text:
Deskilling among manufacturing production workers
David Kunst 09 August 2019
Has technological progress in manufacturing been skill-biased or deskilling? This column argues that the conventional distinction between white-collar and production workers has concealed substantial deskilling among manufacturing production workers since the 1950s. Automation has reduced the demand for skilled craftsmen around the world, thereby reducing the number of jobs in which workers with little formal education could acquire significant marketable skills.
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Dating back to at least Tinbergen (1974), the literature on skill demand has argued that technological progress is skill-biased in the sense that it requires increasing human capital investment on the part of workers. The recent increase in inequality is then in part viewed as a consequence of increasing returns to skill. In contrast, Braverman (1974) asserts in an influential book from the same year that "the capitalist mode of production systematically destroys all-around skills where they exist".1
A closer look reveals that both statements may be correct. While the modern literature documents an increasing demand for skilled non-production, or 'white-collar', workers in manufacturing (Berman et al. 1994, 1998), Braverman's claim is about deskilling within the large group of production workers. If he is right, the narrative of technological progress rewarding human capital investments fails to reflect the experience of many production workers: the market value of their skills, often acquired during apprenticeships of several years with low pay, may have declined rather than increased. From this perspective, rising income inequality and polarisation may be the result of declining just as much as of increasing returns to skill, and calling upon workers to make more human capital investments may not be sufficient to allow them to share in the fruits of technological progress.
While the recent literature on labour market polarisation in high-income countries has found more evidence of upskilling than of deskilling (Autor et al. 2006, Goos et al. 2009). Autor (2019) shows that the picture for the US changes dramatically once the focus is on workers without a college degree, which is closer to the group Braverman was concerned about. Over the 1970-2016 period, "almost all occupational change among non-college workers reflects a movement from the middle toward the bottom of the occupational distribution" (Autor 2019).2 In a recent paper, I show that there has been deskilling among manufacturing production workers also on a global scale for more than six decades, drawing on new occupational wage and employment data from more than 150 countries since the 1950s (Kunst 2019a). My findings hence reconcile the conflicting characterisations of technological progress over the 20th century as skill-biased versus deskilling, and suggest that the deskilling of manufacturing production workers' tasks has contributed to the disappearance of production jobs in which even workers with little formal education could acquire valuable skills.
Global manufacturing through the lens of occupations
To go beyond the coarse white-collar versus production jobs distinction, I draw on harmonised household surveys from the World Bank's International Income Distribution Data Set, first described by Montenegro and Hirn (2009), and the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (Minnesota Population Center 2018). In Figure 1, I plot fitted manufacturing employment shares of white-collar workers and two groups of production workers, craftsmen and other production workers, against real GDP per capita.3 It shows that a large majority of manufacturing employees in low-income countries tends to work in craftsman occupations. Their share in manufacturing employment declines with income, but they cease to be the largest group of employees only after an income level of around $10,000 (in 2011 international dollars) and remain important even at higher income levels. In Kunst (2019a), I argue that craftsmen are involved in a larger range of production steps than other production workers, and work in smaller establishments that feature a lower division of labour.4
Figure 1 Fitted occupational employment within manufacturing by GDP per capita
Source: Kunst (2019a).
Notes: The figure shows the predicted manufacturing employment shares from a regression of occupational employment shares among the wage-employed in manufacturing on a third-order polynomial of ln GDP per capita, decade fixed effects and country fixed effects. While the three occupation groups cover almost all manufacturing employees, I do not impose that the fitted employment shares in the three groups in this Figure always add up to 100. See Kunst (2019a) for additional details.
Craftsmen arguably were also the most skilled production workers. For detailed data on relative wages as a proxy for total human capital, I use the extended Occupational Wages around the World database by Freeman and Oostendorp (2019). Figure 2 summarises the wage premia of manufacturing occupations in the 1950s. Handicraft was well remunerated at that time. The typical craftsman earned a wage 16 percentage points above the manufacturing average, whereas the typical other production worker earned a wage 14 percentage points below average. While craftsmen tended to have levels of formal education comparable to other production workers (Kunst 2019a), their substantial wage premium points to higher human capital, acquired for instance through informal apprenticeships and learning on the job rather than formal education.
Figure 2 Occupational wage premia in manufacturing in the 1950s in 112 countries
Notes: The red diamonds represent the occupation group fixed effects from a regression of log wages on country-year fixed effects and occupation group fixed effects. The dots in light grey are the corresponding coefficients from a regression on the more detailed occupation dummies. See Kunst (2019a) for a full list of these occupations.
The changing fortunes of craftsmen
In the literature, deskilling processes have so far been documented for particular countries and industries. For instance, Rasiah (1993) describes how the adoption of shuttleless air-jet looms in the Malaysian textile industry during the 1980s reduced the demand for some skilled craftsmen. Wallace and Kalleberg (1982) argue that the introduction of teletypesetting technology reduced the demand for skilled compositors in the US over the 1931-1978 period. Figure 3 suggests that these case studies capture parts of a global trend. In a sample with relative wages from the textile industries of 133 countries, the left panel shows that the wages of the craftsman occupation of loom fixers and tuners, relative to the machine-operating cloth weavers on average declined by about 4 percentage points per decade between 1953 and 2008. The right panel shows that the wages of machine compositors relative to printing pressmen in the printing industry declined at a similar rate in a sample of 156 countries.5
Figure 3 Craftsman wage premia: Examples from the textiles and printing industries
Notes: The wage premium of loom fixers, tuners (a craftsman occupation) over cloth weavers (machine) (a machine operator occupation) in the textiles industry could be calculated for 1,798 country-year observation from 133 countries in the Occupational Wages around the World database, and the wage premium of machine compositors (a craftsman occupation) over printing pressmen (a machine operator occupation) in the printing industry could be calculated for 2,615 country-year observations from 156 countries. The sub-header shows the point estimate and p-value of a regression of the wage premium on a linear trend (year/10) and country fixed effects, with standard errors clustered at the country level.
One may wonder whether the declining craftsman wage premium is specific to the textile and printing industry, or the selected occupations. In Figure 4, I hence plot the evolution of the average craftsman wage premium for a balanced sample of 86 countries, calculated based on all eight craftsman and 13 other production occupations that are available in the Occupational Wages around the World database since 1953. The figure also shows a substantial decline of the average craftsmen wage premium, from about 37 percentage points in the 1950s to about 9 percentage points in the 2000s, and hence of a similar magnitude as for the examples in Figure 3. The dotted lines show that craftsman wage premia declined in countries of all income levels.
Figure 4 Average craftsman wage premium relative to other production workers
Notes: The average wage premium of manufacturing craftsmen versus other production occupations is based on 86 countries, of which 19 are classified as high income, 43 as middle income, and 24 as low income.
A testable implication of a demand shift away from craftsmen is a simultaneous decline in their relative employment. Figure 5 compares the number of craftsmen per other production worker in the first available year before 1990 with the last available year after 1990 for 44 countries for which I have employment data for both periods. In the first year (on average 1974), there were on average 4.9 craftsmen per other production worker. In the last year (on average 2009), this number had decreased to 1.4 craftsmen per other production worker in the same countries. While a few countries – such as Paraguay (PRY) or Honduras (HND) – experienced particularly large decreases, the number of craftsman per other production worker decreased in 38 of the 44 countries, consistent with a pervasive demand shift away from craftsmen.6
Figure 5 Craftsmen per other production worker in manufacturing
Notes: The figure assigns country labels to the ten countries experiencing the largest decreases in the number of craftsmen per other production worker.
I argue that the declining demand for craftsmen can be understood through the lens of a task model in which a declining price of capital leads to a substitution of craftsman tasks with capital. Consistent with this model, I find that changes in relative craftsman wages and employment within countries over time are significantly associated with changes in manufacturing capital intensities. Task frameworks also highlight that, next to displacing workers, automation may create new tasks (Acemoglu and Restrepo 2019). However, I find that, while craftsman wages decreased relative to occupations outside manufacturing, other production wages did not increase. This suggests that other production workers did not acquire skills comparable to those that craftsmen traditionally possessed, and that any new skill-intensive tasks created by automation have tended to be tasks for white collar workers.
My findings also point to a remarkable continuity in the automation of craftsman tasks in manufacturing, first documented in a literature on deskilling in US manufacturing during the 19th century.7 At the same time, recent case studies from China highlight that deskilling remains a possible outcome of workplace automation even today – in particular in developing countries, where the remaining scope for automation is larger (Huang and Sharif 2017, 2019). Moreover, the accelerating pace of change in labour markets around the world in recent years suggests that the phenomenon of human capital investments losing their market value is increasingly relevant also beyond manufacturing.
These findings do not imply that workers should abstain from making specific human capital investments. Rather, they highlight that, in a technologically dynamic environment, such investments are inherently risky. Hence, social safety nets and subsidised (re-)training programmes have important insurance features which may incentivise workers to undertake such investments in the first place. Strengthening them should be part of the efforts to share the benefits of technological progress widely.
Acemoglu, D and P Restrep (2018), "The race between man and machine: Implications of technology for growth, factor shares, and employment", American Economic Review 108(6): 1488-1542.
Atack, J, F Bateman and R A Margo (2004), "Skill intensity and rising wage dispersion in nineteenth-century American manufacturing", Journal of Economic History 64(1): 172-192.
Autor, D (2019), "Work of the past, work of the future", NBER Working Paper No. 25588.
Autor, D H, L F Katz, and M S Kearney (2006), "The polarization of the U.S. labor market", The American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings 96(2): 189-194.
Berman, E, J Bound and Z Griliches (1994), "Changes in the demand for skilled labor within US manufacturing: Evidence from the annual survey of manufacturers", Quarterly Journal of Economics 109(2): 367-397.
Berman, E, J Bound S and Machin (1998), "Implications of skill-biased technological change: International evidence", Quarterly Journal of Economics 113(4): 1245-1279.
Braverman, H (1974), Labor and monopoly capital: The degradation of work in the twentieth century, New York: Monthly Review Press.
Field, A J (1980), "Industrialization and skill intensity: The case of Massachusetts", Journal of Human Resources 15(2): 149-175.
Freeman, R B and R Oostendorp (2019), "The standardized ILO October Inquiry 1953-2008", mimeo.
Goldin, C and L F Katz (1998), "The origins of technology-skill complementarity", Quarterly Journal of Economics 113(3): 693-732.
Goldin, C and K Sokoloff (1982), "Women, children, and industrialization in the early republic: Evidence from the manufacturing censuses", Journal of Economic History 42(4): 741-774.
Goos, M, A Manning and A Salomons (2009), "Job polarization in Europe", American Economic Review 99(2): 58-63.
Huang, Y and N Sharif (2017), "From 'labour dividend' to 'robot dividend': Technological change and workers' power in South China", Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy 6(1): 53-78.
Huang, Y and N Sharif (2019), "Industrial automation in China's 'workshop of the world'", The China Journal 81(1): 1-22.
James, J A and J S Skinner (1985), "The resolution of the labor-scarcity paradox", Journal of Economic History 45(3): 513-540.
Kunst, D (2019a), "Deskilling among manufacturing production workers", Tinbergen Institute Discussion Paper 19-050/VI.
Kunst, D (2019b), "Premature deindustrialization through the lens of occupations: Which jobs have disappeared, and why?", Tinbergen Institute Discussion Paper 19-033/V.
Minnesota Population Center (2018), Integrated public use microdata series, international: Version 7.1.
Montenegro, C E and M L Hirn (2009), "A new disaggregated set of labour market indicators using standardized household surveys from around the world", World Development Report Background Paper.
Rasiah, R (1993) "Competition and governance: Work in Malaysia's textile and garment industries", Journal of Contemporary Asia 23(1): 3-23.
Rodrik, D (2016) "Premature deindustrialization", Journal of Economic Growth 21(1): 1-33.
Tinbergen, J (1974), "Substitution of graduate by other labour" Kyklos: International Review for Social Sciences.
Wallace, M and A L Kalleberg (1982), "Industrial transformation and the decline of craft: The decomposition of skill in the printing industry, 1931-1978", American Sociological Review 47(3): 307-324.
[1] While Braverman (1974) has been cited more than 16,000 times on Google Scholar to date, it has been more influential in sociology than in economics. He also argues explicitly that there has been a "destruction of craftsmanship" throughout the 20th century (p. 94), which points to the deskilling mechanism highlighted in this column.
[2] It is also interesting to note that already Braverman (1974) wrote of a polarisation of labour demand due to automation, 30 years before Goos and Manning (2007) popularised the term to describe the labour market effects of ICT: "Since, with the development of technology and the application to it of the fundamental sciences, the labour processes of society have come to embody a greater amount of scientific knowledge, clearly the "average" scientific, technical, and in that sense "skill" content of these labour processes is much greater now than in the past. But this is nothing but a tautology. The question is precisely whether the scientific and "educated" content of labour tends toward averaging, or, on the contrary, toward polarization" (p. 294).
[3] Craftsmen correspond to major group 7 of the International Standard Classification of Occupations, other production workers include major groups 8 (machine operators) and 9 (elementary occupations). White-collar workers subsume major groups 1-4 (managers, professionals and clerks). The three groups jointly account for almost all manufacturing wage employment, leaving out only some manufacturing employees classified as either sales & service (major group 5) or agricultural workers (major group 6). I exclude self- or family-employed workers from the samples in order to match the occupational wage data.
[4] This is also apparent from the International Standard Classification of Occupations task description. Craftsman tasks "require the knowledge and experience of skilled trades or handicrafts which, among other things, involves an understanding of materials and tools to be used, as well as of all stages of the production process, including the characteristics and the intended use of the final product".
[5] See Kunst (2019a) for task descriptions of these occupations, which are consistent with the view that the tasks of the craftsman occupation are more complex in both cases.
[6] The choice of 1990 as demarcation year is somewhat arbitrary, but it ensures that there is a reasonable number of countries in the comparison and a reasonable number of years between the first and the last year. However, the decline of the craftsman employment share is a robust feature of the data, see Kunst (2019a) for additional evidence. Only in high-income countries, the employment share of other production workers also decreased alongside craftsman employment. In Kunst (2019b), I argue that this is because these countries have been the first to adopt digitally controlled machines, which substitute for machine operators and elementary occupations. My findings in that paper suggest that even in middle-income countries, increasing technology adoption in recent decades has reduced the number of other production jobs created by automation, resulting in the phenomenon of premature deindustrialisation that has been documented by Rodrik (2016).
[7] See Field (1980), Goldin and Sokoloff (1982), James and Skinner (1985), and Atack et al. (2004). Also see Goldin and Katz (1998) for a model in which the first automation step from artisanal to factory production is deskilling. While they argue that technological change in US manufacturing had become skill-biased already by the early twentieth century, their data do not allow them to distinguish between different groups of production workers. Hence, they mainly rely on the increasing wage bill share of non-production workers as an indicator of skill-biasedness, which does not capture the declining returns to craftsman skills among production workers.
Topics: Economic history Labour markets Productivity and Innovation
Tags: technological progress, human capital, automation
David Kunst
PhD candidate in Economics, Tinbergen Institute and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam


Design in the Field was a collaborative, hands-on burst of design activity for emerging and practicing designers; an opportunity to bust out of the office in the summer and experiment with materials, access wood shops, laser-cutters and letterpress equipment, participate in short design/builds and collaborate with the design community.
Studios, field studies, design-builds and short workshops brought together architects, typographers, urbanists, programmers and artists. Talks and exhibitions focussed on processes of production, materiality, collaboration and interdisciplinary design. All workshops and events took place at Emily Carr University of Art + Design, on Granville Island in Vancouver BC.
TWIGS PAPER FOAM (Pact No. 21) | A one-night non-juried exhibition of work by artists and designers. The Pact aims to support the production and exhibition of collaborative and transient practices, nurturing a participatory learning environment for artists, designers, curators, critics, volunteers, and the public. Facilitated by 221A Artist Run Centre.
Letterpress I | Explore the expressive art of letterpress printing in this hands-on workshop. This intro- ductory workshop will suit both those who are new to letterpress and those who wish to try it for the very first time. You will explore typog- raphy, metal and wood type, hand typesetting for letterpress printing, embossing, and applications for your own books and broadsides. We will discuss typefaces, paper, colour, and using illustrations in your design. You'll go all the way from start to finish by designing and setting your own text, printing, sorting, and distributing type. Bring words and ideas to class. Instruction will be in the Letterpress Room at Emily Carr.
Urban Cartography | Learn to critically read and record the under- lying geometry, overlapping histories and multiple agendas of the city through practices of mapping, measuring and sketching. Using architectural and cartographic tools and tech- niques, students in this course will work at multiple and nested scales to understand the metrics behind what makes neighbourhoods different, how we move through the city, and how the built environment has taken shape. This is an introductory-level course intended to introduce urban inhabitants to ways of reading the city and understanding it through processes of measuring and mapping. Students may include those with an interest in Vancouver history or urban change, or students looking to build an architecture or design portfolio.
Spatial Typography | Experiment with letterforms in this collaborative, hands-on day of dimensional typography. Using an unconventional palette of modular materials, create imaginative letterforms and typographic installations to be mounted in Emily Carr's Concourse Gallery. This workshop will suit those brand new to typography as well as seasoned type-nerds. Led by Vancouver design studio Working Format.
Open Source City: Field Studies | Site visits and urban walks will form the bulk of this week-long investigation into Vancouver's built and living environment. Students will tour a number of urban sites where natural systems are beginning to reas- sert themselves either on their own or with the help of interventionist artists and community activists. We'll compare and critique different approaches to designing the urban landscape and look at emerging notions of 'open-source' landscape and 'un-planning,' as well as social sculpture and relational aesthetic. Led by artist Oliver Kellhammer, the course will address the shifting relationships between the built and un-built environments and the surprising processes of regeneration that can bring highly disturbed places back to environmental and social functionality.
Hack Your Bike | Cyclists of the city unite! What if you could network your bike with your friends and families bikes and your bikes would glow red when you got close to one another? What about if your bike changed colour when you went faster? How about you make your tires a moving LED sign or heat up your seat? The possibilities are endless. Bring in your bike and we will hack it together adding creative electronics to make advancements to the cycling experience. Learn about mobile cre- ative electronics and how they can be a part of your cycling life.
iPhone App Creation | This course will show you how to make your own app for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Using a simple set of tools, you will learn how to design and build an app with an interactive graphical interface and sound components. Issues regarding user interaction and current design methodologies are introduced for mobiles devices. At the end of the course, you will be able to put the app on an iPhone and iPod Touch device and will be shown how to upload it to the online App Store. Students are encouraged to investigate the conceptual and aesthetic potential of mobile technologies and demonstrate design strategies for an interactive work. There is no prior programming experience necessary to take this course.
Laser Cutter Workshop | Access the precision and speed of Emily Carr's laser cutting equipment in this weekend long open studio. Cutting technician Phillip Robbins will assist you in correctly setting up files and selecting materials, but the type of project you choose to do is completely up to you. This course is for practicing designers or those with experience creating vector drawings. All students will get equal minutes of individual technician-assisted cutting time.
Electronic Kits | An introduction to creative applications for electronics using a selection of fun and exciting pre-assembled electronics kits. Students will have an opportunity to work with sound, lights, instruments, badges and more. With the guidance of instructors, students will learn about circuits, wiring, soldering, and other fun and useful information about electronics. This is a beginner level course that's great for anyone looking to experiment with circuitry or those moving on to courses in the Hack Series.


Looking for delightful and dapper 80th birthday presents? We've got you covered.
Getting to the big 8-0 feels like it deserves more than just the usual candle-covered cake and slightly offbeat rendition of 'Happy Birthday'. But how do find a present that's significant enough to celebrate eight decades of life? (A boring candle or pair of undies probably isn't going to cut it.) Lucky for you, there's giftspo galore in our specially curated collection of 80th birthday gifts.
Whether it's your parents, grandparents or Great Aunt Julie that's turning 80, chances are that, by now, they're set in their tastes – so the safest bet is to opt for something classic and timeless. Now might not be the occasion to find out whether Gran likes bright pink flamingo homewares… Play it safe with beautiful bespoke gifts that combine form and function.
For the discerning gent, channel your inner Don Draper for an 80th birthday present that's functional and dapper. An elegant whisky glass, personalised with his name and, er, vintage, an antique-style leather watch box, monogrammed with his initials, or a custom-engraved hip flask housed in a sleek leather case are all thoughtful gifts that he can use frequently and treasure always.
Gifting an 80-year-old dame? Get her something to enrich her hobbies. If she's a green thumb who loves to spend time in the garden, consider a personalised seed tin, flower pressing kit or a new set of gardening gloves with a matching kneeling pad (go easy on those 80-year-old knees!). But if crafting is more her style, a bespoke knitting bag, DIY cross stitch wallet or set of fun retirement challenges are presents that will keep her busy – just don't forget the cuppa to recharge! Serve it up in a custom mug that's personalised with exactly how she likes her tea.
Perhaps you want to mark the occasion with something extra sentimental – in which case, we've got plenty of 80th birthday ideas. Think a special 80th birthday key ring or bottle stop that encases a real vintage sixpence from the year they were born. Or delight them with a piece of custom wall art that's made from memories! Incorporate all of their favourite things into a personalised typography print or have a bespoke design created with a collection of their favourite happy snaps from over the years. Our collection of 80th birthday gifts also includes bespoke printed cushions, keepsake books and personalised poem prints.


Charter school student enrollment has tripled to 2.9 million students over the past 11 years, according to the latest National Alliance report, A Growing Movement: America's Largest Charter School Communities and Their Impact on Student Outcomes. Three in 10 students now attend a charter public school in 17 mostly urban school districts across the country.
For the first time this year, the annual enrollment share report also looks at student performance data and found that in districts where at least 30 percent of students are enrolled in charter schools, nearly all (14 of 16) had a higher percentage of test takers who scored proficient on state tests than did their district counterparts. Results are equally strong for economically disadvantaged charter school students. As parent demand for charter schools continues to strengthen, this year's A Growing Movement report shows that the charter school movement continues to expand to meet that demand and that, more importantly, charter schools are delivering results for students across the country.


Kenneth Cole Black Bold for Men Eau De Toilette Spray – 3.4 oz. This fearless masculine perfume's main accords are fresh spicy, green, woody, ozonic, aquatic, and floral.
Inspired by the fearless spirit of New York, Black Bold is the perfect scent for the man who is led by few, but followed by many. It is daring new fragrance that pushes the boundaries with strength, power, and confidence. From the sleek, leather-like wrapped bottle design to the fragrance notes, Black Bold adds a dynamic new dimension to the Kenneth Cole fragrance collection.
Ground nutmeg, lotus flower, musk.
Kenneth Cole. Fragrance introduced in 2016.


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X-factor stars back Digital Economy Bill
Cheryl Cole's co-star on the X-factor, Simon Cowell, has backed a letter send to MP's urging them to pass the Digital Economy Bill and include a three strikes and you're out rule against persistent IP pirates. Other signatories included Sir Terry Pratchett, Tim Bevan, Paul Greengrass and Stephen Garret.
The text of the letter is below
Britain is admired for its creativity and its sense of fair play. British musicians, singers, actors, writers and directors are known and loved around the world and create some of our greatest assets. Together they contribute more than 7% to the UK economy.
The Digital Economy Bill brings both of these together. It will ensure that British creators, entertainment companies, and the 1.8 million people who work in and around the cultural sector are respected and rewarded in the future as they have been in the past, and that they are fairly paid when they put their work online.
Digital entertainment services are really beginning to take off: fans have never had so much choice as to how to enjoy their music, books, TV and films online. But for these new business models to develop, it is critical that more is done to prevent the illegal services providing easy access to free content.
We urge Parliament to pass this bill as a matter of urgency in order to secure the future of its creative talent and industries.
cheryl cole digital economy bill simon cowell

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import java.util.Collection;

import org.semanticweb.elk.owl.interfaces.ElkEntity;
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import org.semanticweb.elk.reasoner.taxonomy.model.InstanceTaxonomy;
import org.semanticweb.elk.reasoner.taxonomy.model.TypeNode;

/**
 * Implementation with all methods empty.
 *
 * @author Peter Skocovsky
 *
 * @param <T>
 *            The type of members of the type nodes in the taxonomy for which
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 * @param <I>
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 *            which this listener is registered.
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public class DummyInstanceTaxonomyListener<T extends ElkEntity, I extends ElkEntity>
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


This brief examines an issue of current importance to the conduct of U.S. economic policy: how has the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) plan to purchase up to $600 billion of Treasury securities by June 30, 2011 affected the movement of inflation, GDP, and employment to more desirable medium-term and long-term levels? Following the FOMC's announcement of the plan on November 3, 2010, other events that potentially influence Treasury yields have been at play. To estimate the effects that the FOMC Treasury purchases may have on the goal of achieving more desirable levels of inflation and employment, the authors make use of different models to gauge the likely effect upon interest rates, the interest rate effects on real spending (GDP), and how changes in GDP may be affecting the employment rate.
Jeffrey C. Fuhrer & Giovanni P. Olivei, "The estimated macroeconomic effects of the Federal Reserve's large-scale Treasury purchase program" , Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Public Policy Brief, number 11-2, 2011.
This item with handle RePEc:fip:fedbpb:y:2011:n:11-2 is also listed on EconPapers and IDEAS.


We have truly had a beautiful start to Fall this year, really it hasn't even felt like Fall up until these past few days. I met up with Kayla a couple of weeks ago to shoot her Senior portraits and the weather held out until five minutes after we were done and it started to rain! Perfect timing. I'm absolutely in love with how these images turned out, but they also make me a little sad too. I used to babysit for Kayla and her brother back when I was in high school and they were in elementary school. Over the summer we played in the sprinkler, made brownies, and painted our nails. It is truly hard to believe how fast time has flown by. I remember being high school age and thinking that time took forever to pass. How quickly your perceptions on that change as you get older.
Right at the beginning of summer, Kayla sent me a message about taking her Senior portraits. It was actually kind of amazing because I was going to talk to her about being a Senior Representative for me at Arcadia. If you love these pictures as much as I do, be sure to ask her about a discount you can receive when you mention her name at booking. Since we both grew up in Modest Town, we decided to shoot around that area since it was home. We went down to the landing and shot the dock photos and used the nearby cornfield and hay bales. We went for simplicity and I'm so glad that we let nature provide the perfect backdrop. I even broke out a special tool a friend had given me for Christmas to make a really awesome effect on some of the last images. Keep on scrolling to see!
I can't wait to see what the future holds for Kayla and wish her the best of luck in everything she does. Have a wonderful Saturday friends!
This was an area off the road on the way to the docks that I spotted when we came in. I love that my clients trust me, even when I tell them to go stand in the weeds!
Kayla's boyfriend Ray kept us both laughing during the session!
Are you interested in having Erin Ayres Photography capture your senior session?! I would love to hear from you! Feel free to email me at erinayresphotography@gmail.com!
Tomorrow is either the day you have been waiting for or the day that you have been dreading. It's the first day of school! I figured this would be a great time to share Griffin's Senior Session with you guys on the blog this morning. We had absolutely perfect weather for this shoot last week. The humidity was down and the temperature was nice and cool, which was a nice break from the stifling weather we have had all summer. Since soccer is an important part of Griffin's life, we started at Nandua High School soccer field. Griffin was a natural in front of the camera and came up with a couple great posing ideas. I photograph a lot of girl senior sessions and I really love when I book guy sessions because I get to be creative in different ways.
After we left Nandua, we headed down to my favorite wall in downtown Onancock. I just love the way people photograph in front of that wall! It's something about the texture and color of the wood that just look amazing together. We also traveled to the bridge to take a couple shots and ended at the wharf. If you scroll down to the end, you can see that we had a photo bomber friend in the last two shots. Griffin, I hope you have an amazing Senior Year of high school! For all of you that are going back to school as well, I hope you have a productive and exciting year ahead of you! Thanks for stopping by!
I was trying to find numbers on the track that held some sort of significance for this one. After trying a few options, I realized that Griffin's jersey number is 12 and voila!
You guys, seriously though, I love the wall of this building. If they decide to take it down or paint over it I'm going to be really bummed.
If you look over to the bridge in the background, you can see the outline of a heron on the railing that decided to photobomb us. That was 100% not planned. As I was editing through, I noticed him perched up there.
In my head, I've had this vision for a while that I wanted to do a maternity session with a floral crown and the Crepe Myrtle trees in bloom. Dreams really do come true guys!!!
When I reached out to Pat and Alisa about assisting me with my vision, they were totally onboard with everything that I wanted to accomplish. Alisa wanted to shoot in downtown Onancock, which never disappoints. With all the shoots that I have done there, I always find something new to appreciate about the town. I love that Onancock is still growing and expanding, yet the landmarks stay the same. I was so thankful that they were willing to help me build and grown my maternity portfolio!
Baskets & Bows in Tasley, VA did an amazing job as always with the crown. I wanted to keep it really green and natural looking with just some touches of white and they totally delivered. They responded to my inquiry super fast, and when I needed to pick it up a little earlier than expected, they were able to handle my request. Not going to lie, I totally had to try it on. It's a crown, who wouldn't! As I was driving down to Kerr Place, I realized that all of the Crepe Myrtle trees are in bloom around the Shore. I remembered that Kerr Place had a grove of them at the back of the property. Before Pat and Alisa arrived, I went back to check it out and honestly, I have never seen them look more beautiful!
The whole session with these two was just perfect. After teaching them some basic poses, they started posing themselves perfectly with no direction! Pat and I went to school together, so we talked about where life had taken us over the years and I got to meet Alisa for the first time. She is an absolute sweetheart. I talked a little in one of my Instagram posts about how photographing engagement couples used to be my absolute favorite. I have done maternity, but I really found this new beautiful appreciation for it after this shoot. There is just something about the love between two people that are about to have a child. I'm not sure why it feels different. Maybe it's because you know life is about to change and you want to appreciate the one on one time that you have together. Maybe it's because you are more comfortable with your partner than when you were first engaged. Whatever it is, it's magical and I can't wait to photograph more couples who are about to embark on this new journey together.
Lordy y'all! Isn't she stunning? I love how the Crepe Myrtles on the pathway frame these shots.
Seriously, these two black and whites are my favorite images from the shoot. It goes back to my love of film and just the way they are looking at that sweet boy!
Sitting shots can be tricky. If you don't position your clients right they can look and feel uncomfortable. Pat and Alisa nailed it.
Magic hour glow gets me every time.
We had some cute doggy friends try to get in on some of these images at the end of the shoot! I didn't take any pictures because we had to stop to pet them.
Seriously y'all, they are perfect.
Are you interested in having Erin Ayres Photography capture your maternity session?! I would love to hear from you! Feel free to email me at erinayresphotography@gmail.com!
As soon as I pulled into the driveway of Green Valley Farm, I felt like I was home. When I first heard about the new venue here on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, I sent a contact email reaching out to the owners about touring the venue and taking some promotional images of the Farm. Chelsea quickly emailed me back and invited me down! I was super excited to see everything in person, take some images, and then share this with y'all!
As you scroll through these images, I hope that you feel the same attraction and love that I did for this beautiful place. If you are planning a wedding or event or know someone who is, make sure to share this post with them! Or as it goes on the Shore, word of mouth is always good too! If you want more information or to contact Chelsea or Tyler, I have listed their site below! Thanks for stopping by the blog and showing it some love!
This was in the driveway as soon as I pulled up to the house! How perfect would this be for bride and groom portraits!
I am totally in love with this barn. It has so many endless possibilities for portraits.
This would be an absolutely beautiful backdrop for a ceremony or tented reception!
Or you could face this way and have the sunset and horse pasture as your backdrop!
This space could be perfect for your guests to mingle around the bar and sip on something delicious!
Isn't this farmhouse just beautiful? I know Joanna Gaines would approve.
Imagine your guests arriving to your venue on the big day!
You would have some stunning bridal portraits in this garden area, especially with the crepe myrtle trees in bloom.
How gorgeous is this willow tree? It would be perfect for a ceremony space or bride and groom portraits.
This was one of my favorite views of the entire farm. It just took my breath away.
Can you imagine your ceremony under this tree? That magic hour glow is simply perfect!
The bride and her girls could get ready in this adorable guest cottage! Green Valley Farm is also an Air BNB!
Feel like Green Valley Farm could be your dream venue?! Go check them out and drop them a line now!
It's only 60 days left till these two tie the knot! It's hard to believe that my baby sister is getting married this May. When we started brainstorming about where to to take their engagement pictures, I knew I wanted it to be somewhere unique that I had never photographed before. A couple of years ago, I spotted this chimney standing alone in the middle of a field and I knew I had to do a session here. There wasn't one thing I didn't love about it. After some help from friends, I was able to contact the owner of the property and get permission to photograph on the property.
I love the connection that Derek and Hannah have with one another. They were naturals in front of the camera and we shared a lot of laughs together, especially when I taught Derek, "the nuzzle". Not only did we have the beautiful chimney, but there were a lot of unique spots for us to use around the property. I'm glad we had a blanket to shoot with because it was a little bit chilly!
Hope you guys enjoyed this shoot! If you want to check out Hannah and Derek's Wedding Website, it's in the link below!
The more I grow in my photography journey, the more I start to appreciate my couples who like to do their sessions close to home. We had to reschedule Jessie's maternity session at least three times due to the weather. If it wasn't cold, it was raining or blowing but that's winter on the Eastern Shore y'all. Luckily, the day after Jessie's shower came out beautiful and warm, and I was so grateful that we got to take these images before this baby boy decided to make his appearance.
I have been dying to do a session on a boat and with the weather so perfect, we were able to take Robert's work boat out. I was in heaven. Even Nick, their black lab, came along with us for the ride but he was a little camera shy. Jessie and Robert were so relaxed with one another. I can't wait to see them grow as parents.
Though I have lived here all my life, I still am amazed by the beauty of the Shore, even in the winter. Jessie you are so gorgeous! This little boy should be here any day now!
YOU GUYS! I have been so excited to share this shoot with you ever since I took these images. Nikki wanted to use them for Christmas presents so I have been holding off for a while. I had so much fun shooting these with Miss Maddie. I have been dying to do a milk bath shoot for months!
This is my first milk bath shoot and I can't say I wasn't a little nervous about how it would go! I bought two gallons of whole milk and even some powdered milk just for backup. Basically, I bought a ton of milk. We took these at my house in my upstairs bedroom because it gets the most natural light. I laid down some trash bags under the backdrop just in case Maddie got to splashing. She didn't though, she was perfect.
I started by pouring really hot water in the tub to combat the coldness of the milk. I heated one gallon of the milk to some extent but I was afraid that I would start curdling the milk. This should tell you something about my cooking skills. Then I poured the milk into the water and waited for some of the foamy milk to settle out. I ended up adding a little more hot water and used a thermometer to determine the temperature of the milk bath. Once we got it right, we placed the petals and the daisies in the tub and last in went baby girl!
I couldn't get over how much fun Maddie had in the tub! She played with her flowers and even tasted a couple of them. The only thing she did not enjoy was when we tried to lay her down. She was not having any of that mess! I hope you guys enjoy these images as much as I enjoyed shooting them. The beautiful flower crown and flowers were purchased from Baskets & Bows! Make sure you like the Facebook Page so I can share more of my work with you!
The picture with Maddie's tongue out is the first one I took! She was so excited!
Look at those long eyelashes! Maddie you are such a beautiful girl!
Mommy, I want to eat the pretty flowers too!
The first time I saw the property that Savannah and Brandon's home was located on, it blew me away. I've lived on the Eastern Shore for almost my entire life but every new location makes me appreciate my home even more. I had not seen Savannah since Elementary School and Brandon since Middle School but it truly felt like not that much time had passed. When I got to the house to start photographing, everyone was so sweet and welcoming!
One of my favorite parts of the day was seeing Savannah and her daughter Jaden interact with one another. They have such a close bond. It was so touching when Savannah came out in her dress and Jaden began to smooth out the train of her mom's gown. Brandon had given Jaden a beautiful necklace to wear with her dress for the big day. You could just feel the love that everyone had for each other that day.
Savannah's Grandfather walked her down the aisle in front of their closest family and friends. I loved how Savannah and Brandon smiled all through the ceremony at one another and shared some laughs together. After the ceremony, Savannah took us to a special spot on their neighbor's property that I did not get to see when we did their engagement pictures. The sunlight filtering through the trees was absolutely gorgeous! We also got to take some beautiful portraits on the dock close to sunset!
I hope you enjoy some of these moments from their special day!!!
© 2012 Erin Ayres. Powered by WordPress.


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text:
Santandera is een geslacht van rechtvleugeligen uit de familie sabelsprinkhanen (Tettigoniidae). De wetenschappelijke naam van dit geslacht is voor het eerst geldig gepubliceerd in 2008 door Koçak & Kemal.

Soorten
Het geslacht Santandera  is monotypisch en omvat slechts de volgende soort:
Santandera robusta (Hebard, 1927)

Sabelsprinkhanen

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
The Official Athletics Website ofCompton College
Compton College
Athletic Director Welcome
Compton Athletics Newsletter
Athletic Counseling
Scholar-Athletes
Prospective Student-Athlete Information Form
Football's Second Half Rally Falls Short in 30-21 Loss to Mt. San Jacinto
Mt. San Jacinto
Mt. San Jacinto (1-0) 3 20 7 0 30
Compton (0-2) 0 0 7 14 21
Pa: Robert Pimentel - 23
Ru: Josh Campbell - 36
Rec: Harold Johnson - 17
Pa: Sheriron Jones - 236
Ru: Jomari Becnel - 93
Rec: Daniel Singer - 50
Time of Poss.
Compton, Calif. - The Tartars battled back from a 23-0 halftime deficit, but came up short, falling 30-21 against Mt. San Jacinto on Saturday evening in the team's home opener in Tay Brown Stadium.
Freshman Josh Campbell started off the scoring for the Tartars, powering his way into the endzone with 4:49 left in the third after a 74-yard drive by the Tartars to cut the deficit to 23-7.
After a score from the Eagles late in the third quarter, sophomore Harold Johnson counted an 11-yard pass from freshman Robert Pimentel with 8:37 to go in the game with sophomore Gregory Filer III giving the Tartars back-to-back touchdowns on a 31-yard pick six. But the Eagles (1-0) controlled the ball for the remainder of the game, halting Compton's comeback.
Freshman Robert Pimentel went 5-of-9 for 23 yards and a touchdown, adding 13 rushing yards. The backfield combined for 112 rushing yards from 10 different Tartar players.
Defensively, sophomore David Cooper posted 9.5 tackles, eight of which were unassisted, and sophomore Samuel Shirley tallied 6.5 tackles.
The Tartars (0-2) continue their homestand, hosting San Diego Mesa next on Saturday, Sept. 16 at 6 p.m. Tickets are $8 for adults, $5 for senior citizens (60+) and staff/faculty with ID, $3 for students with valid ID, and free for students with a valid ASB sticker or children 12 and under.
Copyright © 2017 Compton College


At the Incredible India@60 celebrations in New York, Professor C.K. Prahalad, management guru at University of Michigan, shared his vision of India@75 in 2022 as a country with economic strength, technological vitality and moral leadership.
Excited about this long-term strategy for economic development, CII adopted his vision on 8 May 2008. A pan-India visioning exercise was undertaken, involving consultations with diverse groups of people including Government, industry leaders, housewives, academics, students, and many others. Thus, was compiled the National Vision Document: India@75 – The People's Agenda.
To give this initiative a strong visual identity, a logo with eye-catching elements was designed. It comprised people in seven colours with arms raised symbolising effort and action and individuality as well as the seven themes/steps towards development. The arrangement of the people in two circles represents collaboration, anchored around a shared aspiration.
The two circles form a Charkha, a nationally recognisable symbol of individual effort and self-reliance, which when multiplied by millions of individuals, causes a revolution. This also connects India@75 with Mahatma Gandhi as the Father of the Nation whose ideals have held true through India's development. The symbol has since then stood for unity in diversity and dynamism in moving forward.
The National Vision Document became CII's guiding document as it worked towards creating an inclusively developed India by 2022.
Bolstering the efforts of the Foundation were initiatives undertaken by CII under the four key pillars of CII's work – policy advocacy, nurturing and enhancing competitiveness, connecting with society, and business development.
To amplify the efforts and make it a truly pan-India exercise, one of the key enablers has been volunteerism, which encourages citizen participation.
The National Volunteering Grid (NVG) creates an ecosystem of structured volunteering in India, with 'Count Me In' and 'Pro Bono' to encourage congregation and collaboration in a cohesive manner.
Under the Theme of 'Count Me In', a National Volunteering Week (NVW) has been institutionalised since 2014, which is observed from 18 to 24 January every year. NVW has been supported by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports through the National Service Scheme (NSS) and the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sanghathan (NYKS), Ministry of Corporate Affairs, besides being supported by corporates, NGOs, educational institutions, organizations and individuals across India.
The Pro Bono programme helps create a strategic collaborative platform for industry and civil society as partners for India's development.
India@75 has gathered support and momentum over the years across a range of important stakeholders such as the Union and State Governments, corporates and civil society, moving from an idea to actual on-ground results.
It has found resonance with the Government, as in the 'Strategy for New India@75' document released by the NITI Aayog.
Skillpedia, a web portal was developed by India@75, now managed by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
Project Roshni, a project of the President of India implemented in the President's Estate for creating sustainable urban habitats through capacity building of communities, partnering with India@75 Foundation and the Roshni Prachodaya Society. It won the Golden Peacock for environment conservation.
National Volunteering Week (NVW) achieved 2,50,000 hours of volunteering in NVW 2017 and reaching out to 1401 villages as a pilot for rural outreach. In 2018, the cumulative outreach touched 16.5 million people with 313,000 volunteering hours.
Three years remain for India to reach the milestone of 75 years of its Independence as a nation and the task ahead of us need to be actioned in an intensified manner. For CII, as we look to 2022, the agenda will be proactively driven to attain the aspirations over the intervening period and further. In line with this, the Theme for the CII Annual Meeting 2019 has been outlined as India 5.0: India@75 and Beyond.


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Team Challenge Vs. Ice Bowls
Is the team format killing the winter charity event?
April 10, 2019 by Mahmoud Bahrani in Opinion with 0 comments
Photo: DiscGolfPark
This Friday night, hundreds of disc golfers will be traveling across New England to participate in the culmination of a competitive season that began in October. We've reached the end of the 2018-19 season of the New England Team Challenge (NETC). In the days leading up to the Finals, Ultiworld Disc Golf will be sharing articles examining the history of this league, its role in growing the sport, and the experience of team-based winter disc golf in the Northeast.
Team Challenge is always a hot topic at New England tournaments come fall: "What team are you playing for?" "When's your first match?" "How did your team do last year?"
One question that doesn't come up much anymore, however is, "Which Ice Bowls are you playing?"
Team Challenge has grown exponentially over the past few years. Casual players and PDGA professionals alike are snatched up by teams looking to make their minimum roster requirements. But as more and more players join TC teams, some Ice Bowl tournament directors have seen their tournaments — once staples of the New England touring season — fall by the wayside.
"I don't want to say the traditional Ice Bowl is dead, but it's on its last leg, I think," said A pool Commissioner Eric Kevorkian.
Just this past December, Trumbull, Connecticut resident Craig Smolin had to cancel his Sherwood Island Ice Bowl due to low participation numbers. And while Team Challenge wasn't the only factor that led to low pre-registration, fewer and fewer tournaments are firing around New England throughout winter, as players are prioritizing their Team Challenge matches ahead of tournaments.
"[Team Challenge] used to be scheduled around Ice Bowls. Now it's the other way around," said Smolin." "There used to be doubles tournaments in November and December too. Those have primarily disappeared except for FDR and Warwick.
"I think the mainstay Ice Bowls will survive –Kisco, Buzzy's, Cranbury — but the rest are dying. Especially in Connecticut."
Kevorkian attributed the drop in Ice Bowl participation to Team Challenge being a better product for players looking to enjoy their offseason.
"There were Ice Bowls every weekend during the winter months, [but] I think as Team Challenge went from six teams to eight teams to 12 teams to 20 teams, more people were interested in that type of event, where it wasn't so organized," Kevorkian said. "There's no fee for playing Team Challenge. You were playing with people you wanted to play with. They're your friends. Sometimes at Ice Bowls you're playing with random people and you might not have the best time."
Scheduling for Team Challenge matches is left mostly up to team captains, who have to coordinate on a mutually agreeable date. Team Challenge squads stretch from Maine to New York, so unavoidably, a match will fall on the same day as an Ice Bowl for one region or the other. Because of the rapid growth of Team Challenge, there aren't many empty weekends during winter.
"Team challenge is happening almost every single weekend in New England. Obviously, that's going to detract from Ice Bowls," Kevorkian said.
Higher level professionals also have reason to be upset about dwindling field size. As Open fields shrink, so to do their paydays after winning these tough winter events.
"Personally, the growth of TC has affected me in a bad way," said Bobby Cowperthwait, the highest-rated player in Connecticut.
"I really don't care to play in it, [even] after a decade of giving it my all every winter. There are so many teams, and teams are being relegated annually … the angle shooting and some special rules for the women have gotten ridiculous. Today, matchups are a dumpster fire…back in the day we would match up skill sets vs. skill sets."
Ice Bowls also often double as charity events, so fewer players also means fewer dollars for charitable organizations.
"Personally, I think charity Ice bowls have taken the biggest hit due to the growth," said Cowperthwait. "Some courses can't even run an Ice Bowl because there is no attendance. Every weekend during the winter season there is one or more Team Challenge match somewhere taking potential numbers away from Ice Bowls."
Kevorkian, on the other hand, said that Ice Bowls have to adapt if they want to continue to stay relevant.
"Tournaments these days are a dime a dozen," he said. "People really gotta do something to stand out to draw players to get to play their event, whether that's added cash or awesome players packs. A lot of people are just not going to sign up for a tournament where you get your Ice Bowl disc and you have to play in shitty conditions."
Kevorkian continued: "It's really hard at this stage of the game with the development of Team Challenge and the dwindling in Ice Bowls. You have to ask [as a TD] if this is sustainable at this point. Do TDs need to look at running a different type of event other than an Ice Bowl?"
Kevorkian suggested running tournaments other than the standard two-round, one-day affair, and pointed to successful smaller tournaments in the Massachusetts area which focused on a more laid back atmosphere, where players could buy mulligans, or doubles events where players could bring their own partners.
He also pointed to the very popular Crane Hill Ice Bowl in Massachusetts as an example of an Ice Bowl that could be successful.
Ultimately, the growth of Team Challenge suggests that it's here to stay, and Ice Bowl tournament directors will have to be creative in the coming years if they want to continue to attract players. As Kevorkian put it:
"It has to be the realistic nature of a TD to [ask], 'Does it make sense for me to run this event knowing I'm going up against all these Team Challenges?'"
If trends continue, the classic New England Ice Bowl, once a fixture of the frigid winter months, may soon go extinct.
Mahmoud Bahrani
Mahmoud Bahrani is an Ultiworld reporter and podcaster. He is an experienced producer (ESPN, Central Coast) and a long-time disc golfer.
TAGGED: Ice Bowl, NETC, New England, New England Flying Disc Association, New England Team Challenge, Opinion
Comments on "Team Challenge Vs. Ice Bowls"


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Former aide to U.S. Rep. Steve Stockman turned government witness says, "I just do what I'm told"
Local // Houston
Gabrielle Banks April 2, 2018 Updated: April 2, 2018 7:54 p.m.
Former U.S. Congressman Steve Stockman, left, and his attorney Sean Buckley walk into the Federal Courthouse for the start of federal corruption trial against Stockman Monday, March 19, 2018, in Houston.
Photo: Godofredo A. Vasquez, Staff / Houston Chronicle
The second of two key government witnesses took the stand late Monday in Houston in the federal fraud trial of former U.S. Congressman Steve Stockman, telling jurors his main duty on the ex-lawmaker's staff was to "just do what I'm told."
Jason Posey, and the other top aide and co-defendant in the case, Thomas Dodd, pleaded guilty to several related charges in the 28-count indictment. Both men are hoping the judge will grant them leniency in sentencing as a result of their testimony. Dodd, who help broker the top-dollar charity donations on Stockman's behalf, completed several hours of intensive testimony on Monday.
The prosecution has called dozens of witnesses and submitted thousands of pages of evidence in seven days of testimony, tracking the path of charitable gifts from two conservative mega-donors through a series of bank accounts to the expenses Stockman spent them on, including bills from a tattoo shop, a friend's detox program, the China-based publisher of his brother's Christmas book, an amateur spy operation watching a Republican lawmaker at the state capitol and a hot-air balloon ride.
MORE: Charity donations paid for tanning salons and amusement parks, says FBI investigator in Steve Stockman trial
Stockman's defense lawyers have said the charitable donations were given legally. Whether Stockman spent the funds wisely, he did not break the law, they say. Stockman, 61, of Clear Lake, has said he is not guilty.
The lawyers told Chief U.S. Judge Lee H. Rosenthal they anticipated the prosecution would wrap its case Tuesday and the defense could likely be finishing Thursday.
On the stand Monday, Posey told the jury he had previously pleaded guilty to wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering.
Both Dodd and Posey knew Stockman through his work with the conservative Leadership Institute, an Arlington nonprofit that trains youth in grassroots organizing.
Posey, 47, who now works as a fry cook at Spuds in Tupelo, Miss., said he worked for Stockman on-and-off since his unsuccessful bid for re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1996. He helped with Stockman's failed campaign for Texas Railroad Commissioner in 1998 and lived among other volunteers in Stockman's ramshackle campaign headquarters, a former motorcycle repair shop in Webster, during Stockman's victorious 2012 campaign for the Congress.
RELATED: Onetime aide testifies against former Rep. Steve Stockman
Stockman then tapped him to be a congressional staffer in Washington. But when new employees were going around the room introducing themselves by their new titles at a preliminary staff meeting, Posey did not mention that he would be a liaison working on special projects.
Instead, he testified,"I stood and said, 'I'm Jason Posey and I just do what I'm told.'"
He told the jury he knew nothing about Stockman's major donors, although he helped the ex-congressman set up a failed charity, which Stockman later used to solicit donations, according to testimony from other witnesses.
Prosecutors are expected to probe further on Tuesday, but Posey said in previous court appearances that Stockman directly instructed him to write hefty checks to himself and Dodd, the other aide charged in the case, using money government witnesses have linked to Stockman's campaign funds.
MORE: Megadonor says he thought former U.S. Congressman Steve Stockman was 'trustworthy'
While questioning Dodd on the stand earlier Monday, a defense lawyer tried to make the case that Stockman's top-dollar donors knew they were sidestepping tax law by giving charitable donations to the former congressman and knew their money wasn't necessarily going to charitable causes.
Attorney Sean Buckley asked Dodd, Stockman's fundraising director, about a series of emails and letters he and Stockman exchanged with Stanford Z. Rothschild Jr., a Baltimore money manager, who Dodd said was a staunch supporter of right-wing causes.
Dodd had been setting the groundwork for a major donation during Stockman's congressional campaign. There was a lot of back-and-forth with Rothschild's office about which of Stockman's 501c3 charity organizations should receive to a 2012 gift.
"Were you trying to get Mr. Rothchild to believe he was buying a politician but also stiffing the IRS?" Buckley asked. Dodd asked him to repeat the question.
"Was it a wink-wink thing?" Buckley asked.
MORE: Stockman fraud case not 'about fur coats, Rolexes and Mercedes Benzes,' lawyer says
"That's correct," Dodd said.
He testified that Rothschild knowingly attempted to make an improper campaign donation. There is no indication that Rothschild, who died in 2017, was implicated in criminal conduct.
However, when Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa Annis returned to the same series of donations, Dodd had a different response. He said it was true Rothschild believed his 2010 and 2012 donations would be spent on voter education materials.
Gabrielle Banks covers federal court for the Houston Chronicle. Follow her on Twitter and send her tips at gabrielle.banks@chron.com.
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Gabrielle Banks covers federal court for the Houston Chronicle. She has been a criminal justice and legal affairs reporter for nearly two decades, including staff work at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and The Los Angeles Times, and freelance work for The New York Times, The Mercury News, Newsday and The Miami Herald. She has a graduate degree in journalism from Columbia University. Before her years as a reporter, she worked as a teacher, social worker and organizer.
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text:
Relay search algorithms for coded cooperative systems
Zinan Lin, Elza Erkip
Cooperation provides an efficient form of diversity in wireless communications. In this paper we consider a coded cooperative system where the source and the relays may have multiple antennas. We describe two simple algorithms for choosing a good relay: Blind-Selection-Algorithm and Informed-Selection-Algorithm. These algorithms only require the knowledge of average received signal to noise ratios at the destination. Simulation results, carried out for a cellular system, show that both algorithms result in substantial improvement over direct transmission and random choice of relay in the cell and provide error rates close to best relay performance.
GLOBECOM'05: IEEE Global Telecommunications Conference, 2005
https://doi.org/10.1109/GLOCOM.2005.1577865
GLOBECOM'05: IEEE Global Telecommunications Conference, 2005 - St. Louis, MO, United States
Duration: Nov 28 2005 → Dec 2 2005
11/28/05 → 12/2/05
Lin, Z., & Erkip, E. (2005). Relay search algorithms for coded cooperative systems. In GLOBECOM'05: IEEE Global Telecommunications Conference, 2005 (Vol. 3, pp. 1314-1319). [1577865] https://doi.org/10.1109/GLOCOM.2005.1577865
Relay search algorithms for coded cooperative systems. / Lin, Zinan; Erkip, Elza.
GLOBECOM'05: IEEE Global Telecommunications Conference, 2005. Vol. 3 2005. p. 1314-1319 1577865.
Lin, Z & Erkip, E 2005, Relay search algorithms for coded cooperative systems. in GLOBECOM'05: IEEE Global Telecommunications Conference, 2005. vol. 3, 1577865, pp. 1314-1319, GLOBECOM'05: IEEE Global Telecommunications Conference, 2005, St. Louis, MO, United States, 11/28/05. https://doi.org/10.1109/GLOCOM.2005.1577865
Lin Z, Erkip E. Relay search algorithms for coded cooperative systems. In GLOBECOM'05: IEEE Global Telecommunications Conference, 2005. Vol. 3. 2005. p. 1314-1319. 1577865 https://doi.org/10.1109/GLOCOM.2005.1577865
Lin, Zinan ; Erkip, Elza. / Relay search algorithms for coded cooperative systems. GLOBECOM'05: IEEE Global Telecommunications Conference, 2005. Vol. 3 2005. pp. 1314-1319
@inproceedings{3d225f1d4a4b4b489a1a028099388e93,
title = "Relay search algorithms for coded cooperative systems",
abstract = "Cooperation provides an efficient form of diversity in wireless communications. In this paper we consider a coded cooperative system where the source and the relays may have multiple antennas. We describe two simple algorithms for choosing a good relay: Blind-Selection-Algorithm and Informed-Selection-Algorithm. These algorithms only require the knowledge of average received signal to noise ratios at the destination. Simulation results, carried out for a cellular system, show that both algorithms result in substantial improvement over direct transmission and random choice of relay in the cell and provide error rates close to best relay performance.",
author = "Zinan Lin and Elza Erkip",
doi = "10.1109/GLOCOM.2005.1577865",
booktitle = "GLOBECOM'05: IEEE Global Telecommunications Conference, 2005",
T1 - Relay search algorithms for coded cooperative systems
AU - Lin, Zinan
AU - Erkip, Elza
N2 - Cooperation provides an efficient form of diversity in wireless communications. In this paper we consider a coded cooperative system where the source and the relays may have multiple antennas. We describe two simple algorithms for choosing a good relay: Blind-Selection-Algorithm and Informed-Selection-Algorithm. These algorithms only require the knowledge of average received signal to noise ratios at the destination. Simulation results, carried out for a cellular system, show that both algorithms result in substantial improvement over direct transmission and random choice of relay in the cell and provide error rates close to best relay performance.
AB - Cooperation provides an efficient form of diversity in wireless communications. In this paper we consider a coded cooperative system where the source and the relays may have multiple antennas. We describe two simple algorithms for choosing a good relay: Blind-Selection-Algorithm and Informed-Selection-Algorithm. These algorithms only require the knowledge of average received signal to noise ratios at the destination. Simulation results, carried out for a cellular system, show that both algorithms result in substantial improvement over direct transmission and random choice of relay in the cell and provide error rates close to best relay performance.
U2 - 10.1109/GLOCOM.2005.1577865
DO - 10.1109/GLOCOM.2005.1577865
BT - GLOBECOM'05: IEEE Global Telecommunications Conference, 2005
10.1109/GLOCOM.2005.1577865


text:
Aaron Velez back as Chery Tiggo head coach
Aaron Velez will make his return to the sidelines, replacing Clarence Esteban as the head coach of Chery Tiggo, the team announced on Monday night.
Velez, who steered the Crossovers to the first-ever professional volleyball title back in the Ilocos Norte bubble in 2021, spent the past two conferences serving as the team's manager.
He last coached the team back in the 2022 Open Conference where they finished in eighth place.
Esteban eventually replaced him in the Invitational Conference. They placed last during that tournament but eventually bounced back with a semifinals appearance in the season-ending Reinforced Conference.
Chery Tiggo recently lost star opposite hitter Dindin Santiago-Manabat, who has now transferred to Akari, but signed former Choco Mucho standout Ponggay Gaston.


Molded of authentic red clay and bathed in vivid desert hues, this native American inspired thunderbird plaque imparts a festive feeling wherever you choose to show it off. Terra cotta. 10" diameter.
Could also be used as a stepping stone.


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7 Side Effects to Prepare for Before You Get the Mirena IUD
IUDs are incredibly effective at preventing pregnancy—but they can also mess with your body.
By Emily Shiffer
Birth control has come a long way in the past decade. While the pill will always be a go-to among women looking to prevent pregnancy, another form of contraception is quickly gaining popularity: intrauterine devices, or IUDs.
About 10 percent of women in the United States use an IUD as their preferred form of birth control. In fact, the use of IUDs among American women increased by 83 percent between 2011 and 2013 when compared to the four years before then, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
One of the most popular IUDs on the market is the Mirena IUD, which is 99 percent effect in preventing pregnancy. Here's how it works: After the small T-shaped device is inserted into your uterus, it consistently releases the hormone progesterone into your bloodstream at a low dose over 5 years, says Julie Levitt, MD, obstetrician and gynecologist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
"The progesterone acts to thin out the lining of the uterus which makes it difficult for a pregnancy to implant," she explains. In some women, it can actually inhibit the release of an egg or ovulation altogether.
Beyond its effectiveness, why are more and more women opting for IUDs? For one, birth control pills come with their fair share of side effects—from nausea to vaginal dryness—and sometimes it takes a bit of trial and error to find the pill that works best for you. Plus, once you get an IUD inserted, you can totally forget about it and stay protected—no daily reminders needed. Don't like it? It can be removed any time.
But before you throw out your birth control pills, know that the Mirena IUD can also mess with your body a bit. Here are the side effects to be aware of before you try one for yourself.
You'll probably experience some cramping
The actual IUD insertion process only takes about 5 minutes and it will most likely be accompanied by some cramping (similar to what you feel during your period), since this is your body's natural response to the cervix opening.
"Cramping is minimal during and afterwards. In rare cases, a patient may have ongoing cramping or nausea which might require an hour of rest in the office before returning home or to work," says Dr. Levitt. "Over-the-counter pain medications (like Tylenol, Advil, Ibuprofen) can be taken ahead of time to minimize cramping during the insertion."
Just note that if your cramping persists for more than a week or so, it's best to follow up with your doctor, says Salena Zanotti, MD, ob-gyn at the Cleveland Clinic, especially if you have a fever, severe pain, or a change in your vaginal discharge. "This could be a sign of an infection, which, while rare, most often occurs right after insertion, she says.
Your mood might tank
You're probably all too familiar with mood swings around that time of the month, but the Mirena IUD might mess with your emotions at first, too, says Dr. Levitt.
Some women may not experience any mood shifts all, while others can feel somewhat blue after the insertion due to the progesterone making its way through the body. Luckily, you should feel back to your normal self after a week or so. (If your down-in-the-dumps mood persists, or you experience these other depression symptoms, make sure you bring it up with your doc.)
You may not be able to have a baby for a while
An IUD thickens your cervical mucus, which acts as a bit of wall for sperm trying to break through, says Petra Casey, MD, gynecologist at the Mayo Clinic. While IUDs are incredibly effective in preventing pregnancy, that effect may last longer than you'd prefer.
If you ever do want to get pregnant, it could take a few weeks—or several months—for your fertility to become normal again. At the most, it could take up to 10 months, says Dr. Levitt, so it's best to remove it sooner if you want to plan for a baby.
Your period can become less intense
"The Mirena IUD can cause irregular bleeding or spotting at any time during the use of the unit," says Dr. Levitt, typically within 6 months of insertion. If you normally experience heavy bleeding and lots of pain, you might be pleasantly surprised when you get your period.
"Patients have a significant reduction in menstrual flow, with some brown spotting that can warn you prior to the start of the menstrual flow," says Dr. Levitt. That's because Mirena is a progestin-only method—no estrogen—which helps to stabilize the lining of your uterus.
A year after insertion, however, about 20 percent of women with the Mirena IUD experience amenorrhea, or a temporary absence of your period altogether. "Women can expect to resume normal periods after removal, which may be heavier than when the Mirena was in place," says Dr. Zanotti.
Your sex life should be fine—but your partner may be able to feel it
While a 2016 study of nearly 2,000 women could not link hormonal IUDs, birth control pills, or patches to a lackluster sex drive, it still seems to be more of a case-by-case issue for women taking birth control pills. The Mirena IUD shouldn't mess with your libido, though, since it doesn't directly affect your hormones like the pill, explains Dr. Zanotti.
One thing to take note of: You should always be able to find the IUD if you're searching for it. That means your partner may be able to feel it during sex, since the string will come out of your cervix, says Dr. Levitt. This could be an odd sensation the first time, so it may warrant a heads up. This shouldn't hurt either of you during sex, though.
"If a woman starts experiencing new onset or severe pain or cannot feel her strings if she reaches for them, she should see her doctor immediately," says Dr. Zanotti. These could be signs your IUD is moving from its intended location, being expelled, or falling out.
You might start breaking out
"Mild acne could occur or be exacerbated by the Mirena IUD for a period of time," says Dr. Levitt. Why? Progesterone stimulates your oil glands, so it may boost the development of pesky pimples, according to a 2008 review of research
It's worth noting that lots of things can impact your skin (like stress, your diet, or hormone-related health issues) so work with your gyno and dermatologist to identify the cause behind your breakouts. If you struggle with bumps daily, check out this step-by-step guide to getting rid of adult acne.
The IUD could fall out
Before you panic, the chance of your IUD falling out is really rare. "It is highly unlikely for the unit to be expelled or fall out, although this can happen if the menstrual flow is excessive and contains large clots," says Dr. Levitt.
In most cases, you will actually need to have the IUD removed by a doctor, who will simply pull the string of the IUD to remove it, which could cause some mild cramping.
"Rarely the unit will embed itself in the uterine wall and need to be removed surgically through an outpatient procedure known as hysteroscopy," Dr. Levitt explains. However, the IUD can perforate through your uterus during insertion or during the time you have it inside of you. In this case, you would need surgery to remove it.
Emily Shiffer Emily Shiffer is a former digital web producer for Men's Health and Prevention, and is currently a freelancer writer specializing in health, weight loss, and fitness.
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No this blog is not what you are thinking. I am not about to compare the boys to an animal who lives in the wild. Actually I am about to compare the boys to our pets. OMG here she goes again, I can just hear some groans and some parents shaking their heads. Hey it's not like I am injecting them with botox at the age of eight so they can get ahead start on self-esteem or whatever crap that California mother was spewing. (No I am not disparaging parents and especially mothers who live in California. Just pointing out which particular nutcase I was referring to.) I just happened to notice some issues that my dogs and the boys have in common.
Now how do the dogs and boys figure into this blog? Well let's see…the dogs are so hyperactive as youngsters that they could have been said to be ADD. They need to have things done in a certain way (i.e. if the water isn't fresh enough they won't drink out of the bowl-I kid you not.), so there is your OCD and they really have never learned the proper social skills, so there is the ASPERGERS. It dawned on me that we have chosen animals that fit so well into our family that perhaps they picked up some of the habits of the humans in the household or quite frankly we were drawn to these animals because they resemble us. There is that old wives-tale that humans and their dog pets tend to start looking like each other after a few years so why not behaving alike as well?
So here we have some animals that have many issues. We have boys with many issues. They have all five been raised together and grew up together and form an odd sort of pack, with me as pack leader, much to the labradoodle's chagrin. For him it is not for lack of trying to be the alpha dog. It was also not so easy to get him to stop trying to dominate the boys. There was quite a lot of punishment for him until he gave up; well it seems just for the time being. I am sure he is planning his coup d'état for sometime in the future. You can see it in how he looks at you like he is working things out.
Well the idea that the dogs don't like rain is quite amusing really. The boys don't like rain either. Oh not because of the thunderstorms. That used to bother them when they were little but they are full grown now. It is the idea of getting wet that bothers them. But at the same token the boys have no problem with bathes. In fact they like to take long luxurious baths. (You should see my water bill.) But the boys do have a fear and a loathing of being out in the rain. Personally I never understood that. One of the things I have always loved is walking in the rain during a thunderstorm. Of course now I know that it was a stupid thing to do, with lightening and all, but when I was younger it was something that gave me undo pleasure.
However, the boys just hate rain. They fear it really. Collegeman at times carries an umbrella with him on extremely sunny days just in case it might, in some version of reality, rain during his day. I swear you would think that there was some genetic Englishman in his background with his love of umbrellas. HSB has issues with the rain, I think more because he is afraid to get all his electronic equipment wet. Yes I say equipment, that he carries with him wherever and whenever he goes anywhere. There is the iphone, the Nintendo handheld, and the PSP. He lives in fear that the rains will destroy his beloved electronic life.
Meanwhile, the boys and the dogs and the rain. Wolves are supposed to like water and not fear the rain. Humans are supposed to like water and have rejoiced in its abundance and prayed for it in time of need. The only creature throughout history that had no use for water was the Wicked Witch of the West. I tell the boys not to worry so much about the rain, that they will not melt if they get wet. The dogs I warn them that if they don't go outside to the bathroom they had better not poop in my house. Then they look at me like I am crazy. I can see the dogs just thinking how would you like to go outside in the rain to the bathroom? Oh yes, I do talk to my dogs like they are my children. The boys and hubby think I am crazy and make fun of me. But I swear the dogs understand everything and even know when they are "playing" me. (The labradoodle when he wants a treat won't come in when I call him if I don't promise him a snack. As soon as he hears that word "treat" he makes a beeline for that front door.) They constantly ask me if I truly expect an answer out of the dogs when I ask the dogs a question…. Of course I do not but you bet those dogs know what I mean and they behave better for awhile.
Anyway, there it is in a nutshell. The dogs, the boys and the total insanity of my household…aspergers, OCD, ADD and a fear that rain will melt you. The only difference is that some of the children who have this fear have four legs and fur. Of course with the boys and puberty it is not always easy to tell who is more hairy the boys or the dogs. Also not quite sure who is more spoiled, the boys or the dogs. I really think it's the dogs.


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Question Is antihypertensive treatment associated with lower risk for mortality and cardiovascular disease in patients with mild hypertension?
Findings In this study of electronic health records of 38 286 low-risk patients with mild hypertension, no evidence of an association was found between exposure to antihypertensive treatment and mortality or cardiovascular disease. There was evidence that treatment may be associated with an increased risk of adverse events, such as hypotension, syncope, and acute kidney injury.
Meaning The findings suggest that physicians should be cautious when initiating treatment in low-risk patients with mild hypertension, particularly because such an approach may affect millions of individuals with little evidence of benefit.
Importance Evidence to support initiation of pharmacologic treatment in low-risk patients with mild hypertension is inconclusive, with previous trials underpowered to demonstrate benefit. Clinical guidelines across the world are contradictory.
Objective To examine whether antihypertensive treatment is associated with a low risk of mortality and cardiovascular disease (CVD) in low-risk patients with mild hypertension.
Design, Setting, and Participants In this longitudinal cohort study, data were extracted from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink, from January 1, 1998, through September 30, 2015, for patients aged 18 to 74 years who had mild hypertension (untreated blood pressure of 140/90-159/99 mm Hg) and no previous treatment. Anyone with a history of CVD or CVD risk factors was excluded. Patients exited the cohort if follow-up records became unavailable or they experienced an outcome of interest.
Exposures Prescription of antihypertensive medication. Propensity scores for likelihood of treatment were constructed using a logistic regression model. Individuals treated within 12 months of diagnosis were matched to untreated patients by propensity score using the nearest-neighbor method.
Main Outcomes and Measures The rates of mortality, CVD, and adverse events among patients prescribed antihypertensive treatment at baseline, compared with those who were not prescribed such treatment, using Cox proportional hazards regression.
Results A total of 19 143 treated patients (mean [SD] age, 54.7 [11.8] years; 10 705 [55.9%] women; 10 629 [55.5%] white) were matched to 19 143 similar untreated patients (mean [SD] age, 54.9 [12.2] years; 10 631 [55.5%] female; 10 654 [55.7%] white). During a median follow-up period of 5.8 years (interquartile range, 2.6-9.0 years), no evidence of an association was found between antihypertensive treatment and mortality (hazard ratio [HR], 1.02; 95% CI, 0.88-1.17) or between antihypertensive treatment and CVD (HR, 1.09; 95% CI, 0.95-1.25). Treatment was associated with an increased risk of adverse events, including hypotension (HR, 1.69; 95% CI, 1.30-2.20; number needed to harm at 10 years [NNH10], 41), syncope (HR, 1.28; 95% CI, 1.10-1.50; NNH10, 35), electrolyte abnormalities (HR, 1.72; 95% CI, 1.12-2.65; NNH10, 111), and acute kidney injury (HR, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.00-1.88; NNH10, 91).
Conclusions and Relevance This prespecified analysis found no evidence to support guideline recommendations that encourage initiation of treatment in patients with low-risk mild hypertension. There was evidence of an increased risk of adverse events, which suggests that physicians should exercise caution when following guidelines that generalize findings from trials conducted in high-risk individuals to those at lower risk.
I remember that over 40 years ago Sir George Pickering had stated that 150/100 was a starting point for pharmaceutical intervention. Oxford have been at the forefront ever since including the ISIS studies. Home of the famous Cochrane Library. It is good to see that Oxford maintains its unbiased views. Even with my pharmaceutical industry background I believe that this is a very important study into "the routine use of drugs following set guidelines v common sense" Every patient is an individual.
Unfortunately, we do not know how many of the people in the "treatment" group filled their prescription and took the medication. In many cases we may be comparing people who did not take medication with other people who received a prescription but also did not take medication or took it for only a short time.
Although the authors did not find a difference in adverse effects of antihypertensive treatment between people older or younger than 65 years old, this does not mean older and younger people have similar risks associated with treatment. One of the reasons is that people over the age of 74 were not included in this study. Secondly, people over 64 years old commonly have comorbidities and they are usually excluded from such trials. Lastly, even if older and younger people experience similar rates of adverse events related to treatment, older people are generally more seriously injured from these events. For instance, falls result in fractures and intracranial bleeding more commonly in older people. Thus, more caution should be taken before initiating antihypertensive treatment to an older person with mild hypertension.


Guns N Roses was formed in 1985 by members of two bands - Hollywood Rose and LA Guns. The wild success of their 3rd and 4th albums released on the same day in 1991 make this American hard-rock band a staple in 1990's rock music history.
Available in sizes 6-12mo, 12-18mo, 12-24mo, 2T, 4T, 6 and 8. If between sizes, you can typically size down - i.e., if your child typically wears a size 3T, the 2T should be a good fit. If you'd like longer wear, and your little one is between sizes (a 3T, 5, or 7), you can size up, but the shirt will have a more over-sized fit.