With the uproar over last week's EU Referendum, in which the U.K. opted to leave the European Union, lots has happened: Donald Trump released yet another controversial tweet, U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron tendered his resignation, Scotland threatened to make another bid for independence and other countries have threatened to leave the EU.
Publishers worldwide have covered the topic from nearly every angle, thus creating another story in itself: Outlets rely on nontraditional formats to win the public's attention in an overwhelming sea of information and content. There is no surprise there, considering the fact that a recent study found that interactive content formats demand more attention than non-interactive ones.
In the midst of such a controversial topic that seized worldwide attention and triggered strong emotional responses, these five publishers understood that it was necessary to speak with their readers, not at them.
Fortune asked its audience via a poll: "Should it Brexit or Bremain?" The item, published before the vote, presented a list of pre-referendum arguments and asked readers to read through, and then come to their own conclusion before casting their vote. Interestingly enough, the results differed from those of the real vote, showing that the majority of those who interacted with the poll voted to remain in the EU.
The Telegraph opted for a swiper format to gauge its audience's take on the topic. This item made it easy for readers to cast their opinion, on which speakers performed well during BBC's Brexit-focused debate, resulting in 184,000 views.
Lifestyle and fitness publication Men's Health used a trivia quiz to apply a health-conscious approach to the matter. In an item asking, "Is the EU Good for Your Health?," the editorial team successfully educated its readers about the EU's influence on day-to-day wellbeing concerns.
U.K. publication The Tab chose to take the humoristic route, asking their audience, "What's Your Brexit Strategy?." The outlet employed a personality quiz that included light-hearted questions such as, "How long would you survive in the wild?," and results such as, "Live on a fishing boat in the North Sea." The humor reflected the mood of the nation and impressed The Tab's readers, garnering an 89 percent completion rate and an average of 2.5 minutes spent on page.
Last but not least, The Huffington Post employed a chat-like format to break down the untruths contained within a flyer campaigning to leave the EU. The conversation, which took a comedic approach similar to that of The Tab's item, pinned reason and sanity against a right-wing party in the U.K. to point out the hilarity of the document.
The above showcases that pairing good content with the right medium– in this case a format–is the catalyst for compelling content readers crave. Outlets that opt to employ interactive content formats and transform their sites into platforms in which readers can voice their opinions will undoubtedly earn the vote of their audiences.
This article originally appeared on AdWeek's "Social Times" blog. Find it here.
Jo Barrow is Head of Content, UK, at Playbuzz. She can be contacted at jo@playbuzz.com.


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Unique chemistry - which one day might help fight serious disease - found in the New Zealand glowworm
Tuesday 20 February 2018 9:09am
Dr Miriam Sharpe, Department of Biochemistry.
University of Otago researchers have helped uncover how New Zealand glowworms produce their glow. A multi-year study of the bioluminescence produced by the glowworms has been published today in the highly respected online science journal, Scientific Reports.
The study titled "New Zealand glowworm bioluminescence is produced by a firefly-like luciferase but an entirely new luciferin," was a collaborative effort between Otago's Chemistry and Biochemistry departments.
Lead authors Doctors Oliver Watkins and Miriam Sharpe, working with Professors Nigel Perry (Chemistry) and Kurt Krause (Biochemistry), have discovered that the New Zealand glowworms produce their light using a chemical reaction that is different to all other glowing creatures like fireflies.
All light made by living creatures comes from chemical reactions that take place in enzymes called luciferases.
Dr Oliver Watkins, Department of Biochemistry.
"What we have discovered is that the chemical, called a luciferin, which makes light in New Zealand glowworms is unique, not used by any other glowing organism. However, the glow-worm luciferase enzyme is related to enzymes already found in other bioluminescent organisms like fireflies," says Dr Sharpe.
"No-one expected that this type of luciferase could make light with more than one kind of luciferin chemical."
Professor Krause says these findings are an important addition to our knowledge of glow-worms and notes that, the chemical that creates their glow could have important uses in the medical biotechnology sector.
Professor Kurt Krause, Department of Biochemistry.
"For instance, the light-generation taking place in the glowworm's 'taillight' could potentially be used in the laboratory to monitor cancer cells or to help identify infectious diseases. The chemistry behind some bioluminescent species, such as fireflies, is already used in scientific experiments world-wide. We believe the novel chemistry of the glowworms means their light could be used in similar kinds of experiments," says Dr Krause.
Professor Perry says for the full potential of glowworm's new chemistry to be exploited the next step is to synthesize the chemical compound that makes the light, i.e. the luciferin, in the laboratory. This is a key step to enable utilization of the glowworm chemistry in any laboratory application.
The research team are now hoping to secure the funding needed to begin this synthesis and to continue their work.
Professor Nigel Perry, Department of Chemistry.
See the video put together during the research phase by United States based science and technology online publication Science Friday
Dr Sharpe's work has been supported by the former Foundation for Research Science and Innovation (now the New Zealand Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment), and the Marsden Fund of New Zealand, and Dr Watkins' research was supported by a PhD Scholarship from the University of Otago.
For further comment please contact:
Dr Miriam Sharpe
Email: miriam.sharpe@otago.ac.nz
Professor Kurt Krause
Email: kurt.krause@otago.ac.nz
Professor Nigel Perry
Email: nigel.perry@otago.ac.nz
Mark Hathaway
Senior Communications Adviser
Email: mark.hathaway@otago.ac.nz

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Home » Don Paterson – Interview
Don Paterson – Interview
Don Paterson
An interview with Don Paterson
Don Paterson was born in Dundee in 1963. He is the author of Nil Nil (1993), God's Gift to Women (1997) — winner of both the T. S. Eliot Prize and the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize — and Landing Light (2003), which won both the T. S. Eliot Prize and the Whitbread Prize for Poetry. Rain, his most recent collection, won the Forward Prize for Best Collection in 2009, the same year that he was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry.
Harlequin: You have been fairly outspoken on the divide between so-called 'mainstream' and 'avant-garde' poetry, to the extent that you are sometimes viewed as a kind of figurehead for the former school. One could argue that the point where one ideology shelves into the next is almost impossible to define, and would be identified differently depending on who was asked. Do you believe there is any real use in such distinctions?
Don Paterson: So long as certain factions within the avant-garde continue to identify themselves as not-the-mainstream with self-approving titles like 'linguistically innovative poetry' or (my favourite) 'non-conformist verse' — the non-avant-garde are obliged to speak up, if only to say 'it really isn't that simple'. But no, I don't think there's any real distinction; my position has changed there. However I think there is a healthy and perhaps necessary dialectic between 'experimental' and 'broadly successful' verse — sorry, I kid! I kid because I love — between avant-garde and 'mainstream' verse, but it can only exist when people are prepared to caricature their positions a little.
H: You've said of the very avant-garde that it risks less. Do you think the criteria by which we recognize 'good writing' and 'bad writing' is obscured (or perhaps just irrelevant) in this 'safer' poetry, or is the risk more to do with emotional gambits … the risk of appearing sentimental?
DP: Not just risking sentimentality — risking looking foolish and uncool and pretentious and ridiculous and clichéd. Personal risk. Having some rough paraphrasable sense, then being broadly understood, and then revealed as having nothing to say. If you aim for clarity, all your worst traits risk being publically revealed. But a 'mainstream' poem will also fail because the rules of its game are known, and it's fallen badly short: it's lyrically confused (i.e. it doesn't integrate its music) or it over extends its conceit, or it scans poorly, or it's about five things instead of one, and so on. Just about the only genuine criticism you still tend to hear from most critics of an avant-garde poem is that it fails to innovate. But innovation is a neutral attribute. It has nothing to do with success. That really isn't good enough. No rules, no game; no game, no verifiable success; no success, and it's all great, or it's all bad, or it's all mediocre. And there's no point.
H: The argument often centres on questions of accessibility and of breaking ground. To what extent do you believe it is a poet's responsibility to leave a door open for his or her readers? Or to extend the form?
DP: I don't understand this talk of responsibility, really. Poets have a responsibility not to be bad or boring or stupid, like any other artist. But yes — for me, the poem is ideally an unstable sign that has enough polysemy to be made the reader's own, but not so much that they can make anything of it at all. So there's some built-in, judicious slippage. Form will extend, morph or adapt when it has to, and I think we don't need to worry about it. Again, there's no intrinsic merit in 'technical innovation'. Most folk who consciously 'extend the form' tend to end up ploughing a very lonely furrow, and for a good reason. I believe in a more organic, less self-conscious relationship between form and the language. Forms adapt or innovated themselves through linguistic necessity, either at a personal level or through the cultural evolution of the language.
H: Does a poet have any particular responsibilities?
DP: Not to lie. To themselves first.
H: Has Pound's order to 'Make it New' been over-emphasised, do you think? Many poems that are being published seem to value that one piece of advice over anything else …
DP: Amusingly, it's been this way for a long, long time. But, aye, agreed. My own definition of originality is that it has to be part-known, otherwise the original part of the thought can't be measured or even recognised. We work through the known towards the unknown. That's still 'making it new'. Otherwise it's mere novelty again.
H: As hard as poetry often works to provide affirmation to dichotomy and ambiguity, are you ever frustrated with the response which simplifies that affirmation into something on either side of the fence? The common misreading of "The Road Not Taken", for instance.
DP: Well, that's maybe a bad example, as Frost pretty much deliberately created a trap for the waggy-tailed unwary. He enjoyed that kind of thing. Simplification is the problem; especially when the poet enjoys making complex things from simple language, the inclination of some readers — either through snobbery or stupidity — is to assume the poem is correspondingly simple. But my inclination is always to blame poets, not readers … We're usually to blame for not having made our intentions more clear.
H: I know you don't like the term 'creative writing' to mean the composition of poetry, and I've heard you don't much like calling yourself a poet. Merely saying 'I write poems' seems a less pretentious and more accurate description of what's going on, but it seems that many people nowadays are striving to earn the right to call themselves poets — or authors — by looking at creative writing courses as apprenticeships into a profession. Do you think our relationship with the page is suffering at all because of this, or is the posterity boom creating a richer community of writers?
DP: I think that's well put, though I don't know what you mean by 'the posterity boom'. There'll be a posterity boom when they drop the bomb. 'I don't write poems' would be more accurate in my case, since that's what I spend most of time doing. Poetry isn't a job; unlike a 'novelist' or 'composer' you can't do it all the time. My brother's a sculptor and he works every day. There's no profession. What they call 'the poetry profession' is a Ponzi scheme. With similar financial rewards. We've certainly created a richer and more competent form of mediocrity, which makes the good stuff harder and harder to spot. It'll sort itself out; it always has in the past.
H: One final question — In the introduction to your recent commentary on Shakespeare's sonnets, you mention that it was 'a hideously exposed bluff at a party' which caused you to go back to the sonnets and really get to know them. Has the pain of that memory softened enough for you to share what happened?
DP: Let's just say it involved the transposition of a couple of lines from different sonnets to create a whole new couplet. Which I then tried to pass off as a witticism. And failed to. And leave it at that …
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Words: On Virginia Woolf from Rudy Katoch on Soundcloud.
'Words' is a literary discussion podcast by Rosie Clarke and Rudy Katoch.
Evening, it's Rudy. The vibe at the Press Association is focused and, dare I say it, productive. We're hustling quotes and wrapping up our first features for our app. But, let's take a moment to relax.
Setting clear copy alongside multimedia elements is like lapidary. So, on Sunday we were told to create podcasts.
Being paired with Rosie Clarke meant that we already knew what we'd talk about: Virginia Woolf. She's the subject of a new exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. Plus, we're pretty much obsessed with her and had so much fun discussing her relationship with words. Hit play to listen our discussion!
It's a rare luxury: being able to sit and think. Shorthand lessons, writing this blog, walking across Vauxhall Bridge: these are moments where you can find some stillness in/outside the newsroom.
And now I have to get back to my feature. It won't write itself!


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Daniel Greene, born in 1960, is an American actor, best known for his role as Dwayne Cooley in the television series Falcon Crest, and as Paco Queruak in the 1986 action–sci fi movie Vendetta dal futuro.

Career
Greene appeared in episodes of Alice, Dynasty, Three's Company, Matt Houston, Emerald Point N.A.S., The A-Team, Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Night Court, Remington Steele, L.A. Law, Santa Barbara and Matlock.

He also appeared in the films Weekend Warriors, Pulsebeat, Hands of Steel, Arthur 2: On the Rocks, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, There's Something About Mary, Me, Myself & Irene, Shallow Hal and Stuck on You.

Filmography

Film

Television

External links

American male film actors
American male television actors
Living people
1956 births

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The David Phillips Furnished Index Calculator helps Buy-To-Let Investors, Lettings Agents and Property Managers make a more informed decision about whether a rental property should be marketed furnished or unfurnished.
Independent research commissioned by David Phillips suggests that landlords may have missed out on over £300 million in rental income in 2015 –by not furnishing when they should have.
You'll be able to see the current furnished rate for the postcode sector where the property is, and the average rental premium achieved (if any) by landlords for properties in the postcode sector that are furnished.
Simply enter a few important pieces of information into the form on the left, and generate your report. Not only will you see details of the furnished rate and average premium achieved, you will also see an indication of the payback period for furnishing and an indication of the likely return on investment will make a recommendation of whether to furnish - or not, and indicate the degree of importance that should be placed on the decision.
The recommendations provided by the Furnished Index Calculator are drawn from a database of almost 400,000 properties across the UK. The results are presented without bias, but rental premiums achieved can vary significantly depending on the individual property type and condition, its location, the neighbouring properties, and other factors. The Furnished Index results should be used a guide only, and we recommend discussing the data and your decision with a lettings or property management specialist who understands the local market.


I've had a couple of interesting conversations lately with users of the Fritz "family" of playing programs (Fritz, Rybka, Hiarcs, Junior, and Shredder) who weren't quite sure what "Infinite analysis" does, or, in one case, what it can do for them. "Infinite analysis" has a lot of uses, all based on the idea that you feed a position to the chess engine and let it chew on the position to find the best sequence of play. It's not terribly different from the way we human analyze when we're playing a face-to-face game: we try to figure out the best move, followed by our opponents' best reply, followed by what we'd do next, etc. – it's the old "If I do this, he'll do this, then I'll do this…" thing. The difference is that a chess engine will look much farther ahead ("deeper") than any human could do, as well as pick better moves than we average players would normally choose.
The value of this feature should be instantly apparent: in home analysis we can double-check our own ideas to determine their validity. If I come up with something I think might be a "novelty" in an opening I play, I can use a variety of chess engines to look for "holes" in my thinking or responses I might have overlooked. In fact, many top-level chessplayers check their homebrew analysis in exactly this way. About fifteen years ago, Garry Kasparov was quoted in ChessBase Magazine as saying he used Hiarcs in "Infinite analysis" mode to double-check theoretical novelties before he introduced them into professional play.
Why "Infinite analysis"? And why is it called that?
Infinite analysis gets its name from the fact that the engine will analyze a position until you stop it, in other words, infinitely (at least in theory). You could take a opening position and have Fritz/Rybka/etc. analyze it for an hour, a day, a week, a month, and (barring power outages or other mishaps) when you come back to the computer the engine will still be analyzing that position. And why would you want an engine to analyze for an extended period? As we've learned in previous blog posts, the longer you allow a chess engine to analyze a position, the better the moves you will receive in return.
Let's look at a simple practical application. I'm looking at an opening variation in a chess book, a variation from the Ruy Lopez Worrall Attack: 1.e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Qe2 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3 d5 9. exd5 Bg4 10. dxc6 e4 11. d4 exf3 12. gxf3 Bh5 13. Bf4 Re8.
But I'd like to show you something a bit more elaborate which will allow you to save the engine's analysis as part of your database.
…after which I can use "Replace game" to save the analysis into the database. Since Shredder12's analysis has been copied to the notation, I can play through it to closely examine what the engine thinks are the best moves for both players; in other words, I'm not getting only the best move for White in the original position, but I'm also seeing how Shredder thinks the game should progress thereafter.
Comparing the analysis of two or more engines is a handy way to confirm a particular course of action in a given position.
The amount of time you should allow Infinite analysis to run is totally up to you. Kasparov (and other top players who've publicly discussed the technique) let the engine run overnight. Bear in mind, however, that each ply (move) added to the search depth exponentially increases the number of positions which the engine must evaluate; there will quickly come a point where it can easily require an hour or more to add just one extra ply to the search. So the trick is to find the happy medium in which you're satisfied with the depth of the search compared with the time required to produce the result.


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Stress From Using Electronic Health Records Is Linked To Physician Burnout
December 12, 2018 By Brown University
While electronic health records (EHRs) improve communication and access to patient data, researchers found that stress from using EHRs is associated with burnout, particularly for primary care doctors such as pediatricians, family medicine physicians and general internists.
Common causes of EHR-related stress include too little time for documentation, time spent at home managing records and EHR user interfaces that are not intuitive to the physicians who use them.
"You don't want your doctor to be burned out or frustrated by the technology that stands between you and them," says Dr. Rebekah Gardner, an associate professor of medicine at Brown University's Warren Alpert Medical School. "In this paper, we show that EHR stress is associated with burnout, even after controlling for a lot of different demographic and practice characteristics. Quantitatively, physicians who have identified these stressors are more likely to be burned out than physicians who haven't."
The findings were published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.
Many prior studies have looked into the factors that contribute to burnout in health care, says Gardner, lead author and also a senior medical scientist at Healthcentric Advisors. Besides health information technology, these factors include chaotic work environments, productivity pressures, lack of autonomy, and a misalignment between the doctors' values and the values they perceive the leaders of their organizations hold.
She added that prior research has shown that patients of burned-out physicians experience more errors and unnecessary tests.
The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) surveys practicing physicians in Rhode Island every two years about how they use health information technology, as part of a legislative mandate to publicly report health care quality data. In 2017, the research team included questions about health information technology-related stress and specifically EHR-related stress.
Of the almost 4,200 practicing physicians in the state, 43 percent responded, and the respondents were representative of the overall population. Almost all of the doctors used EHRs (91 percent) and of these, 70 percent reported at least one measure of EHR-related stress.
Measures included agreeing that EHRs add to the frustration of their day, spending moderate to excessive amounts of time on EHRs while they were at home and reporting insufficient time for documentation while at work.
The researchers found that doctors with insufficient time for documentation while at work had 2.8 times the odds of burnout symptoms compared to doctors without that pressure. The other two measures had roughly twice the odds of burnout symptoms.
The researchers also found that EHR-related stress is dependent on the physician's specialty.
More than a third of primary care physicians reported all three measures of EHR-related stress — including general internists (39.5 percent), family medicine physicians (37 percent), and pediatricians (33.6 percent). Many dermatologists (36.4 percent) also reported all three measures of EHR-related stress.
On the other hand, less than 10 percent of anesthesiologists, radiologists and hospital medicine specialists reported all three measures of EHR-related stress.
While family medicine physicians (35.7 percent) and dermatologists (34.6 percent) reported the highest levels of burnout, in keeping with their high levels of EHR-related stress, hospital medicine specialists came in third at 30.8 percent. Gardner suspects that other factors, such as a chaotic work environment, contribute to their rates of burnout.
"To me, it's a signal to health care organizations that if they're going to 'fix' burnout, one solution is not going to work for all physicians in their organization," Gardner says. "They need to look at the physicians by specialty and make sure that if they are looking for a technology-related solution, then that's really the problem in their group."
However, for those doctors who do have a lot of EHR-related stress, health care administrators could work to streamline the documentation expectations or adopt policies where work-related email and EHR access is discouraged during vacation, Gardner said.
She also suggested that making the user interface for EHRs more intuitive could address some stress; however, when the research team analyzed the results by the three most common EHR systems in the state, none of them were associated with increased burnout.
Earlier research found that using medical scribes was associated with lower rates of burnout, but this study did not confirm that association, which Gardner found surprising. In the paper, the authors suggest that perhaps medical scribes address the burden of documentation, but not other time-consuming EHR tasks such as inbox management.
Since the survey was not anonymous and the RIDOH is responsible for licensing physicians in the state, the doctors likely underreported their levels of burnout and stress, Gardner said. However, she believes the associations her team found are still valid and significant.
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Malcolm Williams is packing his bags for the NFL after unlikely football...
Malcolm Williams is packing his bags for the NFL after unlikely football journey
Three months from now, Malcolm Williams may go to his first day of NFL training camp and miss a tackle, blow an assignment, be cut and never play football again.
He'll slip through the cracks of everyone's memories, remembered only, if he's lucky, as a backup on a Rose Bowl-winning team.
That is reality.
Williams, however, isn't concerned about reality because right now he has no grasp of it.
The former TCU backup cornerback is stuck somewhere else.
"I'm living in a dream right now," said Williams, who was drafted by the New England Patriots with the 219th overall pick in the seventh round of the NFL Draft Saturday afternoon. "It's the best thing that can happen to me."
Williams, a transfer from Trinity Valley Community College, made no starts at safety or cornerback in his two years at TCU, playing behind starter Jason Teague his senior year. The Grand Prairie native appeared in every game in 2010, mainly on special teams, though, where he led the Frogs with 12 tackles.
More surprising than the fact Williams was drafted while the guy in front of him on the depth char wasn't was how Williams ended up on the TCU depth chart to begin with.
A star in high school at South Grand Prairie, Williams was named Texas 5A Defensive Player of the Year. The 5'10" cornerback signed with Oklahoma but failed to make the cut academically his senior year of high school.
"I had some big shoes to fill when I went up to Oklahoma," Williams said. "But I ended up not qualifying so I had to sit out a year."
Williams said he took the summer and fall after his senior year off, studied hard, but failed to qualify academically again.
For six months, Williams worked at D/FW International Airport collecting bags – an unlikely destination for a four-star recruit one year out of high school.
Then, around mid-April, Williams got a call.
It was Trinity Valley head coach Brad Smiley asking Williams if he'd like to play for the Trinity Valley Cardinals in the fall.
"Mr. Malcolm Williams, I hear you don't have a home," Smiley told Williams. "I'll give you one if you want it."
Smiley told Williams if he earned his GED before summer practices, he'd have a spot for him at Trinity Valley.
Williams jumped at the chance and quickly got his GED, something, he said, he wished he could've done as a freshman in high school.
"It was so easy (getting my GED)," Williams said. "I got my GED, reported at the beginning of the summer and that's all she wrote from there."
Williams was named Junior College National Defensive Player of the Week after a Trinity Valley upset win over Georgia Military his freshman year. His sophomore season he placed second in the nation with five interceptions.
His two years of work at TVCC earned him a scholarship to TCU in 2009, where he immediately made an impact on special teams while serving as the backup safety.
Williams said he knew going into his senior year he wasn't going to start over Teague, so he planned on catching the eye of an NFL team any way he could.
"I was going to go ahead and ball out at special teams and do really good at my pro day and maybe I'd get a shot," Williams said.
That shot came March 10 at the TCU Pro Day.
After pressing 16 bench press reps of 225 lbs and jumping a 42" vertical, Williams said he knew he'd have to have a good 40-yard dash time to finish the day strong.
"I was praying 'please let me run a 4.4,'" Williams said. "Ran a 4.4. I impressed myself let alone the NFL coaches."
Even though Williams never started a game in his two years at TCU, his pro day performance came as no surprise to Horned Frog head coach Gary Patterson.
"He's an unbelievable athlete," Patterson said. "He just had to play behind a great corner in Jason Teague. He, more than anybody, epitomizes what we said this place is all about."
Now that Williams has an invite to the Patriots' training camp, he'll have a chance to make some unexpected income that will go a long way in supporting his wife, his two-year-old daughter and a second child expected in September.
"It's going to help me support them," Williams said. "That's the main key about that."
Patterson said one of the joys of having his players get drafted is they will get an opportunity to earn and save hundreds of thousands of dollars straight out of college.
"The amount of money you can make and put away is unbelievable," Patterson said. "This is a chance to change their lives."
Williams offered a simple, timeless phrase to sum up his journey from airport bag collector to NFL draftee.
"Hard work pays off," Williams said. "That's all you can really say."
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INSECURITY, UNSTABLE FOREX AFFECTING INVESTMENTS IN NIGERIA – NETHERLANDS
Home / Investor News / INSECURITY, UNSTABLE FOREX AFFECTING INVESTMENTS IN NIGERIA – NETHERLANDS
INSECURITY, UNSTABLE FOREX AFFECTING INVESTMENTS IN NIGERIA – NETHERLANDS2021-03-112021-03-11https://courtevillegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/logonew.gifCourteville Business Solutions Plchttps://courtevillegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/problem.jpg200px200px
Some foreign investors on Tuesday charged the Federal Government to address the level of insecurity in Nigeria as well as concerns with the country's foreign exchange rate. Nigeria's forex rate has been fluctuating over time with Naira crashing repeatedly against the Dollar.
Speaking in Abuja on Tuesday, 9th of March 2021 the Netherlands Ambassador to Nigeria, Harry van Djik, said the Nigerian government should address insecurity as this was a factor that had been affecting investment. Djik spoke during a visit to the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo, according to a statement issued by the minister's media aide, Ifedayo Sayo, on Tuesday.
The statement read in part, "Djik who visited the minister to seek his consent on the revival of bilateral trade consultation between the two countries had wanted the government to address the issue of insecurity and foreign exchange for investors in the country." The ambassador also spoke on the need to revive the bilateral consultation between Nigeria and Netherlands, noting that the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic forced a postponement of further meetings.
On his part, Adebayo assured investors from the Netherlands that the Federal Government was addressing the issue of insecurity across the country. The Minister said the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), recently changed his service chiefs and took other security measures to assure Nigerians and the business community of his desire to ensure that the country was safe for all and sundry.
He also said his ministry had set up a working group on the bilateral consultation between both countries and expressed hopes that before the end of the year, the meeting would be revived. Adebayo told his guests that he had got commitment from the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria on the issue of forex, as a meeting on the matter would be held soon.
Adebayo further said that the Federal Government recently signed an agreement for the provision of 25 megawatts of power to each of the free trade zones in Kano and Calabar, urging the investors to also take advantage of this. In another development, the Minister assured the Kano State Government of the ministry's preparedness to partner Kano State Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture in the rehabilitation of the state trade fair complex.
https://punchng.com/insecurity-unstable-forex-affecting-investments-in-nigeria-netherlands/
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This evening I'm aiming for a Western meal. Baby spinach with sliced strawberries and crushed roasted almonds and walnuts with a homemade vinegrette dressing; frozen lasagna that is baked until the edges are browned and crackling; and a warmed Italian loaf with grass-fed butter, presented on a wooden cutting board.
As Danith and his mom unenthusiastically cut into their lasagna, Danith brings up our goddaughter, a 10-year-old who is warm, generous, and bright — in both the head and the heart. He has agreed to partake in an interview series that her school is participating in. He is excited to do this for her. He tells his mom and me that he would do anything for our goddaughter except teach her how to climb a tree because he knows of a more equipped teacher for that lesson. His mom and I let out a knowing laugh.
Before moving in with us four years ago, my mother-in-law lived alone. As such, she accomplished home maintenance on her own. She crawled under her house to locate vexing raccoons. Once she dragged one out into the daylight by its tail. She rearranged the furniture. She fixed the toilet. She also climbed a 30-foot tree to saw off some of its unwieldy limbs. She did all of this in her mid-sixties and with no one to assist or spot her.
At dinner, my mother-in-law exclaims, "You should have seen me!" She goes on to recount a time during the civil war in our native country. Tamarind dangled in bunches from a massive tree, and she scaled its trunk for the tangy fruit. She says that she was skinny back then, as though her thin frame alone in her younger years allowed her to swiftly climb the tree. The lift in her voice shows pride in her skill.
"You also had physical strength. You wouldn't have been able to go up the tree without that," I say.
Jabbing the fork into the spinach salad (she enjoys this more than the lasagna), she agrees but adds, "And because we didn't have anything to eat." She meekly chuckles, acknowledging that hunger was her motivation to reach the top of the tamarind tree.
My mother-in-law wanted to live, for herself but especially for my husband, and, ironically, she risked her life for this goal. During the war, food was either scarce or unavailable. On the bank of a river at one time, she located a rat and dove after it; the rat won the struggle, though, having bitten her on the ankle and causing it to swell to the size of her calves. At another time, her eyes landed on a snake whose rings were of yellow and ebony colors. It hid its head and tail in a hole near the water, and my mother-in-law studied it for a long time, contemplating the best way to kill it. She decided that she would pull on the reptile by its midsection and then she would beat its head with a nearby log. Similar to the rat, the snake that was as thick around as a grown person's arm put up a fierce fight. As she continued to tug on its body, the snake struggled to bury itself deeper inside the hole. "Stop! Stop now! That is a king snake!" a man on the hill hollered at my mother-in-law. She froze. She found her breath. She admitted defeat. More importantly, though, she was now fully awake and fully aware of the animal she had been battling. She exhaled, and understood that her life had been spared. And a few years later, with my husband, who was about ten years old at the time, and a couple of his cousins in tow, she led herself and them through a jungle laced with armed men and thieves, into a refugee camp. She protected herself and her family from these men. She faced what she could and dodged what she could, and not once did she push aside the goal of survival.
After Daffy passed away, a few people said to me that I was strong. "You are so strong." They meant well, but their words caused me to cringe. What was I doing out of the ordinary that exhibited my strength? More than that, I didn't want to be strong. Even more than that, I didn't want to appear strong. Instead, I wanted to appear haggard.
One day at work I surfed the internet after I had heard a story about a gorilla whose baby had died. The mother gorilla was cognizant of her deceased baby, but she continued to cradle it against her body, anyway. She did this for two weeks. The zookeepers allowed it. I tried to zoom in on her child, wanting to see its deteriorating form. I wanted to be its grieving mother. If the people around me saw me as strong, then I was not presenting myself accurately. My authentic self was a mother gorilla who did not want to let go of her dead child. I would have liked to pace back and forth, with my knuckles scraping the ground and my unkept hair blurring my vision, and with my baby's fading form in either the crook of my arm or between the grip of my teeth. I would have liked to guard my baby's body from anyone who threatened to take her from me. It wasn't that I wanted pitiful eyes to linger on me; it was that if I were to be seen, then my real self ought to be on display.
Every spinach leaf and strawberry slice is cleaned from our bowls. The lasagna is not as well appreciated. Most of the noodles with its meat sauce remain in the baking pan. Danith reassures me that dinner is good but that he isn't very hungry. And to prove how good the meal is, he picks up another slice of bread and bites into it. His mom laughs, and I do, too. My husband wants rice this evening — the boxed lasagna is not sufficing.
I still don't view myself as strong. I survived my children's deaths. I had to, though. They did not get to live, so the least I could do is live, and live with deliberation. But nothing I am doing is outstanding or remarkable. I am not having to risk my life to get to live it. I have to only live it.


Derived from Greek φως (phos) meaning "light" (genitive φωτος (photos)). This is the name traditionally given to the Samaritan woman Jesus met at the well (see John 4:7). She is venerated as a saint by the Eastern Church.


>> our path as a Working Group.
> must be taken at face value, including the absence of such signals.
to do is consistent with other claims it has made to this user.
The same would be true if a UA decided to send "DNT: 0" by default.
bugs deployed by browser companies.
non-compliant user agent will not accomplish what the user wants.
for the financial benefit of one company.
> not in some other case, and that will lead to pain and suffering.
> and there is currently no proposed mechanism to resolve that dispute.
People can argue what they want, but that doesn't make them compliant.
not, the relevant authorities usually bring in experts to testify.
Such is the nature of any technical disagreement.
> much out of scope of this Working Group as chartered, and not so likely.
Yes, it is out of scope.
> limitations on making user experience requirements.
> "bundled" privacy decisions, like to turn on DNT for browsers and "apps"
> and such a setting may similarily turn on DNT in the platform's browser.
vendor, the browser vendor, nor the sysadmin installing the OS).
> user interface decisions where DNT signals don't reflect user decisions.
header field without a user choice, then it is lying to the server.
any benefit from their duplicity.
header field.  There is no need to say anything more.
> be a better point to argue about possibly needed "escape clauses".
of the spec have been implemented in practice.
> of the options there are to turn "no means no" into "it's complicated".
> them to make that explicit in the header and API. Let them send "DNT:23"
> vided they don't fall into the same conformance class (they should not).
an option that makes more sense than lying about "DNT: 1".


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Штырково () — село в Болгарии. Находится в Пазарджикской области, входит в общину Лесичово. Население составляет 390 человек.

Политическая ситуация
В местном кметстве Штырково, в состав которого входит Штырково, должность кмета (старосты) исполняет Христо Илиев Христосков (Союз свободной демократии (ССД)) по результатам выборов правления кметства.

Кмет (мэр) общины Лесичово — Иван Ангелов Стоев (коалиция в составе 2 партий: Граждане за европейское развитие Болгарии (ГЕРБ), Союз демократических сил (СДС)) по результатам выборов в правление общины.

Ссылки
 Статистика населения

Сёла Пазарджикской области


On Wednesday 21stMarch, 2018 a landmark event took place in Kigali, Rwanda when 44 out of 54 African Heads of State signed the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement, which is a significant step towards an economically integrated Africa. Conspicuously, the presidents of the two economic powerhouses of Sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria and South Africa, were absent. Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Zambia, Burundi, Eritrea, Benin, Sierra Leone and Guinea Bissau were also absent.
The African Continental Free Trade Area, which is an integral part of African Union's Agenda 2063, was conceived to increase intra-regional trade thatis currently between 10and 15 percent of Africa's total commerce. The main objectives of the agreement are to create a single continental market for goods and services, with free movement of business persons and investments; and thus pave the way for accelerating the establishment of the Continental Customs Union and the African customs union.It is also aimed at expanding intra African trade through better harmonization and coordination of trade liberalization and facilitation regimes and instruments across Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and across Africa in general.AfCFTA is intended to resolve the challenges of multiple and overlapping memberships and expedite the regional and continental integration processes. The final objective is to enhance competitiveness at the industry and enterprise level by exploiting opportunities for scale production, continental market access and better reallocation of resources.Essentially, the overall objective of the agreement is to create a "One African Market".
The idea of a free trade area in Africa is not a recent venture. Historically, it dates back to the Lagos Plan of Action, adopted by Heads of State in 1980 which culminated in the Abuja Treaty, establishing the African Economic Community in 1991. Following this, a decision to establish an African Continental Free Trade Area with an indicative date of December 2017 was adopted at the 18th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in January 2012. Additionally, the Summit also authorised the Action Plan on Boosting Intra-Africa Trade (BIAT)which identifies seven clusters: trade policy, trade facilitation, productive capacity, trade related infrastructure, trade finance, trade information, and factor market integration. Whilst the AfCFTA is a time bound project scheduled to take off in December 2017, the BIAT is continuous with concrete targets to double intra-African trade flows from January 2012 and January 2022.
The importance of economic integration and continental trade cannot be overemphasised. The proliferation in the number of such initiatives points to the importance of integration and cooperation. China recently launched the One Belt and One Road (OBOR)to create the world's largest platform for economic cooperation, policy coordination, trade and financing collaboration, and social/cultural cooperation in the Asian region. As an instance, the European Union, which instituted free trade among members as one of its founding principles, is currently the world's biggest trader accounting for 16.5% of the world's imports and exports. With 27 member countries (excluding the UK), the EU is the world's biggest single market area. The union is the world's biggest exporter of manufactured goods and services, and it is the biggest import market for over 100 countries.
Laudably, the move by the African Union is potentially set to displace the EU as the single market. With a population of 1.2billion and a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $2trillion, the African Continental Free Trade Area is the biggest trade agreement since the formation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). According to estimates from the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the implementation of the agreement could lead to an increase in intra-African trade by 52 percent in 2022 when compared to what it was in 2010. To facilitate trade, the agreement requires member-countries to removing tariffs on 90 percent of goods, with 10 percent of "sensitive items" to be phased in later. In his address, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda said "What is at stake is the dignity and well-being of Africa's farmers, workers, and entrepreneurs, particularly women and youths.The promise of free trade and free movement is prosperity for all Africans, because we are prioritising the production of value-added goods and services that are "Made in Africa". The idea of "Made in Africa" clearly resonates with the "Made in Nigeria" mantra that is being promoted by the Nigerian government. However, if the philosophy behind the AfCFTA is similar to the prevailing direction in Nigeria, the question then is why has Nigeria suddenly refused to sign the agreement? Could it be that "Made in Africa" is actually in dissonance with "Made in Nigeria"?
Whilst the fears of the labour union may be valid, it is worrisome that Nigeria, which coordinated initial negotiationsthat led to the Free Trade Area agreement, has chosen to suspend its ratification to allow for extensive consultation that was not done since 2015 when negotiations forthe agreement commenced. Many factors are responsible for the opposition against the agreement, but the dominantuneasiness is predicated on the import-dependent status of Nigeria. The manufacturing sector in the country is still struggling, and the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are fighting to overcome the many constraints bedevilling their businesses. In actual fact, the AfCFTA may not be overly beneficial to Nigeria in the immediate, considering our current production capacity and export readiness. To understand this reality, the performance of Nigeria in the Africa Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) of the United States may help in envisioning the possible effect of AfCFTA on Nigeria. AGOA was enacted on 18 May 2000 under the administration of President George W. Bush to enhance market access to the US for qualifying Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries.The legislation allows 38 African countries including Nigeria to export 7,000 product lines tariff and quota free to the US market. In essence the trade act allows Nigeria and other Sub-Saharan countries to access a market of 325.7 millionpeople and a GDP of $18.57 trillion, which are the main characteristics – population and size of the economy – of an attractive single market. Despite the enormous opportunities AGOA offers, Nigeria's total exports to the United States since the enactment of the Act, is put at $6 billion with petroleum products accounting for nearly 70% of Nigeria's exports. A comparative analysis shows that other African countries have taken better advantage of AGOA to grow their manufacturing sectors. For instance between 2016 and 2017, Ghana saw its exports under AGOA increased to more than $300million while Nigeria could only increase to $9million in the same period. Effectively, it is only logical for manufacturers and owners of small businesses to feel some jitters that if the Nigerian market is opened up for other African countries, local products and businesses might be disproportionately challenged.
Nevertheless, the reality is that the world is moving at an unprecedented speed. Nations no longer embrace protectionism as an economic strategy because there are clearly more benefits in economic integration and free trade. Opting out of the African single market simply means the marginal Nigerian businesses and manufacturers that are willing to do exports across the continent will not have access to the huge market that AfCFTA offers. But the harsh truth is that Nigeria may never be ready to take advantage of transnational economic agreements of this nature until we fix our infrastructural challenges, initiate favourable economic policies and reprioritise spending. Manufacturing has continued to deteriorate in the country primarily owing to the colossal infrastructural degeneration and inconsistent government policies. Until we fix the challenges, we will continue to spearhead laudable continental initiatives but never ready to tap into the inherent benefits. It may be reasonable to opt out of the CFTA in the immediate because of our current manufacturing state. However, for how long are we going to remain in this embarrassing and backward state of unpreparedness? In any case, we have remained an import dependent nation without the AfCFTA; backing out of a single African market will not turn things around in the immediate. We may be losing more in the long term than what it appears we are gaining in the short term. The rest of the world left us behind years ago, now Africa is about to leave us behind.


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Four Thoughts on… Burnley 3-1 Blackpool
October 31, 2011 November 1, 2015 ·
A disappointing showing in front of the Sky cameras saw Blackpool go down 3-1 to a superior Burnley side on Saturday evening. It was a poor performance which will only fuel the negative atmosphere currently surrounding the club. Here are my thoughts about the weekend's match.
1. Burnley in the derby mindset
From a Blackpool perspective, the build-up to this game was somewhat low-key. Considering the two sides hadn't met since the 2008/09 season, the anticipation among the 'Pool support for this Lancashire derby hadn't exactly hit fever pitch. Whether that transmitted to Ian Holloway's players is unclear, but it was the men in claret and blue who looked by far the hungrier of the two sides. Suggesting a team simply 'weren't up for it' is something of an cliched English approach to football, but on this occasion it seems a fair comment.
From the off the Burnley side looked to harry their opponents and frequently pressured the visitors into making a lot of mistakes. Burnley's running off the ball was relentless and 'Pool struggled to get to grips with the high tempo of the game, often finding themselves caught in possession. In contrast, 'Pool didn't exert the same pressure when the home team had the ball. It was a frustrating viewing experience for Blackpool fans and aside from a couple of early runs from Tom Ince, there was little to set the pulse racing.
This is by no means an all-star Burnley line-up – their stuttering form so far this season indicates their present mid-table position is about right, but they gave 'Pool little opportunity to demonstrate any quality that the visitors may believe they have. Time on the ball was at a premium and Burnley's constant pressure made Blackpool resemble a team of near strangers destined for a long old season.
2. Two men on the short corner
It has been a bugbear of mine since last season, and eventually Blackpool's lack of concentration from a corner kick has cost them a goal. Set-pieces seem to be a recurring frailty for the Seasiders, but incidents like this should be cut out altogether. The premise is simple, if the opposition goes to take a short corner involving two players, the defending side needs to send two players 10 yards from the corner flag, in order to successfully close down a one-two between the attacking players.
On this occasion, the corner that led to Burnley's first goal, only Brett Ormerod was nearby as the hosts worked a short corner. On his own, Ormerod was unable to prevent the cross after Ross Wallace passed to Junior Stanislas for a short corner. The cross came in and Charlie Austin beat Craig Cathcart to the header – 1-0. In the stands, it was Cathcart who shouldered a fair amount of the blame. Cathcart was too easily shrugged off sure, but the cross should never have been allowed.
Had the corner been put in directly, it's an easier ball to defend as it's usually heading away from goal, meaning it's more difficult for attackers to put a run on their marker. In this instance, the guilty party is surely Kevin Phillips, who as seen below is slowly wandering over to the corner, but only once it is too late. Phillips was surely tasked with being the second marker on the short corner, but a lack of concentration handed Burnley the initiative.
Brett Ormerod is forced to track Ross Wallace's run, allowing Junior Stanislas to cut back and deliver the killer cross. Kevin Phillips (top left) arrives on the scene too late.
3. Change of shape, (slight) change of fortune
Going into half-time two goals down, the performance had been so sub-standard that it was difficult to imagine what changes Holloway could make to turn things around. With so many players having an off-day, picking just three to haul off was a tough choice. As it happened, the manager sent the same 11 players back out in the second half, faced with the daunting challenge of salvaging a result. The shape of the team was different however, and not for the first time in recent weeks, Holloway changed to a 4-4-2 – Ince went wide right, Jonjo Shelvey wide left, with Brett Ormerod partnering Kevin Phillips up front.
The tactical change was not a complete success, but Blackpool did begin to create chances having drawn a virtual blank on that front in the first 45 minutes. Ince and Shelvey created more width, and Callum McManaman also looked a threat when he came on with 20 minutes to go, but the front pairing of Ormerod and Phillips struggled badly, the latter especially. It was no surprise when they were both taken off, but the change could easily have come sooner. Whether the marginal improvement was down to the shape is unclear – some players were better after the break while others were just as bad, if not worse.
Ian Holloway has been a big exponent of the 4-3-3 formation since being appointed Blackpool manager in May 2009, but his use of the 4-4-2 lately demonstrates one of two things, depending on your viewpoint. A willingness to change when necessary would be one outlook, but one could equally view it as a manager confused about the direction his team is going. I would suggest that there isn't necessarily a need to re-invent the wheel by changing philosophy, rather a need to identify the core group of say 16 players Holloway can rely on, and build some continuity into the side.
Back to the shape however, and the balance of the midfield hasn't quite been right all season – it remains to be seen if Keith Southern and Barry Ferguson is viable in a three man midfield (or for that matter, a two man central midfield). Holloway's decision to leave out Southern against Nottingham Forest indicates he too has concerns in this area. Having switched to a 4-4-2 midgame on a couple of occasions now, it may only be a matter of time before 'Pool begin a game with that shape – rightly or wrongly.
4. Lack of a target man
Gary Taylor-Fletcher, while hardly an out-and-out target man himself, was a big loss for the Seasiders and his absence displayed what an influential player he is. Blackpool do have a tendency to go long with their passing using the diagonal ball, but without Taylor-Fletcher present, it was a thoroughly unrewarding tactic on Saturday. The resultant effect was conceding possession on a regular basis, with none of the forward line able to effectively hold the ball up.
In terms of Taylor-Fletcher's own form this season, it has wavered, possibly down to the variety of roles he has been asked to fill, but he remains a key cog in the machine. Missing through injury, the loss of Taylor-Fletcher again highlighted a failing in Blackpool's transfer policy this season. For all the players that have been signed – 17 in total – and the size of the squad, the loss of one player was too crucial and shows that despite the numbers it's hard to make a case for genuine strength-in-depth.
There are too many similar players in the squad, and perhaps more alarmingly, too many who are unlikely to ever feature despite being signed only a few months ago. Comments made this week by the manager and his assistant indicate that they perhaps are now aware of mistakes made, but it will be interesting to see if they can rectify this situation to any great extent before January. A big target man may not be the Spanish way Holloway admires, but in a league such as the Championship it is a weapon that Blackpool need to have in their armoury. For the time being, a speedy recovery for Taylor-Fletcher is key.
Four Thoughts on… West Ham United 4-0 Blackpool
The last thing anyone would expect after a 5-0 win is a 4-0 reversal, but a nine goal swing between fixtures (surely one of the biggest in the club's history?) saw Blackpool return from the capital empty-handed. Here are my observations on Saturday's match:
1. Mixed first half
In the opening 45 minutes at the Boleyn Ground Blackpool saw plenty of the ball, particularly early on, but were still rather fortunate to be going in only a goal down. It was actually 'Pool who started the brighter team, with West Ham forced to watch as the visitors barely gave them a kick of the ball in the early exchanges. Tom Ince, making his second league start, was impressing down the left and combining well with Stephen Crainey and Jonjo Shelvey in the first 10 minutes, but unfortunately for the Seasiders they were unable to create clear-cut chance while they were on top. With the Hammers' first real attack, it was 1-0 against the run of play.
Rocked by conceding, Blackpool's early dominance faded and the game became a much more even affair. 'Pool were still having more than their fair share of possession, but the best chances went the way of the hosts. The effectiveness of Tom Ince was severely reduced when he moved over to the right – once again the idea behind inverting the wide players must be questioned. As a tactic to confuse the opposition on an infrequent basis it's fine, but when a player spends most of the game on their unnatural flank, something does not add up.
Barry Ferguson and Keith Southern had a lot of touches of the ball in the first period, but finding their way past a resolute West Ham defence was proving tricky. The Hammers were happy to stifle Blackpool and wait for the mistake, pouncing quickly to threaten adding a second on a few occasions. Matt Gilks was rather busy in front of the Blackpool fans during the first half, including one excellent save with his feet to keep 'Pool in the game.
2. Matt Hill ≠ a centre back
The big talking point in the aftermath of Saturday's defeat was the selection of Matt Hill at centre back. An injury worry for Craig Cathcart saw him miss the game, but eyebrows were raised when it was Hill who came in to replace him. When the teams were announced, the prospect of seeing Hill come up against John Carew was a worrying thought, and so it proved as Hill had a day to forget. It was actually Ian Evatt who lost Carew for the first goal, but Hill had the (rather bizarre) responsibility of marking a player around a foot taller than him for the rest of the game, unsurprisingly never looking comfortable.
Hill was lucky to get away with two heart-in-mouth moments during the first half when he inexplicably dallied on the ball twice presenting the Hammers with two great chances – fortunately for Hill he had Matt Gilks behind him to come to his rescue. Perhaps feeling sorry for him, the referee gave a couple of soft free-kicks Blackpool's way in the first half – the sheer mismatch in size maybe fooling the officials into thinking Hill was being fouled by Carew when the Norwegian's challenges were probably fair.
With the number of chances West Ham had in the first half, they were unfortunate not to have a bigger lead, but it was surprising to see Hill re-emerge for the second half when it was clear for all to see he was badly struggling. A simple change would have been to take off Hill for Eardley, shifting Baptiste to centre back – the defence that should have started the game – but alas the first half warnings went unheeded. Matt Hill is enthusiastic, experienced and based on historical evidence, a reasonable footballer at Championship level. However, there is a reason he has rarely been utilised in the centre of defence before joining Blackpool, and let's hope it's the last we see of him in that position – up against a big striker, of which there are lots in this league, he does not have the physical stature to adequately complete and it was a total failure of management to primarily play him there, and secondly not withdraw him when the faults were so glaring.
It's something of a worry that despite signing so many players, with another one arriving today in the form of Callum McManaman, there is an alarming lack of cover in central defence. One injury to either Evatt or Cathcart should surely not mean Matt Hill is next in line. There are of course other players who could have played instead, not just Baptiste who I've already mentioned. Chris Basham has been used at centre back both at Bolton and for Blackpool's reserve / development squad side this season and last, but Basham appears to be far out Holloway's plans, with a loan move likely. The return of Craig Cathcart against Doncaster will be a big relief.
3. Mad 10 minutes
The start of the second half was the worst 10 minutes imaginable, and Blackpool only had themselves to blame. Some suicidal defending saw the offside trap repeatedly breached – Hill often at the centre of the problems but they were by no means isolated to just him. Evatt and Crainey both failed to step up at the necessary moment on separate occasions, and glances over to the linesman in hope of the flag going up were in vain.
Sam Baldock was lively and it's surprising it had taken him until this game to get on the scoresheet. A questionable offside decision and a selfish effort from John Carew when he might have passed were the only things that prevented Baldock from taking home the match ball. The 'Pool defence did not have the pace or organisation to keep up with Baldock, and in combination with the aerial dominance of Carew over Hill, the floodgates opened.
After the fourth goal went in, it did at one moment seem as if the final score was going to be five, six or even seven, but after a few near misses, West Ham did eventually take their foot off the gas and settle for just the four goals. Not that that appeased the visiting side, whose frustration was there for all to see, notably in the case of Alex Baptiste. Not content with a tantrum that saw him demolish the corner flag, Baptiste was lucky that the officials missed a kick out at the prone Papa Boupa Diop – had the referee seen this a red card could easily have been the result.
4. Lomana Lua Lua – more than a novelty act?
Aside from the heroics of Matt Gilks who helped keep the score relatively respectable, the introduction of Lomana Lua Lua provided one glimmer of light for the travelling fans. Looking a little more rotund since he last graced these shores, Lua Lua arrived on the pitch as something of a circus act. A jovial chant which accompanied his every minute on the pitch seemed to spur him on however, and as a result he at least did depart the pitch with some credit to his name.
He is surely not yet fully fit, his size alone indicates this, but he looked to have enough energy about him to suggest there is still some mileage left in him. He was content to run with the ball, take on players and be positive heading towards goal. It was of course all over by the time Lua Lua entered the field – why the substitutions took so long to be made is a question only Ian Holloway can answer – but Lua Lua did give the West Ham defence something to think about.
Whether Blackpool should even be signing the likes of Lua Lua – a player out of contract unable to find a club elsewhere – when there should be huge resources available is an argument for another day. For now though, Lua Lua may well get a chance to prove people he can still do well in this country. I'm not convinced he can last a full game, or even 60-70 minutes, at this point, but with Billy Clarke and Matt Phillips loaned out to Sheffield United, he should get a chance to feature in the coming weeks.
Four Thoughts on… Blackpool 5-0 Bristol City
October 4, 2011 November 1, 2015 ·
Blackpool racked up their most comprehensive win in over 10 years – the last time 'Pool had won by five goals or more was back in February 2001 when the Seasiders beat Scunthorpe 6-0 at Bloomfield Road. It was a scoreline that flattered the home team, and a result that signalled the end of the Bristol City manager's reign – Keith Millen being dismissed within 48 hours of the final whistle. Here are my thoughts on the match:
1. Fortunate first half
At half-time of Saturday's game, a 5-0 scoreline seemed an unlikely outcome. 'Pool had looked disjointed for the majority of the first 45 minutes, struggling to cope with the way Bristol City had set up. Keith Millen had sent his side out in a 4-4-1-1 formation, Brett Pitman playing off Nicky Maynard. In a defensive situation, this strategy helped the visitors stifle 'Pool – straight from Matt Gilks' goal kicks City were often happy for a Blackpool defender to receive the ball, dropping deep into their own half to crowd out the home team's attacks.
In contrast, City were causing plenty of problems for the hosts. The most obvious chance they had in the first half was the fine save Brett Pitman forced Matt Gilks into following a neatly worked corner, but Keith Millen's side were also looking dangerous from open play. Pitman, who passed up the chance to play Premier League football with Blackpool last season to sign on at Ashton Gate, was finding himself in space time and time again.
As the graphic above shows, Pitman was playing between 'Pool's lines, not being tracked by Barry Ferguson or Keith Southern or any of the home side's back four. Bristol City's two wide players – Albert Adomah and Jamal Campbell-Ryce – also drifted into this area and gave cause for concern. Clearly there was a lack of firm communication, neither the back four or the two holding midfielders took responsibility for picking up players between the lines and there were moments when 'Pool almost paid the price.
As illustrated below, Blackpool got the benefit of a close offside decision following a well-worked move when City exploited the space given. Pitman found himself with time on the ball and split the 'Pool defence with a fine through-ball. Adomah got on the end of it and slotted past Gilks, but much to the relief of the home support, the flag went up.
Gary Taylor-Fletcher's goal separated the sides at the break with a helping hand from Dean Gerken (see point 3), but it's hard to argue it was a justified lead.
2. The long diagonal is back
With just one victory in the seven matches preceding the encounter with Bristol City, the Seasiders had become a little too predictable in their play. Short, deliberate passing had become easy for sides to combat and the creation of chances had been at a premium. The success 'Pool enjoyed last season was in no small part down to a nice blend between crisp short passing and an excellent use of the long diagonal. The tactic's main proponent was the now-departed Charlie Adam, who had a range of passing unrivalled in the current squad.
However, there does now seem to be a shift in the team's mindset to attempt this high risk pass with more regularity. The first 20 minutes at Portsmouth saw a number of right to left long diagonals which more often than not sadly found the stands rather than a tangerine shirt – a lack of early success with the long diagonal at Fratton Park led to an abandonment of the tactic, but the following game at Coventry saw it brought back with more joy.
Craig Sutherland had a goal unfairly chalked off for offside having got onto the end of a long diagonal before finishing cleverly, and Gary Taylor-Fletcher's wonder strike was the result of a long diagonal pass from Ian Evatt. Coventry manager Andy Thorn was quoted after the game as saying 'Pool's usage of the long diagonal had taken him by surprise – a response that didn't endear him to a section of his own support who accused him of not doing his homework. In defence of Thorn, the tactic hadn't been employed regularly so far this season and the Coventry game marked a visible change in focus from Ian Holloway's players who made great use of the long diagonal during the first half at the Ricoh Arena.
This trend continued on Saturday against Bristol City, with the long diagonal featuring heavily again. It's a tactic that has its critics, with some 'Pool fans lamenting its use and insisting 'Pool would be better keeping possession. However, there's equally a case to be made that keeping possession is all well and good, but if the short passing doesn't penetrate the opposition, is it really effective? The long diagonals do sometimes result in a concession of the ball, but used in moderation, it provides a way of keeping the opposition guessing – and with pacy players on the flanks there is always the chance a long diagonal can create a goalscoring opportunity.
3. A bad day for Gerken – worse day for Millen
The pre-match team news from various media outlets speculated on whether David James would retain his place between the sticks, or if Dean Gerken would replace him. It's been a turbulent start to the season for James – a man no stranger to dropping the odd clanger – but Keith Millen will surely be wondering what might have been had he not selected Gerken.
Firmly in the game in the first half, and possibly even arguably having slightly the better of things, Gerken made a mess of a speculative Jonjo Shelvey shot, spilling the ball right into the path of Taylor-Fletcher who made no mistake from around six yards out. It was shot Gerken should have held, or at the very least been able to direct away from goal, but instead the City keeper handed the initiative to 'Pool. Not content with his first mistake, Gerken again should also have been able to prevent Blackpool's second. Shelvey's audacious free-kick made for a spectacular goal for home fans, but any keeper being beaten at that range is surely at fault.
For Millen, his keeper's errors then highlighted the weaknesses of his team. The confidence drained from the players in a fashion typical of a side languishing at the bottom and for the first time this season, Blackpool pressed home an advantage. Bristol City lacked a leader on the pitch and heads dropped – from a position of being competitive for over half the match, by the end of the game 'Pool were rampant and the full-time whistle was a welcome sound for the visiting side.
Under Millen's stewardship, City have obviously had a hugely disappointing start and after holding onto a player of Nicky Maynard's calibre their fans would reasonably have expected more. With the pressure already building, a 5-0 defeat was only ever likely to end with one outcome and Millen became the second managerial casualty of the weekend. Whoever replaces him has the foundations of a team to build on – the first half performance showed that much – but a tough season looks inevitable.
4. Shelvey sets the bar high
The closing of the transfer window at the end of August left a significant number of Blackpool fans disappointed. Many felt that the squad was missing two quality players who could make an immediate impact on the starting XI – an attacking midfielder and another forward. The wait for an extra striking option goes on, but the loan acquisition of Jonjo Shelvey is a real coup. Filling the void at the tip of the Seasiders' midfield, Shelvey looked right at home on his debut.
With Elliot Grandin injured, 'Pool had been sorely missing a player to link the midfield and attack. Many of the midfielders at the manager's disposal are more suited to a deeper role, and the one other player in the squad who could fill the role behind the front three – Gerardo Bruna – seems to be some way off breaking into the first team. Shelvey seemed the perfect answer, and expectations following the announcement of his move were high.
Needless to say, a thunderous goal from a free-kick and a couple of assists ensured he did not let anyone down, but repeating that level of performance during his spell could be critical in deciding whether 'Pool climb the table. Shelvey should provide goals, a willingness to run at the opposition and no shortage of energy based on his first outing. It's still early days, and Shelvey's ability to shine at this level will be tested to the full in Blackpool's next game, away at West Ham.


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"The Utopia" Of Book Two Is A Clear Expression Of More's Reaction To His Own Context. Explain With Specific Examples From The Book.
Find Another Essay On "The Utopia" of Book Two is a clear expression of More's reaction to his own context. Explain with specific examples from the book.
A reaction paper to freud's book "Future of an Illusion"


Richard Pendlebury is buried with an unknown soldier in a grave at Queen's Cemetery at Serre, being killed in action during the attack on the 1st July 1916; his death being recorded in April 1917, probably when his body was recovered (having lain in No Man's Land for some ten months).
Richard was born in Chorley in 1895, the youngest of six children born to Robert and Esther Pendlebury (nee Tootell). In 1901 he was living with his widowed mother at 10 Sutcliffe Street and by 1911 was at 15 Queen Street in Chorley. A single man, Richard worked at Chorley Bleachworks and lived at 33 Bolton Street prior to enlisting with the Pals; he attended St. George's Church.


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Francisco Lindor could win the American League Rookie of the Year Award
A shortstop is going to be the American League Rookie of the Year for the first time since 2004. But which one?
By Matt Lyons@mattrly Aug 25, 2015, 12:00pm EDT
Share All sharing options for: Francisco Lindor could win the American League Rookie of the Year Award
Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
Cleveland Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor has been phenomenal in his rookie campaign, but will he be rewarded for it at the end of the year? In terms of adoration and fan support, absolutely, but when it comes to the American League Rookie of the Year award, there is less of a guarantee thanks to a certain Houston Astros rookie shortstop.
Before looking at Lindor's competition for AL ROY, let's look at the Tribe sensation himself. In 61 games (274 plate appearances), Lindor has an above-average batting line of .298/.335/.4423 (110 wRC+), with a 5.58% walk rate and a 16.2% strikeout rate.
Those numbers alone do not sound all that outstanding, especially for an ROY candidate, but he has been on a tear since the All-Star break. His .346/.382/.508 slash since the break is good for a wRC+ of 147 and shows just how valuable Lindor has been during the Tribe's last-ditch effort to make a playoff run. In that same span, he has also hit five of his seven total home runs (including a massive go-ahead solo shot on Sunday) and bagged two of his three total stolen bases.
Lindor's defense has been stellar for the most part, although he has had a few recent bumps in the road. An error or mental mistake here and there is not unheard of for a rookie, and it does not diminish just how great he has been on defense. But the real question is: Is this all enough to win ROY?
If Lindor is to win Rookie of the Year, he will need to go through another superstar-in-the-making, Carlos Correa. The Houston Astros shortstop has played in only five more games than Lindor but is sporting 15 home runs and a slash line of .282/.347/.517 (139 wRC+). Numbers that are not only good for a rookie but just out of this world for a shortstop who is also good defensively.
On paper, outside of Correa, Lindor is also going up against the Blue Jays Devon Travis (8 HR, .304/.361/.498, 137 wRC+, 2.3 WAR), with Miguel Sano of the Minnesota Twins (11 HR, .288/.397/.582, 169 wRC+, 1.6 WAR) coming up fast, despite only playing in 44 games so far. The former, however, is most likely out of the race entirely with a shoulder injury he suffered on July 28 still lingering, and the latter has around 20 fewer games to pad his numbers with. So, in reality, Lindor is only really up against Correa, unless Sano has an unreal burst in the last month-and-a-half of the season.
Assuming Lindor keeps streaking and Correa stays even or maybe even starts to regress, there is a chance that their offensive numbers could be near neck-and-neck at season's end. Lindor probably will not be able to match Correa's home run total, which is not a surprise, but there is no doubt his defense will be better. The big hurdle for Lindor winning will be if the BBWAA voters decide that home runs or defense is more important at shortstop. Right or wrong, the fact that Correa's team will probably be in the playoffs may also play a part in the voting.
Regardless of who wins, Correa and Lindor are equally deserving, there is no arguing that. And even if Lindor does not pull off a miracle and win it, he is going to have many more years in an Indians uniform and many more chances to win awards and honors.
Francisco Lindor: From June call-up to Rookie of the Year finalist
Carlos Correa named American League ROY
Franciso Lindor has made himself a ROY contender
Indians Player of the Week


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Business Jobs Kenya
Bob Collymore, Mercy Oburu get parastatal job
by 411 kenya May 8, 2019 May 8, 2019
Safaricom chief executive Bob Collymore is among four people appointed on Wednesday as members of the National Cancer Institute board.
This is according to a Gazette notice of May 6 by Health Cabinet Secretary Sicily Kariuki.
Also appointed to the board are Kenya Network of Cancer Organisations (KENCO) chairperson David Makumi and Mercy Oburu, the Digital Content Manager at Royal Media Services, which owns Citizen TV and a number of radio stations.
The notice stated, "In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 6 (2) of the Cancer Prevention and Control Act (2012), the Cabinet Secretary appoints David Makumi, Mercy Oburu, Bob Collymore and Evangeline Njiru."
Appointees to the institute will serve for the next three years.
The British boss of the East and Central Africa region's biggest telco services provider recently said he intended to step down in August for health reasons.
So far, the government's insistence that a Kenyan take his place has delayed the announcement of his successor.
Mr Collymore took nine months off in 2017 to return to England for cancer treatment.
According to a source who spoke with Reuters, he "wants to concentrate on his health so he did not wish to renew his contract."
Mr Makumi has been in the forefront of articulating the plight and concerns of Kenyans living with cancer for over a decade.
Ms Oburu, a cancer survivor, is member of the board of the Africa Cancer Foundation. She previously served as Editor in Chief at RMS.
Ms Njiru is a physician, oncologist and lecturer at Moi University.
IN OTHER NEWS; Meet the Royal Baby, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have revealed the first picture of Baby Sussex.
The National Cancer Institute is a corporate body established under the Cancer Control Act, which serves as the coordinating body for all cancer control activities in Kenya.
Its main mandate is to "advise the Cabinet Secretary of Health on the overall priorities that should be accorded to cancer prevention and control in Kenya".
According to its website, "the main activities include general oversight, coordination of all activities, advocacy and awareness creation, cancer registration and coordinating cancer research".
Bob collymoreSafaricomShare
17 Year Old Nairobi girl goes missing, phone traced to Kitale Town.
Meghan and Harry announces Name of their First Born Child
411 kenya
411Kenya is your News, Motivational, Business, Entertainment, Music and more quality information website. We provide you with the best news and videos straight from around the globe
Jowie Cheerfully Praising The Lord In Kamiti Maximum Prison (VIDEO)
The strong Media personality Njambi Khoikai undergoes 16th surgery!
Lawyer Assa Nyakundi's wife and Son to testify against him


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Key strengths
MyRobeco
Factor-optimization approach
A method of implementation according to which a portfolio is fully allocated to factors.
Here, traditional investment strategies are replaced entirely with the factor approach*. Allocation takes place over the full range of asset classes.
The research paper: 'Factor Investing in Practice: A Trustees' Guide to Implementation' (2014), distinguishes three methods of implementing factor investing. In addition to the factor optimization approach described here, these are the risk due diligence approach (page 32) and the use of factor tilts (page 20).
The adjoining illustration shows a traditional portfolio with allocation to asset classes (equities and corporate or government bonds). In the case of a full factor approach, the portfolio is constructed with attractive factors.
* Robeco takes a balanced approach to equities that ensures diversification and exposure to the principal factor premiums, such as the so-called 1/n solution.
Quantitative investing: invisible layers surface to deliver attractive returns
Figure: Traditional portfolio versus the factor investing approach
Source: Robeco Investment Solutions 2014
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Is swapping a good alternative to divesting?
Similar to divestment, swapping is a way to establish zero economic exposure to excluded firms.
19-01-2023 | Insight
'The talent in an investment team makes the difference'
Assessing the quality of people and their investment skill is crucial to the manager selection process.
16-01-2023 | Interview
'The scope for portfolio customization is really wide'
The Robeco Quant Equities team uses its Quant Customizer to develop customized portfolios in cooperation with our clients.
Important information: This website is prepared and issued in Australia by Robeco Hong Kong Limited (ARBN 156 512 659) ('Robeco') which is exempt from the requirement to hold an Australian financial services licence under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) pursuant to ASIC Class Order 03/1103. Robeco is regulated by the Securities and Futures Commission under the laws of Hong Kong and those laws may differ from Australian laws. The information on this web page is provided to you because Robeco reasonably believes that you are a "wholesale client" within the meaning of that term under section 761G(4) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) ("Corporations Act") and not any other class of persons. This information is not an advertisement and is not intended to induce retail clients to acquire Robeco products. Retail clients who are interested in Robeco products should contact their financial adviser.
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The planet loses 40 soccer fields worth of forests every minute
A little funding and a lot of ideas on how to decarbonize Costa Rica
Chile to replace Brazil as 2019 UN climate summit host
United Nations: Countries must triple contributions to reach global climate goals
Costa Rica offers to host COP25 after Brazil withdraws
Costa Rica tops Central American ranking in latest climate change adaptation index
Larry Luxner November 10, 2014 November 8, 2014
So what's so different about this photo of traffic in Norway? The electric cars. Despite being one of the world's largest oil producers, Norway's electric car fleet grows at such a pace that authorities are pondering an incentive cut. (Pierre-Hendry Deshayes/AFP)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Costa Rica has displaced Panama as the best-prepared country in Central America for climate change, according to data released last Wednesday by the University of Notre Dame Global Adaptation Index (ND-GAIN).
ND-GAIN is the world's leading annual index that ranks 178 nations based on their vulnerability to climate change and their readiness to adapt to the droughts, superstorms and natural disasters that climate change can cause.
Leading this year's index is Norway, with a score of 82.7 out of 100, followed by New Zealand, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany and Iceland.
The world's least-prepared country is the landlocked African nation of Chad, with a score of 31.6. Other countries ranking toward the bottom of the ND-GAIN index were Burundi, Eritrea, Central African Republic, Congo, Sudan, Niger, Afghanistan and Haiti.
Central America ranks somewhere in the middle, with Costa Rica at 69th place and a score of 58.2, followed by Panama (56.6), Belize (50.3), El Salvador (49.5), Nicaragua (49.1), Guatemala (48.5) and Honduras (45.3).
See the rankings here
In 2012, Panama ranked highest in the region, with a score of 67.2 – followed closely by El Salvador, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala.
"This 2014 index captures the latest in vulnerability and readiness data and research," said Jessica Hellmann, ND-GAIN's research director. "In Norway and other members of the ND-GAIN leaderboard, we see role models in countries positioned to adapt to climate change. We also see a need for improvement. Not even the most developed countries are risk-free and completely prepared to deal with climate change."
Hellmann was one of several speakers to address ND-GAIN's annual meeting Nov. 5, hosted by the Wilson Center, a nonpartisan global public policy institution. She noted that three of the seven countries declining most in rank from 2013 to 2014 are in Central America: Guatemala (-26), El Salvador (-30) and Belize (-39).
"ND-GAIN continues to be an open, transparent and actionable index, which has been conceived with the aid of open-source, state-of-the-art data and analysis tools," said Nitesh Chawla, the organization's index director. "ND-GAIN also is preparing a scenario-analysis tool for users to conduct 'what-if' analyses and evaluate the impact of different possible action plans. This actionable nature of the index, and the tools we have, allows us to provide customized products to partners and other interested parties."
Although Central America accounts for only 0.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, scientists consider the region a "hotspot" for climate-related damages in the future, along with sub-Saharan Africa, Bangladesh and the Maldives. Central America's seven countries also suffer a disproportionate share of the consequences of global warming, including floods, hurricanes and other natural disasters.
"Central America is not as prepared as it could be, and part of that is directly linked to the lack of public policies in place," said Juan José Daboub, founding CEO of Notre Dame's Global Adaptation Institute and a member of the ND-GAIN advisory board. "The other reason has to do with the inability to attract more local and foreign direct investment to these areas that represent vulnerabilities."
Juan José Daboub, founding CEO of Notre Dame's Global Adaptation Institute and a member of the ND-GAIN advisory board. (Courtesy of Notre Dame Global Adaptation Index)
Related: Drought hits Central America's crops, cattle
Daboub is a former finance minister of his native El Salvador, and is also former managing director of the World Bank. He said the world must spend $30 billion to $100 billion annually for the next 25 years just on adaptation. That doesn't even include mitigating the effects of climate change. Of that total, Central America will need to spend around $1 billion a year.
Since no government can possibly cover that cost, the answer can only come through private-sector investment – especially since it doesn't appear likely that the world will come to an agreement on reversing climate change anytime soon.
"My country, El Salvador, went literally from hardship to investment-grade in a relatively short period of time," Daboub said. "We used to use indicators very similar to the ND-GAIN to persuade, convince and encourage policymakers to adapt the right, proven policies to change the future of our country. This means opening up the economy and investing in health and education."
He added: "The different matrixes used in ND-GAIN allows any decision-maker to dive in and see, for example, how come Costa Rica is doing better than El Salvador in access to clean water. We use tools like that to help move the needle and attract investments. When you implement the right public policies, you'll open the eyes of private investors."
For example, he said that in El Salvador, municipalities operate the water system much more efficiently than at the federal level, and that privately owned coffee plantations do a better job than most municipios at running waste treatment plants.
"Most of our countries have done nothing or very little to improve efficiency," he said. "If you want to fix the problem, you need a public policy that allows for private-sector investment."
Asked how climate change can be a major concern to Central American governments already overwhelmed by gang violence, drug trafficking and corruption, Daboub said the region can't afford not to deal with it.
"Politicians all over the world are always thinking about the next election, not the next generation," he told The Tico Times. "Of course, the issue of security has to be addressed. You can't ignore it when the homicide rate is 70 or 80 per 100,000. The problem is that advocates of climate change on the mitigation side talk about something that can happen 30 years from now – whereas we are talking about something that's happening now. It cannot be ignored."
Small but vocal turnout in Costa Rica for global climate march
After 11 days of talks, a climate agreement
The Guardian names Costa Rican journalist among 'young climate campaigners to watch' ahead of Paris 2015
Big Oil's heirs join call for action as climate summit opens
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Larry Luxner
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Insurance Institute begins collecting marchamo payments this week
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The Tico Times
TBT: The Tico Times was online in 2000