Behind the True North Strong brand, there's a treasure trove of stories that have brought us here; stories about helping communities during times of great need, our work with local businesses, or the pride we've shown in doing more for our members. Many of these stories have been covered by the local media, or shared between neighbours. Others are yet to be written about.
From our annual Community Reports to press releases and our signature True North Strong advertising—you'll find all these stories here and more.
The Board of Directors of Northern Credit Union is very pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Richard Adam as their next President and CEO.
On this date of November 19th, 2018, marking the 61st anniversary of Northern Credit Union's original Charter, Northern's Board of Directors wish to announce to its members and communities the upcoming retirement of President & CEO, Al Suraci. After successfully leading Northern Credit Union for the past 24 years, Mr. Suraci has confirmed his plan to retire at the end of June 2019.
Northern Credit Union Inspires Cities to Declare November 'Financial Literacy Month"
As part of our commitment to financial literacy for all Canadians, Northern Credit Union is proud to announce that we successfully encouraged mayors, officials and council delegates across Northern Ontario to officially designate November as "Financial Literacy Month".
These agreements will continue to strengthen existing relationships.
Northern Credit Union is happy to introduce our latest version of our mobile app; v13 which will be launching in the coming days.
Northern and partner, ASAPP Online Solutions Inc. ("ASAPP"), will launch Canada's most complete and fully integrated digital process for secured and unsecured lending within the ASAPP omni-channel account and loan origination solution.
Coming July 24th, The Northern Credit Union Mobile Branch app will be updated.
Northern is excited to announce that we will be moving to a new location – 145 Government Road West - a short three-minute drive from our current branch.
Northern Credit Union (Northern) took home the Canadian Credit Union Association's (CCUA) prestigious Innovation Award for its online small business account opening software and unique Small Business Rocks program.
This week, Northern Credit Union became the first financial services provider in Canada to offer a fully integrated and responsive online account opening and loan auto-decisioning tool, which applies to all account types for retail and business banking.
The ATM at the Bay Street Location in Sault Ste. Marie will no longer be available for use beginning Friday, April 21.
Northern Credit Union (NCU) is proud to announce a two year sponsorship of local curling hometown heroes, and 2014 Olympic Gold Medalists, Team Jacobs.
Each Month $3,000 Will Be Donated To Local Charities Selected By Players Of True North Adventure, A Free-To-Play Online Game Designed With Northerners In Mind.
Northern Credit Union recently had a doorstep surprise for a couple of recent retirees. They made a personal visit with a gift of a brand new hammock to relax in, as part of its recent launch of a new Retirement Savings Plan (RSP).
The members of Espanola & District Credit Union (Espanola) have voted strongly to endorse joining the largest financial service cooperative in the North.
The members of Northern Credit Union (Northern) and Saugeen Community Credit Union (Saugeen Community) have voted strongly to endorse joining their organizations.
Northern Credit Union (Northern) received 11 national marketing awards, including the prestigious 'Best of Show' award, during the annual Marketing Association for Credit Unions' (MACU) Strategic Marketing Conference, held this year in Kelowna, BC, on Tuesday, May 26.
Presented by Northern Credit Union, 'Northern Know How' creates a platform for financial knowledge and provides tools to assist individuals in gaining a better hold on their financial standing.
The community Veterans Commemorative Monument (VCM), planned for construction in Rowswell Park near the riverfront, received assistance today from Northern Credit Union.
Northern Credit Union's Petawawa branch officially opens for business at 3025 Petawawa Blvd.
Local calendar contest calls all amateur photographers to capture the wonder of the north.
Crowdfunding website will support worthwhile initiatives in Ontario communities.
Northern Credit Union, Saugeen Community Credit Union, and Espanola and District Credit Union announce merger plans.
Northern Credit Union's 2014 Kids' Photo Calendar Contest encouraged students in Northern's local communities to submit pictures depicting what makes them "True North Strong".
Northern Credit Union is happy to announce they are offering Thursday evening and Saturday retail services to members in select communities.
Northern Credit Union has set up an Elliot Lake Relief Fund to help those affected by the collapse of the Algo Centre mall roof on June 23rd.
Award Recognizes Local Corporate Support.
Northern Credit Union has confirmed it will open a branch in Iron Bridge, serving the municipality of Huron Shores, to fill the void left by RBC.


text:
Las Torres del Himalaya o bien Torres de Sichuan y del Tíbet o Torres de piedra con forma de estrella (en chino: 藏民高碉) son una serie de torres de piedra ubicadas en su mayoría en Kham, una provincia de premoderna del Tíbet, y en Sichuan en China. Las torres se encuentran principalmente en las regiones Changtang y Kongpo del Tíbet, así como en la zona habitada por los modernos Qiang y en la región histórica poblada por el Xia Occidental.

Estas torres se pueden encontrar tanto en las ciudades y en las regiones deshabitadas. Fueron descritas por primera vez durante la dinastía Ming (1368-1644 ). La datación por carbono por Frederique Darragon muestra que fueron construidas hace aproximadamente 500 o 1800 años. Debido a que generalmente se encuentran en los pueblos prósperos, se cree que su función principal era ser una demostración del prestigio de una familia dentro de la comunidad. En ese momento, la riqueza fue adquirida especialmente por el comercio con los mongoles. Para darles fuerza, muchas de las torres utilizaron un patrón de estrella de paredes en oposición a un método estrictamente rectangular. Las alturas de las estructuras pueden superar los 60 metros (200 pies).

Véase también
Historia de China
Cultura de China

Referencias

Torres de China
Edificios y estructuras del Tíbet

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Following the implementation of IDEA, almost 80% of students with disabilities are educated in general education classrooms for 80% of the day with support from special education teachers. Two key ways to support students with disabilities in general education classrooms is through collaboration and co-teaching.
Collaboration is defined as a special education and general education teacher planning together to support students with disabilities in general education classrooms. Collaboration focuses on supporting students with disabilities (this model does not focus on delivery of content to all students). This can include collaborative lesson planning as well as coordination of the delivery of Specially Designed Instruction (SDI) and Supplementary Aids and Services (SAS). Collaborators sometimes work together in the general education classroom, but instruction is usually provided separately in a collaborative model with the student receiving primary instruction and SAS in the general education classroom and then receiving SDI from the special education teacher.


Unfortunately, we have had to take the difficult decision to suspend programming and lay off permanent staff. We do not yet know if or when CCIJ will be able to resume operations. In the meantime, we hope that other organizations will be able to assist with the important work of promoting international justice and accountability for serious human rights violations. Our Global Justice Journal will continue to publish here. Thank you for your support and interest in our work to date.
The Philippe Kirsch Institute has a new article in its online journal!
Meet our 2017 PKI Affiliates!
We are pleased to showcase Irving Mitchell Kalichman, Lenczner Slaght, and LEXOP who have joined the Institute as our newest PKI Affiliates! These firms value our educational programming and have chosen to support our work through our Affiliates program.
To commemorate this day, we are offering a special stand alone video lecture from our International Criminal Law series on Child Soldiers by Joseph Rikhof.
The Kirsch Institute Speakers' Bureau deepens the landscape of keynote presentations. Read more about our captivating speakers, such as the Hon. Bob Rae, who are part of this exciting new initiative.
On October 2nd, 2015, we launched our ICL Certificate Program, the first of its kind online in Canada. Explore the courses, learn about our esteemed Faculty and register today!
We are proud to present the Expert Seminars: an elite community of experts leading high-level discussions on subjects such as Business and Human Rights, Cross-Border Litigation, and National Security!
High-quality professional development through in-person & digital curriculum delivered by a who's who of subject experts.
Downloadable versions of our most popular courses to review at your leisure.
Additional resources featuring the latest knowledge, best practices, and tools you can use.
If you recognize the value of our consistently high-quality programming not available anywhere else, consider supporting The Kirsch Institute with a donation.


As Technical Training Manager, Larry focuses on contractor education, product development and testing. With over 30-years of hands-on experience as an HVACR technician, Larry specializes in the design, installation and service of residential, commercial and industrial HVACR systems.
Check out their first TechTalk video on megohmmeters.
A megohmmeter is a great investment for technicians and has versatile uses that many may not be aware of. We've created a helpful infographic showing these, which you can download and share with your technicians.
Magnetic 3-mode COB LED work, play, and job light… Cordless, Durable, Long Running!
A necessity for your service vehicle, home, car, camper and boat. Every emergency kit needs the Portable Job Light!
Say hello to the most valuable player in your HVACR business — the Job Link™ Mobile System. When Job Link is your right-hand man you receive multiple measurements from multiple locations in real-time, and you can reduce call backs by getting everything right the first time. Evaluate and diagnose a system in record time to be more professional, efficient, and profitable. Download a free version and see what it's like to have a right-hand man everywhere you go.
The new F6-DP Dual Piston Refrigerant Recovery Unit features a full 1 horsepower motor and is backed by an unsurpassed 3 year OTC warranty. The F6's dual piston compressor and high efficiency micro-channel condenser design recovers refrigerant at industry leading speeds.


text:
cpmf: Collection of Parallel Matrix Factorization
====

## Prerequisite

### required

`piconjson` is needed to parse config.json.

```sh
$ git clone https://github.com/kazuho/picojson.git vendor/picojson
```

### optional

If you want to use MassiveThreads as a task parallel library,
install it by the following command.

```sh
$ git clone https://github.com/massivethreads/massivethreads.git vendor/massivethreads
$ cd vendor/massivethreads
$ ./configure --prefix=/usr/local
$ make && make install
```

When you change PREFIX from `/usr/local`, be sure to also change `MYTH_PATH` in Makefile.

## Converting MovieLens data

Use `scripts/convert_movielens.py` to convert MovieLens data format to cpmf format.

To convert [MovieLens 100K Dataset](https://grouplens.org/datasets/movielens/100k/),

```sh
$ python scripts/convert_movielens.py PATH/ml-100k/u.data > input/ml-100k
```

To convert [MovieLens 1M dataset](https://grouplens.org/datasets/movielens/1m/),

```sh
$ python scripts/convert_movielens.py PATH/ml-1m/ratings.dat --separator :: > input/ml-1m
```

To convert [MovieLens 10M dataset](https://grouplens.org/datasets/movielens/10m/)

```sh
$ python scripts/convert_movielens.py PATH/ml-10M100K/ratings.dat --separator :: > input/ml-10m
```

## Parallel methods

Users can designate the parallel method by `DPARALLEL` in Makefile.

### FPSGD

In FPSGD, the rating matrix is divided into many blocks
and multiple threads work on blocks not to share the same row or column.

If you want to use FPSGD method, specify `DPARALLEL = -DFPSGD`.

- Reference

  Y.Zhuang, W-S.Chin and Y-C.Juan and C-J.Lin,
  "A fast parallel SGD for matrix factorization in shared memory systems",
  RecSys'13, [paper](http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2507164)

### dcMF (by Intel Cilk or MassiveThreads)

dcMF is our proposing way to parallelize matrix factorization
by recursively dividing the rating matrix into 4 smaller blocks
and dynamically assigning the created tasks to threads.

If you want to use dcMF, specify `DPARALLEL = -DTP_BASED`.

To decide which task parallel library to use, you should set as follows:
`DTP = -DTP_CILK` for Intel Cilk or `DTP = -DTP_MYTH` for MassiveThreads.

- Reference

  Y. Nishioka, and K. Taura. "Scalable task-parallel SGD on matrix factorization in multicore architectures." Parallel and Distributed Processing Symposium Workshop (IPDPSW), 2015 IEEE International. [paper](https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7284444)

## How to use

Just make and run!

```
$ make
$ ./mf train config.json
```

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


There is medium to brilliant proof from two efficient reviews and sixteen randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that intra-articular steroid infusion into the knee joint is compelling in the short term (up to two weeks) for the treatment of grown-ups with osteoarthritic knee pain. There was additionally some restricted confirmation to propose that high measurements of steroid might give longer-term viability.
The confirmation was generally predictable. One efficient survey provided details regarding 205 patients, the RCTs shifted in size between 24-419 (middle 69) patients. There were no reported genuine unfavorable occasions; some local and systemic minor unfriendly impacts were accounted for. It gives off an impression of being sheltered to rehash infusions three-month to month for up to two years.
It seems, by all accounts, to be sheltered to rehash three-month to month infusions for up to two years.
What is Steroid Infusion for Knee Pain?
Corticosteroids have a calming impact and they are infused into an assortment of spots to treat irritation. As for the knee, steroids are infused into the knee joint to treat pain, most normally coming about because of osteoarthritis.
What conditions are steroid infusions for knee pain utilized for as a part of the studies assessed?
How is Steroid Infusion for Knee Pain Done?
The skin over the zone through which the needle will pass is readied with a sterile arrangement and a needle, which is connected to a syringe, is gone through the skin and into the knee joint. Steroid, which is generally combined with the local sedative, is then infused into the knee.
Where is Steroid infusion for Knee Pain Done?
Intra-articular knee joint infusions are normally performed in a specialist's office.
Who does Steroid infusions for Knee Pain?
These infusions ought to be done by a suitably qualified and experienced specialist.
How Compelling is Steroid Infusion for Knee Pain?
Two efficient reviews and sixteen randomized controlled trials were utilized to inform this survey of adequacy. Five of the RCTs were incorporated into the methodical reviews (Jones, 1996; Raynaud, 2003; Smith, 2003; Ravaud, 1999 and Gaffney, 1995).
The two medium to superb deliberate reviews (Arroll, 2004 and Godwin, 2004) reported that there was essentially enhanced short and long-haul result for patients treated with steroid infusion contrasted with placebo. The evaluated fleeting achievement rate was one patient enhanced in every 1.3-3.5 patients treated, the assessed long haul achievement rate was one patient in every 4.4 patients treated.
It was proposed that higher steroid measurements might be expected to indicate long haul advantage. Five extra individual randomized trials of sensibly excellent gave a qualified support of steroid infusion for knee pain.
The comparative viability of intraarticular infusion of steroid and high atomic weight hyaluronic corrosive was analyzed in a solitary brilliant randomized trial (Caborn, 2004). Both treatments decreased osteoarthritic pain, joint solidness, and capacity.
The onset of impact was speedier, length of time shorter and now and again the greatness of the top impact lower with steroid infusions.
In the more extended term, the change was fundamentally better in patients with treated with Hylan G-F 20 (high atomic weight hyaluronic corrosive) than those treated with steroid infusions.
The remaining trials were of just low to mid-range quality (Bias, 2001; Mazieres, 1991; Sambrook, 1989; Leardini, 1991 and Grecomorro, 1992) and had more differed targets.
How Protected is Steroid Infusion for Knee Pain?
Symptoms of treatment included local transient reactions, for example, pain, prickling, blazing and largeness at the site of infusion. More broad reported symptoms included cerebral pain, spinal pain, musculoskeletal and gastro-intestinal issues; one trial reported the potential loss of joint space.
Rehash infusions for up to two years were judged to be protected and there was no proof to propose the movement of malady by steroid infusions.


text:
Sri Lanka: grenade attacks on mosque kill four Muslims
Suspected Tamil Tiger rebels hurled grenades at a mosque packed with worshippers in eastern Sri Lanka early Friday, killing at least four and injuring 10 others, police said.
It was not immediately known whether the attack was linked to Thursday's presidential election, which the rebels boycotted. Sri Lanka's Muslim population, which is at odds with the rebels, voted in the election.
"Two grenades were thrown at the mosque that killed four people and wounded 10 others," said Deputy Inspector General of Police Nimal Lewke.
The Defense Ministry also confirmed the attack in Akkaraipattu in eastern Batticaloa district. There were at least 60 worshippers in the mosque, it said.
Sri Lanka's Muslims generally do not trust the rebels, who are mostly Hindus. During two decades of civil war, the rebels carried out systematic killings of Muslims, including a massacre in August 1990 of 130 Muslims at two mosques on the same day, as they tried to assert control over eastern Sri Lanka.
The rebels started fighting in 1983 for a separate Tamil homeland in the northeast. The war stopped after a 2002 cease-fire. The uneasy truce is holding, but peace talks have stalled, reported AP. P.T.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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In the past, I worked as a teacher's assistant in my Polish school, helping with the creation of curricula and teaching young students the language. During high school, I worked as a self-employed tutor, helping students in English, History and Psychology. The students that I worked with went on to excel in the courses they took and in the case of AP Psychology, were able to pass the exam with a 3.
Within this job, I helped Polgroup Corporation in entering data for shipments.
Throughout high school, I tutored a multitude of students in History, Psychology, and English. The students I worked with showed great progress in their studies and were able to successfully pass all of the courses they'd previously struggled with.
As a teacher's assistant, I helped organise a language curriculum for young students and assisted teachers in managing a classroom. Working with young children, I developed skills of negotiation, compromise, and effective communication with parents, students, and teachers.
Within my internship at the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute at Rutgers University, I was able to experience the workings of a research and laboratory facility. During my time at the University, I was part of a pilot study and was expected to prepare a presentation for a symposium at the end of my time there. This experience taught me to be systematic and immensely detail-oriented, as I often worked independently to come up with the best solution to my team's research question.
needs and Magdalena will reply soon.


text:
\section{Introduction}
\IEEEPARstart{B}{esides} of its practical importance and of the progress made in the solution of integer linear programs in the last decades
\cite{hemmecke},
integer optimization is still a very challenging subject. Practical methods for
nonlinear problems are rare and mostly limited to small to medium sized problems \cite{ambrosio,hemmecke,buchheim},
even in special cases such
as convex integer programming \cite{buchheim,bonami,aydin}.
Heuristic approaches consequently play a major role in the field,
either hybridized with deterministic algorithms \cite{belotti,dark}, or
like stochastic approximate solution strategies on their own right \cite{hartmann,hard,anneal,ga,eva,yung,yang,xiao,narayan}.

An essential ingredient in any heuristic is a rule by which candidate solutions are generated. In this contribution we introduce
a very general framework to construct probabilistic solution generators that are consistent with the underlying integer optimization task.

\section{Mean Field Framework}

The method is principled and firmly based on the fundamental rules of probability.
More precisely, any possible solution for an integer optimization problem can be viewed like a random string
drawn from some probability distribution. It is desirable that such a distribution generates deviates that are tipically in the feasibility region
and close to the optima. To proceed,
consider the following class of optimization problems,
\begin{eqnarray} \label{opt}
\min f(\vec{x}) \quad s.t. \\ \nonumber
g_{k}(\vec{x}) \leq 0, h_{l} (\vec{x}) = 0,
\end{eqnarray}
where $\vec{x}$ is a vector of binary decision variables, $g_{k (k=1,..., K)}$ are inequality constraint functions
and $h_{l (l=1,..., L)}$ are equality constraints. The optimization task (\ref{opt}) can in principle be represented by a potential
function $V(\vec{x})$ which includes the objective and the constraints. A probability distribution can be associated to such a potential by
the transformation \cite{anneal,metropolis},
\begin{eqnarray} \label{boltzmann}
P(\vec{x}) = \frac{1}{Z} \exp \left (-\frac{V}{kT} \right ),
\end{eqnarray}
where $Z$ is a normalization factor (or partition function) and $kT$ is a constant. The Eq. (\ref{boltzmann}) gives the maximum
entropy distribution which is consistent with the condition $\left < V \right >_{P} = \int V P d{\vec{x}}$ \cite{jaynes}.
However, $P$ is in general intractable. Moreover, in our setup is not even known, because the explicit definition of $V$ would require
the knowledge of suitable ``barrier'' terms that exactly represent the constraints.
Is therefore proposed the following mean field probabilistic model for the decision variables,
\begin{eqnarray} \label{pmodel1}
Q(\vec{x}) = \prod_{i=1}^{N} p(x_i),
\end{eqnarray}
Mean field techniques, which have first emerged in statistical mechanics \cite{parisi}, have been
already successfully applied to discover fundamental features of combinatorial problems and valuable
solution strategies, although focused on particular combinatorial problem classes \cite{martin}.
Our purpose in this contribution is to develop a practical mean field framework to find good candidate
solutions to linear and nonlinear integer problems in the constrained situation (\ref{opt}).
The most general form for the independent marginals is,
\begin{eqnarray} \label{pmodel2}
p(x_i) = 1 + (2m_{i} - 1)x_{i} - m_{i}.
\end{eqnarray}
The $m$'s are continuous mean field parameters, $m \in [0,1]$. These parameters can be selected by
the minimization of the Kullback-Leibler divergence between distributions $Q$ and $P$ \cite{opper},
\begin{eqnarray}
D_{KL} (Q || P) =  \left < \ln Q \right > - \left < \ln P \right >,
\end{eqnarray}
where the brackets represent averages with respect to the tractable distribution $Q$. Introducing the entropy $S_Q = -kT \left < \ln Q \right >$,
is obtained the variational problem $\min F_Q$, where
\begin{eqnarray}
F_Q = \frac{1}{kT} \left [\left < V \right > - S_Q \right]
\end{eqnarray}
is the variational ``free energy'' of the distribution $Q$ \cite{opper}.
Without loss of generality, the constant $kT$ can be set $kT = 1$. In first instance we consider the class of combinatorial optimization
problems in which all the involved functions (objective and constraints) are polynomial,
e. g. $f(\vec{x}) = a_o + \sum_i b_i x_i + \sum_i \sum_j c_{i,j} x_i x_j + \sum_i \sum_j \sum_r q_{i,j,r} x_i x_j x_r  + ... $.
In such case
$\left < f(\vec{x}) \right > = f(\left < \vec{x} \right >)$, $\left < g(\vec{x}) \right > = g(\left < \vec{x} \right >)$
and $\left < h(\vec{x}) \right > = h(\left < \vec{x} \right >)$. Therefore, the continuous relaxation of the problem (\ref{opt})
is equivalent to its average under the mean field distribution,
\begin{eqnarray} \label{mopt}
\min f(\vec{m}) \quad s.t. \\ \nonumber
g_{k}(\vec{m}) \leq 0, h_{l} (\vec{m}) = 0.
\end{eqnarray}
An expression for $\left < V \right >$ can be constructed in terms of the Lagrangian,
\begin{eqnarray} \label{pot}
\left < V \right >  = \mathcal{L} = f(\vec{m}) + \sum_{l} \lambda_l h_{l} (\vec{m}) + \sum_{k} \mu_k g_{k}(\vec{m}),
\end{eqnarray}
where the constants $\lambda_l$ and $\mu_k \geq 0$ are the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) multipliers \cite{chong}.
The entropy of $Q$, on the other hand, is given by,
\begin{eqnarray}
S_Q = - \sum_{i} \left [ (1-m_i)\ln(1-m_i) + m_i \ln m_i \right],
\end{eqnarray}
so the variational problem for the $m$'s is written like,
\begin{eqnarray} \label{pmodel3}
\min F_Q (\vec{m}) =
\min  \{
f(\vec{m}) + \sum_{l} \lambda_l h_{l} (\vec{m}) + \sum_{k} \mu_k g_{k}(\vec{m}) \\ \nonumber
+ \sum_{i} \left [ (1-m_i)\ln(1-m_i) + m_i \ln m_i \right]  \}.
\end{eqnarray}
Equations (\ref{pmodel1}), (\ref{pmodel2}) and (\ref{pmodel3}) give a general probabilistic model for combinatorial optimization problems with binary decision variables.
Any continuous and differentiable nonlinearities in the objective or the constraints can be expanded in a Taylor series under to the condition $m_i < 1$ $\forall$ $i$.
Due to independence under the mean field, $\left < V \right >$ is therefore given by Eq. (\ref{pot}) for any problem (\ref{opt}), provided
that the stated conditions are met.
Stationarity applied to $F_Q$ with respect to the mean field parameters reduce the variational
problem to a set of self-consistency equations for $\vec{m}$,
\begin{eqnarray}\label{gsol}
m_i = \frac{1}{1 + \exp[\partial_i \mathcal{L}_{\vec{\lambda},\vec{\mu}}(\vec{m})]}
\end{eqnarray}
The generation of valid solutions of (\ref{opt}) from
the mean field model
can then be tackled by the following numerical scheme,
\begin{enumerate}
\item Give initial values for the KKT multipliers.
\item Solve Eq. (\ref{gsol}).
\item Evaluate the objective and constraints, either rounding the mean field (MF)
solution or drawing a point from the resulting MF distribution.
Update the KKT multipliers
and repeat from stage $2$ until suitable stoping criteria are met.
\end{enumerate}

\section{Results}

The probabilistic setup (\ref{pmodel1}), (\ref{pmodel2}), (\ref{pmodel3}) and (\ref{gsol})
is now tested on specific examples. We first consider here
the classical Knapsack Problem (KP),
\begin{eqnarray} \label{kp}
\min \quad - \vec{q} \cdot \vec{x} \quad s.t. \\ \nonumber
\vec{w} \cdot \vec{x} - d \leq 0,
\end{eqnarray}
where $d$ is the capacity of the knapsack, $\vec{q}$ are the gains and $\vec{w}$ the weights of a collection of $i = 1, ..., N$ objects.
The set of self-consistency equations for the mean field parameters is in this case
independent, with solution,
\begin{eqnarray}\label{solkp}
m_i = \frac{1}{1 + \exp(- q_i + \mu w_i)},
\end{eqnarray}
where $\mu$ is the KKT multiplier associated to the single constraint. When this constraint is inactive, $\mu = 0$ and $m_i \in \left [\frac{1}{2}, 1 \right )$.
In the case in which the constraint is active, $\mu \geq 0$.
The substitution of Eq. (\ref{solkp}) into the complementary slackness condition $\vec{w} \cdot \vec{m} - d = 0$ gives,
\begin{eqnarray}\label{slackness}
&&\sum_{i=1}^{N}(w_i - d)\exp(q_i - \mu w_i) \\ \nonumber
&+& \sum_{i=1}^{N} (w_i + w_{i+1}- d)
\exp \left[ (q_i + q_{i+1})
- \mu (w_i + w_{i+1}) \right ] \\ \nonumber
&+& \sum_{i=1}^{N} (w_i + w_{i+1} + w_{i+2} - d) \\ \nonumber
&&\exp \left[ (q_i + q_{i+1} + q_{i+2}) - \mu (w_i + w_{i+1} + w_{i+2}) \right ] \\ \nonumber
&+& ... + \sum_{i=1}^{N} (\tau \overline{w} + \epsilon_{\tau} - d)
\exp \left[\tau \overline{q} + \epsilon^{'}_{\tau} - \mu (\tau \overline{w} + \epsilon_{\tau}) \right ] \\ \nonumber
&+& ... +
\left[ \left( \sum_{i=1}^{N}w_i \right ) - d \right ] \exp \left( \sum_{i=1}^{N} q_i - \mu \sum_{i=1}^{N} w_i \right )
= d,
\end{eqnarray}
where $q_{i+j} = w_{i+j} = 0$ if $(i+j) > N$.
The overlines represent averages over the distributions from which the instance parameters (weights and gains) are drawn.
The index $\tau = 1, ..., N$ counts the terms in the left side of Eq. (\ref{slackness}). The finite sums over
the instance parameters that appear in the expression are rewritten in terms of the estimators,
\begin{eqnarray}
\frac{1}{\tau} \sum_{t=1}^{\tau} w_{i+t} = \overline{w} + \epsilon_{\tau}, \\ \nonumber
\frac{1}{\tau} \sum_{t=1}^{\tau} q_{i+t} = \overline{q} + \epsilon^{'}_{\tau},
\end{eqnarray}
where the $\epsilon$'s are estimation errors, which in general go to zero as $\tau \to \infty$. For the problem to be
feasible, $\overline{w} << d$ if $N >> 1$. This imply that for large $N$,
the terms of the left side of Eq. (\ref{slackness}) with
small $\tau$ are typically negative, and should be cancelled out. Therefore,
\begin{eqnarray}\label{slackness2}
\alpha (N \overline{w} - d)\exp[N (\overline{q} - \mu \overline{w})] \approx d, \quad \alpha \geq 1,
\end{eqnarray}
from which it follows that,
\begin{eqnarray}\label{mu}
\mu \approx \frac{\overline{q}}{\overline{w}} - \frac{1}{\alpha N} \ln \left ( \frac{d}{N\overline{w} - d} \right ).
\end{eqnarray}
In the limit $N \to \infty$, $\mu = \frac{\overline{q}}{\overline{w}}$. This result gives an important insight: for active constraints, the multipliers
are such that the distribution (\ref{pmodel2}) actually represents the ``competition'' between the
objective and the constraints. Good starting points of the search scheme for the multipliers can be obtained on this basis. For KP, we have
implemented the following procedure,
\begin{enumerate}
\item The multiplier is initially set like $\mu = \frac{\overline{q}}{\overline{w}}$.
\item Evaluate Eq. (\ref{solkp}).
\item Update $\mu$ by the minimization of $(\vec{w} \cdot \vec{m} - d)^2$.
Evaluate $\vec{w} \cdot \vec{m} - d = \epsilon$. Given a predefined tolerance $tol$,
if $|\epsilon| > tol$, then go to step $2$ using a new initial value for the multiplier drawn
at random from a neighboor around $\frac{\overline{q}}{\overline{w}}$.
Else, end.
\end{enumerate}
At each iteration the resulting mean field parameters are rounded, the feasibility is checked
and the objective is evaluated, keeping track of the best feasible solution. The random
initial values for the multiplier are taken from an interval of $10$\% around the $\mu$ value
associated to the current best rounded solution at each iteration.
Some numerical results and comparisons are presented in Table 1.
In the reported experiments, $tol = 0.0001$. A maximum of $1000$ iterations is allowed.
The scheme is terminated if $|\epsilon| \leq tol$ or the total number
of permitted iterations is completed.
The best found rounded feasible solution and its objective value is reported.
The instances were created with the
Pisinger generator \footnote{\url{http://www.diku.dk/~pisinger/generator.c}} \cite{kp},
under the conditions of strong linear correlations between $q_i$ and $w_i$, being $w_i$ randomly distributed
in the interval $[1, 1000]$.
It has been argued that for these type of instances
the integer solution
is usually far from the continuous relaxation solution \cite{kp}.
The exact solutions have been found using the branch and bound algorithm provided
by Cplex \footnote{\url{http://www-01.ibm.com/software/commerce/optimization/cplex-optimizer/index.html}},
which is a
widely accepted state of the art standard for linear and quadratic integer problems.
A general purpose Genetic Algorithm (GA) is also tested on the instances.
The Cplex version is Ibm Ilog Cplex 12.4. For the GA the R package Genalg
\footnote{\url{http://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/genalg/}}
version 0.1.1 was used,
with all the defaults except a rule which stops GA evolution if there is no change in best objective value after
$150$ generations or a time limit of $5000$ seconds of CPU time is exceeded.
The experiments were run on an Intel I7-3820 processor with 4 cores, 3.60 GHz and 32 GB RAM.
For each problem dimension, $10$ instances are drawn from the Pisinger generator,
running each instance $10$ times from different initial conditions.
Averages and
standard deviations of the objective values and computation times for the MF and GA algorithms are reported.
For the considered instances, Cplex found the exact solutions in CPU times $< 1$ second.
Altough GA and MF are comparable at small problem sizes, for large problems
the mean field heuristic
finds higher quality solutions at a computation time that is orders of magnitude below of GA.

\noindent The effectivity of the formulation in nonlinear cases has been tested on the Quadratic Knapsack Problem (QKP),
which is stated as follows \cite{pisinger2},
\begin{eqnarray}
\min \quad - \vec{x}^{t}\mathcal{Q}\vec{x} \quad s.t. \\ \nonumber
\vec{w} \cdot \vec{x} - d \leq 0,
\end{eqnarray}
where $\mathcal{Q}$ is a symmetric matrix with coefficients $q_{i,j} \geq 0$ $\forall$ $i,j$.
QKP has a graph-theoretic interpretation in terms of the {\em Clique} problem \cite{pisinger2}.
Moreover, QKP is in general NP-hard in the strong sense, meaning that
admits no polynomial-time approximation scheme unless P = NP \cite{pisinger2}.
The mean field Lagrangian reads,
\begin{eqnarray}
\mathcal{L} =  - \vec{m}^{t}\mathcal{Q}\vec{m} + \mu (\vec{w} \cdot \vec{m} - d),
\end{eqnarray}
from which
\begin{eqnarray}
\partial_i \mathcal{L}_{\mu} =  -2 q_{i,i} m_i - \sum_{j \neq i} q_{i,j} m_j + \mu w_i.
\end{eqnarray}
The initial value of the multiplier is taken like,
\begin{eqnarray}
\mu = \frac{1}{N \bar{w}}\left [ 2 \sum_{i} q_{i,i} + \sum_i \sum_{j\neq i} q_{i,j} \right ].
\end{eqnarray}
Due to nonlinearity, the algebraic system (\ref{gsol}) is now coupled.
At fixed $\mu$, it can be efficiently solved by iterating the equations (\ref{gsol}).
Besides this, the numerical procedure is almost the same followed for the KP example.
More precisely, the step $2$ of the procedure now involves the iteration of the mean field
equations (\ref{gsol}) from a starting random initial $\vec{m}$. In our experiments, we have used only
one iterating step.
Results in instances of $200$ variables
taken from the benchmark provided by Billionet and Soutif
\footnote{\url{http://cedric.cnam.fr/~soutif/QKP/QKP.html}}
\cite{bill}
are reported in Table 2.
Even in these relatively small instances Cplex is unable to
find optimality certificates in short times.
Therefore we now include the branch and bound method in the comparison,
focusing on solution quality and computation times. The equipment is the same as that
used for the KP experiments.
A maximum CPU time of $100$ seconds is allowed for the mean field and the branch and bound
algorithms, while for the GA is imposed a limit of $5000$ seconds.
The averages and standard deviations of the ratio between the best value found with respect the
known optimum is reported. Each instance has been run $10$ times, while the benchmark includes $10$
examples of each of the quadratic coefficients matrix densities of $25$\%, $50$\% and $100$\%.
Therefore the statistics is computed from
a total of $300$ runs per method.
Both the branch and bound and the mean field methods have an average
solution quality above $99$ \% with respect to the known exact optimum, while the GA shows
considerable inferior performance. Larger instances are studied using the
QKP generator provided by Pisinger
\footnote{\url{http://www.diku.dk/~pisinger/testqkp.c}}.
Comparisons are in this case only between the mean field and branch and bound by computing the ratio
between the best solutions found by MF and Cplex.
A total of $10$ instances is generated for each problem size,
with matrix density of $100$\%. Each instance was ran $10$ times from different
initial conditions, giving a total statistics of $100$ runs for each problem size per method.
For problem sizes
of $1000$ the performance between both methods appear to be similar, however at size $2000$
Cplex is unable to find integer solutions in some cases. These are discarded until the $10$ examples are completed.
For sizes of $5000$ and above,
the branch and bound is unable to find any integer solution in the $100$ seconds computation time limit.
In fact, by further tests it have turned out that Cplex is unable to give integer solutions for these cases
even after several days of CPU time in our equipment.
We have
tested the mean field up to instances of size $20000$, always giving integer feasible solutions, although with
an increasing variance of the best objectives values.
Figure 1 shows that the variance is however reduced and the
overall solution quality incremented when larger
computation times are allowed, which indicates that the mean field procedure scales robustly for
large problem dimensions.

\section{Conclusion}

Under mild assumptions on the statistical properties of the linear KP, an explicit mean field solution has been found
in the infinite size limit, expressed by the equations (\ref{solkp}) and (\ref{mu}).
In the experiments presented in
Table 1, the ratio between the initial value of $\mu$ given by $\mu = \frac{\overline{q}}{\overline{w}}$
and the final value
obtained after the iterations of the numerical scheme has been found to be $1 \pm 0.003$.
This kind of ``thermodynamic limit'' might exist in other linear constrained problems as well.
The nonlinear constrained case studied here also points out
in a similar direction. In all the considered problems, the heuristically proposed initial multiplier
always give an integer valid solution, despite that this is hard to achieve by a branch and bound
search from random initial conditions.

The mean field framework presented in this contribution appears to be highly competitive with respect to standard
approaches.
For the test problems considered, there exist other more specialized deterministic and
stochastic methods besides the GA and branch and bound used here for comparisons. However, the available
literature on these other algorithms is
mainly focused on small to medium problem sizes \cite{yung,yang,xiao,narayan}.
We have used therefore two popular stochastic and deterministic methods as a way to asses the scalability of our
framework with respect to what is often done in practice.
Moreover, our interest is the development of a general paradigm. The implementation for
almost arbitrary nonlinear problem structures should follow essentially the same steps used here for the
QKP example. Clearly, the application of our framework
to different integer optimization problem classes is one of the research lines opened by the present work.
Other is the design of novel heuristics based on the
mean field or its hybridization with existing algorithms.
Also could be valuable to explore corrections to the mean field equations,
by the use of cavity, replica or related approaches \cite{parisi,opper}.

\begin{table*}[h]
\caption{Classical knapsack problem.
Statistics of the ratio of the best values obtained
by GA and MF with respect to the known
optimum (found by the branch and bound algorithm implemented in Cplex)
and of the CPU times per run (in seconds) is computed from
$10$ instances for each problem size, running each instance $10$ times from random and
independent
initial conditions for both methods.
On these and
the following reported experiments, all the runs were performed on the same equipment under
the same controlled conditions.}
\begin{tabular*}{\hsize}{@{\extracolsep{\fill}}ccccc}
\hline
\multicolumn1c{$N$}&\multicolumn1c{[(GA best) / (optimum)] (\%)}&\multicolumn1c{GA time}&
\multicolumn1c{[(MF best) / (optimum)](\%)}&\multicolumn1c{MF time}
\cr
\hline
$100$ & $95.44 \pm 0.66$ & $24.88 \pm 5.37$ & $92.35 \pm 5.68$ & $0.11 \pm 0.05$ \cr
$1000$ & $91.34 \pm 3.35$ & $224.01 \pm 65.24$ & $94.32 \pm 2.23$ & $4.192 \pm 3.66$ \cr
$10000$ & $90.43 \pm 3.43$ & $1098.71 \pm 170.05$ & $96.51 \pm 0.62$ & $48.19 \pm 27.73$ \cr
\hline
\end{tabular*}
\end{table*}

\begin{table*}[h]
\caption{Quadratic knapsack problem. The problem size with $N = 200$ decision variables from the
Billionet and Soutif benchmark is considered.
A total of $100$ seconds of CPU time is allowed for MF and Cplex, while a $5000$ seconds
of CPU time limit is imposed to the GA.
The benchmark consists of $10$ instances
of each of the quadratic coefficients matrix densities of $25$\%, $50$\% and $100$\%.
Statistics were collected by performing $10$ independent runs per method on each instance.
The ratio of the best values with respect to the
known optima is therefore reported from a total of $300$ runs per method .}
\begin{tabular*}{\hsize}{@{\extracolsep{\fill}}ccccc}
\hline
\multicolumn1c{[(GA best) / (optimum)] (\%)}&\multicolumn1c{[(MF best) / (optimum)] (\%)}&
\multicolumn1c{[(Cplex best) / (optimum)] (\%)}
\cr
\hline
$87.4_{-6.4}^{+6.5}$ & $99.4_{-0.2}^{+0.5}$ & $99.9_{-0.1}^{+0.0}$\cr
\hline
\end{tabular*}
\end{table*}

\begin{table*}[h]
\caption{Quadratic knapsack problem. Large problem dimensions are considered by drawing them from the
Pisinger generator. No exact optima are known in these cases. The ratio between the best found
values of MF and Cplex are reported from $10$ different instances ran $10$ times by both methods, imposing a
limit of $100$ seconds of CPU time. At size $N = 2000$, Cplex is unable to find integer solutions for some cases.
These have been discarded until $10$ instances solvable by Cplex are completed. At size $N = 5000$, Cplex gave none
integer solution.}
\begin{tabular*}{\hsize}{@{\extracolsep{\fill}}ccccc}
\hline
\multicolumn1c{$N$}&\multicolumn1c{[(MF best) / (Cplex best)] (\%)}
\cr
\hline
$500$ & $99.5_{-2.0}^{+0.4}$ \cr
$1000$ & $100.0_{-0.0}^{+0.4}$ \cr
$2000$ & $101.2_{-1.6}^{+4.2}$  \cr
$5000$ & $\infty$ \cr
\hline
\end{tabular*}
\end{table*}

\vskip 0.5cm
\begin{figure*}[h]
\begin{center}
{\includegraphics[width=1.0\textwidth]{fig1.eps}}
\caption{The scalability of the MF procedure is tested by analyzing the relative standard deviation
(the ratio of the standard deviation of the best values with respect to the average of the best values, in
percent units) of the MF results at different sizes of the QKP.
The solid curve reports the behavior with
$100$ seconds of CPU time while the dashed curve gives the relative standard deviations with $200$ seconds of
CPU time. The curves show that integer feasible solutions can be found by MF in modest
computation times for problem sizes
that are intractable by standard methods. The variability of MF decreses by
increasing computation times. The ratio between average best values at $200$ and $100$ seconds is
$1.13_{-0.1}^{+0.3}$. Therefore the figure is indicative of an overall increase in solution quality as a consequence of the
CPU time increment.
}\label{fig1}
\end{center}
\end{figure*}

\section*{Acknowledgment}

This work was partially supported by the National Council of Science and Technology of
Mexico under grant CONACYT CB-167651 and by the Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon
support to research program under grant UANL-PAICYT IT795-11.

\ifCLASSOPTIONcaptionsoff
  \newpage
\fi

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


in the school, and thus focuses on developing the capacity of the organization to support people in improving their own professional practice (Hallinger, 2010). Hence, an 'inside out' approach (Owens, 2004) to change embraces teacher professional learning as a key determinant in how schools approach and sustain successful educational reform.
quantitative (Hattie, 2012), this study adopted a qualitative approach to narrow the gap in current literature related to principal leadership practices that influence teacher professional learning.
with elementary teachers, and one with supervisors) all of whom provided their experiences and perceptions of elementary principal leadership practices that influence teacher professional learning.
principals, and supervisors to influence teacher professional learning opportunities?
ways in which professional learning experiences have led to professional growth?
3. From the perspectives of elementary teachers, elementary principals, and supervisors is there a perceived set of core leadership practices that support and influence teacher professional learning?
implications of this study include: an impact on principal leadership practices; principal hiring practices; the structure of teacher professional learning opportunities; and educational policy that constructs the parameters through which teacher professional learning is implemented.


And I've lost who I am, and I can't understand.
without, love gone wrong, lifeless words carry on.
But I know, all I know, is that the end's beginning.
Who I am from the start, take me home to my heart.
Let me go and I will run, I will not be silent.
All this time spent in vain, wasted years, wasted gain.
There's a light, there's the sun, taking all shattered ones.
"because they are too close , she doesn't really see him"


text:
FIRST FED NOR MICH BANCORP FFNM
November 25, 2014 - 9:30am EST by
Price: 5.39 EPS 0 0
Shares Out. (in M): 4 P/E 0 0
Market Cap (in $M): 20 P/FCF 0 0
Net Debt (in $M): 0 EBIT 0 0
TEV ($): 0 TEV/EBIT 0 0
Illiquid
Discount to Tangible Book
Demutualization
Yes Bank YES IN 02/14/2018
HDFC BANK LTD HDB 07/14/2016
BANK OF AMERICA CORP BAC 06/24/2016
1ST COLONIAL BANCORP INC FCOB 06/11/2017
Bank Of Ireland Group plc BIRG.IR 01/17/2018
BANCO LATINOAMERICANO DE COM BLX 07/05/2019
INFORMATION SERVICES GROUP III 05/25/2017
BayCom BCML 06/16/2019
BNCCORP INC BNCC 02/17/2017
WARNING! THIS INVESTMENT IS AN ILLIQUID, NANO-CAP.
First Federal of Northern Michigan Bancorp is a tiny, $20 million market cap, $300 million-in-assets bank that trades at 70% of TBV. I believe recent selling has been from former shareholders of Alpena Banking Corporation, a private stock bank, that FFNM bought in an all stock deal in August 2014. I believe the deal is accretive and that FFNM could earn $0.55-$0.60/sh and trade at 11-13X earnings multiple.
Background: Let's look at Northern Michigan, starting with the positives:
It was originally part of Anomickee County founded in 1840, which in 1843 was changed to Alpena, a pseudo-Native American word — a neologism coined by Henry Schoolcraft, meaning something like "a good partridge country." This was part of a much larger effort to rename a great many of the Michigan counties at the time.
The region, known as the "Sunrise Side" from its location on the east shoreline of Michigan, was first a site of commercial fishing activity and is still home to extensive commercial fishing activities. Later the region, like much of Michigan, was shaped by the logging era of the 1800s. Today, Alpena is known for its limestone quarry, one of the largest in the world, owned and operated by the Lafarge corporation and is a major cement manufacturer and exporter. While at one time the largest in the world, the cement plant is now just the largest cement plant for Lafarge in North America with an annual capacity of almost 3 million tons of cement. Alpena is also the world headquarters of Besser Company, a manufacturer of concrete block machines. Tourism (fishing, hunting, camping and a variety of water sports) is also important to Alpena's economy.
In February 2007 Bizjournals ranked Alpena as the hottest retirement destination in the Great Lakes area and #44 nationally.
The city has a number of notable buildings, including the Art deco Alpena County Courthouse and Temple Beth El, one of the oldest synagogues in the United States.
Can't forget Kidrock's "All Summer Long" video (even if it was shot in Nashville): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwIGZLjugKA
Now, for the cold water from the merger documents:
Alpena County lags both the State of Michigan and the United States with respect to most economic and demographic data. Specifically, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the population of Alpena County has declined from 31,300 in 2000 to 29,600 in 2013, and is projected to decline to 29,400 by 2018. Further, the median household income for Alpena County in 2013 was $34,500 compared to the Michigan median household income for 2013 of $46,400 and the U.S. median household income of $51,300. Additionally, in 2013 the unemployment rate for Alpena County was 10.4%, compared to 8.0% for the State of Michigan and 6.7% for the United States.
We believe that the unfavorable economic conditions of the past several years will continue to have an unfavorable impact on our operations.
History: The bank was formed in 1957 as a mutual. In 1994, it completed a first step conversion to a mutual holding company. It did a second step in 2005 to fully convert that raised over $16 million in new equity, most of which was subsequently lost from 2007 to 2010. Despite that, the bank was able to avoid having to do TARP preferreds.
Merger: FFNM and Alpena Banking Corporation ("ABC") consummated their merger in August 2014. ABC was formed in 2001 as a commercial bank, led by Craig Kus and eight other community leaders. ABC was a stock bank with one location but never a public one. Looking through the FFEIC records for the bank subsidiary, it had peaked at almost $90 million in assets before the financial crisis. The two banks first considered a merger in 2006 but the ABC board rejected the offer. Talks began again in 2010 but were called off when ABC was hit with an FDIC Consent Order. Talks resumed but were delayed until after FFNM underwent an OCC examination.
Not surprisingly, the combined banks dominate the banking scene in Alpena, with 57% deposit share. The bank does provide breakouts of its other locations (it has a very good IR section on its web site):
http://ir.first-federal.com/depositmarketshare.aspx?iid=4057533
The deal was done entirely with FFNM stock, and was dilutive. However, it was softened by FFNM recognizing a $1.8 million bargain purchase. With the large NOL's shielding taxes, it went straight to the bottom line and to equity. If you read the latest 10-Q, you will see that the valuation of the ABC assets, which include $1.4 million of core deposit intangible. M&A accounting results in the balance sheet being reset to fair value, which has some peculiar impacts to banks. The deal had the impact of diluting TBV at the current price from 64% to 70%. I will discuss cost savings in the Earnings section.
Shares: 842,965 shares were issued to ABC shareholder, bringing the total share count to 3,727,014. There are 137,530 stock options outstanding, with a weighted average exercise price of $9.54 and weighted average remaining term of 1.8 years.
Assets: With the economy in a funk in the bank's territory, the loan book is only 52% of assets. ABC was focused on commercial loans although it did do residential mortgages and consumer loans. FFNM's thrift background had been more oriented towards residential, but had started shifting to more commercial at the turn of the century. The combined bank is split almost 50/50 between residential and commercial. The bank has shifted more assets into mortgage-backed securities, government obligations and municipal bonds. Securities represent 37% of assets. Non-performing assets (NPA) to total assets dropped to 1.16% as of 9/30/2014 and non-performing loans to total assets was 0.25% for that time period. Part of the drop was due to the merger and its fair value accounting. Most of the NPA consist of real estate owned. The bank is in much better shape than in 2009 when NPA's were over 6%.
Earnings: Looking backwards, the earnings for both banks in recent years have not exactly been exciting. Let's start by looking at the earnings for the first three quarters of 2014, where the two banks earned $2.2 million. We need to back out $1,816,000 bargain purchase and add in $264,000 of merger related expenses, to get trued up earnings of $650K. Extrapolating for the full year, that is about $800K or $0.21/sh.
FFNM expects synergies of 36% of non-interest expenses. Less than two weeks after the deal closed, FFNM closed one of its two Alpena branches and consolidated it with the former ABC. FFNM also closed an operations center and put both properties up for sale. It seems like the savings are achievable. Using ABC's 2013 figures, that equates to $2.5 million X 36% = $900,000 or $0.24/sh. Normally, that would have to be adjusted for taxes but the bank will not pay taxes for awhile.
In going through the latest 10-Q with the merger details and looking at 6/30/2014 Call Report for Bank of Alpena, the merger numbers were vastly different. The fair value of the merger in the 10-Q shows $102.4 million in assets and $95.8 million in deposits, whereas the call report for the time period 39 days before the merger shows $69.0 million in assets and $61.7 million in deposits. Most of the difference ended up in cash and cash equivalents on the asset side and in non-interest deposits on the liability side. I compared the call reports between the two quarters, and assets increased $23 million. The securities portfolio increased $27.7 million, while loans decreased $5.6 million. It would appear that the bank landed several significant accounts. Assuming $20 million, based on the net new investments made, represents new earning assets, that will increase net income. Assuming a conservative 2.50% spread on $20 million, that adds $500,000 or $0.13/share.
Adding the three components together, estimated EPS is $0.58. With an 11-13X earnings multiple, looking at $6.38 - $7.54 stock price or 18-40% gain. I think the bank could fetch more in a sale but that is not a given. I like that Stilwell (see Institutional Investors) is involved because he has been effective in prodding banks to realize value. The lack of other institutional investors, however, makes it a tougher challenge. That is why I am focusing on earnings.
NOL's: As of the 2013 10-K, there were $10.8 million in NOL carryovers available on Federal taxes for the next 20 years. There is a deferred tax asset on the balance sheet of $1.0 million as of 9/30/2014. I suppose that it could be considered a hidden asset if the DTA is realized but I would rather wait for it to be realized. The bank should not have to pay federal taxes for 4-5 years.
Institutional Investors: There were two 5%+ holders before the merger, DFA and Financial & Investment Management Group. The deal diluted them both under 5% and Financial & Investment sold almost 2/3rds of their shares in the 3rd Quarter. However, two institutional investors took advantage of the selling form the acquired bank shareholders to increase their holdings. Tontine Capital bought 92K shares and recently filed a SC 13G showing 6.27% ownership. Tontine is run by Jeff Gendell and has been a long-time shareholder, having first filed a SC 13D back in 2002. Noted bank investor and activist Joseph Stilwell added 110,900 shares in the 3rd Quarter and now owns about 3.2% of the bank.
Management: The CEO is Michael Mahler, who has a non-traditional background. He was originally an accountant who worked his way up at a steel company and then became corporate controller at a concrete plant. He was hired as the bank's CFO in 2002, became an EVP, then COO before being made CEO. Mahler is only about 51 years old. The CEO of ABC, Craig Kus, became the COO. He has a good background, with over 30 years of banking experience and having served as president of the Michigan Bankers Association. I think Kus will add value from an operational perspective. Looking at the financial history of FFNM (see below), the bank could use some help. Kus did a decent job leading ABC through the financial crisis with an arguably riskier loan book.
Insiders do not own a lot of stock. The board chair, Martin Thomson, owns about 80,000 shares; he was CEO of the bank until 2008. Michael Mahler owns about 45,000 shares. We won't know how much Kus owns until the next proxy.
Financial Overview: Below are the financial highlights for the past 18 years. You will note highlighted data for 2003. The bank bought an insurance agency in 2003 and sold it in 2009. The 2008 annual report recast the past five years to exclude the insurance agency, leaving 2003 as an oddball situation. I could have put the 2003 figures in with the insurance agency but felt it better to approximate the bank's financials.
Locations: Here is a map of the bank's locations:
- Earnings synergies are realized
- Risks: Illiquid, may not achieve earnings that I project


The above specification is fixed and we cannot deviate from that. The only thing that can be specified is the chambering for the barrel and you can find a list of available chambers below. Your cost of the barrel will be $199 plus shipping. Please call in your order to Noemi at 210-858-6882. Note that it may be 2-4 months before you receive your order.
I have to ask, what are the chances of a 300 PRC?
I wish we can do that, but unfortunately the order is limited to what is on the list above.
Just saw this, I guess you already placed your order??
We have not placed the order yet so you still can get your order in.


text:
Legislative Information Center Home
File #: 54224 Version: 1 Name: 1/22/19 Resident committee appointments
Type: Appointment Status: Confirmed
File created: 12/28/2018 In control: Mayor's Office
On agenda: 2/5/2019 Final action: 2/5/2019
Enactment date: 2/8/2018 Enactment #:
Title: Report of the Mayor submitting resident committee appointments (introduction 1/8/2019; action 1/22/2019).
Sponsors: Paul R. Soglin
2/5/2019 1 COMMON COUNCIL Confirm Pass Action details Meeting details Not available
1/8/2019 1 COMMON COUNCIL Refer to a future Meeting to Confirm Pass Action details Meeting details Not available
12/28/2018 1 Mayor's Office Referred for Introduction Action details Meeting details Not available
Report of the Mayor submitting resident committee appointments (introduction 1/8/2019; action 1/22/2019).
I hereby submit, for your consideration and approval, the following resident committee appointments.
COMMITTEE ON THE ENVIRONMENT
SAMANTHA BAILEY (17th A.D.) - appoint to the remainder of a three-year term to the position of Resident Member. Ms. Bailey is a program & policy analyst with the Bureau of Environmental and Occupational Health, Wisconsin Department of Health Services. She is an active volunteer with Heartland Farm Sanctuary. Ms. Bailey succeeds Timothy D. Baker.
TERM EXPIRES: 4-20-2021
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT COMMITTEE
KEETRA S. BURNETTE (20th A.D.) - appoint to the remainder of a two-year term to the position of Minority Representative. Ms. Burnette currently holds a Resident Member position and has served since 9-15-2015. She succeeds Ricky Hunt.
TERM EXPIRES: 10-1-2020
JENNIFER H. CAMPBELL (11th A.D.) - appoint to the remainder of a two-year term to the position of Resident Member. Ms. Campbell currently holds the First Alternate position and has served since 5-3-2016. She succeeds Keetra S. Burnette who assumed the Minority Representative position.
RACHEL E. SATTLER (10th A.D.) - appoint to the remainder of a one-year term to the position of First Alternate. Ms. Sattler is a victim rights attorney with Legal Action of Wisconsin. She is also the co-founder and president of Dane County Multi-Agency Center, Inc. Ms. Sattler succeeds Jennifer H. Campbell who assumed a Resident Member position.
MADISON FOOD POLICY COUNCIL
MAERAJ H. SHEIKH (18th A.D.) - appoint to the remainder of a three-year term to the position of Member. Ms. Sheikh is the Director of Equity & Community Engagement with Community GroundWorks. She has a background in sustainable agriculture and community & regional planning. Ms. Sheikh succeeds Kyle R. Richmond.
BENJAMIN E. RUSH (11th A.D.) - appoint to the remainder of a three-year term to the position of Member. Mr. Rush is a research assistant and Ph.D. student studying Nutritional Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He served two years with AmeriCorps, first as a wilderness therapy counselor in AR and secondly, as a nutrition educator and community outreach specialist at the Winnebago County Health Department. Mr. Rush succeeds Erica C. Anderson.
School Superintendent appointment:
DUSTIN K. LUNDT (12th A.D.) - appointed to the position of Madison Metropolitan School District Representative. Mr. Lundt is the Food and Nutrition Coordinator. He succeeds Steve Youngbauer.
MADISON'S CENTRAL BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT (BID) BOARD
DOUG POLAND (13th A.D.) - appoint to a three-year term to the position of Downtown Madison, Inc. (DMI) Representative. Mr. Poland is an attorney with Rathje Woodward LLC. He will be succeeding Stacy Nemeth as the chair of the DMI Board of Directors in January 2019.
PUBLIC MARKET DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
DANIELLE F. FALCONE (4th A.D.) - appoint to the position of Member. Ms. Falcone is an outreach specialist with the UW Carbone Cancer Center. She has event planning and fundraising experience, having planned, organized and facilitated community events to raise awareness and funds for cancer research. In addition, she previously served and a sales & special events coordinator for The Edgewater Hotel. Ms. Falcone succeeds Mayra Medrano.
LESLIE PETERSON (12th A.D.) - appoint to the position of Member. Ms. Peterson is a bilingual teacher with the Madison Metropolitan School District. In addition, she has been a small business owner for 30-plus years. She is a founding member of the Wisconsin Citizens Media Cooperative and current volunteer at the Tenant Resource Center. Ms. Peterson succeeds Donale J. Richards.
SISTER CITY COLLABORATION COMMITTEE
RAHEL DESALEGNE (9th A.D.) - appoint to a three-year term to the position of Member. Ms. Desalegne is an engineer, educator and entrepreneur. She is currently a senior traffic/ITS engineer for TransSmart Technologies, Inc. and an adjunct professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She worked to establish the Madison-Bahir Dar sister city relationship, which was approved by the Common Council on 11/20/2018, and will serve as its representative.
TERM EXPIRES: 2-1-2022
TASK FORCE ON STRUCTURE OF CITY GOVERNMENT
ROGER GOODWIN (15th A.D.) - appoint to the position of Mayoral Appointee. Mr. Goodwin spent his entire career in government, including serving on a regional planning commission in Michigan and working for the Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau. Mr. Goodwin retired from the City of Madison after 28 years. During that time, he served as an internal auditor & budget analyst for the Finance Department, as the Street Superintendent and as interim Human Resources Director. He succeeds Jerry B. Vang.
Paul R. Soglin


Engineers at LEITNER ropeways know that innovations must never compromise reliability. Consequently, all components of the LEITNER control system individually or in combination provide a reliable and perfectly tuned logic. It builds first and foremost on one criterion: Its intuitive handling during operation is the measure of all things! LEITNER ropeways mainly aim at easing work. "Any machine is only as good as it feels to the operator in its handling. This sensation is then transferred on to guests in the ski resort enjoying functional installations alongside perfectly groomed slopes.
For the machine operator, working with the control system needs to be pleasant as well", says Günter Tschinkel, Head of Electrical Engineering at LEITNER ropeways. The LEITNER control system including visualization is offering just this in all its parts: from the perfect hardware to a well thought-out software to attractive and advanced terminals for automated operation. All processes at a glance and in a single step LEITNER ropeways design engineers and experts managed to make cable transport control systems attractive. "Cable transport control systems used to be monstrosities full of switches, display areas and flashing lights.
We have turned this into an elegant,stylish product that excels with intuitive handling, perfect usability and simplicity. The motto behind this: as many switches and displays as necessary and at the same time as few as possible", says chief executive Anton Seeber. These efforts result in products such as LeitControl. It requires only one operating console to perform all functionality required in day to day operation. While traditional control systems require of up to seven steps to complete some operations, using LeitControl these are stored and can be recalled in a single step, upon which they are carried out automatically and without further interaction.
This makes work at the system self-explanatory and can be explained even to newcomers in a very short time", says Anton Seeber. Another benefit: All installations in a ski resort can be monitored from one terminal and viewed at a glance using LEITNER visualization. This Windows-based process visualization system not only simplifies work but also makes it more attractive. "All processes can be grasped at a glance and can be completed in a single step transparent, practical and absolutely user-friendly", says Günter Tschinkel.
LeitControl is also in use at the new 3Sropeway Eisgratbahn.


text:
Meeting with George Verwer
When I got an email some weeks ago from George Verwer inviting me over to meet him at his home, I was very surprised.
George Verwer is one of the Christian leaders who has influenced me the most in my life.
George is the founder and former director of Operation Mobilisation, one of the largest mission's organisation in the world. Over the decades he has probably challenged and sent out more Christians into mission than anyone else.
I took the Eurostar train from Lille, Northern France and headed to London. I took two more trains and finally made it to West Wickham. At 3pm I rang the doorbell. George invited me in and introduced me to his wife. He made me a nice English tea and we sat in the living room.
The whole house looked like one big mission base with papers, files and books everywhere.
The one and a half hour I spent with him will never be forgotten. A life changing encounter with an 80-year-old man who after ministering in 100 countries is still as passionate as ever for world mission.
I could not believe how simple his house (and his car!) were. A truly humble servant of God.
Before we left, he stood up in the middle of the living room and prayed for me.
He then kindly drove me to the train station and encouraged me as I now head back to Asia.
Back from Scotland
Greetings from south East Asia


While our skin does change throughout our lives, it has very little to do with our numeric age. Bigger factors are at play and have more to do with our genetics, lifestyle, skin type, and any skin conditions.
With the people I treat, I never ask their age because, to be honest, it's been unhelpful.
Skin type is hereditary. This really doesn't change except for the fact that our oil production slows as we age and that we lose some fat cells that contribute to a youthful look. All of this is a natural process!
We all age, it's inevitable. But "mature skin" isn't a skin type. It's a skin condition that can be genetic (like rosacea or acne) or develop (like sunspots) through lifestyle factors, such as living life outdoors or not being diligent with sunscreen.
The fact of the matter is a person in their 20s may very well have the same genetic skin type and skin concerns as a person in their 50s.
Just as a person may experience acne in their youth and still may be dealing with it through to retirement. Or a young person who has spent a lot of time in the sun may experience dullness, pigmentation, and fine lines earlier than expected because of their lifestyle.
It's best to choose what to use based on your genetic skin type, followed by any skin conditions and the climate you live in, over your numeric age!
With the people I treat, I never ask their age because, to be honest, it's been unhelpful. What aestheticians and dermatologists care about most is the skin's health, how it looks and feels, and any concerns of the patient.
The condition of the skin is what's treated.
The next time you're looking up what product to try, don't be swayed by phrases like "age defying." Get to know your skin and the science behind its health. Age isn't a limit to the products you can try or the way your skin should look.
And how do you know what to choose?
For example, alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) is a wonderful ingredient that helps resurface the skin. I would recommend AHA for a person of any age for a multitude of skin concerns, from softening fine lines to fading pigmentation left over from acne.
Fact is many other ingredients help slow down the way our skin ages — and you don't have to fit an age bracket to use them! Meaning: If an "age-defying" or "anti-wrinkle" bottle makes you feel pressured to look one way, it's definitely not your only solution.
There's plenty of options out there that don't include the hefty premium price tag slapped on a jar of expectations set by someone else.
Retinoids are one of the most widely researched anti-aging ingredients available. Here's how you can use them for fine lines and wrinkles.


text:
RIP MJ
Not a whole lot to say directly about Michael Jackson. The news is all over the 'net, and the jokes are already starting. On one hand it's a little sad, but it's also indicative of how our culture has changed, even in just a few years. Stars are starting to have less and less appeal to the common person simply for being famous.
I think that this is a side effect of our connected society, because of the Internet. Michael Jackson has been a recluse and a joke for the last 15 or so years and as such doesn't have many strong fans. That, coupled with the child abuse allegations leave many people not terribly sorry about his passing, and making jokes about melting him down because he's mostly plastic to give kids a chance to play with him, instead of the other way around.
He was a great artist who had a profound effect on pop culture that will last for a long time to come. It's sad to see him treated this way, but it's also a lesson to other people in the public eye… you have to be accessible to your audience and engage them. People no longer will love you simply because you're famous, you have to give them a good reason to be a fan. Unless of course you want people to make jokes about you days after your death.
You are currently browsing the Pita's Musings weblog archives for June, 2009.


Prof. Dr. Harald zur Hausen, long-time chairman of the board of the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ) and honorary professor of the University of Heidelberg, has been awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine. Rector Prof. Dr. Bernhard Eitel congratulated Professor zur Hausen on his "sensational success and the ultimate scientific recognition in the shape of the Nobel Prize". He went on to say that the Nobel Prize also casts reflected glory on the University of Heidelberg with which the new laureate has been closely associated for decades in a variety of ways. Harald zur Hausen has been an honorary professor of the University of Heidelberg since 1988 and is a member of its Faculty of Medicine.
Harald zur Hausen's success is based on his investigations of how cervical cancer is triggered by virus infections. His research made it possible to develop a vaccine against the third most frequent kind of cancer affecting women. Zur Hausen receives half of the Nobel Prize, the other half going to Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier for the discovery of the HI virus that causes AIDS.
As the Helmholtz Community (of which the DKFZ is a member) stated today, zur Hausen first suspected a connection between human papillomavirus (HPV) infections and cervical cancer 30 years ago. In the early 1980s his research group isolated the virus types HPV 16 and HPV 18 for the first time. The vaccine was recently approved in Germany and is an outstanding example of successful technology transfer from basic research.
Harald zur Hausen was born in 1936 and studied medicine in Bonn, Hamburg and Düsseldorf. After his doctorate he worked at the Institute of Medical Microbiology of the University of Düsseldorf, moving from there to the Children's Hospital in Philadelphia. He received his Habilitation at the University of Würzburg in 1969. In 1972 he was appointed professor of clinical virology at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, subsequently accepting the chair of virology and hygiene at the University of Freiburg in 1977. From 1983 to 2003 Harald zur Hausen was chairman and scientific member of the board of management of the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg. Under zur Hausen's leadership the Cancer Research Centre stepped up its cooperation with the University Hospital. So-called clinical cooperation units assure close linkage between basic research and clinical medicine so as to transfer research findings to the field of medical care as quickly as possible.
Harald zur Hausen has received several national and international awards and is a holder of the Grand Federal Cross of Merit.


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text:
Net.URI
=======

[![Build Status](https://secure.travis-ci.org/folktale/net.uri.png?branch=master)](https://travis-ci.org/folktale/net.uri)
[![NPM version](https://badge.fury.io/js/net.uri.png)](http://badge.fury.io/js/net.uri)
[![Dependencies Status](https://david-dm.org/folktale/net.uri.png)](https://david-dm.org/folktale/net.uri)
[![experimental](http://hughsk.github.io/stability-badges/dist/experimental.svg)](http://github.com/hughsk/stability-badges)

Simple library for safely building URIs.

## Example

With Sweet.js macros:

```js
var URI = require('net.uri').URI

var url1 = $uri(URI => "http://www.example.com" ~ "foo/bar" ~ "baz" ? { qux: 'x' }
url1.toString() // => "http://www.example.com/foo%2fbar/baz?qux=x"
```

With vanilla JS:

```js
var URI = require('net.uri').URI

var url1 = URI.fromString("http://www.example.com").to("foo/bar")
                                                   .to("baz")
                                                   .set({ qux: 'x' })
url1.toStrign() // => "http://www.example.com/foo%2fbar/baz?qux=x"
```

## Installing

The easiest way is to grab it from NPM. If you're running in a Browser
environment, you can use [Browserify][]

    $ npm install net.uri

### Using with CommonJS

If you're not using NPM, [Download the latest release][release], and require
the `net.uri.umd.js` file:

```js
var uri = require('net.uri')
```

### Using with AMD

[Download the latest release][release], and require the `net.uri.umd.js`
file:

```js
require(['net.uri'], function(uri) {
  ( ... )
})
```

### Using without modules

[Download the latest release][release], and load the `net.uri.umd.js`
file. The properties are exposed in the global `folktale.net.uri` object:

```html
<script src="/path/to/net.uri.umd.js"></script>
```

### Compiling from source

If you want to compile this library from the source, you'll need [Git][],
[Make][], [Node.js][], and run the following commands:

    $ git clone git://github.com/folktale/net.uri.git
    $ cd net.uri
    $ npm install
    $ make bundle

This will generate the `dist/net.uri.umd.js` file, which you can load in
any JavaScript environment.

## Documentation

You can [read the documentation online][docs] or build it yourself:

    $ git clone git://github.com/folktale/net.uri.git
    $ cd net.uri
    $ npm install
    $ make documentation

Then open the file `docs/index.html` in your browser.

## Platform support

This library assumes an ES5 environment, but can be easily supported in ES3
platforms by the use of shims. Just include [es5-shim][] :)

## Licence

Copyright (c) 2014 Quildreen Motta.

Released under the [MIT licence](https://github.com/folktale/net.uri/blob/master/LICENCE).

<!-- links -->
[Fantasy Land]: https://github.com/fantasyland/fantasy-land
[Browserify]: http://browserify.org/
[Git]: http://git-scm.com/
[Make]: http://www.gnu.org/software/make/
[Node.js]: http://nodejs.org/
[es5-shim]: https://github.com/kriskowal/es5-shim
[docs]: http://folktale.github.io/net.uri
<!-- [release: https://github.com/folktale/net.uri/releases/download/v$VERSION/net.uri-$VERSION.tar.gz] -->
[release]: https://github.com/folktale/net.uri/releases/download/v0.1.3/net.uri-0.1.3.tar.gz
<!-- [/release] -->


text:
Jamie Laval Injects Wassail, Bagpipes, Poetry, and Highland Dancing into His Scottish Christmas
Unconvinced that Charlotte was a hotbed for competitive fiddling enthusiasts, I was a little doubtful that a U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Champion would attract a substantial crowd to a "Christmas in Scotland" concert on a Monday night three days after the holiday. But as we drew up to the Great Aunt Stella Center on a sloppy evening, we noticed that the outdoor parking lot was full. So was the lower level of the nearby parking deck, and there was a bit of a crowd in the lobby, where we picked up our tickets. Jamie Laval last appeared in the Metrolina area back in October at Belmont Abbey College, more than two years after participating in a Classical Idol fundraiser on behalf of the Charlotte Symphony – perhaps on the strength of the Asheville-based violinist's previous Metrolina foray at Davidson College in 2011. This Christmas gift from the mountains had no precedent, but there is no doubt that the Great Aunt Stella Center has established an enviable folk music cachet in Charlotte due to the series of free concerts that Charlotte Folk Society stages there monthly.
Ensuring that the event would be nothing if not colorful, Laval brought plenty of artillery to the occasion, including four instrumentalists, a budding young vocalist, and four dancers, who changed costumes at least four times during the concert. Further diversifying the musical palette, most of the musicians played multiple instruments. Both McLeod brothers, David and Michael, played bagpipes and the less punishing smallpipes, with Michael adding a drum and a pennywhistle along the way. For the most part, Rosalind Buda supplied a fluid obbligato and continuo on bassoon, but she also wended her way through a couple of bombards, a recorder, and an odd percussion instrument that could have begun life as a black canteen. Above all else, Buda read all the poetry selections beautifully, adorning them with a warm expressiveness and just a faint touch of dramatic flair. When he wasn't flashing his championship fiddling bravura, Laval switched less impressively to strumming a guitar. But Laval was also a relaxed and personable host – his intros, anecdotes, and stories flowing so effortlessly that I sometimes lost track of when he crossed over from one type of spiel into another.
Yet there was nothing offhand about this concert. Laval's craftsmanship was immediately apparent in the arrangement of the opening medley. Kelly Brzozowski began it with a lovely solo on the Celtic harp, introducing the "Wexford Carol," and reminding me what a marvelous acoustic the Great Aunt Stella offers – something I'd quite forgotten since I last heard music there in 2001. We savored the sweet-sounding Ana Carolina Scott soon enough as she sang the ensuing "Angelus ad Virginem," where we also heard our first sampling of the smallpipes. By the time we galloped into the fifth and final tune in this medley, "The Flagon," we had seen most of the musical arsenal. With three wind instruments blowing simultaneously, the dynamic difference from the opening quiescence was startling.
The variety, contrasts, and unpredictability of the opening medley were mirrored by the entire program, which eventually covered more than 30 songs. Scott returned for three more vocals before intermission, beginning with a quiet rendition of a pre-Christian version of "The Holly and the Ivy," accompaniment by harp and guitar with a couple of bassoon fills between stanzas. Assembling his program, Laval took a special interest in Celtic materials, melodies and lyrics that were eventually commandeered by Christianity – altering traditions rather than superseding them. That didn't prevent Laval from utilizing a trio of young women from Atlanta's Glencoe School of Highland Dance in further exploring Scottish folkways or from sneaking into North American tradition for a taste of Cape Breton step dancing with Amy Mooney.
After Buda and the McLeod brothers demonstrated how loud and make-it-stop irritating just three smallpipes could be on "Ding Dong Merrily on High," things quieted down for the no-less-lively "Cape Breton Step Dance" featuring Laval's infectious fiddling and Mooney's percussive stepping. Mooney's dancing was actually so percussive that she and Laval would trade two-bar solos with each other as Brzozowski accompanied on harp (with a few foot stomps of her own). All three Glencoe dancers then appeared in bright plaid skirts for their "Highland Dance Set," accompanied by Luval's fiddle and the McLeods' smallpipes.
Return visits by the quaint trio didn't wear out their welcome. The Glencoes next appeared in black outfits that were bedecked with colorful strips of fabric. Shaking bell sticks in both hands as they danced, they simulated a pair of wassail ceremonies designed to waken the apple orchards in the dead of winter and ensure the hard cider for the coming year. The next costume change was even more surprising as the Glencoe gals shuffled back onto the stage after intermission in sailor suits, doing mock battle with one another as the two bagpipers played the "Sailor's Hornpipe" behind them.
While the smallpipes' wind is supplied entirely by a small bellows pumped under the armpit, the bagpipes are fueled by both breath and bellows. Two of them, as was proven by the ensemble's "Bessie Brown" just before intermission, can be even more make-it-stop loud than three smallpipes – with a rougher, more irritating sound at full blast. A rock concert sensibility would have been helpful, but I found that I'd acclimated well enough by the time we reached the evening's final medley, finishing with the "Break Your Bass Drone" and "Flett from Flocca." Meanwhile, Laval pursued his musical travelogue even more extensively than the ladies' dance rounds, taking us to Orkney, Brittany, Coventry, Sussex, and Gloucester before we were done.
Most engaging of all was Laval's extended excursion to Iceland, from where he brought us some diverting Yuletide legends and anecdotes along with three very entertaining songs. Withholding them until the end of the evening, Laval obviously knew the value of what he had. But he also edited prudently, beginning the "Icelandic Yule Lada," the local equivalent of "The Twelve Days of Christmas," on Day 8. There are actually 13 days in the Icelandic tradition, and how that evolved was another narrative. Laval hadn't sung audibly during the evening, and when he duetted with Scott in "The Wren in the Furze," we could hear why, for his vocals were chiefly effective in contrasting with the beauty of Scott's. The backstory of this song, traditionally sung on St. Stephen's Day after Christmas, meandered into Icelandic history and how the wren became an icon for military betrayal before taking on a radically different meaning for the holidays. Basically, "The Wren" was the weirdest begging song I've ever heard.
The final medley began with the "Boar's Head Carol" and ended with the entire audience clapping rhythmically as the musicians and dancers took their bows, both bagpipes blaring once again. Even that wasn't a sufficiently emphatic return to Scotland, but Laval wasn't guilty of an oversight. For an encore, the pipers and the harpist accompanied Scott as she sang "Auld Lang Syne." I didn't recognize Scottish laureate Robert Burns' words – or his brogue – in the stanzas Scott sang, but when the ensemble answered with the refrain, all hearts were in the Highlands.
Chat on January 1, 2016 Danceperryt77
← Imagining a More Inclusive Yule @ ImaginOn Drosselmeyer Takes It to the Hood, Yo →


A price drop in government bonds of 15 cents or so per $1,000 bond (1/64th of a point) used to be seen as a sweeping change, says Ralph F. Peters, chairman of Discount Corporation of New York, a major bond dealer.
Not anymore. In recent months there have been ''very substantial swings'' in prices, Mr. Peters says, where the market shifts $20 or $30 per $1,000 bond (2 or 3 points) in a day. As a result ''there is much more risk in holding a position,'' he said.
The upheaval in the government bond market has had a profound effect on dealers and investors in Treasury securities. And because the federal government relies on the government securities market to finance its operations, all citizens are ultimately affected.
In the wake of the collapse of several small government securities dealers, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has proposed standards for the amount of capital that dealers would have to keep on hand to protect customers. Congress has also shown interest in the subject. But action on new rules is not expected in the near future.
In the meantime, participants in the government securities market are assessing the damage to their portfolios. Before rallying Thursday and Friday, Treasury bond prices had dropped about 17 points, or $170, for each $1,000 since mid-January. That pushed yields to nearly the 14 percent level, the highest they had been since February of 1982.
The Treasury's widely watched 30-year bonds due in 2014 closed last week yielding 13.53 percent as investors cheered signs that the economy may be slowing, thus reducing pressure on inflation and interest rates. Since bonds carry fixed-interest-rate coupons, an increase in market rates causes bond prices to drop, while a decrease in interest rates causes bond prices to rise.
The slide in bond prices is just one sign of turmoil in the government securities market. At the May 11 auction of 30-year Treasury bonds, investors balked at buying the bonds from dealers until the price of the securities was slashed. The dealers buy new government debt from the Treasury and distribute it to investors, thus allowing the government to finance its operations and raise funds to cover the deficit.
Plunging bond prices also pushed one small government securities dealer, Lion Capital Group, into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. And the nation's largest insurance broker, Marsh & McLennan Inc., took a $155 million pretax loss on a $2 billion position in Treasury bonds.
The effect of the price slide on bond dealers and investors has been profound. The total loss in private wealth since January is ''substantially larger'' than $60 billion, according to Jon S. Corzine, the partner in charge of US government securities trading at Goldman, Sachs & Co., the investment house.
With high yields available in the bond market, investors find stocks less appealing. So the bond market decline has partly fueled the stock market's recent slide. But last week bonds rallied and Friday the Dow Jones industrial average posted a 19.5 point gain, its biggest in seven weeks, to close the week at 1,124.35 up 17.25.
One sign of the economy's continued strength was the drop in unemployment in May, to 7.5 percent, from 7.8 percent the previous month. That put unemployment at its lowest point in three years.
More encouraging to investors was news that the government's index of leading economic indicators rose a modest 0.5 percent in April and that factory orders fell 3.6 percent. To some, that showed the economy was slowing, and ''that could help interest rates in the future,'' according to Jerome Hinkle of the Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. bond house.
Despite some signs of the economy's apparent slowing, the turmoil in the government securities market may not be over, since some analysts think interest rates will rise further - and bond prices move in the opposite direction from interest rates.
''As shocking as the dramatic rise in yields over the last two months has been, . . . it only scratches the surface of what will be required to significantly slow economic growth and contain inflation,'' Robert Giordano of Goldman Sachs Economics recently told clients.
''What is wrong is that the market is suffering from a crisis of oversupply of (government) securities'' as the government finances its massive deficit, Goldman, Sachs executive Corzine says. Prices also dropped because tighter Federal Reserve monetary policy pushed up interest rates elsewhere in the economy.
The troubled waters in the government bond market have aroused the interest of Congress and of the Federal Reserve, which supervises the 37 primary government securities dealers. The New York Federal Reserve Bank has proposed a set of capital-adequacy guidelines for the primary dealers, which they in turn would enforce as a standard on those with whom they deal.
''The need for capital guidelines is quite clear, in our view,'' says Edward J. Geng, senior vice-president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Messrs. Geng, Peters, and Corzine spoke at a hearing on the guidelines the House Banking Committee held in New York last week.
The 37 top dealers in government securities have major reservations about the capital-adequacy guidelines. The dealers are already monitored by the New York Fed. The Fed's first step should be to extend the same oversight and surveillance they are under to ''all non-regulated government security dealers, '' Corzine says.
Among other things, the primary dealers now submit to periodic Fed review, file certified external audits, adhere to internal Fed capital-adequacy requirements, and file daily reports on all trading positions and activity.
The primary dealers contend that the capital-adequacy regulations would limit dealers' legitimate flexibility to meet changing market conditions and could push up the cost of financing the government.
Geng said legislation might be needed if the dealers did not agree to the capital plan.
Venezuela crisis raises question: When is buying bonds unethical?


One of my anxieties as a working mother is that my daughter does not get to engage in enough fun with me outside of our home. I feel like I say "no" or "we can't" pretty often because of my adult responsibilities. Recently, she asked to go to the library after I picked up her up from pre-preschool. It was 5:45 p.m. and I felt my stomach starting to grumble for dinner, which of course, I had to cook. I worry she will associate mama outings only with grocery shopping, Target and the occasional cake pop from Starbucks. For 2019, one of my goals is getting out for more fun activities with my little one!
On a recent Sunday, I suggested we do something outside of the normal routine. We headed west to Issaquah and the Cougar Mountain Zoo. Our family has visited before, but it is not a regular activity. We arrived in time to say hello to the zoo's Siberian Reindeer (the largest herd in the U.S.) and toss them a few treats before the 1:00 p.m. tiger feeding and lecture. During the short talk by a zoo employee, we learned that the Bengal Tigers at the Cougar Mountain Zoo were born in captivity (tigers aren't captured from the wild to reside in zoos), how tigers communicate with each other and international tiger conservation. One benefit of this small zoo is that visitors, especially kids, can ask questions of the staff during these presentations. After the giant cats, we met a macaw out for a stroll (with a handler) who said "hello" and played peek-a-boo.
If the weather is on the cooler side, be prepared for some of the animals to stay inside. It was too cold for all of the macaws to go outside and the lemurs peered at us from behind glass – too chilly for them, as well!
Bring quarters to buy feed for some of the mammals – there are small vending machines stationed throughout. The alpacas, Mule deer and reindeer expect to be fed. The zoo also sells small cups of apples at the gate.
The zoo has some hand sanitizing stations, but pack some wipes or a small bottle to clean up after the alpacas nuzzle your hands for apples.
Unlike other zoos, the gift shop is low key so you can most likely leave without having to bring home toys and other stuffed animals.
Wear comfortable shoes – the Cougar Mountain Zoo is situated on a hillside and is not all flat.
The zoo is stroller-friendly, but getting around on wheels does require specific routes to reach some exhibits. If your kids are walkers and unlikely to need the stroller, consider leaving it in the car.
The zoo isn't for everyone and every budget. They do offer memberships that include admission for those wanting to save on frequent visits and not feel like you wasted money if your kids only want to stay for an hour.
Next up for us is more exploring in the Valley! The Cedar River Watershed Education Center in North Bend is featuring Free Winter Fun through March. There are story times and crafts, walks, hikes and hands-on activities. More information and links for registration are on the Cedar River Watershed website.
Looking for inside fun? Big Star Studios is offering free story hour on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Our local libraries offer story times for kids, including Family Pajama Story Time in Snoqualmie on Thursday evenings from 7:00 p.m. – 7:45 p.m.