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Home > News & blogs » ATP Media and Gearhouse Broadcast test 1080p50 HDR Technology at the Next Gen ATP Finals
ATP Media and Gearhouse Broadcast test 1080p50 HDR Technology at the Next Gen ATP Finals
Written by: Ed Tischler
ATP Media, the broadcast arm of the ATP World Tour, has announced that it successfully produced and distributed a 1080p50 HDR test feed at the recent Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan (6 – 10 November).
The Next Gen tournament is the ATP Tour's showcase for innovation across all aspects of the men's professional game with rule changes, line calling without humans, and player and coach data services whilst the match is in progress.
Carried out in partnership with Gravity Media (as Gearhouse Broadcast), the test covered the live and non-live workflows on site, marking the first time HDR content has been natively incorporated into replays and edit workflows on a live sports outside broadcast.
This latest test follows an initial 1080p50 HDR production trial during the Nitto ATP Finals in 2017, which put 4K and 1080p50 HDR side-by-side in a live tennis environment for the first time. The results of that test suggested to ATP Media that it was 1080p50 HDR rather than 4K HDR that would most efficiently deliver the clear benefits of HDR to its broadcasters and to viewers at home. This follow up test was an important next step in delivering a 1080p50 HDR test feed to broadcasters with a view to gathering their valuable feedback for future planning.
The test was also a necessary next step in incorporating HDR and SDR content across all onsite production, including the non-live content available on the EVS network, ENG camera footage, SDR archive and SDR content from other sources. As host broadcasters, ATP Media produce a news service, premium content and bespoke social media content on site for broadcasters managing HDR and SDR in the post-production workflow.
Overall, the test further demonstrated HDR technology's ability to significantly increase the picture quality of tennis matches for fans at home. In addition, while ATP Media has no current plans to distribute content in native 4K, 4K cameras were used on-site to capture live match action as high resolution acquisition is very much part of the workflow to produce high quality 1080p HDR for Broadcasters to distribute as part of a 4K HDR service.
Shane Warden, ATP Media's Director of Broadcast & Technology said:
"ATP Media has a long track record of innovation and this latest test demonstrates our commitment to staying ahead of the curve when it comes to maintaining and advancing industry standards. To produce and deliver 1080p50 HDR feeds for an entire tournament over four days is a significant step not only for tennis broadcasting, but broadcasting as a whole. We now look forward to engaging with our external partners and stakeholders as we gather feedback from the test and plot our next steps."
Ed Tischler, Managing Director at Gearhouse Broadcast UK said:
"This has been an invaluable test as it has generated a lot of useful data which will help us understand more about the best way to produce content like this going forward."
About ATP Media:
As the broadcast arm of the ATP World Tour, ATP Media provides the centralised exploitation of broadcast media rights across the ATP World Tour, host broadcast production for the Nitto ATP Finals, Next Gen ATP Finals, ATP World Tour Masters 1000s, world feed production for the ATP World Tour 500s, and production of 15 ATP World Tour 250s. ATP Media has unrivalled access and expertise in the full-service broadcast production of men's professional tennis with an end to end solution for global broadcasters incorporating: rights sales, multi-platform production, a global fibre distribution network and a market leading digital archive. ATP Media also own and manage Tennis TV, the ATP World Tour's direct-to-consumer live streaming platform.
For more information, please visit www.atpmedia.tv.
Jake Hervin - 020 3675 2603
Jake.hervin@threepipe.co.uk
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© 2020 Gravity Media
GEARHOUSE BROADCAST HAS BECOME GRAVITY MEDIA
On 31 October 2019, the four leading broadcast and production houses Gearhouse Broadcast, Hyperactive Broadcast, Input Media and Chief Entertainment owned by Gravity Media Group started trading under the brand name of 'Gravity Media'. All Gravity Media companies around the world are making this transition and will now go to market as a single brand with a bold new look and purpose.
Gravity Media is a leading global provider of complex live broadcast facilities and production services to content owners, creators and distributors. We use the collective pull of our people and resources to capture, craft and create world-class content that inspires and excites.
We are driven by client service excellence, and we never stand still. We're always looking and listening, keeping up with the latest broadcast innovations – or pioneering them. Above all, we channel our energy into maintaining our reputation for flawless execution, deep technical expertise, and efficient delivery.
Gravity Media is a brand-new company with a 30-year pedigree, a force to be reckoned with formed by the coming together of Gearhouse Broadcast, HyperActive Broadcast, Input Media and Chief Entertainment. Our 500 people serve clients across the sport, media, news and entertainment industries from bases in the UK, Australia, USA, France, Germany and Qatar.
At the centre of Gravity Media lie three broad categories of expertise: media services & facilities; production & content; and equipment rental & sales.


Have a look at one of Maui's most beloved performers! If you want to hear some of the sounds.... let me know?
Originally uploaded by pedro pan.
I haven't seen Damon is quite a while. So yesterday's video chat usin iChat was fun, friendly and a good way to catch up with an old friend. It was his first video chat on a new machine (MacPro) with new girlfriend, Christine.
Next step is to try using SticKam which I tried with Theo today. Look out, it's Sloooow~! iVisit is better (IMHO) for multiple chats. That what we use in Creativity Cafe's KidCast for Peace; Solutions for a Better World teleactivity and PEACE PORTAL.
I took this with my LG8100 Cellphone! And beamed it up by sending it to Damon's Blackberry and Flickr/Blogger account (below)! This copy was created by using BLOG THIS from my Flickr account online interface.
0107071349a.jpg, originally uploaded by pedro pan. Check out the amazing synchronicities in the "Adventures of Shiloh Bones"
First video chat with Damon in ages, in fact, ever!
I hadn't seen him since last year. He is resurrecting is Robocast Technology. I was really glad to hear he is beyond his significant challenges of the last 7 years! The image is bigger because it came from the phone interface, rather than the online (flickr) interface above.


Talked to Mr Imran today of Tron.pk karachi office he suggested to post here the query.i want to import toys from china.Its brick toys by lepin (lego copy).Lepin is kinda big name in china sales millions of dollars per year and exporting to many countries but possible to any issue in Pakistan custom??as like to import with original boxes.trying to copy pics too.HS CODE provided by supplier 950300 .Also 9503008900 for its technic series.
Import Policy: As per appendix B part I-, Certificate from country of export that infant toys are in accordance with international standard and free from hazardous and toxic elements is required on import of "Toys for Infants".
Please go to below link and fill our shipment inquiry form for fastest response.
One of our staff member will contact you directly through e-mail and over the call soon.


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DBF Ambassador Wyn Jenkins Supporting Cycling Team in the Race Across America (RAAM) 2019
Our wonderful DBF Ambassador, Wyn Jenkins, whose brainchild was the incredibly enjoyable and successful Dambuster Bike Ride, which he organised and ran brilliantly for the past 3 years before retiring the event on a high, is now approaching cycling from another perspective. Keen cyclists Wyn and his wife Marg are going to swap riding for driving to act as support for their team as they take part in the notoriously gruelling Race Across America (RAAM) in June this year.
Read on for Wyn's article for an idea of what will be involved for both riders and support and you may have to revise any preconceptions that support is a doddle! It's an immensely important and responsible role and one which can have a huge bearing on the success of the team. For the riders, who include DBF supporters, amputee cyclist Linda Chen and Major Sally Orange – both Dambusters survivors – it will be an extraordinary challenge; a real test of skill and endurance and we commend all on their courage and dedication. We look forward to further updates and will, of course, let you know how the team get on.
For 36 years RAAM has been challenging ultracyclists from around the globe to push their physical and mental limits to the farthest reaches. Starting in Oceanside, under one of the longest piers in California, RAAM spans 3000 miles, climbs 175,000 feet, crosses 12 states and finishes at City Dock in Annapolis, Maryland, the east coast sailing mecca. Race Across America website
Race Across America (RAAM) 3,085 miles in 8 days ON A BIKE!!!
In May of 2018, a day after The Dambuster Ride, a cycling event held to raise funds for The Douglas Bader Foundation, my wife Marg, plus Linda Chen (amputee cyclist) and Sally Orange ( an avid campaigner and fundraiser for mental health support) were sitting on our patio, basking in the sunshine and enjoying a lovely breakfast. Marg and I had organised the event the day before and were enjoying the company of two of life's lovely people who had both successfully completed the ride and had stayed the night.
Sally (Major Sally Orange – her full Army rank) is a trained physiotherapist and has made a name for herself for completing incredibly gruelling physical challenges, usually dressed as a piece of fruit to draw attention to whichever cause she happened to be supporting. She has run 20 conventional marathons, plus the ultimate of ultramarathons – The Marathon de Sable; eight Ironman Triathlons (2.2 mile sea swim, 112 mile bike and a full marathon); taken on the challenge of running 7 marathons on 7 continents in one year, finishing in Antartica in -20 temperatures (duly completed) and then a week or so later ran a 50 mile marathon in Mongolia. I met both Sally and Linda when taking part in the London to Amsterdam Ride 4 years ago and we hit it off straight away. Linda is a newly retired nurse and mother of two lovely girls, who was struck down by a bus some years ago and lost her lower leg and had multiple other injuries. Typical of her resilience and determination, she was soon back on the wards looking after patients and rewarding them with her beautiful smile and caring demeanour. That smile belies a very competitive streak – she is one very tough individual who has excelled at long distance events including a 10k open water swim. I tried to swim past her at the London Triathlon but she kept a close eye on me and wouldn't yield an inch. On the London to Amsterdam ride she contrived to make me fall into a thorn bush that led to me leaving a trail of blood for the next 5 miles – we still laugh about it!
I asked Sally what plans she had for the next year aside from the usual incredible schedule of tough challenges. She said she had a project in mind that she had started to put together which was participation in the World's toughest non-stop cycle race – The Race Across America, more commonly known as RAAM. This event starts at Oceanside in California, crosses over the Rockies and then passes through 12 states before finishing at Maryland, south of New York. 170,000 ft of climbing over 3,085 miles in temperatures ranging from 5 degrees to 50 degrees, with the most unpredictable of weather as it passes through Tornado Alley….and all this in just 8 days! People incredibly do this solo, grabbing what sleep they can in support cars or on the side of the road, covering upwards of 400 miles every 24 hrs. The more sane riders tend to do the event as pairs or as teams of four, six or eight people. Thankfully, the little idea that Sally had in her head had settled on a team comprising eight women with either visible or invisible injuries. As a departure form the usual military only events, this project was to include both military and civilian riders and support crew, with a view to highlighting the difficulties some leaving military personnel have when returning to civilian life. Sally turned to Linda and asked if she would be willing to be a part of the "Mind Over Matter" team and then really surprised Marg and I when she asked if we would be prepared to be on the event support crew. Linda was shocked and completely overwhelmed and her face was a picture, whilst Marg and I were speechless. We spoke for a few minutes about what the event entailed and the enormity of the challenge started to kick in and not just for the riders.
Basically, the team of 8 are split into two pods of 4 riders. One pod climb onto the massive motorised hotel on wheels and disappear 9 hours down the road, whilst the other pod are "on shift". Surprisingly for a long distance endurance event, the riders only do short "pulls" of 20-25 mins at a time before being replaced by the next rider. This is to keep the average speed high, so each pull is done with a good deal of intensity. Each rider will do between 4 and 5 pulls each 9 hour shift but even this isn't quite so straightforward. On the huge climbs over The Rockies and Apalachian Mountains, some of the pulls can be as short as 10 mins depending on the severity of the climb. For we support crew, it can be incredibly hectic as we drop off a rider, load a bike, leapfrog the other support car and get the next rider ready, ensuring they have their nutrition and hydration to hand. This process is a non-stop whirlwind over the 9 hour shift until we catch up to the mobile HQ where the pods swap and the next shift starts. Riders and crew then have a meal and whilst the riders get some well earned rest, the crew members carry on working to ensure that all the bikes are in good running order and that everything needed for the next shift is in place and ready to go. Hopefully the riders will get a good 6-7 hours sleep but crew members rarely manage much more than 4 hours before the on the road pod catches up and the cycle starts all over again. The target is to average 15 mph for the whole distance, which means having to achieve a very high top speed once the team have crossed the Rockie Mountains, where the average speed will be well below the overall target. Apparently, this is when tensions between riders and crew are sorely tested because half the time has gone but they have only completed a third of the distance. We have been on a few pre-RAAM training days when this has been repeatedly highlighted, so that everyone will be aware of how tension can escalate if not properly managed and understood.
Marg was a bit apprehensive about navigation and when we arrived at an army base just outside Cirencester, to undergo a practical RAAM training weekend, she was decidedly nervous. Two of the riders were in our van, whilst the other two, including a recumbent cyclist was in the other. After some theory sessions and practice on the base itself, we set off into the very dark looking Cotswold Countryside at 10pm and waited for the rider from the other van to do the first "pull" before they appeared in a blaze of lights. Each van has to "Direct Follow" their rider at night in the interests of safety, so picking the perfect spot to changeover was very important, as was visibility. I'm very pleased to say that our shift went very smoothly and unlike the pod which went out after us, we managed to get the navigation spot on – Marg was brilliant and her confidence received a massive boost. She and I are very keen cyclists and regularly ride in excess of 100 miles every week. She had a bit of a shock a few weeks ago when she was asked to become a reserve rider as well as being on the support crew. A coach from British Cycling has put a training and nutrition plan together, which all riders share with each other on the Strava App – there's no hiding place for anyone not doing their session. The team is starting to bond well and each rider is becoming more aware of the strengths and weaknesses of other team members. The team is made up of a rider paralysed from the chest down who rides a hand cycle; another who rides a recumbent with her legs; one with a brain injury which has affected her eyesight on one side, another who has suffered a stroke and the others with mental health related issues. Some are good climbers, whilst others thrive on the flat or downhill and the teams are constantly being reviewed to ensure a good balance between the two pods.
Marg, Linda and I are supporters of The Douglas Bader Foundation and as an Ambassador for the charity, I am delighted that the charity has joined with other charities and organisations to support the event.
I will be writing regular articles on the lead-up to the start of the event in June and will also be writing a daily blog about our experiences on the road.
You can get more information about the "Mind over Matter" Team (MOM) on their FaceBook Page and on the Leadership Challenges FB page. This is the organisation which is managing the event for the team – they've been superb so far.
Mind over Matter (MOM) Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Mind-Over-Matter-Race-Across-America-620370358382986/
Leadership Challenges Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/leadershipchallenges/
Wyn Jenkins
We're very grateful to Wyn for this really enjoyable article and look forward to future news and updates from the team – we'll keep you posted. We hope their training progresses well (I think they're going to need it!) and will be keeping our fingers crossed for them every wheel revolution of the way. It's a huge challenge but for such a valuable collective cause. Good on you all!
Tags: Dambuster Bike Ride, RAAM, Race Across America

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MATT COPPOLA STEPS UP HIS GAME IN 2020 – AN ARTICLE BY CLICKPOLOUSA
Matt Coppola* is focused on moving his career forward and now he is one of the highest handicapped American players at 5 goals. Recently raised on the 2020 annual outdoor handicap changes, Coppola's new rating will go into effect June 2021. He joins a select few players in the country with a 5-goal rating or higher.
"I have never really thought about being a top player in the United States, but it is a nice feeling," Coppola told CLICKPOLOUSA. "I still have a long way to go in my career but I am excited to keep working to achieve my goals". Reaching 5 goals opens a door to a new level of polo and it's new territory with new responsibilities and opportunities. "I had a feeling I would be raised to 5 goals sooner or later and it's a good step in the right direction," Coppola said. "The goal is to keep going up in handicap".
Coppola playing for Tonkawa during the 2020 GAUNTLET OF POLO®. ©David Lominska
2020 was a difficult year for everyone, but Matt Coppola still managed to make the best of it. "2020 was a pretty good year for me," Coppola remarked. "I started in Florida with Tonkawa in the GAUNTLET OF POLO® at the International Polo Club Palm Beach in Wellington, Florida. Then I went to Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club [Carpinteria, California] to play the 16-goal season with Antelope polo team. Currently, I am in Dallas, Texas, at Willow Bend Polo Club playing a 10-goal tournament".
Much like every year, Coppola intends on traveling to Argentina. "If everything goes as planned, I should be in Argentina November 5, to play for the rest of the season there," Coppola said. "One day, I would like to play the Copa Cámara de Diputados in Argentina. I think by 2021 it is a really good possibility I just need to get organized and put together a team".
Antelope's Matt Coppola during the 2020 Pacific Coast Open. ©David Lominska
However, before the 2021 Argentine season, Matt has an important commitment in the United States. "In 2021 I will be playing the 22-goal GAUNTLET OF POLO® in Florida with Park Place, alongside Andre Borodin, Hilario Ulloa, and Juano Britos," Coppola revealed. "I am really excited to be able to play with one of the biggest organizations in the world at the moment and in my opinion probably the best."
*Matt Coppola is a graduating member of Team USPA. Team USPA is a USPA program designed to enhance and grow the sport of polo in the United States by identifying young, talented American players and providing mentored training and playing opportunities leading to a pool of higher rated amateur and pro players and the resultant giveback to the sport of polo.
INTERNATIONAL POLO CLUB PALM BEACH
SANTA BARBARA POLO & RACQUET CLUB
WILLOW BEND POLO CLUB


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Kevin Always Gets To The "Hart" Of What's Funny
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF MGM / MCT
Cheyann Elmore
Star of ABC-TV's "Big House" and possibly one of the funniest comedians in the industry today, Kevin Hart had Oakland's Paramount Theater erupting with laughter for the duration of his show.
Originally there were two scheduled shows on Saturday night, at 8 and 11 p.m. Both shows sold out after only two weeks, and a third show was added on Sunday night.
Born in Philadelphia, 32-year-old Kevin Hart attended Temple University for two years, and then soon after quit his job as a shoe salesman to pursue his passion in comedy.
Hart performed at CSU East Bay in 2008, when he was still trying to make a name for himself.
He has appeared in several mainstream movies, including "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," "Soul Plane," "Scary Movie 4," "Death At A Funeral" and "Little Fockers."
Most recently, Hart has done several TV specials for Comedy Central: I'm A Grown Little Man(2009) and Seriously Funny(2010).
Now on his "Laugh At My Pain" tour, he is once again electrifying crowds with his dynamic sense of humor. The mood was set even before Hart took the stage.
The opener, Naim Lynn, had the crowd laughing early on. He poked fun at women who draw on their own eyebrows. He also cracked several jokes on the women in attendance wearing their "summer" clothes, while still possessing their "winter" bodies.
Second up was Will "Spank" Horton. He successfully prepped the audience for the main act. He mocked men who wear skinny jeans and former special education students who decide to home-school their children.
Finally, it was time for the main event, and unlike any of Hart's other shows, he decided to make a grand entrance.
The lights went out, smoke rose from the stage and two "sexy" magician's assistants appeared on stage, pushing a 10-foot high replica of a Kevin Hart DVD box to the center of the stage.
The box opened in the front and the back and was hollow in the middle. The assistants opened and closed the box to show that it was empty. Then, on their third time opening it, sparks flew, music blasted and Kevin Hart walked out of this seemingly empty box.
From the time he took the stage until he finished his act, the crowd was laughing until tears began to flow.
Hart used his personal life experiences to arouse laughter from his audience. His "pain" essentially became our source of entertainment. It seemed that no topic was off limits.
He talked about the drug problems his father had when Hart was just a kid, joked respectfully about his mother's funeral, the current divorce process he is going through and poked fun at his children.
It was fascinating and quite admirable how he could transform such sensitive topics into punch lines. It takes strength to be able to look back on past negative experiences and openly talk and laugh about them.
He also incorporated a few of his well-known punch lines from previous shows for his die-hard fans, as he called them.
There wasn't a single joke he told that didn't have the crowd erupting with laughter. The laughter echoed and amplified as it ricocheted off the grand walls of the theater.
Overall, Hart as well as his opening performers did a magnificent job in "tearing up" the Paramount Theater that night.
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One of our summer interns, Hailey Cunningham, returned for a few weeks this winter while between semesters at Ole Miss and shared a few takeaways about her experience as an SPR intern.
Another Nashville Restaurant Week has come and gone, and Nashvillians and visitors alike were able to enjoy special menus, dishes and deals around town.
More than 215,000 people visited the Williamson County Fair this year, according to a summary of the highlights distributed Friday. Organizers declared that it was the best fair to date in the 13 years since it was revived following several dormant decades.
Sheridan PR is excited to welcome Laura Braam to our team as a principal! She has served as director of communications at Currey Ingram Academy for the last decade, where she built the independent school's current comprehensive internal and external public relations and marketing program. Laura first met SPR founder Jay Sheridan and SPR principal Chad Schmidt while working together at MP&F.
Sheridan PR has added two new hires this July. Laura Braam, who has more than 20 years of communications, public relations and marketing experience, has joined Sheridan Public Relations as a principal. Laney Fay, a recent graduate of Washington and Lee University, has joined SPR as a staff associate.
A new SMART-tourism platform has launched in Nashville with the promise to redefine the online reservation booking experience by leveraging technology to put the power back into the hands of local businesses. Nashville.city was launched as the first market in America, with cities across Tennessee and the nation being added rapidly.
"I started with a large PR firm in downtown Nashville in 2001 (SPR was launched in 2009). After earning a news/editorial journalism degree with an emphasis in magazine service, I had a choice: go to New York and be a magazine writer, or find a job back home in Nashville.
We're so excited to have Laura Huff working with us this summer! Get to know a little bit about this Ole Miss grad & new Nashvillian!


Alexandria City VA real estate for sale is nothing if not diverse. The city's long history is a large part of its appeal with homes reflecting the evolving styles of over 200 years of development. Antique row houses, grand manors and strikingly original designs all have a place in Alexandria. If there is a common denominator, it's the generally solid values as the area continues its recovery from the national economic downturn. According to data source Zillow, the median sales price for homes stands at $471,000, representing a 3.7 percent year-to-date growth.
The Alexandria City, VA real estate landscape, which includes many historic homes, churches and landmarks, lends to a substantial level of charm. Visually, the architectural landscape shows a marked influence of Federal, Georgian and Greek Revival styles which is somewhat different than Washington DC's predominance of Victorian row houses. It's a matter of degrees of course, but Alexandria's earlier building boom helped contribute to subtle stylistic differences for what is essentially a next-door community to the nation's capital.
Those interested in Alexandria, VA homes for sale would do well to pay a visit. The hometown of the country's first president, George Washington, has evolved but not lost its historical identity. The city is known for its museums, restaurants, nightlife, strong retail and a great public school system. From picturesque cobblestone alleyways to suburban enclaves, the city has long been a top real estate marketplace. From gracious homes to new urbanest mixed-use condo developments, this is a community with a lot to offer. For more information about Alexandria City VA real estate, contact District Partners at Compass today at (202) 798-3600.


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Star Wars Han Solo Spin-Off Directors Fired
By Rhys Pugatschew Updated Jan 15, 2019 09:50 PM EDT
According to a report from Variety, directors of the Star Wars Han Solo spin-off film Phil Lord and Chris Miller have been fired. Known for their work on 21 Jump Street and The Lego Movie, the pair was originally hired to inject their famous humor into the film.
It seems, however, that "creative differences" lay between the directors and producer Kathleen Kennedy. It isn't just her though, a few of her LucasFilm team is involved too, like co-writer and executive producer Lawrence Kasdan. Kasdan is someone who has been with the franchise since The Empire Strikes Back.
These creative differences have been defined by varying sources as Miller and Lord not having the freedom they were used to on their own films. Apparently, Kennedy ran quite the tight ship and didn't like anything about Miller and Lord, from the way they interacted with the actors to "the way they folded their socks." On a professional level, Kennedy (according to one of Variety's sources) was not impressed with Miller and Lord's shooting style and directing choices. Nor was Kasdan, for that matter.
[irp]
The statement coming from Miller and Lord explained that their "vision and process" simply did not align with their partners. Despite compliments to the "amazing and world-class work" of the cast and crew, the directors cited creative differences and left it at that.
To be clear, the directors did not leave willingly. They were fired by LucasFilm right in the middle of production and with several weeks of shooting left to do. Even Kennedy in her statement to the press, cited creative differences as well despite the "incredible cast and crew" the directors had assembled.
There is no word yet on who Kennedy will be choosing for a new director, though rumor has it that Ron Howard might be taking the wheel. This kind of major conflict in the middle of production does not bode well for the film itself, we've seen it far too many times and the result is often an incoherent mess. Nonetheless, this is only one hiccup. This isn't nearly the kind of conflicts movies like Suicide Squad ended up with.
The Han Solo spin-off will still debut May 25, 2018 despite these setbacks.
[irp posts="6503″ name="Upcoming Star Wars Movies Calendar"]
All Upcoming Star Wars Movies: The Complete List (Updated!)
Han Solo SpinoffMovie NewsStar WarsStar Wars Anthology: Han Solo
Rhys Pugatschew
Rhys found his love of gaming in Zelda and expanded to almost all genres. He will be bringing you the latest news in the industry. He has worked for ZeldaInformer and CheatCC, happily writing his opinions for all see!
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He was a pioneer of sorts and an iconic part of entertainment history. Bringing the love of superheros and action to the small screen and trying to keep people interested and entertained was not an easy task. When much was left to the imagination, he achieved a recognition that is often rare.
Adam West was an American actor widely known for his role as Batman in the 1960s ABC series Batman and its theatrical feature film — and whose career spanned seven decades.


A Fantástica Bateria is a True Live Percussion Odyssey! A project spearheaded by Brazilian sambista and percussionist Anderson Santos - AKA Chocolatte da Vila Maria - together with Alan Hetherington, a Canadian percussionist and drummer who has been dedicated to the samba movement in Brazil for over 20 years; both these accomplished artists have been fascinated by the roots of the tradition and its development throughout the world. Their meeting years ago in the urban samba circles of São Paulo proved to be quite an auspicious one. With their similar aspirations they quickly became friends and yearned to create something new together. This work is the fruit of their lasting friendship and their passion for samba.
A Fantástica Bateria is a world's first: an international collection of outstanding percussionists and musicians mixing the deep roots of the samba tradition together with modern musical ideas; imaginative, grooving, live percussive tracks that reflect the growing presence of samba's place in contemporary music.
Chocolatte's and Alan's collaboration is a powerful, innovative and unprecedented exaltation to the reign of samba's global influence!
From Choco and Alan to you, in the name of the energy guiding us all: Axé!


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Swiss federal elections
Swiss national elections: 'return to normality'?
SVPSwiss Peoples' Party
Toni Brunner, Swiss People's Party president, hailing the party's historic number of elected MPs. Photo: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP
Is Switzerland now a divided country or were the results of Sunday's national elections merely a return to normality?
Reaction in Swiss media was mixed to the results, which saw the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP) under the proportional voting system boost its representation in the 200-seat lower house of parliament by 11 seats to 65 seats.
Together with the centre-right Liberals (FDP), who gained three seats to 33, the two parties have a razor-thin majority in the lower house with the support of other small right-wing parties from Ticino and Geneva.
For Zurich daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung, the success of the two right-wing parties represents "a return to normality" after a period when the legislature was more complicated.
The SVP and the FDP have a duty to "explore common ground" in economic and social policies otherwise they face "gambling recklessly with their success", the newspaper said.
The SVP, which has championed restrictions on immigration and raised concerns about asylum seekers, is at odds with the FDP, which wants to ensure for economic reasons that the freedom of movement of people accord with the EU remains in place.
Other parties, including the Socialists (43 seats, down from 46) and the centre-right Christian Democrats (28 seats, down from 29) are also opposed to the SVP planks on immigration.
Daniel Foppa, columnist for the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper said the historic election results leave Switzerland a divided country.
He noted the Green party and the Green Liberals were decimated, while the FDP shed their image as the "problem-causing" party of bankers to re-emerge as a group seen with "high economic competence".
He said the SVP will now emphatically demand a second seat in the seven person government, where they currently only have one representative, Defence Minister Ueli Maurer.
But it is up to the party to present convincing candidates, Fopp said.
Many commentators said the vote leaves the future of federal government member Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf in doubt.
Members of the upper and lower houses of parliament will jointly elect the government on December 9th after a second round of voting determines seats in the 46-seat senate, where the SVP currently only has five seats.
Widmer-Schlumpf, a former SVP member, joined the newly formed Conservative Democratic Party (BDP) after being elected to the government in 2007, when she dislodged incumbent Christoph Blocher, a leading SVP politician.
The government currently is made up of two Liberal party members, two Socialists, one Christian Democrat and one SVP member, in addition to Widmer-Schlumpf.
Widmer-Schlumpf, currently finance minister, has benefited from the support of other parties who are unhappy with positions taken by the SVP, particularly on immigration.
But the SVP's "demonstration of force" shows it has rid itself of the image of a "big, nasty wolf," Le Temps newspaper said, quoting political scientist Oscar Mazzoleni.
The Tribune de Genève said Widmer-Schlumpf's future "has never been so uncertain", while 24 heures said her legitimacy was hanging "by a thread".
The Basler Zeitung said it is obvious that the SVP, as the party with the most seats in parliament, should have two seats in the government.
Widmer-Schlumpf's BDP lost two seats in the lower house, leaving it with just seven MPs.
Other newspapers underlined that the SVP had to propose a credible candidate to gain the extra seat.
The right-wing nationalist party must demonstrate credibly that they want a serious and collegial role in government, the St. Galler Tagblatt said.
But the re-election of Widmer-Schlumpf "hardly justifies itself" after the weekend's election results, it concluded.
Election results for lower house of parliament:
(Figures in brackets show previous election results.)
Swiss People's Party: 65 (54)
Social Democrats: 43 (46)
Liberals: 33 (30)
Christian Democrats 28 (29)
Greens: 11 (15)
Green Liberals: 7 (12)
Conservative Democrats: 7 (9)
Ticino League: 2 (2)
Evangelical People's Party: 2 (2)
Romandie Citizen's Movement (MCR): 1 (1)
Alternative Left: 1 (0)
Inside Swiss politics: Why everyone is talking about this 'worm poster'
Swiss government slams SVP's self-determination initiative
SVP calls for a vote on ending Swiss-EU freedom of movement
Swiss vote for gradual nuclear phaseout
SVP ad ruled racist by Swiss supreme court
Swiss may vote again on restricting immigration
SVP won't call referendum on mass immigration initiative
Swiss press criticize Bern's 'capitulation' on immigration
Foreigners are 'taking jobs from the Swiss,' says politician
The decision to re-open Switzerland's borders is 'incomprehensible', says Swiss People's party
Youth wing of Swiss People's Party calls for Coca-Cola boycott over homophobia referendum
Immigration of EU nationals to Switzerland 'has stabilized'


Explore Middle School is a culturally sensitive, individualized educational experience designed to empower students, parents, and staff to meet on common ground, to provide room for self-discovery and to find value in education.
The Explore Middle program serves students with significant Emotional and Behavioral Disabilities (EBD) in grades 6 to 8. This is a Setting IV program that emphasizes social emotional learning, academics, and movement. This program offers a comprehensive middle school curriculum and provides a small student to staff ratio adn the space needed to assist students in keeping calm and safe.


Jobber drill bits are straight shank drills suitable for many applications. UCT stocks Bright & Black general Purpose & Heavy Duty, Black & Gold General Purpose & Heavy Duty, TIN Coated General Purpose & Heavy Duty and Cobalt Super Heavy Duty for a wide variety of materials.
855-SETS 7-Piece Set #6 thru 1/2"


Because Sequim, Washington lies within the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains, rainfall is kept to a minimum. Less than 15 inches of rain falls on the town every year.
The entire region is surrounded by groves of temperate rainforest, with Douglas-fir, western red cedar and black cottonwood trees. There is also a nearby herd of Roosevelt Elk that shares the region with the residents of Sequim.
If the elk entice you, then don't forget to visit the Olympic Game Farm for even larger herd animals on display. The region has been home to large herd animals for thousands of years, as the bones of a long-dead mastodon on display at the Museum and Arts Center can attest.
There you can see a video showing the care taken to excavate the mastodon bones from the nearby soil.
The center also offers cultural exhibits on the life and artifacts of the early residents of the area.
The area is also home to the Sequim Bay State Park and the John Wayne Marina, donated by the great western film star.
Both areas are popular for bird watching, as is Sequim Bay, a four mile long inlet out of the Juan de Fuca Straits.
Sequim, Washington, is not known as the "Lavender Capital of North America" for nothing. In fact, so much lavender is commercially grown and cultivated in Sequim, only France can compete.
Visitors to Sequim can enjoy the cool breezes that come off the Juan de Fuca Strait, and during the right time of year, feel bathed in the sweet aroma of lavender. In July the annual Lavender Festival brings tens of thousands of visitors to the community to enjoy the fresh lavender and good company.
The Lavender Festival has taken place every year since 1996.
It features tours of all the area's lavender farms and a family-friendly street fair.
The annual Lavender Festival is an event not to be missed, if only for the wonderful aroma which hovers over the entire community all week long.
If you enjoy fairs and festivals with history, consider attending the annual Irrigation Festival, held each May since 1895.
The event celebrates the elaborate irrigation fields that brought irrigation to the dry prairie, which was once on the land where the town now sits.
There is a huge parade through downtown Sequim, Washington and local groups hand make the dozens of floats that drift through the parade route. There is also a Merchant's Street Fair full of carnival games and fresh food vendors. An abundance of craft stations are set up throughout the city. You can also spend the time shopping for fresh vegetables grown locally thanks to the irrigation system.
If you like seafood, specifically Dungeness crab, then give thanks to Sequim, Washington, for they are known for their delicious Dungeness crab.
The Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge is located on the north side of the city, right at the mouth of the nearby Dungeness River. Dungeness Spit offers a beautiful five mile hike along the waterway culminating in a trip up the new Dungeness Lighthouse.
You can't see it all in a day for sure. Find a motel for your visit.
If you've visited Sequim Washington, and have a story to share, don't be shy! Many of our readers like to create a page about their favorite places and things to do on the Washington Coast.
Use the simple form below to send us a write-up of your favorite memory of Sequim. You can include up to four pictures, too.


I use Facebook all the time for work and personal reasons. So it is impossible not to notice that it's in the news lately. Some stories, like Facebook reaching 1 billion users, are good news for the company. However, much of the discussion centers around changes that Facebook has made that make it less effective–not easier–for optometrists to use in marketing their practice. Because most ODs don't get into the nitty gritty of Facebook mechanics, I wanted to bring everyone up to speed and provide some ways to deal with these changes.
First, let's look at the following chart. It shows the general downward trend of Facebook's stock price since its poorly executed IPO. As you can see, it continues to hover around 50 percent of IPO price. This is not the way it was supposed to work out. For the first time in its short life, Facebook has to deliver not just experiences, but actual dollars to its shareholders. And many people think it is not going to be able to meet these expectations due to lack of mobile monetization strategy, slowing growth in the US, privacy concerns and loss of user experience focus.
In an effort to squeeze more revenue out of its users, Facebook is changing everything from what you can do on its network, to how it distributes the information, to what kind of ads it shows. You may have experienced some of these changes, while others are still being rolled out and tested.
Page Administrators – Now when you appoint someone to be an administrator of your Facebook page, you can select different levels of authority. This is nice if you don't completely trust your administrators.
Scheduling Posts – For a long time people used third-party applications like Hootsuite to prepare updated posts ahead of time to be posted later. By clicking the "clock" at the bottom left of the status update box, you can now do this in Facebook, but it is a little clunky.
Page Manager App – For a while now, updating a Facebook page by phone was annoying at best and impossible at worst. This app changed that.
Editing Comments – Hate that little typo in your brilliant reply? You can edit it. But not the original post.
Collections – In an effort to take on Pinerest, Amazon and eBay, Facebook is starting to let businesses post images of purchasable products that users can "collect" and share. This has potential for optical, but it could be a dud. Time will tell.
Timeline: As almost every Facebook user knows by now, earlier in 2012, Facebook changed the appearance of profile or page updates. Instead of all updates being listed in a similarly single column (like your Facebook news feed), the Timeline includes a cover picture at the top and has two columns of posts, emphasizing pictures and videos. For brands with glossy professional photos, this really is a nice presentation. But for the average optometry practice, it takes more work to decide how to post status updates.
Reach: While Timeline is a change, it can be argued that it doesn't really make that much difference because almost all interaction occurs not on the Timeline, but in the News Feed. When a patient shares a post from your office, their friends see it, giving you more influence. However, not all of your fans see your posts because Facebook controls who sees what with EdgeRank. In reality, only between five percent and 20 percent of fans see a given post. And Facebook has recently changed the algorithm to further reduce the overall number of people that each post will reach.
Promoted Posts: But you are in luck. Facebook has a new way to help you reach the people who have already liked your practice page. For a fee, Facebook will share your posts with more of your fans, as well as friends of fans. This is called "Promoting" the post and it is different than placing an advertisement on Facebook, because ads appear in the right column and can be blocked with ad-blocking software. These Promoted Posts appear in the news feed. They are effective at getting likes and comments, but not necessarily from potential patients.
Mobile ads: And speaking of ads, the most recent significant change to come is that the mobile version of Facebook now contains ads, too. These appear to be more effective, because of the small screen size, but also more annoying. Finding a good balance will be tricky, but it is an absolute necessity for Facebook, since one out of every five new page "likes" occur on mobile devices.
First, a caveat. I do not think it is a good idea for the typical optometrist/owner to be the primary person creating and posting content on Facebook. But I do think they should know enough about Facebook to ensure that their staff or social media consultant is doing the right things.
1) Diversify: Certainly include Facebook in your marketing mix, but don't confuse "being on Facebook" with "social media marketing." Consider additional social applications, such as Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ and blogging to get your message out.
2) Post strategically: More than ever before, you must work harder to make each post seen. Be sure to use images and video. Tag others in your posts. Post at different times of the day when your patients are most commonly online. This is often early morning and late afternoon. Don't forget weekends.
3) Sponsored stories: For the posts that you REALLY want to get out there, such as an event announcement or new product, promote them. But use the promotion tool infrequently, because it is so easy to wind up spending more than you intended over time. And remember, all you are doing is buying more visibility for a Facebook post, but you still don't control who sees it.
As the saying goes: "Change is the only constant." And change happens quickly in the social media realm. Today's shiny object is yesterday's MySpace. Facebook surely is not dead, but it isn't the good old days, either. While simply using Facebook was enough, it is now harder to get your message out and reach patients than ever before. But don't let that stop you.
Nathan Bonilla-Warford, OD,of Bright Eyes Family Vision Care in Tampa, Fla., is a graduate of Illinois College of Optometry. He is a member of the American Optometric Association, and is past president of the Hillsborough Society of Optometry, as well as chair of the Children's Vision Committee of the Florida Optometric Association. To contact him: Doc@BrightEyesTampa.com.
ROB Poll: How Satisfied Are You with Your Primary Optical Lab?


text:
713-554-6756 pmartin@thompsonhorton.com
Special Education & Disability Law
Training & Compliance
About Paige Martin
Legal Assistant: Betsy Maggard | 713-554-6754 | pmartin@thompsonhorton.com
Paige is originally from Leesburg, Georgia, where her mom was chair of the local school board and went on to become President of the Georgia School Board Association. From an early age, Paige developed a love of learning and athletics which gave her a firm foundation for practicing School Law in Texas. Paige has spent much of her life in the classroom as both student and teacher, and her dedication and passion for strengthening education in Texas is evident in all the work she does.
Paige is an Associate in the Houston office. She counsels and represents public school districts, junior and community colleges, and universities on a broad range of practice areas, including state and federal litigation, labor and employment, special education law, student discipline matters, and public and government law.
Prior to joining Thompson & Horton, Paige was an associate at Tritico Rainey, PLLC, where she specialized in litigation involving students, teachers, and other school district employees. Paige received her J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center where she was awarded the Gus A Schill, Jr. Ethics in Representation full tuition scholarship. At UHLC, Paige clerked for Federal Magistrate Judge Frances Stacy, the U.S. Attorney's Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Mexico City, and Sysco Corporation. Before law school, Paige was a United Methodist pastor and an administrator at Duke Divinity School in Durham, North Carolina.
J.D., University of Houston Law Center, 2019
M.Div., Duke Divinity School, 2008
B.S., Samford University, 2003, cum laude
Licensing & Court Admissions
Licensed in the state of Texas
Memberships & Recognitions
Texas Association of School Boards – Counsel of School Attorneys
State Bar of Texas Sections – School Law, Litigation, LGBT Law, Labor and Employment
Houston Bar Association
Houston Young Lawyers Association
Gus A. Schill, Jr. Ethics in Representation Scholarship Committee
Representative Speeches & Presentations
"Mentoring in School Law", 2021 School Law Section Summer Retreat
"What Not to Say in School Law" Handling Your First (or Next) School Law Case CLE, October 2021


text:
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22 After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. 23 Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years. 24 Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.


text:
Close ↓
Cars Bikes Trucks
Boston-bound airline pilot dies; co-pilot lands safely in NY
(File pic) An American Airlines pilot become ill and died during a flight from Phoenix to Boston on October 5, 2015 but the co-pilot was able to safely land the plane, the US carrier said. The aircraft, an Airbus A320 with 147 passengers and a five-member crew on board, was diverted to Syracuse Hancock International Airport in New York state. AFP PHOTO
October 6, 2015 @ 9:37am
NEW YORK: An American Airlines captain became gravely ill and incapacitated while flying from Phoenix to Boston and later died, but his first officer safely diverted and landed the plane, an airline spokeswoman said.
Passengers on the flight were told the pilot was sick and it was making an emergency landing in Syracuse, and they later learned of his death in a scenario that's rare but not unheard-of: Seven pilots for U.S. airlines and one charter pilot have died during flights since 1994, the Federal Aviation Administration says.
American Flight 550 left Phoenix at 11:55pm local time Sunday and was diverted mid-flight, landing shortly after 7am EDT, American spokeswoman Andrea Huguely said. After the flight's captain was stricken, the first officer safely took over with 147 passengers and five crew members onboard.
"American 550. Medical emergency. Captain is incapacitated," the first officer calmly told the Syracuse airport tower, requesting a runway to land on.
In a recording of his exchange with the tower, he expresses concern whether ambulance medics can get on the plane quickly. He's assured they can and is told to go into a gate where the medics would meet the plane.
Details of the medical emergency and the identity of the dead pilot weren't immediately released, and the airline wouldn't say when the death occurred.
"We are incredibly saddened by this event, and we are focused on caring for our pilot's family and colleagues," the Fort Worth, Texas-based airline said.
A replacement crew was sent to Syracuse, and the plane, an Airbus A320, landed in Boston at 12:30 p.m.
Aviation experts said there was never any danger to passengers because pilots and co-pilots are equally capable of flying the aircraft.
Former airline pilot John Cox, an aviation safety consultant, said when one pilot becomes unable to fly the other will rely on help from the plane's automated systems and get priority treatment from air traffic controllers.
"The passengers were not in danger, absolutely not," he said.
Passenger Louise Anderson, who was heading from Reno, Nevada, to Boston via Phoenix, said she had dozed off on the flight.
"What I woke up to was the flight attendant telling us we were making an emergency landing because the pilot was ill," she said.
She said rumors of the pilot's death circulated in the Syracuse airport but were confirmed only by an announcement on their makeup flight to Boston.
Anderson said the mood on board then was somber, but she commended the crew's handling of a tragic situation.
Airline pilots must pass physical exams every 12 months, every six months for captains 40 or older.
Steve Wallace, who led the Federal Aviation Administration's accident investigations office from 2000 to 2008, said it's rare for a pilot to become incapacitated. According to the FAA, seven pilots for U.S. airlines and one charter pilot have died during flights since 1994.
Captains and co-pilots usually take turns flying and doing takeoffs and landings, said former airline pilot James Record, who teaches aviation at Dowling College in Oakdale, N.Y.
"The advantage to that is the co-pilot gets an equal amount of experience and the captain gets to see how the other guy flies," he said.
Record noted the co-pilot remained calm while describing the emergency and requesting permission from air traffic controllers to land.
"He was doing what he's trained to do — fly the plane," Record said. "He was probably more concerned with the health of his buddy, his crew member," than his ability to fly.
Modern airliners are capable of largely flying themselves. There's debate in aviation circles about whether over-reliance on automation is eroding pilots' flying skills. Incidents like Monday's help ensure regulators won't allow unmanned cockpits or unaccompanied pilots anytime soon. -- AP
4U9525 CRASH: Germanwings co-pilot suffered depression
Germanwings crash co-pilot hid illness from airline
KLM says 'disturbed passenger' injured co-pilot
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text:
What is Urethra Inflammation?
Bobbie Fredericks
Urethra inflammation is a condition with many causes. Urethritis is the medical term, although this name is usually reserved for cases of inflammation caused by sexually transmitted infections. Other causes of inflammation of the urethra include streptoccocal infections, viral infections, urinary tract infections, and irritating substances. It is also sometimes seen in patients who do self-catheterization. In men over 50, it can be associated with an enlarged prostate.
The urethra is a tube that connects to the bladder.
The most common cause of urethra inflammation is sexually transmitted diseases, including gonorrhea and chlamydia. All other causes affect a much smaller number of patients. The most common symptoms are painful urination, difficulty urinating, and blood in the urine. Other symptoms depend on the cause of the condition. Both men and women can have asymptomatic inflammation of the urethra.
Patients who require a catheter are at an increased risk for urethra inflammation.
In addition to pain, urethritis caused by a bacterial sexually transmitted infection can cause discharge from the urethra in men. The discharge may be yellow, and urination and ejaculation may be blood stained. There is rarely discharge from the urethra in women, although there may be vaginal discharge. Treatment of urethra inflammation caused by sexually transmitted infection is with antibiotics. All sexual partners of the infected individual must be treated as well to prevent reinfection.
With men over 50, urethra inflammation can often be associated with an enlarged prostate.
Viral causes of urethritis include herpes simplex and cytomegalovirus. In addition to painful urination, symptoms of herpes simplex infection include a tingling sensation in the genitals, blisters, and possible difficulty urinating. Cytomegalovirus infection of the urinary tract causes difficulty urinating and burning pain on urination. Both can be treated with antiviral drugs, but herpes simplex cannot be cured.
Urethra inflammation can also be caused by bacteria that cause urinary tract infections, such as E. coli. In addition to urinary symptoms, there is often abdominal pain, and occasionally fever with a urinary tract infection. These infections are easily treated with antibiotics.
In cases where inflammation is caused by exposure to an irritating substance, that substance should be avoided. Latex catheters are more often associated with this condition than other types of catheters. Patients who use the latex kind and have inflammation should switch to another material.
Since some cases of urethra inflammation go unrecognized, there may be complications. Inflammation may lead to urinary tract infection and scarring of the urethra. In men, it may lead to swelling of the epididymis, testicles, and prostate. In women, it may lead to inflammation of the cervix and ovaries, ectopic pregnancy, pelvic inflammatory disease, and miscarriage. Any symptoms of inflammation should be reported to a health care provider.
Urine is released through the urethral opening during urination.
What Is a Retrograde Urethrogram?
What Is a Urethral Caruncle?
What Causes Urethritis?
What Is Non-Specific Urethritis?
What is Prostatism?
What is the Pathophysiology of Urinary Tract Infection?
What are the Causes of a Urinary Tract Infection with Bleeding?
What would cause a constant tingling feeling the in glans and frenulum when touched by anything, even clothes, as well as a strained feeling in urethra after urination and ejaculation?
It seems like a drop of urine won't come out. It's worse with anxiety and strangely when exercising my legs.
I have no burning. Besides straining, it would be a pleasurable feeling if it went away at some point.
stoneMason
There is also a condition called reactive arthritis that can cause symptoms of urethra inflammation (except discharge) and UTI symptoms. I learned about this from my doctor who suspected that I have this but I was finally diagnosed with chronic pelvic pain syndrome.
donasmrs
@turquoise-- It's possible. My husband has prostatitis and whenever he has a flare-up, interstitial cystitis and urethritis usually follows.
These are all connected and in close proximity to one another. So inflammation in one can cause inflammation and pain in the other.
In regards to infections though, have you had blood tests done? There are so many infections that can cause inflammation in the urethra that I don't think it's a good idea to cross them off the list without having medical testing done first.
I have urethritis symptoms but I don't think I'm suffering from an infection, especially not a sexually transmitted one.
I do have a history of bladder problems however and I'm wondering if the urethra could become inflamed due to irritation in the bladder? Has anyone experienced something like this?


text:
package glut

import (
	"testing"
	"time"

	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"

	"github.com/256dpi/fire/coal"
)

func TestAddValueIndexes(t *testing.T) {
	withTester(t, func(t *testing.T, tester *coal.Tester) {
		idx := coal.NewCatalog()
		AddModelIndexes(idx, time.Hour)

		assert.NoError(t, idx.EnsureIndexes(tester.Store))
		assert.NoError(t, idx.EnsureIndexes(tester.Store))
	})
}


text:
Johann Georg Maierhofer (* 1959 in der Oberpfalz) ist ein deutscher Autor und Kalligraf.

Leben
Johann Maierhofer arbeitete zunächst als Verwaltungsfachwirt und im Anschluss an ein Studium der Sozialarbeit als Diplom-Sozialpädagoge. Nach Studienjahren bei Werner Eikel und dem Besuch von Seminaren am Institut für Kunsterziehung der Universität Regensburg gründete er in Regensburg sein eigenes Atelier. Seither entstanden zahlreiche Auftragsarbeiten, wie die kalligrafische Gestaltung eines Meditationslabyrinthes in Schloss Spindlhof, die Fassadengestaltung des Künstlerhauses in Kallmünz und die Anfertigung der Ehrenbürgerurkunde der Stadt Regensburg für Papst Benedikt XVI.

In den 1990er Jahren veröffentlichte Johann Maierhofer Kurzgeschichten in verschiedenen Zeitungen.

Ausstellungen

Bücher
 Kalligrafie. Die Kunst des schönen Schreibens.
 Kalligrafie. 7-Tage-Einsteigerprogramm.
 Kalligrafie. Aus Formen werden Buchstaben.
 Der kleine Prinz und der Mond, Karl-Rauch-Verlag, Düsseldorf 2015
 Sonnengeschichten, Zwiebook-Verlag, Dresden 2016

Weblinks

 Maierhofers Atelier in Regensburg
 aktuelle Lesungen

Kalligraf (Deutschland)
Deutscher
Geboren 1959
Mann

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


PR Director for OgilvyOne worldwide. In a global network agency, this position has international reach.
In July 2005, Ann-Christin moved to Hamburg, Germany's media capital, to set up her own business as an independent corporate communications consultant. Her clients include foreign companies looking to establish themselves in the German market, agencies and service companies.
Her wide experience enables Ann-Christin to handle PR for all industries. Ann-Christin takes great pride in creating positive working relationships – right from the very first contact.


text:
Blue Cross is sitting on a huge pile of money. In some states, consumers would get it back.
by Isabelle Taft and Kate Royals April 25, 2022 December 14, 2022
Janah Garriga's 12-year-old daughter, Joshlyn, was diagnosed with T-cell leukemia in February. Joshlyn loves her doctors and nurses at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.
But when Garriga took her daughter to an appointment in early April, she was asked to sign a letter accepting full financial responsibility for all the costs of her daughter's treatment because the hospital recently went out of network with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Mississippi, her insurance company.
The letter turned out to be a mistake on the hospital's part. Because Medicaid is her daughter's secondary insurer, Garriga fortunately won't be on the hook for out-of-pocket cancer treatment — unlike many other families across the state.
But after so much confusion, she still worries something could go wrong, complicating her daughter's cancer treatment.
As the stalemate between the state's largest hospital and its largest insurer drags on, some of the most gravely ill Mississippians are reaping the consequences, forced to delay needed care, travel out of state and leave doctors with whom they've built relationships over years.
Blue Cross of Mississippi is refusing to pay UMMC more for its services. Meanwhile, the for-profit mutual insurance company is sitting on an enormous reserve of money, a Mississippi Today investigation shows, hiding its top leaders' compensation amounts and transferring its members' power to longstanding company executives.
Most policyholders caught in the middle of the insurer's dispute with UMMC are unaware that they have signed away their right to participate in the board's decisions and are surprised to learn that Blue Cross holds a surplus of hundreds of millions of dollars.
When Garriga learned about the size of Blue Cross of Mississippi's surplus, she was speechless for a moment.
"It's greed," she said. "… And it's sad that it's people's life at stake."
Financial records show the company has accumulated far more than what regulators require to protect consumers, and perhaps the largest such surplus by percentage of any Blue Cross company in the country.
The value of the company's surplus stands at about $750 million, about eight times the level that would trigger regulators to take action and about four times the level Blue Cross sets as the floor for companies with its trademark.
"That is extraordinarily high for a company of that size," said Brendan Bridgeland, an attorney and director of the Boston-based Center for Insurance Research, which advocates on behalf of insurance consumers. "It seems like (policyholders) are probably paying more than they should for their health insurance."
Bryan Lagg, senior vice president of consumer markets and sales at Blue Cross of Mississippi, said the reserves are a "critical component" of the company's financial security and its ability to pay for future health care services.
"This is even more important today due to the cost of health care services," Lagg said in a statement. "We take great pride in knowing payments for health care services (for our Members and Network Providers) will continue even in the event of a natural disaster, economic crisis or the uncertainties of a pandemic."
The surplus has attracted little public scrutiny in part because of a governance structure that curtails oversight.
As a mutual insurance company, Blue Cross of Mississippi is supposed to be owned by its policyholders, who can participate in meetings and hold company executives accountable. But policyholders give up that right when they sign up for coverage and can earn it back only by mailing a written request to the company's headquarters. That means a handful of board members have been making decisions that affect hundreds of thousands of Mississippians with almost no oversight from either investors or policyholders.
Blue Cross officials did not answer questions about the structure of the company, including how many members have filed written requests or what the process is after a request is filed.
Consumer advocates say the size of the surplus means the company could afford to pass savings on to consumers by reducing rates. Instead, Blue Cross has raised premiums for many of its consumers in recent years.
In January 2020, for example, it hiked fees for small business plans by 13%, affecting 55,000 Mississippians. Premiums for two types of individual health plans were also increased 16% in the same time frame. The company cited a significant underwriting loss, which occurs when a company has to pay more in claims than it expected.
Chuck Bell, programs director at the advocacy organization Consumer Reports, has studied health insurance surplus levels around the country. After reviewing the surplus level held by Blue Cross of Mississippi, he said he sees a role for state oversight. As a for-profit insurer, the company could return excess surplus to the community by lowering rates.
"We think it's appropriate for the state to put some guardrails around how much surplus can be accumulated, and not leave it to the boards and managements of the health plans, who may or may not take action," he said.
After raising rates in 2020, the insurance company went on to triple its profits that same year, according to its annual statement. The insurer made over $60 million that year compared to around $20 million in 2019.
Officials with the company said the increase was due primarily to stock investment performance and a delay in the impact of COVID-related claims. The company's 2021 net income was just under $17 million with a "significant underwriting loss," said Cayla Mangrum, manager of corporate communications for the company.
Lagg said the company uses the vast majority of customers' premiums to pay their health care costs, meeting and often exceeding federal requirements for that metric. Instead of relying on premiums to make money, the company says it profits through "administrative efficiency and investments."
When an individual signs up for insurance with Blue Cross of Mississippi, a seldom-noticed part of the policy states the person transfers that power to company executives.
"As a part of the Subscriber's enrollment for membership and coverage with Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi … he or she has appointed Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi's President, Executive Vice President, and Secretary as proxies to cast his or her vote, upon concurrence of at least two of them, on all matters arising at membership meetings," the policy states.
If the policy holder wants to challenge the proxy, he or she must file a "written revocation" with the company.
Officials at Blue Cross of Mississippi declined to answer Mississippi Today's questions about this policy.
Typically, Bridgeland said, a mutual company will notify policyholders each year about an annual meeting or upcoming vote and request a proxy designation – not require customers to appoint the executives as proxies in perpetuity when they sign up for coverage.
Bridgeland said he had never seen a mutual insurance company with such strict limits on policyholder participation.
"It runs against any sort of corporate governance recommendations I've seen and is very much out of line with best practices," he said. "And the reason is because you don't want to make management completely insulated, which this effectively does."
In theory, a mutual company puts policyholders in charge of executives. But Bridgeland said things rarely work out that way, because it's difficult for individual policyholders to exercise power, so executives treat the company like a "personal fiefdom." At Blue Cross Mississippi, the proxy policy has given the board total control and almost no oversight.
The composition of the board of directors hasn't changed much this century, for example. From 2005 to 2017, there was just one addition: Mary Carol Pigott, the chief operating officer in 2005, became CEO and president and joined the board of directors by 2012. Richard John Hale, her predecessor as CEO, then became chairman of the board.
When Blue Cross converted from a nonprofit to a for-profit mutual company in 1995, it had a 15-member board. By the mid-2000s, it had only seven or eight members. According to the rules established in 1995, board members vote to appoint new members.
"It's sort of like an old Soviet Russia election," Bridgeland says. "The party tells you who to vote for. So there's gonna be zero change."
Blue Cross officials also declined to answer questions about why its board membership has dwindled over the years.
In order to guarantee an insurance company can pay out all the claims that could come its way, regulators establish a certain amount of capital they must hold, similar to a rainy day fund. The size of a company's surplus is expressed as a percentage of the baseline requirement, called the risk-based capital ratio.
Generally insurers try to hold at least three times as much capital as the minimum requirement– a ratio of 300%.
If the ratio is too low – meaning the company has fewer assets and more liabilities – the company risks insolvency and its customers could get hurt. But if the ratio is too high, the company may be hoarding customers' cash with no benefit to them, especially if it raises their rates anyway.
At Blue Cross of Mississippi, the ratio stood at 1,578% at the end of 2021. United, the next largest insurer in the state, held a ratio of 1,078%, according to financial documents Mississippi Today obtained. The ratio for Ambetter, which sells plans on the health insurance marketplace, was 745%.
The Mississippi company's surplus is significantly larger than those of its Blue Cross peers in neighboring states. Louisiana held a ratio of 944% at the end of 2021, and Arkansas of 751%. The for-profit Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Georgia held a ratio of 506%.
Officials at the state insurance department said there is no ceiling for the surplus, so Blue Cross of Mississippi isn't violating any rules or laws.
"Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi's financial strength, administrative efficiency and rating discipline are for the benefit of our Members and should not be used to mislead or distract from the issue and why UMMC made the decision to become non-network," Lagg said. "The issue is the cost and quality of health care services for our Members and UMMC's outrageous demands which will only further increase costs unnecessarily."
But the size of the company's surplus far outpaces industry averages. A 2019 report by the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation looked at surpluses held by 16 Blue Cross companies around the country. Mississippi's surplus was the largest, at 1700%. The second-largest, in Idaho, was 1321%.
Ten of the companies held a surplus below 1000%. The average was 937%.
Blue Cross' unusually large surplus has held for years. From 2013 to 2017, Mississippi's surplus never dipped below 1600% and was consistently the highest in the group the Vermont report studied.
Though Mississippi's regulations haven't stopped Blue Cross from amassing this rainy day fund, regulators in other states have imposed limits on insurers' surplus levels.
The Pennsylvania legislature gave regulators the authority to review surplus levels at Blue Cross insurers, which are nonprofit, and require them to justify or reduce any surplus beyond a certain level. Most recently, that cap was set at 750% for larger plans or 950% for smaller plans, which experience more volatility and thus need a larger cushion.
Blue Cross is by far the biggest private insurer in Mississippi, with about 56% of the market. United, the second-largest, claims only 17%.
The size of the company's surplus "would suggest to me that there is available money here, that in the hands of good advocates, maybe ought to be addressed to health care needs," said Walter Smith, executive director of the nonprofit group D.C. Appleseed.
Smith's organization won a legal battle with a local nonprofit Blue Cross affiliate that had amassed "excessive" surpluses with a smaller pile of extra assets than what Blue Cross of Mississippi currently holds. The settlement agreement required the company to set up a $95 million fund to support public health in D.C.
Because Blue Cross of Mississippi is a for-profit company, it's not directly comparable to the D.C. case his organization spearheaded, which involved a nonprofit founded as a "charitable and benevolent institution," Smith said. But consumer advocates say if a for-profit company has a huge surplus, it shouldn't need to raise rates, and in some states regulators could stop it from doing so.
But in Mississippi, state law prohibits regulators from using an insurer's surplus level to justify approving or denying a rate increase. And moreover, the state insurance commissioner does not control rates on group and self-funded plans, according to Commissioner Mike Chaney.
"The only rate authority we have for Blue Cross and Blue Shield is for individual policies, and they have less than 30,000 people (with those plans) in the state," said Chaney.
Editor's note: Kate Royals, Mississippi Today's community health editor since January 2022, worked as a writer/editor for UMMC's Office of Communications from November 2018 through August 2020, writing press releases and features about the medical center's schools of dentistry and nursing. A longtime journalist in major Mississippi newsrooms, Royals had served as a Mississippi Today reporter for two years before her stint at UMMC. At UMMC, Royals was in no way involved in management decisions or anything related to the medical center's relationship or contract with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Mississippi.
by Isabelle Taft and Kate Royals, Mississippi Today

Blue Cross is sitting on a huge pile of money. In some states, consumers would get it back.

by Isabelle Taft and Kate Royals, Mississippi Today
April 25, 2022

Janah Garriga's 12-year-old daughter, Joshlyn, was diagnosed with T-cell leukemia in February. Joshlyn loves her doctors and nurses at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

But when Garriga took her daughter to an appointment in early April, she was asked to sign a letter accepting full financial responsibility for all the costs of her daughter's treatment because the hospital recently went out of network with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Mississippi, her insurance company.

The letter turned out to be a mistake on the hospital's part. Because Medicaid is her daughter's secondary insurer, Garriga fortunately won't be on the hook for out-of-pocket cancer treatment — unlike many other families across the state.

But after so much confusion, she still worries something could go wrong, complicating her daughter's cancer treatment.

As the stalemate between the state's largest hospital and its largest insurer drags on, some of the most gravely ill Mississippians are reaping the consequences, forced to delay needed care, travel out of state and leave doctors with whom they've built relationships over years.

Blue Cross of Mississippi is refusing to pay UMMC more for its services. Meanwhile, the for-profit mutual insurance company is sitting on an enormous reserve of money, a Mississippi Today investigation shows, hiding its top leaders' compensation amounts and transferring its members' power to longstanding company executives.

Most policyholders caught in the middle of the insurer's dispute with UMMC are unaware that they have signed away their right to participate in the board's decisions and are surprised to learn that Blue Cross holds a surplus of hundreds of millions of dollars.

When Garriga learned about the size of Blue Cross of Mississippi's surplus, she was speechless for a moment.

"It's greed," she said. "... And it's sad that it's people's life at stake."

Financial records show the company has accumulated far more than what regulators require to protect consumers, and perhaps the largest such surplus by percentage of any Blue Cross company in the country.

The value of the company's surplus stands at about $750 million, about eight times the level that would trigger regulators to take action and about four times the level Blue Cross sets as the floor for companies with its trademark.

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"That is extraordinarily high for a company of that size," said Brendan Bridgeland, an attorney and director of the Boston-based Center for Insurance Research, which advocates on behalf of insurance consumers. "It seems like (policyholders) are probably paying more than they should for their health insurance."

Bryan Lagg, senior vice president of consumer markets and sales at Blue Cross of Mississippi, said the reserves are a "critical component" of the company's financial security and its ability to pay for future health care services.

"This is even more important today due to the cost of health care services," Lagg said in a statement. "We take great pride in knowing payments for health care services (for our Members and Network Providers) will continue even in the event of a natural disaster, economic crisis or the uncertainties of a pandemic."

The surplus has attracted little public scrutiny in part because of a governance structure that curtails oversight.

As a mutual insurance company, Blue Cross of Mississippi is supposed to be owned by its policyholders, who can participate in meetings and hold company executives accountable. But policyholders give up that right when they sign up for coverage and can earn it back only by mailing a written request to the company's headquarters. That means a handful of board members have been making decisions that affect hundreds of thousands of Mississippians with almost no oversight from either investors or policyholders.

Blue Cross officials did not answer questions about the structure of the company, including how many members have filed written requests or what the process is after a request is filed.

Consumer advocates say the size of the surplus means the company could afford to pass savings on to consumers by reducing rates. Instead, Blue Cross has raised premiums for many of its consumers in recent years.

In January 2020, for example, it hiked fees for small business plans by 13%, affecting 55,000 Mississippians. Premiums for two types of individual health plans were also increased 16% in the same time frame. The company cited a significant underwriting loss, which occurs when a company has to pay more in claims than it expected.

Chuck Bell, programs director at the advocacy organization Consumer Reports, has studied health insurance surplus levels around the country. After reviewing the surplus level held by Blue Cross of Mississippi, he said he sees a role for state oversight. As a for-profit insurer, the company could return excess surplus to the community by lowering rates.

"We think it's appropriate for the state to put some guardrails around how much surplus can be accumulated, and not leave it to the boards and managements of the health plans, who may or may not take action," he said.

After raising rates in 2020, the insurance company went on to triple its profits that same year, according to its annual statement. The insurer made over $60 million that year compared to around $20 million in 2019.

Officials with the company said the increase was due primarily to stock investment performance and a delay in the impact of COVID-related claims. The company's 2021 net income was just under $17 million with a "significant underwriting loss," said Cayla Mangrum, manager of corporate communications for the company.

Lagg said the company uses the vast majority of customers' premiums to pay their health care costs, meeting and often exceeding federal requirements for that metric. Instead of relying on premiums to make money, the company says it profits through "administrative efficiency and investments."

When an individual signs up for insurance with Blue Cross of Mississippi, a seldom-noticed part of the policy states the person transfers that power to company executives.

"As a part of the Subscriber's enrollment for membership and coverage with Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi … he or she has appointed Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi's President, Executive Vice President, and Secretary as proxies to cast his or her vote, upon concurrence of at least two of them, on all matters arising at membership meetings," the policy states.

If the policy holder wants to challenge the proxy, he or she must file a "written revocation" with the company.

Officials at Blue Cross of Mississippi declined to answer Mississippi Today's questions about this policy.

Typically, Bridgeland said, a mutual company will notify policyholders each year about an annual meeting or upcoming vote and request a proxy designation – not require customers to appoint the executives as proxies in perpetuity when they sign up for coverage.

Bridgeland said he had never seen a mutual insurance company with such strict limits on policyholder participation.

"It runs against any sort of corporate governance recommendations I've seen and is very much out of line with best practices," he said. "And the reason is because you don't want to make management completely insulated, which this effectively does."

In theory, a mutual company puts policyholders in charge of executives. But Bridgeland said things rarely work out that way, because it's difficult for individual policyholders to exercise power, so executives treat the company like a "personal fiefdom." At Blue Cross Mississippi, the proxy policy has given the board total control and almost no oversight.

The composition of the board of directors hasn't changed much this century, for example. From 2005 to 2017, there was just one addition: Mary Carol Pigott, the chief operating officer in 2005, became CEO and president and joined the board of directors by 2012. Richard John Hale, her predecessor as CEO, then became chairman of the board.

When Blue Cross converted from a nonprofit to a for-profit mutual company in 1995, it had a 15-member board. By the mid-2000s, it had only seven or eight members. According to the rules established in 1995, board members vote to appoint new members.

"It's sort of like an old Soviet Russia election," Bridgeland says. "The party tells you who to vote for. So there's gonna be zero change."

Blue Cross officials also declined to answer questions about why its board membership has dwindled over the years.

In order to guarantee an insurance company can pay out all the claims that could come its way, regulators establish a certain amount of capital they must hold, similar to a rainy day fund. The size of a company's surplus is expressed as a percentage of the baseline requirement, called the risk-based capital ratio.

Generally insurers try to hold at least three times as much capital as the minimum requirement– a ratio of 300%.

If the ratio is too low – meaning the company has fewer assets and more liabilities – the company risks insolvency and its customers could get hurt. But if the ratio is too high, the company may be hoarding customers' cash with no benefit to them, especially if it raises their rates anyway.

At Blue Cross of Mississippi, the ratio stood at 1,578% at the end of 2021. United, the next largest insurer in the state, held a ratio of 1,078%, according to financial documents Mississippi Today obtained. The ratio for Ambetter, which sells plans on the health insurance marketplace, was 745%.

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The Mississippi company's surplus is significantly larger than those of its Blue Cross peers in neighboring states. Louisiana held a ratio of 944% at the end of 2021, and Arkansas of 751%. The for-profit Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Georgia held a ratio of 506%.

Officials at the state insurance department said there is no ceiling for the surplus, so Blue Cross of Mississippi  isn't violating any rules or laws.

"Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi's financial strength, administrative efficiency and rating discipline are for the benefit of our Members and should not be used to mislead or distract from the issue and why UMMC made the decision to become non-network," Lagg said. "The issue is the cost and quality of health care services for our Members and UMMC's outrageous demands which will only further increase costs unnecessarily."

But the size of the company's surplus far outpaces industry averages. A 2019 report by the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation looked at surpluses held by 16 Blue Cross companies around the country. Mississippi's surplus was the largest, at 1700%. The second-largest, in Idaho, was 1321%.

Ten of the companies held a surplus below 1000%. The average was 937%.

Blue Cross' unusually large surplus has held for years. From 2013 to 2017, Mississippi's surplus never dipped below 1600% and was consistently the highest in the group the Vermont report studied.

Though Mississippi's regulations haven't stopped Blue Cross from amassing this rainy day fund, regulators in other states have imposed limits on insurers' surplus levels.

The Pennsylvania legislature gave regulators the authority to review surplus levels at Blue Cross insurers, which are nonprofit, and require them to justify or reduce any surplus beyond a certain level. Most recently, that cap was set at 750% for larger plans or 950% for smaller plans, which experience more volatility and thus need a larger cushion.

Blue Cross is by far the biggest private insurer in Mississippi, with about 56% of the market. United, the second-largest, claims only 17%.

The size of the company's surplus "would suggest to me that there is available money here, that in the hands of good advocates, maybe ought to be addressed to health care needs," said Walter Smith, executive director of the nonprofit group D.C. Appleseed.

Smith's organization won a legal battle with a local nonprofit Blue Cross affiliate that had amassed "excessive" surpluses with a smaller pile of extra assets than what Blue Cross of Mississippi  currently holds. The settlement agreement required the company to set up a $95 million fund to support public health in D.C.

Because Blue Cross of Mississippi is a for-profit company, it's not directly comparable to the D.C. case his organization spearheaded, which involved a nonprofit founded as a "charitable and benevolent institution," Smith said. But consumer advocates say if a for-profit company has a huge surplus, it shouldn't need to raise rates, and in some states regulators could stop it from doing so.

But in Mississippi, state law prohibits regulators from using an insurer's surplus level to justify approving or denying a rate increase. And moreover, the state insurance commissioner does not control rates on group and self-funded plans, according to Commissioner Mike Chaney.

"The only rate authority we have for Blue Cross and Blue Shield is for individual policies, and they have less than 30,000 people (with those plans) in the state," said Chaney.

Editor's note: Kate Royals, Mississippi Today's community health editor since January 2022, worked as a writer/editor for UMMC's Office of Communications from November 2018 through August 2020, writing press releases and features about the medical center's schools of dentistry and nursing. A longtime journalist in major Mississippi newsrooms, Royals had served as a Mississippi Today reporter for two years before her stint at UMMC. At UMMC, Royals was in no way involved in management decisions or anything related to the medical center's relationship or contract with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Mississippi.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Tagged: blue cross dispute, featured, health
Isabelle Taft
itaft@mississippitoday.org
Isabelle, an Atlanta native, covers health as part of Mississippi Today's community health team. Prior to joining Mississippi Today, she was a reporter for the Biloxi Sun Herald and a Report for America corps member.
More by Isabelle Taft
Kate Royals
kroyals@mississippitoday.org
Kate Royals is a Jackson native and returned to Mississippi Today as the lead education reporter after serving in the same capacity from 2016 to 2018. Prior to that, she was a reporter for the Clarion-Ledger covering education and state government. She won awards for her investigative work, including stories about the state's campaign finance laws and prison system. She was a news producer at MassLive in Springfield, Mass., after graduating from Louisiana State University's Manship School of Mass Communications with a master's degree in communications.
More by Kate Royals
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text:
North Staffordshire Magistrates Court
Drunken thug assaulted his girlfriend before repeatedly punching her dad in street attack
Jamie Thorley had drunk 12 pints before launching the assaults
Stoke-on-Trent Live
Drunken Jamie Thorley pushed his partner to the ground before repeatedly punching her dad after a row erupted as they walked home from the pub.
The 29-year-old had drunk about 12 pints when he fell out with his girlfriend as they made their way along Town Road, Hanley, in the early hours of March 16.
He grabbed her by her shoulders and threw her to the ground leaving her with pain to her chin and the top of her head.
The defendant then repeatedly punched her dad who was taken to hospital for a treatment to cut over his eye which had to be glued.
Now Thorley has been sentenced to 22 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months, at North Staffordshire Justice Centre.
Prosecutor Lynn Warrington said the victim and her dad went drinking in Hanley on March 15 and the defendant, who had been with them earlier, returned at 11.45pm.
Jamie Thorley was handed a suspended jail sentence at North Staffordshire Justice Centre
Miss Warrington said: "While on Town Road, during the course of an argument, he grabbed her by her shoulders and threw her to the ground. As she hit the floor she could feel pain to her chin and hit the top of her head as well. She could see him shouting at her father.
'It should be a safe place' - Staff and residents left shaken as this drugged-up couple raid care home
"The victim's dad was punched by the defendant. He was not expecting it and he instantly fell to the floor. The defendant mounted him and started to punch him to the right side of the face. He punched him several times while on the floor. The victim would say at least six times."
Thorley, of Lilac Grove, Blurton, pleaded guilty to two offences of assault by beating.
The defendant told a probation officer he had drunk about 12 pints and described himself as 'quite intoxicated'. He wanted to go home but his partner did not want to. He went home but did not have the key so he went back to the pub and the three left to walk home.
He said she waved her bag at him and he pushed her and she fell. He added her father started to 'antagonise' him and accepts he ran over and punched him several times in the face.
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Mike Kimberley, mitigating, said: "He hangs his head in shame. He is appalled of his conduct. He is deeply upset. He has accepted the relationship has ended and there is no chance of any reconciliation."
As part of the suspended sentence Thorley must complete a rehabilitation activity requirement for 15 days and 100 hours unpaid work.
He was made the subject of indefinite restraining orders which prevents him having any contact with his ex-partner or her dad.
And he was ordered to pay his ex £500 compensation and her dad £750.
District Judge Kevin Grego told Thorley: "You are before the courts for a cowardly assault on your girlfriend followed by a serious sustained assault upon her father.
Woman, 102, left severely shaken as burglars ransack North Staffordshire home in terrifying late-night raid
"You are really lucky you are before the court for common assault for both of these people. You might well have been facing a very more serious matter in the crown court.
"The way you threw her to the ground and she banged her head and the way you assaulted her father, punching him repeatedly when he was defenceless on the ground, the injuries could have been catastrophic."
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Well done to Arnie Hipkiss and Matty Emery with the 'Baggies' and 'Zyklon B4SR1' respectively! Both teams included Sanchez from Arsenal, who's certainly adapted quickly to life in the Premier League. We've split the prize for this month, and this should be with Arnie and Matty shortly.
Don't forget there's a break for internationals this coming weekend, fingers crossed that key players remain injury-free!