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What Are Banks For?
December 9, 2011 by J. Richard Graham Leave a Comment
Everybody seems to have grasped that the banks are at the core of our problems today. They are too big and too rich. But most would admit that they do not really understand why.
Banks were always a trusted institution, with the local bank manager a figure of probity and respect. Suddenly, they are the villains of the piece.We need to understand why and to do so we have to look at what banks actually do. And then we can see what they have done.
What are Banks for? The biggest problem banks have is that the stuff they hold and lend, namely money, is the same stuff they need to run their own businesses. All other trading businesses hold stock of goods; food, furniture, carpets or clothes, all are held in stock. That stock is represented by a money value on the balance sheet because it can be bought and sold as needed. But with a bank it is money itself that they hold for depositors which is held in stock. That money may be actual cash but is more likely to be some form of paper representing money. The speed at which that paper can be converted back into cash is what we call liquidity.
A large proportion of the deposits held by banks are virtual cash and can be drawn at any time. These deposits earn no interest for the depositor, but can be profitably used by the banks to earn a return. If a depositor is prepared to leave his money in the bank for longer periods then he is paid interest, and the longer the term of deposit the higher the interest paid. Money held 'at call' earns nothing and is highly liquid; deposits with an undertaking not to withdraw for a time earn interest. The longer they are left, the higher the interest.
There are two other components of interest payment. If the deposits are very large, even if made for only a short time, maybe just overnight, they will earn interest which can be really significant if the deposit is large enough. The other element is risk. If there is any question of confidence then the depositor will expect an interest premium. This element is of far greater significance when we consider the lending function of the banks.
Banks are financial service institutions. They not only hold deposits, they operate almost all means of processing transactions.
Banks provide us with all the facilities needed to undertake almost any trade. In doing so, they find themselves holding huge amounts of cash from day to day which is, so to speak, in transit. However, that money can also be used, and form part of, the cash 'stock' of the bank, as long as there is always enough to meet the next days service activity. On all these services the bank adds a margin or makes charges, for it has to have an income and make a profit out of the business.
Banks uniquely have another sources of income. They are in the business of lending money.
It is what they do, and what they principally charge for. The interest they charge on money they lend to others is always at a higher rate than the interest they pay when they take in deposits, which are, in effect, borrowings.
It is reasoned that the difference represents the costs of the transactions. But since they lend more than they borrow, this margin was always modest and, for a long time, it was the the principle source of income. However, the banks do indeed levy charges for these services as well. As we shall see, the banks actually lend much more than they borrow and this margin, customary as it is, nevertheless represents a source of pure profit.
So, from managing our transactions, taking care of our deposits, and judiciously lending us money, a bank generates income sufficient to meet its overall running costs and to ensure its future and reward its shareholders. But the banks have gone much further.
Banks began as holders of deposits. Originally gold and other precious minerals were lodged for safe keeping because such stuff was inconvenient for everyday trade. Long ago in China the paper receipts for the lodging of such deposits became themselves traceable, and so the first bank notes appeared. But soon these deposit holders realised they could lend money as well, so long as they provided paper proof of the liability. Furthermore, on the grounds that not all depositors would demand their money at once, they knew that they could actually lend more than they had accepted. At first it was only a modest increase on their deposits that was lent. But then a remarkable feature of this process appeared, and this is crucial to our understanding of what banks do.
Every loan made by a bank is an asset. To the borrower it is a debt, but to the bank the borrower has become a creditor and that means the loan is an asset.
This means that the more a bank lends, the more its assets increase. Obviously, this could go on until all that the bank has is loans, but prudence and experience suggest that about eight times deposits are near the limit. That allows for variations in the rate of deposit and withdrawal. But the whole business rests on the trust of the depositors, that they will each be able to withdraw whenever they wish. The loans that every bank make become assets and part of the stock of money held by the bank. In general it is the most illiquid.
Actual cash in the tills is the most liquid and available money stock at full value. Stocks, shares, bonds, specie and real estate are progressively less immediately available forms of money and, if required quickly, incur penalties because they need time to be sold or otherwise realised. It is this availability to convert into a liquid asset which provides financial institutions with another source of profit, by trading the immediacy of liquidity for future gain from a sale. In other words, they charge for the risk that they may not get the full value of the asset. But that hardly ever happens. Inevitably, this activity means they must participate in financial markets. This provided the opening for financial activities and trading on behalf of the banks themselves. Thus, they were able to use the Banks huge cash reserves to deal in all forms of finance.
This ratio between the deposits and the amount of lending is known as the liquidity ratio. As a result, if a bank crisis happens caused by over enthusiastic lending or severe economic downturns, the banks could face a run by depositors. For this reason governments gradually intervened and set legal limitations for liquidity. After the upheavals of the nineteen twenties, a ratio of around 12% was set by many regulators, and in some cases as much as 20%. For many years we could all expect there to be no problem with a reasonable rate of withdrawals, and the banks themselves had quite firm lending criteria.
Then in the 1980's the mood changed.
The big financial institutions, which had been run by prudent and moralistic men who generally had memories of the chaotic times between the wars, looked to be so stable and trustworthy that they could be less regulated by governments.
It was believed that competition between institutions would replace the restrictions of regulation. The political establishments on both sides of the Atlantic, and especially in London, trusted the bankers to behave prudently and honestly. The whole structure of separate markets with many players should be allowed to function competitively, and make quality financial services available to both private individuals and the business community.
Thus the decade of deregulation under Thatcher in Britain and Reagan in America was ushered in and quite quickly the whole financial sector was deregulated. This has proved to be a big mistake.
The first thing that happened was that the big and powerful banks began to eat up all the rest. In every sector and market the major banks began buying up all the finance and trading houses. They quickly moved into all sectors of financial activity. There were some residual regulation but the game was on, and little was attempted to curb these activities.
Not only did all the lending institutions extend their lending beyond reasonable bounds but also, much worse, they began to use their stocks of money to make money for themselves. They gradually invaded all the other financial activities, which until then had been out of their reach, quite correctly and closely regulated. Far from producing an efficient and equitable financial services sector, the whole thing was Father Christmas time for the directors and owners of the big banks and their friends. Because there are so few banks and so much secrecy about their operations, real competition, as economists understand it, was impossible. From day one the markets were fixed by the participants in their favour.
The banks have come to dominate every kind of financial business and either circumvent, or have modified, the rules governing them.
Trades and documents were redesignated as 'products'. This gave them a certain respectability, and implied that the city was somehow producing something. Whereas all they were doing was moving money around and taking their share in fees. They began to move beyond the traditional money markets by inventing 'new products' which were merely the same familiar instruments repackaged to hide the risks and appear to be a one way street with profit but no loss. Perhaps the most reprehensible development was when they started to gamble on market performance without actually making sales and purchases. In all this they were essentially using the funds which derive from deposits to make profits for their shareholders and, of course, their own management.
The proponents of this huge change away from regulation to competition usually quoted Adam Smith as their mentor. However, they conveniently forgot that he also said that markets were inherently imperfect because a few large players will always meet in secret to fix the market in their favour. And so it has proved. At first, the moves into other financial activities was limited to what were called tactical and strategic moves to enhance the banks activities and provide financial strength. This was so much tosh. They were all empire building. The problem was that they were joined in this by some smaller and over ambitious players as we shall see.
Remember the problem: The stock of assets of a bank is money. But they also account for all their running costs and revenue in money, too.
They reasoned that the huge assets they held in trust for their customers could be used by a bank itself, and used in a variety of ways to make more money for that bank.
This was called optimising collateral. What it simply meant was making extra profits for the banks. This would not have been so bad had the banks reduced their other charges and clipped their interest rate margins. In fact they did the reverse, and argued that they had to allow for the risks in what they were doing, and therefore charged more.
Perhaps the most mendacious behaviour was for the banks to argue that they did it all for the shareholders. There is no doubt that the largest beneficiaries of what emerged were the directors and managers of the banks. Of course they wound up the share price in every case. This made banks a good speculative investment for the fund managers (many of whom worked for the banks, too), but at the same time they were handing themselves shares in their own bank as bonuses. This was a great plan for enhancing personal net worth.
Now we have to consider all those things that the other financial institutions had been doing, and which the banks wanted to take over. This will take a little explaining so, reader, be patient, and pay attention. From very early times the banks realised that they could lend money for trade by taking a charge on the goods being traded. This goes back to Roman times and was always predicated on the fact that spices, minerals and cloth could be purchased far away cheaply, and sold at home for much more, and the difference would profit both the trader and the banker. Money was therefore lent to traders with the goods themselves as the surety for the loan. This simple transaction is the basis of all primary trading, and the many subsections of commodity and goods trading.
When most of the world related values to gold and silver, there was little problem with trading in different countries. But as paper documents, notes of one sort or another, represented specie and then replaced it, financial institutions were needed to handle foreign exchange. Through a network of correspondents and markets, all the currencies of the world became more or less tradeable. There was a whole network of these confirming houses, as they were called, which specialised in trade finance.
As deregulation progressed, the banks moved in, and specialised confirming has disappeared. The banks argued that combining trade finance with foreign exchange trading would be more efficient and cheaper. That has proved wrong in every respect. The banks, meanwhile, have other agendas, and gradually more and more of trade transactions have become speculative. The whole process of supplying trade finance has become intertwined with the operation of commodity markets, which the banks have entered as well.
All kinds of commodities, from pork bellies to diamonds, are traded in organised markets. There are also markets in shipping space and capital goods. All these markets needed the banks to facilitate such sales and purchases by providing almost instant credit and well-organised settlement procedures. In general, the participants jealously guarded such markets and the banks were the servants of the markets.
Here too the banks have bought and bullied their way in. There are hardly any commodity markets that are not dominated by banking subsidiaries. The excuse for this is that the commodities themselves have formed substantial proportions of the banks' collateral. Above all it is the sheer size of the banks' financial resources which has enabled them to dominate these markets. The obvious danger here, as in all markets, is that where there are fewer and fewer players, the opportunities to exact maximum profit are increased.
Perhaps the most important and, in the end, crucial role of the banks has been the establishment of values for all forms of assets.
This is, in the first instance, entirely legitimate. After all, they exist to protect their depositors and to profit their shareholders. The single most significant asset, without argument, is real estate. Land and buildings have been the fundamental source of collateral for bank loans for all of their history. The term collateral is widely misused in the present situation. It simply means the consequential substitution of one form of value for another; literally 'by the side of' and thus a substitute. For most of us our houses stand as the collateral for our major borrowing. But banks will take any tradeable asset as collateral, including all forms of shares in business, and even businesses themselves.
A pawnbroker will take any valuable item, which may be sold to realise its value as security for a loan. Of course only a proportion of the expected value will be lent, sometimes as little as ten percent. This is accepted as a charge for the risk that the real value cannot be realised. In addition, the pawnbroker will make a charge when the loan is paid and the goods redeemed. At their most cautious, like in the 1960's, banks behaved much like this. It was almost impossible to get a loan without putting up physical assets to a substantially greater value than the loan. Typically seventy per cent of the net value of a house could stand as collateral for a loan
Gradually the banks have changed. They appreciated that the benefits to be gained from lending and charging interest could offset the risks that an asset would not achieve its full value in disposal. They also saw that property values were rising from year-to-year, and therefore expected to recoup any undervaluing from such increases. They saw incomes increasing, and expected families to be able to repay more substantial loans. They saw the economy expanding, and expected businesses to repay larger loans with added interest. They began to lend higher and higher proportions of value.
While such a development may be understandable when granting business and private loans, when transferred to the house purchase market, it eventually brought the whole edifice down.
The banks have always accepted other forms of collateral such as stocks, shares, and any other form of documentary credit instrument. Again, these have been steadily increasing over the recent past. These have always been traded in usually specialised institutions. The banks moved in here, too, and began to trade themselves using their own and their depositors' assets. As a result they formed an over optimistic view of value again.
Then there is the whole business of 'personal loans' to buy cars and other consumer durables.
This was a highly specialised business because little surety was required other than the particular car or machine purchased, and the incidence of default was frequent. Consequently, the lenders had to become directly involved with sales, and also disposals. All this, and they had a pretty extensive debt collection operation as well. To finance this, a very high interest rate was charged for these services. This business was so widely distributed and of such significance in the consumer driven post war economies, that governments regulated the business very tightly.
At first the banks simply bought the finance houses which had been very profitable. But, as regulation was eased, they incorporated such activities within their main businesses. While finance companies still exist, few are independent. One of the last and biggest, Lombard Finance, went to RBS during its spending spree. The high interest rates are still charged, even though the banks have access to some very sophisticated debt management and bad debts were less frequent.
As well as limits to their cash ratios, banks were forbidden, or actively discouraged, from participating in other financial activities.
With deregulation, however, and given the almost limitless financial resources, the banks could at last enter every kind of financial activity.
They could use the huge stock of assets to engage in any activity they chose. Above all they could ignore the former limits to lending and reduce their liquidity in some cases to only four percent.
The first target was the building societies. Although the banks had been active in providing mortgages, that activity was dominated by mutual building societies. These institutions had been strictly regulated, and had been the repository of huge amounts of small savings, which were then recycled and multiplied as private house mortgages. Being mutual they were relatively cheap, and the profits were handed back to the savers. The system was generally beneficial. Occasionally there were shortages of mortgage funds because liquidity ratios had to be protected but, in general, the huge housing booms of the nineteen thirties and the fifties were successfully financed outside the banking sector.
Once deregulated, under the Lawson chancellorship, the directors of the mutual building societies, actively encouraged by the banks, set out to demutualise and become banks. They argued that such a move would enable them to increase funds for building more houses by using the 'wholesale' money markets. This was entirely spurious. There was, at that time, no shortage of funds, and the wholesale market would expect higher returns than the local savers would accept.
One has to ask why, then, did they rush to 'demutualise'. The answer was that converting to bank liquidity ratios, combined with all the other devices open to banks, this process would release huge funds, some of which were used to bribe the 'members', that is, savers and borrowers, who all received generous bonuses. But the real beneficiaries were the directors and their advisers, who took huge 'fees' to arrange the process. And guess who owned many of the advising firms? The building societies were stripped.
Once these new banks had been set up, they began to borrow in the money markets, and engage in increasingly reckless lending on the back of a house price boom which their apparently cheap funds were instrumental in causing. They became very profitable and so the proper banks moved in, quickly bought them up, and incorporated them in their businesses. It soon became apparent that these were poisoned medicine with a large number of unsustainable mortgages.
In the expectation of continued rises in the price of houses, mortgage loans of well over one hundred per cent of the house value were granted.
Often, it might be added, to families who had no chance of repaying out of conceivable future income. The whole process was encouraged by governments throughout the eighties and nineties in pursuit of home ownership of 'affordable' houses.
The truth is that there is an irreducible proportion of the population that can never afford to buy a house. In Europe this is accepted and humane and financially sensible law and regulation makes renting the preferred option for a large proportion of the population. In Britain we are obsessed with home ownership; an impossible aspiration for many. We also have a tradition of mean landlords and feckless tenants to contend with.
Once absorbed into the banking system, the mortgage business has added to the pollution of banking probity.
To deal with all the problems of insecure loans, banks were encouraged to 'collateralise' loans – a practice invented in the U.S. This meant combining bundles of mortgages, good and bad, and then 'trading' these mortgages to other financial institutions, usually owned by banks. This not only meant that each bundle had bad debts built in, but the costs of such trading were deducted from the loans. In the end everybody had a party on the proceeds, and the assets lay on the balance sheets at much more than their actual value. This was one major cause of the banking crisis.
In addition to these devices used to provide a basis for trading in the wholesale market money, the new 'banks' also indulged in a range of devices, such as off shore trusts, to hide the more risky mortgages. The whole process was founded on the belief that the rise in house prices would go on for ever.
It is a truth seldom acknowledged that most of the embedded wealth of the Western world is there for all of us to see in our buildings.
These are valued far beyond their reasonable worth but they stand as collateral for all our savings. Even now, three years into the banking crisis, their balance sheets have on them a very substantial amount of this dubious debt.
A word here about the Nationwide, which was the only significant mutual building society to survive in Britain: this has gone on from strength to strength in spite of repeated attacks from asset strippers. There is no doubt that the loss of the building societies caused by the deregulation, and then greed of the financial community, has been a great disadvantage to Britain, and is one of the causes of the present housing crisis.
The rules on granting mortgages have now had to be readopted. Borrowers are, once again, required to provide substantial equity, and the investigation of ability to repay has been much increased. One result has been to depress the housing market itself, and that has meant less houses being built, the pathetic measures recently announced by the government notwithstanding. It has also aggravated the problem of toxic debt (bundles of dubious mortgages which will never achieve their cost) the value of which refuses to rise.
Worse was to come from the unregulated bankers. Having realised that they could use their assets in all kinds of interesting and profitable ways, they set about doing so with gusto. The first target was the foreign exchange market. This is the necessary and important function of supporting trade and travel between countries. Trading businesses can settle accounts across the foreign exchanges on a day to day basis but, in many cases, where trade is seasonal or rates are fluctuating, there is a need to buy currency in advance, or at least insure against losses. Of course, many times in history, governments have intervened in such trade by fixing rates and limiting supply. In the end this does not work, as the Chinese are about to discover. But the existence of a world electronic network making it a single market provided endless possibilities for instant profit.
At first, large holders of currency like, for example, airlines, were encouraged by the banks to move money between currencies to gain the best rate of return overnight or week by week. But with the advent of computer driven instant settlement they discovered that they could shift money around at will at any time of night and day. It is now the case that 96% of all foreign currency transactions are purely speculative and has nothing to do with trade. Far from helping to give stability to the exchanges, such activities have meant a market almost permanently in flux. And every transaction means profit for the trader, usually a bank or its subsidiary.
The banks next target was a real winner. We come now to asset management.
In the Western world the largest repository of savings are the pension funds. Almost everyone in the private sector and large proportion of those in public activities contributes to a pension.
This means that every week many billions of pounds of savings go into the pension funds. The pension business is still regulated, but mostly from a taxation and legal point of view, rather than operationally. However, the funds cannot be held in cash but must be invested to realise value and yield a return.
Trustees hold most funds. In many cases these are professional financial managers but, in many cases, they are elected amateurs. So these huge funds are entrusted to asset management companies and, what a surprise, these are often owned by a bank, though sometimes by the pension funds themselves. In many cases these management companies behave honourably and do well for the members, but they still demand and get very substantial fees. More importantly they are given much discretion about how the assets are managed and what is bought and sold.
Where they become major shareholders they have great influence on the direct management of large corporations as well as all kinds of other businesses. And, of course, they are very active in mergers and takeovers, all of which produce eye-watering fees once more for banks, and little profit for shareholders or employees. Given the close involvement with the stock market and the property market, these arms of the banking industry are also able to trade on behalf of the banks themselves very profitably.
There is much more to be said about the involvement of the banks in foreign currency, international trade, and asset management, but enough here to make it clear that all such activity produces no benefit for the general population, and all profits extracted from these financial transactions have to be paid for by either users or savers within the financial system.
Banks were reliable protectors of our money, be it savings or current. They were also providers of loans for business and private consumption. They have been the traditional creators of liquidity, and that means the cash we need to undertake our everyday economic activity. They were prevented from reckless profiteering by strict regulation. Once that was removed on the spurious grounds that the 'market' would provide constraints and discipline, the bankers have enriched themselves at our expense. They have become so large and can command such assets that they have not only industrial power, but now even political. They have become too big to fail so that all the usual commercial constraints, which govern the behaviour and policies of companies, no longer apply. They are truly 'out of control'.
And that brings us to our present crisis, namely the potential default of sovereign debt.
While there are good arguments for blaming the politicians of Europe for the Euro mess, on top of our own domestic debt crisis, there is no doubt that the bankers are also to blame.
It should have been quite clear to all those involved with national finance, as well as the politicians, that the Euro was set up without sufficient discipline and enforcement. It was all the more necessary, given the widely disparate economic performance and stability of the countries concerned.
In the British case, where a central bank exists, the debt crisis in the banking sector was tackled by 'lending' them huge amounts of money on top of an already extensive public debt. Instead of simply protecting the depositors, the banks were financed in their entirety. In the end they passed into ineffective public ownership. The government all but owns the two concerned, but exercises no control over their management.
In the case of the poorer members of the Euro family the bankers all took a stance, which would have been familiar to seventeenth century princes. They simply lent the money and pocketed the interest on the assumption that countries do not go bust. The problem is that the money they have lent is ours not theirs. Furthermore, they are not dealing with sovereign countries that control their own currency. The Euro depends on a reliable independent banking system to fund the debts of the seventeen countries. The bankers should have raised interest rates for less reliable governments long ago.
The Euro is probably doomed and all efforts will have to be turned to finding the least damaging way of dismantling it.
In this the bankers owe us all a high degree of cooperation and compensation. Since they have contributed to the mess they must at least protect depositors and savers.
In the meantime the whole business of 'the markets' must be ended. The idea that there is a free market in money is nonsense. In the absence of strict national government regulation the bankers cannot be trusted. They are simply too big and powerful to be allowed to continue. A root and branch reconstruction of the whole sector is necessary right now.
I am not a great one at making prescriptions but I would suggest that something along these lines is necessary. Setting up departmental boundaries within banks will not work. We are dealing with a very intelligent and determined community and anything other than strict separation will not work. In the nineteen thirties the American government did not shrink from breaking up the great companies and cartels in America. We should not shrink either.
The five big banks should be broken up and their retail businesses restricted to taking deposits and making business and private loans. Also, their size should be limited. Any new or existing retail bankers must be strictly limited and regulated.
Secondly, new mutual building societies should be established by recreating the specialised regulatory structure of former times. In the meantime the mortgage activities of the big banks must be hived off, sold, mutualised and made subject to tight regulation.
Thirdly, the banks should be forced to sell their asset management operations, which in future should be subject to close regulation. Lastly, all the trading activities of the banks should be hived off or sold to independent trading houses specialising in shares, commodities, transport, currency and so on.
Above all we need a strong financial services authority. An independent commission to supervise the entire financial sector separate from government and the Bank of England with entrenched powers and peopled by men and women with the security of tenure and independence equivalent to high court judges. They must be paid by a levy on the banks but not able ever after to be employed by any bank or financial institution.
The banks should never again become so big that they cannot be allowed to fail nor so big that their business provides its managers with huge rewards. The London financial markets are a most valuable part of the British economy but for them to continue they cannot any longer be run by the thieves and rascals in charges of the big banks.
Incidentally, the problem of sovereign debt needs to be returned to where it used to be with discount houses supervised by the Bank of England. No longer can governments fiscal and monetary policy be subservient to the bond market.
About Richard Graham
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About J. Richard Graham BA MA FCITL
I am a lifetime economist specialising in transport and industry. I live in London, UK. Read More…
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Trader Joe's decides to keep "racist" brand names like "Trader Ming's"
A while back I watched one of Mike Chen's fantastic food/restaurant review videos (he's one of the best food "vloggers" around), and, since he's locked down and can't travel or visit restaurants, he's been devoting his videos to reviewing take-out foods and purchased foods. One was a review of all the dumplings available at Trader Joe's, and many of the Chinese one were labeled not as "Trader Joe's Dumplings," but as "Trader Ming's" dumplings. Chen, who was born in China, noted the name but didn't seem offended at all.
But others have been, as we'll see below. Besides "Trader Ming's", the chain labels several of its ethnic foods with other ethnic names. To wit:
Trader Joe San (Japanese):
Trader Giotto's (Italian)
Trader José (Mexican):
Trader Ming's (Chinese and East Asian):
By the way, while I'm here, I'll recommend the Trader Joe's frozen pork/scallion dumplings and chicken dumplings. They're cheap, filling, not calorific, and very good, especially if you steam them. But give the Thai basil eggplant a hard pass! Oh, and I recommend, among the Indian foods, the palak paneer or sag paneer (spinach and Indian cheese), which I've found pretty authentic and tasty. (And no, it's not "Trader Ravi's.") I'd never bought anything at Trader Joe's until the lockdown (they have "senior hours" when it's easy to shop), but some of the frozen Indian and Chinese foods are pretty tasty.
But onto the theme. Although these names have been around for a while, you can imagine what happened in the new era of wokeness. People objected, saying that the names were racist, and Field Marshal Anna Slatz predicted that reaction:
I'm tellin ya
I've never missed in my life and I'm not about to start now. pic.twitter.com/ajkwjmRJgT
— Generalissimo Anna Slatz | 大元帥安娜 (@YesThatAnna) July 20, 2020
And of course the opprobrium descended in spades, with the expected cries of racism. As the New York Times reports below (click on screenshot), last month the company announced that it would ditch all of these labels, which were apparently designed to be inclusive. Now, in a stunning and unexpected reversal of course, Trader Joe's says it's going to keep the names.
A quote:
Weeks after admitting that some of its international-themed product labels might have fallen short of an "attempt at inclusiveness," the grocery store chain Trader Joe's is rejecting criticism of the labels — some with names like Trader José and Trader Ming's — as racist.
After an online petition denounced the company's use of labels such as Arabian Joe's, Trader Giotto's and Trader Joe San as racist because it "exoticizes other cultures," Trader Joe's announced that it would keep names that it felt still resonated with customers.
"We disagree that any of these labels are racist," the company said in a statement on July 24. "We do not make decisions based on petitions."
"We thought then — and still do — that this naming of products could be fun and show appreciation for other cultures," it said.
. . .The spokeswoman added that labels such as Arabian Joe's and Armenian Joe's were no longer in use, and that the label Trader Joe San is currently used on only about three products.
Briones Bedell, who started the online petition that led to renewed scrutiny of the company's labels, said on Saturday she was "honestly surprised" by the company's comments. [JAC: Read the petition if you want to see hype.]
"I see it to be a complete reversal to their previous commitment to removing the labels from the international foods," she said.
With her petition, Ms. Bedell, 17, said she wanted to raise awareness of stereotypes that are of a piece with the larger discussions about race happening across the country.
"They rely only on characters and kind of vague ideas and not anything of actual substance or legitimacy," Ms. Bedell said of the labels. "It becomes a tool of othering."
Now I have to say that I'm generally on the side of the company because I don't see anything horrible with the names, which are surely not meant to denigrate other cultures. Further, there are lots of Mexican restaurants with names like "José's", and I'm sure not all of them are owned by men named José. Likewise with Chinese restaurants named "Ming's".
On the other hand, I'm not sure how I'd feel if they started a line of Jewish foods with names like "Moishe's Frozen Latkes" or "Schmeul's Buttery Hamentashen"—and you have to go a long way to offend this secular Jew! The only way I can understand my feeling is because it hits home when one is a (secular) Jew. And so it may hit home to a Chinese person to see "Trader Ming's Dumplings." It is surely not racist, but it may be stereotyping and insensitive.
At any rate, I can't get really worked up about this, and the pushback by Trader Joe's is one of the first times a major company hasn't truckled to the will of the Woke. But perhaps they will if people start boycotting Trader Joe's because of these names. After all, money talks.
Since I'm ambivalent, let's have a poll, and then you can weigh in in the comments below.
Posted on August 2, 2020 August 2, 2020 by whyevolutionistruePosted in food, wokeness	Posted at 11:00 am
99 thoughts on "Trader Joe's decides to keep "racist" brand names like "Trader Ming's""
John Donohue says:
I'm surprised Wokes don't condemn the entirety of Trader's Joe's, since it contains the essence of capitalism: trade.
"Trade" is voluntary human exchange. To be Woke you have to believe in top-down coercive command and control instead, including all the autocratic chains required for the Green New Deal and Modern Monetary Theory.
The withhold from utter condemnation, national boycott, and "peaceful protests"TM, is: "But the soy products are so cheap."
Diana MacPherson says:
Yes and they could be witty and call it "Traitor Joe's".
summonzeus says:
How absurd that these play on names, especially Trader Jose' Cerveza which is just the translation, are offensive and racist. Now what was racist was a work crew (heavy construction) I was working with last summer monitoring endangered wildlife species calling the safety officer Jose' the 2nd day when I arrived I said Buenas Dias Jose' Que tal? and he replied my name is not Jose' it is Juan. I apologized and apologized, turned out the white Americans were calling all the Hispanic workers Jose' too lazy to learn their true names.
Yeah, that one in particular seems idiotic to complain about. Jose and Joseph are the same name in two different languages. My friend's kid Jack goes to a french immersion school where they call him Jacques, of course. This is absolutely bog-standard stuff.
GBJames says:
I voted "no". We are a pluralistic multi-ethnic society. Pretending otherwise and calling everything generically "Joe" (or pick your other generic Anglo name) seems to be the opposite of respecting cultural variety.
And according to Trader Joe's their customers actually like the labelling and don't consider it racist.
Barry Lyons says:
I don't about you or any other responders here, but I would love to try Schmeul's Buttery Hamentashen! Yum!
Laurance says:
Me,too! Me, too! I want some Schmeul's Buttery Hamentashen!
I was nine years old when my little Jewish friend took me to a Purim Party. Wow! Christian kids don't have fun like this!
Hamantaschen!! Oh boy! They were great! And the kids were dressed up like Halloween!! I was sold!!
Rabbi Kahn!! Rabbi Kahn!! I want to be Jewish!! I was ready to convert on the spot, but the Rabbi didn't let me in.
Unlike the Christians. A little Presbyterian friend took me to the Presbyterian Sunday School. How I wish my atheist parents had not allowed me to go there! The Christians were only too glad to try and convert me.
Besides, the Christians only have one day of Christmas. But the Jewish people have Hannukhah (spelling?) for EIGHT days!!
My atheist mother was far more favorably disposed to the Jews than the Christians.
uninterestingthings aka Dominic says:
There are 12 days of Christmas! I prefer to say Yuletide… How many in Coynezaa?
whyevolutionistrue says:
Six days in Coynezaa: it extends from Christmas through my birthday (December 30). I am supposed to receive a present for each day.
Ken Pidcock says:
To clarify, Trader Joe's should get rid of its ethnic brand names because they're dumb.
I didn't agree with the racism complaint as it feels like one helluva leap (and doesn't intent count for anything anymore?!) but I can agree with your statement. The names are not even worthy of "dad jokes". But this seems to be right on their level of corporate intelligence. The uniform shirts, the tiki decor, the names they give their employees (crew, mate, merchant, captain), it's all rather annoying, like the TGIF nonsense with the "flair". Forced corporate jocularity.
I almost forgot the most pathetic forced nonsense I've ever experienced: Cafe Gratitude. There's one in Kc, I didn't know there were others but if you have t had the "joy" of eating there (food is ok) you order entrees with names like "I am Grounded", "I am Pure" and so on. And there's even a new item known as "Black Lives Matter", made with black beans and brown rice (!) but also kale, for inclusivity, I guess(?). I see why they did it but it still smacks of racial pandering. I could see how some might find it kind of offensive, and I'd be surprised if nobody else has yet but rather than start a petition, I just don't eat there.
nonpersonne says:
"Raise awareness of racism," what utter narcissism. I guess petitions against the unhealthy ingredient in Kraft's Mac'n Cheese wasn't ego-stroking enough.
I am surprised that the petition only called for a change of names, rather than to completely stop selling all foods that aren't "white" (whatever that might mean) because selling dumplings, tofu, and saag paneer is "cultural appropriation". Perhaps it's only a matter of time.
sshort says:
…. ohhhh, that tiny clock is ticking.
"BRRRIIINNGGGGGGG!! TIME TO WOKE UP!!"
White bread and white cheese only.
lenoragood says:
First of all, I'm about as jealous as I ever get that you even have a Trader Joe's. Been trying for years to get them to come to the Tri-Cities of WA.
Secondly, when I can shop TJs, I do so. I've never seen anything racist about their use of ethnic names appended to their ethnic products. I believe most are translations of Joe. To me, they've been more cute than abhorrent. There's enough real racism out there, but I don't think this is part of that group.
Lighten up! (And good luck on getting all the Japanese restaurants names changed since a great percentage are owned and operated by Koreans.)
Douglas E says:
Speaking of José, the Colorado Springs restaurant called José Muldoon's still makes me chuckle.
Paul Topping says:
There are these Irish/Mexican-named bars all over the country. I will admit that I once thought perhaps it was because a bunch of Irish once emigrated to Mexico. Later, I was embarrassed to realize that it is simply an attempt to garner bigger crowds on two big drinking days in American culture: Cinco de Mayo and St. Patrick's Day.
I once saw an Irish and Chinese restaurant and mused if they had something called "Moo Goo Patrick" on the menu.
Moo Goo Gai Patrick that is….I deleted too much when I decided to remove the dashes.
Which reminds me to bring up my joke (which is mine) about opening a Caribbean-themed deli called "Bermuda Schwartz."
What about the Japanese-Jewish fusion restaurant called "Sosumi"?
I'll be here all week, folks.
I would definitely go to Bermuda Schwartz.
revelator60 says:
In the '80s there was a restaurant chain called Carlos Murphy's.
yazikus says:
I allegedly have an ancestor by that name, who is said to have robbed the Pecos bank in TX with Pancho Villa three times. Take from that what you will.
JP415 says:
Viva la revolución!
ThyroidPlanet says:
Bravo TJ's
I voted "no opinion" because, if there were products which indeed did … what the poll question says they do … they should be removed.
The products do no such thing. The products are obviously endearing, embracing our common values. I have always hoped there'd be more. The overt purpose of using the names is to show how, all over the globe, with interesting names, unfamiliar language, and customs, we are all really the same group of friends – Joe, Ming, Giotto, San – and in particular, we all like to come home to eat delicious food with friends. The table where we eat will never fail to find new friends through the fundamental common experience and that is everything the world needs now and needs more of.
… and it is simply an unusual accident that TJ's is a chain the United States, with a Hawaiian theme to their showmanship, and having origins in Germany. So it might have easily been Trader Ming's or Trader Giotto's and would have been just as fun to shop at.
amyt says:
I just read a piece that provided a list of commonly used sayings. Use of the word "spade" is now considered offensive. "a spade is a spade" evolving into "black as the ace of spades" and then to the singleton just "spade". Do I need to throw out all my decks of cards?
I guess we can no longer enjoy that Elastica song because of the lyric:
"I don't understand how a heart is a spade,
But somehow the vital connection is made."
In their letter, Trader Joe's says:
"Avocado's Number" in a kitschy reference to a mathematical theory…
Assuming this is a reference to Avogadro's Number, that's not a mathematical theory but from chemistry and physics. I demand that they change this immediately! 😉
Mark Sturtevant says:
6.02 X 10^🥑
They do seem a bit sloppy though. Pad Thai is obviously a Thai dish, not a Chinese one, so "Trader Ming's Pad Thai" is wrong. Unless, of course, it is a Chinese version of a Thai dish, in which case it is cultural appropriation and a bad culinary idea. 😉
"Moishe's Frozen Latkes" is just wrong in two ways. First, it would "Trader Moishe's …" Second, they wouldn't put "Frozen" in the product name. So that gives us "Trader Moishe's Latkes" which really doesn't sound that bad, does it? I'm not Jewish so this is not a rhetorical question.
I think just about every culture has appropriated Pad Thai.
I guess those Thai were thinking ahead by putting "Thai" in the name.
phar84 says:
I don't see it as a big deal but voted Yes because it only takes a change of a TJ's executive or its culture to change the meaning behind the labels, like a d*g whistle.
Can you give us an example of how that would work?
Kung flu
Not an example of a bigoted term. We are very familiar with those, unfortunately. But how Trader Joe's would do the kind of dog whistle you are talking about? I am having trouble imagining what you seem to fear.
Sorry Paul, don't want to break Da Roolz by going back and forth.
IMO, it would not be a violation of da roolz for you to provide an example that illustrates what you are trying to convey.
savage says:
I prefer normal brand names, but do not like to see name changes because of PC pressure.
Some Chinese stereotypes seem to me badly out of date, like that of a Chinaman wearing his native dress and a coolie hat, especially when it is accompanied by a Manchu hairstyle and a deceptive smile.
FB says:
How long until "white people eating ethnic food is violence"?
Isn't it already the case with the Woke? I thought it was cultural appropriation. Perhaps it is ok if you keep it hidden. Perhaps there are some Woke among the commenters that can explain this to us.
But, what IS a 'white' person? My understanding is all of us have at least 3% African, I have about 16% Native American, lots of European, and possibly some Mongolian or Turkish in me. My normal skin tone is more yellow than many 'full-blooded' Asians I've known. My idea of traveling is to eat as much 'ethnic' food as possible. I live on the west coast, was raised on 'ethnic' foods. I'd starve if I had to eat only one type of food, unless I could choose. Korean.
"I live on the west coast, was raised on 'ethnic' foods. I'd starve if I had to eat only one type of food, unless I could choose. Korean."
Same here, though I would choose Japanese as my preferred solo cuisine. (I'm glad my wife won't read this as she's Korean.)
This is the problem when everything is based on identity and especially racial identity. I figure they'll just take a DNA sample and hold up the Fitzpatrick scale to decide your level of sin and punishment….the white supremacists will applaud this action and do the same with a reverse on who is the sinner to be punished.
I think it is considered violence among some…also doing yoga.
Yeah, that one was all about virtue signaling. Plain and simple.
Steve Pollard says:
Briones Bedell appears to be a fair-haired white Californian. Who the hell is she to take offence on behalf of anyone other than fair-haired white Californians?
Signalling her virtue. Extra points are earned if you 'call out' something that had not been called out before.
It's also more prestigious to go after left-wing targets—calling out a conservative-owned business would be too obvious.
It's pretty much always whites who are offended on the behalf of POC. Somewhat patronizing I think.
Rowena Kitchen says:
Trader Joe's, owned by Aldi, is a more upscale store than Aldi. Neither pretend to be supermarkets. They carry a limited range of products. TJs tends to attract more affluent shoppers in my area and it seems to have a faithful clientele. They are noted for the quality of the items they market. They try to ensure that shoppers have the best experience possible, up to and including letting you taste an edible product if you ask. I would be very surprised to learn that Trader Joe shoppers took offense at the naming convention used for foreign foods. I'm quite certain that no one minded the naming of "Two Buck Chuck" back when some of their wines were selling for that price.
darwinwins says:
Not jewish, but Trader Moishe has a good ring to it. Can't wait to try Trader Moishe's chicken soup with matzo balls. "It's the eleventh commandment."
Cate Plys says:
I'm Polish and I invite Trader Joe's to start stocking Trader Jozef's Pierogis.
Smokedpaprika says:
As long as the food tastes good and they don't label it ducksh*t, I'm cool.
jezgrove says:
It's a sign of the times. After all, look what recently happened to Uncle Ben's rice and Aunt Jemima: https://www.adweek.com/agencies/uncle-bens-to-change-visual-brand-identity-following-aunt-jemima-news/
Ken Kukec says:
… (they [Trader Joe's] have "senior hours" when it's easy to shop) …
Bet they card YOU to make sure you're not some youngster tryin' to sneak in, huh, boss? 🙂
davelenny says:
It's a bit like loyalty cards and air points. Collect enough senior moments and you qualify for senior hours.
The funny thing is that, at my local store at least, the line up during senior's hour is worse than during regular hours. I used to get up and go early for senior's hour. Now I sleep in and have a shorter wait.
I generally like the products at Trader Joe's, but the stores here in California tend to be cramped for some reason. I'm leery of venturing there during the COVID outbreak because it's nearly impossible to keep six feet away from everyone else.
I have found that there are very short lines at all the supermarkets these days, at least where I live.
Voted "no opinion," essentially because … well, no opinion.
pasapdub says:
Glad to hear they've stood by their sly sense of humor, willingness to poke fun at themselves and their wonderful informality! It makes me smile to see and sample their "brands". Seriously…there are far more important issues in the struggle for equal rights.
aburstein says:
If they decided to use a Jewish name for ethnic Jewish foods, it would not be Shmully or Moishy. It would most definitely be Trader Yossi's. Yossi (rhymes with fussy) is the Jewish version of Joe (Joe is to Joseph as Yossi is to Yosef).
And as a proud Jew I would love it if they did that!
Jenny Haniver says:
As a proud Jew have you tried Orthodox Chews salt water taffy? http://orthodoxchews.com/ Can goyim buy them, I wonder. I hear they're the best.
"A chewish tradition." Groan.
Since the idea of Jewish food brands at TJ's is being discussed, my first thought was that perhaps they had already done this so I started googling. Here's what I found.
First, I checked TJ's website and looked at their current products it features. Although I didn't make a thorough check, I didn't find any of these ethnically named products at all! Perhaps they have cleared them away until the smoke clears on this controversy.
Second, I checked for any mention of Jewish and TJ's and found this:
GERMAN-OWNED TRADER JOE'S CANCELS JEWISH CONNECTION TO POPULAR ISRAELI BREAKFAST DISH
https://tripquake.com/2019/08/17/german-owned-trader-joes-jew-shames-popular-israeli-breakfast-dish/
Evidently there's some issue with their Shakshuka dish. It looks like they are actually complaining that TJ didn't mention that the dish is popular in Israel. They even bring TJ's German ownership into the discussion. Here's a quote:
And so in addition to Trader's Joe's calculated factual fuck up, we have on our hands a little racism problem too, and that's because it is now widely accepted that to be anti-Israel is also to be anti-Semitic. There is no way that the omission of the fact of shakshuka's Israeli status could be accidental.
This is ridiculous. As Wikipedia says, "The dish has existed in Mediterranean cultures for centuries."
On the other hand,
Trader Joe's Is a Kosher Hotspot
http://thejewishlink.com/trader-joes-is-a-kosher-hotspot/
Bill Maher had Bari Weiss and Thomas Chatterton Williams on his show Friday night and they discussed this Trader Joe's issue as an example of how you stop cancel culture – a big company like this refuses to be cancelled. If Trader Joes was in Canada, I'd shop there just because of this.
Trader Joe's was in Canada, sort of. Since TJ's wouldn't open in Canada, a few years ago an enterprising Canadian opened up a reselling business in Kitsilano, Vancouver called Pirate Joe's. He'd drive a truck down to Bellingham WA once a week to load up on products and then sell them in Canada for a couple of bucks more each. I saw him there once, cleaning out the Bellingham store. He was going gang busters, until TJ's sued him. I lost a lot of respect for TJ's after that.
Torbjörn Larsson says:
While I don't care about canceling culture, the naming is stereotyping. Trader Joe – itself a stereotype – is already inclusive by the promotion of new kitchens. No need to be "funny".
"canceling culture" = cancel culture.
So what's the stereotype exactly? For example, does the name Trader Ming's imply that all Chinese are traders or that Chinese are well known as traders? Nope. Even if it did, there aren't negative connotations associated with trading, are there? If there were, then Trader Joe's would have a bigger problem as it is part of their company name. Please tell me as I am truly mystified.
Even if there were no "need" to be funny, who gets to say they can't be or shouldn't be? And why?
Is stereotyping always, which is the question here, "racist"?
If our host proposes a name "Sosumi" for a Jewish-Japanese restaurant, isn't that drawing upon the general notion of … well… it's sounds like a stereotype but doesn't it matter that the overt purpose being served is one of a certain humor?
Sosumi would be a racist stereotype but TJ's would never use that name. And what would a Jewish-Japanese restaurant serve anyway? We should be able to get some humor mileage out of that one.
This weekend, in Seattle, it was reported that Seattle's only certified orthodox restaurant was closing. (Another covid casualty.) I rushed to see what jewish deli I will miss. Turns out it was a Chinese restaurant! Talk about stereotypes.
https://jewishjournal.com/news/united-states/319752/seattles-only-freestanding-certified-kosher-restaurant-closes-amid-pandemic-pressure/
Following up Darwinwins comment, you live in LA, I believe. If so how could you overlook Genghis Cohen's. Should the Mongols cry cultural appropriation because Jews had no place to eat out on Christmas? Or is someone going to assert an etymological relation between the Khan and Cohen? Not.
I've heard of Genghis Cohen's but have never been there. I am definitely aware of the Jews eating Chinese on Christmas Day. My family actually did that once, though we're not Jewish. There was a mixup on who was hosting Christmas Dinner that year and we ended up far from home and had to make do. We actually had a fine meal.
chrism says:
I don't give a sh*t about amusing names. Only the worth of the food contents interests me. Shouldn't that be the same for everyone else?
I think what you just wrote would be perfect on the back of a plain can labelled "beans". I bet they'd sell truckloads of them.
The name Trader Joe's is, I'm pretty sure, meant to refer to the notion of the "average Joe" – a typical, common, middle- of-the-road, average person.
Thus, if the products are indeed racist, then the whole project could be racist.
It is named after its founder Joe Coulombe. An ordinary Joe who got filthy rich.
He apparently feared that his 1958 Pronto Store would be seen as a competitor of 7-11. After a vacation in the Caribbean, and his awareness that Americans were traveling more "…acquiring tastes they had trouble satisfying in American supermarkets at the time…" he changed the name to Trader Joe's
and instituted an island or Tiki culture motif.
Except that it's named after its founder, Joe Coulombe. He died not too long ago so didn't get a chance to weigh in on the controversy.
Yes, I know that generally, but my impression of the name was also a play on the notion of average Joe.
The other layer of the whole TJ's show is the [reading Wikipedia ] South Seas Tiki fad from when Coulombe visited them in the … 50's or 60's… but I thought the idea of a rogue trader was also being referenced. I can't remember the figure – a sort of rogue trader guy….
At any rate, it's an example of Fantasyland in grocery shopping – it's a show. We are an audience, who suspends our rationality or criticizes it… but that's another thread entirely:)
I didn't get the "average Joe" connection but the name and the look reminded me of the famous Trader Vic's, which is a chain of tiki bars and restaurants. I also got the feeling that they repackaged stuff they bought cheap. Most supermarkets these days have house brands that undoubtedly make them more profit per item than name brands. TJ's took it one step further and stock house brands almost exclusively. Any name brands they stock are at risk of disappearing. I remember a year ago when I mentioned here that they carried Weetabix cereal. Unfortunately, they dropped it within weeks. Now I have to order my favorite cereal online at much higher prices. 🙁
"Trader Vic's"
THAT'S IT!.. him… xer… them… whatever…
StephenB says:
I first started shopping at Trader Joe's in Pasadena many decades ago. I remember walking into that store and getting a smile on my face because of the colorful, energetic, and fun-loving ambience. I would smile when I read the clever product names, such as Trader Fig's Isaac Newtons and Trader Darwin's vitamins. I continue to get a smile on my face when I walk into any of the TJ's near my home in Illinois. I hope they don't get rid of any of their clever and funny product names, including Trader Ming's etc.
Thanny says:
Point of pedantry:
Ethnicity is not race. Ethnicity is a cultural category. Race is a biological category, fuzzy though it is in many cases.
All of these products are based on ethnic cuisine. They are copying from other cultures. There's no opportunity to be racist.
Furthermore, using actual names from those cultures cannot be considered insensitive.
Anyone objecting to the product names has no justification whatsoever for doing so, other than an attempt at virtue signalling. Only what they're signalling is a distinct lack of virtue.
e it "exoticizes other cultures,"
What does this even MEAN?
I thought "exotic" was GOOD!
I'm exotic (Australian) – the girls love it!
Thank you for the food review. There's a TJ's a little walk from me I rarely visit but your dumplings and especially Indian food recommendations have me "on my bike".
I can't take the doggie, but I can leave him at home for good Indian food.
D.A., J.D., NYC
The frozen palak paneer is the best I've ever tried!
Yes, it is pretty good. Which reminds me that the LA Times has published several articles on the best and worst foods to buy at TJ's (might be behind a paywall though):
https://www.latimes.com/food/story/2020-03-17/official-trader-joes-frozen-food-power-rankings
https://www.latimes.com/food/sns-dailymeal-1867614-eat-products-trader-joe-customers-love-most-20180122-story.html
https://www.latimes.com/food/sns-dailymeal-1855630-eat-13-things-you-should-never-buy-trader-joe-s-20171027-story.html
Readers' wildlife photos whyevolutionistrue.com/2021/01/15/rea… 21 minutes ago
GBJames on Friday: Hili dialogue
enl on Friday: Hili dialogue
JezGrove on Friday: Hili dialogue

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
layout: post
title: "Summer Course 2013: Day 2 Make Your Own Website"
date: 2013-06-18 19:38
categories: 2013 summer courses, HTML, CSS
---

Day 2 of Make YOur Own Website covering review, snippet, external style sheet and CSS properties.

## Review

Tools/sublime text, emmet, alfred, chrome, spectacle

html, head, body, h1 - h6, css, parent-child, ordered, unordered definition list, em, b, br, p, strong, external stylesheet, inline and internal stylesheet, directory structure

## Show or hide file extensions on a Mac?

Method 1

Finder > Preferences > Advanced and tick Show all filename extensions

Method 2

Use terminal

	defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
	killall Finder

## Spectacle shortcuts
[↵ TOP](#markdown-toc)

Spectacle > Preferences

## Sublime text 2
[↵ TOP](#markdown-toc)

Skin

Preferences->color scheme

## Stackoverflow
[↵ TOP](#markdown-toc)

[stackoverflow](http://stackoverflow.com/)

## html5 snippet
[↵ TOP](#markdown-toc)

### How to edit snippets
You can find your snippet in

	Sublime Text 2 > Preferences > Browse Packages > User

	Or

	~/library/Appication Support/Sublime Text 2/Packages/User/

### Creating and saving snippets

new folder, html, html5.sublime-snippet. you need sublime-snippet at the end. Since you saved a snippet in a javascript folder, it will appear when you are using syntax html.

Copy/paste from [Gist](https://gist.github.com/shinokadagist/5794866)

{% gist 5794866 %}

## External Style Sheet
[↵ TOP](#markdown-toc)

Use dropbox about.html in the root folder.

### div

html

My website

Lorem ipsum doloe minima ipsa illo ipsum iste alias!

css

	div {
		width:500px;
		background:red;
	}

#### div id and class

{% gist 5796223 %}

In your mystyle.css

{% gist 5796232 %}

#### Using li:nth-child()

{% gist 5796258 %}

#### Using first-of-type

{% gist 5796285 %}

## CSS properties
[↵ TOP](#markdown-toc)

- background-color
- width
- height

Example

    .container{
		background-color: white;
		width: 300px;
		height: 600px;
		border: 10px solid #ccc;
		text-align: center;
    }

- font-family

Example

	p.serif{font-family:"Times New Roman",Times,serif;}
	p.sansserif{font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;}

CSS font-family

This is a paragraph, shown in the Times New Roman font.

This is a paragraph, shown in the Arial font.

- padding: Padding will add to width and height.

Example

	width: 300px;
	padding: 20px;
	// total width will be 340px

Or

	padding: 10px 5px 10px 15px;

Generally don't apply padding to a parent tag. Apply padding to a child tag. This will keep the container with the original width

	.container{
		background-color: white;
		width: 300px;
		height: 600px;
    }

    .container p{
    	padding: 20px;
    }

.container p will aim for p-tag in class container, but not other p-tag.

this is other p-tag outside container.

- margin: Each browser has the default setting for some properties.

margin for p-tag

	.container p{
		padding: 10px;
		margin: 0;
    }

marging for .container

	.container {
	    margin: 10px 5px 10px 5px;
    }

margin-right, margin-left, margin-top, margin-bottom

	.container {
	    margin-right: 100px;
    }

   	.container {
	    margin-left: 100px;
    }

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


I think social networking sells books on a small scale, unless the author is very aggressive and unless you write non-fiction which sells better everywhere. I think it's rare for it to sell books in large quantities. For that, we still need expensive ads in papers and reviews from big names or a LOT of marketing dollars.
I've been marketing online (for my self pubbed books) for roughly six years. Although my reviews are great and I'm very socially active, my time involved does not come close to being equal to even minimum wage in resulting sales. Sure it sells books, here and there. But unless you enjoy being socially active, I can't say it's worth it.
That said, I have bought several books from author acquaintances who are small press or indie published. I wouldn't have found them if not for social networks. The possibility is always there.
First off, great post about Megg. I've read Anathema and it is fabulous.
On social networking, I write flash fiction and several of my sales have been a direct result of social networking. My first novel comes out this spring and I am hoping the readership I've fostered will carry over. I think, even if you are traditionally published, you are missing out on valuable relationships if you are not on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads and blogging.
I think the whole SN thing is just a plus, no matter how you're publishing. No idea how much of a PLUS, but I don't think we can really ignore any avenue that reaches this many people and isn't out of our reach financially.
And I found this blogpost by following your FB post. To tell the truth, I don't always follow links posted on FB, but the topic intrigued me, so here I am. Right there, that might say something about the power of social networking.
A lot of my FB friends are writers but I'm not sure I'd buy their books just by hearing about it on Facebook. I think I'd need more, a good review posted, a friend's recommendation. I'm not a big book buyer anymore, but I certainly consider Facebook a good starting place to hear what's about to come out, what's getting good buzz, etc. So, yes, bottom line, it seems to be just one more way to get the message out. I can only hope it will influence sales. My book's due out in a year. I'll be listening to your commenters and crossing my fingers that all these connections help!
And definitely post more about your book when it comes out!
Nowadays (except for my research) almost all of my reading is the result of online buzz, networking with writers, etc.
I know people around the country who have read my books because of social networking and they are helping to spread the word.
And of course I know about you and your Survival Guide (which by the way, Carol and I will be sharing in an upcoming seminar) because of social media.
And now there is Anathema which I would not have known about otherwise! Please enter me in the contest.
I wouldn't have known about your books, either, if it weren't for blogs. Thank goodness!
This is such a thoughtful post. I've been having many of these very discussions on line and across several lists. Publishing is changing so fast that we can't afford not to pay attention to the impact of social networking.
Thanks for another excellent article!
Glad you liked it. It's just a lot to think about–and sometimes that means I have to write it out to try and get straight how I feel!
Like Joyce above, almost everything I read these days I first heard about online through blogs, facebook and twitter. The remaining percentage are books by people I actually know through the several local writers' groups I belong to.
My group blog, Killer Hobbies, is talking about this today, too. Seems from the comments that people do buy books because they feel like they "know" the author from blogging.
It is a knowing, I think–I do feel like I'm friends with people I meet online. And, honestly, when I get to meet them in person, that feeling usually gets proved out!
And I've got that book on my to-read list for the same reason!
I bought an e-book, Corona, from Amazon to read on my on-line Kindle. I haven't read much of it.
It's well written, but I prefer reading books printed on paper.
I'm sorry. I didn't do a good job of answering your question.
I did know the author from writing with her on line ~ on WEbook.
Online is the primary way I hear about books nowadays–some from book blogs, some from networking sites.
I know for a fact that some people have bought my book because they heard about it online. How many, vs. how many just found it by browsing at a store? I have no idea.
I don't know about social networking by itself, but I think blogging can definitely help build sales. I know about Beth Revis' Across the Universe because I was following her blog before she even got her agent. And as soon as her book deal was announced, I knew I wanted to buy the book.
I'm more of a blogger/reader than social networker, but for me, I think social networking can be an introduction to people, the initial small talk that leads to blog reading. But it's in posts like yours that we really get to know people, I think, and that can help sell a book.
So, I think social networking is one stepping stone.
That's how I found ACROSS THE UNIVERSE,too, although I can't remember if I found Beth at her blog first or at Twitter. It's a big loop!
I wrote a nonfiction book—a memoir—coming out on March 1st and I have been using networking, blogging, article, and video sites to post information about the book. Statistics say that today's buyers are on the Internet checking all those sites. Millions of people are surfing on hyperspace daily, at all times, so it seems the right place now to post information hoping the right crowd will see it. Not everybody will be interested in my book, but I know there is a group out there that likes memoirs of women with extraordinary lives. People looking for an inspirational story. I think networking and posting on the Internet is an effective way to reach my crowd. I have learned of many good books via Internet and word of mouth from collegaues and friends. Online is the way to go!By the way my book's title is THE IRON BUTTERFLY; MEMOIR OF A MARTIAL ARTS MASTER. But don't be deceived by the title, it is not another martial arts book. Is a story of survival and personal acheivement in a martial arts setting.
Great discussion topic! Years ago, I self-published two books and sold more than five thousand copies the hard way – in person, through book signings and demonstrations, lectures and seminars. The internet wasn't nearly as accessible. I can only imagine what my sales could have done had I been able to promote via Facebook, Twitter and the like.
Now as a traditionally published non-fiction author (soon to be fiction), I've found social networking quite helpful for getting in touch with people all over the country and letting them know about my book projects. Thanks to Facebook, I've reconnected with hundreds of school friends, made professional connections and opened new opportunities.
Can an increase in my book sales be monitored – by me? Not specifically. What I have noticed is a spike in Amazon rankings and website hits for a few days after one of my books get internet press.
In this day and age, I don't see how an author can exist without a web presence – website, blog or involvement in a social networking site. Book reviews in newspapers are dwindling, travel costs are rising and press junkets are a fantasy.
The internet offers "free" marketing for authors. It's up to us to tap into its potential and make it work for book promotion.
I vote to keep reaching out to spread the word on the web and watch book sales climb!
Hi everyone! I was on Facebook long before I considered how it might be used for book promotion. I took years chatting and getting to know people – and I've made some amazing friends along the way (like Becky).
I actually felt awkward marketing my book to friends/family and created a second FB page just for my writing. I don't want to bombard people with notifications about my book – unless they want to be bombarded, in which case they can join my author page.
I appreciate those of you who've gone on to enter my contest. It's very, very appreciated!!!
Can't wait to get your book–my mailman may have to actually do the snow/sleet thing to get it to me!
I recently bought Dave Ebright's self-published book, "Bad Latitude." Had I not *met* him online I know I wouldn't have. I do like to support writers that I get to know online. That said, I know there are people out there who bought my book who likely would never have even heard of me had it not been through my blog.
I've been feeling the book-buying world expanding it's attutde lately, and the comments here are confirming that. It is an amazing time for publishing, even with all its complications and challenges.


text:
Q: PEG.js - how to parse c-style comments? Implementing a peg.js based parser, I get stuck adding code to to handle c-style comments /* like this */.
I need to find the end marker without eating it.
this not working:
multi = '/*' .* '*/'

The message is:
line: 14
Expected "*/" or any character but end of input found.

I do understand why this is not working, but unfortunately I have no clue how to make comment parsing functional.
Here's the code so far:
start = item*

item = comment / content_line

content_line = _ p:content _ {return ['CONTENT',p]}

content = 'some' / 'legal' / 'values'

comment = _ p:(single / multi) {return ['COMMENT',p]}

single = '//' p:([^\n]*) {return p.join('')}

multi = 'TODO'

_ = [ \t\r\n]* {return null}

and some sample input:
// line comment, no problems here

/*
  how to parse this ??
*/

values

// another comment

some legal

A: complete code:
Parser:
start = item*

item = comment / content_line

content_line = _ p:content _ {return ['CONTENT',p]}

content = 'all' / 'legal' / 'values' / 'Thanks!'

comment = _ p:(single / multi) {return ['COMMENT',p]}

single = '//' p:([^\n]*) {return p.join('')}

multi = "/*" inner:(!"*/" i:. {return i})* "*/" {return inner.join('')}

_ = [ \t\r\n]* {return null}

Sample:
all

// a comment

values

// another comment

legal

/*12
345 /*
*/

Thanks!

Result:
[
    ["CONTENT","all"],
    ["COMMENT"," a comment"],
    ["CONTENT","values"],
    ["COMMENT"," another comment"],
    ["CONTENT","legal"],
    ["COMMENT","12\n345 /* \n"],
    ["CONTENT","Thanks!"]
]

A: Use a predicate that looks ahead and makes sure there is no "*/" ahead in the character stream before matching characters:
comment
 = "/*" (!"*/" .)* "*/"

The (!"*/" .) part could be read as follows: when there's no '*/' ahead, match any character.
This will therefor match comments like this successfully: /* ... **/

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Alert Clayton County COVID-19 Data Georgia Kids News Public Health Quality of Life Safety Seniors Teens Women
New Clayton County Health website online
The Clayton County Health District has redesigned its website to be more user- and mobile-friendly. The new site is up at https://www.claytoncountypublichealth.org .
CCHD's public information officer, Vincent Parris, said "Our work is extensive, an so we feel an improved online presence, specifically our website, is the best way to communicate what we do and how we do it. We were looking for a platform that is easy to update, which is especially crucial in our current pandemic. It is more important now than ever that our residents know we are here for them."
The site offers pages for locations, services, WIC, environmental health, community partners, and an "About Us" section. The home page includes a direct link to free COVID-19 testing information and registration; links to ordering vital records like birth and death certificates; services like adult, child, and community health; and health news relevant to local residents. On the left side of the homepage, visitors can find links to important forms or information about topics like swimming pools, emergency preparedness, mosquitos, HIV, and family planning with just one click.
The whole site also can be translated instantly into dozens of languages, from Afrikaans to Zulu, using a pulldown menu at the top of the home page.
524 Creative, a Marietta-based marketing agency, developed the new site.
End no-knock warrants in Georgia, says Rep. Thomas
Sept. 29 candidates for U.S. House 5 seat


text:
Q: How to count distinct non-missing rows in R using dplyr library(dplyr)
mydat <- data.frame(id = c(123, 111, 234, "none", 123, 384, "none"),
                    id2 = c(1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 4))
> mydat
    id id2
1  123   1
2  111   1
3  234   1
4 none   2
5  123   2
6  384   3
7 none   4

I would like to count the number of unique ids for each id2 in medal. However, for the id that is none, I do not want to count it.
> mydat %>% group_by(id2) %>% summarise(count = n_distinct(id))
# A tibble: 4 × 2
    id2 count
  <dbl> <int>
1     1     3
2     2     2
3     3     1
4     4     1

Using this mistakenly counts none. The desired output should be
> mydat %>% group_by(id2) %>% summarise(count = n_distinct(id))
# A tibble: 4 × 2
    id2 count
  <dbl> <int>
1     1     3
2     2     1
3     3     1
4     4     0

A: mydat %>% group_by(id2) %>%
  summarise(
    count = n_distinct(id),
    wanted = n_distinct(id[id != "none"])
  )
# # A tibble: 4 × 3
#     id2 count wanted
#   <dbl> <int>  <int>
# 1     1     3      3
# 2     2     2      1
# 3     3     1      1
# 4     4     1      0


Whew yet another string of a complete lack of weekly updates on my part. But, really, I don't feel anyone is missing anything because my progress on any items other than the incremental ones has absolutely slowed to a crawl. Work and teaching combined is just a bit too much. No work or work and only one class would be fine, but my current schedule is overboard. The good news is, now that the semester is nearing an end, I'm finally a bit ahead in my preparation and such. With next week being Thanksgiving with several days off I should be in a good position to knock out at least the lectures for the rest of the semester.
I recently finished A Storm Over the Land, a book about the Civil War. This is one of my favorite subjects in history so I of course enjoyed reading the book. Early on it is quite choppy but it catches its stride about 1/3 of the way through and is quite good from then on. It is a compression of a much larger series on the Civil War and I think Sandburg does a good job in presenting the important things concisely. A great read for the newcomer to the topic especially.
One thing I've found extremely hard to do is the 100 push up challenge. Sometimes it is simply hard for me to remember or have the gumption to do them 3 times a week. I have found that even missing a day seems to put me back a week on progress, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense. The larger problem is I've hit a much bigger wall with getting over week 4 (as the middle column) than with week 3. I'm not sure why, but I just am not seeming to build up any more endurance at this point. The only thing I can think of is I'm not getting enough protein in my diet. When I kept track of meals over the summer on dailyburn.com I noticed that typically I didn't meet the recommended daily intake. Protein powder perhaps? Similarly, my yoga and pilates have been suffering equally, though my body has seemed to maintain their levels of fitness fairly well. Oh well, I'll keep looking towards getting ahead with my teaching stuff and hopefully getting back on the horse here.


I'm shy. That's not to say I can't talk to people, because I can. I used to work in retail, and later the corporate world in customer service. Talking to people was my job. But I don't get close to people. I talk to them to help them do their work or reach their goal or teach them something they want to know. And then I leave them alone.
The problem is, this attitude doesn't work with characters. To write a good story, you have to know your characters really well. You don't just have to talk to them. You have to be nosy.
I'm not a nosy person. I'm very much a you-do-your-thing-and-I'll-do-mine person. Of course, in terms of customers and clients, that's great. But when it comes to my characters, this sounds ridiculous. I mean, really. Am I worried about offending them by asking too many personal questions? I'm starting to think that yeah, maybe I am.
But I realize now that I need to know my characters as well as I know my own children. Because if I don't connect with them, neither will my readers. So I need to learn what makes them cry, laugh, cringe and rage. What keeps them awake at night. Their regrets, dreams, insecurities and deepest secrets. I may need to approach them differently. Rather than 'interviewing' them, maybe I need to put them on the therapist's couch and let them talk. Or eavesdrop on their conversations when they're at a party. Look in their bedroom windows at night to see what they're up to. Read their journals.
All I know is, what I'm doing so far isn't working. I need to get past my personal hang-up and figure out how to become a busybody. So I'm open to new ideas. How do you get to know your characters?


Sometimes I get inspired by my parents' cooking, sometimes I watch a Tasty video on Facebook, but very rarely do I venture out of my comfort zone and really get creative with my recipes. This week I forced myself to use the bottom-of-the-barrel groceries in my kitchen and make a recipe from my own imagination. It was a scary task, and the whole time I kept thinking, "God, this is going to be terrible and I have just wasted all this food." In the end, I made two dishes that I am pretty proud of and would likely recreate again.
Start by boiling your noodles until a perfect al dente. Leave them resting in the water until needed. At the same time, put your leftover pulled pork and a light drizzle of olive oil into another pot and turn the heat up high. Cook the pulled pork for roughly 5 minutes or until crispy. Remove the pork from the pan and place it on a paper towel to remove extra grease.
In the same pot that the pork was cooked in, take your cream cheese, salsa, hot sauce and red pepper flakes and turn the heat up to medium, stirring constantly until you have a light orange and smooth cream sauce. Add 2 tbps. of olive oil and mix until homogenous.
Once the sauce is ready you can remove a serving or two of your noodles and stir them into the cream sauce mixture until the noodles are evenly coated and warm.
While allowing the noodle to sit in the sauce for each serving, you should prepare a sunny-side up egg, ensuring that the yolk stays runny and intact.
To serve, plate a serving of the noodles and top with the crispy pork. Serve with a sunny-side up egg. When eating, break the yolk and mix with the pasta for a rich velvety sauce, and enjoy.
The recipe had a nice heat to it and the pork and egg really pulled it all together. I happened to use whipped cream cheese, which caused my sauce to separate much more quickly, but the flavors all worked well together. However, don't try and eat this recipe without the egg; it is a key element of the dish, and the sauce is much too rich to be consumed without that extra element.
Begin this recipe by seasoning your chicken with salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder. Then, place it in a hot pan with a drizzle of olive oil. Allow it to cook almost all the way through.
While waiting for your chicken, chop up your onion and garlic. Once the chicken is nearly cooked through, add the sundried tomatoes, onion and garlic into the pan. Allow the chicken to keep cooking. Once finished and browned, add in a ½ cup of cream of broccoli and a ¼ cup of cubed cheese. Stir often and bring heat down to a simmer. Keep cooking until the chicken is perfectly cooked through and all the cheese has melted.
For the potatoes, cut them into quarter wedges and blanch them until they just start to turn soft. Place the drained potatoes in a sauté pan with a hefty drizzle of olive oil and salt, pepper, paprika and garlic. Cook until your desired texture; some people prefer them mushy and soft, others prefer them crispy. Whichever you choose, they should be packed with flavor.
To serve, plate chicken with a hefty topping of the extra sauce and shredded cheese on top for an extra bite.
The potatoes were okay. I preferred them crispier, but due to time constraints I had to make a sacrifice. The chicken, however, was stupendous. The flavors worked well together, the cheese added just the right amount of guilty pleasure and the chicken remained incredibly moist. This recipe could be translated into any creamy soup you have on hand and works well for all seasons.
I encourage you to ignite your inner chopped champion and take those random groceries you've had for a while and make something you can be proud of. Although these weren't the most impressive meals I have ever manifested, they came entirely from me and I still enjoyed eating them very much. This is a time in your adult life when you can experiment and figure things out, and hey, if your meal ends up tasting like garbage, there's always pizza.


text:
Construction on the Beijing New Airport Rail Link will start by the end of the year
Posted on	 Friday, 30 October 2015 in News Archive
CHINA: The Third Railway Survey and Design Institute Group Corporation (TSDI) has issued a Beijing New Airport Rail Line full environmental impact report allowing to start the construction of the line in December this year with an estimated finish date in September 2019.
According to the report, the new airport rail line will be 39.05 km long with maximum speed of 160 km/h and designed capacity of 4 minute headway, allowing to run 15 trains an hour, although the initial runs are planned for 12 min headway and 5 trains an hour.
The train will run to and from Beijing's new airport in Daxing which is estimated to handle 45 million passengers in the first years of operation, reaching 70 million in midterm and 100 million passenger capacity in long term.
Beijing New Airport Terminal Building will be the world's largest airport passenger terminal. Zaha Hadid Architects and ADP Ingeniérie have designed the airport concept which will include integrated multimodal transport centre, featuring direct links to local and national rail services and the Gaotie high speed rail.
According to the report, the rail line will run from Beijing New Airport Terminal North to Caoqiao Station on Beijing Metro Line 10. The airport rail line will run underground for 20.85km and 18.2km over the ground. All three stations will be located underground, including the airport station. The total investment for the projects is estimated to be around 28.17 billion yuan.
Lufthansa brings all its road, rail and helicopter...
Metrolink Airport line celebrates its first birthd...
World's largest airport passenger terminal unveiled - News Archive Feb 09


text:
Let's go to the Gnomon School, the place where scifi concept art is born
Alasdair Wilkins
Filed to: Concept ArtFiled to: Concept Art
Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides
Scott patton
Alex alvarez
Gnomon school of visual effects
Gnomon school
Gnomon gallery
Legacy Effects
This life-size, old school Iron Man armor was on display last night at LA's Gnomon Gallery, alongside props and concept art from Avatar, the Iron Man movies, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, I Am Number Four, and more.
We headed to the gallery, located on the campus of the Gnomon School of Visual Effects, in order to check out what was on offer at the exhibition, entitled "The Art of Legacy Effects," and the entire exhibition was a showcase for the company's various artists.
While some of the prop designs more or less ended up in the finished film, a lot of the concept art represents a radically different vision from what ended up on screen. We've got a full set of photos showing the various pieces on display in the gallery on the left, and we also took the chance to talk with a couple of the people behind the exhibition.
We spoke with Alex Alvarez, who founded the Gnomon School back in 1997. He explained that the school began as a way for people from various studios to teach each other about 3D effects - something that was at the time still in its infancy - but has since expanded into a more general school for students wanting to work in animation and visual effects. We also talked about the Gnomon School last year; here's our earlier post.
The Gnomon School is changing the future of VFX and concept art
There are many terrific schools where special effects designers learn their craft, but one of the…
The gallery, Alvarez explained, was started back around 2008 in order to showcase a type of art that wasn't really being shown elsewhere. He said that he could go to other galleries and see art of both the highbrow and lowbrow (hey, it is LA) varieties, but there was nowhere one could go to see entertainment art. Exhibitions like this give people a chance to see concept art that they otherwise likely would never encounter - other than the pieces for Iron Man and Avatar, pretty much everything there ended up not being used in the finished films.
We also chatted with Legacy Effects artist Scott Patton, whose concept art for movies like Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides formed a big part of the exhibition. He talked a little bit about the vagaries of developing concept art for big blockbusters, saying that he often only has a couple lines from the entire script to work with. He said that, while the finished products will almost certainly be digital effects, practical sculpture is also an essential part of the creative process.
He also offered some insight into the collaborative process between artists and directors. He explained that some directors take the phrase "concept art" literally, not wanting anything much more detailed than a basic sketch when they're still trying to work out their own vision for the movie. Other directors - and he named Steven Spielberg and James Cameron as examples of this - love to see concept art that is more or less finished because it can help them figure out the endgame for the movie. Patton says that suits him better, because he prefers to approach his concept art as something that is working towards a finished vision for the movie.
For more on the Gnomon Gallery, go here.
Recent from Alasdair Wilkins
A sweet, sometimes frustrating Bob's Burgers asks Tina to grow up
A throwaway Bob's Burgers is unsure what to do with Linda's PTA dreams
Gene Belcher goes the distance in a delightful Bob's Burgers


The United States Hockey League today announced the weekly award winners for the 14th week of the 2009-10 USHL regular season.
Congratulations to forward Patrick McCadden of the Green Bay Gamblers, named Reebok Offensive Player of the Week; defenseman Bryce Aneloski of the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders, selected as CCM Defensive Player of the Week; and Steve Summerhays of the Green Bay Gamblers who earned honors as the USHL Goaltender of the Week.
McCadden scored five points (3g, 2a), including two game-winning goals, and registered a plus-four rating as the Gamblers extended their winning streak to six games. The native of Chesterfield, Missouri scored two goals in the second period of the 4-1 win over Des Moines on New Year's Eve. He then tallied the game-winning goal in the 7-2 win over Youngstown on Saturday. The 20-year-old completed the week by assisting on both goals in the 2-1 win against Youngstown on Sunday. Playing in his second USHL season, McCadden has posted 13 points (4g, 9a) in 30 games for the Gamblers.
Aneloski equaled a League season high when he tallied six points (1g, 5a) on Saturday as the RoughRiders defeated Des Moines 7-5. It was the second time this season he has posted six points in a contest (3g, 3a on 10/24/09) and his five assists in the game also equaled a USHL season high. In three games during the week, he finished with a plus-three rating. The 19-year-old from Pekin, Illinois leads the RoughRiders in scoring and is tops among all USHL defenseman with 30 points (9g, 21a) in 30 games.
Summerhays posted a 1.50 goals-against-average and a .936 save percentage during two victories for the Gamblers. He stopped 25 shots in the 4-1 win over Des Moines on New Year's Eve and then turned away 19 shots in the 7-2 victory over Youngstown on Saturday. The 19-year-old from Anchorage, Alaska earns the League award for the second straight week. Summerhays has won 10 straight starts and has a 16-2-1 record this season. He currently ranks second among USHL goaltenders in wins (16), GAA (2.08), and save percentage (.910).
Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, the USHL celebrates its 31st season of junior hockey in 2009-10. With over 180 players already committed to NCAA Division I schools and 13 NHL Entry Draft picks currently on League rosters, the USHL is the nation's foremost producer of junior hockey talent. For more information, visit us on the web at www.USHL.com.


Whats going on....Could i be pregnant?
There is a posibility that you could be pregnant. You should call and make an appointment with your Dr. and have them do a blood test.
well..... it took my friends test 4 weeks to come up positive.... your levels cld just be a little lower thwn normal.... you cld wait a while longer and tk a test for you cld go to the doctor and they cld tell you for sure if you are or not. personaly ive had one not turn positive till i was 2 weeks late before so the chsnce is always there.... also if your havng preg symptoms.... which you didnt say if u r or not... but if u are there is alwys a chance!!


Tip: Eggs, bread and cheese are the basis for an overnight breakfast casserole, but there are several ways to enhance this dish so guests will be duly impressed with your result. One way is to choose the zestier broccolini vs. broccoli. Whole milk vs. skim will add richness. Aged cheddar vs. mild adds tangy sharpness. Great bakeries offer unique and hearty breads that, when selected over plain white bread, will boost the flavor profile. A couple of our favorites: Olive Rosemary Sourdough or Spinach Feta bread from two local bakeries.
Butter a 9″x13″ glass baking dish.
Wash and trim any tough parts from broccolini. Blanch for 1 minute in boiling water, then move to ice water to stop cooking and set bright green color. Drain and pat dry, then chop into fairly large pieces.
Mince onion (can be sautéed in a small amount of butter if you prefer).
Whip eggs in large bowl; add milk, dry mustard, S&P.
Cover bottom of buttered baking dish with half of the bread cubes. Layer broccolini, onions and cheese over bread; top with remaining bread cubes. Pour egg/milk mixture over layers. Cover with film wrap and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
After refrigeration period, preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Bake strata, uncovered, for 45-60 minutes or until table knife inserted near center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes. Cut into squares or serve with large serving spoon.
Non-vegetarian options: 1–2 cups diced cooked ham, cooked and crumbled bacon or precooked breakfast sausage can be added to layers during assembly.