text:
This proposed law would increase the portion of gasoline tax revenue that would be credited to the state Highway Fund; prohibit the transfer of money from the Highway Fund to other state funds for other purposes; declare that citizens have a right to a safe and efficient public highway, road and bridge system and require the state to develop a comprehensive seven-year state transportation plan; and make certain other changes in state finance laws relating to the Highway Fund.
The proposed law would require that the small portion of state gasoline tax revenues that is deposited in funds relating to the use of watercraft be deposited instead in the Highway Fund. No revenue deposited in the Highway Fund could be transferred to any other state fund for any purpose other than one for which the Highway Fund may be used.
The proposed law would declare that the citizens of Massachusetts have a right to a safe and efficient public highway, road and bridge system, constructed and maintained by the state and its counties, cities and towns. The state Secretary of Transportation and Construction would be required to prepare a comprehensive state transportation plan for the period July 1,1995 through June 30, 2002, to be updated every three years. The plan would provide for the repair or reconstruction of at least five percent of public highways and bridges every year, and it would establish priorities for highway, road and bridge projects based on condition and safety factors. The plan would be designed to promote economic development and employment by meeting the various transportation needs of residents throughout the state. The plan would be prepared after a public hearing and after consultation with the state Secretaries of Environmental Affairs and Economic Affairs.
Under the proposed law, money in the Highway Fund would no longer be considered in determining whether the state government has sufficient money on hand to set some aside for use in fiscal years or to deposit some in the state tax reduction fund. The proposed law would declare that no more than 15% of gasoline tax revenues could be used for mass transportation purposes, but it would not prevent the state Legislature from appropriating additional gasoline tax revenues for such purposes.
The proposed law states that if any of its provisions were declared invalid, the other provisions would remain in effect.


Crabtree Cable Management now available online for your convenience. Our exclusive range includes: electrical conduit, ISO 9008 trunking, PVC conduit fittings, couplers, glands, wall boxes and enclosures. The Crabtree Cable Management System will not rust or corrode and is resistant to most mineral acids and alkalis. All products are flame and UV resistant.


text:
Corey Wilks, Psy.D.
Mindset & Insights
Habits & Skills
World-Class Coaching
Core Value Toolkit
Intentional Life Design
Spicing up your journaling habit, saving the world through stories, and crafting the perfect introduction
Hey everybody,
Here's another batch of actionable insights to start your week off right, so you can be more intentional with how you live, work, and create.
Insight 1: Spice up your journaling
Journaling is great for documenting your thought processes, save memories you don't want to lose to the ravages of time, and reconnect with your past self.
But if you're looking to spice things up, try writing a letter to your future self. It can be 1, 5, or 10 years into the future.
You can include things like reflections on your current situation, changes you plan to make, what you want to accomplish over the next 5 years, and whatever else you think would be fun to include.
If you want a more structured approach, check out this thread by Sahil Bloom:
Every year on my birthday I write a letter to my future self.
It's been a 10x unlock for my life.
Here's why you should start doing it:
— Sahil Bloom (@SahilBloom) June 11, 2022
Insight 2: Use stories over statistics
Have you ever thought, "Man, that super complicated academic journal article about climate technology sure was fun to read!"
Most of the content about climate tech and renewable energy is geared toward scientists or policy makers—or outright fearmongering.
But if we want non-experts to get onboard the green train, they have to be able to understand what's going on, why it's a big deal, and be inspired to help.
That's why Delphi Zero was born: To inspire more people to participate in the boldest odyssey of our time: Our Journey to Net Zero — Art Lapinsch
Luckily, Art is taking a nuanced approach by writing fiction to get people excited about climate tech.
I love Art's description of this approach:
Less of "20 Solar Trends to Watch in 2022" and more of "Solar: How We Stole Fire From the Gods".
Check out Art's latest article to learn more (and reach out to him if you want to get involved):
Saving the World One Essay at a Time: How I Wrote My First Sci-Fi Story About Climate
Insight 3: Perfect your introduction
Do you stumble over your words trying to poorly explain who you are and what you do?
Or maybe you try to condense everything about yourself into a 10-second elevator pitch you can vomit up on unsuspecting strangers you manage to corner at a networking event.
Clay Hebert is on a mission to help you craft the perfect introduction that carries the conversation forward rather than stop it in its tracks.
After watching his TEDx Talk, I'm going to play around with these intros:
I explore Intentional Life Design.
I help people be more intentional with how the live, work, and create.
What's yours?
Question for the Week
Think of how much progress have you made over the last 5 years.
Where do you want to be in your life and business in the next 5 years?
Know someone who'd love this content? Share it with them!
My goal is to help entrepreneurs be more intentional with how they live, work, and create.
So if you enjoy Building Blocks, I'll be forever grateful if you help me spread these insights by sharing this issue with other entrepreneurs.
And if someone forwarded this to you, check out past issues and subscribe here:
Let me know what you think and what you'd like to see in future issues. I'm always working to making Building Blocks more valuable for you.
Until next time—memento mori,
Website: https://coreywilkspsyd.com/
Course (Cohort 2 Coming Soon): Intentional Life Design
Copyright © 2023 Thrive Mentality LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Thrive Mentality LLC participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising commissions by linking to Amazon. In affiliation with BestSelf.co. Other links may also be affiliated links. Please see our Disclaimers Policy for more information.
Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, and Disclaimers

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Fiction: Luster, or Doing the Lambent Walk
May 18, 2017 Fiction , Literature , POETRY / FICTION
Harlan Yarbrough
Sometimes, Jared saw light in a funny way. Not funny, exactly, but strange, different. The first time it happened, in a bi-lingual mathematics class, Jared worried and wondered, Omigosh, am I having a stroke?
The sensations Jared experienced weren't caused by a stroke but by another mechanism, maybe not entirely different and not at all understood. In those first years, Jared didn't know that. He knew only that light sometimes looked strange, behaved strangely. The experience involved no pain and, except that it frightened him, wasn't unpleasant.
Over a period of three years, Jared consulted two doctors, two university libraries and Uncle Google and learned that nobody really knew what caused his strange visual effects. Medical practitioners called them ocular migraines or ophthalmic migraines or retinal migraines or eye migraines or migraines with an aura, but he never experienced anything even remotely suggestive of a headache or other illness along with the visual effects.
Twenty-six months passed between the first two episodes, another twenty-two before the third. After six years, Jared's unusual relationship with light had visited him only four times. By then, the experience had become less frightening, and Jared had become one of the world's foremost authorities on the phenomenon—which wasn't difficult, because the bar was set rather low. Except for observations of his own experiences and a couple of interviews with other "sufferers", Jared engaged only in secondary research. Even so, two papers he wrote were accepted by peer-reviewed scientific journals—which made him a high achiever among high school science teachers.
Leading authority or not, Jared didn't know the cause of the phenomenon, nor did anyone else. Some researchers blame a slight constriction of blood vessels in the lateral geniculate nucleus or maybe in the superchiasmatic nuclei or elsewhere in the region of the pulvinar at the back of the thalamus or perhaps in the superior colliculi or in the visual (or striate) cortex. Others say the symptoms are possibly caused by spasms in blood vessels in the retina. Still others suggest a viral infection might activate the immune system and thereby produce antibodies that would induce an aseptic inflammation of the leptomeningeal vasculature.
After seven years and five episodes, Jared's observations confirmed that the color and texture of the auras varied from one individual or object to another. When Jared began to concentrate on the differences, he realized that some felt or seemed positive while others felt distinctly negative.
One afternoon, Jared's light show came to call while he taught a rough group of mostly able but badly behaved sixteen-year-olds. The light illuminating one particular rucksack caught Jared's attention. The aura-or-whatever-you-want-to-call-it looked particularly jagged and ugly and left Jared feeling downright uncomfortable—enough so that he 'phoned the office and requested a visit from a member of the senior management team, 'though without saying precisely why. When the vice-principal arrived, he inspected the bag and confiscated a wicked-looking knife before marching the student to the office.
Similarly, Jared began to notice that the halos surrounding people, including his students, while changing somewhat from one time to another, tended to look or feel pretty consistent overall for each individual. One episode occurred on a day when Paul Morrow behaved unusually well, but his aura remained rough and ugly and somehow violent. Jared learned the next morning that Paul had punched another student later that day in a different class.
Days like that made Jared begin to wonder whether his 'visitations' revealed something real but usually unseen or just amounted to a form of oneirism. His wondering increased after he noticed his ocular visitor consistently put a soft, gentle, and sad halo around Palmer Oratoria, consistently one of the most aggressive and disruptive students. A hunch based on that consistency led Jared to keep Palmer after class one day.
"You aren't in any special trouble. I just felt worried about you and wanted to find out if I could help."
"You can't."
"Well, OK, maybe not. But something's bugging you, something's got you upset, something's gnawing at your guts."
"Naww, I'm fine."
A few more minutes like that seemed to be going nowhere, until Jared saw a tear trickle down the usually macho Palmer's cheek. Jared gave no indication that he even noticed the tear, but he said, "It doesn't cost anything to tell me. If you're in trouble or something, maybe I can help. Even if I can't, I'm not going to narc."
"It isn't like that."
"OK, OK, but something's getting to you. You don't have to tell me about it, but if you want to I'll listen."
They seemed stalled for another few minutes, when Palmer burst out with, "My mom's dying, OK? What are you going to do about that?"
"Shit! Oops! I'm not supposed to say that, but . . . Hell, Palmer, that's more than rough. That's more than any kid—"
"I'm not a kid."
"Fair enough. But that's more than any teenager should ever have to handle. That sucks."
Palmer nodded, and Jared could barely hear his "Yeah."
They talked for another ten minutes before Palmer asked, "Can I go?"
"Yes, of course, man."
"You're not gonna tell anybody."
"Not unless you say it's OK. I'd like to tell Mrs. Romero, but only if you say so."
"She can't do anything."
"She can't save your mom, I guess none of us can, but she might be able to make things a little easier for you. Tha—"
"I don't want any favors."
"Yeah, OK. But, you know, she can get your other teachers to cut you some slack, when you're having a hard time."
"Don't need it."
"OK, no problem. I won't say anything to anybody. You can always let me know, if you change your mind."
Evelyn Romero, the school's counsellor, remained blissfully ignorant for three more days. On that later day, accompanied by no visual effects, Palmer lingered a moment after class and said, "It's OK if you tell Mrs. R."
Jared wasted no time delivering the news to Mrs. Romero along with an admonition not to broadcast it widely. Fortunately, she was professional, competent, and discreet and managed to help Palmer over several rough patches in that horrible year.
Palmer did not suddenly become a model student, but his behaviour—and even his academic performance—improved markedly after his talk with Jared. Palmer never thanked his teacher for his concern or his help but did treat Jared with more respect.
In two different classes a year apart, separate episodes showed Jared a soft and somehow fluffy or fuzzy pink aura around Tania Midgely, a good student and an exceptionally beautiful girl. After the second episode, Jared began observing her behavior more closely and deduced she had a crush on him. From that day forward, he always made sure they were never in a room alone together. Not that he didn't find Tania attractive—he did, but he was married and also had a strong commitment to professional rectitude.
A scientist by nature and by training and a science and mathematics teacher by vocation, Jared found himself dithering about whether to trust the auras, which had consistently proved accurate, or his day-to-day observations, which seemed more rational. He suspected his episodes' insights displayed subconscious knowledge gleaned from observations carried out by his ordinary senses, but he still wondered.
In particular, Jared wondered about the aura he saw surrounding his wife those few times an episode had struck him in her presence. Her aura consistently appeared blue and…uncomfortable—as if she didn't feel comfortable in his presence. What does that mean? he wondered…if anything.
Jared worried about Inga and about their relationship but never felt able to extract any useful information from whatever his light show episodes revealed about her. With nothing to go on, he just continued doing the best he could for her and for his students.
By the time Jared's wife had decamped for her native Netherlands, Tania Midgely had been graduated and had left the area—to enlist in the Army, to Jared's disappointment. That girl should have gone to a university, he thought. His current 131 students required his immediate help, however, so thoughts of Tania didn't last long. A couple of times he wondered, Would I have quit teaching and courted her? Should I have quit teaching and courted her? But his current students' needs demanded his attention and soon banished such thoughts.
Eleven years after Jared's first episode, the light shows seemed to have settled into an almost annual frequency. He wondered if he could call them up voluntarily but didn't experiment, because they still frightened him. Even so, he was happy to use the insights they provided, even if they were simply subconscious manifestations of phenomena he had already observed.
Most of what the episodes—or his interpretation of them—gave him was mundane and low-key. A couple of dramatic exceptions increased the worth of Jared's experiences in his estimation. In one, he disarmed a student, whose aura seemed sad but peaceful, who displayed a knife on the athletic field. In the other, he ducked a punch from another teacher, whose aura looked distinctly ugly and violent. Fortunately, several students saw Jake, the other teacher, take a swing at Jared, which led to Jake's getting fired. Mostly, Jared's visual episodes, or his use of them, just helped him make small adjustments to improve his responses to his students' needs—which suited him just fine.
One day five years after Tania Midgely enlisted, Jared encountered her, while they were both shopping at the local supermarket. For the first time since he'd begun experiencing his light phenomena, Jared wished he could summon an episode voluntarily.
Jared had seen Tania only once since her graduation, when she had come back to town, in uniform and with her hair cut quite short, on leave after she completed her basic training. When he met her in the supermarket, she wore civilian clothes and her light blonde hair rested on her shoulders again.
"I'm glad you're back in the area," Jared said. "I missed you."
"Whoa!" Tania responded. "I didn't think you ever noticed me."
"How could I— How could any man not notice you?"
"If you'd said that five years ago, I'd've jumped on you like a dog on a bone. But I could never get you alone anywhere. I had the worst crush on you."
"What!? How could you know what I was feeling?"
Jared explained about the auras or oneirism or whatever-they-were, but Tania interrupted him. "What!?" she said again. "You're a science teacher. How could you believe that crap?"
Jared pointed out that he didn't believe anything but simply made observations and used them. "We all see and hear things we aren't consciously aware of," he said. The memories are still in there, though. I suspect I'm just projecting subconscious ideas based on those memories. I don't think there's anything magical going on."
"That makes some sense, at least. Y'had me worried."
"Nahh. Don't worry. I'm still a scientist by constitution as well as training. But I do feel sad you used the past tense."
"When you said you 'had the worst crush'." I guess I was hoping you still did."
"That's sweet. That was a schoolgirl crush, y'know? I'm a different person now."
"A soldier."
"Not anymore. No, it's just that I've…what…grown up? I don't know. I've seen a lot in the past five years, some good but a lot of it ugly, and I guess that just changes a person."
"Mmmm…yeah. I wonder. I mean, I don't know if it can change who you are, you know, fundamentally, as a person, but I guess it can change your perception of things."
"Yeah, that sounds right," Tania said with a nod and a little smile.
Worrying that Tania might take offence, Jared hesitated, then said, "Anyway, you're still one of the most attractive women I've ever met—not just physically, 'though that, too—so if you ever want to explore a relationship other than a student-teacher—"
"Or ex-student, ex-teacher," Tania interjected with a chuckle.
"Yes, or ex-student, ex-teacher," Jared resumed, "I'd be glad to explore with you."
"But you're married!"
"Inga's been back in The Netherlands for two years. Conveniently, the final papers came through last month, so I'm officially not married."
"Awww…that's sad." Tania paused, then said, "Isn't it?"
"I was sad at first, but we weren't all that compatible. I guess she was never really happy here, always missed her family and childhood home. And now that you're back in the area—are you back in the area?—it doesn't seem sad at all."
"Ooh! What a smooth-talking bastard!" Tania said with a giggle. "I don't know if I'm back to stay. I'd like to, but I'd also like to finish my degree."
"Did you start one?"
"Yes, the Army paid for me to do a two year diploma—Associate's Degree, they called it, but it isn't really a degree—in para-legal."
"Yeah, it saves me the cost of two years of college."
"And the time."
"But you're here now," Jared said, "so can I take you out to dinner tonight."
"Not tonight," Tania replied. "I already promised Mom and Dad I'd make dinner for them. That's why I'm in here."
"How about tomorrow? Want to go hiking while the good weather holds? No heavy backpacks or rifles to carry."
Tania laughed and said, "That sounds great. D'you know my dad? Anyway, his name's Ed; he's in the 'phone book. Give me a ring later, and we'll work out the details."
As they walked up a mountain trail the next morning, Jared saw everything—except Tania—bathed in a light green glow. He enjoyed the walk and the conversation but wrestled internally with the question of whether the fluffy pink halo around Tania meant anything or was just a projection of his wishful thinking. Or does it even matter? he wondered.
Although I began writing short stories only sixteen months ago, I have been a published writer since the '80s. For nearly a decade, I wrote a syndicated newspaper column on the English language. Also, for twelve years, I wrote a regular column, reviews, and feature articles for The Broadside, a national music and arts magazine. My short fiction has appeared in the Galway Review, Indiana Voice Journal, Red Fez, Veronica, Degenerate Literature, and other periodicals.
Tags FictionHarlan YarbroughLuster or Doing the Lambent Walkshort story
Previous post How India Functions Under Modi - Part Four
Next post Tim Farron's Manifesto: Still, there's always the church!
Lynne Tatum December 23, at 07:11
Excellent! High quality writing.


CPC files are incessantly popular. However, a file name containing CPC file extension is problematic for some of the users. They have problems with correct opening of a file with CPC extension. However, it should be remembered that CPC file extension can match one or more types of files. The most popular is Cartesian Perceptual Compression Compressed Image but if there are others, you will find information concerning them below.
So, it is worth looking close at the problem concerning CPC files and search for its solution.
A list of programs supporting files types with CPC extension can be found below. Applications are sorted according to appropriate operational systems and their popularity.
Download Malware/viruses removal tool from CPC files in the Windows system.
What are the reasons of errors concerning CPC extension of files?
If CPC file does not open, firstly, it is worth using files associations built in the Windows system with application that can support them. In order to do it, you should double-click a CPC file icon. A list of programs that probably support such a file will appear. It is enough to choose one of them so that Windows would open a given extension with it. Incorrect file's association will result in Windows trying to open CPC file with a wrong program all the time even if there is an appropriate application supporting this format on a drive. In this case, it is necessary to perform the above mentioned registry scanning and associations' repair.
If associations are correct and Windows still cannot open the file, most probably the computer does not have appropriate software supporting files with name containing CPC in their extension. The solution to this problem is very simple. You should buy or download a free (if they exist) application that will allow you to open, browse and edit CPC format (You can also try to find more informations on FileInfo). It is no risk because many paid programs have free test versions enabling to check their functionality.


North Park resident Tim Cole has been making replicas of things since he was 5 years old.
You may have seen Cole at your friendly neighborhood coffee shop; he's the man who's reconstructing a model of the Rye Playland Airplane Roller Coaster. Not only does working in public help prevent him from being cooped up at home all day, it also helps him keep the project to a manageable size.
"If I worked on it only at home, I would have pieces all over my apartment," he said, laughing.
His love affair with roller coasters began in the early 1970s, Cole said, after seeing one featured on "The Partridge Family" TV series, although he admits he didn't ride his first until his 15th birthday.
"The first coaster I rode was [the Giant Dipper] in Belmont Park. I was nervous, because the cart was one of the old ones and it didn't have seatbelts. I remember it being a rough-and-tumble kind of ride; it was exhilarating," he said.
The Airplane Coaster is the fourth coaster model he's worked on.
His first was a replica of the Belmont Park coaster back in 1981, after he learned it was supposed to be torn down. That project wound up morphing into a full-fledged effort to save it.
The Giant Dipper was erected by John D. Spreckels in 1925 in an effort to bolster local real estate sales. By the late 1960s and 1970s, Belmont Park had lost its appeal. Both the park, and the coaster, closed in 1976. Residents eventually started to complain that the abandoned amusement park was becoming an eyesore; calls for its demolition began to rumble through the city.
"A group of us formed the Save the Coaster Committee. We were a group of citizens who were dedicated to saving the Mission Beach Giant Dipper Coaster from the wrecking ball because we hoped it would one day be restored and reopened," Cole said.
The efforts of the Save the Coaster Committee proved successful and with the help of a newly formed company called the San Diego Coaster Company, the Dipper was restored and it reopened to the public on Aug. 11, 1990.
Cole hopes his latest project will help generate interest in rebuilding the Airplane.
That coaster first opened at Rye Playland, a beachfront amusement park in Westchester County, New York, in the late 1920s. It was torn apart and taken down in 1975.
Cole notes that while memorializing the Airplane Coaster in model form wasn't his idea, it has lit an internal fire.
Cole's model is comprised of more than 70,000 inches of styrene plastic strips. It stands 17-inches tall, weighs about 40 pounds and has cost more than $3,000 to build.
In October, the model will be on display at Balboa Park's "Maker Faire." In November, it will be shown at the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions convention in Orlando, Florida.
—Margie M. Palmer can be reached at margiep@alumni.pitt.edu.


text:
The Dealmaker's Predictions: A Robust 2017 For TV Deals
Can we just end 2016 today?
That's a refrain many media brokers may be saying.
"This was mostly portfolio tweaking," says George Reed, a media broker with Media Services Group based out of the Jacksonville, Fla., office. "Inventory is, and has been, limited."
But the next 12 months look good, says Reed and another broker who shared their thoughts on 2017 with RBR + TVBR.
Read the full article here (login required).
Labels: RBR, TV, TVBR
Guest Blogger Stephan Sloan: Contest Rules
Few tournaments have rules for those no longer competing. The Incentive Auction does in the form of 47 C.F.R. § 1.2205(c), the Prohibited Communications Rule. For more than 800 stations not needed in Stage 1 the price of entering the tournament is the continuing burden of the Prohibited Communications Rule. Station owners interested in exploring the sale of their station are presently challenged to provide information to prospective buyers concerned that they will be thought to be communicating elements of their bidding strategy or outcome inthe auction. Buyers are dubious of the effort or resources they should expend to pursue a station which could be frozen in the auction.
I have been pleased to support efforts to identify stations that should be waived from this rule as they no longer represent meaningful data for rational models of auction outcomes in the current and later Stages. I remain hopeful that recognition of the public good for the purposes of community service and repack as well as the negligible value to the remaining competitors will guide the FCC to a relaxation or limitation of the Prohibited Communications Rule.
For those wishing to pursue the purchase of a station that elected to participate in the Incentive Auction I can offer data on the probability of a station being frozen. Good modeling provides buyers a rational understanding of the probability a station was frozen in the Incentive Auction and on that basis, decide if they should pursue it or not. Buyers can make their own assessment without input from the station owner, honoring the Prohibited Communications Rule.
We are clearly past halftime in the Incentive Auction tournament. Like in the final quarter of a game, I think the highest stakes calls are being made now in Stage 4. Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz encouraged his players; "How you respond to the challenge in the second half will determine what you become after the game." I hope I can assist some of you or your clients with successful answers to these challenges.
Stephan Sloan
Director, Media Services Group
ss@mediaservicesgroup.com
Labels: FCC, Incentive Auction, TV
Guest Blogger Stephan Sloan: Tournament Television
The Incentive Auction is looking more like a tournament than an auction to me.
In the early stages of the Incentive Auction the perception of winning this tournament, that is receiving more value for your television license than it was otherwise worth, was probable for many stations. Licensees who were allowed to participate piled in to the contest and expected a victory. This behavior can be seen as the success of the opening bid prices and the distribution accomplished by the FCC and the Greenhill Report.
Like in tournaments, participants' assessment of victory evolves as time elapses. The huge spread between the Stage 1 Clearing Target and Net Auction Proceeds was a strong indication to competitors that multiple stage progressions would be likely to close that gap. Many models pointed towards Stage 4 as the first opportunity for validation.
For a participant, anticipation of a Stage 4 result yields a radically different expectation of winning both in terms of probability and magnitude. It can be modeled that 270+ fewer stations are frozen by Stage 4 and the amounts paid to the winning licensees is reduced by more than 70%. The tournament by Stage 4 is a different contest. Without confidence, the Incentive Auction of Stage 4 does not create hope for winning but raises the question what does loosing look like?
I believe that as the stages have progressed many television station owners have turned away from further assessment of their reserve price (a metric for winning) and have focused instead on post Incentive Auction plans. To illustrate this point, Stage 1 results promised each of two or more duopoly owners in a market a winning scenario of each of them freezing one station in the auction and receiving a generous sum of money, participation in the tournament is rational. After the auction, each of the duopoly owners could be winners and the competitive landscape in the market would remain as each duopoly would likely now be represented by a single station (and a large bag of cash).
Stage 4 likely presents asymmetric results where all of the stations offered by the duopoly operators would not be needed. Outcomes include some duopolies remaining intact while another may freeze a station. Is a definition of winning being the only duopoly to freeze and facing post Incentive Auction competition with half the bandwidth of the competition (and a smaller bag of cash)? Pricing this scenario is complicated as well where reserve prices become relative to the competition rather than a function of enterprise value.
How do you like the tournament so far?
Labels: FCC, Incentive Auction, Television, TV
Alpha Media Sells Two Virginia Radio Stations to Educational Media Foundation (Press Release)
Educational Media Foundation (EMF) has entered into an agreement to acquire WLFV-FM in Midlothian, VA and WARV-FM in Petersburg, VA, serving Richmond, VA from Alpha Media.
The purchase price is $2,000,000.*
George Reed of Media Services Group represented the Seller in this transaction.
Labels: Alpha Media, Radio, Radio station sale
'Let's Make A Deal in 2017,' Radio Ink Special Broker Report
They work the phones and their contacts every day, looking for deals, proposing transactions, hooking sellers up with buyers. Brokers who deal in radio have all the inside information on who has the capital, who wants to sell, and what the real multiples are.
According to SNL Kagan, through he first three quarters of 2016, the radio deal volume was about $418 million, with the Beasley purchase of Greater Media deal being the largest ($159 million) - and that's low. Read the full article here.
Labels: Radio Ink
Crown Castle to Buy FiberNet for $1.5B Adding 11,500 Miles of Fiber to Portfolio
Crown Castle (NYSE:CCI) announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire FPL FiberNet Holdings, LLC and certain other subsidiaries of NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NEE) (collectively, "FiberNet") for approximately $1.5 billion in cash (subject to certain limited adjustments). FiberNet is a fiber services provider that owns or has rights to approximately 11,500 route miles of fiber installed and under construction in Florida and Texas, inclusive of approximately 6,000 route miles of fiber in top metro markets. Pro forma for the proposed acquisition, Crown Castle will own or have rights to approximately 28,500 route miles of fiber.
"The addition of FiberNet's complementary footprint in top metro markets in South Florida and Texas bolsters our fiber available for small cells in markets where we see significant demand from our wireless carrier customers," said Jay Brown, Crown Castle's Chief Executive Officer. "As demand for wireless connectivity continues to grow, small cells are playing an increasingly important role in adding the network capacity and density needed to provide ubiquitous high-speed, high-capacity wireless services. With a long runway of expected growth ahead for small cells, we believe our investment in FiberNet further strengthens our leading position in small cells and will enhance our long-term dividend growth."
Crown Castle expects the acquisition to close in the first half of 2017 and to be immediately accretive to Adjusted Funds from Operations ("AFFO") per share upon closing. In the first year of Crown Castle's ownership, the transaction is expected to contribute approximately $105 to $110 million to gross margin and approximately $15 to $20 million of general and administrative expenses. Additionally, the transaction includes approximately $5 million in annual cash flows associated with a customer lease that will be accounted for as a financing lease and therefore not contribute to the expected gross margin. Supplemental materials related to the transaction have been posted on the Crown Castle website at http://investor.crowncastle.com.
Labels: acquisition, Crown Castle, fiber, FiberNet
Salina Radio Stations Acquired by Rocking M Media, LLC. (Press Release)
Salina, KS: (Wednesday, October 12, 2016) Alpha Media LLC and Rocking M Media, LLC announced today their formal filing with the Federal Communications Commission to transfer five of Alpha Media's radio stations in Salina, Abilene and Manhattan Kansas to Rocking M Media.
The radio stations to be transferred are; KSAL-AM 1150; KSAL-FM 104.9; KABI-AM 1560; KYEZ-FM 93.7 and KBLS-FM 102.5.
Alpha Media CEO/President, Bob Proffitt commented on the announcement, "We're happy for our employees in Salina to be joining such a great company. Rocking M Media is a strong force in Kansas radio and media."
Rocking M Media President, Christopher Miller added, "RMM is so very excited to add the Alpha Media staff and stations to our family. They will be a great addition and will be instrumental in helping RMM promote the businesses and communities in and around our Salina and Abilene markets."
Alpha Media was represented by George Reed of Media Services Group and Rocking M Media was represented by Gammon Miller media investment bankers.
About Alpha Media
Alpha Media, headquartered in Portland, Oregon was formed by veteran radio executive, Larry Wilson in August 2009 and initially acquired six Portland radio stations. After several acquisitions and this transaction, Alpha Media will own or operate 246 radio stations within 50 markets across the United States covering all formats including Top 40, Adult Contemporary, Spanish, Urban, News Talk, Sports, Rock, Country and more. In addition to the radio stations, Alpha Media owns the intimate performance venues, Skype Live Studio in Portland Oregon and Alamo Lounge in San Antonio, Texas.
About Rocking M Media
In 2007 the Miller family established what has become known as Rocking M Media, LLC (RMM) as a business development company. The RMM group of 24 radio stations covers all of Central and Western Kansas and parts of Nebraska, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas and Wyoming.
The principals of RMM are Monte and Doris Miller and their sons Christopher Miller and Quinn Miller and Christopher's son Cale Miller. The Miller family has been developing businesses in Kansas for more than 100 years. They have owned newspapers, television stations and now radio stations. Monte Miller's grandfather was A.Q. Miller, from Salina Kansas and he started the family media business with owning newspapers in Kansas and Colorado in the 1890's. The Journalism School at Kansas State University is named The A.Q. Miller Family School of Journalism and Mass Communications.
As a business development company RMM focuses on the needs of entrepreneurs and business owners in its radio markets; by offering incubator office space with business training, radio advertising, digital media, social media and raising capital with its crowd funding site RuralGrowth.com.
RMM is as entrepreneurial as its clients and has launched other businesses that complement the RMM platform like; TodayInKansas.com a news portal that has its own radio network that broadcasts three Kansas news reports daily on 27 radio stations in Kansas, the Kansas Farm and Ranch Radio network the largest Ag radio network in the state, Wheat State Signs a sign company in Pratt, KS, KANBids.com an online auction site with auctions every two weeks where RMM sells local services and merchandise from its radio station advertisers.
Labels: Alpha Media, Radio, Radio station sale, Rocking M Media
RBR Article On My M&A Predictions
By Leslie Stimson | RBR
Asset sales for radio were slow in the first half of the year. Up until Beasley Broadcast Group's announced $240 million acquisition of Greater Media in July, the biggest transaction in radio this year was KSBJ Educational Foundation's $10 million deal to buy KUHA-FM from Houston Public media.
RBR+TVBR asked Media Services Group Managing Partner George Reed for his thoughts on how the rest of the year will play out for radio M&A. Read the full article here.
WVJT, LLC To Purchase WVMP-FM From Community Media Group, LLC (Press Release)
WVJT, LLC has entered into an agreement* to purchase WVMP (FM) in Roanoke, VA, from Community Media Group, LLC. The buyer is headed by Todd Robinson, who owns radio stations in Lynchburg, Bedford, Covington, Clifton Forge and Lewisburg West Virginia. The seller is headed by Dr. William E. Amos, who holds no other broadcast interests, but will become a shareholder of Community Media Group upon the closing of the transaction. WVMP will continue to be located at the Patrick Henry Hotel.
WVJT, LLC began operating WVMP on August 1, 2016, under a local marketing agreement. According to Todd Robinson, "Our group is excited to become a part of such a wonderful community (Roanoke area) and look forward to continuing and expanding the fine broadcast services started by Dr. Amos and his very capable staff."
According to Dr. Amos, "My workload as CTO of Meridium and other software ventures has increased. This month we will release a new version of our software and I need to spend more time working with Meridium customers and project teams making the transition to the new product line. I'm excited to be a shareholder of Todd's company and will assist as required. Being a shareholder of the group was important to me continue to promote the local market." He went on to say, "I'm quite proud of the gains the station has made over the past eight months in terms of revenue and improved signal. It's good to leave the station on an up note. The entire staff has done a remarkable job and I can't wait to see the impact of WVMP being affiliated with a group that provides complete market coverage."
The purchase price is $600,000.
*Pending FCC Approval
Posted by George Reed at 12:17 PM No comments: Links to this post
Labels: Radio, Radio station sale, radio station transactions
InSite Wireless Group Announces Macquarie's $280M Investment (from Inside Towers)
InSite Wireless G roup today announced that Macquarie Infrastructure Partners, as part of an initial investment of approximately $280 million—has acquired a 42.5% equity interest in the company from Catalyst Investors II, L.P. and other minority investors.
David Weisman, InSite's President and CEO describes the new partnership as "groundbreaking...and represents a significant growth opportunity for us. We're delighted to partner with an experienced investor that has such a keen understanding of the wireless telecommunications infrastructure space," he said.
Macquarie has also committed to additional future investments to promote InSite's continued growth. InSite owns, operates, and manages wireless telecommunications tower site facilities and distributed antenna systems (DAS) across the United States, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Canada, and Australia.
InSite will continue to be led by its existing management team of co-founders David Weisman and Lance C. Cawley, CFO. Cox Enterprises—and several of its subsidiaries—and Catalyst Investors IV, L.P. will continue to be investors in InSite.
"We are very pleased to become a major investor in InSite," said Karl Kuchel, Chief Executive Officer of Macquarie Infrastructure Partners Inc. "The company has an experienced management team that has delivered strong growth over many years. We look forward to partnering with this team, Cox, and Catalyst to support InSite's future growth."
"We believe that wireless infrastructure represents an attractive area for long-term investment," said Pat Esser, President of Cox Communications. "We are excited to welcome MIP III as an investor and believe that InSite has emerged from this transaction as a truly unique provider in the industry, well-positioned for long-term strategic growth."
"It has been a privilege to be a part of InSite's tremendous growth and success over the last six years. David and his team delivered an exceptional return on our initial investment. We are thrilled to continue as an investor and as a partner with Macquarie Infrastructure Partners and Cox," said Todd Clapp, Partner with Catalyst Investors.
The purchase agreement was signed by the parties on July 1, 2016. The transaction was subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions, and was closed effective July 29, 2016. Evercore served as financial advisor to InSite and Lowenstein Sandler LLP and Sullivan and Worcester LLP provided legal counsel. Guggenheim Securities served as financial advisor to MIP III and White & Case LLP provided legal counsel.
Labels: Inside Towers, InSite Wireless Group, Macquarie
Unlock the Value in Your Broadcast Towers
Many of our broadcaster clients have chosen to monetize their tower assets at impressive prices. This year alone, I have sold and closed over 200 broadcast towers to tower consolidators. While radio stations continue to trade at 6.0x to 7.0x cash flow multiples, towers are trading and 10.0x to 12.0x, and well into the "teens" if they include 3rd-party cellular tenants.
If you would like to confidentially discuss the value and marketability of your broadcast towers, please give me a call.
Labels: monetizing tower assets, Towers for sale
Beasley Broadcast Group + Greater Media
Thoughts on the $240 million deal. Read them here.
Labels: Beasley Broadcast Group, Broadcast, Greater Media, Radio
NJ Broadcasting, LLC Closes on WWRL-AM In New York City (Press Release)
NJ Broadcasting, LLC, owned by Dr. Nimisha Shukla, closed on the purchase of WWRL-AM, New York City, from Access.1 Communications Corp. Access.1 is headed by Chesley Maddox-Dorsey. The station has been operated by NJ Broadcasting under an LMA since February 1. The purchase price was $7,000,000.
WWRL-AM, 1600 kHz, programs for the large South Asian Community located throughout the Tri-State Area. Dr. Shukla, a Pediatric Physician, also owns 7 Days Pediatrics, located in Edison, New Jersey.
Tom McKinley and George Reed of Media Services Group represented the seller in this transaction.
Have a great 4th!
Guest Blogger Stephan Sloan: Bigger Than Big
That looks like $2.71/MHz/Pop.
I didn't have the optimism to model that there would be reserve price discipline of the middle and smaller TV station owners to support this. The message I see in this information is that the TV broadcasters have participated fully in the FCC's plan and the spectrum is valuable to them. I also see an effect from the consolidation in the Television business as the larger broadcasters had the time and talent to determine optimal yield analysis and bidding strategies. While I remain surprised by the total I believe there is substantial data to support validation from the Forward Auction.
Before recoiling at that clearing cost please consider the quote below from Peter Compton in commenting on the results of the AWS3 Auction back in May of 2015.
"The nationwide average price for the paired blocks was $2.72/MHzPop, about three times higher than investment banking estimates before the auction began."
Director, Media Service Group
Labels: Auction, FCC, Reverse Auction, TV
Guest Blogger Stephan Sloan: The Big Big Number
I tipped my hand with my LinkedIn post on June 1st "The $40 Billion Blink" as to what sort of capital I thought would be required to clear 126 MHz in the Reverse Auction.
George Box famously observed that all models are wrong but some are useful. In this spirit I accept that my models are wrong but none the less support and illustrate reality. Though many of the industry professionals I respect have opined at much lower Reverse Auction clearing costs, I expect $58 Billion or greater. The histogram below presents the data from 99 iterations modeling the Reverse Auction.
What this data means is that I can construct models that indicate a high probability that the clearing cost is more than $58 Billion and costs exceeding $60 Billion are a significant possibility. This represents a range of approximately $1.72 to $1.93 /MHz/Pop. If you accept the idea that the first round of the auction evidenced stations freezing based upon the requirement to meet the maximum possible clearing target, then we were bound from the moment the clearing target was announced, to end up here.
$58 Billion also has an additional significance to those of you following my LinkedIn postings. I've enjoyed very much the opportunity to post these thoughts and your responses. For my contacts who would like to take me up on it, I will wager a steak dinner– at the restaurant of your choosing- that the clearing cost will exceed $58 Billion. $57,999,999,999.99 or lower and it's on me, just memorialize your interest in an email, tweet, LinkedIn Message or other dated communication before the FCC releases the data. I think a good reference should be the Incentive Auction dashboard.
I've been focused on this level of clearing cost since 126 MHZ was announced on April 29th. I look forward to discussing how this value is validated in the Forward Auction.
Labels: Auction, FCC, Reverse Auction, Television, TV
The Dealmaker's Predictions: A Robust 2017 For TV ...
Guest Blogger Stephan Sloan: Tournament Television...
Alpha Media Sells Two Virginia Radio Stations to E...
'Let's Make A Deal in 2017,' Radio Ink Special Bro...
Crown Castle to Buy FiberNet for $1.5B Adding 11,5...
Salina Radio Stations Acquired by Rocking M Media,...
WVJT, LLC To Purchase WVMP-FM From Community Media...
InSite Wireless Group Announces Macquarie's $280M ...
NJ Broadcasting, LLC Closes on WWRL-AM In New York...


On the evening of April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln attended a play at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. Sometime between ten and ten-thirty, John Wilkes Booth - one of the most popular actors in the country - slipped unnoticed into the Presidential box and, standing four feet away from the President, discharged the bullet from a single-shot derringer into the back of Lincoln's head. The short-barreled pocket pistol shot a round lead ball at a very low muzzle velocity — about that, say, of today's air guns. It was enough, however, to render Lincoln unconscious and paralyzed. As Booth escaped from the theater, a young Army surgeon, Charles Leale, made his way through the audience to Lincoln's side. He determined that the wound was mortal, and ordered the stricken President carried across the street to a neighboring boarding house. There, because he was too tall to fit lengthwise, Lincoln was laid diagonally across a small bed - which, on previous occasions, had been slept in by his assassin, Booth.
The narrative presented below is that of Lincoln's personal physician, Dr. Robert King Stone, who was summoned immediately to the cramped back bedroom where Lincoln lay and, upon his arrival, became the chief attending physician. His account and proceeding autopsy report are written on pages stained with human blood – although whose blood it is, is impossible to determine at this remove. Stone attended both the death-bed and the autopsy: each was held in close spaces wherein Lincoln's blood was spilled and present.
"With a small silver probe, I attempted to follow the ball & recognized the presence of a rough foreign body, whether bone or fragment of ball, it was impossible to determine. Some inches further on, a larger body of the same character was touched and passed, and the probe passed its full length without giving the satisfactory sensation of striking a metallic body. A longer instrument or Nelaton probe was procured by my friend Dr. Taft & with this I proceeded to re-explore the track of the wound." Stone's unsuccessful probing for the bullet, modern commentators have suggested, probably did more harm than good - the argument being that when a low-velocity missile enters the brain, the tissue behind the ball swells and closes up the track of the ball. A probe then, such as the sort used by Stone, would have, at the least, caused an increase in intracranial pressure: the best thing to have done, it now seems, was nothing.
What the doctor reports, ultimately, is what the poet also saw: "the debris and debris," Walt Whitman said, "of all the slain soldiers of the war." Now Lincoln too, was fully at rest, and suffered not, five days after the end of the bloodiest war in American history.
[LINCOLN ASSASSINATION: DR. ROBERT K. STONE] Autograph Manuscript (unsigned), being a first-hand account of Lincoln's medical condition, death and autopsy; 7 blood-stained pages, recto with one page verso, quarto, no place or date [Washington, D.C, April 14-15, 1865]. Apparently draft notes for Stone's lecture on May 3, 1865, to the Medical Society of the District of Columbia.
With a small ^silver probe, I attempted to follow the ball & recognized the presence of a rough foreign body -- whether bone [text is crossed out] or fragt [sic] of ball, it was impossible to determine.-- Some inches further on, a larger body of the same character, was touched/passed & the probe passed its full length without giving the satisfactory sensation of striking a metallic body -- A longer inst[rument] [sic] or Nelaton probe was procured by my friend Dr Taft & with this, I proceeded to re"explore [sic] the [text is crossed out] track of the wound-- The course of the wound, with this proper inst [sic] was found to be forwards, upwards, with a decided inclination inwards -- The two foreign bodies already alluded to, were noticed & passed & the probe went in, to its full length, leaving me only a line & a half of its length, to hold by-- This, carried to its full length (about 7 in') to its porcelain tip, struck against what, at first seemed to be the ball-- But farther exploration convinced me that I was thinking a fracture bone - the rough fractured surface, being perfectly appreciated, by means of probe.
11 o'clk [sic] his pulse was 41.
11.20' 45 - Respiration 27 - to 29.
12.45' 70 Respr [sic] 27.
2.30' Prest [sic] very quiet Pulse 54. Respr 28.
2.52: Pulse 48 -- Respr 30.
The next day, previous to the process of Embalment [sic], I proceeded to the autopsy of our late President, having requested my friends Asst Surgeons J Javier Woodward & Curtis USA, to be present & as [text is crossed out] skilful [sic] [...] Anatomists to conduct the examination-- There were present, Surgeon Genl Barnes USA, Dr Crane USA, & Dr Taft USA. It was my intention, [text is crossed out] ^ after the permission was accorded me to make this PM exam[ina]tion, to have invited a limited number of my professional brothers to be present & more particularly these gentlemen, who had been so kind & unintermitting in their attentions to the victim-- But to my great surprise I found, that every thing had been advanced -- that it was absolutely necessary to proceed at once to the Embalmment [sic] of the body, which Dr Brown the Embalmer told me, would immediately follow our necropsy. -- I was thus unavoidably deprived of the [text is crossed out] privilege I should have indulged -- of inviting members of this Society to be present-- Having heard this statement, my brethren & especially those, like Dr Lieberman[,] Ford & others who so kindly aided & counselled me this [sic] that long & painfully trying night-- I am sure will hold me acquitted of any want of courtesy to themselves thereby -- I could not have altered things.


"I just want to congratulate all the graduates of Phoenix Multicultural Academy and their families. I am sure that you are all proud of the work and success these students have achieved. They were looking for an alumni or former graduate to speak for a few minutes and I guess Ben Carson could not, so they had to look further down the ladder. Actually this was all done through Social Media, just like the page we have for Woodrow Wilson Junior High School in Detroit, and we have a couple thousand former graduates that still keep in touch.
I am sure that you are aware that the Phoenix according to Greek Mythology was a long lived bird that is cyclically regenerated and reborn. How fitting the name is, because my Alma Mater is Woodrow Wilson Junior High and it was reborn as Phoenix Multicultural Academy. I walked these same halls and classrooms as you did, but they needed a good paint job back then. Back then there were only three grades that were taught here, but the mix of classes was great; there was band, home economics (where the girls learned sewing and cooking), wood and metal shop (where the boys built different items for the house, and if I looked hard enough, I am sure that there are still some of them floating around), graphic arts with the printing presses and Civics, where I even learned how to do taxes for my parents. What a great education. Then again I did it back from 1966 to 1969 and I graduated here in June of 1969 and that was some forty-seven years ago and I am sure that most of your parents are not that old yet. Woodrow Wilson was the 28'Th President of the United States of America and this school was named after him. I have always enjoyed historical side notes, and he was the first President to ever throw out the first baseball at a World Series, which leads me to my John F. Bennett Elementary School, named after the original owner of the Detroit Tigers, and how do I know that, because one of my teachers at Bennett thought it was worthy information for all of the students to know. Then I finished my public education at Cass Technical High School, which was named for the Territorial Governor of Michigan. It was because of the great education that I received all those years ago, which enabled me to gain a scholarship and get my Bachelor of Science degree in four years after High School. All along the way in my education I had wonderful teachers, many that I can still recall, and many that can still recognize me. Looking back, the three years that I spent here, were some of my best childhood memories. I am sure that you enjoyed that same quality of an education here at the academy and that years from now; you too can look back with fond memories.
The other thing that makes me smile about Phoenix Multicultural Academy is the word Multicultural, and this area, Southwest Detroit was always multicultural. From the early days when the area at West Vernor and Central Avenue was referred to as Ferndale, just as about a dozen blocks South of us, the area was known as Delray and this area was Springwells Township. I mention this because this was a true Melting Pot of America; there were assorted nationalities all around. Some of the nationalities were among the oldest of the world and others were from politically cobbled new entities that were created. Most of the children that I grew up with here in the neighborhood were either first or second generation Americans, and if not their parents had emigrated mostly from the Southern States to work in the factories that made Detroit famous. All of our names were funny sounding to us all, and yet we all became a loose knit family and some of these ties are still going strong. Some of us spoke strange secondary languages at home, though our parents and grandparents really only wanted us to speak English, so that they could learn this new language. And might I add that one never was hungry, because every house had such unique foods that they wanted to share with their friends. How else can you explain that we are celebrating our Sixth Open Year Reunion for Wilson Junior High School, and I hope that you can enjoy what we are enjoying in your future.
As I look at all of these rooms and halls once again, I remember how we used to walk to school everyday with our school books, lunch bags and yes our musical instruments, in all sorts of weather. We did it because we were learning and we had good friends to see each day. I was lucky as I only had to walk four short blocks to get here with no major intersections and we usually walked in the alleys to shorten the walks. Though some of my friends walked twenty some blocks to get their education, and of course we walked together in groups, because we had to catch up on what was going on since the last time we saw each other. We didn't have computers, or cell phones, but we all had great lungs and vocal cords, because we could call each other from a block away. And a lot of us would meet again on Monday evenings at the Bookmobile, which was a bus converted into a rolling library, so that we could check out more books for research and for studying. We played outside until the street lights came on, and then we would all go home and do our homework.
After the graduation ceremony, I decided to have lunch and while the area is having a resurgence of restaurants, I had to go to a restaurant that I have written about a couple of times ago, but it is in the DNA of most of the former graduates from the time that they started off as just a carryout pizzeria and now they are a full blown table-clothed restaurant that has clientele from not only the neighborhood, but from far-flung suburbs as well. I had lunch at Vince's and it brought back more great memories, the day was a true journey of nostalgia for me. I started off with the house salad and the hot bread that they have been serving since I can remember. I then had a plate of Gnocchi with Meat Sauce, another dish that I have been enjoying there forever. I also had another old friend with the meal, a classic Italian wine to go with the lunch. I had some Ruffino Riserva Ducale Chianti Classico 2012. Ruffino has been making wine since 1877 under the Tuscan sky, and Chianti Classico is probably one of the most famous wines from Italy forever. It is made from the Sangiovese grape and that is the varietal that is required for the DOCG designation, though there are so many other wines that also come from this area. Chianti is the oldest designation in Italy and the black cockerel emblem is usually found on the neck of the bottle. The Classico part of the label refers to the ancient demarcation of the area, and the Riserva means that the wine has been aged for twenty-four months before it is commercially released. I was awash in nostalgia that day, and so far I still am, each time I think of this day.
This entry was posted in Dining, Wine and tagged Chianti Classico, Italy, Ruffino Riserva Ducale, Sangiovese, Tuscany. Bookmark the permalink.


text:
Patience: Competition in the Classroom Limits Learning, Improvement
By Alisa Patience
Some like to argue that it's a part of human nature to compete. However, competition, is in my opinion — a social construct. The only thing that's natural for humans to do is survive and love.
Everything seems to be a competition nowadays. School is no longer about learning or betting yourself. It's about getting the best grades. Having a job isn't about surviving anymore, or providing for your family. It's about having the most money. Being beautiful is a competition. Casual hobbies have been made into competitions on television with things like tattoo design, baking, construction, owning pawn shops, cooking, dancing, singing, painting, you name it. If it's a hobby somewhere in the world it's likely a television show conveying it in the form of a competition. Even love itself is a competition, with shows like the Bachelor or Bachelorette.
Competition isn't only present but is encouraged in schools. We are encouraged to want to crush the enemy schools' sports teams or get the best overall combined scores in the state. However, competition is dangerous in schools, especially to young children.
Here's the problem with competition: if you win, you are proud of your hard work and revel in your joy. However, if you lose, you develop a disdain for those who win and consider your hard work a waste, letting discouragement ruin your motivation for improvement. There are negative aspects to winning as well. You start to look down on those who have lost. This attitude will cause an already upset person or group of people to feel even worse about themselves.
All throughout high school, I entered competitions with all that I had. But each time I tried, I lost and my heart would break.
When a person measures their value by how often they win or lose, they stop valuing themselves at all. "Gen Xer's" and "Baby Boomers" complain that a child winning a medal doesn't mean anything because they all end up getting something just for participating in a competition. What they don't realize is that kids still compare their own medals to the prettier, bigger ones of the winners. And competing in the first place is a brave thing that should deserve praise. Giving a child a prize for trying is the best way of showing them that being the best at one specific task isn't the most important thing in the world. Children should want to learn and get good grades because it will help them in the future to learn and open their minds, not because they have to beat other students' scores.
At the beginning of high school, I had a friend and she and I both loved English and learning. We had many classes together and just happened to compete for a lot of the same things. Our idea was to motivate each other, not do better than each other, but to do better than we previously had. This, theoretically, is a very good, healthy form of competition. But, unfortunately, by the time we graduated, we weren't even speaking. The thought of her today makes my stomach churn and thoughts rush through my head like, "You will never be better. Everyone will always love her more than you because she is smarter, prettier and nicer. She will succeed and you will fail." The constant competition turned best friends into enemies, and the drive to learn morphed into an obsession to get better grades than each other. Attending different colleges has done wonders for my self-reflection and motivation to do well in school.
My high school football team is famous for losing. Each win is a miracle and celebrated and spoken of for years. But losses come as no surprise. And I would often hear among the players that, "there's no point in playing if we know we're going to lose." They would play because they had to. I overheard the coach attempting to motivate the team, telling them to crush the opposition. But the team was not motivated by the idea of competition. They didn't really want to win. They just didn't want to lose. It's easier to motivate a team that actually finds consistent success. You can't motivate people who have been told that their constant losing makes them worthless because eventually that's what they'll believe, and no amount of pep talks will take away their shame and discouragement.
During a pageant, I asked a girl who would have definitely won this particular competition had she entered, why she wasn't entering. "I don't like taking part in things that puts girls against each other," she said. I thought I was a true feminist before, but upon hearing those words I realized that I needed to support the success of other girls instead of being bitter about it. It's just hard to do when one person's success seems to come at the cost of another's.
In America, we tend to assume that those who are successful deserve to be successful, and those who fail deserve to fail. We're all about competition. But a person can do everything in their power to get his or herself off the ground and still fail. Instead of trying to beat each other out in every aspect of life we should be trying to help each other, build each other up. No one has to lose for us all to be winners.


Give yourself a royal treat in the Royal City of Krakow and begin it all from a stylish hostel created with you in mind. The Hostel Deco is a place with character built in an Art Deco style. Each room has a unique design with the memories of the inter-war period of Krakow, creating an unforgettable atmosphere of your stay.
Located only 15-minute walk away from the Market Square and in walking distance to all city attractions, Hostel Deco offers all the modern facilities a hostel should have in recently renovated historical interiors.
Its beautifully decorated double rooms (also with private bathrooms) make us the traveling couples first choice. Whether you are a tireless fun-seeker or an adventurous traveler longing for a good rest in a comfortable bed, they will be happy to host you. The choice is yours: meet like-minded people while staying in a dorm or enjoy the calm of our private rooms.
Hostel Deco has got amazing common areas to socialize and share your Krakow experience.
There is no task too difficult for the staff, so you can always count on their assistance. They can also help you decide what to do in Krakow and help arrange transport and organized tours to the Salt Mine, Auschwitz or any other.


text:
Du-Fi
Elizabeth I Biography
Born: September 7, 1533
Greenwich, England
Died: March 24, 1603
Surrey, England
English queen
Elizabeth I was queen of England and Ireland from 1558 to 1603. She preserved stability in a nation torn by political and religious tension and led the country during a time of great exploration and achievement.
Ruled by her siblings
Born in Greenwich, England, on September 7, 1533, Elizabeth I was the daughter of Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. In May 1536, her mother was beheaded to clear the way for Henry to marry Jane Seymour. Parliament declared that the throne would pass to any children born from this marriage, rather than to Elizabeth or her older sister Mary. Jane did produce a son, Edward, but Elizabeth continued to be brought up in the royal household. She received a good education and was an excellent student, especially in languages (she learned Latin, French, and Italian) and music.
Elizabeth barely survived the short reign of her brother, Edward VI (1537–1553). All of the people in her household were arrested, and she was a prisoner in her own home. In this period she also experienced ill health but pursued her studies under her tutor, Roger Ascham. In 1553, following the death of Edward VI, her sister Mary I (1516–1558) came to the throne with the intention of leading the country back to the Catholic faith. Under Edward, the Protestants had become the major religious group in the country. They opposed many decisions made by the pope (the leader of the Catholic Church) and placed less emphasis on ceremonies than Catholics did. After a Protestant attempt to overthrow Mary, Elizabeth was imprisoned, although she had played no part in the plan. She was held for two months before being released, but Mary continued to have her people keep an eye on Elizabeth.
The new queen
In November 1558, Mary died, and Elizabeth took over the throne. At the age of twenty-five, Elizabeth was a tall and well-poised woman. What she lacked in feminine warmth, she made up for in the wisdom she had gained from a difficult and unhappy youth. One of her first actions as queen was to appoint Sir William Cecil (1520–1598; later Lord Burghley) as her chief secretary. Cecil was to remain her closest adviser; like Elizabeth, he was politically cautious. They both knew that the key to England's success lay in balancing the two great continental powers, France and Spain, against each other, so that neither could bring its full force against England.
When Elizabeth took the throne, conditions in England were very bad. The country was not strong enough, either in men or money, to oppose either France or Spain. By the Treaty of Edinburgh in 1560, though, Elizabeth was able to decrease French control of Scotland, which helped the English. She also worked to improve the country from within. Industry and trade were expanded, and there was an increase in the development of natural resources. This was the beginning of what came to be known as the Elizabethan Age, a time of great adventure and exploration and the creation of much famous literature.
Since Elizabeth was unmarried, many were interested in the question of the succession (who would be next in line for the throne). She had a large number of suitors, but as the years passed it became clear that she would not marry and take the chance of losing her power. Many praised Elizabeth for her skillful handling of her courtships. Her hand in marriage was an important tool in foreign relations. By refusing to marry, Elizabeth could further her general policy of balancing the continental powers. Yet, this was a very dangerous policy. Had Elizabeth died, as she nearly did early in her reign, or had any one of the many assassination plots against her succeeded, the country would have been plunged into chaos trying to decide who would take over for her.
Religious settlement
After the increase in Protestantism under Edward VI and the Catholic reaction under Mary, the question of the nature of the Church needed to be settled immediately. The Acts of Unity and Supremacy of 1559 provided an answer. Protestantism was established as the national faith, and Elizabeth enforced it as the supreme governor of the Church of England. A number of English people remained Catholic. The Church of England was attacked by both Catholics and Puritans (Protestants who wanted to make the church "pure" by throwing out Catholic policies). Because of the fear that a Catholic, such as Elizabeth's cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots (1542–1587), would rise against the government, Parliament urged Elizabeth to use harsh measures to control the Catholic opposition. For the most part the queen resisted these pressures. While laws relating to the Catholics did become more strict over time, the queen preferred to promote a feeling of tolerance that would allow her to retain the patriotic loyalty of many of the English Catholics.
The Puritans continued to wage a long battle in the Church, in Parliament, and in the country at large to make the religious settlement more strict. Elizabeth found that she could control Parliament through the force of her own personality. It was, however, some time before she could control the Church and the countryside as effectively. It was only with the promotion of John Whitgift to the post of archbishop of Canterbury that she found her most effective weapon against the Puritans. With apparent royal support but some criticism from Burghley, Whitgift was able to use the Church courts to keep the Puritans in line. By the later years of Elizabeth's reign, the Puritan movement was much weaker than it had been, mainly because many of its prominent supporters had died.
In the 1580s Spain emerged as the chief threat to England. Elizabeth found herself under increasing pressure from Protestants to take a firm stand against Catholic Spain. After waiting until England's naval power could be built up, she began to approve attacks on Spanish ships. Her decision in 1585 to send a force under the Earl of Leicester (c. 1532–1588) to intervene on behalf of the Netherlands in its revolt against Spain meant the temporary end of her planned policy of balance and peace. The struggle against Spain ended with the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. The victory, however, owed as much to luck and Spanish mistakes as it did to English skill.
Elizabeth's ability to speak many languages came in handy when dealing with representatives of foreign governments. She also showed a considerable ability to rally the people around her. At Tilbury, for instance, when the English army gathered in preparation for an attack on Spain, the queen appeared to deliver one of her most stirring speeches: "I am come amongst you … to live and die amongst you all.… I know I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king and of a King of England too."
Difficulties and decline
In some ways, the defeat of the Spanish Armada marked the high point of Elizabeth's reign; the time that followed has been referred to as "the darker years." The Spanish threat never really went away, and further English military operations suffered from poor leadership and low funds. Catholic plots to oust Elizabeth continued, and one such attempt led to the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1587. The latter years of Elizabeth's reign were also marked by increasing difficulties in Ireland. The English had never effectively controlled Ireland, and under Elizabeth the situation became worse.
The latter years of Elizabeth's reign were also a time when severe tensions emerged in domestic politics. The finances of the Crown, exhausted by war since the 1580s, were in bad shape. The economic plight of the country as a whole was not much better. Moreover, problems in the court seemed to increase in the closing stages of her reign, as corruption (unlawful activity) and struggling for patronage (the power to make appointments to government jobs for political advantage) became common. For all the greatness of her reign—one that had witnessed the naval feats of Sir Francis Drake (c. 1541–1596) and Sir John Hawkins (1532–1595), and the literary accomplishments of Sir Philip Sidney (1554–1586), Edmund Spenser (c. 1552–1599), William Shakespeare (1564–1616), and Christopher Marlowe (1564–1593)—Elizabeth left behind quite a mess for her successor, James VI (1566–1625) of Scotland, the son of Mary, Queen of Scots. On March 24, 1603, Elizabeth died. According to one account, she "departed this life, mildly like a lamb, easily like a ripe apple from the tree."
Hibbert, Christopher. The Virgin Queen: The Personal History of Elizabeth I. New York: Viking Penguin, 1990.
Thomas, Jane Resh. Behind the Mask: The Life of Elizabeth I. New York: Clarion Books, 1998.
Weir, Alison. The Life of Elizabeth I. New York: Ballantine, 1997.
Elizabeth I Biography forum
Eliot, T. S. Elizabeth II


text:
The Mysterious Case of the Disappearing Reports
The Bush Administration has made a habit of discontinuing regularly-produced studies and reports that reflect poorly on its performance. TPMmuckraker has put together a list, and we have an addition. Some from their list, which started at the Carpetbagger Report:
In March, the administration announced it would no longer produce the Census Bureau's Survey of Income and Program Participation, which identifies which programs best assist low-income families, while also tracking health insurance coverage and child support.
In 2005, after a government report showed an increase in terrorism around the world, the administration announced it would stop publishing its annual report on international terrorism.
When Bush's Department of Education found that charter schools were underperforming, the administration said it would sharply cut back on the information it collects about charter schools.
In December 2002, the administration curtailed funding to the Mass-Layoffs Statistics program, which released monthly data on the number and size of layoffs by U.S. companies. His father attempted to kill the same program in 1992, but Clinton revived it when he assumed the presidency.
As for our entry. In January 2006 we noted that the Bush Administration's reaction to the lack of progress women have made in the workplace is to stop collecting the facts: "Under Bush, the Labor Dept. has eliminated 25 publications on pay inequity and child care."
The source is a report titled "MISSING: Information About Women's Lives," which can be found here [pdf]. From the introduction: "Vital data have been deleted, buried, altered, or otherwise gone missing from government websites and publications: priorities have changed, funding cut, research findings distorted, important social differences masked, critical committees and programs dismantled."


2006 Chevrolet Express cargo van with only 74k miles. This van is in excellent condition. It looks and drives great. It is set up with a ladder rack and shelving. This van is ready to go to work. Come in and see it for yourself at Tom Nunleys Trucks located at 9015 S State Street in Sandy, UT. Call with any questions ask for Scott or Tom.


Need a radio ad that speaks to your target audience? You've come to the right place. WritePunch specializes in attention-grabbing radio scripts that drive audiences into action.
Hearing is believing. Have a listen to some of our work below.
See the video ads we also wrote for Horan and McConaty here.


text:
Home » Actress » Alaina Huffman Wiki, Bio, Married, Husband or Boyfriend
Alaina Huffman Wiki, Bio, Married, Husband or Boyfriend
Date: 02 Feb, 2018 Report This
John Henry Huffman IV (m.2003-2016)
Yes (Once)
$1 Million Dollars(Estimated)
5 feet 9 Inches (175 cm)
125 lbs (57 kg)
Charley Jane Huffman(Daughter), Elijan Huffman(Son), Lincoln Julius Huffman(Son), Hanna Huffman(Daughter)
Alaina Huffman has been able to make her presence as a Canadian film and television actress. She is also known as Alaina Kalanj. By appearing in number of films and projects, she has been able to place herself in the list of talented and gorgeous actress. As the character of Maureen Bowers, Alaina Huffman is known for the Canadian television series Painkiller Jane. She is also well known for the portrayal of Dinah Lance/Black Canary on Smallville, Abaddon in Supernatural and 1st Lt. Tamara Johansen in Stargate Universe.
Alaina Huffman was born on April 17, 1980 in British Columbia, Canada. With a birth name Alaina Kalanj, she was born with white ethnicity. She was growing up emerging and building her interest in acting. Alaina attended Goulbourn Middle School where she developed more of her acting skills and at the age of thirteen, for a Fox Family Channel pilot, she went to her earliest audition and eventually was offered with the main role. In the mean while she started modeling and was set to model in high fashion runways in Japan and Europe for the subsequent years. Her parents then moved to Dallas, United States where she left her modeling career behind and enrolled in a collage. She eventually started taking acting roles in a series of independent films. Her number of television credits increased when she moved to Los Angeles.
Confidential and smart Alaina has been able to justify the character very well with her portrayals. She has appeared in number of Filmography with many lead, supporting and guest roles. Alaina Huffman is equally beautiful both on-screen and off-screen. Her beauty is her assets. Standing tall with the height of five feet nine inches, Huffman has slim build with sexy body measurements. Her body measurements read to be 34-23-35 and she weighs 57 kg. Her shoe size is found to be 8 according to wiki feet. With the well-maintained physique, she looks perfect in every dress and there is no doubt that she looks red hot in bikini flaunting her curves and skinny smooth legs. Her charismatic blue eyes and natural blonde hair adds plus point in her beauty.
Many people are interested to know the actual relationship status of the celebrities, as there exist many rumors on their dating and affairs. Thirty five year old Alaina Huffman has been involved in a marital relation. She married her boyfriend John Huffman and is happily living with him. With her husband, she has four children; son Elijah Huffman (b. 2004), daughter Hanna Huffman (b. 2006), daughter Charley Jane Huffman (b. 2009) and son Lincoln Julius Huffman (b. 2011).
Alaina Huffman has given wonderful portrayals due to which she has been highly admired and appreciated. Her net worth is estimated to be $1 million dollars. She has large fan following and to stay connected with them, she is very active in different social net working sites. With 46.1k followers, 153 following and 767 posts, Huffman is active in the Instagram and with 79.1k followers, 186 following and 10.8k tweets; she is also active in twitter.
Tiffany Limos Wiki, Bio, Married or Boyfriend, Dating and Ethnicity
Alysia Rogers Wiki, Married, Husband or Boyfriend and Net Worth
Grace Park Wiki, Husband, Divorce, Boyfriend and Net Worth
Rhona Mitra Wiki, Married, Husband or Boyfriend, Dating and Net Worth
Clea DuVall Wiki, Married, Lesbian/Gay, Girlfriend and Net Worth
Finola Hughes Wiki, Married, Husband, Children and Net Worth
Amy Poehler Wiki, Husband, Divorce or Boyfriend and Net Worth
Paige Davis Husband, Divorce, Boyfriend, Dating and Net Worth
Jessica Wesson Wiki, Bio, Married, Husband or Boyfriend
MacKenzie Mauzy Wiki, Bio, Husband, Married and Boyfriend
Ginnifer Goodwin Wiki, Boyfriend, Dating and Net Worth


NOTE: If replacing an existing mounted BAC-10xxx series FlexStat (with only three external inputs) with a new BAC-12xxxx/13xxxx/14xxxx FlexStat, the backplate must also be replaced since the terminals are incompatible. Mounting a BAC-12xxxx FlexStat on an old BAC-10000 (3-input) mounting plate will damage the FlexStat. BAC-13xxxx/14xxxx FlexStats, with the CO2 sensor, have a larger backplate with horizontal instead of vertical terminal blocks and cannot be mounted on the old backplate at all.


Is Your Life a Performance or a Chat?
Sunny Joy McMillan is an attorney and Master Life Coach. She also is the host of Sunny in Seattle, a fun and inspiring weekly radio show. Sunny is passionate about empowering adults to make soul-based relationship and work choices, as well as using divorce as a catalyst for personal transformation, spiritual awakening and creating a kickass new life.
What If You've Changed the Inner Scenery?
Get your monthly dose of inbox sunshine with Sunny Notes!


An ethnic group or ethnicity is a category of people who identify with each other based on common ancestral, social, cultural or national experience. Unlike most other social groups, ethnicity is primarily an inherited status. Membership of an ethnic group tends to be defined by a shared cultural heritage, ancestry, origin myth, history, homeland, language and/or dialect, symbolic systems such as religion, mythology and ritual, cuisine, dressing style, art, and physical appearance.
Ethnic groups, derived from the same historical founder population, often continue to speak related languages and share a similar gene pool. By way of language shift, acculturation, adoption and religious conversion, it is possible for some individuals or groups to leave one ethnic group and become part of another (except for ethnic groups emphasizing racial purity as a key membership criterion).
Ethnicity is often used synonymously with ambiguous terms such as nation or people.
The United States has a racially and ethnically diverse population.The census officially recognizes six ethnic and racial categories: White American, Black or African American, Native American and Alaska Native, Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, and people of two or more races; a race called "Some other race" is also used in the census and other surveys, but is not official. The United States Census Bureau also classifies Americans as "Hispanic or Latino" and "Not Hispanic or Latino", which identifies Hispanic and Latino Americans as a racially diverse ethnicity that composes the largest minority group in the nation.
White Americans are the racial majority. African Americans are the largest racial minority, amounting to 13.2% of the population. Hispanic and Latino Americans amount to 17.1% of the population, making up the largest ethnic minority. The White, non-Hispanic or Latino population make up 62.6% of the nation's total, with the total White population (including White Hispanics and Latinos) being 77.1%.


text:
Q: How to search an object list for a specific attribute value that exists in another list of objects I have two lists
list1 = [obj1, obj2, ... objn] # len(list1) == N
list2 = [obj1, obj2, ... objm] # len(list2) == M

here's a json representation of obj:
obj = {
   "a1": 0,
   "a2": 1,
   "a3": 2
}

How would I determine the objects from list2 with the same value for obj["a1"] as those in list1? Note it's possible to have multiple occurrences of this. The objects in both lists are formatted the same.
I am only interested in seeing if the value for a certain object attribute from one list can be found in another
For example
list1 = [
   {
      "a1":0,
      "a2":5,
      "a3":4
   },
   {
      "a1":2,
      "a2":3,
      "a3":1
   }
   ...
]

list2 = [
   # first object
   {
      "a1":0,
      "a2":3,
      "a3":1
   },
   # second object
   {
      "a1":3,
      "a2":1,
      "a3":0
   }
   ...
]

In this case, the first object in list2 contains the same attribute value for obj["a1"] as list1

A: Check Pandas, you can easily transform the lists to pandas and from there, doing what you need is pretty straight forward.
Index the two pandas with "a1", and then check this link to get intersection
try this; (I have not run the code. but this should work!)
import pandas as pd
df1 = pd.DataFrame(list1)
df2 = pd.DataFrame(list2)

df1.set_index("a1",inplace=True)
df2.set_index("a1",inplace=True)

df1.index.intersection(df2.index)

This should give you the list of intersections

A: using pandas you can try this
list1 = [
   {
      "a1":0,
      "a2":5,
      "a3":4
   },
   {
      "a1":2,
      "a2":3,
      "a3":1
   }
]

list2 = [
   # first object
   {
      "a1":0,
      "a2":3,
      "a3":1
   },
   # second object
   {
      "a1":3,
      "a2":1,
      "a3":0
   }
]

df1 = pd.DataFrame(list1)
df2 = pd.DataFrame(list2)

a1 = df2[df2['a1'].isin(df1['a1'])]
a1.to_json(orient='records', lines=True)

A: The easiest solution would be to simply go through a double loop:
for obj1 in list1:
    for key in obj1:
        for obj2 in list2:
            if (obj1[key] == obj2[key]):
                # Do what you want

A: You could try looking into different libraries and you may find an answer. However you can play around with dictionaries to achieve the same results. Let me know if you have any issues with this method.
def get_groups(list1, list2):

    # assuming the obj are dictionaries in lists 1 & 2
    # we store entries into the known_data as
    # (category, value) : [obj_references]
    # eg known_data = {('a1', 0) : [obj1, obj23, obj3]}

    known_data = {}

    for obj in list1:
        for category, value in obj.items():
            key = (category, value)
            entry = known_data.get(key, []) or []
            entry.append(obj)
            known_data[key] =  entry

    # now we can iterate over list2 and check to see if it shares any keys
    # for groups we store our common key (category, value)
    # and map to a 2D array [ [list1 objs] , [list2 objs]]
    groups = {}

    for obj in list2:
        for category, value in obj.items():
            key = (category, value)

            if key not in known_data:
                continue

            entry = groups.get(key) or [[], [known_data[key]]]
            entry[0].append(obj)
            groups[key] = entry

    return groups

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange