For me, one of the most fun kinds of movies to watch are the ones in which an indie filmmaker with a little imagination and a passion for making movies scrapes a comparatively miniscule budget together and then goes for broke. One such filmmaker, Mike Conway, put his previous film THE AWAKENING together for less than $6,000, yet I watch it a lot more often than I do the MATRIX sequels.
His latest film, another sci-fi actioner entitled EXILE (2008), cost several times that amount yet the budget was still low enough to necessitate considerable ingenuity in lieu of wads of cash. Once again, Mike's very own backyard serves as a backlot, and I'm willing to bet most of those interiors were shot in his garage soundstage. Living in Las Vegas, Nevada means access to some nice desert scenery as usual, but here we also get some great location shots in a desolate area of Utah filled with crags, crevices, and volcanic rock.
The story returns to TERRARIUM territory (Mike's second feature, released on DVD by Lionsgate as WAR OF THE PLANETS) with a crashed spaceship on an alien planet inhabited by monsters. This time, cargo ship pilot Jason (Brian Sheridan) and his crew, Karen (Sheila Conway) and Glen (George Miklos), are hijacked by a stowaway (C.J. Hyatt) and forced to land on the planet Midlanteer, which is halfway between their warring planets of Granlibon and Kamoorsta. Jason and crew overpower the enemy soldier but are attacked by Kam fighter ships and crash-land. All three survive the crash but Jason is blinded while Karen and Glen are killed by large crablike creatures with stinger tails.
Jason soon makes a startling discovery--a towering female android named Reyna (the 6'4"-in-heels Heather Lei Guzzetta) who has been living in the hidden bunker laboratory of her recently-deceased creator. Reyna, who requires contact with a human in order to survive (something about bio-signatures that I didn't quite catch), adopts the blind Jason as a symbiotic partner and helps him stay alive against the bloodthirsty monsters and Kam soldiers who are after him. As their relationship deepens, the android eventually professes her love for Jason. But when he's captured by a search party during her absence, Jason learns a shocking secret that casts everything he thinks he knows about Reyna into serious doubt.
As is the case with all of Mike Conway's homegrown films, you have to keep the limited budget and resources in mind and make allowances whenever EXILE doesn't quite look like a Lucasfilms production. The fun part is seeing how stuff like this was pulled off in the first place. Conway gets a lot of mileage out of his After Effects program with some nifty digital trickery (particularly in the matte shots and gun flashes), and he manages some fairly cool green screen shots as well. Scott Lichfield's hideous planet monsters are nutty and fake-looking, but fun and rather ingeniously done. And as in the case of THE AWAKENING, Airsoft supplies some totally authentic-looking weaponry that adds a lot to the battle scenes.
Probably the most impressive visual elements of EXILE are the space scenes by visual effects artist James Rogers. Against a well-rendered background of stars and planets are some cool spaceships that are videogame-quality or better, with fluid movements and some interesting detail during the space battles. The cargo ship's crash landing on the planet (reminiscent of a similar sequence in PITCH BLACK) and subsequent destruction by Kam fighter ships are very well-done for this budget level. As always, one can either be dismissive of the relative simplicity of these effects or admire the fact that they look as good as they do.
With the Reyna character, Conway's script blends elements of TERMINATOR, ENEMY MINE, and Data from "Star Trek: The Next Generation" but manages to take things in an unexpected direction before it's over. Heather Lei Guzzetta is an imposing figure as always and is effective in the physical scenes. Brian Sheridan, of indie filmmaker Tiffany Sinclair's 2005 film PRAEY, gives a solid performance as Jason, while Sinclair herself is quite good as Jason's girlfriend Sira. Mike Conway's wife Sheila is her usual dependable self, with the performances of the rest of his stock company--including THE AWAKENING vets C.J. Hyatt, George Miklos, and Jake Bass--varying widely in quality. Daughter Carmen Conway does the opening narration.
The Utah exteriors look good although direction and photography at times display the somewhat rushed, unpolished quality you'd expect with such a tiny crew and harsh conditions. Fog and smoke effects are overdone in some shots, and the dubbing of the soldiers, whose faces are partially hidden by oxygen masks, is a bit awkward at times. Most of the action scenes are well-done, though, especially when Reyna goes on the offensive against the encroaching soldiers. I also like the ending, which is left intriguingly vague. All of this is accompanied by Mike Conway's own self-performed synthesizer score.
The DVD from Midnight Sun Entertainment is in 1.85:1 widescreen with stereo sound. Extras include the 16-minute "making of" featurette "Off World", a trailer, and a very brief short film entitled "Big Dreams."
As with the rest of Mike Conway's filmography, EXILE is one of those films that some will find entertaining while others can only shake their heads at how little it resembles the slick megabudget stuff they're accustomed to. As for me, I admire the audacity and tenacity of such do-it-yourself auteurs and enjoy seeing how much they can accomplish with so little to work with. It's sort of like a conjuring trick, making feature films out of thin air, and as always I look forward to seeing what Mike Conway will pull out of his hat next.


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Back in January at the 2010 PGA Merchandise Show, THP got a chance to look and learn about a new equipment company hitting the market and it intrigued our readers to say the least. From the booth photos, our readers saw striking photos of some new products that were innovative in design and technology and promised to deliver in different ways to golfers of all skill levels. Before we get into the review of the new FW32 hybrid from the Players Series, it is important to see where the company came from and what makes them unique to the marketplace.
Williams Sports is an exclusive partner of the Williams Formula One team. Williams Sports has been awarded the exclusive global rights to produce golf equipment and accessories that mirror the high standards of the Williams team. The long standing tradition and success of this team will be translated into industry leading products that will carry the tradition into the golf sector, a new world of opportunity and exposure.
For the past three decades, all of Williams F1 race car chassis have been denoted in the syntax "FW," followed by a sequential number, the FW being the initials of team owner, Frank Williams, with the team racing the FW32 in this year's FIA Formula One World Championship.
Williams Sports will be offering an extensive line of equipment and accessories to dazzle the most enthusiastic golfers around the world. The entire product line will feature benefits and attributes that will be directly related to the design and performance that has made Williams F1 one of the most successful teams in Formula One.
Williams Formula One utilizes the engineering of materials and components to push the limits of performance to ensure the success required to sustain their competitive position in the sport. Williams Sports will be utilizing the same engineering aspects to push the performance limits of design and materials to create a brand that offers products unseen to the golf industry in the past. Williams Sports will be utilizing the extensive team of Williams' engineers and testing equipment to create the most highly advanced golf products while testing all critical design aspects to ensure the product is the best the industry has to offer.
Most people watch that video and see huge dollar signs and costs that they would never consider, Williams Sports has different "series" of equipment aimed at different markets. The Player Series is aimed at the core global golfer. This line is the lifeline of the Williams Sports product line. This series will feature equipment designed for the everyday golfer that seeks the highest in quality and performance from their equipment. This line will be the platform for all series of equipment that Williams Sports produces. This series will target 75% of the global golfing population and will set the bar of excellence in the golf industry in all aspects of design, performance, and production.
The Williams FW32 Hybrid has a Formula 1 based design platform that uses elements that they have perfected in that sport to assist in golf club design. The key aerodynamic elements; Trip, Winglets, Diffuser, which are essential in managing the airflow and reducing drag in the Williams F1 cars, are also featured in this hybrid. Using those design features to make this one of the most efficient designs in the industry. This products features a complete stainless steel body construction while utilizing Densimet to optimize the weighting properties for maximum forgiveness. All of these components are designed to produce a flight that is optimal for trajectory and control.
Williams was kind enough to send over a hybrid to test out and when we opened the box, the first thing that jumps out at you is the striking colors that make up the club and headcover. The blue and white theme that is trimmed in a black carbon fiber look is tremendous. The club head is very traditional looking at first glance as far as hybrids go, the crown is a solid color and it looks very inviting at setup. But that is where "traditional" ends with this one. On the crown, right before it connects with the face, there is a small raised area that is used to optimize forgiveness and weighting. Both the toe and heel offer small "wings" or fins that are barely noticeable, but are said to give great aerodynamic shaping. The last areas that really jumps out at you on first impressions are the blue diffuser that is there to assist in airflow and the weight pockets labeled with Densimet on the back end that are in place to give extreme forgiveness through weighting.
THP has been able to put the Williams FW32 Players Series Hybrid through the paces on both the range and the course. The first range testing was a unique one because we had 7 players out there to test the Williams hybrid and compare it to another model being tested at the same time. Two things stood out with the Williams model and that was the higher ball flight and the far more forgiveness off the heel and toe. The higher ball flight did not lead to ballooning as would be expected, but just a nice high ball flight that lands softly. The shaft being tested was a Fujikura 75 gram mid-high trajectory shaft which certainly contributed to the ball flight as well. The specs of the hybrid being tested was a 4 hybrid at 22 degrees measuring in at 39.25″ (the same as the other model being tested).
According to the THP Accusport VectorX launch monitor we were seeing an increase in distance on average of 2.7 yards. But to be fair, none of the testers saw a discernible difference out on the course. One thing to note though was that their was a small ball speed increase on the practice range that could lead to distance increases and we can only attribute that to different aerodynamic factors that make up this club.
This is where the Williams FW32 Players Series hybrid really shined. Measurements showed a tight shot dispersion for all handicaps tested. To take it a step further, the higher handicap players (above 18) saw a tighter dispersion compared to their hybrids by over 17%. Something you just do not see much anymore in terms of forgiveness and performance.
On the course, the hybrid works as advertised. Nice high launching ball flight with a soft landing that most amateurs are searching for as they have made the switch to the hybrid golf club over the past 10 years. Being slightly strong lofted can cause some gap issues in your bag, so we definitely recommend testing it out for distances before settling on a certain number to fit.
Hopefully the Williams line will get a strong distribution to go with the products that are coming out, because after our testing concluded we firmly believe that people need to get the opportunity to hit these first hand.
What we have here is a club that really has just about everything one could ask for in a hybrid. Good looks with a traditional shape and color. Loads of technology packed in to assist just about every golfer out there and a performance that matches all that was just mentioned. Performance and forgiveness all packaged up in a club that looks as good as any we have seen before makes the Williams FW32 Players Series hybrid a real keeper. Look to see Williams Sports products in stores coming very soon. For more information on the brand overall, check out their website at www.williams-sports.com.
Good review. Sounds like they've built a great hybrid right out of the gates.
Is it bad that looking at the picture of the sole, it reminds me a lot of the Nickent 5DX? Very similar design, except the "wings" are moved and it's painted in 3DX RC colors.
Beautiful clubs and now we hear they are solid performers as well. Thanks for the review JB, I can't wait for them to start showing up in this market.
Great review! Looks like Williams has a winner on its hands! Like you said lets hope for a strong distribution channel so we can see these beauties in retail channels. Such a great looking club!
no doubt that this is an impressive looking hybrid. it's nice to hear that it performs just as good as it looks.
Good review JB!! I will definately have to check these out when the become available.
I second that the sole looks like a Nickent. It was the first thing I thought of.
Its nice to see some new competition in the club marketplace. I will check them out.
The diffuser concept on golf clubs is really interesting (I love F1)! But I wonder if the diffuser works as well for a golf club as it does on F1 cars? And will the fins take repeated beating without snapping off?
The problem using Private label rights web content is the fact that people fail to put it to use properly. They need to either use it to find ideas for subject areas to write about or maybe fully re-write it or spin it and then simply set his or her own name into it.


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Out of Africa: A Database of 7,000 Useful Plants
Photo: Courtesy of G.J.H. Grubben GENETIC DIVERSITY: Fruits of the Scarlett eggplant (Solanum aethiopicum), of which the immature fruits and leaves are used as vegetables. European and African scientists have launched an ambitious project to review the current literature about useful plants of tropical Africa. From 2003 to 2013, researchers will examine and update all written documentation about approximately 7,000 commodity plants in 47 African countries and islands from the Tropic of C
Silvia Sanides
Photo: Courtesy of G.J.H. Grubben
GENETIC DIVERSITY: Fruits of the Scarlett eggplant (Solanum aethiopicum), of which the immature fruits and leaves are used as vegetables.
European and African scientists have launched an ambitious project to review the current literature about useful plants of tropical Africa. From 2003 to 2013, researchers will examine and update all written documentation about approximately 7,000 commodity plants in 47 African countries and islands from the Tropic of Cancer to the Tropic of Capricorn, and then compile the information into an easily accessible database and some handbooks. The goal of the Plant Resources of Tropical Africa (PROTA) project is to help countries make better use of their rich biodiversity. It also should put valuable knowledge about the plant resources in this largely neglected region at the fingertips of scientists worldwide.
"Africa holds more than 25% of the world's biodiversity. ... The diversity of crops today is at the basis of food security of tomorrow," said Shafqat Kakakhel, deputy executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, at a late September meeting that reviewed the initiative. "This diversity is in severe danger as a study published in Science at the beginning of this month makes abundantly clear."1 According to that paper's authors, at least 22% and possibly as much as 47% of the world's plants are threatened with extinction; previously scientists estimated that only 13% of these plants were threatened. The erroneous estimates did not include a reliable tally of species at risk in the tropical latitudes. The new numbers underline the urgency of documentation projects like PROTA.
The ¤6 million project was initiated by Jan Siemonsma, a tropical agronomist at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. Other European participants include the French Agropolis, a conglomerate of agricultural research institutions focusing on Third World development, and the Kew Royal Botanic Gardens of Britain, well known for its conservation efforts. In Africa, the researchers have established six regional offices in Uganda, Ghana, Malawi, Madagascar, Gabon, and Burkina Faso. The Network Office Africa, located at the World Agroforestry Center in Nairobi, will coordinate the work on the continent.
"An enormous amount of research has been done on commodity plants in Africa," explains Elizabeth Omino, a plant taxonomist who heads the Kenya Network Office. "But often it has never been published. It may be written in a local language and gather dust in the libraries of small institutes or even personal collections." Regional officials will find this little known "grey literature" in the institutions of the countries assigned to their region, and review it for use in the project.
For several years, scientists have worked on a precursor to the database, which now showcases 39 plants from 16 different commodity groups on the PROTA Web site (www.prota.org) in much the same format in which all 7,000 species are eventually to be featured. Species include West-African okra (vegetable), African rice (cereal), Ethiopian cardamom (spice), sausage tree (medicinal plant), and natal indigo (dye). Many African plants are often adept at multitasking. Indigo (Indigofera arrecta), for example, serves as a cover crop and green manure, as well as a dye. An extract from its leaves is said to mitigate symptoms of peptic ulcers; the treatment method has been patented for medicinal use. The sausage tree (Kigelia africana) controls erosion when planted on riverbanks; in addition, its nutritious seeds are edible, and the wood often has an afterlife as dugout canoes. A commercial product containing powdered bark is used to treat Candida albicans infections, and the fruit has shown anticancer activity in vitro.
For each species, the PROTA prototype lists scientific names and multiple vernacular names. It explains a plant's uses, describes its biochemical properties, names diseases and pests, and defines its ecological preferences. It supplies information about local production and international trade as well as suggestions for further research and commercial uses. An extensive list of references, distribution maps, drawings of plant parts for identification, and photographs complete the species' profile.
Photo: Courtesy of H.C.D. De Wit, Biosystematics Group, Wageningen UR
AFRICAN ALLURE: The Inflorescence and leaves of the African tulip tree (Spathodea campanulata), a well known and widespread ornamental tree.
PROTA is the successor of a previous Wageningen project that compiles information on the Plant Resources of Southeast Asia (PROSEA). The project is set for completion in Spring 2003 and has received wide acclaim from the international science community. John Wiersema, a botanist at the US Department of Agriculture, praises the project. "PROSEA maintains very high scientific standard. I expect the same from PROTA," he says. "We are incorporating PROSEA information into our GRIN-database that is used by scientists around the world. We already have about 1000 different PROSEA citations."
Even more rewarding than scientists' approval, says Siemonsma, is the fact that the flow of information reaches the people who directly depend on these plants. PROSEA derivatives are already being widely used by the local population. Spin-offs include brochures and leaflets in the native languages, training manuals for fieldwork in agriculture and forestry, partnerships with local industries, and community websites in Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian and Filipino (www.proseanet.org/indonesia).
FRUITS OF FAIDHERBIA ALBIDA: The Apple-ring acacia is widely planted in West and East Africa and typically used for intercropping, fodder, fuelwood, and local medicines among other things.
Eric Krampah, who runs the PROTA regional office for Western Africa, looks forward to similarly packaging PROTA-information in nonscientific ways to make it useful for Africa's impoverished population. About 70% of tropical Africa's labor force works in agriculture, explains Krampah, a natural resources manager at the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana. Yet agriculture accounts for only about 38% of Ghana's GDP. He expects information compiled by PROTA to be an essential resource at both the grassroots and management levels for improving rural living conditions. Beyond that, Krampah predicts, the region's medicinal plants could be "pure gold" for pharmaceutical research.
Silvia Sanides (sanides@cs.com) is a freelance writer in Charlottesville, Va.
1. N.C.A. Pitman et al., "Estimating the size of the world's threatened flora," Science, 298:989, Nov. 1, 2002.
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Carlisle United have today signed former-Doncaster, Orient and Port Vale midfielder Anthony Griffith on an 18-month deal which keeps him at Brunton Park until the summer of 2016.
Griffith, 28, started his career as a youngster with Halifax Town and earned his first professional deal with Doncaster Rovers in 2005 after catching the eye at non league level. He enjoyed loan spells with Oxford, Darlington and Stafford as he continued his football development and also made a welcome return to Halifax during his time at the Keepmoat.
A four-year move to Port Vale followed, where he made over 200 appearances, but he left the Valiants to join Leyton Orient in 2012. He returned for another season with Port Vale in 2013 and has also had spells at Harrogate Town and. Most recently, with Shrewsbury.
A Montserrat international, he made two appearances as team captain during the 2011 World Cup qualifying campaign.
"We got the opportunity to bring him in and I've been speaking to him for about ten days now," manager Keith Curle said. "There's a level of maturity about him that I like. When you start talking football there's an understanding of the role he will play in the team.
"There are people more pleasing on the eye who will go and win you the game but, with where we are at the moment, you need a solidity and a backbone," he added. "That typifies what he is about and what he will bring to this football club.
"He's a competitor and you don't take that out of anyone's game. I want people who can see a tackle and who will commit to it. You will be slightly off on occasions, because of the tempo of the game, but I'll accept that. There obviously needs to be an element of discipline in his play and a realisation that you can't win every ball.
"He's a player who likes to tackle and that's something I like. He wants to win the ball and there's a spring in his step when he does.
Griffith will wear squad number 34.


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McAdoo admits Eli Manning's rusty and dreads this headline
By Brian Lewis
Eli Manning Robert Sabo
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The Giants were Tracy Morgan's punching bag at the ESPYs
In his first practice since Wednesday, Giants quarterback Eli Manning looked predictably rusty. And as soon as coach Ben McAdoo admitted as much, it was going to be noteworthy, whether McAdoo liked it or not.
"Eli's been consistent. He's been productive. He had a few days off. He seemed a little bit rusty," McAdoo said. "I don't know if that needs to be a headline, but I'm sure most of you may use it. It's an easy one. We need to get him back and get him some work. I know he's excited to get back to work."
No use trying to put the cat back in the bag. After all, it's so rare to hear a critical word about the two-time Super Bowl MVP that it is bound to be a headline, even if Manning's rust were completely natural.
Manning didn't play in Friday's preseason-opening loss to Pittsburgh, and the Giants don't have full practices before and after playing. Still, Manning hardly was at his best Sunday. He went 11-of-16 in team periods — 7-of-11 during the full 11-on-11s — but didn't connect much down the field.
He missed an open Odell Beckham Jr. and got picked off by Donte Deayon in the end zone to kill a drive. He is expected to make his preseason debut when the Giants next play again Aug. 21 in Cleveland.
Manning was involved in arguably the most spectacular play of Sunday's practice.
Giants' biggest question mark gives 1st sign he'll be OK
After bouts of the same flaws and breakdowns he displayed...
Beckham made a jaw-dropping, one-handed grab on a deep throw from Manning in the two-minute drill for an apparent touchdown. But to the chagrin of the large crowd, the play was blown dead because left tackle Ereck Flowers got beat by defensive end Olivier Vernon for what was credited as a sack.
"It's nice that it was completed, but no, it wasn't nice that there was a sack on the play," McAdoo said. "It's good for the defense."
In their first practice since Friday's loss, McAdoo didn't seem overjoyed with the Giants' mindset.
"Our focus could be a little better," McAdoo said. "Our tempo could be a little bit better. We're going to go jump on that right now, though."
Running back Shane Vereen has seen his workload increased.
"He was a guy we started slow with. We built him up," McAdoo said. "He looks like he feels pretty good out there right now, and we'll continue to build him up, increase his workload."
Giants' hard-working tight end turning heads at OTAs
Don't tell Matt LaCosse OTAs are meaningless. Established players with...
In a battle with Will Tye for the starting job, tight end Matt LaCosse first made a spectacular sideline grab against Michael Hunter Jr. on a deep pass from Josh Johnson. Then he took a seam route from Johnson for a long touchdown.
Kicker Mike Nugent's perfect training camp came to an end Sunday. He missed a pair of chip-shot field goals from 25-30 yards.
Beckham, who was practicing in golden Nike cleats reminiscent of Michael Johnson, went down to the turf clutching at his midsection. But after being hunched over for a few minutes, he popped up and started dancing to the delight of the crowd. The song that was playing? "Walk It Off" by Lil Wayne.
WR Sterling Shepard (ankle) practiced fully for the first time since Aug. 2. LB Mark Herzlich (stinger) and DT Robert Thomas (soreness) also returned to practice, the latter working on a limited basis. WR Kevin Norwood went down with a hip injury and was carted off the field. RB Shaun Draughn (ankle) and linebacker J.T. Thomas (knee surgery) still are on the PUP list, but both were working off to the side, with the latter running pass routes. Coach Ben McAdoo said both are "getting close" to practicing. Safety Duke Ihenacho (hamstring), WR Tavarres King (ankle), Ryan Murphy (lower body) and Kevin Snead (lower body) did not practice. TE Colin Thompson wasn't at practice after Saturday's appendectomy, while LB Keenan Robinson was limited and still is in the NFL's concussion protocol.
Filed under ben mcadoo , eli manning , ereck flowers , matt lacosse , mike nugent , new york giants , odell beckham jr. , shane vereen
Giants' other superstar is getting his taste of Beckham's ...


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Why Now Might Be a Good Time to Buy Skyworks Solutions Stock
By Harsh Chauhan – Dec 4, 2018 at 3:24PM
NASDAQ: SWKS
Skyworks Solutions
(-0.77%) -$0.86
The chipmaker carries a lot of promise and trades at attractive levels.
Wall Street's short-sightedness was on full display when Skyworks Solutions (SWKS -0.77%) released its fourth-quarter results in early November. Despite superb execution and a decent outlook, shares of the chipmaker slipped to 52-week lows. The market was probably focused on problems at one of the company's prime customers -- Apple (AAPL 1.37%).
That's not surprising, as Apple accounted for 47% of Skyworks' revenue in its recently concluded fiscal 2018, up from 39% in the previous year. There's no doubt that such reliance on a single customer is a cause for concern for any company, but at the same time Skyworks' efforts to diversify its business shouldn't be ignored.
Pulling the strings elsewhere
There's a lot of noise around Apple's proposed iPhone production cuts, and this has taken a toll on companies that supply iPhone parts. Qorvo, an Apple supplier that gets nearly 40% of its revenue from Apple, slashed its top-line forecast for the ongoing quarter. The company expects its revenue for the December-ended quarter "to be in the range of $800 million and $840 million, compared to its previous forecast of $880 million to $900 million, due to recent demand changes for flagship smartphones."
However, Skyworks hasn't given out any such warning. Its revenue actually improved year over year in the last-reported quarter, while the guidance for the December-ended quarter was not way off the mark. The company expects $1.01 billion in revenue this quarter, which is only slightly below the consensus estimate of $1.07 billion.
More importantly, Skyworks expects to deliver its 10th consecutive year of revenue and non-GAAP earnings growth this fiscal year, which started in late September. Analysts expect that the company's top-line growth will get even better in fiscal 2020, and it won't be surprising to see Skyworks actually doing that as it diversifies its business into other lucrative niches.
The company's move into the Internet of Things (IoT) market is one of the biggest reasons why Skyworks expects to deliver yet another year of financial growth. Skyworks has been gradually building its non-mobile revenue by moving deep into various IoT niches, and it expects double-digit revenue growth in that segment in fiscal 2019.
Currently, Skyworks gets 28% of its revenue from the broad markets segment (the formal name for the non-mobile business). This segment is currently tracking annual revenue of over $1.1 billion, and double-digit growth there should help the company mitigate any weakness in the mobile part. However, Skyworks is capable of logging stronger growth in the broad markets business as its design wins in the IoT market move into the production phase.
Companies including Hyundai, Tesla, Toyota, BMW, and Geely have elected to use its connectivity and telematics solutions. The company has also supplied smart audio solutions to Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft for their gaming consoles.
So Skyworks seems to be partnering with the right players to give its non-mobile business a nice shot in the arm, which should ensure that the company gets more revenue from this area in the future. But at the same time, investors shouldn't miss the fact that the company's mobile business is sitting on a major catalyst that could pay off sooner than later.
The next big thing in mobile
Apple's potential iPhone production cuts don't seem to bother Skyworks management much, as the chipmaker gave clear signs of content gains in the new devices. In the words of CEO Liam Griffin:
What we have here is a great demonstration of content gain and moving up to some very complex engines within premier smartphones and that had been a lot of hard work that we've done over the last six months to nine months to make that happen.
Of course, the company did admit that it saw "a bit of a unit miss" late in the fourth quarter, but it looks like the content gains helped make up for some of that weakness. A teardown of some of the latest iPhones indicates that Skyworks is supplying a lot more chips. That can be attributed to the fact that Apple's iPhone XS and XS Max models carry much faster cellular performance than earlier devices and even the iPhone XR.
Apple has brought about these improvements by integrating a couple more antennas into the new devices to support more frequencies. This should have boosted demand for Skyworks' carrier aggregation switches, which are critical to the integration of new antenna switch modules.
Demand for such carrier aggregation switches is slated to increase in the long run once 5G networks are deployed. It is estimated that 5G smartphone shipments will shoot up from a level of only 2 million units next year to more than 1.5 billion units in 2025.
Skyworks is already looking to sink its teeth into this market. It has launched antenna tuning solutions that should help it gain traction in 5G smartphones, and is now looking to step up its game by targeting mobile operators through its 5G small cell solutions. This is a smart move from Skyworks, as small cells will play a critical role in enabling the deployment of 5G networks, which is why their sales are expected to go up from just $13 billion last year to $58 billion in 2024.
Don't miss the big picture
Skyworks Solutions' outlook might have missed Wall Street's estimates by a whisker, but investors need to keep their eyes on the bigger opportunity. The company is going after markets that have solid growth potential in the long run, and now would be a good time to buy into those catalysts.
I say this because Skyworks is trading at less than 9 times next year's earnings, but its earnings are expected to grow consistently over the next two years and beyond. As such, savvy investors looking for an attractive IoT and mobile play should definitely consider Skyworks Solutions given its growth potential and attractive valuation.
Harsh Chauhan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple and Skyworks Solutions. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2020 $150 calls on Apple and short January 2020 $155 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
SWKS
$111.16 (-0.77%) $0.86
$145.93 (1.37%) $1.97
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2 Warren Buffett Stocks Down 48% and 74% to Buy in 2023 and Hold Forever
Nasdaq Bear Market: 5 One-of-a-Kind Growth Stocks You'll Regret Not Buying on the Dip


I have never been a fan of the cliché: "All things happen for a reason". I have always found it to be a simplistic understanding of how God acts and intervenes in the world. That said, I do think that "some things" happen for a reason. It is a truth evidenced in many parts of the bible as God's children cooperate in faith with the Holy Spirit.
Synergei is the Greek word that is translated "work together". It communicates an idea of synergy. The word reminds us that God is not a sovereign micromanager manipulating our lives but One who calls us into a synergistic relationship where we rule with him at his side. And in the end, all things are synergized for the good of those who love God.
Help us Lord to resist all forms of religious fatalism. Help us to work together with you in doing good.


On Wednesday 13th December, Tuke School presented its amazing Christmas production to an excited audience of parents, carers and honored guests.
EARTH 2525: An Astronaut, Major Tom, reminisces about his travels across the Solar System and the new human settlements he has met along the way. In his last communication he looks back on Earth and confesses why this will be his very last entry.
If you didn't get the chance to see it, don't panic! We filmed the entire production and it is here for you to see. Just click play.


summary : The premiere date of "Castle" Season 8 is drawing nearer, so fans and followers of the widely popular TV series are now eagerly waiting for potential plot spoilers and other updates regarding their favorite crime fighting pair. With Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) already confirmed as the new captain of 12th Precinct, the feisty investigator will be seen behind the desk more frequently this season. Meanwhile, some eager spectators believe that "Castle" Season 8 will see Rick Castle (Nathan Fillion) out in the mean streets of New York - presumably investigating cases on his own.


As promised an extra catch up as things start to settle down post Western Greyhound. These are the main VOSA registrations for the new routes from the three main operators.
PH0004983/196 - FIRST DEVON & CORNWALL LTD, THE RIDE, CHELSON MEADOW, PLYMOUTH, PL9 7JT Variation Accepted by SN: Operating between Truro Bus Station and St Austell Bus Station given service number 27/214/215/216/217 effective from 16-Mar-2015. To amend Timetable.
PH0004983/505 - FIRST DEVON & CORNWALL LTD, THE RIDE, CHELSON MEADOW, PLYMOUTH, PL9 7JT Variation Accepted by SN: Operating between Bodmin Morrisons and St Austell Bus Station given service number 27 effective from 16-Mar-2015. To amend Timetable.
PH0004983/498 - FIRST DEVON & CORNWALL LTD, THE RIDE, CHELSON MEADOW, PLYMOUTH, PL9 7JT Variation Accepted by SN: Operating between Truro Bus Station and Newquay, Bus Station given service number 90/91/92/94 effective from 16-Mar-2015. To amend Route and Timetable.
Service 91/92/93 (Truro - Newquay): More journeys, including evenings and Sundays and new service 93.
PH0004983/500 - FIRST DEVON & CORNWALL LTD, THE RIDE, CHELSON MEADOW, PLYMOUTH, PL9 7JT Variation Accepted by SN: Operating between Newquay Bus Station and St. Austell Bus Station given service number 21 effective from 16-Mar-2015. To amend Route and Timetable.
PH0004983/501 - FIRST DEVON & CORNWALL LTD, THE RIDE, CHELSON MEADOW, PLYMOUTH, PL9 7JT Variation Accepted by SN: Operating between Newquay Bus Station and Truro Bus Station given service number 87 effective from 16-Mar-2015. To amend Route and Timetable.
Following the cessation of trading of Western Greyhound we will be running a new service between Liskeard and Padstow. From Monday 16th March a new route, service 75 (previously Western Greyhound route 555) will operate hourly between Liskeard and Padstow via Bodmin and Wadebridge. We will be accepting all existing Western Greyhound passes until the end of March. We are working on getting fares for this route on our ticket machines for Monday morning. Pease note all routes that were taken over to form Go Cornwall Bus on the just 3 months ago remain unchanged, but will now see the addition of service 75.
We have been working hard to see what help we can offer following the news on Friday 13th March that the route will no longer run following the cessation of Western Greyhound services, so would like to thank all staff involved to make sure services are still able to run.
Following Western Greyhound ceasing trading today we can confirm that, from Monday 16th March, we will be operating routes 584 (Wadebridge to Camelford) and 595 (Bude to Wadebridge). We will continue to operate the existing timetables and will accept all valid Western Greyhound season tickets.


Super Kudumbam is one of the biggest reality show aired in Sun TV.
The reality show had a lot of contests like dance, comedy, singing etc. for the participants. artists of a team join together and form a group Kudumbam (Family) and throughout the show each team participate in various contests and the winning team (Kudumbam) is crowned as the "Super Kudumbam".
During the first season,"Ilavarasi" team got the second place and the " Uravugal" team won the title. During the second season, "Maruthani" team won the title "Super Kudumbam" and " Bommalattam" team was the runner-up.


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Tag Archives: "Gatsby in Connecticut"
Friday Flashback #227
"Gatsby in Connecticut" is garnering plenty of attention. The New Yorker called the film about F. Scott Fitzgerald's Westport sojourn "one of the best of 2020." Thanks to Amazon Prime, plenty of folks have seen — and enjoyed — it.
F. Scott and Zelda arrived here in the early days of Prohibition. From all indications, Westporters paid about as much attention to the booze ban as my generation did to weed laws.
Apparently, our town had a long history with drink. Seth Schachter found this postcard from 1912. Liquor was legal. But it looks like Westport went way beyond a drink or two.
And no, this is not just any "West Port." The message on the other side is postmarked here.
Posted in Entertainment, Friday Flashback, History
Tagged "Gatsby in Connecticut", F. Scott Fitzgerald, Prohibition
Roundup: Y's Hikers, David Waldman, Amazon's Gatsby, More
COVID has caused many organizations to move meetings online.
You can't do that with a hiking club, though. So the Y's Men group has adapted. They meet in smaller numbers now. They maintain strict social distance — 8 feet, just to be sure. They wear masks when they assemble.
But they still get their exercise. And their miles.
Twice a week, Chris Lewis leads 10 to 15 hikers. He knows all the trails, throughout the county.
Wednesday hikes are 2 hours long. Friday's are more strenuous, and can take up to 3. Only heavy rain or extremely slippery conditions stop the Y's Men.
In addition, "walkers" meet nearly every day. They avoid difficult trail conditions.
This may not be the Y's Men's motto. But it should be: "COVID? Take a hike!"
(Hat tip: Michael Hehenberger)
A recent hike at Trout Brook Preserve, owned and managed by Aspetuck Land Trust.
Tom Johnson (3rd from left) is a Y's Men hiker and ALT member. (Photo/Sal Mollica)
Dave Briggs is one of the best interviewers around. He brings out the best in his subjects, in a relaxed, fun and insightful way. His Instagram Live chats are always intriguing.
And I'm not just saying that because I was a recent guest.
Today (Wednesday, January 6, 4 p.m.), he'll chat with David Waldman. They'll talk about the commercial realtor's work developing Bedford Square and the west bank of the Saugatuck River, bringing Barnes & Noble downtown, and much more.
Head to @WestportMagazine on Instagram. You'll be entertained — and learn a lot.
"Gatsby in Connecticut: The Untold Story" is ready for prime time.
Or at least, Amazon Prime.
The 70-minute movie by Robert Steven Williams — starring Sam Waterston and Keir Dullea, covering F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald's formative summer in Westport — is available on the streaming service.
The New Yorker called it one of the best films of 2020. Click here, and judge for yourself. (Hat tip: David Meth)
David Tarqueno died on December 24 at Norwalk Hospital, from complications of COVID-19. He was 61 years old.
His obituary says, "David left behind an incredible number of friends who loved him. His personality was like no other. His presence could light up a room. His smile, his laughter and his humor will remain with every heart he touched.
"David loved fishing — he was out there every fishing season opening day. Nature and animals were an important part of his life. He was devoted to his family and friends. That devotion was selfless, his trust boundless, and love endless."
The Staples High School graduate is survived by his parents, Joseph and Marianne Tarqueno; sister Lisa Tarqueno-Crawford; brother Peter Tarqueno, and his beloved dog Harry.
David Tarqueno
And finally … today, the Electoral College meets. Will Vice President Pence do what Joe Biden did as vice president 4 years ago (and Al Gore, George H.W. Bush and many others before him), affirming the legitimate winner of the election 2 months earlier?
Or will American democracy be launched into a parallel universe, one in which lunacy rules and losers' temper tantrums make us the laughingstock of the world?
Posted in Arts, Entertainment, Environment, Media, Organizations, Real estate
Tagged "Gatsby in Connecticut", Aspetuck Land Trust, David Briggs, David Tarqueno, David Waldman, Robert Steven Williams, Y's Men
Roundup: Gatsby, Clothing Drive, Shake Shack, More
The New Yorker has named its 36 best films of 2020.
Checking in at #30: "Gatsby in Connecticut."
The magazine writes:
In this engaging rabbit-hole documentary, a nonprofessional filmmaker [Robert Steven Williams] pursues his obsession with "The Great Gatsby," tracing key elements of Fitzgerald's story to Westport, Connecticut—and connecting with a writer who published a related report in The New Yorker.
Appearing on any Top Films list a great accomplishment. But this is doubly impressive: It's the New Yorker.
And it includes all releases this past year. Not just independent films. Not just documentaries. Every movie you could have streamed anywhere, or seen in a theater (for the 2 months in early 2020 when there were such things).
Congratulations, Robert! F. Scott, Zelda, Jay, Nick and Daisy would be proud.
(Click here for the full New Yorker story. Hat tip: Dick Lowenstein)
"All Things Warm" is the name of Westport VFW Post 399's winter drive. They're collecting new and gently used warm clothing and blankets, for veterans their families.
Coats, hats, scarves, gloves, mittens, sweaters, thermals, winter socks, pajamas, boots — if it's warm, they want it.
Drop-offs are accepted at the VFW Post (465 Riverside Avenue, at the Saugatuck Avenue split) through December 19.
VFW on Riverside Avenue
Emma Dantas — a Staples High School senior — is co-president of the Yale New Haven Hospital Junior Board. The institution is on the front lines fighting COVID. They need our help — and you can do it in a guilty-pleasure way.
Just buy lunch or dinner at Shake Shack in Westport, Darien or New Haven this Monday (December 7) between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. Use the code "DONATION" at checkout — on the app, online or in person.
25% of the price of your order will go to Yale New Haven Hospital. It's incredibly easy — and important. Tasty, too!
(Photo courtesy of Westport Patch)
And finally … on this date in 1933, the 21st Amendment to the US Constitution was ratified. It repealed the 18th Amendment — in other words, it ended Prohibition.
Plenty of songs lamented the decade-plus ban on alcohol. Among the most famous: Bessie Smith's 1928 "Me and My Gin," and Louis Armstrong's 1929 "Knockin' a Jug," with Jack Teagarden. The latter is one of the first major recorded collaborations of black and white musicians — and its title comes from an empty gallon of whiskey Armstrong saw in the studio. It was full when the session started.
Posted in Arts, Entertainment, Media, Organizations, Restaurants, Staples HS
Tagged "Gatsby in Connecticut", Robert Steven Williams, Shake Shack, VFW Post 399, Yale-New Haven Hospital


After visiting more than 20 top clubs in the past four years and in general developing my own strategy, philosophy & methodology in the past 10 years; I've decided to write a piece on the importance of a strategy if you as a club / coach wish to succeed not once - but every season.
Football is a conservative business often lacking time or an innovative approach to develop or make use of new tools, but a strategy is required if you wish to control your development and thereby – win without luck.
When I look through my notes and writings from these trips; a lot can be said, but some main headlines and key points characterize the clubs, which continuously are successful.
They all have a clear strategy and a style of play that don't change when a new coach arrives, but of course can be modified and improved, but always within the frame of the club philosophy. In other words; you don't change strategy / direction when you change the head coach. The club, the club philosophy and methodology decide the direction of the club. Not who is in the lead.
Some clubs have great academies and a strong methodology from U9 – U21, but no connection to the 1stteam, which is like a club – inside the club. This is obviously a waste of opportunities and it will lower the percentage of synergy throughout the club. I have heard the argument several times that it's difficult to control the head coach of the 1st team and that he would not have accepted the job had he not been given the freedom to decide and play as he likes. In my opinion, this kind of coach is not the right choice for the club. It's rather simple. The club must navigate according to the club's philosophy and stick to its strategy even in (result wise) bad periods. The right choice of coach is a coach who is ableto develop the club-strategy, philosophy/methodology and hereby reach the results defined by the club.
I will give some examples of my strategy and how it's crucial in modern football for a coach to be very detailed and specific to be able to control your style of play, develop/evaluate your players and therefore control your results in the end.
A few examples of how detailed and specific I work with my personal strategy in order to control my "style of play" and being able to develop and evaluate my players – and finally obtain the results I navigate towards.
My way of understanding the game is based on the fact that the game is very complicated; in fact (one of) the most complicated sports in the world. Football is an open skills sports with (relatively) few rules, which gives a lot of options for the player with and without the ball. Furthermore, not many sports are played on as big an area (pitch) as football, which again opens for several options / decisions.
Therefore; the job of a coach is to make it simple. To maximize the control of the game and to minimize the need of luck and coincidences.
In other words; as much as possible must be planned, trained and agreed within the team. In all phases - on and off the ball.
A style of play (also called a strategy) is therefore necessary for all teams if they wish to succeed – more than one lucky Sunday. Everyone can be lucky, but this is a short-term strategy to depend on fight and good vibes.
My succession planning is about controlling and managing every possible detail. My style of play / strategic blueprint is created to help and guide the players, so everything is clear and everyone understand their role in the match: To improve the collective moves and common relations on the pitch.
For me, this is the only way to work in football. If not: How can you evaluate a game / performance / result if you don't have a strategy and a game plan to evaluate on? How can you know or control that your team and players are moving in the right direction without a detailed strategy?
My offensive strategy with the ball (in possession) is called; 'playing with a purpose'. This basically means we don't risk loosing the ball. We never wish to play for duels (50/50 balls) as this for me is to - as mentioned above - depend on luck and coincidences.
In possession, we try to control the game through our 3 main phases (transition / counter attack / set pieces have their own phases). The players must be trained to reorganize the three phases and their positions and roles in the different phases. This will give us control and we can build up, penetrate and go for a finish – the purpose.
The players have to see themselves as a quarterback in possession; my mantra on the pitch is 'positions – options = decision'. So the player on the ball read his teammates' positions, which gives him different options to play and in the end this will help him make the (right) decision.
This is one part of the strategy. Another area is the last 3rd strategy. In our daily training we focus on getting into the box (dangerzones) before we decide to finish. This is based on the fact that around 90% of all goals are scored in dangerzone 1 and dangerzone 2 areas (inside the box and central in front the goal).
In general, my players are 'not allowed' to shoot outside the box during training; this is to make them understand the statistics as it averagely takes 50 shots to score a goal outside the box – on the highest level! So for me; a long shot is basically to give away the ball. Not finishing with a purpose.
Therefore, we implement the dangerzones in the daily training as it's easier for me to evaluate our development on the last 3rd. This season we have removed 25% of our total shots in the matches from outside the box to inside the box, which shows me our training is working. In addition to this we (logically) scored more goals this season – for the same reason. We simply find better positions on the pitch before we try to score.


2018-09-26T02:30:15-04:00https://images.c-span.org/Files/107/20180926023257001_hd.jpgFrench President Emmanuel Macron delivered remarks at the United Nations in New York City. He was among the world leaders who spoke during the general debate portion of the U.N.'s 73rd General Assembly meeting. During his remarks, President Macron called for an end to violence in Syria and greater action by United Nations member countries to combat gender inequity and human contributions of climate change.


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Aging, Secular Stagnation and the Business Cycle
Callum Jones
Federal Reserve Board callum.j.jones@frb.gov
No rights reserved. This work was authored as part of the Contributor's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law.
Callum Jones; Aging, Secular Stagnation and the Business Cycle. The Review of Economics and Statistics 2022; doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/rest_a_01177
By the end of 2019, US output was 14% below the level predicted by its pre-2008 trend. To understand why, I develop and estimate a model of the US with demographics, real and monetary shocks, and the occasionally binding zero lower bound on nominal rates. Demographic shocks generate slow-moving trends in interest rates, employment, and productivity. Demographics alone can explain about 40% of the gap between log output per capita and its linear trend by 2019. By lowering interest rates, demographic changes caused the zero lower bound to bind after the Great Recession, contributing to the slow recovery.
Great Recession, Demographics, Zero Lower Bound, Forward Guidance
E3, E4, E5, J11
A Structural Investigation of Quantitative Easing
The Review of Economics and Statistics (May,2022)
The Four Equation New Keynesian Model
Existence and Uniqueness of Solutions to Dynamic Models with Occasionally Binding Constraints
The Review of Economics and Statistics (October,2021)


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Berlin Enacts New Rent Controls, And More German Cities Will Follow Suit
June 11, 2015 By VREIClub Leave a Comment
Landlords have been barred from increasing rents by more than 10% above the average for a locality in Berlin as legislation enacted in Germany three months ago, has come into force.
Berlin is first city to implement the rent control legislation, a move considered by many a necessity to rein in rent growth. The rate of rent rise in many areas of Berlin is the fastest in Europe.
There is already a 10% increase cap existing tenancy contracts, but new contracts will also now come under this legislation's ambit.
"The rent cap already applied to existing tenants, meaning the difference between what was charged for existing contacts and new contracts was high. The other problem is that we have 40,000 more inhabitants per year," said Reiner Wild, the managing director of the Berlin Tenants' Association."
"We don't want a situation like in London or Paris," he added. "The reality in Paris or London is that people with low income have to live in the further-out districts of the city."
Rent control may be introduced in more German cities in the near future.
Berlin has witnessed gentrification at a very fast pace over the past one decade. Migration into the city increased, so did rents and property prices.
Rents have risen more than 30% in the past three years, according to a Jones Lang LaSalle report.
Rent control legislation was enacted in Germany in March. "We're creating a fair balance between the interests of landlords and tenants," German Justice Minister Heiko Maas said in a statement. "We want to foster and maintain the high appetite for investment in the residential market."
This article was republished with permission from Global Property Guide.
Article source: http://www.nuwireinvestor.com/articles/berlin-enacts-new-rent-controls-and-more-german-cities-will-62805.aspx


I've long admired Toni Morrison as a moral visionary, but her fiction, not so much. Of her nine novels, three — "Song of Solomon" (1977), "Beloved" (1987) and 2008's "A Mercy" — are masterpieces, yet the others, particularly the post-Nobel books "Paradise" (1997) and "Love" (2003) can be so stylized as to veer dangerously close to self-parody. Anyone who's read her in any depth may understand what I'm referring to: those stentorian rhythms, the biblical cadences, the characters who function more as archetypes than flesh-and-blood.
I say this not to minimize her achievements — three masterpieces in a lifetime are three more than most authors produce. Still, more often than not, her stature (the most recent American Nobel literature laureate, she was named last week as one of 13 recipients of this year's Presidential Medal of Freedom) prevents us from seeing her as a writer, which is to say as fallible, prone as all writers are to the excitations and limitations of, in Faulkner's famous phrase, her "own little postage stamp of native soil."
Morrison's 10th novel, "Home," highlights this issue; it is a thin book with some beautiful writing that ultimately comes off as insubstantial and contrived. The story of Frank Money, a black Korean War vet on his way back to Georgia, "Home" refracts the early 1950s through an individual filter, although the most striking thing about the novel may be how little it succeeds in drawing us in. Frank is an angry man, an outsider inclined to violence, a drinker and a brawler who watched his two best friends die in the war. As the book begins, he is in a hospital mental ward, bound to a bed, contemplating his escape, although when escape finally comes, it is so easy, effortless almost, that we wonder how it could have ever been in doubt.
This lack of narrative tension recurs throughout "Home" as Frank makes his way to Chicago and then south, toward his hometown of Lotus, "the worst place in the world, worse than any battlefield. At least on the field there is a goal, excitement, daring, and some chance of winning along with many chances of losing.… In Lotus … there was no future, just long stretches of killing time. There was no goal other than breathing, nothing to win and, save for somebody else's quiet death, nothing to survive or worth surviving for."
The irony is that Lotus is the only place he can take his sister Cee, near death in a suburb of Atlanta. She is the one person about whom he cares, the beacon that pulls him onward, the lodestar for the journey, both interior and exterior, that gives shape to this book.
There's a certain Old Testament-style simplicity to such a story, with its archetypal concerns: home, family, belonging, exile. These are themes to which Morrison has returned throughout her career, but here they don't challenge so much as they confirm. Confirm what? On the most basic level that this is a Toni Morrison novel, although that sounds snarkier than I intend. Still, it may be the most I can say for "Home," which reads like a pastiche, a writer returning to the well once too often, operating less from narrative urgency than a kind of muscle memory.
As she has in the past, Morrison relies on a multiplicity of perspectives, shifting between short sections narrated by Frank and more extended third-person set pieces that move from him to Cee, their stepgrandmother Lenore and a clutch of other characters. Among the few compelling dynamics is the antipathy Frank feels toward the book's third-person "author." (Morrison leaves his or her identity open-ended.) "Earlier," he argues, reflecting on a scene from the beginning of the book, "you wrote about how sure I was that the beat-up man on the train to Chicago would turn around when they got home and whip the wife who tried to help him. Not true. I didn't think any such thing. What I thought was that he was proud of her but didn't want to show how proud he was to the other men on the train. I don't think you know much about love.... Or me."
That's fascinating, the novel echoing back upon itself, its voices in conflict, as if to express the tension at the heart of the impulse to tell a story. What is narrative, after all, but a frame, an attempt to make meaning out of the chaos of the world? It's all about interpretation, how we read or connect events that are, in and of themselves, not connected, the through-lines that we follow, the unities we draw. And yet, despite the power of this setup, Morrison never makes us feel it, never allows us to become engaged.
Part of the problem is that everything happens too quickly, with no real sense of what's at stake. But even more it is the author's — or the narrator's — distance, the sense that Morrison is not fully invested in this fictional world. Even in the culminating scene, when Frank and Cee right an ancient wrong, we can't help feeling disassociated, as if this were a structural inevitability rather than a narrative one.
Ultimately, the impression with which "Home" leaves us is of a novel that, like the town it encircles, is "much less than enough." Or maybe it's that the book seems tired, as if it were something we've read before. Either way, it leaves us wanting, without the discovery, the recognition of how stories can enlarge us, that defines Morrison's most vivid work. "You can keep on writing," Frank warns the nameless narrator late in the novel, "but I think you ought to know what's true." There's that moral sensibility again, perhaps the author's most essential aspect. But in "Home," she fails to make us care enough for it to resonate.


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JCB Mendy Released on Bail
By The Chronicle	 Last updated Apr 5, 2019 947
JCB Mendy
John Charles B. Mendy alias JCB Mendy has been released on bail, 24 hours after being charged with murder.
Mendy was arrested Monday by the police along the Gambia-Senegal border town of Giboroh on suspicion of trying to abscond from the country. His arrest was ordered by the Ministry of Justice which accused him of being outrageously dishonest in his testimony at the Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission about his role in several incidents of violence.
"Mr. Mendy's "outrageous dishonesty", in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, betrayed a lack of empathy towards the families of the victims and the unwillingness to cooperate and assist in the reconciliation process in the country," the ministry said in a statement.
Mendy appeared before the TRRC in March and confessed to taking part in the shooting of soldiers accused of coup plot on the 11 November 1994. He denied knowledge of or taking part in multiple other killings.
He left the Police Headquarters in Banjul Friday morning after being granted bail.
AFRECYCLE's Guide to Managing Waste
Exhumation of the Remains of 11 November Alleged Coup Plotters Begins at Yundum Barracks
Rule of Law – The Gambia Drops Eight Positions, Ranked 89 Out of 139 Countries
Crimes Perpetrators Under Jammeh "Must Be Brought To Justice", U.N


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CF: In The News »Central Falls Continues Diversity Campaign as City Looks to Hire More Fire Fighters and Police Officers
Central Falls Continues Diversity Campaign as City Looks to Hire More Fire Fighters and Police Officers
by Wilder Arboleda
City set to create hiring lists for both public safety branches.
CENTRAL FALLS, RI – Central Falls Mayor James A. Diossa announced that the city has launched a new hiring campaign to fill vacancies and create eligibility lists for both firefighters and police officers as the city continues to diversify the departments.
"After the widespread success of our diversity campaigns in 2015 and 2016, which led us to the hiring of veterans, residents, people of color, and women, we are excited to open up this opportunity again," said Mayor Diossa. "It is our responsibility to have a hiring campaign that is inclusive to all potential candidates."
In 2015, the city revamped its public safety hiring ordinance in an effort to improve the diversity of its public safety staff. Both departments are looking for career-minded, ethically sound and professionally motivated people to join their ranks. They will be accepting Preliminary Employment Applications until March 1st, 2018. Preference is given to individuals who live in the city, have veteran status, and/or speak a second language spoken in the city.
Both police officer and fire fighter applications can be found online on the city's website at this link: http://www.centralfallsri.us/nowhiring. More information can be obtained by calling 401-727-7405.
Contact: Wilder Arboleda, office: 401-616-2443, cell: 401-318-3788, warboleda@centralfallsri.us


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Review of "Empty Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline" Part 1
Overpopulation Research Project birth rate, Family Planning, fertility, Population policy, Population Projections, Scenarios April 11, 2019 October 3, 2019 9 Minutes
By John McKeown
Empty Planet moves confidently from an optimistic premise to unwarranted conclusions. It has been reviewed favourably by Steven Pinker, The Wall Street Journal and the New Statesman, among others. Its premise is that world population will peak far lower and sooner than the UN forecasts, and that because of a faster-than-expected decline in fertility rates rather than any disastrous rise in mortality. Given this, the authors claim that "gloom" about species going extinct, crowded out by human impact, is misguided (page 2). The second part of this review will argue that even if the premise were accurate that conclusion would still be unjustified. But first I examine the credibility of their premise.
World population growth is slowing but demographers are unsure what peak number will be reached, and when that will happen. The UN medium projection is 9.77 billion by 2050, rising to 10.9 billion by 2100.1 The book claims that an "increasing number of demographers from around the world believe the UN estimates are far too high. More likely, they say, the planet's population will peak at around nine billion sometime between 2040 and 2060 … By the end of this century we could be back to where we are right now" (p. 2), which would be 7.6 or 7.7 billion. The first claim, that some demographers think the UN forecast is too high, is true and the authors interviewed a leading critic, Wolfgang Lutz of the IIASA (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis). However, Empty Planet misrepresents the IIASA. The other alternative forecasts cited on pages 45-47 are outliers: Jørgen Randers, and a Deutsche Bank report by Sanjeev Sanyal. The book contains no graphs, so I compared its claims about peak timing, and population by 2100, with its cited sources. Figure 1 shows that the number for 2100 in Empty Planet is far below the Lutz/IIASA Medium forecast, but close to Sanyal's forecast.
Figure 1. Comparing the cited projections of world population to 2100. Sources: (1) https://population.un.org/wpp/ (2) http://dataexplorer.wittgensteincentre.org/ (3) http://www.aei.org/publication/the-end-of-global-population-growth-may-be-almost-here-and-a-lot-sooner-than-the-un-thinks/ (4) http://www.2052.info/
A report for Deutsche Bank in 2013 by economist Sanjeev Sanyal, titled "Predictions of a Rogue Demographer" argued that: "Urbanisation is the strongest contraceptive" and so "the world's overall fertility rate will fall to replacement rate by 2025" causing population to peak around 2055 just above 8.7 billion.2 His forecast for 2100, at 8 billion, is slightly higher than Empty Planet anticipates. Sanyal's methodology is not open, but in an earlier report he claims that global convergence to a TFR of 1.6 is "no less likely" than convergence to replacement, and "the likeliest scenario is somewhere in between".3 Tiny differences in the pace of fertility change lead to widely varying outcomes in long-range forecasts, as seen in Figure 1. Since these forecasts by Sanyal and Randers are a few years old they can be checked against population in recent years, as estimated by the Global Burden of Disease project (GBD). Setting aside the issue of differing estimates for my 2010 starting year in Figure 2, the subsequent changes in the UN, IIASA, and GBD estimates are similar (lines are roughly parallel), whereas the older forecasts by Sanyal and Randers are diverging over time further from (estimated) reality.
Sources: Global Burden of Disease Collaborative Network. GBD 2017. Population Estimates 1950-2017. Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), November 2018. Other sources as listed under Figure 1.
Jørgen Randers is Professor of Climate Strategy, and co-author of The Limits to Growth which offered scenarios, dependent on variables including policy choices, and in some scenarios global population peaked before 2050 but the cause was a sharp rise in death rates.4 However in the 2014 TED talk which Empty Planet cites, Randers is optimistic that birth rates will decline much faster than the UN expects, leading to a peak at 8 billion around 2040. That is based on Randers' book 2052 – a global forecast for the next forty years.5 It cites as a baseline the UN WPP 2010 Low variant, which is a sensitivity analysis (at minus 0.5 children per woman), and for World aggregates these typically run far below the lower bound of the UN probabilistic projection's 95% prediction interval.6 Randers' book deals with many systems (including ecology, energy, climate, and economy): only a small part of his book considers population. Empty Planet fails to mention that Jørgen Randers in 2016 revised his forecast upward, to peak at 8.3 billion.7
The third source from whom Bricker and Ibbitson claim support is an eminent demographer: Wolfgang Lutz directs the IIASA World Population program at the Wittgenstein Centre and co-leads the Centre of Expertise on Population and Migration (CEPAM). The IIASA uses a different methodology from the UN, and its 2014 Medium forecast peaked at 9.4 billion around 2070, then declined to 9 billion by 2100.8 When this was updated in 2018 the peak moved slightly higher so the IIASA 2018 Medium forecast now peaks around 9.7 billion in 2070-75, then declines to 9.3 billion by 2100.9 This does not support the Empty Planet claim that peak population "will occur in three decades, give or take" (p.2). Also the population size for 2100 is higher than Empty Planet suggests.
So how can Bricker and Ibbitson claim Lutz and the IIASA as supporters of their view? The reason is that the IIASA developed a number of scenarios based on "shared socioeconomic pathways" (SSP): five in 2014, and three of those were kept in 2018. There is a "Medium" pathway (SSP2); a worse future is "Inequality" SSP4; a better future is SSP5; the worst is "Stalled Development" SSP3; and the best is SSP1 "Rapid Development".10 Lutz and his colleagues advised in 2018 that SSP2 is "a medium pathway that can be seen as most likely"; whereas SSP1 is "the most optimistic scenario … Since these goals of universal secondary education by 2030 are extremely ambitious for some of the least developed countries, the results may not necessarily be considered likely".11 Under SSP1 global population peaks at 8.7 billion around 2055 and then declines to 7.2 billion by 2100; at the other extreme under SSP3 it rises to 13.6 billion by 2100. The authors do not make clear that they chose among paths, and chose a future regarded by the IIASA as less likely (p.46).
Figure 3. IIASA 2018 scenarios for world population to 2100. Source: http://dataexplorer.wittgensteincentre.org/
Beyond numbers and dates, the most striking contrast between IIASA's work and Empty Planet is that IIASA's hopeful scenarios are presented as possibilities if policy choices are implemented. Lutz and colleagues warn that which SSP happens "will depend largely on policy choices made over the coming years" and so "we as humanity are at the crossroads, yet to choose between very different futures."12 By contrast Empty Planet, though it occasionally admits uncertainty, portrays a future near SSP1 as likely since countries "continue their march toward urbanization, modernization, and the inevitable 2.1 [TFR] and below" (p.238).
The authors' confidence arises from two sources: personal conversations, and a simplistic theory. They travelled "to Brussels and Seoul, Nairobi and São Paulo, Mumbai and Beijing, Palm Springs and Canberra and Vienna" and they "talked to young people: on university campuses and at research institutes and in favelas and slums" (p.3). This gives them, they think, better insight than UN demographers because: "Some of the indications of an accelerating decline in fertility can be found in scholarly research and government reports; others can only be found by talking to people on the street" (p.3). I find this unconvincing: demographers use large and carefully sampled surveys. For example since 1984 USAID's Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) in 90+ developing countries has assisted 400+ surveys each with a sample size between 5,000 and 30,000 households.13
Empty Planet follows a simplistic theory of the origin of fertility decline: "Indisputably, the most important factor is urbanization" (p.18). They also emphasise women's empowerment and education but in a chain of causation these are made secondary because "urbanization leads to the empowerment of women, which leads to a decline in fertility rate" (p.88). Elsewhere other factors are mentioned but urbanization is the primary driver: "As a society urbanizes, and women gain more power, the ties of kin, the power of organized religion, and the dominance of men declines" (p.59). Since the UN forecasts global urbanization rising to 68% by 2050, they think fertility decline will be faster than expected. The theory is flawed. One clue is where fertility decline began, in France not in Britain which lagged by 80 years despite being more urban. To their credit,14 Bricker and Ibbitson admit: "In France, oddly, fertility declines were already underway by the late 1700s" due to changing ideas (p.61). Tim Dyson observes "when the French began to employ birth control in the 1790s, only about a quarter of France's population lived in towns" but "when the English turned to birth control in the 1870s around three-quarters of the population lived in towns".15
There is no universally applicable formula. The factors mentioned by the authors are all important, but from one country to another they have interacted in varying sequences and patterns. One factor Empty Planet neglects is initiatives to disseminate new ideas favouring small family size (for example Population Media Center have produced radio and TV shows spreading this message successfully). In some countries, for example in Algeria, Egypt, and Indonesia, a period of active promotion of smaller family size coincided with a faster rate of fertility decline, and a subsequent weakening of those family planning initiatives in the mid 1990s began a period in which fertility decline slowed or stalled temporarily, despite a simultaneous increase in urbanization and education.16
Most of the numerical differences between forecasts from the UN, IIASA and others, depends on what happens in mid-Africa (South Africa, neighbouring Botswana, and northern Africa have already substantially reduced fertility rates). The IIASA cautions that "the future of world population growth will largely be decided in Africa with the future education of women as a main determinant … There has been recent moderate progress in education expansion but continued progress is not guaranteed".17 Bricker and Ibbitson visited Nairobi and found trends accelerating fertility decline, but as they admit Kenya is doing better than many African countries (p.118). In the 1980s Kenya was one of the few African countries with a family planning outreach policy personally backed by then President Daniel arap Moi. The countries with the highest and slowest changing birth rates are elsewhere, and it only takes a few persistently high outlier countries to perpetuate growth in global population. John Bongaarts in an illuminating 2017 article showed that the difference in fertility between mid-Africa and developing countries elsewhere is due not only to a later start, but also often a higher TFR than would be expected at a given level of development.18
Figure 4. Relationship between TFR and percent urban in Africa and other LDCs, 2010. Source: John Bongaarts (2016) ,https://wol-prod-cdn.literatumonline.com/cms/attachment/ae9f00f7-1669-4634-9a10-1a54e06bb913/padr164-fig-0015-m.png
The UN 2017 forecast accurately reflects recent trends.19 I hope that above-replacement birth rates do decline faster than expected, so forecasts can be revised lower. An earlier peak is possible, but the pace of change needed is unlikely to result from urbanization alone. It would also require accelerated action to increase the proportion completing secondary education, spreading the small family ideal and wider access to family planning technologies enabling women to achieve a smaller family size. Part 2 of this review will consider Empty Planet's forecast of long-term population decline, the consequences they expect, and their prescriptions for how governments should respond.
John McKeown (PhD Liverpool, M.Sc. UWE Bristol) formerly worked at an environmental non-profit, and as a university lecturer. He now lives in Cornwall.
United Nations. World Population Prospects 2019. https://population.un.org/wpp/
Sanyal, S. Predictions of a Rogue Demographer. Deutsche Bank; 2013.
Sanyal, S. The End of Population Growth. The Wide Angle. Deutsche Bank; 2011.
Meadows, D., Randers, J., Meadows, D. Limits to Growth: The 30-Year Update. Earthscan; 2005, page 169.
Randers J. 2052: A Global Forecast for the next Forty Years. Chelsea Green; 2012.
With thanks to Patrick Gerland for explaining the effect of aggregating deterministic variants, and pointing to https://population.un.org/wpp/Graphs/Probabilistic/POP/TOT/
http://www.2052.info/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/2052-Jorgen-Randers.pdf
Lutz W., Butz, W., Samir KC. (eds.) Executive Summary : Demographic and Human Capital in the 21st Century. IIASA; 2014.
Wittgenstein Centre Data Explorer http://dataexplorer.wittgensteincentre.org/
Lutz et al. 2014, http://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/eprint/11189/
Lutz W., Goujon, A., Samir KC, Stonawski, M., Stilianakis, N. Demographic and Human Capital Scenarios for the 21st Century: 2018 assessment for 201 countries. IIASA; 2018. p.124
Lutz et al. 2018, pp. 121, 128.
USAID. The DHS Program – Team and Partners. https://dhsprogram.com/Who-We-Are/About-Us.cfm.
A popular video falsely portrays (playtime 3:20) fertility decline originating in Britain as its origin in France did not fit a similar theory. https://ed.ted.com/featured/t1pefMVY
Dyson, T. Population and Development: the Demographic Transition. Zed Books; 2013.
O'Sullivan, J. Synergy between Population Policy, Climate Adaptation and Mitigation, in: M.Hossain et al (eds.) Pathways to a Sustainable Economy. Springer; 2018.
Lutz et al. 2018, p. 9
Bongaarts J. Africa's Unique Fertility Transition. Population and Development Review, 43.S1 (2017): pp. 39-58.
Gerland, P. et al. World population stabilization unlikely this century. Science 346 (2014) pp. 234-7.
Published April 11, 2019 October 3, 2019
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14 thoughts on "Review of "Empty Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline" Part 1"
João Luís Abegão says:
Thank you Overpopulation Project and Dr. McKeown for the time and effort put into reviewing the book Empty Planet. We all need to be aware of their arguments and any shortcomings in their examination. With that in mind, I was wondering, is there any significant publication on the down-sides of urbanisation? I want to become versed in that domain, because I have been hearing more and more 'experts' claiming that urbanisation is the solution to all humanity's problems, including overpopulation. My guess is, it will become fashionable to point to urbanisation as the Holy Grail, so it would probably be beneficial to become increasingly aware of the societal, psychological, ecological and environmental consequences of rapid urbanisation. Thanks again for this piece and I'll be looking forward to Part 2.
thinkpopulationaolcom says:
'Excellent report. Look forward to Part 2.
John McKeown says:
Empty Planet book recently featured on New York Times: The Shortlist (a mixed review) https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/02/books/review/changing-earth-last-whalers.html (third item)
Lucia pseudonym says:
Anyway, even admitting o that they are right and that population will be back to 7.7 billion … this is far from being an "empty" planet! 7.7 billion are already too many, we already have many terrible problems due to overpopulation (or at least overpopulation is the main driver). Urbanization it's clearly not enough.
Lucia, yes I agree. The book claims "Once that decline begins, it will never end" (page 2) so I guess the title comes from them extrapolating hundreds of years into the future. Part 2 will discuss your point.
okjaerg says:
They might be right or might be wrong but all who are working with longtime forecasting should read this book and consider its consequences.
Andrew J Smith says:
Something the review misses, as did Ibbitson & Bricker (they learnt after publishing), was research conducted by the UK's medical journal The Lancet claiming that the UNPD (used by many researchers) have and continue to over estimate fertility rates in India, East Africa etc.
This was discussed in an interview they gave:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYZPTaV-RcQ
Begs the question, why does the UNPD still promote inflated fertility rates hence future population projections and forecasts? The same headline data is then used to oppose immigration, economic growth etc.?
"Randers' book deals with many systems (including ecology, energy, climate, and economy): only a small part of his book considers population. "
There are not many systems… There is only one interconnected system and population strictly depends on the other parts, such as energy to produce food (it affects e.g. life time), economy to produce goods (it affects e.g. drugs and cure), ecology to avoid pollution (it affects e.g. death rate).
The best study about this overall system in The Limits to Growth (Randers is a co-author). This study (the first in 1972, then updated in 1992 and in 2004) has very solid analytic bases. Population peak before 2050 is very likely because of the energy crunch caused by fossil resources depletion.
Sorry, I should have said "many disciplines".
Andrew Smith says:
Limits to Growth (LtG) was debunked by a research team at Sussex University, once they were (finally) able to access details which had not been forthcoming; think their report was titled 'Club of Doom' due to LtG being promoted via The Club of Rome.
The Club of Rome's 'thinkers' included Paul 'population bomb' Ehrlich and Herman 'steady-state economy' Daly, both used LtG to promote their ideas for population control and closed economies, respectively, while appearing to be liberal and environmental.
Ehrlich's ZPG colleague and collaborator, the now deceased white nationalist John Tanton whose immigration restriction networks now inform the White House, also used LtG to 'green wash' racism, and helping deflect from or delay the need for environmental regulations to ameliorate damage from fossil fuels.
Further, the Club of Rome was sponsored by Fiat and VW, and hosted on the Rockefeller (Standard Oil/ExxonMobil) whom were central in gifting NY real estate to the UN, and especially the founding of the UN Population Division.
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Shirley Marsh says:
Hi nice readingg your post


Thank you letter to Pat from Joe, U.S. Army and his wife Jeannie a realtor in Houston. They are a spousal couple in late 50's.
a natural look....still find a scab or a little wound here and there. the best part for me is i get up in the morning and like what i see....i look and say thank you to the surgeon and andre everyday. not only did the surgeon make me look better, andre reinforced it with her attention to detail and lots of explanations on how to care for yourself during recovery.
i will also send you one of me just two months after and you will see a fresh and pleasant face.....i can't frown anymore, the surgeon fixed that in more ways than one.
i am a very open person and i had told all my clients/loan officers i do appraisals for and they have looked and examined my very few scars and are amazed at how i look. they are very curious and questioning how this amount of transformation could have taken so little time to mend plus absolutely minimum discomfort...i use discomfort as pain really did not enter into the picture.
for me lipo is next, face surgery will not happen again in this life i don't suspect, but for me, sunny happy carefree confident, ready to tackle work in an aggressive manner continues with a new lease on life....i can do all these things, because i have the face to do it with....now if i just had the body!!!!!
you have a wonderful face day....we do everyday!!!!
She looks 20 years younger. The transformation is really outstanding. The surgery did more that change the way Jeannie looked, but also changed her outlook. And it is true. She tells EVERYBODY about the procedure, about the surgery and about how she feels about the cosmetic surgeon.
so that when I came back to work, the only comment was that I looked really rested and they thought the moustache looked good. A classic case of misdirection. To this day no one in my family or at work know that I had the surgery and I plan on keeping it that way. All the folks that I work with think I am in my late 40's.
I apologize for not taking the time to write sooner, but have been especially busy on this project for DOD and army, however please forward this to the surgeon. I did not have any reservations about his technical expertise. If I had, we would not have gone. The care we were given while in the hospital and during recovery were outstanding. the surgeon shows a degree of concern for his patients and their welfare and well being that is exemplary.
The only thing that I would have done differently would be to leave the stitches in below my earlobe a while longer. I am a rough sleeper and the area immediately below my left ear came "unstuck". It took another several weeks for this area to re-heal.
Massaging the areas is certainly bringing the "feeling" back into these areas and the sensitivity is returning. Men may be more aware of this than women because of shaving once or twice daily.
Again, the cosmetic surgeon and staff are great. The arrangements made through your office were a cut above and could not be better. I especially appreciate your extra help on departure day due to the missed flight. Jeannie and I would be happy to talk to any future clients and feel free to forward this to anyone.
community were ideal. We could not have hoped for a better setting in which to spend the week after surgery.
clinic, the results of surgery, the cosmetic surgeon, and the hacienda. I don't have anything negative to say about my FaceLiftMexico experience. I am here to spread the word. My vacation in Mexico was outstanding. We shall be friends always.
had the face lift, every time I look in the mirror I cannot believe I look so good. I have had nothing but comments like wow you look rested, or Mexico must have been really good to you, you look really good. My eyes look so much more open and alive and that real tired look is gone.
cares about her patients. I am home safe and sound and feeling great.


Buyouts in which members of management participate often raise eyebrows. Is the deal being done because it is good for shareholders or good for management? But in the announced acquisition of Duff & Phelps by management and outside investors, the deal includes a "go shop" provision that should be seen as very favorable for Duff & Phelps shareholders.
The term go-shop refers to explicit permission a target has in a merger agreement to solicit competing bids for a specified period.
Under Delaware law, where Duff & Phelps is incorporated, a company isn't required to conduct an auction in advance of a sale transaction. Courts allow boards to supervise the process in a flexible way as long as they take reasonable steps to obtain the best price.
In the Duff & Phelps deal, members of senior management will be participating on the buy side of the deal. That means they will be rolling their shares and options over into the new entity created to be the buyer. Although not unusual, this creates potential conflicts of interest for these members of management. Although they work for shareholders, their economic interest as investors in the buyer is in seeing the buyer get the best deal possible.