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Housing starts miss expectations as condo construction cools
OTTAWA — Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says the pace of housing starts was down in October, compared with September, as the rate of new multiple-unit homes starting construction, including condominiums, slowed.
The agency estimates the standalone monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate was 183,604 units in October, down from 197,355 the previous month.
Economists had expected a rate of 200,000, according to Thomson Reuters.
CMHC says the pace of urban housing starts in October decreased across the country, with declines led by British Columbia and followed by Quebec, Atlantic Canada, the Prairies and Ontario.
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It says the rate of urban starts came in at 164,683 in October, down from 177,053 in September. The drop was due to a slower pace of multiple-unit urban starts which fell to 98,673 compared with 114,539 in September. The rate of single-detached urban starts segment increased to 66,010 from 62,514.
The agency says rural starts recorded a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 18,921 in October.
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'I did mess up': Even the experts admit mistakes on picking a mortgage
It can't be easy for a certified financial planner to admit this, but Ted Rechtshaffen admits he blew it on his last mortgage.
Your dream home could become a nightmare if you're not prepared. Here are the pitfalls to be aware of so that your purchase doesn't come back to haunt you
"I was wrong. I had a variable rate mortgage and in 2009 I pulled the plug and went fixed," said the president of TriDelta Financial in Toronto, joking about how his rate was 75 basis points off of prime and would amount to 2.25% today. "I did mess up, but my question was what benefit do I get locking-in versus going variable?"
You can hardly blame him for thinking rates were going to increase. Variable rates are generally tied to the Bank of Canada's overnight lending rate and most so-called experts, even the most renowned economists, have called for the central bank to raise rates. They were all wrong. The last time the overnight rate moved was September 2010.
Mr. Rechtshaffen said the gap between a variable rate mortgage and a five-year fixed rate mortgage was just 25 basis points, making his decision at the time less difficult. Most of the time variable does beat fixed, something pointed out in a now well-quoted study by York University professor Moshe Milevsky who found that over 50 years floating rates saved you money about 90% of the time.
His study didn't include the current rate environment in which fixed rates have hovered around 3% the past few years, a period when there's been no movement on the variable rate. The website ratespy.com suggests the lowest variable rate on the market is now 2.10% while the lowest five-year rate is 2.65%. The average variable rate is roughly 2.4% compared to 2.94% for the five-year.
Rates could move very fast once they go up
Basically, you're saving 55 basis points on a mortgage. Based on a $500,000 mortgage with a 25-year amortization, that 2.94% mortgage would require a monthly payment of $2,350.86 and result in $67,923.39 in interest over five years. At 2.4% your monthly payment drops to $2,215.01 and the total interest is only $55,229.04.
Mr. Rechtshaffen said there are really two points to consider when deciding whether to lock-in: what is the gap; and what you think is going to happen to rates.
In some ways it comes down to how much are you going to pay to buy what amounts to an insurance policy that your rate won't go up? How big does the gap have to be for you to switch to variable?
"To me, I think you have to be getting three quarters to 1% [savings] in today's environment. Rates could move very fast once they go up," Mr. Rechtshaffen said.
Ultimately you can take that conservative planning too far and lock into a 10-year mortgage, a term with rates well above 4%. That makes it a very expensive product.
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Rob McLister, editor of Canadian Mortgage Trends, said he rarely sees people lock in to a 10-year mortgage because rates are so much lower for other products.
The other thing to consider is that while prime may not move because of the Bank of Canada's insistence on keeping rates steady, there's nothing to say the discounting off of prime won't grow. It has in the past with consumers getting up to one percentage point off.
"Before the Fed taper talk began in summer 2013, we were steering variable-rate shoppers out of variables and into one-year fixed rates, Mr. McLister said. "There was a high probability of variable discounts improving. This saved people interest for one year, after which they were able to switch into a better floating rate.
"Since then, variable pricing has improved as expected. Barring a global crisis of some kind, we could see another 10-15 basis point improvement through 2015. If that happens, you'll see brokers advertising prime minus 0.90% or below next year."
Will Dunning, the chief economist with the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals, said the biggest determinant of whether to go short or long is where you are in the home ownership cycle.
"When there is zero spread, people lock in but people's history is more important. When you buy your first home, you're very cautious and you go for five-year fixed," Mr. Dunning said. "The older you get and the longer you've been in your house you are more likely to go variable rate."
A survey by CAAMP last year found about 28% of the market had gone into a variable rate product compared to 65% who were fixed and another 7% who had a mixed product.
Mr. Dunning said when the spread between variable and the five-year fixed has been more than 100 basis points, and even closing in on 200 basis points, you will see a strong movement into a variable rate product because of the temptation of interest savings which outweighs the risks of rising rates.
So what would Mr. Rechtshaffen do today? "I just renewed my mortgage and went with five-year fixed," he said.
Will it cost him money? Maybe. "But I'm happy to have a rate locked in and not worry about them going up," he said.
Illustration by Chloe Cushman, National Post
Steady as she goes for Canadian housing market in 2015, says CMHC
OTTAWA – The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. says it expects housing starts in 2015 to be about the same as they were this year, and in line with economic and demographic trends.
Horror stories from first-time homebuyers
Your dream home could become a nightmare if you're not prepared. Here are 7 pitfalls to be aware of so that your purchase doesn't come back to haunt you. Read on
The national housing agency says "some moderation is expected" in 2016.
The CMHC says that on an annual basis, it expects housing starts to range between 186,300 and 191,700 units in 2014, with a point forecast of 189,000 units.
Next year, the agency says it expects housing starts to range between 172,800 and 204,000 units, with a point forecast of 189,500 units.
In 2016, the CMHC says it expects housing starts to range between 168,000 and 205,800 units, with a point forecast of 187,100 units.
The agency says it expects Multiple Listings Service sales to range between 467,400 and 482,000 units in 2014, with a point forecast of 476,100 units.
Next year, it says it expects MLS sales to range between 457,300 and 507,300 units, with a point forecast to 482,500 units.
The CMHC says the average MLS price in 2014 is expected to be between $401,600 and $405,400, with a point forecast of $404,800.
Next year, the agency says it expects the average MLS price to be between $403,600 and $417,800, with a point forecast of $410,600, while in 2016 the average MLS price is forecast to be between $407,300 and $424,500, with a point forecast of $417,300.
Canadian home sales fall for first time in nine months
EOTTAWA — Sales of existing homes cooled in September as they fell 1.4% on a month-over-month basis, the first monthly decline since January, the Canadian Real Estate Association said Wednesday.
The association said sales through its Multiple Listings Service were down in about 60% of all local housing markets last month.
CREA president Beth Crosbie said affordably priced single family homes are in short supply in some of the hottest markets and that contributed to the monthly decline.
Related he $11 billion in mortgage payments the Bank of Canada doesn't know about Even Canadian real estate companies don't see much growth in home prices left While Toronto's housing boom rolls on, some of the housing itself is falling apart "That said, there are other markets with ample supply, but sellers there are holding firm on price," Crosbie said in a statement.
"There is a lot of variation in housing market trends depending on the type of housing, neighbourhood and price segment."
Compared with a year ago, sales were up 10.6%. However CREA said September 2013 had five Sundays, considered to be the slowest day for home sales.
The average price for a home sold last month was $408,795, up 5.9% compared with a year ago.
Excluding the Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto markets, the average price was $325,406, up 4.5% from September 2013.
The aggregate composite MLS Home Price Index was up 5.28% compared with a year ago.
BMO Capital Markets senior economist Robert Kavcic noted that there were large regional differences in house prices with Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary posting strong gains.
"Conditions get decidedly weaker anywhere east of Toronto, with no city reporting average prices up more than 3% year-over-year, and fully half below year-ago levels," Kavcic wrote in a report.
"The good news is that the wide disparities in Canada's housing market largely reflect economic, demographic and supply/demand fundamentals at work, all but eliminating any fears of a widespread 'bubble."'
The number of newly listed homes fell by 1.6% in September compared with August.
CREA said the national sales-to-new listings ratio was 55.7% in September compared with 55.6% in August and within the 40 to 60% range usually described as a balanced market.
The association noted that just over half of all local markets posted a sales-to-new listings ratio in the balanced range.
There were 5.9 months of inventory nationally at the end of September 2014, up slightly from 5.8 months in August.
TD Bank senior economist Randall Bartlett said the lack of listings on the market continued to be a surprise.
"This suggests that home price growth may have more upside room over the next few months," Bartlett said in a report.
"While the housing market continues to defy expectations in 2014, we still remain of the view that housing activity will eventually cool from current levels. With home prices continuing to rise above incomes, affordability will become an obstacle to housing demand once interest rates do eventually begin to rise."
Meanwhile, the Teranet—National Bank national composite house price index posted a monthly increase of 0.3% for September.
The increase came as prices rose in six of the 11 metropolitan markets surveyed including gains in Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto, Halifax, Winnipeg and Quebec City.
Prices were flat in Edmonton and down from the month before in Hamilton, Montreal, Ottawa-Gatineau and Victoria.
CMHC continuing with plans for banks to take on more mortgage risk
The head of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said the Crown corporation is continuing with plans to have banks take on more risk when it comes to the housing market.
"In the insured market all of the risk is on CMHC's balanced sheet or 90% on the government's balanced sheet through private sector competitors. The government wants to reduce its exposure to the housing market," Evan Siddall, president of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. told the Canadian Club in Toronto in what was billed as a "conversation" with Terry Campbell, president of the Canadian Bankers Association.
Mr. Siddall said the government has asked CMHC to look at options and advise it on what to do next.
Related Joe Oliver says Canada won't make major changes to CMHC, housing finance CMHC could force banks to pay deductibles on mortgage insurance Canada's housing market on course for soft landing, says CMHC Consumers with less than a 20% downpayment must get mortgage default insurance if they are borrowing from a bank regulated by the Bank Act. The government backs loans insured by CMHC 100% and for up to 90% for private entities like Canada Guaranty.
Mr. Siddall has said there is some value to banks having some "skin in the game" which some have suggested could mean banks pay a deductible of up to 10% in the event a consumer defaults.
"It's kind of classic perspective," said the CMHC head. "It's this idea of moral hazard that if you took risk away from the people who confronted it in the marketplace, it could lead to bad behaviour. The stupid example is if you insure someone who is driving a car, they won't be a responsible car driver."
Mr. Siddall said the banks are responsible but the idea of deductible is "good idea" and something along those lines is good economic policy.
Sources have told The Financial Post that CMHC has already been in discussions with the CBA and Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions about the idea which is years away from being implemented.
Mr. Campbell told the audience a lot of conversation with the industry will be needed before anything happens.
"In Canada, as you know and everybody in this audience knows, we did not have a housing crash like some other jurisdictions," said Mr. Campbell, chalking that up to good risk management on behalf of banks when it comes it lending. "I think banks do have an awful lot of skin in the game if you look at the growth in their uninsured portfolio."
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CMHC admits 'data gap' in foreign ownership of Canadian real estate
The president of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. acknowledges there may be a "data gap" when it comes to the degree of foreign ownership in the marketplace, as debate swirls over whethe r overseas buyers are inflating house prices in markets like Vancouver and Toronto.
Tracking foreign buyers in Canada's housing boom: Can we do it? Should we even care?
A third of people buying homes in Canada may be foreigners, says one real estate company. A leading economist says the number isn't even 5%. The country's housing agency says it has no idea what the actual number is In an interview Monday with the Financial Post, Evan Siddall said the research arm of CMHC is tackling the foreign ownership issue and looking for more data from the banks.
"We are looking at information that lenders have because lenders have clients," said Mr. Siddall. "The problem is people buy through nominees and corporations and they are allowed to do that. We need to look for ways to pierce that. The way we do that with Canadians is we phone. We can't phone people in Singapore or Hong Kong, we don't know who to call. We need to try and look through to the extent we are legally allowed to do so and that we are not accessing privacy information."
We don't think the level of foreign ownership in Canadian housing markets is excessive The issue has become a hot topic with one Vancouver brokerage suggesting about one-third of single family homes in the city are going to people in with connections to mainland China. Prices for a single detached family home in Vancouver have topped $1.2-million while Toronto is closing in on $1-million for a detached home — levels that many people blame on speculative buyers from overseas.
Related CMHC continuing with plans for banks to take on more mortgage risk Joe Oliver says Canada won't make major changes to CMHC, housing finance CMHC could force banks to pay deductibles on mortgage insurance Housing rush scrutinized by bank watchdog Mr. Siddall is sure to enrage that crowd, but he says while there may be more foreign ownership in some markets than others, he doesn't think it's a problem in general.
"Right now, based on what we know, based on information and analysis other people have done, we don't think the level of foreign ownership in Canadian housing markets is excessive," he said.
Mr. Siddall earlier told the Canadian Club in Toronto, in what was billed as a "conversation" with Terry Campbell, president of the Canadian Bankers Association, that his group decided to go ahead and release a study it had on the Vancouver and Toronto condominium markets even though it didn't have any information on the foreign ownership in the sector.
"There's no bogeyman in this, having foreign investment in the market, inherently there is nothing wrong with that. I owned real estate in the U.S. at one point and I'm not a bad guy," said Mr. Siddall. "But we need to recognize the fact that when people don't have direct connection to a country, when things go bad, they are more likely to take their cards off the table. If it gets too high, we become concerned."
Tyler Anderson/National PostCMHC head Evan Siddall says while there may be more foreign ownership in some markets than others, he doesn't think it's a problem in general. In his conversation with Mr. Campbell, the CMHC head said his group continues to look at the idea of banks having some type of deductible, in case a consumer defaults on a loan.
"It's kind of classic perspective," he said. "It's this idea of moral hazard that if you took risk away from the people who confronted it in the marketplace, it could lead to bad behaviour. The stupid example is if you insure someone who is driving a car, they won't be a responsible car driver."
Mr. Siddall agreed there was still a lot of discussion that would have to take place with the banks before any actual changes were made.
As for who is driving the demand for change, Mr. Siddall left no doubt he answers to the minister of finance.
"Our responsibility is to give him and his department advice on this stuff. Rules changes like 'skin in the game' is for them to do," said Mr. Siddall, who agrees with Finance Minister Joe Oliver that changes are more of a long-term project and cannot happen if it will destabilize the Canadian housing market. "He's leading the
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When they got tired of trying to find the right rental property, Miriam and Bryan Gardner decided it was time to buy.
It sounds like the typical explanation you might hear from a Canadian buyer in today's red hot real estate market but in this case it's Florida where tight rental markets have made finding accommodation more difficult than ever, especially for those Canadians looking for short-term rentals for their winter home away from home.
"It just got so difficult to find a re ntal, that we wanted, the last couple of years. We had been thinking about buying down the road but the down the road just ended up coming sooner," says Ms. Gardner, who bought a three-bedroom condominium in August near Fort Myers after five years of renting following her husband's retirement.
We had been thinking about buying down the road but the down the road just ended up coming sooner
They were already paying about US$5,500 to US$6,500 per month, so buying a property for about US$550,000 made sense. The carrying costs will be equal to what the couple was already spending in rent for the three months of the year they wintered down south.
"Now, we're probably going to be spending more time there and we have more flexibility," said Ms. Gardner, who is from Aurora, north of Toronto. "We put the capital into it but the bills are about the same to maintain this place."
She might be on to something. Even as the cost of U.S. housing has increased, abetted by a weaker loonie, low vacancy rates have driven up rental rates at a time when availability of homes is still very high in some states because Americans are still having trouble accessing credit.
Canadians continue to be the top foreign buyers of real estate in Florida and have purchased about US$2.2-billion in the past year, according to the National Association of Realtors for Florida. And, unlike Americans, they don't need a mortgage. The same survey found 89% of Canadians use cash for a purchase, something analysts have speculated is coming out of their Canadian home equity.
Michael Dolega, senior economist with Toronto-Dominion Bank, said the dollar fluctuation and rising prices could put a damper on home-buying in Florida where 500,000 Canadians already own property.
Related 5 questions to help you decide whether to rent or buy a home Housing still cheaper in popular U.S. snowbird states than 2006 peak levels, new report shows Border shakeup could have tax consequences for snowbirds "But again, affordability is still relatively good," said Mr. Dolega, noting prices in Florida are about 30% t0 35% below where they were when the market peaked. "Ownership is much more favourable than it was during the mid 2000s."
At the same time, the economist notes monthly rent in the U.S., including the snowbird states like Florida, California and Arizona, is rising as consumers who can't buy housing are forced to let.
"The rental market is a strong market, vacancies are low and falling," said Mr. Dolega, noting construction of rental family housing is actually rising to fill the gap but not quickly enough.
There is no direct overlap between rental properties for Americans living in the U.S. full-time and snowbirds looking for part-time residences, but Mr. Dolega said there is still a degree of competition between the two for housing.
"People who live in those cities still need a place to live and given Americans can't find a mortgage, if they can't find a home they will crowd out some of these vacation property [prospective renters]," says the economist, adding the argument for ownership is not as strong in Arizona because home prices have risen higher.
FotoliaIn the 128 counties in the three U.S. sunshine states, it was cheaper in 107 to buy than rent. Daren Blomquist, vice-president of Irvine, California-based RealtyTrac, said on a national basis it's better to buy than rent. In the 128 counties in the three U.S. sunshine states, it was cheaper in 107 to buy than rent.
RealtyTrac compares home ownership versus renting by tracking the monthly mortgage payment for a median priced home versus the average monthly fair market rent for a three-bedroom home. (RealtyTrac includes insurance and taxes when calculating costs for homeowners.)
There isn't specific data looking at vacation property but one key consideration is that certain months cost more than others because they are considered prime vacation time.
"You could argue you're only there half of the year but own it the whole year," says Mr. Blomquist.
Naples-based realtor Pierre Fregeau, who originally hails from Montreal but has been selling property south of the border for three decades, said he's found it very difficult to find short-term rental housing for snowbirds and will only bother looking for it for certain clients.
"What happened here is a lot of people lost their homes during the housing crisis. Well, these guys still need to live someplace so they started taking a lot of the rentals that were available and some of it was being rented for Canadians who want to just escape the winter," says Mr. Fregeau.
He says you can easily spend US$3,000/month to rent a two-bedroom apartment in Naples that isn't even that luxurious and nowhere near the beach but you can buy the same property for US$200,000.
"I get calls three or four times a week from people saying 'I'm looking for something for January, February or March'. I tell them 'good luck' because everything is booked," says Mr. Fregeau.
All of this is why Ms. Gardner felt like she had to pull the trigger after half a decade of renting. The price was important but timing the market less so.
"We realize we didn't get the bottom but that's not what we were all about. This worked for us psychologically even more because we just couldn't get what we wanted [renting]," she says.
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Say Goodbye To Forward Guidance From The Bank Of Canada
Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz is signalling that it's time to take off the training wheels; that the central bank will no longer be there to hold the market's hand.
In more technical terms, the governor announced that the Bank would no longer be providing forward guidance – essentially, a paragraph, sentence, or phrase in its policy statement that provides an indication of which way the overnight rate is likely to go, how long it might stay at a given level, or what might cause it to change.
Poloz made this declaration in a discussion paper on Friday and reiterated this shift in comments to the press.
(As an aside, the governor noted that a working version of this paper had been presented at the Moneco-Econtro Summer Conference in Kingston – his private speech. However, attendees confirmed that Poloz did not provide a hint that he was on the verge of removing forward guidance at that point in time.)
When Mark Carney's Bank of Canada introduced forward guidance in April 2009, the assertion that interest rates would stay low for a prolonged period of time helped flatten the yield curve, effectively easing financial conditions:
However, the governor made the case that there's a downside to making a commitment of this nature: that traders will make one-way, levered bets based on the central bank's stance. When a central bank appears to be on the verge of shifting its forward guidance, this can cause volatility to surge. "The volatility of a return to two-way trading is the future price of successful forward guidance today," Poloz wrote.
Moreover, it's difficult for monetary policymakers to provide credible forward guidance when their models aren't doing a fabulous job of capturing and forecasting post-recession realities. Guidance is inherently linked to the central bank's view of how economic events will unfold – an outlook that has been, in the Bank of Canada's case, riddled with uncertainty.
According to Poloz, forward guidance should be "reserved primarily for use at the zero lower bound, as a form of additional insurance that the economy will return to equilibrium."
One could argue that the Bank of Canada already de facto removed forward guidance (at least partially) when the tightening bias was eliminated in October 2013 and replaced it with a data-dependent neutral bias. So this move could be described as:
The data-dependent neutral bias is dead. Long live the data-dependent neutral bias!
The omission of a phrase indicating that interest rates could go up or down depending on the data flow is merely an affirmation that interest rates could up or down depending on the data flow.
The governor admitted as much in his discussion paper. "Our experience…dropping the previously announced tightening bias, suggests that offering instead full transparency on the risks that the central bank is weighing causes the market to assess new information more or less as the central bank does; and because every data point can give rise to a debate between economists, the market remains two-way and less vulnerable to unusual leveraging and volatile shifts in sentiment," he wrote.
So practically speaking, this changes nothing for the time being.
The only difference – and it's a big one – is the market won't get a signal from the Bank of Canada once a rate hike is back on the table – participants will have to figure out how the data flow is affecting the central bank's stance.
While the governor seems to think that this will lead to less parsing of its policy statements, per Randall Palmer ofReuters, one could also make the case the opposite will occur. Instead of looking for tiny tweaks in one part of the statement, market participants will now likely pick through the entire statement with a fine-toothed comb to glean whether a rate hike is coming sooner or later than they anticipated. For example: The Bank is now saying that underlying inflation is now "slightly below target" rather than just "below target" – does that mean a rate hike is coming in April instead of July?
Of course, this extreme parsing already happens, and regardless of whether the Bank's language is examined more or less closely than before, the end result is the same. As Poloz put it, ending forward guidance shifts "some of the policy uncertainty from the central bank's plate back onto the market's place."
There's one key unanswered question about the latest evolution of Bank of Canada policy: why now? The Canadian economy is still far away from home; why not wait until, say, the output gap has closed or rates are up to the 'new neutral' level to make this change?
Well, Stephen Poloz has prided himself on being an 'honest' central banker – even though some of his statements on currency fluctuations could be kindly characterized as misleading.
Perhaps, two weeks away from an interest rate decision and Monetary Policy Report, the Bank of Canada could no longer honestly say that a rate cut is just as likely as a hike.
Rather than admit that the chances of a rate cut were going from slim to nil as the domestic data flow improved and American economy began to pick up steam, the governor has artfully avoided making what would be construed as a hawkish shift by choosing to say nothing whatsoever on that subject.
Housing still cheaper in popular U.S. snowbird states than 2006 peak levels, new report shows
TORONTO – Housing prices in popular U.S. snowbird destinations are rising but are still below peak levels seen in 2006, says a new report.
The outlook by BMO Financial Group says overall, housing prices in the U.S. have increased by 20% in the last two years, but are only about halfway to the peak levels seen eight years ago.
For instance, homes in Miami, Fla., are down 52% compared with 2006 prices; Las Vegas homes are down 43%; Tampa, Fla., homes are down about 34% and Phoenix homes are down about 30%.
The average house price in Florida, which remains the most popular state for Canadian buyers, is US$124,000 — about half the price of a house in Canada.
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There are more than 500,000 Canadians who currently own real estate in Florida, says the report.
Sal Guatieri a senior economist with BMO Capital Markets says it's expected that U.S. house prices will continue to rise as the American economy and job growth gains further strength.
"We also expect the U.S. greenback to rise moderately further against the Canadian dollar, boosting capital gains appreciation for Canadians who purchase U.S. property," he said.
No matter what statistics show, Canada's housing boom is about to end, experts say
It might be hard to convince some Canadians the end of the housing boom is near based on new statistics from the Canadian Real Estate Association which show prices still rising.
Marriages, of course, get into trouble for all kinds of reasons, and rarely are they simple ones, but divorce lawyers and those in the real estate industry say that — whether we like to admit it or not — it's an unavoidable reality that Canada's red-hot real estate market is adding a thorny new dimension to marital strife.
But the growing consensus, even in the face of record valuations for homes in Canada's three most expensive cities, is that prices will flatten out — a thesis even supported by one of Canada's largest real estate companies.
Ottawa-based CREA said Wednesday that sales across the country were up 10.6% in September from a year ago, though down 1.6% from August. The average price of a home climbed 5.9% from a year ago to $408,795.
"Momentum going into the the fourth quarter is showing tentative signs of waning," says Gregory Klump, chief economist with CREA, noting low interest rates continue to support increased prices in the country's more expensive cities.
What concerns me is some buyers seems to have this view that prices can only go up
But even Calgary, Toronto and Vancouver are unlikely to see the same gains in 2015 and Canadians in general are going to have to get used to a new reality in the housing market, where price gains drop below long-term averages, says Royal LePage chief executive Phil Soper.
"To be clear, we expect home prices to continue to grow in the months ahead, but at a slower rate than we have seen in recent years," he said. "I don't see prices going negative. Over the last 60 years home prices have appreciated in this country on average 5%. We are going to have more and more markets below that."
Buyers entering the market today could be in for a long period of no growth in the price of their home but Mr. Soper says that's probably not something they'll be worried about.
"Buyers seem to reach a point in their life cycle, whether age, marriage or money saved, where they want to buy a house and enter the market regardless," he says.
Even Canadian real estate companies don't see much growth in home prices left
While Toronto's housing boom rolls on, some of the housing itself is falling apart
Finance Minister Joe Oliver says Calgary, Toronto and Vancouver distorting housing numbers
But David Madani, an economist with Canada Economics who has called for a major correction, wonders whether some consumers are even prepared for a flat market let alone one that is falling.
"What concerns me is some buyers seems to have this view that prices can only go up," says Mr. Madani. "People feel it's a one-way bet. A lot of younger people seem to think that if they don't get in now on the home ownership ladder, they'll miss out. Some of these people will come to regret this decision. In the more expensive markets, it's almost like a capitulation where they say 'If I don't buy now, I'll never own a home'. This is what happens in a housing bubble."
Finn Poschmann, vice-president of research at the C.D. Howe Institute, says you can't deny there is a sense of "getting in while the getting is good" but adds there is a big difference between prices tapering off and declining.
He does says debt levels are manageable for now but there's not much room for them to increase which would help fuel price growth. "The growth rate [in prices] we have seen simply will not be sustained forever simply because it can't be, whichever the major market you are looking at," said Mr. Poschmann.
Still, there is evidence in the market that Canada's debt problem — at least as far as mortgage debt — is not as bad as might be feared. Benjamin Tal, deputy chief economist with CIBC, says 30% to 40% of Canadian households are now accelerating their mortgage payments which means 40% to 50% of Canadian households have an amortization period of less than 20 years.
"I think there is still some temptation [to take on more debt]," said Mr. Tal. "If there is an increase in prices it will come because of demand [driven by cheap mortgages]. But mostly I do think this is a market that is getting tired. If you want to flip, you have no reason to be in this market. If you want to live in a place, interest rates are still low."


If you read last week's blog posts, you may recall that I am a huge fan of Benjamin Moore paints. The company's exclusive colorant formulas – and its emphasis on quality! – truly sets it apart from its would-be competitors.
And now, Benjamin Moore has selected a customized selection of paints to complement Kravet's collection of fabrics, rugs, furniture, and accessories.
FASHION: A palette of Benjamin Moore colors updated four times a year to coordinate with the latest fabric creations of Kravet.
WHITES: A collection of usable neutrals and whites to blend with Kravet textiles.
STYLE: Paint color selections based upon current trends.
So, if you are in search of a little extra design inspiration, be sure to stop by a Kravet showroom to check out the latest in Benjamin Moore coordinating paints!


There are many types of Fabric Bags some that you might not immediately even think are classified as fabric rather than plastic.
Fabric Carrier Bags are often categorised as a bag for life or re-useable shopping bag, generally speaking they have a longer life span and can be used many times over giving them the reputation as being eco friendly bags.
Please see below a range of fabric carrier bags offered by Oversolve.


With greater instrument connectivity through Fieldbus and Ethernet networks, as well as the emergence of more suitable wireless instrumentation, the data collected from plant level has never been more important to provide industry with the facility to make better, more informed decisions about the control and optimisation of manufacturing and process environments.
Whether it is monitoring level, temperature, flow, conductivity, pressure or position, we have the ability to measure the output performance of the device being controlled.
Understanding the criticalities of a process is key to instrument selection and placement. Fairfields has been addressing this requirement from our clients by providing turnkey solutions including the research, design, selection and installation of instrumentation from simple vessel level control to safety related control systems for the leisure industry, critical flood alleviations and complex process control applications.
Following the installation and implementation of the instruments, our fully equipped Service Team can provide the lifecycle support of maintenance and calibration services to ensure the control and data that the instruments provide is always accurate.
Fairfields currently undertakes the maintenance and calibration responsibilities of over 150 sites as part of framework agreements, with the majority having an element of critical level and/or flow detection and their subsequent control.
The selection of the correct safety-related instrument for any safety-related application is a critical part of the assessment and design phase. It is not acceptable to just select the device with the highest SIL or PL certification; the type of device and environment where it is to be used should form a basis of each sub system and the overall system architecture, whether it be via hardwired instruments or via a safety-related network.
In 2014, Fairfields developed, designed and was granted a patent for our innovative 'blocking system', which is used within the leisure ride industry on multi-car rides. Industry standard safety sensors are configured with a safety controller in such a way to prevent individual cars colliding with each other. This application has now been deployed on a number of leisure rides.


the Nature Preserve at Barnstable, Cape Cod, MA.
this pathway through the dunes and marshes.
Here is a picture of both paintings side by side.
last September, my husband and I decided to stop at this lovely park.
breeze were the playful calls of some redwing blackbirds.
to imagine what happened there over 150 years ago.
Adams County Council of the Arts until the end of June.
grey and dreary, with some spots of rain.
before we decided to head back.
got to see baby Leatherback turtle tracks in the sand.


text: Q: changing running remote port for local(by flywheel) Local app is running on port 80 and I want to change it, please help me! I have done a lot of search on it but can't find any proper solution for changing/shifting remote port form 80 to other free available port?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


2019 web development trends show us the direction in which an entire industry is headed. You can avoid trends, be conservative, and bank on the genuine quality of your product and service. However, those who evolve and adapt have more chances to win the market.
Web development is aimed at solving real-world business problems here and now. The Washington Post was the first brand to follow web development trends and combine Accelerated Mobile Pages with Progressive Web Apps. This resulted in a 23% growth in user retention and dramatic UX improvements. AliExpress, Wired, and Gizmodo were among the trailblazers as well. They made it clear that emerging mobile web technologies are agile enough to benefit every business.
What is a successful website? One with a good UX and a well-thought-out a monetization strategy. Response speed, in turn, defines the quality of UX. The faster, the better, it's that simple. According to Kissmetrics statistics, 40% of users leave after 3 seconds of waiting for a website to load. Mobile audiences are growing exponentially but not everyone has a state-of-art device and fast internet access. This means a huge traffic loss for websites. The mobile world is craving fast web access.
After the release of proprietary Apple News and Facebook Instant Articles, Google rattled the tech world with its open source Accelerated Mobile Pages.
What is Accelerated Mobile Page, really?
Why adopt Accelerated Mobile Pages?
AMPs are more mobile-friendly than you can imagine. Designed specially to load quickly on mobile, AMPs load almost instantly regardless of device type or connection speed.
It's crucial to understand that an AMP itself doesn't have any additional ranking boost. Google ranks mobile-friendly resources higher and AMP pages are mobile-friendly meaning they are ranked the same way. What's also important is that not just media resources are now allowed in the news carousel, but every trusted brand that has made use of AMP technology.
The main idea behind advertising benefits is also speed. Users instantly find what they are looking for thanks to instant loading speeds. As a result, they are more likely to be engaged with branded messages and make purchases. AMP ads allow you to advertise both on AMP and non-AMP pages. Ads and AMPs can be created once and distributed multiple times across various platforms and websites.
The Washington Post was the first brand to support Accelerated Mobile Pages. The experiment resulted in 88% load speed reduction and 23% user retention growth. Now nearly 1000 AMP HTML articles are published by The Washington Post across the web daily.
What if your website acted like an app? What if every user could install it on every type of device using every browser? This is not a dream but an absolutely real technology designed by Google to benefit both users and businesses.
Imagine a website that looks like an app and acts like an app. Users can instantly install Progressive Web Apps using Chrome, Opera, Firefox and Microsoft Edge. All components are cached during the first visit. PWA is much easier and faster to develop than a website, not to mention native mobile apps. Above all, even if not installed by a user, a PWA lets you send push notifications and work in offline mode. This is crucial in situations when an internet connection is flaky, for example like it usually is in airports. That's what Progressive Web Apps look like.
Like a native app, a PWA can add an icon to the home screen of users devices. It's a huge step towards ongoing interactions and quick access to a branded app-like experience.
Push notifications are a well-known tool designed to boost user engagement, increase customer retention and boost ROI. By providing an efficient notification channel, Progressive Web Apps stand out as an irreplaceable tool for marketers.
Not only are Progressive Web Apps is discoverable by search engines, but they can also be installed with a single URL click. This makes it easier to distribute a branded app. There is no more a necessity to compete with 2 million apps available across the App Store and Google Play. A direct link to install your app can now be discovered by users in social networks, websites or even an organic search.
Actually, Google has a bunch of success stories from leading companies. For example, AliExpress increased conversion rates for new users across all browsers by 104% and by 82% in iOS. The web sessions time increased by 74% and users started to visit two times more pages per session.
You can also combine AMP and PWA to streamline your business. That's what The Washington Post managed to achieve by combining these two techs.
The web is known for having a huge audience reach, while the mobile platform is great in engaging and retaining customers. The challenge for every business is to not thoughtlessly use all available resources chasing an audience but to accurately spread brand awareness. In such cases, a modern web stack comes to the rescue.
The web ecosystem nowadays consists of many awesome tools: React, Angular, Vue just to name a few. All these tools allow you to build web and mobile web solutions for business purposes. Alongside other handy tools, a modern web stack includes the Ionic framework. Ionic allows brands to streamline their brand's voice across users' mobile devices.
Users spend 80% of the online time refreshing Facebook feed and watching videos.
As we've stated in previous articles, hybrid development can be a perfect fit for your business in terms of cost-efficiency. We at Azoft have a lot of experience in cross-platform development.
This year and beyond, 20% of brands are predicted to abandon their native apps in favor of more agile and adaptive PWA apps. Believe it or not, but mobile users are already spending 80% of their online time refreshing their Facebook feed, watching Youtube videos, and searching in Google. This situation doesn't seem to be changing anytime soon as there are too many apps released and it's really hard to compete on a mobile market.
However, native apps will continue being a part of our lives and bring huge revenues to those who succeeded in turning their brilliant ideas into outstanding mobile products.
Stay sharp and adopt emerging technologies, at least those having a proven track record in making businesses happy. We are always here to serve the digital transformation needs of your business.


What comes to your mind when you think of fall? For me, fall brings images of vibrantly colored leaves, abundant harvests, and scenes of warmth and coziness. The opulent colors and forms found in nature at this time of year are a great inspiration for the fall wedding flower arrangements that I create. Out of all of the floral designing that I have done, the fall wedding flower arrangements are the most memorable. For the fall wedding, flowers in season may not be what you were thinking of, but there are many ways to incorporate fall themes into your autumn wedding.
One great way to incorporate fall into your special day is by using autumn blooming flowers. At first you may not think that there are many fall blooming flowers to choose from, but I assure you that is not the case. Some fall wedding flowers in season include sunflowers, chrysanthemums, and hydrangeas. Sunflowers come in miniature and large sizes, and come in colors of cream, yellow, orange, maroon, and crimson. Chrysanthemums come in almost every color of the rainbow except for blue. Hydrangeas give a lot of bang for your buck as they are large enough to take the place of several smaller flowers, and they can be dyed any color. Set your wedding apart from others by using more unusual fall bloomers such as cockscomb, yarrow, celosia, and zinnias interspersed with traditional flowers. As an added bonus, using flowers in season is a great way to save money!
Maybe you have your heart set on a flower that is not a traditional fall flower, but you want to have a fall theme. No problem! Most popular wedding flowers are available in some kind of fall color. For instance, roses come in apricots, oranges, creams, and deep reds that are ideal for fall. My favorite flower, the calla lily, comes in the traditional ivory but also in orange flame and eggplant, representing fall perfectly. Also, miniature calla lilies make great boutonnieres. The trend this year is to mix a variety of flower types-why not mix some of the traditional flowers with the more unusual and make your fall wedding flower arrangements stand out?
One of the biggest reasons that I enjoy doing the flowers for fall weddings so much is because I get the chance to add twigs, seed pods, berries, succulents, and gourds to the arrangements. I love the differing textures and forms of these natural treasures. They give arrangements and bouquets seasonal interest and an element of surprise. Most of you have probably seen floral centerpieces placed in hollowed out orange pumpkins and bouquets with colorful fall leaves, seed pods and berries. A twist this year has been using gray or white pumpkins-gray especially is a hot color this year-instead of orange. Using gray and white pumpkins allows you to go with the fall theme without using the traditional fall colors. Pumpkins can also be painted in any color, even silver and gold, allowing whatever color scheme you dream of while still providing the elements of fall wedding flower arrangements. The use of succulents such as hens-and- chicks and sedums add surprising textures and a variety of subdued colors that work well with any color scheme. They can also be used to make stunning planted gifts for your wedding guests.
As you can see, using fall flowers for weddings is just one way to give your wedding an autumn theme. Color and texture are also powerful factors in setting the atmosphere for your wedding. You can have a fall themed wedding with spring colors or summer flowers if you think outside of the box. I hope that you find these tips useful and that you have a fabulous fall wedding!


text:
Pardosa diuturna is een spinnensoort in de taxonomische indeling van de wolfspinnen (Lycosidae).

Het dier behoort tot het geslacht Pardosa. De wetenschappelijke naam van de soort werd voor het eerst geldig gepubliceerd in 1937 door Irving Fox.

De soort komt voor in Alaska en staat op de Rode Lijst van de IUCN als kwetsbaar.

Wolfspinnen
Endemisch dier uit de Verenigde Staten
IUCN-status kwetsbaar

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Yesterday I mentioned faking being sick as a child: Faking Sickness. Of course I came home and guess what? My son was sick all night long that he needed a sick day from school.
Yes, the same day I mention faking being sick when I was younger- one of my kids is really ill. It was almost like karma. My son was barfing everywhere and was in rough shape that we kept him home. It was best for everyone. But he was throwing up all day long.
As if it was some great feat of awesomeness for me as a child to be able to fool my mother and trick her into letting me stay home. Now as a father, seeing my children sick is the worst. I just want them to be healthy and happy. That way they can make fun of me or piss me off again. It's what kids are for.
You worry about them, they drive you nuts, but behind it all, children are the best thing ever.


All times for the games are still to be determined. Baltimore will hold joint practices with the Jaguars prior to their week one game and with the Eagles prior to their week three game. The Ravens have won 13 consecutive preseason games and are 33-12 during the exhibition season under John Harbaugh.


Get details of around 305 Punjab National Bank branches in West Bengal with IFSC code and contact details.
Links to districts in West Bengal where Punjab National Bank has its presence is listed below. Click district name to get branch name, IFSC, branch location, address etc of branches.


text:
Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Department of Animal Science Job Board
Beef Cattle Specialists
Dairy Specialists
Horse Specialists
Meat Specialists
Sheep & Goat Specialists
Swine Specialists
Species & Topics
Animal Breeding & Genetics
Dairy Science
Meat Science
Physiology of Reproduction
Swine Programs
Animal Science Monthly Newsletter
Wu named Fellow by American Association for the Advancement of Science | AgriLife Today
Posted on November 30, 2012 by cacoufal
Writer: Blair Fannin, 979-845-2259, b-fannin@tamu.edu
Dr. Guoyao Wu, a distinguished professor in the department of animal science at Texas A&M University, has been named Fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. (Texas A&M AgriLife Communications photo)
COLLEGE STATION – Dr. Guoyao Wu, a distinguished professor in the department of animal science at Texas A&M University, has been named Fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Wu was recognized for discovery of novel pathways of amino acid nutrition and metabolism affecting intestine, cardiovascular and reproductive tissues impacting health and development of animals and humans.
The association has awarded the distinction of Fellow to 702 of its members this year. They were elevated to the Fellow rank because of their efforts toward advancing science applications deemed scientifically or socially distinguished, according to the association. New Fellows will be presented with an official certificate and a gold pin Feb. 16 at the American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows Forum during the 2013 American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in Boston, Mass.
A Texas A&M AgriLife Research Senior Faculty Fellow, Wu's research crosses both agriculture and human health. One of his specific research areas has been "functional amino acids," a term coined by him.
His discoveries relate to the essential roles of amino acids, particularly the traditionally classified "nutritionally non-essential amino acids," which are important in formulating balanced diets for livestock production and human health.
His research is targeted at enhancing efficiencies in food utilization by farm animals toward the production of more and higher quality proteins to help feed a growing world population.
Wu's discoveries, a result of 'thinking out of the box,' he said, are helping find new innovations in solving obesity among the U.S. population as more than 60 percent of U.S. adults are overweight.
He has also done studies on arginine, an amino acid which contributes many positive benefits in embryonic, fetal and neonatal survival, growth and development in pigs, sheep and rats. Arginine also aids in fighting obesity and in treatment of diabetes. Wu has identified this as an important area for expanded research on new amino acids and health.
Wu said that humans need diets with balanced portions of amino acids for cardiovascular and reproductive health.
Wu earned a bachelor's degree in animal science from South China Agricultural University in Guangzhou, a master's degree in animal nutrition from China Agricultural University, and a master's degree and doctorate in animal biochemistry from the University of Alberta in Canada. He received his postdoctoral training at McGill University Medical School in Montreal and the Memorial University of Newfoundland Medical School in St. John's, Canada.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science is the world's largest general scientific society, and publisher of the journal, Science (http://www.sciencemag.org), as well as Science Translational Medicine (http://www.sciencetranslationalmedicine.org) and Science Signaling (http://www.sciencesignaling.org). AAAS was founded in 1848 and includes 261 affiliated societies and academies of science serving 10 million individuals.
via: Wu named Fellow by American Association for the Advancement of Science | AgriLife Today
For more information regarding news from the Department of Animal Science within the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University, please contact Courtney Coufal at cacoufal@tamu.edu or (979) 845-1542.
This entry was posted in Awards, News. Bookmark the permalink.
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Lab-grown 'meat' far from real deal
The weight of labor issues on animal welfare
Big Country Beef Conference slated for Aug. 22 in Abilene
2019 Ranch Horse Program set for Aug. 4 in College Station

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


This is a list of electronic resources on the life and works of Bishop George Berkeley (1685-1753), compiled by mathematician David Wilkins. There is a selection of both short and long biographies of Berkeley, and links to complete versions of Berkeley's texts, a number of which Wilkins has prepared himself for electronic distribution. There is also a separate section on the Analyst controversy -- Berkeley's attack on the method of mathematical analysis employed by Isaac Newton (1643-1727) and others. The original attack, plus various responses and counter-responses to it are all made available here, along with brief introductory comments that situate the writings in the context of the debate. This site is notable in its inclusion of important works by Berkeley, which are here often made available in different editions where they exist, and in a variety of electronic formats. Editions and versions used are clearly indicated, and the site is easy to navigate.


text: Split Enz was one of the most successful and longest running bands ever to emerge from New Zealand. Founded in 1972 by Tim Finn and Phil Judd, and with a variety of other members during its existence, eight songs Split Enz were listed in the APRA Top 100 New Zealand Songs of All Time, more than any other band. The band played its final show on 4 December 1984 in Auckland. One-off reunions took place subsequently, with the band reuniting in 1993 for its twentieth anniversary tour and once more for a tour in 2006. Read more on Last.fm


text:
Thursday Will Break-Up After Australian Shows
American hard rock band Thursday will call it quits after they perform their last shows ever in Australia.
Tagged as: 00s, Australia, rock, Soundwave, Thursday, USA
Full Soundwave 2012 Line-Up Announced
System of A Down, Slipknot, Limp Bizkit and Mastodon head up another immense Soundwave line-up for 2012.
Tagged as: 2012, A Day To Remember, Alterbridge, Angels And Airwaves, Biohazard, Black Label Society, Black Veil Brides, Chimaira, Circa Survive, CKY, Coal Chamber, Cobra Starship, Cro-Mags, Dangerous Summer, Dashboard Confessional, Dilinger Escape Plan, Dragonforce, Enter Shikari, festival, Forever The Sickest Kids, Four Year Strong, Framing Hanley, Gojira, Hatebreed, HellYeah, Heroes For Hire, Hole, I Am The Royal Republic, Jack's Mannequin, Kill Hannah, Kvertelak, Lamb Of God, Let Live, Limp Bizkit, line-up, Lost Prophets, Machine Head, Madina Lake, Marilyn Manson, Mastodon, Meshuggah, Reliant K, Saves The Day, Sisters Of Mercy, Slipknot, Soundwave, Steel Panther, Street Dogs, System Of A Down, The Cab, Thursday, Times Of Grace, Tourisars, Trivium, Underoath, Versa Emerge, Watain, You Me At Six, Zebrahead
Daft Punk Become First French Act To Top Australian Chart
Daft Punk climbs a place from their No.2 debut last week to claim the ARIA Singles Chart crown with the track "Get Lucky", making them the first French Group to take the honor, plus the track is now Gold (●) in sales.
Pink The Truth About Love Was Australia's Top Album Of 2012
Pink had the biggest selling album of 2012 in Australia with 'The Truth About Love.
Paul Kelly, Bamboos, Lanie Lane To Perform At 2012 Independent Music Awards
Paul and Dan Kelly, The Bamboos with Tim Rogers, Lanie Lane, and more will perform at the 2012 Jagermeister Independent Music Awards.
Parklife Line-up Includes Nero, Presets And Passion Pit
Here is the line-up for Parklife 2012 and it includes The Presets, Nero and Passion Pit as well as Plan B, Tame Impala and Chairlife.
Beck and Sigur Ros Expected To Appear On Harvest Festival, 2012
Fans of Sigur Ros and Beck fans had better make sure they have some festival money lying around because the second annual Harvest Festival is expected to be announced soon and according to one industry insider, Sigur Ros and Beck going to be on it.
Everclear Announce Australian Tour
Portland alt-rockers Everclear return to Australian audiences after 14 years .
Flight Of The Conchords Add Another Perth Show
Kiwi comic folk duo Flight Of The Conchords book their third stadium show in Perth. Madness.
Prince Estate Valued At $156 million https://t.co/QPkb4hWLeR about 12 hours ago from WordPress.com ReplyRetweetFavorite


New Delhi, India / Curitiba, Brazil – December 15, 2014: After inking a partnership in July this year, Anglian Management Group (AMG) and Brazil's Clube Atlético Paranaense (CAP) are looking to expand their relationship by setting up grassroots and coaching academies across India. As part of this new venture, AMG and CAP, along with educational and institutional partners, aim to help spot and nurture Indian footballing talent. For the initial roll out, locations in Delhi, North East, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand are under evaluation.
Clube Atlético Paranaense is one of the oldest and most respected clubs in Brazil and are former winners of the Brazilian SérieA (Brazil's premier football league).They have one of the best youth programs in Brazil from which 5 of their more promising players are currently plying their trade in the Indian Super League (ISL). The club has also just signed a cooperation agreement with the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to work together to train Indian footballers and coaches in preparation of the U17 World Cup scheduled to be held in India in 2017.
Luiz Greco, Director of Clube Atlético Paranaense said: "We continue to be very excited about the footballing opportunities that India has to offer. Anglian shares similar passion and has been an ideal partner for us given their long-term vision and planning to develop football in India. They have helped professional clubs do well in India and elsewhere, and we are keen to partner with them to set-up grassroots initiatives across India".


GRASSINGTON United just missed out a claiming an unprecedented place in the West Riding County Challenge Cup semi-final, conceding a last-minute equaliser and then losing on penalties to Field after the game ended 2-2.
Grassington United manager Luke Boatwright said: "It was a heart-breaking end to a wonderful cup run for this young Grassington side but they have done themselves extremely proud throughout this competition."
Field started the better of the two sides and caused a number of problems from set-pieces, but the Grassington defence stood up to everything that was thrown at them with Lee Guilfoyle and Lucas Turvill both in excellent form.
Grassington grew into the game and started to find opportunities down the channels with Daniel Hunt and Oscar Canny becoming more effective as the game went on.
However, it was the other striker, veteran Jan Ozdoba, who made the breakthrough, coolly rounding the keeper and scoring after latching on to goalkeeper Jordan Harding's fantastic through ball to give the visitors a 1-0 half-time lead.
The second half saw Field up their level and they began to create more chances.
The Grassington defence held firm until a Field player found himself free in the area and scored with an acrobatic overhead kick to make it 1-1.
However, this did not dishearten Grassington as the Craven's side midfield three of Ben Schindler, Jeremy Gee and the influential Reece Fowler began to control the game.
It was, in fact, Fowler who put Grassington ahead shortly after. A towering header from Lucas Turvill was brilliantly saved by the Field goalkeeper and Fowler was there to power the ball home to make it 2-1.
Field then knew that they had to find an equaliser and they pushed hard to get one.
Ozdoba had to come off injured, but the pacy James Morgan came on to give Grassington a dangerous counter-attack trio alongside Canny and Hunt.
This proved to be the case and both Canny and Hunt had great chances to extend the lead but found Field's keeper in terrific form.
The game looked to be closing out for a famous Grassington win but with one minute left, the ball dropped on the volley to the Field striker who smashed the ball into the top corner, to spark wild celebrations from the Field team and supporters.
With no extra-time, the match went straight to penalties. Cruelly, Fowler was the only man to miss and this meant that Grassington were left wondering what might have been.
Boatwright said: "To a man every Grassington player worked as hard as they could and gave everything for the cause - ultimately it just wasn't meant to be.
"The men in yellow were heroes who deserved more than the result that they eventually got.
"Grassington have represented the Craven League admirably throughout this competition and the fans and coaches made sure the players knew this after the game."


Conventional tobacco cigarettes contain thousands of toxic compounds, which are released – into your lungs and the surrounding air – with each puff. By now, most people are aware that standing nearby someone smoking a cigarette is not too much better than smoking one yourself, hence the rash of smoking bans that have taken place across the US in recent years.
Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), on the other hand, are touted as a safer, cleaner alternative to smoking. Yet, most states prohibit their use in most venues that prohibit traditional smoking. Is this warranted? Are e-cigarettes as bad as tobacco cigarettes, including to bystanders?
While certain levels of toxins are reduced in e-cigarettes, research shows that others still exist, in levels found to be "quite high" and potentially dangerous to your health.
In a new study by researchers from USC Biterbi, e-cigarettes were found to have 10-fold fewer carcinogenic particles in their vapor relative to smoke from conventional cigarettes.
"The metal particles likely come from the cartridge of the e-cigarette devices themselves – which opens up the possibility that better manufacturing standards for the devices could reduce the quantity of metals in the smoke.
Studies of this kind are necessary for implementing effective regulatory measures. E-cigarettes are so new, there just isn't much research available on them yet."
"Cartomizer aerosol from a leading manufacturer of EC [electronic cigarette] contained metals, silicate beads, and nanoparticles. Poor solder joints appear to have contributed to the presence of tin in the aerosol. In cytotoxicity tests, cartomizer fluid containing tin particles inhibited attachment and survival of hPF [human pulmonary fibroblasts].
While the outer fibers filtered out many of the tin particles, significant amounts of tin, other metals, and silicate beads escaped into the aerosol and would result in human exposure, in some cases probably greater than a conventional cigarette user would experience."
The effects of toxic metal exposures can range from subtle symptoms to serious diseases. Since metals build up in your body over time, symptoms may be attributed to other causes and people often don't realize they have been affected by metals until it's too late. Further, once metals build up in your body they can cause irreversible damage.
One in five current smokers have tried electronic cigarettes,5 likely unaware that they, like regular cigarettes, may contain cancer-causing toxins. In case you're wondering how, exactly, they work, when you take a puff of an e-cigarette a battery heats up a liquid.
That liquid contains a flavoring (such as tobacco, menthol, cherry, vanilla, or java), a humectant (typically propylene glycol or vegetable glycerin) and, sometimes, nicotine.
As you inhale, you get a "dose" of flavored nicotine without the chemicals typically produced from burning tobacco. That being said, you're still getting a dose of chemicals.
To date, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has detected a potentially deadly antifreeze chemical called diethylene glycol in an electronic cigarette cartridge,6 along with tobacco-specific nitrosamines, which are linked to cancer.
Not to mention, many of the chemicals in e-cigarettes are known to cause respiratory distress and disease, and many people who have inhaled e-cig vapors have reported trouble breathing, cough, sore throat, chest pain, and allergic reactions such as itchiness and swelling of the lips.
E-cigarettes also increase the exposure of non-smokers and bystanders to nicotine and a number of toxicants..."
"…there is concern they [e-cigarettes] will serve as a gateway to nicotine addiction and, ultimately, smoking, particularly for young people. Experimentation with e-cigarettes is increasing rapidly among adolescents, with e-cigarette use in this group doubling from 2008 to 2012."
"Although e-cigarettes eliminate some of the morbidity associated with combustible tobacco, they and related products are pure nicotine-delivery devices. They have the same effects on the brain… and they pose the same risk of addiction to other drugs and experiences. Although the typical e-cigarette user has been described as a long-term smoker who is unable to stop smoking, the use of e-cigarettes is increasing exponentially among adolescents and young adults. Our society needs to be concerned about the effect of e-cigarettes on the brain, especially in young people, and the potential for creating a new generation of persons addicted to nicotine.
The effects we found in adult mice are likely to be even stronger in adolescent animals. Priming with nicotine has been shown to lead to enhanced cocaine-induced locomotor activity and increased initial self-administration of cocaine among adolescent, but not adult, rats. Whether e-cigarettes will prove to be a gateway to the use of combustible cigarettes and illicit drugs is uncertain, but it is clearly a possibility. Nicotine acts as a gateway drug on the brain, and this effect is likely to occur whether the exposure is from smoking tobacco, passive tobacco smoke, or e-cigarettes."
"Reports of accidental poisonings, notably among children, are soaring. Since 2011, there appears to have been one death in the United States, a suicide by an adult who injected nicotine. But less serious cases have led to a surge in calls to poison control centers. Nationwide, the number of cases linked to e-liquids jumped to 1,351 in 2013, a 300 percent increase from 2012, and the number is on pace to double this year, according to information from the National Poison Data System. Of the cases in 2013, 365 were referred to hospitals, triple the previous year's number."
What's the Secret to Quitting Smoking?
Some readers have asked what my take is on e-cigarettes as a tool to quit smoking. Electronic cigarettes have proven to be helpful for some individuals who have chosen to quit smoking. I encourage you to do your research on the product you choose to use and continue in your effort to fully quit. My mother smoked for all of her adult life. When she decided to give up smoking, she used a rechargeable, electronic cigarette in the process and found it helpful.
Develop a well-rounded exercise regimen. It is your ally to fighting disease and to quitting smoking. Strength training is an important part, but also remember to incorporate high-intensity interval exercises like Peak Fitness, core-strengthening exercises, and stretching.
17 PLoS Med 7(2): e1000216.


Medium duty Green pad backed yellow cellulose sponge used for general cleaning including counter tops, sinks, bathrooms. Moist and individually wrapped. Anti microbial treated and UL validated.
Features a blue pad for general teak cleaning. Three different textures available: fine, medium and coarse for varying types of surfaces. Each texture is sold as a 2-pack and the base is sold separately.


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Time related changes in luteal prostaglandin synthesis and steroidogenic capacity during pregnancy, normal and antiprogestin induced luteolysis in the bitch
Kowalewski, M P; Beceriklisoy, H B; Aslan, S; Agaoglu, A R; Hoffmann, B (2009). Time related changes in luteal prostaglandin synthesis and steroidogenic capacity during pregnancy, normal and antiprogestin induced luteolysis in the bitch. Animal Reproduction Science, 116(1-2):129-138.
In nonpregnant and pregnant dogs the corpora lutea (CL) are the only source of progesterone (P4) which shows an almost identical secretion pattern until the rapid decrease of P4 prior to parturition. For the nonpregnant dog clear evidence has been obtained that physiological luteal regression is devoid of a functional role of the PGF2alpha-system and seems to depend on the provision of StAR. Yet in pregnant dogs the rapid prepartal luteal regression, coinciding with an increase of PGF2alpha, may be indicative for different regulatory mechanisms. To assess this situation and by applying semi-quantitative Real Time (Taq Man) RT-PCR, expression patterns were determined for the following factors in CL of pregnant and prepartal dogs and of mid-pregnant dogs treated with the antiprogestin Aglepristone: cyclooxygenase 2 (Cox2), prostaglandin E2 synthase (PGES), prostaglandin F2alpha synthase (PGFS), its receptors (EP2, EP4 an FP), the steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR), 3beta-hydroxysteroid-dehydrogenase (3betaHSD) and the progesterone receptor (PR). Peripheral plasma P4 concentrations were determined by RIA. CL were collected via ovariohysterectomy from pregnant bitches (n=3-5) on days 8-12 (Group 1, pre-implantation period), days 18-25 (Group 2, post-implantation period), days 35-40 (Group 3, mid-gestation period) and during the prepartal progesterone decline (Group 4). Additionally, CL were obtained from groups of 5 mid-pregnant dogs (days 40-45) 24h, respectively 72h after the second treatment with Aglepristone. Expression of Cox2 and PGES was highest during the pre-implantation period, that of PGFS and FP during the post-implantation period. EP4 and EP2 revealed a constant expression pattern throughout pregnancy with a prepartal upregulation of EP2. 3betaHSD and StAR decreased significantly from the pre-implatation period to prepartal luteolysis, it was matched by the course of P4 concentrations. Expression of the PR was higher during mid-gestation and prepartal luteolysis than in the two preceding periods. After application of Aglepristone the overall mRNA-expression resembled the situation during prepartal luteolysis except for EP2, which remained unchanged. These data suggest that - as in the nonpregnant bitch - also in the pregnant bitch luteal production of prostaglandins is associated with luteal support rather than luteolysis. On the other hand induction of luteolysis by the PR blocker Aglepristone points to a role of luteal P4 as an autocrine factor in a positive loop feedback system controlling the availability of P4, StAR and 3betaHSD.
1 download since deposited on 17 Feb 2010
05 Vetsuisse Faculty > Institute of Veterinary Anatomy
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anireprosci.2008.12.011
Download PDF 'Time related changes in luteal prostaglandin synthesis and steroidogenic capacity during pregnancy, normal and antiprogestin induced luteolysis in the bitch'. Item availability may be restricted.
Kowalewski, M P Beceriklisoy, H B Aslan, S Agaoglu, A R Hoffmann, B


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Ramalina
How to use Ramalina in a sentence
Thus ascogonia with trichogynes have been observed in Endocarpon, Collema, Pertusaria, Lecanora, Gyrophora, Parmelia, Ramalina, Physcia, Anaptychia and Cladonia.
They are characterized by their insolubility or very slight solubility in water; as examples may be mentioned erythrinic acid in Roccella and Lecanora; evernic acid in species of Evernia, Ramalina and Cladonia; lecanoric acid in Lecanora, Gyrophora.
Amongst other lichens affording red, purple or brown dyes may be mentioned Ramalina scopulorum, Parmelia, saxatilis and P. omphalodes, Umbilicaria pustulate and several species of Gyrophora, Urceolaria scruposa, all of which are more or less employed as domestic dyes.
At one time also some species were used in the arts for supplying a gum as a substitute for gum-arabic. These were chiefly Ramalina fraxinea, Evernia prunastri and Parmelia physodes, all of which contain a considerable proportion of gummy matter (of a much inferior quality, however, to gum-arabic), and were employed in the process of calico-printing and in the making of parchment and cardboard.
The chief of those employed for one or other, and in some cases for several, of these purposes were Cladonia pyxidata, Usnea barbata, Ramalina farinacea, Evernia prunastri, Cetraria islandica, Sticta pulmonaria, Parmelia saxatilis, Xanthoria parietina and Pertusaria amara.
Words near ramalina in the Dictionary
rama ix
ramagious
ramal
ramalina-siliquosa
raman amplifier
raman chandrasekhara venkata
raman-effect


Author(s): Lin, J. ; Lin, C.C. ; Lo, H.
This paper focuses on the issue of hybrid force/position control of the robots with oscillatory base. The purpose of controlling a system is to control the contact force between the environment and object in the constrained directions. The auxiliary control input laws with adaptive network-based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) tuning methodology was successfully applied for robot manipulators mounted on oscillatory bases for hybrid position/force control purpose. The principal advantage is that the proposed control scheme only needs to select control inputs for task space trajectory tracking; that is, one does not need to redesign a vibration damping controller for such a system. Experiments are conducted to confirm the efficiency of the proposed control design. The results of this study can be feasible to various mechanical systems, such as mobile robot, gantry cranes, underwater robot, and other dynamic systems mounted on oscillatory bases during on constraint motion tasks.


text:
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IBM Women in technology
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Irene Greif
View video clips from Irene Greif's oral history interview**
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Biography for Irene Greif*
Irene Greif heads the Collaborative User Experience Group (CUE), a team of Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) researchers located in Cambridge, MA. The group has historically worked most closely with Lotus product teams on collaboration software. Irene also directs the Lotus Product Design Group (PDG) at Lotus and has developed a strategic design practice that spans both CUE and PDG.
Irene is a former faculty member of Computer Science at University of Washington and of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT. She headed a research group in the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science which developed shared calendar, coauthoring, and real-time collaboration systems. She is a fellow of both the Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and Association of Computing Machinery (ACM.) Irene was inducted into the Women In Technology International (WITI) Hall of Fame in 2000.
Irene joined Lotus in 1987 and formed Lotus Research in 1992. Product innovations from her group include Version Manager for 1-2-3, InterNotes Web Publisher (precursor to Domino); the first Palm Pilot conduit for Notes mail; the Sametime strategy for integrating awareness, conversation, and shared objects; and most recently, the design vision for Reinventing Email.
Irene received her S.B. in Mathematics, her S.M. and her PhD. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, all from MIT.
* Biographical information current as of June 2003
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Costa Rica Photo Gallery
For those of you interested in Costa Rica, here are some useful links. Feel free to recommend other sites to us, for example, reforestation education sites or links to reliable information about socially responsible investment or green investment.
http://www.costa-rica-land-for-sale.com/ – Pacific zone properties with planted trees
Download low-cost maps at http://www.costa-rica-guide.com/Atlas.html.
Arenal website — If you come to visit in our area, this is a good source for lodging as well as things to do.
Month-long training course for teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL). Practice by teaching students from a small town in Costa Rica.
Organic Gourmet Coffee — Tesoros Del Sol™ Some of the best coffee you have ever tasted. This is the official coffee of the webmaster. If you love a rich, smooth cup, you'll love this Costa Rican, shade-grown organic coffee.
Buy the must-read book Monkeys Are Made of Chocolate here: http://www.pixyjackpress.com/monkeys.html
Costa Rica ecotourism information — Ecotourism and nature in Dominical, Costa Rica.
Costa Rica Canopy Tours — Hacienda Barú, a privately owned National Wildlife Refuge on the Southern Pacific Coast of Costa Rica with cabins, restaurant, and nature-oriented tours and adventures.
Retire to Costa Rica on Social Security — George Lundquist has an interesting website for those who dream of retiring to a warm climate, but are not rich.
Costa Rica Living Users Group — A discussion group in which many of the members have relocated to Costa Rica.
La Nación — Costa Rica's leading Spanish newspaper.
The Tico Times — Costa Rica's leading English newspaper.
Spanish Programs — Free interactive, online, Spanish language lessons
Learn Spanish — Learn Spanish where it is spoken.


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Spiral dynamics is een model dat bewustzijnsontwikkeling beschrijft, op zowel persoonlijk als collectief niveau, gebaseerd op het werk van dr. Clare W. Graves, professor emeritus psychologie aan het Union College in New York, Verenigde Staten.

Ontstaan van de theorie
Het model is gezamenlijk ontwikkeld door de Amerikaanse managementconsultants dr. Don Beck en zijn student Chris Cowan. Beck en Cowan baseerden zich op de "Emergent Cyclic Levels of Existence Theory" van de psycholoog dr. Clare Graves.. Deze theorie is ontwikkeld nadat Graves vele jaren onderzoek deed, o.a. onder zijn studenten.

Nadat de samenwerking tussen Beck en zijn co-auteur Cowan eindigt, werkt Beck kort samen met Andrew Cohen en Ken Wilber. Deze samenwerking eindigt echter nadat met name Wilber een eigen invulling aan het model ging geven die afwijkt van de theorie die Graves vanuit zijn onderzoeksdata ontwikkelde.

Beschrijving van de niveaus
Spiral Dynamics beschrijft acht niveaus van toenemende complexiteit.

Beige - Overleven:
Het eerste en laagste bewustzijnsniveau is de beige meme. Dit is het niveau van de troep, gericht op overleven.

Paars - Geborgenheid:
Dit is het niveau van de stam, de hechte sociale eenheid waar de persoon onlosmakelijk mee verbonden is en zich desnoods voor opoffert.

Rood - Macht:
Dit is het niveau van de feodale rijken, met een hiërarchische machtsstructuur. Personen zijn hierin onderdelen van een machine die gemanipuleerd kan worden door de machtshebber.

Blauw - Orde:
Dit is het niveau van de conventionele samenleving. Goed en fout zijn hier vaststaand. Fowler heeft het hier over conventioneel: de dingen zijn zoals ze zijn, want zo zijn ze. Waarheid is hier voorgegeven door de conventies en tradities

Oranje - Succes:
Dit is bij uitstek het niveau van de individualistische, kapitalistische samenleving. Waarheid wordt gevonden door logische redenaties en empirisch onderzoek, waarna de juiste conclusie overblijft. Het is een individualistisch niveau; de mens ervaart en beschouwt zichzelf bij uitstek als een individu, een eiland op zichzelf.

Groen - Gemeenschap:
Groen is het niveau van het relativisme: je kan het zo zien, maar je kan het ook anders zien, en zo heeft iedereen zijn eigen waarheid. Wilber spreekt hier van "the mean green meme": de archetypische wereldverbeteraar die met iedereen het beste voorheeft, maar geen keuzes kan maken en conflicten uit de weg gaat.

Geel - Synergie:
Op dit niveau heeft relativisme plaats gemaakt voor systeemdenken: het besef dat alles onderling verbonden is, en dat de mens hier een actieve rol in speelt.

Turquoise - Holistisch:
Het hoogste niveau is holistisch. De wereld wordt gezien als een interactief, onderling systeem.

Overeenkomsten met andere theorieën
Spiral Dynamics vertoont sterke overeenkomsten met andere ontwikkelingstheorieen, o.a.:

Structural Stage Theory:
De bekendste hiervan zijn, op individueel niveau, Loevingers model van ego-ontwikkeling, en Fowlers model van faith-development.
Op collectief niveau is Gebsers theorie van ontwikkelingsstructuren een bekende<ref>Gebser, Jean (1985), The Ever-Present Origin. Athens: Ohio University Press</ref>, naast de 'axiale tijdperk'-theorie van Karl Jaspers

Ken Wilber:
Spiral Dynamics vertoont sterke overeenkomsten met de modellen van Ken Wilber, zowel in haar beschrijving van de verschillende ontwikkelingsniveaus, alsook in haar streven om alomvattend te zijn.Lew Howard (2005), Introducing Ken Wilber: Concepts for an Evolving World, AuthorHouse, p.111

Memen:
Hoewel Spiral dynamics gebruikmaakt van termen uit de memetica, kan niet gesproken worden van een toepassing van de mementheorie van Richard Dawkins.

 Toepassing Spiral Dynamics is een geregistreerd handelsmerk, en toegepast in het verandermanagement.. In Nederland werken diverse organisatieadviesbureaus met dit model, zowel voor persoonlijke ontwikkeling, organisatieontwikkeling als samenlevingsontwikkeling. In 2007 publiceerden Wilbert van Leijden en Paul Zuiker het boek "Nederland op Doorbreken, een vernieuwend perspectief voor een land in crisis" dat o.a. de ontwikkeling van de Nederlandse samenleving beschrijft op basis van Spiral Dynamics en het werk van dr. Clare W. Graves.

Zie ook
 Jean Piaget
 Lawrence Kohlberg#Cognitieve stadiumtheorie over de morele ontwikkeling van kinderen

Verder lezen
 Beck, Don Edward en Christopher C. Cowan, Spiral Dynamics. Waarden, leiderschap en veranderingen in een dynamisch model''. Haarlem: Altamira-Becht. ISBN 978-90-6963-639-9

Externe link
 De website met het werk van Dr. Clare W. Graves
 Wikipedia: Model van Loevinger
 Wikipedia: Jean Gebser, The structures of consciousness
 Beschrijving van het model
 Beschrijving van het model
 Het boek Nederland op Doorbreken

Management


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Critical Role One-Shot: Trinket's Honey Heist
The thumbnail for "Talks Machina #93: 'The Diver's Grave'" (TMx93), featuring Liam O'Brien, Brian Wayne Foster, and Taliesin Jaffe.
"Talks Machina #92: 'In Hot Water'" (TMx92) "Talks Machina #94: 'The Stowaway'" (TMx94)
"The Diver's Grave" (2x44) "The Stowaway" (2x45)
"Talks Machina #93: 'The Diver's Grave'" (TMx93) is the ninety-third episode of Talks Machina. Taliesin Jaffe and Liam O'Brien discuss "The Diver's Grave" (2x44) with host Brian Wayne Foster.
Liam describes the process of narrowing down fan art for the upcoming art show happening on January 18-20, 2019.
Vox Machina: The Search for Grog will be a live show on January 19.
Itshoon: Both: What were your initial thoughts and reactions when you watched the new intro?
Jordan Hitch: Taliesin: We don't tend to hear profanity from Caduceus. Was you saying "F**k off ghost," in character?
ClockworkJack: Liam: how did Caleb feel in an environment where any fire spells would be at a disadvantage? Perhaps a strange feeling of missing something so reliable, or a good change of pace?
@PathosVignettes: Both: How spooked were you by Matt's DM'ing in the tunnels before Dashilla?
@CarnotLesbian: Taliesin: Why is it so important to Caduceus to always make sure he explains the party's presence to the local plant life?
Gif of the Week: Jonas Tintenseher's "Ghost Puncher."
Jordan Springer: Liam: What made Caleb ultimately decide to give blood with Fjord? Did his own natural curiosity take over, he wanted Fjord to owe him one, or was it a combination of both?
Tribert: Taliesin: How did Caduceus feel about suddenly realizing the seaweed in the cave was carnivorous? Did he just think of it as the cycle of life, or was he alarmed by the very unchill plant life?
@EXpiredSunshine: For Liam: Travis/Fjord seems to have put a large amount of meaning on the joining of cut hands. Does Caleb/Liam also put the same kind of significance on the act, why or why not?
@JumanjiiCostco: Taliesin: We got to see Caleb and Fjord make some interesting choices this week in terms of how far they're willing to push the boundaries of curiosity. How would Caduceus feel knowing that they participated in blood sacrifice and the "blood pact"?
Fan Art of the Week: Dawn Carlos aka dawndundundun's "Frumpkin Vision."
DannySpud2: liam: Caleb mentioned he had an idea of what the table did. Did he correctly guess that it would summon the storm? If so, was he intentionally risking the Squall Eater just to gain a favour from Fjord?
@Seagull_Arthur: Taliesin: Caduceus fears/hates the undead. Has he had any past experiences with undead that led to such a powerful fear?
@emjaied: Liam: After the blood ritual, Caleb looked back to Jester and seemed to be gauging her reaction. Was he concerned that she'd bring it up with the others, that this might've changed her opinion of him, or something else?
@TheWritingDruid: Taliesin: What does Clay think of letting Dashilla live?
Malene Lund Staugaard: Liam and Taliesin: On a scale from 1 to Scanlan's drug habit, how afraid are you that Fjord is lying about wanting to open the gates for Uk'otoa?
This week's Critmas: Lauren Tuggle aka @dejasquietplace's Jester doll and accompanying box.
Brian: "All I want for Christmas is a new teleprompter."
Liam: "I have a question. Have you noticed that Taliesin and I are together on this show a lot?"...Dani: "That has nothing to do with any other cast member's scheduling conflicts."
Brian: "Okay, so we got a text from Sam Riegel that said 'I'm not coming on till January.'"
Dani: "Yeah. Also a thing."
Liam: "The animated opening is so fucking amazing?!"
Brian: "Your butthole is a Mary Poppins purse."
Taliesin: "It's manners—there's a lot of manners."
Liam: "In the later years he's Transmutation. In the earlier years, he was more pushed to Evocation. And broke away from that."
Taliesin: "I feel like I've lost an edge of some kind."
Liam: "Leave Dani alone! Travis can take it."
Liam: "Just ram it in there, guys."
Liam: "Caleb was disgusted with himself at that moment...I think that he was a product of his schooling in that moment. And part of him was like 'yes' but most of him went 'you fucking piece of filth. Look at you.'"
Taliesin: "I love the notion of this violent hippie. He's very comfortable with the notion of violence and especially natural violence. There's no more appropriate way to die than eaten by a thing sustaining itself...This is just a hungry thing that will in turn be eaten by something else at some point."
Taliesin: "More than anything Caduceus would have been really—it's not the blood that would have bothered him but he felt it was really obvious that this thing should not be meddled with and that this thing was attracting some very negative energy."
Liam: "This campaign is so gloriously messy."
Liam: "'We are terrible people, why is this sweetheart with us?'"
Taliesin: "He is definitely doing the 'I'm investing in these people in the hope that I in turn am going to be invested in. I am helping with these things, I am trying to give some spiritual guidance in these things and giving some physical assistance. But at some point, there is an ask.' And at the very beginning, there was a conversation that I'm going to need something from you guys."
Taliesin: "He is trying his best to just read the signs and do what the universe is telling him to do."
Liam: "I didn't think that it was like a red nuclear missile button."
Taliesin: "He doesn't fear the undead."
Dani: "Caduceus is anti-shorts; you heard it here first, folks."
Liam: "Definitely not friends with Jester anymore."
Liam: "One of the nicer things in his life was definitely tarnished."
Taliesin: "'Are we just dropping this? This is a problem!'...We're just gonna leave this thing with this altar and this whole room, and everyone's fine with that?"
Taliesin: "It seems rude to make a fuss...He has a lot of brothers and sisters and he definitely was the kid who probably got less because he wasn't making as much noise about the things wanted."
Taliesin: "Everyone started acting like a crazy person to him."
Taliesin: "I don't think he's lying, I think he doesn't know what he wants."
Liam: "There's what Fjord tells himself is the deal and what's really the deal...this guy likes the taste of the power even if he's not admitting it to himself yet."
Brian: "Likes the taste of the sword too."
eponymous-rose's summary of "Talks Machina #93: 'The Diver's Grave'" (TMx93), including After Dark.


Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet or a 9×13-inch pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
In a small saucepan or skillet melt the butter with the garlic over medium heat , stirring until the garlic is golden but not browned, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat, and stir in the paprika, parsley, and salt and pepper.
Place two chopsticks, or the handles of wooden mixing spoons alongside the long sides of each potato, one by one, and use a large sharp knife to slice the potatoes crosswise into 1/4-inch slices, stopping once the knife reaches the wooden rods.
Place the sliced potatoes on the prepared baking sheet or pan and use a brush to spread the butter mixture in between all of the slices (careful not to split the potatoes through the bottom). There should be only about 1 tablespoon of the butter mixture left.
Bake for about 1 hour, until the potatoes are tender and nicely browned along the edges of the slices. Remove the potatoes from the oven, but keep the oven on. Slide one slice of the cheese into the space between every two slices of potato. Repeat for all of the potatoes. Brush the top of the potatoes with the remaining garlic butter. Bake for about 5 more minutes until the cheese is just starting to become melty.
Remove the potatoes from the oven and serve hot with the bacon, sour cream and chives.