Indonesia has embarked on an ambitious initiative that will see the country concentrate on 16 core markets, 16 tourism destinations and beyond Bali, and seven special interest segments from now till 2014.
Indonesia offers everything: a magical beach holiday in Bali, the astonishing cultural diversity and heritage wonders including UNESCO World Heritage Sites Borobudur Temple and Prambanan Temple in Java, Batiks and Keris, fantastic shopping at great prices in Jakarta and Bandung, playing great golf with no waiting and reasonable fees at international class courses through the country, marvellous spas with traditional Indonesian health and beauty treatments; marine tourism, diving, cruising, culinary and overall, a safe, family-oriented environment in an enchanting archipelago of 13.667 islands to explore.
"While Indonesia is blessed to have Bali, we believe that Bali already has enough drawing power and doesn't need additional promotions. We want to develop and promote other products and destinations in Indonesia beyond Bali", Nia Niscaya, Director of International Tourism Promotion of Indonesia Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy said.
The destinations under development will be highlighted at various travel tradeshows and sales missions, while fam trips for travel consultants and media will be organised. The ministry will also ramp up marketing efforts through traditional and social media channels.
In order to maximizing tourist movement from one destination to another, Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy has committed to develop the 16 national strategic tourism sites (new destination beyond Bali) until 2014 and promoting 7 special-interest tourisms. The strategic sites and special interest tourism are considerably important in increasing the number and the quality of foreign visitor coming to Indonesia.
Seven special interest segments have also been previously identified: culture and heritage; nature and ecotourism; recreational sports such as diving, surfing, sailing, trekking, hiking and golf; cruises; culinary and shopping; health and wellness; and MICE.
Through participation in ATF TRAVEX (Travel Exchange), the Ministry hopes to introduce more about Indonesia to international tourism community. ATF TRAVEX (Travel Exchange) is the longest-running annual ASEAN leisure travel trade event, showcasing the largest contingent of ASEAN sellers. It is an ideal forum for international buyers and media to gather the latest information on ASEAN tourism products and services, establish new business contacts and learn about tourism trade in the region. Each year, beside 14 tourism industries under Indonesian pavillion, 64 Indonesian tourism industries also participate through independent booth in ATF Travex 2013.
Visitor arrivals are increasing from year to year. The total number of overseas visitor arrivals to Indonesia rose from 8,002,035 visitors during the period January-December 2012, an increase of 5% over the same periods last year 2011, when Indonesia received 7,649,731. The total revenue reached US$ 9 billions by the expenditure of visitor per visit at least US$ 1,133.81, this exceeds the growth of international tourist (4%). For 2013, the growth is expected to continue but at a more moderate rate in the range of 2% to 4%. ASEAN (Singapore, Malaysia, Philippine) which share 30,33% to the total arrival.
Mbaru Niang, a village of traditional houses in Flores Island, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia has been honoured with the Award of Excellence in the 2012 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation. Mbaru Niang is not just a house, but it shows the culture, the environment, belief, and the way of life of the local community.
Batur National Geopark, confirmed as the 89th Member of Global Network of National Geopark, is hoped to increase sustainable tourism with a nature and local culture conservation.
8 Indonesian destinations have been confirmed as UNESCO's World Heritage List, from Borobudur Temple (1991) until Subak (2012). We also have 6 tradition, culture, and local wisdom confirmed as the list of intangible cultural heritage from UNESCO, started from Wayang (2008) until Saman Dance (2011).
Starting from 2009, the Ministry has attempted to develop 1500 tourism villages in 33 province in Indonesia. A tourism village is a village area which has some special characteristics of a place as tourism object. In this area, the traditions and culture of local community are still pure. A tourism village is also coloured by some supporting factors, such as local cuisine/food, agriculture system and social system. Besides, pure nature and environment are added points for a tourism village.The tourism village program is considered as an effective way to increase the people's welfare by developing the tourism character of the village. The program is funded by PNPM Mandiri, a government funding program from small-scale businesses.
Indonesia has hundreds, even thousands, folktale and traditions that are worthy to attrack tourists, combined with the natural beauty.
Indonesia is developing tourism and creative economy as one of important sector to support the economic growth, and in fact, Indonesia is the first country to combine and synergize the tourism and creative economy.
Tourism and Creative Economy have important role in opening and enhancing employment. In 2012, tourism sector has employed about 9,28 million people or 8.37%, while creative economy has employed about 11.57 million people.
Index of Industrial Tripadvisor has also placed Indonesia with the most promising and profitable hotel business prospect, surpassing USA, Brazil, and Rusia.
When the trade sector suffer defisit due to uncertainty in the global economic, Indonesian tourism sector has 5% growth. This is surpassing the growth of global tourism which is predicted only about 3-4%.
APEC 2013, will be held in Bali.
This present time, Bali is preparing to welcome one of the important event for Asia-Pacific countries, that is APEC that will be held under the theme "Resilient Asia Pacific, Engine of Global Growth", with the priority: Attaining the Bogor Goals, Achieving Sustainable Growth with Equity, and Promoting Connectivity. To succeed the event, the public facilities are being constructed and renovated, some of them are 'I Gusti Ngurah Rai' Airport, and an under pass in Simpang Siur area. These works will be done before APEC in September 2013.
The visitors to go not only to the main and famous tourist destination such as Bali but also to explore other parts of Indonesia. "It can be Sumatera, Java, Lombok, Flores, Kalimantan, Sulawesi or Papua. We are confident that other destinations would offer different experience and atmosphere which can be as good as or even better than Bali. However, the issue of connectivity and accessibility remain the main challenges," she explained.
"Lastly, we expect foreign visitors to not only coming to Indonesia looking for natural beauty but also for the creative economy. In terms of creativity we have so much to offer. Our music, craft, cullinary, fashion are well known and inspiring to the global trend.


Waterchase Golf Club is located in the heart of the Dallas-Fort Worth area and offers a variety of golf holes, challenging shots and beautiful views. Great course for the beginner as well as the scratch golfer with six set of tees. This is a perfect venue for corporate events as well as a charity tournaments. Waterchase is a public course and offers memberships as well.


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Yesterday, it came to light that a $100,000 public competition to name Sydney's new harbour ferries had been overridden by the minister in charge of public transport, who had ignored the people's wishes and chosen to call a boat Ferry McFerryface.
The statutory authority responsible for public transport in New South Wales warned the minister of "satirical naming campaigns" and the "the highly publicised mishaps in the naming of ships in other jurisdictions" many months before the vote. They apparently went about creating a competition that "mitigated" such risks.
The names of notable people were far more popular than the highly original joke names. Catherine Hamlin, Fred Hollows, Victor Chang, Pemulwuy and Bungaree were selected for five of the six new ferries. Ian Kiernan received more than 2000 votes and was told he would also have his name grace a ferry, but this decision was suddenly changed when the New South Wales Transport Minister, Andrew Constance, took it upon himself to choose Ferry McFerryface, a name that had received just 182 votes.
Channel 9 undertook a freedom of information investigation and now the story's all out in the open and the Ferry McFerryface name is getting the arse.… Read the rest
I'll ride with you
#illridewithyou
On the 86 tram. Or any tram. Or the bus. Or a taxi. Probably not on Uber – they sound a bit dodgy.
Or the train. The Metro train. Squished up against you. Not minding that sometimes, when the train lurches, you drag on the back of my shirt like a beaten defender conceding a professional free kick, while I push my palm flat against the roof, hoping my shoulder doesn't subluxate.… Read the rest

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Future leaders?
The Tory party conference
Annabel Shaw, who?
When Boris Johnson started his campaign to become Mayor of London, the political elite, apparatchiks from all parties and assorted journalists were caught on the hop. The rest of the nation saw it differently. They could see beyond his effortless performances on 'Have I got news for you.' He was seen as the least political politician in the UK, this they liked a lot. Viewed from across a crowded street most 'real' politicians look the same, when they speak it's not much better, the minor differences only adding to the irritation. Political journalists are even worse.
Boris became MoL but for some the bewilderment carried on. Ridiculous predictions such as: "Boris would be bad for the environment," did not come to pass nor did babies die and Londoners were not reduced to making tea by boiling the bark from trees. Even so in some places the fight went on, certain parts of the BBC have never given up the fight. This was the foundation to the recent Boris Johnson/Jeremy Paxman interview.
This year's Tory Party conference was bound to be awkward for David Cameron, the MSM would see to that, or so they thought. But, far from being damaged by the EU question the Tories seem to be doing just fine.
posted on 7th October 2009
Annabel Shaw
Jeremy Paxman
Two of a kind?
Democracy in action
The two fiddlers?
It was clear and obvious that the elections in Afghanistan would be dominated by Hamid Karzai's ruling elite and various hangers on. The reaction of the EU's election monitors was very relaxed. Now after the result in Karzai's favour come the revelations: "I was ordered to cover up President Karzai election fraud", sacked UN envoy says, see HERE.
So what will happen? Well high minded liberals will tut- tut and fuss but with friends and hangers on from the 'top drawer' Karzai will hang on for now.
And so to the Irish Referendum. It was clear and obvious that the ruling elite would call the shots and the President of the EU, Manuel Barrso did just that. But did this 'enthusiasm' go too far? There are people suggesting that all is not well with the Irish result – see HERE.
So what will happen? Well that remains to be seen, until there is more confidence in the result it's all eyes on David Cameron.
Irish referendum
Manuel Barroso
Political fix history
Car factory repair and public money
Linwood, the dawn
When Northern Rock wobbled, Nulabour rushed in to stabilize things. That the Rock was not shaken by some unforeseen seismic event but was the victim of its own stupidity counted for very little. What shook Nulabour into life was the location of the Rock headquarters, the North East of England. Geordie Land is like a stick of seaside rock with Nulabour all the way through; both Tony Blair and Peter Mandelson had safe seats up there it had to be saved, it was a political fix.
It was irrational and counterproductive, the Rock should have been allowed to go broke. So an opportunity to send a sharp lesson to the UK banking sector was missed. Thus UK banks carried on and on doing the same old tricks. For some bankers the last year or so has only been a bit of a problem, for the UK taxpayer who is now picking up the tab it's going to be a nightmare. This sort of thing has happened before.
Harold Macmillan's government had put immense pressure on the Rootes' Group to build the Linwood factory in Scotland knowing that the local authority for Ryton in Warwickshire had refused planning permission to extend the existing works. Rootes had a grant for Linwood but in reality it was never going to be enough.
The factory opened in 1963 and soon became famous for all the wrong reasons, the cars had niggling faults and production was hindered by strikes.
Lord Mandelson
Pheonix Four
Rootes
Lifting people out of IT poverty?
Biometrics destabilise Somaliland
Somaliland flag.
If you think we've got it bad, then consider Somaliland. Private Eye printed a letter from Hargeisa (the capital):
Somaliland is the only place in the Horn of Africa that is democratic, stable and tolerant ... our record of closely contested polls compares pretty well with our neighbours. Our friends faraway nevertheless thought that what we really needed was a state of the art biometric finger printing and facial recognition system to compile a voter's roll ...
Alas, this model of donor co-operation has somewhat underperformed. Presidential elections have been postponed four times now and are 18 months late, and now we have the prospect of civil war as our politicians cannot agree on a way forward.
Defence procurement streamlined?
via EU's toytown account system.
Eurofighter.
Soldiers lives are being put at risk by "endemic" failures at the Ministry of Defence which have led to the equipment procurement programme being £35 billion over budget and five years behind schedule, according to an official report that ministers are accused of trying to suppress. See here.
Surely it couldn't get any worse? Certainly it could.The new directive on defence and security procurement entered into force on 21 August 2009. The EU's propaganda release tells us that:
defence procurement


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Q: I have data (Hour/Date) collect from the host pc and i can't put them in Text (Scene Builder) Hello StackOverFlow comunity,
I have collect hour and date for a Java/JavaFX application project, i can take abd show them in the output with:
DateTimeFormatter dtf = DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("dd/MM/yyyy\n  HH:mm");
LocalDateTime now = LocalDateTime.now();
System.out.println(dtf.format(now));

but when i want to use
    "name_of_my_text".setText(dtf.format(now));
to put it in my scene this doesn't work and show in the output too much JavaFX error.
Thanks for SOF comunity

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Dr. Japheth Hunt, First Marathon Settler
Dr. Japeth Hunt was a retired Army surgeon at the time he became the first Marathon settler. He arrived with his wife, two sons and three daughters in 1794. They traveled by canoes, up the Tioughnioga River. Hunt was 83 years old at the time of his trek up the river.
The first settlers of this town came in 1794. The very first settlers were Dr. Japheth Hunt and his wife, two sons (ames and William), as well as his three daughters. They entered the Tioughnioga Valley from the south, in canoes, about a mile south of the present village of Marathon by way of the Tioughnioga River.
Dr. Japeth Hunt came from an area in New England, and had proudly served his country in the French and Indian war as well as the Revolutionary war as surgeon for many years before his retirement. He was undoubtedly too far advanced in life, as he was an astonishing in his mid to late nineties when he took this trip up the river, to commence a new settlement by himself. But, his children were of a fitting age and possessed a capable vitality which was ideal for them due to the laborious duties that fell upon their shoulders.
Two years later in 1796, John Hunt, the eldest son of the Doctor came and settled permanently at an adjacent plot of land of his fathers. He built a log hut in 1796 south of the present village between the river and highway. Samuel M. Hunt, John's son, was born October 30, 1798, and became the first white child born in the newly formed town. John Hunt was later appointed as the justice of the peace and held the office until his death in 1815. His widow had survived him a little more the fifty more years until her death in the middle of 1866. She died at the age of ninety-five years old. Dr. Hunt survived only a few years in his new settlement before becoming the first death in the new town, in 1798, at the ripe age of 97.
He was not the first person to settle these lands, but he was the first white settler to do so. Most areas in central New York were inhabited by various Native American Tribes.
Since his death the town has grown to be a modest rural village with a population size eclipsing nine hundred people. The current size of the village is a 1.1 square mile radius.
By: Jacob Anweiler, Brian Baloga, & Sean Kelly
History of Marathon, New York, history.rays-place.com/ny/marathon-ny.htm.
Quarterly Journal of the New York State Historical Association; Cooperstown, N.Y., etc. Vol. 7, Iss. 3, (Jul 1, 1926): 169.
Grip's Historical Souvenir of Marathon Historical series no. IX - Grip's souvenir Gazette - Bulletin Pub. Co. Fayetteville, NY
Cortland County Historical Society
Marathon , New York 13803
Created by Sean Kelly (Instructed by Evan Faulkenbury, SUNY Cortland) on November 14th 2019, 5:09:13 am.
Last updated by Cortland County Historical Society on March 25th 2020, 5:46:27 pm.


Articles in yesterday's Boston Globe and New York Times both suggest that the nation's housing market is slowly starting to rebound. Both total sales and median price for sales in both June and July when compared to a year ago show a slight increase.
Locally, evidence of a market turnaround is more elusive. Looking at sales with prices above $75,000 and below $750,000, we find the following: For Lowell, in July 2009, the median sales price was $179,000 while in July 2008 it was only $173,500. That represents an increase of 3%. In the towns, the median price in July 2009 was $305,750, but in July 2008, the median was $316,450. That represents a 3% decrease.
Besides the continuing trend of fewer foreclosures, the most important observation we can make is that homes in the towns seem to be holding their values pretty well. This conclusion is based on the significant increase in the number of suburban mortgages being recorded. In Lowell, on the other hand, the number of mortgages being recorded is down slightly, but it's down nonetheless which suggests that any rebound in home prices has not yet reached the city of Lowell.
Hi. A fellow old-home owner in Lowell referred me to your website as a good source of historical info about our house. When I do a search on the address, I only see info going back to 1990. I'm looking for info back to 1890! Does the system contain old info? I'm trying to determine the actual year the house was built. I've seen conflicting dates on various documents, from 1860, to 1880, to 1905, to even 1917!
All of the land ownership documents (deeds, mortgages, etc) going back to 1629 are available on our website (www.lowelldeeds.com) although they are in several places, depending on their age. The more recent ones are on masslandrecords.com while the older ones - before 1950 - are on www.lowelldeeds.com. Unfortunately, the name index used to find these documents only goes back to 1976 online. We have it all the way back to 1629 but that's only available here at the registry. It is in electronic form, however, and if you bring in a 16 gigabyte flash drive (also known as a "thumb drive") we will give you a copy at no charge. The files for the index are so large that we have not yet been able to get them on the internet.
More to your inquiry, records here at the registry of deeds are primarily concerned with who owns the land and not what is built upon the land, so nothing we have would tell you precisely when your home was built. The best you can do with our records is draw inferences from the various deeds and other documents. For instance, if someone bought the property for $1000 and a year later sold it for $5000, you could infer that something had been built upon it in the interim.
If you decide to come to the registry to conduct your research, we're open from 8:30 am to 4:15 pm Monday thru Friday. On whatever day you do make it to the registry, please stop by our Customer Service desk and ask for me. If I'm available, I'll show you how to use the computers; if I'm not, just ask anyone at the Customer Service desk to help you.
Sorry I can't be more helpful than that, but if you have any more questions, please let me know.
August is a popular month for vacations here at the registry, so I usually spend more time than usual working at our Customer Service Counter which gives me a valuable opportunity to assist customers who call or visit the registry of deeds. Those in the real estate related professions typically have straight forward questions, but members of the public often have more complex inquiries.
This summer, many of these calls are requests to "take a name off of a deed" or make some other change to the ownership of property. These calls make it clear that much of the public is under the impression that we here at the registry maintain some kind of master list of who owns what property and that we either cross out or write in names as ownership circumstances change. In response to these questions, we try to provide a simple explanation of the role played by deeds in land ownership. We then explain that to change ownership, a new deed must be created. That leads to the inevitable question, "can I do that myself?" That's a tough question to answer. Technically, the answer is yes, but we emphasize that real estate law is complex and that one or two words in a deed could completely change the meaning of the document. Because the asset involved - a home, typically - is worth so much money, it's reckless for anyone to put it at risk by trying their hand at deed drafting to save the cost of hiring a lawyer to do it. Some people see the wisdom of that approach and call an attorney. Others insist that they can't afford an attorney and will have to do it themselves. At that point, all we can do is suggest they visit a law library for further assistance.
For months now attorneys have been telling me that as many as two-thirds of the sales or refinancings that come through their doors are scuttled when the appraisal comes back with a lower than expected value. Recent comments, and our own statistics, suggest that this phenomenon is more often true for properties in Lowell than for those in the towns in this registry district, but it remains a system-wide obstacle to the recovery of the real estate market.
While many of the properties being valued have certainly lost considerable value, there may be more going on here. Today's New York Times carries a front-page story detailing how the appraiser's profession was upended by a new "Code of Conduct" that went into effect in May. The main feature of this code is that the lender, and not the real estate broker or the mortgage broker, selects the appraiser.
The intent of this rule was to insure the independence of the appraiser by eliminating any incentive he had to shade his valuation upward for the benefit of the broker or mortgage originator who both get paid only if the deal goes through. But with the lender making the decision, many local appraisers have been forsaken by major lenders who have turned to larger, centralized appraisal firms to do the work. The concern now is that the appraisers working for these firms are inexperienced and not locally based and are therefore less likely to accurately value the property. At least those are the concern raised by the article. Still, based on the comments of local attorneys, there is some validity to these concerns.
The New York Times reports today that foreclosures are rising in some parts of the country, not because of homeowners falling behind on their mortgages, but because they have failed to pay their real estate taxes. This situation is somewhat foreign to us here in Massachusetts where the philosophy and the practice by municipalities is to encumber the property with a lien and then to wait until the present owner sells or refinances and brings the taxes current. In other parts of the country, however, governmental entities (usually towns or counties) routinely sell tax liens to private investors who charge interest of up to 18% and aggressively foreclose on homeowners who are in arrears. These investors are quite sophisticated ("you don't get 18% return on a CD!") and have their own organization - the National Tax Lien Association - complete with a sophisticated website.
The governmental entities find the practice of selling tax liens attractive because it results in a rapid infusion of cash into the treasury. But this practice also results in more foreclosed and vacant homes which causes further deterioration of the neighborhood. It would seem that a better approach would be to work with the homeowners to find ways to make the taxes current.
We're in the midst of a study of home sales in Lowell during the month of June that we hope will provide a sense of what is going on in the real estate market. Looking at the prior sales history of the 146 properties sold in Lowell during June confirms that real estate values remain considerably lower than when they reached their peak during the 2003-2006 bubble. On the other hand, the current value of properties that last sold in 2000 remains higher than the earlier purchase price.
In 2005, 119-121 Livingston St sold for $415,000. In 2009, it sold for $180,000.
In 2005, a condo at 16 Merrimack St sold for $142,100. IN 2009, it sold for $75,000.
In 2005, 52 Kinsman St sold for $240,000. In 2009 it sold for $135,000.
In 2005, 590 Pine St sold for $305,000. In 2009, it sold for $228,000.
In 2002, a condo at 18 Hampton Ave sold for $210,000. In 2009 it sold for $168,000.
In 1998, 809 Chelmsford St sold for $128,000. In 2009, it sold for $199,000.
In 1999, 73 Magnolia St sold for $138,000. In 2009, it sold for $223,000.
In 2000, 25 Putnam Ave sold for $165,000. In 2009, it sold for $214,900.
In 2000, 250 Butman Rd sold for $230,000. In 2009, it sold for the same price.
In 1999, 16 Wetherbee Ave sold for $194,000. In 2009 it sold for $334,900.
These are just a few examples that illustrate the variability of prices during the past decade. If you bought ten years ago (and refrained from refinancing to extract increase equity during the boom), your house is probably worth considerably more than you paid for it. If, on the other hand, you bought five years ago, your house is worth less than you paid for it.
From the recording of the order of notice to the foreclosure auction: 54 days.
From the foreclosure auction to the signing of the foreclosure deed: 23 days.
From the foreclosure auction to the recording of the foreclosure deed: 66 days.
From the recording of the order of notice to the recording of the foreclosure deed: 148 days.
These numbers should provide some context when our readers look at the foreclosure statistics we publish from time to time.
At 3:53 pm today, the deed conveying Lowell's Doubletree Hotel from LHG, LLC to University of Massachusetts Building Authority was recorded in Book 23270, Page 250. The purchase price was $14,722,500. There's no mortgage. So the Doubletree era comes to an end and the UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center officially begins.
A front-page story in today's Globe says the Massachusetts economy seems to be rebounding, led by strong home sales in June. This would indeed be good news, but we haven't seen any indication of it here in the Middlesex North District. In a Lowell Sun story that appeared on Monday, I said that while the significant decline in local foreclosures is a positive indicator, there is little else to suggest optimism. Overall activity at the registry is just stagnant. The number of tax liens being recorded is up. The number of executions being recorded is up. Many of the deeds being recorded have a foreclosure in their recent past suggesting that their present sale is at a discount. Although I don't have the exact figures yet, the percentage of home sales involving previously foreclosed properties is disproportionately large. This means that other homes aren't selling as well which is probably because sellers feel obliged to keep the asking price high in order to realize enough on the sale to pay off the existing mortgage. Buyers, on the other hand, see previously foreclosed homes going at discounts and are unwilling to pay higher amounts. And even if they are, lenders are hesitant to finance it.
All we can do is continue to monitor this. Late Friday afternoon we should be able to post some comparative stats for July, so please check back then.
The Middlesex South Satellite office here in Lowell, which has been operated by the Secretary of State's Office since July 1, 2009, will remain open for the foreseeable future. Most recently, this office was to close tomorrow (July 24) to coincide with the activation of electronic recording in Cambridge on Monday, July 27, 2009. The primary reason the life of the satellite office is being extended to provide overlap with the rollout of e-recording in Cambridge. The satellite office might close once electronic recording has proven itself in Cambridge, but no final date has been established.
Is a spike in foreclosures coming?
Boston.com is reporting a June spike in "foreclosure petitions" which I believe refer to complaints file in the Land Court under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. That legal proceeding yields an Order of Notice that is eventually recorded at the registry of deeds, so filings in the Land Court would be an early indicator of the numbers of Orders of Notice we might see here in the coming months. Thus far, there has been no uptick in the number of Orders of Notices recorded. In June 2009, there were 61 and in June 2008, there were 72. May 2009 saw the exact number as June - 61. And the numbers for the first three weeks of July - 46 - are on a pace to reach 60 by month's end and are nearly identical to the 47 filed last July.
Even though our recording statistics do not show any increase in the rate of foreclosures, such an upturn would not come as a surprise. Unemployment is still high and the economy remains in tough shape. We'll keep a close watch on this situation and will promptly report any changes.
This is a small sample, so it's too early to draw any major conclusions. Still, we will continue to watch this closely.
Last week, a customer came to the registry seeking to "release a lien" she said she had placed on a condominium owned by her ex husband. Upon further review, the "lien" was an Ex Parte Order issued by a Marital Master from Rockingham County, New Hampshire. The parties were divorced in New Hampshire, but the husband owned two condominiums in Massachusetts. As part of the divorce settlement, he had agreed to sell the Massachusetts properties and distribute the proceeds equally between the parties. While this order did not explicitly encumber these properties, it was recorded at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds with marginal references made to the applicable deeds and therefore created some doubt about the state of the title to the property.
If I remember Civil Procedure and Real Property correctly from law school, a court in one state has no jurisdiction over property in another state. If that's the case, the question then becomes whether we should record an order issued by a court in another state. Even if the court lacks jurisdiction, by allowing such an order to be recorded, we essentially legitimize it, since it's unlikely that a Massachusetts lawyer representing a buyer or lender would OK a transaction with such a document hanging around on record. On the other hand, if we refuse to record it, do we run the risk that there is some exception to the general jurisdictional law that we have overlooked and thereby frustrate the legitimate actions of a court in another jurisdiction.
This month's AARP Bulletin contains an article warning homeowners to be on alert for house stealing which is described as "a fast-growing and easy scam." In this scenario, the wrong-doer creates a fraudulent deed that purports to transfer ownership from the true homeowner to the thief. Once this new deed is recorded, the bad guy either sells to some unwitting cash-paying buyer, or more likely, refinances and pockets the cash received from the new loan. Elderly homeowners are prime targets for this type of scam because many of them have already paid off their mortgages, so the granting of the new loan is not contingent upon the pay-off of an existing mortgage.
The signatures of "sellers" are forged, and paperwork is filed with the city or county recorder's office. In many states, deed recorders and those who oversee property closings are not required to authenticate the identities of buyers or sellers.
I can't imagine the registry of deeds doing more to authenticate the identities of the parties to a sale than what we do now – which is to ensure that all deeds are acknowledged by a notary or some other public official. Without the acknowledgement, the document will not be recorded but it's unrealistic to give the registry the responsibility of authenticating identities.
"From time to time, check all property records with your local deed recorder's office to ensure all documents and signatures are legitimate" (that's OK).
"Some deed-recording offices use software that alerts homeowners whenever a transfer is made on their property. If yours doesn't, ask why not." (we don't and such a system would cost a substantial amount to set up and operate yet would provide very limited protection).
A Globe article earlier this week described the apparent futility of efforts to reduce foreclosures by modifying mortgages that are already in distress. The article cites a new study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston which concludes that banks are only willing to help mortgagors who don't really need the help in the first place and avoid attempts to modify the loans of those in the most financial distress because the bank is likely to lose money on them.
The FRB study, which is available online here, also concludes that securitization does not play a major role in this hesitancy to modify mortgages. By securitization, the study refers to the theory that modifications were not occurring because investors who purchased shares of pooled mortgages were sabotaging such efforts in an attempt to maintain the high initial returns on their investments. The FRB study concludes that mortgages controlled by investors are modified at the same rate as mortgages held by banks, so the data does not support singling out the investors as the cause of the poor incidence of modification.
There is a sense left after reading the study that money from the federal government for mortgage modifications would be more effectively spent by giving it directly to the borrowers for use in making current their delinquent loans rather than giving it to financial institutions (as is now the case) who don't seem to be using the money for the purposes intended.
Last week I wrote a post about In re Giroux, a Bankruptcy Court case (District of Massachusetts) in which the judge held that a second mortgage on which the acknowledgement clause was incomplete (". . . then personally appeared ____ and acknowledged the foregoing . . .") was improperly recorded by the registry of deeds. The court held that for a document to be recordable, the acknowledgement clause had to be complete. Since then, we have come across numerous already recorded documents that suffer from this same defect. An attorney also contacted me to say he had discovered two such documents in the chain of title of a property he was examining.
I'm not really sure how we at the registry should react to this case. Our attitude, and the attitude of the Deed Indexing Standards, has been to liberally interpret that acknowledgement - if there's something there that looks like an aknowledgement by a notary public, we'll take the document. But this case suggests we must set the threshold for recording much higher; that we should closely examine the acknowledgement clause of each document and, if there are any departures from the standard wording, we should not record the document. I suspect that this is not the last time I'll be writing something about this case.
A recent decision by the United States Bankruptcy Court for Massachusetts dealt with the sufficiency of the acknowledgement of a mortgage. The case is In re Giroux, a May of 2009 decision and the alleged defect occured when the notary public failed to insert the borrower's name into the notary clause ("Then personally appeared ______________ and acknowledged the foregoing to be his free act and deed"). The court held that even though the notary signed the notary clause which was located on the same page as the borrower's signature, the absence of the borrower's name in the middle of the clause invalidated the acknowledgement. Consequently, according to the court, the registry of deeds should not have recorded the document. Since the mortgage was therefore void, the lender was left as an unsecured creditor of the bankruptcy estate.
Ironically, the court cited the Massachusetts Deed Indexing Standards as support for its holding. The intent of the Indexing Standards was to be fairly liberal about what constitutes a sufficient acknowledgement, so the holding in this decision was certainly unexpected. Over the coming days, we'll read the decision more closely, as well as the cases and statutes cited, to see whether it will alter our own standards for accepting documents for recording.
Are interest rates slowing the market?
Last week I commented on a story about the new reality of appraisals – that more and more often current valuations of properties are jeopardizing deals because the appraisal comes back for less than the agreed upon price. Now, another hindrance to the recovery of the real estate market has arisen. Mortgage interest rates have increased and are at their highest since last November. While rates are still low by historic standards, the increased amount of interest tends to increase the monthly payments to an amount high enough to disrupt deals. As fears of inflation continue to grow, it's likely that interest rates will stay high or get higher. Of course, if potential buyers adopt the view that interest rates will only rise, that might be enough motivation to jump into the market and cause an increase in sales.
A new era for appraisals?
A recent story in the Globe detailed the negative influence that appraisals are having on the real estate market. Many sales and refinancings have been scuttled when the appraisal comes back and values the property at less than the agreed sales price or the amount needed to pay off the existing mortgage. This is not necessarily a bad thing, and if it had happened more often during the irrational run up to the peak of the real estate bubble, perhaps the severity of the present economic crisis would have been averted or lessened. Nevertheless, judging the value of real estate is an art not a science, so when an property with a P&S for $225,000 has an appraisal come back at $220,000 and thereby blow up the deal, it would be understandably frustrating for all involved. A number of factors are contributing to make the business of appraising properties tougher than ever: The slow market yields few comparable sales; Many comparable sales are of properties owned by lenders who gained title through foreclosure and who heavily discount the resale price and thereby artificially drive down values of like properties. And appraisers are naturally wary of setting a current value which, in a steadily declining market, might seem overpriced in just a few months. While this new diligence in valuing property will be beneficial in the long run (assuming the cautionary impulse continues with the return of rising prices), in the short term, it certainly is contributing to the persistent slowness of the real estate market.
How long will home prices stay down?
Robert Shiller, a Yale economists, suggests that US housing prices will continue to decline for a long time. He cites the bursting of the Japanese real estate bubble in 1991 and the resulting 15 straight years of declining prices as one example. In the most recent US experience, the bursting of the real estate bubble in 1990-91, it was not until 1997 that US home prices began to rise again. Shiller says that real estate does not follow the traditional rules of economics. In that universe, when the value of an asset declines, owners of the asset tend to sell quickly which allows the bottom of the market and the subsequent rebound to occur in relatively short order. Real estate doesn't follow this curve for a couple of reasons. Most folks don't own homes as speculative investments, so it's an easy jump from home owner to home renter. That kind of switch brings massive lifestyle changes and occurs not for investment reasons, but usually as a result of severe economic stress. Consequently, most people who contemplate selling their home also plan to buy a replacement - they're not "getting out of the market" like someone who was dumping all of their stock, for example. While a declining market favors home buyers, the home buyer is also a home seller and is thereby punished by that same market. This combination results on a type of paralysis that makes the effects of a declining market linger.


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home > worldwide public holidays > news and updates > uae (united arab emirates) > this page
UAE 2016 Eid Al Adha Public Holidays
Source: Emirates News Agency (WAM)
Posted: Sunday, September 4, 2016
Updated: Monday, January 8, 2018
The UAE Federal Government, through its respective ministries, has announced the dates of the annual upcoming 2016 Eid Al Adha (Feast of Sacrifice) non-working public holidays, as usual in separate announcements for the public sector and the private sector of the UAE.
The UAE's Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources, has announced that the upcoming Eid Al Adha public holidays in ministries and federal institutions would run from Sunday, September 11, until Saturday, September 17, 2016, inclusively.
In a separate announcement, Saqr Ghobash Saeed Ghobash, the UAE's Minister of Labour, officially announced that all business establishments in the private sector would observe non-working public holidays from run from Sunday, September 11, until Tuesday, September 13, 2016, inclusively.
The aforementioned announcements of the dates of the upcoming Eid al-Adha annual non-working public holidays in the UAE, is a day later than the dates set out in last year's (2015-12-26) announcement by the government of the UAE of its official list of the annual non-working public holidays in the UAE for the calendar year 2016, and is most likely due to Friday night's repeat surprise announcement of a change in the date of the upcoming Eid al Adha by Saudi Arabia (2015-09-14).
Below are links to the news stories referred to in the above "UAE 2016 Eid Al Adha Public Holidays" news story, as well as links to subsequents news stories which refer to the present news story.
Information about the author of this news post and how to contact him.
UAE (United Arab Emirates) public holidays news and updates
Worldwide public holidays news updates (September 2016)
UAE (United Arab Emirates) public holidays for 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
2018-01-08: UAE 2018 Public Holidays Announced
2015-09-14: Maldives Cuts 2015 Eid al-Adha Public Holidays


RRCCR Mumbai (Railway Recruitment Cell Central Railway) Mumbai Published Job Notification for 21 Sportsperson Posts. Candidates who wish to apply must look at RRCCR Mumbai Sportsperson Recruitment 2018. Eligible candidates can apply Online before 20-02-2018.
1) Minimum Graduation in any faculty from a recognized University.
2) Minimum HSC / Intemediate / Equivalent from a recognized Board, Affilliated to COBSE / India or any other recognized Board.
Starting Date, Last Date to Apply Online at Railway Recruitment Cell Central Railway which candidates should be remembers as follows.
Last Date to Apply Online: 20-02-2018.


Why Should I Use the minFraud Service's 'riskScore' Instead of 'score'?
The 'riskScore' is the most actionable piece of data returned by MaxMind's minFraud service. The 'riskScore' simplifies the accept/reject/review decision for online orders, helping merchants to prevent fraud and reduce time spent on manual review. This blog post will explain why minFraud service users should use the 'riskScore' instead of the 'score' to catch fraud.
Prior to February 2007, before the 'riskScore' was introduced, the only risk estimation element the minFraud service returned was the 'score' value. The 'score' ranges from 0-10 and is calculated by a static risk model formula that uses previously observed risk factors. This return value is deprecated and the risk model behind it is no longer updated.
This entry was posted in Online Fraud Prevention and tagged minFraud, riskScore, score on June 4, 2013 by maxmind.


The killing of Kashmiri militant Burhan Wani on July 8 by the security forces has once again set the cauldron of Kashmir on fire. All the gains made in Kashmir after the assembly elections last year and subsequent government formation have been completely frittered away. What more, Prime Minister Modi and Nawaz Sharif's meet in Delhi on May 27 to improve bilateral relations is a dead letter now, especially after recent sabre rattling against Pakistan. What can surely improve the situation in Kashmir is partial revoking of the AFSPA from urban centres and keeping it alive on the areas close to the Line of Control (LoC) and northern areas bordering China.
The Act was imposed in Kashmir in July 1990 after full blown eruption of militancy in the valley. Twenty six years of the Act in force has come at a very high cost, both to the Indian forces as well as people of Kashmir. An Amnesty International report last year detailed that AFSPA has claimed more than 43,000 lives, about half of them being militants. Slightly less than one third of total killed were civilians and the rest being security personnel. The record of prosecutions of security personnel is abysmally low against allegations of abuse and torture. No one denies that the security forces are doing a yeoman's sacrifice. But, there is no suppressing the fact that they have been operating under near impunity which is one of the factors for festering insurgency.
There is no need to reinvent the wheel while debating about repeal of the act. The question "how to do it" can be answered by first repealing the act from major urban centres and hinterland of Kashmir. Omar Abdullah, the then Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir had precisely suggested this in 2013. To assuage the concerns of the security forces, they can be made to operate under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) 2008 with adequate safeguards.
The situation now has got caught in a vortex of political conundrums. The politicians claim that it is the army who is objecting to the repeal of AFSPA. The army, on its part claims that the situation is not ripe to repeal the Act. But when the situation was ripe in 2010, what was it that prevented the army from acceding? Simply raising the fear of Pakistan in the minds of politicians naturally propels them to persist with the status quo.
Wajahat Habibullah, a retired bureaucrat articulated this very clearly when he stated that there no need for the army in civilian areas of Kashmir. The AFSPA can continue in areas on the LoC with Pakistan and to counteract the menacing presence of the Chinese army on the northern areas of Kashmir. There is no need for the army to be in the civilian areas in Kashmir. It is time that political will gets asserted unequivocally. Even if the army and defence ministry is overruled, this will be a game of brinksmanship to get a political consensus by the ruling party—not only from within, but even across the spectrum. Prime Minister Modi's acid test will be to retrieve the present situation which is on the verge of disaster. It is an extraordinarily tough call. But extraordinary situations demand completely 'out of the box' solutions. In all probability, the prime minister would like to be remembered as the statesman who solved Kashmir.
Featured Image – Indian Soldiers in Kashmir by Barry Pousman licensed from creative commons.


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Q: How to scrape multiple websites using Rcrawler in R? I've noticed we don't have many questions here about Rcrawler, and I thought it's a great tool to scrape website. However, I have a problem telling it to scrape multiple websites as it can only do 3 currently. Please let me know if anyone has experience with this issue. Thanks.
I've tried putting all URLs in a list/vector, but it still doesn't do it. Here are my scraping codes to get the title, description, and keywords of the websites.
Rcrawler(Website = c("http://www.amazon.com", "www.yahoo.com", "www.wsj.com"),
 no_cores = 3, no_conn = 3, MaxDepth = 0,
ExtractXpathPat = c('/html/head/title', '//meta[@name="description"]/@content', '//meta[@name="keywords"]/@content'),
 PatternsName = c("Title", "Description", "Keywords"), saveOnDisk = FALSE)

If I have more than 3 websites, it will give me this error:
Error in Rcrawler(Website = c("http://www.amazon.com", "www.yahoo.com",  :
  object 'getNewM' not found

A: Something like this.
library(tidyverse)
library(rvest)

# Create vector
mylist <- c("http://www.amazon.com", "http://www.yahoo.com", "http://www.wsj.com")
# Create the for statement
for (i in mylist)
{
  #print(i)
  webpage <- read_html(i)
  print(webpage)

}

Or, load each page into a list and parse the list.  Finally, you may consider saving your results to a CSV.  You should know, scraping lots of different web pages will almost certainly product very different results.  I can certainy understand why a person would want to loop through different URLs of the same site, but I'm not sure what you will gain by looping through different URLs of different sites.

A: I'm not sure how this would work in theory, but you can try creating many calls to R crawler.
For example in a while loop:
a <- list()

Rcrawler_function <- function(no_conn,no_cores,MaxDepth ,Obeyrobots,saveOnDisk,ExtractXpath)
{
  x <- 1
  while(x < 5)
  {
    tryCatch( expr = {

  Rcrawler(ads_txt_4_cat$gen_link[x],no_conn = no_conn,no_cores = no_cores,MaxDepth = MaxDepth,Obeyrobots = Obeyrobots,saveOnDisk = saveOnDisk,ExtractXpathPat = ExtractXpath)
   assign("DATA",DATA,envir = globalenv())
     a[[x]] <<- DATA
    x = x+1

    }
  , error=function(e){cat("ERROR :",conditionMessage(e), "\n")})
  }
}

Rcrawler_function(4,4,0,T,F,"body")


My name is Karen. I am opening a day home in September. I am mom of 1 gorgeous girl who will shortly be turning four.
My daughter will be attending Pre-school in Beddington this Fall so I am able to provide transportation for children within that area.
Please feel free to call or e-mail me to talk more.
Must love pets we have a beautiful dog that is loveable and very playful.


It's Lunchtime–Do You Know Where Your Prix Fixe Buys Are?
(Source: dailymail.co.uk) but I'm talking enjoying a regular sit down restaurant meal. While this wasn't always feasible when you were working–although our ground-breaking friends always made time in their work week for one lunch out–it's one of the perks of being retired.
This doesn't mean you can never eat dinner out again, but rather that you go to those special places you have dreamed about at lunch time.
(Source: money.cnn.com) Boulud Sud and Aquavit. To get an alert for the next Restaurant Week, go to http://www.nycgo.com/restaurantweek/ and sign up. As you would expect, some of the hottest restaurants fill up first, so be ready. Many have a special menu for the week, and some foodies turn their nose up at what they think are watered-down Restaurant Week menus but we have always gotten good meals.
Aside from Restaurant Week, lunch is always cheaper than dinner and even at the top places, you can get a two or three-course prix fixe meal for a reasonable price at lunchtime.
The 27-rated Estiatorio Milos fabulous three course prix fixe Greek menu for $25.
and the 24-rated Philippe three-course prix fixe Chinese menu for $24.
So plan a date and go for a great meal during the daylight hours: reservations are easier to get, the restaurants are less crowded and except for the power lunch group, dress is more casual. You will also have plenty of time to digest your meal. Enjoy!


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Home / Resources / A Plastics Dichotomy – Durables Versus...
A Plastics Dichotomy – Durables Versus Single Use
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Love-hate Relationships
Most people love plastics. Most people hate plastics. Similarly, most people love nature (sunsets, the beach, walks or drives through the woods, especially for leaf peeping, flowers, furry animals, etc.), but also hate nature (hurricanes, tornados, jellyfish, biting insects, spiders, snakes, skunks, ragweed, fallen leaves to clean up, etc.). It depends on which plastics and which experience of nature we are talking about.
As it turns out, the plastics that increasing numbers of people and the institutions of society hate are the single use, disposable, hard to recycle types, especially if they tend to foul the ocean and waterways. According to Shelton Group research, American consumers care about the problem of plastic waste more than ever – in fact, even more than climate change, in their polling of 1,000 Americans on environmental issues, and "plastics in the ocean" ranked as their top concern. Over the past two decades of environmental concern and activism, no other topic has been driven from almost obscurity to priority number one on a global scale so fast.
Durables versus Single Use
Durable items are those that are in use for a long time, even years, mostly are rigid, have substantial weight per item, generally are not littered, are typically of more expensive performance polymers (polyamides, polyesters, polycarbonate, etc.) and have high potential for recycling, including via manufacturer or retailer take-back. Single use plastics are dominated by blown and extruded film, often with relatively low performance indexes, such as polyolefins, but also polyesters, polystyrene, and PVC, with lower potential for recycling.
Rigid Single Use
Astride the dichotomy between rigid durables and film disposables are rigid single-use packages (bottles, jars, boxes, trays, etc.) like those used for retail beverages and food, personal care products, and household chemicals. PET and HDPE, with high potential for recycling, lead in this area. In fact, these are the two most recycled plastics, globally, both to original use and to other durable and disposable uses.
Optimizing Packaging
Most people do not realize that it's not evil intent or even thoughtlessness behind the vast amount of plastics used in food and beverage packaging and handling. In most cases the aim is to optimize costs (and even carbon footprints) in considering spoilage, hygiene, logistics, refrigeration, and theft. These savings benefit the brand owner, retailer, society at large, and of course, the consumer. As much as 40 percent of the food that starts out at farms on its way to consumers never gets eaten due to spoilage and other losses. Without plastics packaging, much more would be lost. With many products, there is the option of packaging in a plastic bottle or can, or alternately in a plastic film bag or pod. The former could be recyclable, but the latter is almost never practically so. Thus, these end up as "mixed plastic waste", whether placed in curbside or public recycling containers or are just part of the general garbage stream.
Thermal and Chemical Recycling
The typical approach to re-use post-consumer plastics is to sort mainly rigid containers, make chips of them, clean them of other plastics and chemical contaminants, and make new products in extrusion processes. But other solutions are available, primarily:
Pyrolyzing (heat in the absence of oxygen) streams of mixed waste plastics to reuse the smaller molecules derived as fuels or chemicals
Gasifying streams of mixed waste plastics to produce syngas to process into fuels or chemicals
Chemically depolymerizing separated streams of relatively valuable polymers such as polyesters or polyamides to recover, purify, and re-use the monomers to make new products
The pyrolysis and gasification approaches are particularly relevant to "mixed plastic waste", materials including much of the film in garbage, that are not PET (coded 1) or HDPE (coded 2), but the net of these not recovered, plus those coded 3 through 7, which are usually sent to landfill or incineration. Several US states have recently legislated in favor of these approaches. Alternatively, this mixed stream can be incorporated, together with certain amounts of paper and metal foils from multi-layer packaging into plastic lumber, pavers, and other construction materials where their weather-exposed surface area risking degradation to microplastics will be reduced by orders of magnitude.
PET – A Case Study
The modern PET soda bottle is a case study of packaging optimization and polymer recycling. Most baby boomers will remember when soda came in glass bottles, as most beer still does. Reusable glass soda bottles, which were of diverse designs, and originally made by labor-intensive rather than mass production means, worked well in an age when labor was much cheaper and sodas were mainly sold in restaurants. The bottles were commonly collected and returned by the business, usually with a credit from the distributer/bottler. This also worked well somewhat later when sodas were sold by small stores, until the advent of supermarkets in the 1950s in the US (and much later elsewhere in the world). Eventually, consumption increased, and increasing fractions of the bottles were discarded in the garbage or by littering. In response, several major states in the US passed container deposit laws applied to beer and carbonated soft drinks in bottles or cans. No one saw coming the phenomenon of personally carried bottled still water, which was to make the situation of litter dramatically worse.
These and other market trends, including 2-liter bottles, led the soda bottlers to seek plastic-based bottling solutions, which had them consider acrylics and a type of polyester, PET, already being used widely for textiles by the 1950s. PET won out because it is clear and has good barrier properties towards moisture, carbonation, and oxygen. A vast global industrial complex arose globally, leveraging the larger polyester textile industry, to make the monomers MEG and PTA for PET bottles.
The Preform System
The preform system for bottle production and logistics optimization also made PET bottles far superior to glass bottles in terms of carbon footprint and distribution costs. In this, the complex feature of the bottle screw top, and the difficult, hygroscopic nature of PET (needing careful moisture control) are handled in a centralized high-tech operation of injection molding, in multiple-cavity platens, bottle "preforms" that resemble test tubes. These can be shipped in boxes that each hold thousands of preforms to bottling plants, where, in relatively low-tech operation, they are racked up on conveyors and passed through furnaces ("lehrs") where the PET tube softens and a bottle can be automatically blown into a mold, tested, and filled with beverage. It is clear that this central production of preforms and the distributed production and filling of bottles is superior to possible alternatives and to the provision of glass bottles.
Shown below is a PET preform injection molding machine, preforms in a box, and a bottle blowing machine.
From the outset of PET bottle manufacture, means to recycle the bottles and recover clean resin were sought. Recycling the resin into new bottles or other food or beverage packaging has always been challenging due to contamination, loss of clarity, etc. However, recycling this valuable resin into other, mostly technical and durable uses has been quite feasible. Over 2 billion pounds a year of PET are typically recycled. This "RPET" is used to make a variety of new end products such as:
Polyester carpet fiber
Fabric for T-shirts
Luggage, upholstery
Fiberfill for sleeping bags and winter coats
Freight and package strapping and belting
Vehicle under-hood components
Bulk freight totes
Many small and medium businesses are involved in the value chains for these products. Nonetheless, in the religion of the Circular Economy of Plastics, there appears to be a distain for such RPET secondary use. Is this simply a case of Voltaire's "Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien" (the better is the enemy of the good), or is there truly greater value in recycling to the original use? Likely, the "better" will always be more expensive than the "good", both in money and in entropy (mess made in doing so), but diverting PET bottles from litter and from landfill or incineration is a goal that is increasingly valuable to society.
PET Chemical Recycling
Technologies are emerging that will allow PET found in a wide range of post-consumer items – contaminated recycled bottles, other packaging, and even in cotton-poly textiles – to be recycled into food and beverage-contact uses. This will be done by depolymerizing PET, typically by applying heat, glycol, and refining steps to produce the original monomers or other small molecules that can be re-polymerized to bottle-grade PET. Brand owners are seeking to support leaders in these developmental efforts, world-wide.
The Role of Biopolymers
Two types of biopolymers are relevant to this discussion – 1) drop-in (fungible) identical substitutes for fossil-based polymers (such as PET), wherein the monomers are made from plant sources, and 2) entirely different polymers (such as PLA and PHA – both polyesters by the way). None of these solve the problem of litter that so captures public attention now. Both types reduce the carbon footprint of polymer production. Drop-ins are completely compatible with existing manufacturing, in which trillions of dollars are invested globally, and most importantly, will allow maintaining and expanding existing recycling systems. PLA and PHA, and even the competing bio-based polyester bottle resin PPE, have the potential to severely disrupt recycling systems. So far, biopolymers have achieved very limited market share. For durables and specialty applications, rigid or film, the generic drawbacks of biopolymers stated here might not be so relevant. The use of either in film packaging is also relatively low risk, primarily because film recycling has been so infeasible.
Relevant Nexant Reports
Nexant did a comprehensive report on thermal and chemical recycling, including PET chemical recycling, titled TECH: Plastics to Fuels and Chemicals in 2017. This report provides an overview of plastics to fuels and plastics to chemicals technologies that are used to convert so-called non-recyclable plastics into value-added products. Many of the technology providers and operators are profiled. Cost of production estimates for some processes were developed for the United States. The effect of oil price on process economics is explored. This is to be updated and supplemented later in 2019 by TECH: Recycling of Mixed Plastics Waste. Also available is a Special Report, Plastics Recycling: Impact on the Polymers Industry in Western Europe and the United States (December 2018), which analyzes the impact of the recycling of plastics on virgin plastics demand in Western Europe and the United States. It also provides insight into the recycling value chain, including an overview of the industry structure, key players and acquisitions. Recent changes in legislation, including China, are also highlighted in the report.
To better flesh out some of the themes of this blog is Nexant's Special Report: Sorting through Plastic Waste – Is Chemical Recycling a Solution? This report, published in October 2019, provides a screening of selected chemical recycling technologies that target the largest/most difficult plastics waste streams.
Ronald Cascone – Principal, Nexant
For general enquires click here
Ronald F. Cascone


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Former Phanatic, Who Helped Create Gritty, Opens Mascot Hall Of Fame The first Mascot Hall of Fame opened recently in Whiting, Indiana. NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with Dave Raymond, the founder and a former mascot himself.
Former Phanatic, Who Helped Create Gritty, Opens Mascot Hall Of Fame
Former Phanatic, Who Helped Create Gritty, Opens Mascot Hall Of Fame 3:47
December 30, 20187:58 AM ET
Heard on Weekend Edition Sunday
The first Mascot Hall of Fame opened recently in Whiting, Indiana. NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with Dave Raymond, the founder and a former mascot himself.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Googly-eyed, furry, orange and terrifying - when the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team introduced its new mascot Gritty this year, it became an Internet sensation. Now there's a new museum in Whiting, Ind. It opened last week, dedicated to honoring the hard-working mascots of college and professional sports teams - a Mascot Hall of Fame.
The man who connects these two things is Dave Raymond. He helped create Gritty and co-founded the museum after a long career as the original Philadelphia Phillies mascot, the Phanatic. And he joins me now.
FADEL: My pleasure.
DAVE RAYMOND: This has been a project of yours for a long time. You started this as a website in 2005. Now it's a physical museum. What does this mean to you?
RAYMOND: Well, about five years ago, I got a call from the city of Whiting, Ind., that said, hey. How about we help you build a bricks-and-mortar hall of fame? And I actually thought - (laughter) I thought I was getting pranked by part of my organization, somebody...
FADEL: (Laughter).
RAYMOND: ...Calling me from another phone. And so I asked a few questions. And lo and behold, a trip out to Whiting and meeting the mayor started the whole thing. So, you know, to say it's a dream come true is almost underselling it, you know, for me, personally, and, I think, for the people who really love mascots and have, you know, built their career doing it.
FADEL: You were a mascot for a long time being Phanatic. What are some of the more bizarre moments or your most bizarre memory playing that character?
RAYMOND: There were many. I mean, I performed at a funeral for an 89-year-old Irishman who wanted his wake to be fun. And he was a...
FADEL: Wow.
RAYMOND: ...Big Phillies fan. And I - coming into that environment in the beginning in costume, I wasn't too sure how it would work out. But everybody cheered and slapped the Phanatic on his back in the Supreme Court justices' private chambers, when Justice Alito was brought on the bench because he was from Trenton. This was at the Supreme Court. Oh, yeah, in their private chambers...
RAYMOND: ...At dinner, so there was a lot of security (laughter).
FADEL: You know, you were one of the creators behind Gritty. Were you expecting the reaction that came...
RAYMOND: (Laughter).
FADEL: ..With Gritty (laughter)?
RAYMOND: Well, I'll tell you what we were expecting, which is part of my preamble when I sat down with the Flyers for the very first time. And that was, hey, you guys recognize we're going to get killed - right? - from the standpoint of social media and negative feedback. And sure enough, in the first 24 hours, they received it. But they actually celebrated it (laughter) by sharing, probably, the meanest tweets...
FADEL: Right (laughter).
RAYMOND: ...Or the funniest tweets.
FADEL: Do you have a favorite meme or Gritty punchline?
RAYMOND: (Laughter) Well, my favorite was that fake ad for making sure that you're following safe sex because it said, after all, if you look at Gritty, you see that he is the love child of the abominable snowman and Yukon Cornelius from "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" animations. So (laughter) that was pretty creative and very funny.
FADEL: So we've talked about mascots being loved and adored, but they can sometimes be controversial and seen as polarizing or possibly prejudiced, depending on what they're depicting. Can you react to that a little bit?
RAYMOND: So what I would say is it's all about, you know, trying to do your best to be away from any of those lines, so neutral gender, fantasy character that doesn't have a representation of an animal. And I've been asked this question a number of times throughout my career. And it's just, like - it's just - to say it's counterproductive is not even reaching the level of what a mistake it would be to either honor or create a character that does those things.
FADEL: Dave Raymond, the original Philadelphia Phanatic and creator of the Mascot Hall of Fame. Thank you so much.
RAYMOND: Thanks.


This page lists more detailed information about the hex color code #ffd67b(also known as salomie color). In a RGB color space, hex #ffd67b is composed of 255(100%) red, 214(83.92%) green and 123(48.24%) blue. Its decimal value is 16766587. In a CMYK color space, it is consist of 0% cyan, 16.08% magenta, 51.76% yellow and 0% black. It has a hue angle of 41.36 degrees, a saturation of 100% and a lightness of 74.12%.
Color #ffd67b contains mostly Yellow color, is a warm color and closest websafe color is #ffcc66. #ffd67b color hex could be obtained by blending #fffff6 with #ffad00. Other more detailed information such as description, conversion, analysis, schemes, shades & tines, tones, alternatives, preview in css/html and background images of this color, please browses the following content.
#ffd67b color description : very light orange-yellow/very light amber.
A shade is achieved by adding black to any pure hue, while a tint is created by mixing white to any pure color. In this example, #050400 is the darkest color, while #fffbf1 is the lightest one.
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Last week he scored what could well be the goal of the year, but Brendon Santalab has already put that highlight behind him and is now focused on helping Sydney FC continue its unbeaten start to the season.
Last week he scored what could well be the goal of the year, but Brendon Santalab has already put that highlight behind him and is now focused on helping Sydney FC continue its unbeaten start to the season when the side travels to New Zealand this weekend.
Based on the evidence of his strike last Saturday against Adelaide United you could be forgiven for assuming the young attacker is a man in a hurry, but Santalab is ready to bide his time after recently returning from a quadricep strain.
With coach, John Kosmina all but certain to stick with the same starting line-up that-s been bringing Sydney success, Santalab will likely take his place on the bench come Sunday, but the Wollongong product is confident he can fight his way into the first eleven.
Sydney will start as clear favourites against the Phoenix on Sunday afternoon.
The Hyundai A-League match kicks off in Wellington at 2pm Australian time.


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Canadian HC calls on Thamilchelvan
[TamilNet, Thursday, 30 May 2002, 05:01 GMT]
The High Commissioner of Canada in Sri Lanka, Ms. Ruth Archibald, had discussions with Mr. S. P Thamilchelvan on the current state of the island's peace process at the headquarters of the political division of the Liberation Tigers in Kilinochchi Wednesday, according to the Voice of Tigers broadcast from the Vanni. The Canadian High Commissioner conferred with Mr. Thamilchelvan also about development priorities in the war ravaged northern region, the radio said.
(LTTE photo)
Health work in the Vanni by ICRC and the Medicins Sans Frontiers (MSF) with assistance provided by the Canadian Red Cross Society was reviewed by Mr.Thamilchelvan and Ms. Ruth Archibald during the talks from 10 a.m. to 12 noon Wednesday, according to the radio.
Mr. Thamilchelvan was assisted in the discussion by Mr. George and Mr. Tholkaappiyan, officials of the LTTE's political division.
The Canadian HC visited the headquarters of the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) in the Kilinochchi town after the meeting and had discussions with officials there, the VOT said. The TRO is the main rehabilitation and development NGO in the Vanni.


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Warren Plans End Of Oil And Gas Leasing On Public Lands
by Michael Sandoval	April 19, 2019
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) launched a public lands debate this week after unveiling her plan to prohibit drilling for new oil and gas development on federal lands both onshore and offshore in order to "end our public lands' contribution to climate change."
"I want to make you a promise—that is, on the first day of a Warren administration—on the first day, I will sign a moratorium that our public lands there will be no more new drilling or mining," Warren said in Aurora, Colo. Tuesday evening.
On Monday, Warren announced her plans for public lands on Medium, outlining her goals on eliminating natural resource development on public lands, expanding renewable electricity generation on public lands, and restore two national monuments in Utah to their Obama-era boundaries.
"It is wrong to prioritize corporate profits over the health and safety of our local communities. That's why on my first day as president, I will sign an executive order that says no more drilling — a total moratorium on all new fossil fuel leases, including for drilling offshore and on public lands (emphasis in original)," Warren wrote.
Warren also added she would reverse other Trump administration policies.
"I'd also reinstate the methane pollution rule to limit existing oil and gas projects from releasing harmful gases that poison our air, and reinstitute the clean water rule to protect our lakes, rivers, and streams, and the drinking water they provide," she added.
Western Wire
As for renewables, Warren would use public lands not only for siting but to push through projects as a way of reducing further use of fossil fuels.
"As President, I will set a goal of providing 10% of our overall electricity generation from renewable sources offshore or on public lands. (emphasis in original) That's nearly ten times what we are currently generating. We can achieve this goal while prioritizing sites with low impact on local ecology but high potential for renewable energy generation. My administration will make it a priority to expedite leases and incentivize development in existing designated areas, and share royalties from renewable generation with states and local communities to help promote economic development and reduce local dependence on fossil fuel revenues," Warren wrote.
At a separate event earlier Tuesday, Warren suggested opening more public lands for recreation in a "sustainable manner." That includes concessions for the sale of food in order to boost local economies, the AP reporter Nick Riccardi tweeted.
Despite her plan for public lands, other Democrats were less enthusiastic. Former U.S. Sen. Mike Gravel of Alaska promised "release a public lands plan that will make Elizabeth Warren look like Ryan Zinke," his campaign manager told E&ENews.
But whether Warren or any other presidential candidate could implement a halt on drilling without conflicting with federally mandated quarterly lease sales would likely trigger questions about legality and a raft of lawsuits.
In Western states like New Mexico, the end of quarterly lease sales would threaten a revenue stream that drove more than a billion dollars to education alone in 2018, endangering progress for a state that has only recently seen dramatic improvements in many educational benchmarks due to increased revenues and investments thanks to oil and gas development in the state.


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Reflections on Elections... by Banky W
Singer Banky W writes an interesting piece on the 2015 presidential elections which he shared on his blog. Read below...
The morning after..
It has been quite an interesting time in our Nation's History. Exhilarating for some, disappointing for others... but interesting nonetheless. The announcement of the 2015 Election results has dominated every news medium, traditional and social media platform in the last few days. Alongside most Nigerians worldwide, I was glued to my television throughout the process as INEC members slowly read out each result from each state, and then as the Chairman Mr Jega gave the final results and declared the winner.
Now that the dust has settled a little, it's time to share some of my random thoughts on what has just happened, and celebrate/highlight some of the key factors.
Here's to the President-elect, General Muhammudu Buhari. Congratulations Sir on your victory. Yours is a lesson of perseverance. After contesting and failing in 2003, 2007 and 2011, some would have understandably thrown in the towel on this particular goal. But it's never failure until you give up, give in and quit trying. There's a lesson for all of us in this. When you get knocked down, you get back up, dust yourself off, re-strategize, and try again. That's precisely what he did, and now he's the President-Elect. He's got a tough job ahead of him...the economy is coming upon harsh times; oil prices have crashed and foreign reserves have been depleted. The Unemployment rate and poverty index in Nigeria is at an all time high. General Buhari's administration have their work cut-out for them, and here's hoping they hit the ground running. It's time to cut the excesses of times past... time to focus on what's truly important to the Nigerian people, and make significant strides in the right direction. Everything needs improvement. Security, Employment, Power, Education... you name it. Change is what we voted for, and change they must deliver.
Here's to President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. Many of us have been vocal critics of the present administration over the past couple of years... but you've left a legacy of conducting/overseeing/allowing two free & fair elections to hold in Nigeria. That's more than any other President can say in our Nation's history. You've also been gracious in defeat, and your move to quickly congratulate the opposition has probably helped ease the atmosphere in these tense times. That these elections have been MOSTLY violence-free, is no small feat. Your position, that neither you nor any politician's ambition, is worth the blood of any Nigerian, is noble, applaudable, and appreciated. If you're going to go out, this is the way to do it.. with your head held high and your dignity intact.
Here's to Chairman of INEC, Professor Attahiru Muhammudu Jega. You've overseen such an intricate, tense, political process and come out mostly spotless. In recent times your job has probably been the most powerful and the most stressful in Nigeria, and yet you handled your affairs as cool as the other side of the pillow. Never once losing your temper, never once succumbing to pressure or drama, never once letting people see you sweat. Your attitude, manner, and competence in dealing with highly sensitive tasks and times, is one that is exemplary to all Nigerians. This is how to become a living legend. Our hope, however, is that INEC will improve upon this exercise and learn some very necessary lessons. The process to collate, calculate and announce results took entirely too long. It's 2015... we can't at this point, be that adverse to the use of excel sheets and calculators. Too much time passed between when votes were cast and when the results were announced that could be interpreted as an avenue for rigging to occur. The situation and allegations in States such as Rivers, and some areas in the North and East, should also be looked into for the purpose of eliminating any areas of malpractice in the future.
Here's to the young people that were actively involved in the political process this time around. It was encouraging to see more of us participate. For instance, one of the parties used peers of mine like Adebola Williams and Chude Jideonwo (and their media platforms) to handle their PR and campaign activities with great success; while other parties used spokespeople who some say may have done more harm than good. Sites like LindaIkeji's blog, Bella Naija, and YNaija, were just as, if not more important to candidates and voters, than traditional newspapers and media. This shows the innate tremendous power and influence that young people and our platforms have. Don't be surprised when you see some of these young people being appointed in strategic powerful positions in the near future.
Here's to the Nigerian People. This 2015 Election marks the first time in our history, that an incumbent President has been voted out of power. That in and of itself is a mark of a true democracy, and a sign that power still belongs to the people. My hope is that this will serve notice to the incoming administration at the Federal, State and Local levels. Gone are the days when our leaders can do whatever they like, and expect to remain in power with little to no backlash. Gone are the days when no matter how bad your actions are, or how bad a state we find ourselves in, we just say "it's Naija" and "God dey". The time has come where we must now hold our leaders accountable for the offices we have elected them into, and this election was the first step in that direction. We must pay attention... we must care. Not just about the office of the President, but the Governors, Senators, House of Reps, and Local Government positions. This is the only way we will see Nigeria truly change for the better. If we the people, just... care, again. Now is the time to keep track of campaign promises that were made, and see if they're delivered on. The reason Nigeria keeps recycling the same problems and issues with no end insight, decade after decade, is because of failed leadership and citizen apathy. Our leaders were corrupt and we just didn't care. Let's hope that change, indeed, has come.
To those of us that voted, whether your candidate won or lost, thank you for playing a very significant and important role in our Nation's Democracy and History. Thank you for letting your voice be heard. Thank you for braving the inconvenient, tense, and sometimes harsh, conditions to make sure you voted and that those votes were counted. We laughed together and we fought; we stood in line together under the burning sun, then the rain, then the sun again; we discussed and we argued... but we voted.
Nigeria has a current population of about 182+ Million people; only 29+ million of which voted in the recent elections. The winner of the elections had 15+ million votes. That means, only 8% of our population chose the direction of our country for the next 4 years. That's not good enough. I was watching the elections coverage, and it was sad to see that state by state, the eligible, registered voter turnout was less than 50%. That's not good enough. Some people will say that we voted along tribal lines; I say that most young people, who do not have the tribal prejudices that older generations have, simply didn't show up. Time and again, I'd be among groups of young people and ask who has picked up their PVC. 9 times out of 10, I'd be the only one. We have to do better. We seem to be content with tweeting, and instagram-ing, and arguing and pointing fingers... but when it comes to the most basic of our civic responsibilities... when it comes to actually playing a part in bringing about a better Nigeria that we all seek, we're nowhere to be found. Social Media activism is simply not enough.
Some young people tried, but were frustrated by the inefficiencies in the PVC collection process. My heart goes out to you if you truly tried, but for some reason couldn't get your card. Others were just "too busy" to go through what was required. To these ones, I say this: We saw pictures of Billionaires such as Aliko Dangote and Wale Tinubu voting. You are not busier than Dangote. If these ones could put their affairs on hold to register and vote, then clearly, we all need to get our priorities straight.
Some may say that elections here are rigged... well, you make it incredibly easy for someone to rig elections by not showing up. All the unused ballot papers can very easily be stamped for whoever they feel like. It becomes increasingly hard to rig when we show up en-masse. I pray, and work towards the day, when all the young people who are eligible, actually care enough to get up, go out and register to vote... and in that day, when we all actually do vote, we will truly be in charge of our Nation's destiny. We'll see a Nigeria that has a chance to cast away the burdens, problems and prejudices of times past, and finally live up to our potential.
- Banky Wellington


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When you book a repair service with us, we keep the information you provide on file, such as your name, address, email address and telephone number or numbers so that we can carry out our service of collection/return and repair or contact you at any time during the process. This information is also necessary for invoicing and payment. For jobs involving site visits, or phone calls with engineers, the information required to locate and contact you are also held securely protected in an electronic diary.
Voicemail messages from you are kept as required but are routinely deleted.
Emails from you are also kept while necessary to do the work, but then are deleted unless there is a legal requirement to keep it.
What we DO NOT collect.
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We list here the way we may use your personal information and why.
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to understand and analyse the usage trends and preferences of our customers to improve our services.
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Our Engineers who visit you or make repairs to your devices/networks.
Third party service providers offering specialist skills/equipment not held within our company, at your request.
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In addition, your data may be seen, but not analysed by, service providers who meet GDPR, that we have chosen and require to meet our legal business commitments.
We keep your data while you have an account with us and sometimes longer if there is a legal requirement.
Contact details, account and payment history are retained for 6 years.
Under GDPR you have rights related to how we protect and look after your personal information.
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The rights set out above may apply in limited circumstances, and we may not always be able to comply with your request to exercise these rights. We will always try to respond to a request to exercise your rights within 1 month.
If you have any questions or are unhappy with the way we handle your personal information, please contact us at the address below. We will try to address your concerns.
This privacy notice will be under regular review as part of our ongoing commitment to protect the data and privacy of our customers.
This Privacy Notice was updated 25th May 2018.