed that the NSA had tapped telephone conversations and spied on the internet activities of prominent people, including German chancellor Angela Merkel and Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff.
Snowden, who is currently in Russia, is wanted by the US on charges of espionage and theft of government property.
During his speech, Snowden did not say anything about his extended stay in Russia. He had earlier applied for extension of his temporary visa in Russia as he felt a return to the US and a fair treatment from authorities may not be possible.


Ouch. This was apparently supposed to be a mild monetary stimulus — the fed funds rate target is being held at 0-0.25% for two full years instead of just for a vague "extended duration" — but it's also one more dismal forecast, from an authoritative source.
Good article here by MSNBC.com's John W. Schoen, who lays out some of the Fed's alternative options and seems underwhelmed by them. For example, the much-discussed "QE3" option of buying long-term T-bonds in an effort to force long-term bond rates down further has two big disadvantages: (1) Low long-term bond rates don't seem to have sparked much investment or consumption so far, so it's doubtful that lowering them further will make much difference; (2) Lowering them even further will reduce the already much-reduced incomes of retirees and others living on interest.
What's a central bank to do?
This morning's surprise news is that, after last night's fiasco in which House Speaker John Boehner could not round up enough votes for his own deficit reduction plan, 10-year Treasury bond prices are not only not down, they're actually up, by a good bit. Interest rates on Treasuries, which move in the opposite direction as T-bond prices, are down 10 basis points to 2.84% (as of 11:14 a.m.). What gives?
Well, for one, the bond market may not have been expecting much from Boehner. The media had already been saying that he's a much-weakened House Speaker, after watching his failure to rein in his Tea Party faithless. And any House Republican plan would likely be dead on arrival in the Senate anyway.
Another possibility is that as it becomes more likely that the government bumps up against the current debt ceiling on Aug. 2, that counterintuitively, T-bonds might actually be seen as safer, as Chris Isidore writes in CNNMoney. Why? Because the single biggest actor on the U.S. economic stage, the federal government, would be officially dysfunctional, even more so than it is now. Today through Aug. 1, at least, the government can meet all of its financial obligations. If Aug. 2 is indeed D-Day, then on Aug. 2 the government becomes a deadbeat, at least to somebody. And quite likely, it would not be T-bondholders. This assumes that (1) the government would still be allowed to issue more debt in order to pay off its maturing debt and (2) the Treasury would prioritize the interest on that maturing debt above its other obligations. As notes on NPR this morning, most commentators seem to agree that it is in the national interest to not stiff any of our bondholders, as an actual default would surely cause interest rates to skyrocket. If Aug. 2 is the beginning of Treasury triage time, then the government would more likely stiff someone else, like government employees (please please start with members of Congress!) and government claimants who lack political clout (i.e., not seniors or the military). This creates a lot of chaos, as people don't know when they'll be paid, which makes them less likely to spend or repay money and creates pressure on credit markets. In sum, the market reaction may just be the usual "flight to safety" that occurs when markets think conditions are about to get worse and also more chaotic. This would be consistent with the beating that stocks have been taking lately.
It may also be that the bond market is reacting to other news, like the dreadful GDP figures that just came out today. Real GDP in the second quarter grew just 1.3% (worse than the consensus forecast of 1.8%), and first quarter growth was revised drastically downward to 0.4% (from 1.9%). These numbers are "growth recession" territory (where the economy grows but not fast enough to generate enough jobs to keep unemployment from rising), consistent with the rise in unemployment (from 9.0% to 9.2%) over the last few months. As with the debt-ceiling brinkmanship, these new signs of economic weakness are a plausible reason to pull money out of stocks and put it into Treasury bonds.
So worldwide investors still like their chances on the wall of debt that is U.S. Treasuries.
P.S. Richard Thompson's duet partner here is not Linda Thompson, but Christine Collister.
In today's press conference Bernanke acknowledges the obvious: the economy is worse than we thought and likely to stay that way into 2012. The Fed lowered its official economic growth forecasts and raised its unemployment rate forecasts for 2011-2012. After almost two years of slow but steady recovery and myriad positive straws that one could grasp, the last couple of months have brought mostly lousy news, notably the latest jobs report, which showed a gain of just 54,000 jobs last month, only about a quarter or a sixth as many as we'd need to get unemployment down to normal levels in five years or so.
Our best hope, it seems to me, is an almost nihilistic one: the economy somehow recovers on its own, through black-box mechanisms that we still don't really understand. Business confidence returns, hiring finally picks up, and the economy roars forth. This may be a vain hope, but the "animal spirits" of investors (and consumers) that Keynes wrote about in The General Theory are not really visible, despite the several monthly surveys of business sentiment that are out there.
Our next best hope is another fiscal stimulus. It won't be like the first one, which is about to run out and was too small anyway, not with a Republican majority in the House that believes spending = death and doesn't even want to avert a financial crisis by raising the debt ceiling unless the Democrats agree to massive long-term spending cuts. But I could see the two parties agreeing on a big set of tax cuts, which is the usual form that a fiscal stimulus takes anyway (e.g., 1964, 1981, 2001). That has a couple of disadvantages: (1) the "multiplier" effect of a tax cut on GDP is typically empirically estimated to be smaller than that of a spending increase of equal size, because not all of a tax cut gets spent; (2) tax cuts are hard to reverse, as everyone hates seeing their taxes go up, so they could make the long-term debt problem much worse. Still, it's probably the only politically viable option for a fiscal stimulus.
* The last part of that statement (companies are not eager to invest in new capital) is less true than I had thought. As the Wall Street Journal article linked to below notes, a survey of banks indicated that small businesses were demanding more loans, at least in the first quarter of the year.
(1) The economy has long been in a liquidity trap (Krugman's definition, i.e., a slump in which monetary policy is no longer effective).
(2) Bernanke has long suspected this himself, but as Fed Chairman he feels obligated to try to stimulate the economy through monetary policy, via unusual, unprecedented channels "that just might work" like QE2.
(3) QE2 has failed to measurably stimulate the economy, because the economy was in a liquidity trap.
(4) Liquidity trap or not, it's not easy for the Fed to just throw in the towel, so a QE3 might well happen. But I doubt the Street will get all that excited about it, considering what a dud QE2 seems to have been.
Are the economists that obtuse, or is the public that dumb? Even if one's preferred is answer is "Both," I think the split is due to two different definitions of "recession." The NBER and the economics profession define a recession as a general period of economic decline, whereas I bet most people define it as a weaker-than-usual economy. I would argue for throwing the word out altogether when discussing the economy.
Use "contraction" to denote a period of actual decline, just as the 1929-33 collapse was called the Great Contraction.
Right now, the different professional and public definitions of "recession" (just as with "money" and "investment") just makes economists seem that much more out of touch.
A commenter suggests that the decline in jobless claims may just mean that a lot of people's unemployment insurance ran out, which, given the millions of long-term unemployed, is plausible.
Some stronger signs that recovery is on the horizon are in the just-released Index of Leading Economic Indicators, by the Conference Board. The index looks at ten different economic data series (including unemployment claims) which tend to move in the same direction as the overall economy but a few months earlier. Seven of those indicators were up in May; three were down. Overall, the index grew 1.2%, its second monthly gain in a row and its largest gain since March 2004.


Monday Funny: Boba Fett Kills Mario & Co.
This video took me on a trip down memory lane. Some cool, classic games…and Boba Fett killing them all.
Posted By: Skuldren for Roqoo Depot. Darth Humor.
Of all The Black Series 6-inch scale figures, Boba Fett is easily one of the coolest and hardest to get. If you've read my review of the figure, though, you'll know I was a little disappointed in the action figure. Bottom line, it was missing the "action" part as Boba Fett is one of the least articulated figures in the line aside from R2-D2. It's not that the joints aren't there. The problem is those hard plastic pouches on the front of his legs that prevent him from moving around. Ever since opening that first Fett figure, I've wanted to cut those stupid pouches off. So when I saw a Fett sitting on the shelves at Barnes & Noble, I picked him up with that purpose in mind. This would be my Boba 2.0.
Let's pour some salt on the wound while it's fresh. When Star Wars 1313 was demoed, the creators made a subtle note about the player character only being a placeholder as they didn't want to reveal who the main character was going to be yet. The logical choice seemed like Fett, and it turns out that's exactly who it was. According to Kotaku, Boba Fett was chosen to be the star by none other than George Lucas himself. Here's a sample of the concept art.
Today sees the release of the final issue of the Boba Fett is Dead arc from Tom Taylor. All the main characters are heading together on Concord Dawn for the final showdown. Is the final issue worth your time? After the break you can find out what I think.
Star Wars is full of iconic moments, characters, and imagery. Some of those icons are so famous that anyone can recognize them. They also show up in the strangest of places. I've seen a lot of Star Wars art out there, and one image that repeatedly comes up is Boba Fett, especially of his helmet.
Searching across the web, I compiled a range of images all focusing on the bounty hunter's famed helmet. From fine art to abstract, we bring you…The Boba Fett Helmet Gallery.
Posted By: Skuldren for Roqoo Depot. Supporters of fine Fett art.
Walk softly and carry a big stick…or if you're Boba Fett, a huge blaster rifle. Sideshow Collectibles has released some pictures of the upcoming Mythos statue of Boba Fett. Click here to check out the other pictures. You can also view their sneak peak video here.
Syfy has 12 images of customized homemade Boba Fett helmets over on Blastr. Ranging from Legos to a very cool Viking helmet, they all attest to the creativity of Star Wars fans.