We awake early to leave for our journey to the Masai Mara. This is a fairly long trip across the valley that passes through the Masai town of Narok and the isolated, windy Loita Hills to the south-western region of Kenya. As we make our way into the reserve we spot some wildlife from the main path, despite the fact that we are far outside of the boundaries of the Park. Finally we reach our camp, situated just a few hundred metres from the reserve's borders, where we have time to indulge in a delicious lunch and maybe even a brief nap before heading out on our first game drive through the Park at midday.


Take the North Carolina Tar Heels with your wherever you go with this key strap from WinCraft.
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How do I link an assessment to standards from other units?
To link an assessments to standards in other units, begin by creating the assessment within the desired unit and linking to any standards within the current unit. Then, in step 3 of the Plan tab above the standard list, you can select other units from the drop-down. Tick off the boxes next to standards from any unit to align your assessment.
WARNING: Scores for a standard are always kept together so that at any time all evidence of mastery for a standard is used to calculate the current mastery level. If you align assessments to standards in more than one unit, the scores for those standards will be grouped under the unit that the standard belongs to in mastery reports.


In 2017, the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) and the Islamic New Year (Hijri) overlap over September 22nd. This year, the Jewish New Year (year 5778) begins at sundown on 20th September and is celebrated until sundown on 22nd September. The Islamic New Year (1439 AH) is marked from sundown on 19th September until sundown 20th September.
Both the Muslim and the Jewish calendars are based on the moon, as opposed to the sun-based Gregorian calendar. This means that holy days and festivals are on different dates of the Gregorian calendar each year. While both are lunar calendars, they are still each distinct from the other. This is due to the different ways they use to align with the solar cycle.
In both religions, the new year signals a period of reflection and atonement for many people. A new year can mean a fresh start, another opportunity to do better than the year that has passed.
Whether you will be celebrating one of these holidays or not, this is an excellent opportunity to reflect on the past year and think about how you would like the next one to unfold.
Here at Near Neighbours, we are grateful that we are able to bring people together by focusing on the good in them, and on what we have in common. We look forward to bringing even more people together over this coming year through social interaction and social action.


We had lunch there last Friday. Lovely menu, great service and food. We sat by the window with the lady that needed the wheelbarrow ! (My mum !) We will certainly visit you again next time we are in the area. Thank you.


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Why the morning show should end with season 2
Warning: Spoilers ahead for The morning show season 2!
The morning show is currently awaiting an official announcement for season 3, but is following up season 2 finale, it might be better if the show does not continue anymore. The morning show debuted in 2019 as AppleTV +'s premiere show with an A-list including Jennifer Aniston, Steve Carell and Reese Witherspoon along with a plot that focused on a massive issue. Season 1 put the streamer on the map, won a Primetime Emmy – and was nominated for 7 more Emmys – but season 2 unfortunately could not be compared.
The morning show season 1 dug into the #MeToo movement, with Steve Carell's Mitch Kessler as the news show's male co-thinker becoming social pariah after accusations surfaced of his sexual misconduct. Everyone is struggling to survive and is hiding any connection to Mitch or any awareness they had about his behavior when the network, UBA, comes under intense investigation. After the tragic suicide of the woman Mitch assaulted, Alex Levy (played by beloved Friends actress Jennifer Aniston) reveals everything to the world in the middle of their news program.
TODAY'S SCREEN VIDEO
Related: It took 6 episodes, but Invasion finally became the program Apple promised
The morning show season 2, however, failed to compare. While season 1 was focused and gripping, The morning show season 2 fell apart in gossip on the news department and outrageous fights. What's more, The morning show season 2 created major problems for a potential season 3 that would no doubt pull the show further from its spectacular origins. Here are the reasons The morning show season 3 should never happen.
The morning show's most compelling stories have been appropriately concluded
One of the most compelling, if not that most compelling story in The morning show follows Steve Carell's Mitch Kessler. His character and story deal with the issue of sexual assault and show the life behind the sensational news stories. During Season 1, viewers see how charismatic he is before learning that Mitch Kessler is a dangerous predator. In season 2, Mitch is in exile in Italy, but his "what comes after?" the story is still the most important in the series. Mitch seems like a changed man, and the show explores the validity of a person's redemption and return to society after rehabilitation. His journey is thought-provoking and socially significant, giving the series meaning and purpose, so in Season 2 Episode 7, as Mitch runs off a cliff and dies, it ends effectively. The morning show main story.
Season 2, however, not only ended Mitch's story, but brought several story lines to an end The morning shows' other grades. Jennifer Aniston's Alex Levy was fascinating to watch through season 1 as she struggled with the loss of her best friend and fellow anchor for 15 years and worked to keep her own career afloat despite the fallout. But Alex's biggest story in season 2 plays like a scratched record, where she spent the entire season hiding her sexual story with Mitch, just like in season 1. When Maggie Brener's book finally debuts and reveals Alex's previous relationship to Carell's now infamous character, the result hardly the climactic moment the season was built towards. The season ends with Alex's secret being revealed and her giving a long, overwhelming monologue from Covid quarantine after being canceled.
Season 2 also nicely ties together the secondary storylines like Bradley Jackson finally embracing his sexuality and the chaos in his family, despite the threat of public sentencing, as well as Cory Ellison (Billy Crudup) finally confessing his love for Bradley. Chip is brought back to the show as Alex's producer only to expose himself to Covid for quarantining Alex – a plot twist that did not shock anyone – and Paola finally brings Mitch's interview to light. The morning show the season 2 finale was a beautifully crafted one series finals, but if the goal was to get another season, it was a direct disaster that did not leave much to draw viewers back for The morning show season 3.
Related: Why Steve Carell left the office
The Morning Show Season 3 will be released in 2021
When asked when The morning show season 3 would begin, said showrunner Kerry Ehrin (via Deadline) "I do not know at this time. My instinct is that there will be a time jump"Ehrin did not specify at what point during the pandemic season 3 plot would resume, but which The morning show season 2 ended in March 2020, when the WHO declared a pandemic, it does not matter much when the story starts in season 3 as Ehrin and the other authors of The morning show is now dealing with a time in history most people probably do not want to relive.
A CDC report from June 2020 (via National Institute of Mental Health) reports it "31% of respondents reported symptoms of anxiety or depression, 13% reported having started or increased drug use, 26% reported stress-related symptoms, and 11% reported having had serious suicidal thoughts within the past 30 days. These numbers are almost double the rates we would have expected before the pandemic. " Despite mediocre reviews for The morning show season 1, audience reviews for the season (via Rotten tomatoes) was outstanding 92%. Meanwhile, viewership fell to 72% in the second season, which took place just before the pandemic. As the show moves further into the pandemic, they enter a time in history that most people would rather forget.
The Morning Show season 3 sounds like a soap opera
Whose The morning show season 3 should get the green light, it sounds like the main story will be more of Alex Levy's self-reflection and who Reese Witherspoon's Bradley Jackson kisses. When asked about the future plot, Ehrin said:Well, I'll definitely see more of Bradley and Laura. I feel like Alex has come to a place for the first time since the pilot accepting who she is and meeting her worst fears, and I want to see how the phoenix rises from the ashes for her, and learn to have a full life and be present and loving. " Considering that Cory just confessed his love for Bradley at the end of season 2 and almost the whole The morning show Seasons 1 and 2 were dedicated to Alex's personal growth, the proposal for a love triangle and Alex's continued self-discovery hardly seems enough to bring viewers back.
Alex Levy went from complicated but relatable in season 1 to completely invalid in season 2. After seeing Alex's sentimental farewell to Mitch before his death, The morning show season 2 ended with an episode that revolved around a messy mess where she apologized to herself while defending herself while broadcasting her fight for survival against Covid. While she was presented as if she was doing something dignified and selfless of the broadcast, her character continues to be someone who would do anything to maintain public approval. The promise of more of her vain self-involvement in The morning show season 3 would only pull the show further from the socially relevant issues of the first season and closer to a dull soap opera.
Related: Why Swagger is Apple TV's new Ted Lasso replacement
Moreover, the idea of more time spent on Bradley's constant struggle with whether she should grow into an adult is just as unattractive. While her statement that she is "sexually fluid" raises a socially relevant issue, the issue of sexual preference has been and is being made better on other shows. The idea of Bradley and Cory is interesting, but given Ehrin's hint that there would be more of Bradley and Laura in The morning show season 3, it's unclear what role Cory will play with Bradley on the way forward. The result leaves only a self-engaged star and a love triangle to draw viewers back to what was previously an award-winning, groundbreaking show.
Next: Everything We Know About Ted Lasso Season 3
Captain America's Musical continues Hawkey's Phase 1 insult
Lindsay Kusiak
Lindsay began as a singer-songwriter in Los Angeles at the age of seventeen. She is the author of two novels. She lives in Los Angeles and is most often found running or walking with her German Shepherd, working on her books or eating Indian food.
More from Lindsay Kusiak
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Wintrust Arena
WNBA Finals Oct 16, 2021
WNBA Finals: Chicago Sky Ticket Prices Soar for Potential Clincher
The Chicago Sky are hoping to capture their first-ever WNBA championship on Sunday afternoon at Wintrust Arena, but fans looking to be in the building for the team's shot at history will have to open up their pocketbooks.
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Art Institute Lions Sport Chicago Sky Jerseys for Playoffs Run
To support the Chicago Sky's quest for the WNBA championship, the lions guarding the Art Institute of Chicago will sport the team's jerseys through the duration of the series.
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McDonald's All-American Games to Return to Chicago in 2022, Organizers Say
One of the nation's premier showcases for high school basketball talent will be returning to Chicago next spring, as the McDonald's All-American Games will be contested in the Windy City in March 2022.
Coby White Sep 15, 2021
Bulls Guard Coby White Discusses Return of McDonald's All-American Game to Chicago
Chicago Bulls guard Coby White discusses the return of the McDonald's All-American Game to the Windy City next spring.
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Chicago Sky to Require Negative COVID Test or Proof of Vaccination to Attend Games
The Chicago Sky announced Wednesday that all fans attending games at Wintrust Arena will be required to provide proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test result beginning with Friday's game against the Las Vegas Aces.
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Chicago Traffic: Tips on Getting Around the City, Suburbs This Weekend
From Chicago to the suburbs, transportation officials have roadwork, station work and ongoing sanitation planned from Friday through Sunday.
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Boxer Patrick Day Dies After Suffering Brain Injury During Chicago Bout
Boxer Patrick Day has died days after suffering a traumatic brain injury during a bout on Saturday at Chicago's Wintrust Arena, according to manager Lou DiBella.
Chicago Sep 9, 2019
Chicago Sky to Host Phoenix Mercury in WNBA Playoffs' Opening Round
Even though they lost their final regular season game against the Washington Mystics on Sunday night, the Chicago Sky will still get to host a first-round playoff game when the WNBA postseason tips off on Wednesday night.
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DePaul Women's Basketball Team Heads to NCAA Tournament for 17th Year
DePaul's women's basketball team will return to the NCAA tournament for their 17th straight year.
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Morning Rundown: St. Charles Home Invasion, Chicago River Oil Spill, Bob Dylan
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Join us on the farm for a day filled with fun, laughter and entertainment for the whole family and friends. This event is known for great hospitality and attention to detail.
Book your tickets by completing the form below.
The little ones are also welcome on the farm. We have a lovely kiddies entertainment area and child minders so that parents can kick back and relax.
Ages: 2 – 12 years.
Please complete the form below to book your tickets. Payment details will be sent on submission.
1. Bookings will only be confirmed once proof of payment have been received.
2. No refund for cancellations after Friday, 9 November 2018.
3. The amenities and facilities provided by this establishment have been conceived, designed and constructed with your enjoyment, recreation and safety in mind. Nevertheless we regret that the owners, management, servants and agents hereby stipulate that they are unable to accept liability or responsibility for any injury loss or damage of any nature whatsoever, whether arising from negligence or from any other cause of whatever nature, which is suffered by any person who enters the premises or by the dependants or principals of such person, and it is hereby recorded that entry occurs absolutely at own risk and that the owners, management, servants and agents are released from and indemnified against any and all claims of whatever nature.


Last month, I talked about how our office supports you. Therefore, it's only right to offer you the same from our international DMC's Unique Perspective. Did you know more than 6.4 million people attend Oktoberfest – the world's largest beer festival? Using a destination management company (DMC) here is a sensible choice for any event planning business. Their local expertise opens up ways in which they can help create and run an outstanding and creative event for you. Following my recent experiences, to ensure you don't do what the tourist does, or find yourself stuck in the mayhem of traffic or lost in the excitement of running an event, you'll need a quality DMC!
However, corporate events are not always combined with festivals or sporting events and often vary drastically in terms of scale, location, logistics and content. Even if their outcomes may seem similar – woo new clients, educate staff or appeal to stakeholders – each company has its own requirements, sub-goals and intricacies that dictate how planning must run.
Let's take a look at some of the specific ways a DMC can help you plan an event.
An expert DMC can look at what you're trying to achieve, focus on the main points and create a focused and creative itinerary that will maximise the potential of your event. They'll provide an on-site event consultant (or team of project managers/consultants) to ensure things stay on track and deliver with excellence down to the smallest specialist details.
Leading organisations like Uniqueworld Global will help you partner with a DMC that can pull together an event that suits your business sector.
For example, if you're in the public sector, they can help cut down on manual and administrative tasks whilst maximising on event attendance. On the education front, you'll get specialised planning for events like workshops and training courses for small teams or large contingents. A non-profit organisation would benefit from automated administrative tasks so agents can focus on fundraising and donor relationship management.
A DMC can operate on simple or complex levels, improving efficiency by managing things like meeting planning, schedule automation and similar small but time-consuming tasks so you can focus on business development. Pre- and post-event communications and tasks can be effectively managed by a DMC.
Depending on your event, there are likely to be staff, delegates, VIPs and management to transport, feed and accommodate.
Your DMC will arrange events according to your available timetable they can book and coordinate travel and transfers to ensure attendees are collected and arrive on time. They'll also arrange accommodation – whether that's luxury hotels for corporate heads or budget hotels for larger parties. For VIPs, a DMC can achieve upgrades easier than any company's one-off event, due to the volume of business a local DMC provides to their hotels.
A DMC will consider small but important details such as whether meals are included in the package price, or whether discounts/concessions apply for a certain number of attendees.
If your DMC offers their own digital organisational platform, you can manage and monitor itineraries, finances and other records in one place. This type of system consolidates the myriad factors of event planning so nothing is left to chance.
Common features of such platforms include portals and mobile apps that enable you and your candidates to register, transfer fees, print badges and look up essential information. They're particularly useful at large events like conventions and trade shows.
A centralised reporting system allows you to collect attendee data. Send invitations directly, ensure people receive reminders and carry out effective email marketing and correspondence from a central organised hub. Processing payments can be faster and simpler when using a DMC's dedicated system – an area that can seriously affect how your event practically runs.
A DMC will likely have round-the-clock support if you're using their platform. With full reporting and reviewing facilities, you can see where your event was successful and how to make next year's even more popular.
Allowing a DMC to staff your event means you're assured of high-quality destination management services, accredited staff who will deliver exactly the service you need. They may be multi-lingual – essential for international and higher-profile clients and events – and they'll have specialist skills appropriate to the type of event you're hosting and their local area.
All company events need unique activities to break up the flow of work and information, keeping attendees stimulated so they leave with a positive impression.
The DMC will arrange in-event activities and extra-curricular entertainment – particularly useful for multi-day events and events with the detailed subject matter. If you're hosting an event abroad, sightseeing may well become a part of the itinerary – so the DMC can source local guides to entertain your clients.
Because they're well-connected and proactive, DMCs are able to add a unique, premium feel to your event. This could come in the form of concierge services for your VIPs, luxury transport and accommodation. Impress your directors at a private retreat or improve team interaction during an away day by the sea – a good DMC will create a solution to fit your budget and what you're trying to achieve.
Local buying power means better supplier relations for great results and value for money.
Unless you're working on a smaller scale or have a relatively undemanding schedule, it's likely you won't have the time and resources to arrange each event supplier at competitive rates. Using a company like Uniqueworld Global will pair you with a DMC who'll know which suppliers to contract for a truly memorable event.
DMCs are, by nature, well-connected in their area of operations. They can hire great caterers and transport providers, book the best accommodation and rope in premium entertainment at competitive rates, so you can stay on budget or even save on costs.
A DMC is there to create solutions that take the stress off your shoulders. Coming up with a creative programme ensures a well-delivered event that impresses, and keeping on top of things as they unfold means the DMC can creatively solve problems or adapt to keep things running smoothly.
This adaptability extends to special personalised details – for instance, improving a CIP client's experience by booking premier restaurants near their accommodation, making for a convenient and luxurious-feeling experience they'll remember.
You could be holding a meeting in your city or a large conference abroad – there'll always be permits, laws and related considerations to be aware of and account for.
By contracting a DMC through an organisation like Uniqueworld Global, you'll get a knowledgeable DMC who know which documents are required, what can be accomplished, and how to deal with authorities to ensure you accomplish your goals without incurring unforeseen costs or stopping your event in its tracks by improperly-followed procedures.
The specifics and details are ever-changing in the world of event planning, but a good DMC will cover a lot of bases to create an efficiently-run event that lets you focus on the outcomes and not the small stuff.


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Have your flowers and gifts delivered to Wagaman area churches, hospitals, retirement and nursing homes, Wagaman businesses, offices, private homes, anywhere in Australia by our local Wagaman florist.


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De dekkingsgraad is een (globale) indicator voor de vermogenspositie van een pensioenfonds: hierbij wordt de actuele waarde van de beleggingen gedeeld door de contante waarde van de pensioenverplichtingen.

Berekening dekkingsgraad
Voor de berekening van de dekkingsgraad wordt de actuele waarde van de beleggingen gedeeld door de contante waarde van de pensioenverplichtingen. Voor de actuele waarde van de beleggingen wordt de marktwaarde gebruikt. Over dit deel van de berekening is weinig discussie, maar wel over de berekening van de contante waarde van de pensioenverplichtingen. Voor deze berekening is de hoogte van de rente waarmee de verplichtingen contant worden gemaakt, de disconteringsvoet, essentieel en hier is in Nederland veel discussie over gevoerd. Kleine veranderingen in de gebruikte rente hebben grote invloed op de uitkomst vanwege het hoge aantal deelnemers, hun pensioenrechten en de lange termijn waarover de pensioenen worden uitgekeerd.

Definities dekkingsgraden
Er zijn diverse berekeningen van de dekkingsgraad. In Nederland zijn de volgende twee het meest gangbaar:
 Bij de berekening van de nominale dekkingsgraad wordt geen rekening gehouden met de (voorwaardelijke) toekomstige indexatie.
 Bij de reële dekkingsgraad worden de (voorwaardelijk) toekomstige indexaties (waardevast of welvaartsvast) wel meegenomen.

Nederland

Beleidsdekkingsgraad
Vanaf 1 januari 2015 moeten Nederlandse pensioenfondsen bij beleidsbeslissingen gebruikmaken van de beleidsdekkingsgraad. Dit is het gemiddelde van de laatste 12 maandelijkse nominale dekkingsgraden. De beleidsdekkingsgraad is daardoor stabieler dan de oude dekkingsgraad die de financiële positie van het pensioenfonds aan het einde van iedere maand berekende. Zulks is geregeld in artikel 12a lid2 van het Besluit FTK.

Toelichting dekkingsgraad
In Nederland wordt de contante waarde van de pensioenverplichtingen, nominaal of reëel, berekend aan de hand van een rentecurve. Dit is in tegenstelling met de meeste andere landen. Deze afleiding wordt ook wel gebruikt om de marktwaarde van de obligaties te berekenen i.e. door de cashflows (verplichtingen dan wel uitkeringen) te verdisconteren tegen de rente per de looptijd van de desbetreffende cashflow. Strikt gezien levert de deling van de cashflows dus een deling op van de waarde van de beleggingen gedeeld door de waarde van een obligatie (die deze cashflows vertegenwoordigt). Dus een dekkingsgraad van 100% betekent in dit geval dat als ik op dit moment al mijn vermogen beleg in deze obligatie dan heb ik daarmee voldoende middelen voor en in het geval van 95% dus niet. De huidige terminologie die gebruikt wordt is: "Bij een dekkingsgraad van 100% heeft een pensioenfonds net genoeg vermogen om zijn verplichtingen na te komen, boven de 100% beschikt het fonds over buffers. Bij een lager percentage dan 100% is er sprake van onderdekking."

Waar komt deze methode vandaan?
Op basis van het renteakkoord in het verleden maar ook de overgang van nominale naar marktwaardering hebben hier een rol in gespeeld. Bedrijven hebben op hun balans ook verplichtingen. Deze verplichtingen worden gebruikt om het bedrijf te financieren. In het verleden heeft men dus gesteld dat de waardering van de verplichtingen op de balans van een bedrijf op eenzelfde manier ook toegepast kan worden op een pensioenfonds. Strikt genomen gaat deze conclusie niet op omdat de verplichtingen niet kunnen worden geherfinancierd.
Momenteel wordt gezocht naar een oplossing voor deze methode waarbij alleen de risicovrije rentecurve als oplossing wordt bekeken. De ingevoerde UFR-rentecurve is hiervan een voorbeeld.

Wat zegt de dekkingsgraad
Elke ontwikkelde maatstaf heeft zijn voor- en nadelen. De dekkingsgraad vormt geen garantie voor de (hoogte van de) uitkeringen. Een pensioenfonds met een hoge dekkingsgraad, maar met een hoog vereist rendement op haar vermogen kan in gevaar komen wanneer de rente daalt. Afhankelijk van de verplichtingenstructuur en daarmee samenhangende rentecurve is het niet op voorhand te zeggen of een pensioenfonds met een dekkingsgraad van 100% beter is dan een pensioenfonds met 95%. Hiervoor dient ook naar andere maatstaven gekeken te worden. Naast dat de rentecurve op dagbasis verandert is deze ook nog eens indirect afhankelijk van de kredietwaardigheid van het land. Zo moeten bijvoorbeeld verplichtingen met een uitkering in Amerikaanse dollars ook tegen de rentecurve voor die valuta worden verdisconteerd. Een Grieks pensioenfonds zou bijvoorbeeld anno 2011 geen problemen met de dekkingsgraad hebben, ceteris paribus (al het overige gelijkblijvend) de stand van het vermogen en zijn verplichtingsstructuur. Voor de onderlinge vergelijkbaarheid van pensioenfondsen moet daarom altijd een kanttekening geplaatst worden.

Nagestreefde dekkingsgraad
De nagestreefde dekkingsgraad hangt af van een aantal factoren:

Eisen van het pensioenfonds zelf
In het kader van risicobeheersing stellen pensioenfondsen zelf vast wat een acceptabele minimum dekkingsgraad is. Dit beleid is vooral van belang voor de sponsor(s) (het bedrijf of de bedrijfstak waar de begunstigden werken of hebben gewerkt) omdat zij in geval van onderdekking vaak de eerst aangesprokenen zullen zijn om de onderdekking weg te werken.

Minimale dekkingsgraad vereist door de overheid
De overheid stelt in het kader van het toezicht op de pensioenfondsen eisen aan de solvabiliteit. Dit vindt zijn uitwerking in een minimum dekkingsgraad. Een pensioenfonds dat onder de minimale dekkingsgraad komt (in Nederland 105%) moet een herstelplan afspreken met de toezichthouder, waarin binnen een beperkte termijn de onderdekking wordt weggewerkt.

Buffervereisten van de overheid
Buffervereisten gaan uit van de gedachte dat er een reserve aan geld moet worden opgebouwd voor tijden waarin de financiële markten slechte resultaten laten zien. Buffervereisten zijn logischerwijs gekoppeld aan de structuur van de beleggingsportefeuille, dat wil zeggen dat volatielere beleggingscategorieën, zoals aandelen een hogere buffer moeten hebben dan stabielere beleggingscategorieën, zoals obligaties. In Nederland komen de buffervereisten uit op een dekkingsgraad tot 130%.

Buffervereisten worden niet alleen door sommige Nederlandse auteurs als controversieel ervaren, zij worden buiten Nederland ook nauwelijks of niet toegepast en daar veelal als overdreven gezien. Dat is niet helemaal terecht. In andere landen bestaan ook beschermings- en controlemechanismes voor de solvabiliteit zoals sponsorgaranties en nationale garantiefondsen. Daar staat tegenover dat de hoogte van de Nederlandse buffervereisten en de lengte van de hersteltermijn dan nog steeds onvoldoende tegemoetkomt aan het langetermijnkarakter van verplichte, collectieve pensioenfondsen.

Buffervereisten leiden tot extra besparingen in economisch slechte tijden en minder besparingen in economische goede tijden; ze zijn pro-cyclisch. Buffervereisten zijn ook geen extra reserve, die in slechte tijden kan worden aangesproken, maar een extra verplichting die in principe ook in slechte tijden in stand gehouden moet worden. Bovendien kunnen buffervereisten tot permanent slechtere beleggingsresultaten leiden: de makkelijkste manier om aan de buffervereisten te voldoen is de beleggingsportefeuille aan te passen. Dit kan leiden tot een vicieuze cirkel, waarin de aanpassingen via een lager rendement leiden tot een lagere dekkingsgraad en nog meer aanpassingen, totdat de portefeuille vrijwel geheel uit obligaties bestaat, waardoor het rendement sterk zou dalen en de risicospreiding gevoelig zou afnemen.

Het mechanisme van aanpassen van de beleggingsportefeuille aan buffervereisten werkt, in grote lijnen, als volgt. Voor elke asset-categorie -in hoofdzaak obligaties en aandelen- wordt vastgesteld welke volatiliteit (mate van waardefluctuatie) hij heeft. Bij een hogere volatiliteit hoort een hogere buffer: een groter "stootkussen" om waardeschommelingen op te vangen. Een portefeuille die een groter percentage aandelen bevat, vergt uit hoofde van dit systeem een grotere buffer: aandelen hebben nu eenmaal grotere waardefluctuaties. Aan de andere kant: aandelen hebben, over een lange reeks van jaren, een hoger rendement dan obligaties. Een portefeuille met meer obligaties kan dus wel met een lagere buffer volstaan, doch zal, over die reeks van jaren, vermoedelijk een lager rendement genereren, zodat de totale waarde van de portefeuille aan het eind van die periode vermoedelijk lager is. En dit impliceert dus weer een slechtere dekkingsgraad.

In de praktijk is de dekkingsgraad bijzonder volatiel gebleken: na twee goede jaren hebben de meeste pensioenfondsen eind 2005 de vereiste dekkingsgraad bereikt en verdere reserves opgebouwd in de daaropvolgende goede jaren, maar dit kalfde ook weer snel af in slechte jaren. Door dit mechanisme geeft de dekkingsgraad eerder een beeld van veranderingen op de financiële markten dan van veranderingen in de solvabiliteit van de pensioenfondsen. Ook is gebleken dat de buffervereisten verschillend hebben uitgewerkt: de grotere pensioenfondsen hebben over het algemeen hun portefeuilleverdeling gehandhaafd, zij het dat ze bij elke goede gelegenheid weer wat meer dekking van het renterisico inkopen. De kleinere fondsen hebben meestal besloten het renterisico op de top van de markt in te dekken. Hierdoor hebben zij veel minder kunnen profiteren van het herstel van de financiële markten. Voor deze fondsen hebben de nieuwe buffervereisten dus pervers gewerkt.

De term "pro-cyclisch", die hierboven werd gebruikt, heeft hier betrekking op de gang van zaken binnen het pensioenfonds, en slaat dus niet zozeer op de macro-economische gevolgen van het beleggingsbeleid van pensioenfondsen. Het is uiteraard wel zo dat de wijze van beleggen door pensioenfondsen een zeker effect op de conjunctuur heeft.

Onderdekkingskans
De onderdekkingskans is de kans dat het fonds niet in een situatie van onderdekking terecht kan komen. In Nederland is de onderdekkingskans 97,5%, wat betekent dat statistisch gezien een fonds gemiddeld eens in de 40 jaar in een situatie van onderdekking zal belanden. Een hogere onderdekkingskans zou grote gevolgen hebben voor de dekkingsgraad. Een onderdekkingskans van 99,5% (eens per 200 jaar onderdekking), gebruikelijk voor het toezicht op banken, zou een dekkingsgraad van rond 170% opleveren voor pensioenfonds. Overigens heeft de kredietcrisis ons geleerd dat statistische modellen vaak tekortschieten, omdat de gemodelleerde risico's in veel grotere mate met elkaar bleken samen te hangen dan eerder werd aangenomen.

Naast de dekkingsgraad is de hersteltermijn van belang voor de kosten van zekerheid. Een te lange hersteltermijn werkt laksheid in de hand, een te korte termijn voert tot grote gedwongen besparingen die niet alleen de solidariteit tussen generaties op spel zetten, maar ook de pro-cyclische werking verscherpen.

Bestrijden van onderdekking
Onderdekking betekent dat als het pensioenfonds onmiddellijk zou ophouden te bestaan, de verplichtingen ervan niet nagekomen zouden kunnen worden onder de aannames van de berekeningen. Als daarentegen wordt uitgegaan van een lopend bedrijf (going concern) heeft het gemiddelde fonds nog tientallen jaren gelegenheid om de onderdekking geleidelijk weg te werken.

Om een dreigende ontoereikende vermogenspositie te bestrijden, beschikt een pensioenfonds over diverse opties:
 het verhogen van de beleggingsrendementen
 het beperken van de indexering van lopende pensioenen
 het verhogen van de premies
 het verschralen van de pensioenbelofte, bijvoorbeeld door het invoeren van een middelloonsysteem
 het afdekken van de verplichtingen.
 het korten van pensioenaanspraken en lopende pensioenen (ook afstempelen genoemd)

Verhogen van de beleggingsrendementen
De gewoonlijk meest rendabele methode is het (trachten te) verhogen van de beleggingsrendementen. Dit brengt echter een verhoging van het risicoprofiel van de beleggingsportefeuille met zich mee (tenzij inefficiënte beleggingsmethodes worden beëindigd), terwijl het effect ervan ongewis is, en ook heel goed enige (tot geruime) tijd op zich kan laten wachten. Hogere rendementen laten zich niet afdwingen.

Beperken van de indexering van lopende pensioenen
Het achterwege laten of niet volledig doorvoeren van indexering (inflatiecorrectie) van lopende pensioenen heeft een tamelijk sterk positief effect op de vermogenspositie, doch hierbij wordt de last geheel bij de huidige pensioenontvangers gelegd. (Een variant hierop is dat een inflatiecorrectie niet volledig plaatsvindt, doch dat toegezegd wordt dat deze alsnog zal plaatsvinden indien in latere jaren de omstandigheden dat toelaten.)

Verhogen van de premies
In de praktijk worden pensioenpremies meestal door werkgevers en werknemers gezamenlijk gedragen, hoewel in een aantal sectoren een zgn. premievrij pensioen voorkomt, waarbij de werkgever de gehele pensioenpremie betaalt. Dit lijkt echter nauwelijks meer voor te komen. Het verhogen van de door de huidige deelnemers (en hun werkgever(s)) te betalen premies is negatief voor zowel de deelnemers als de werkgevers: de deelnemers zien dit direct in hun netto-salaris, en voor de werkgevers gaan deze verhogingen direct ten laste van hun winst. Beide groepen zijn echter vertegenwoordigd in het bestuur van pensioenfondsen, waardoor ze betrokken zijn bij het functioneren van het fonds en de noodzaak van versoberingen beter begrijpen en accepteren.

Verschralen van de pensioenbelofte
Er zijn vele mogelijkheden om de pensioenbelofte te verschralen, van het schrappen van voordelige clausules voor bijzondere gevallen tot ingrijpende structurele maatregelen als een hogere pensioengerechtigde leeftijd. In Nederland zijn rond 2004 zowel ABP als PGGM op een middelloonstelsel overgestapt. Deze fondsen zijn zodanig dominant dat hiermee het merendeel van de Nederlandse deelnemers naar een middelloonsysteem is gegaan. Het vervangen van het eindloonstelsel door het middelloonstelsel komt in de praktijk neer op een verlaging van de uiteindelijk uit te keren pensioenen. In het eindloonstelsel wordt het pensioen (in grote lijnen) berekend over het aantal dienstjaren en het laatst verdiende salaris, in het middelloonstelsel wordt gewerkt met het gemiddelde salaris gedurende de totale periode van pensioenopbouw. Hierbij wordt dan wel rekening gehouden met de inflatie gedurende die periode.

Gevaren bestrijden van onderdekking
Verkeert een pensioenfonds zich eenmaal in onderdekking, dan mag een pensioenfonds haar vermogensallocatie met afdekking niet wijzigen. Ofwel een pensioenfonds leidt in de praktijk verlies op haar vermogen door rentecurvestijging naar een bepaald niveau en is daarnaast niet meer in staat uit deze positie te komen. Dit laatste wordt ook wel de DNB-fuik genoemd. Een dergelijke situatie doet zich ook voor bij verzekerde regelingen. Hierbij wordt op een bepaald laag niveau van de dekkingsgraad het totale vermogen omgezet in langlopende obligaties en zal er geen indexatie of andere aanspraken meer kunnen worden toegekend en is een mogelijkheid om meer rendement te behalen uitgesloten.

Korten van pensioenaanspraken
Er is een grote kans dat vanaf 2020 en/of 2021 grote pensioenfondsen die samen de meerderheid van alle deelnemers vertegenwoordigen, de pensioenaanspraken moeten korten. Pensioenfondsen mogen hun korting, die geraamd wordt op gemiddeld 10%, echter wel uitsmeren over tien jaar. Dat betekent dat er in tien opeenvolgende jaren, bijvoorbeeld van 2020 t/m 2029, steeds 1% gekort wordt.

Hoge dekkingsgraad
De geschiedenis heeft geleerd dat een hoge dekkingsgraad ook nadelen heeft. Volgens de Algemene Rekenkamer haalde de regering 30 miljard uit de kas van het ABP. Onder invloed van sterk stijgende aandelenkoersen hadden vele pensioenfondsen in de jaren 90 een zodanig comfortabele positie dat discussies ontstonden over de vraag aan wie het overschot toebehoorde. Sommige ondernemingspensioenfondsen stelden de bijdrage van de werkgever op nihil, een zogeheten "premie-holiday". Er hebben zich zelfs gevallen voorgedaan dat een pensioenfonds een bedrag aan de werkgever terugbetaalde. De verslechterde vermogensverhoudingen van pensioenfondsen, die tot een einde aan deze praktijken noopten, hingen echter samen met dezelfde conjuncturele verslechtering die ervoor zorgde dat een hervatting van de premiebetaling door een werkgever op een voor hem slecht moment kwam. De overheid stelde speciale belastingmaatregelen voor om overschotten weg te belasten en de vakbonden wilden het overschot uitkeren aan de begunstigden en gebruiken voor het verlagen van de premie. Inmiddels is die bovenmatige dekkingsgraad van toen tot de lage dekkingsgraad van 2017 geworden.

Het afdekken van de pensioenverplichtingen
Gezien er door DNB eisen gesteld worden aan de dekkingsgraad betekent het dus ook dat pensioenfondsen met name sturen op de dekkingsgraad. Dat betekent dat de rentecurvebeweging die er toe leidt dat de verplichtingen stijgen of de dekkingsgraad daalt wordt afgedekt met behulp van een rente-instrument als swaps of swaptions, hetgeen impliceert dat de (boekhoudkundige) waardestijging van de verplichtingen of neerwaartse dekkingsgraad wordt beperkt. Stel de rentecurve stijgt dan betekent dit dat het vermogen (voor het percentage aan obligaties) daalt, de afdekking middels swaps (levert een verlies op) en de verplichtingen dalen eveneens ofwel de dekkingsgraad blijft gelijk.

Actuele situatie

Door een combinatie van diverse, hierboven beschreven maatregelen, en door in het algemeen goede beleggingsresultaten in 2005 en 2006 is de vermogenspositie van Nederlandse pensioenfondsen verbeterd. Ultimo 2007 lag de dekkingsgraad van alle Nederlandse pensioenfondsen gezamenlijk op 144%.

De kredietcrisis deed de dekkingsgraad echter aanmerkelijk dalen. Per december 2008 had het ABP een dekkingsgraad van 90% en PFZW van 92%. Een jaar later kwam de dekkingsgraad van het ABP uit op 104%. Dit was met inbegrip van een herziening van de geraamde verplichtingen naar aanleiding van langere levensverwachtingen van de deelnemers ("langlevenrisico"), wat een duidelijk nadelig effect had: zonder die herziening van de dekkingsgraad 109% zijn geweest.

DNB droeg pensioenfondsen met een dekkingsgraad lager dan 105% op om uiterlijk 1 april 2009 een herstelplan in te dienen, waarin uiteengezet diende te worden hoe men de dekkingsgraad tot het minimale niveau zou brengen. In juli 2009 bleek dat 20 Nederlandse pensioenfondsen genoodzaakt zouden zijn om vanaf 2012 de nominale pensioenen te korten indien de financiële markten niet tegen die tijd hersteld zouden zijn; van enkele pensioenfondsen keurde DNB het herstelplan af.

De sterk gedaalde rente leidde ertoe dat in mei 2010 Nederlandse pensioenfondsen een dekkingsgraad van 98% hadden. Een korten van de lopende pensioenen en opgebouwde pensioenrechten werd niet denkbeeldig geacht. Vooral door de enigszins gestegen kapitaalmarktrente nam de dekkingsgraad in de rest van 2010 toe: zo kwam de dekkingsgraad van het ABP ultimo 2010 uit op 105%.

Minister Henk Kamp stuurde op 30 mei 2012 een brief met een financieel toetsings-kader (ftk) aan de Tweede Kamer, dat het kabinet voor ogen heeft om het pensioenstelsel weer toekomstbestendig te maken. Als basis voor een wettelijk voorgeschreven reële discontovoet voor het reële contract blijft de risicovrije swaprente (i.c. de rentetermijnstructuur) van kracht. Daarbij zal voor verplichtingen na 20 jaar een ultimate forward rate (ufr) worden voorgeschreven van 4,2% (voorstel Europese Commissie). De dekkingsgraad, mag worden vastgesteld op basis van een twaalfmaands voortschrijdend gemiddelde van de dekkingsgraad. Zo komt onder invloed van Europese regelgeving de vaste rekenrente van 4% die gold voor 2005 weer in zicht.

De continuïteitsanalyse komt per 2015 te vervallen. In de plaats hiervan wordt de jaarlijkse haalbaarheidstoets ingevoerd. Met de haalbaarheidstoets monitort het pensioenfonds of het verwacht pensioenresultaat en het pensioenresultaat in het slechtweerscenario in lijn zijn met de door het pensioenfonds zelf gekozen ondergrenzen.

In de onderstaande figuur nog een overzicht van de vermogens en verplichtingen van alle Nederlandse pensioenfondsen. Ondanks de daling van de dekkingsgraad in de periode van 2007 tot en met 2021 zijn de voorzieningen per deelnemer bijna verviervoudigd. De stijging is vooral het gevolg van de lagere rente waartegen de pensioenverplichtingen zijn contant gemaakt, maar ook de langere periode waarover de pensioenen in de toekomst zullen worden uitgekeerd omdat de mensen langer leven, speelde een rol van betekenis. De verhoging van de AOW leeftijd heeft juist een dempend effect op de stijging van de technische voorzieningen.

Referenties

Zie ook
 Beleggen van A tot Z

Externe links
 Lijst van alle in het openbare register van De Nederlandsche Bank voorkomende pensioenfondsen
 Dekkingsgraden Nederlandse pensioenfondsen

Beleggen
Pensioen

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World Scholar's Cup 2023 for Grades 5-12
January 17, 2023Noticesby Minhajul Kibria
Dear Parent
DPS STS School is proud to announce the dates for the much awaited event 'World Scholar's Cup 2023' , an Academic programme which focuses on bringing students from different cultures together to discuss issues and ideas relevant to today. The upcoming regional round will take place at the INTERNATIONAL HOPE SCHOOL, Dhaka on 10th ,11th and 12th March 2023.
The World Scholar's Cup is an international team academic programme with students participating from over 80 countries. It has attracted what it calls a global community of future scholars and leaders' that allows participants to 'discover strengths and skills'. Our students have successfully participated in the previous regional rounds, Global rounds as well as the Tournament of Champions at Yale University and brought laurels to the school by winning a large number of individual and team events.
Each World Scholar's Cup Regional Round consists of four main events: The Scholar's Challenge, Collaborative Writing, The Team Debate, and the Scholar's Bowl. In addition to these four main events, additional activities take place. These activities are both social and academic, and strive to solidify the community aspect of the World Scholar's Cup.
Activities for the month of January for both Junior and Senior School
NOTICE FOR ANNUAL SPORTS HEAT


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text:
COVID makes a dent on the structured cabling market
Published 29th June, 2021 by John Hatcher
The impact of COVID on the commercial market make a dent in the world structured cabling market, but with a recovery expected by 2023 and data centres performing well.
BSRIA has recently published 16 structured cabling reports on the global structured cabling markets for 2020. The new reports shed light on USA, Brazil, Mexico, China, HK & Macao, Japan, India, Germany, UK, France, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, UAE, Saudi Arabia and South Africa cabling markets, for both local area networks (LAN) and data centre (DC) applications.
Despite not being researched in depth, a further 17 countries have been updated at top-line level to reflect the impact of the pandemic, including a forecast until 2025. This second group includes: Colombia, South Korea, Switzerland, Spain, Norway, Finland, Denmark, South East Asia - Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines -, Canada, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Austria, Sweden, Poland, Chile and Peru.
The global structured cabling market decreased by 8% in 2020. Although most markets were affected by the crisis, a considerable number suffered double-digit losses, others were less affected sliding below average and a handful even managed to grow slightly, despite the pandemic.
Markets in developing economies were hit harder by the crisis, which affected both their economies and cabling markets. This was the case for Latin American countries, India and South Africa, among others.
North America also performed worse than average. In Europe and Asia-Pacific there was a mixed outcome (with countries contracting at high double-digit figures and few others flat or expanding slightly). Middle East was not immune to the crisis, although the region performed above average.
The impact of the pandemic in 2020 varied depending on a number of factors including: the government management of the pandemic, the level of restrictions and length of lockdowns, the share of the industrial and service sectors, the share of the informal economy and the ability of the population to carry out remote working. As these percentage changes are measured in US dollars, currency depreciation in emerging economies also played a major role in the market contraction.
For the next two years (2021/22) BSRIA anticipates healthy growth rates, although the market will not have fully recovered its 2019 levels before 2023.
At a global level, the LAN market was the main segment driving the contraction, shaken by delays and even cancellation of projects. Day-to-day work was severely reduced, hampered by government restrictions too. The predicted recovery of the LAN market will slow (2.4% CAGR over the 2020-2025 period), affected by lower investments in real estate due to high vacancy rates in retail and office space. Consequently, we do not expect the LAN market to fully recover before 2025.
The data centre segment performed better than LAN in 2020 and remained fairly flat. Demand increased in most countries in 2020, but lockdowns and social distancing measures caused disruption and delays in the projects. The segment is already expected to have fully recovered in 2021 and BSRIA anticipates the DC market to grow 4.6% on average yearly, over the forecast period (2020-2025). Colocation and cloud data centres are driving demand globally with positive outlooks for all regions in 2021 and 2022.
With fibre accounting for 80% of all cabling installed in data centres, fibre cabling is expected to continue to gain market share.
Although all copper cabling categories saw a contraction in 2020, sales of Cat 6A declined less than others, increasing its market share from 34% to 36% in 2020. This trend is expected to continue for the foreseeable future.
For further information about BSRIA's cabling reports; pls contact us on:
• European sales enquiries: BSRIA UK: wmi@bsria.co.uk ¦ +44 (0) 1344 465 540 www.bsria.com/uk/
• America sales enquiries: BSRIA USA: sales@bsria.com ¦ +1 312 753 6803 www.bsria.com/us/
• China sales enquiries: BSRIA China: bsria@bsria.com.cn ¦ +86 10 6465 7707 www.bsria.com


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I just finished a very interesting story in the Wall Street Journal relating to health care for HIV-positive and AIDS patients. With previously-available health insurance, people with AIDS pretty much had access to whichever doctors and facilities they needed for their treatment, and all the medicines legitimately prescribed by their doctors (with only a simple per-Rx copay).
Under the new ObamaCare schemes, those insurance companies that agree to offer policies on the state-run and Federal "exchanges" are changing the terms of their policies to reflect the new mandates placed upon them under the law. Insurance companies are not allowed to turn away sick people, and are also prevented from charging them more than healthier people. So, in order to be able to stay in business, health insurance companies are restricting their networks of doctors and hospitals, and instituting high co-insurance for the drugs AIDS patients need to stay alive. They are dividing the available drugs into "tiers", with the most expensive ones requiring the patient to pay up to 50% of the cost, and some newer classes of drugs not covered at all. (Oh, and those drug makers who offer low-income patients "drug cards" to help them cover the cost of their medicine? Specifically not allowed under ObamaCare).
Well, you can predict that the very powerful AIDS lobby has strongly objected to this "discriminatory" treatment by those evil insurance companies, and they have asked HHS to investigate the companies for illegal activity. In general, the gay community has been VERY supportive of OTL and his "Affordable Care Act" (scare quotes intended), and it is now coming back to bite them. Too many stories to cite here are coming out about the "replacement" plans with premiums doubling and deductibles tripling, causing sticker-shock. Now one of the Liberals' pet protected classes is finding out that they are not immune from the adverse effects of centrally-planned-and-controlled health care.
It will be interesting to see whether their screams will lead to HHS mandating that insurance companies cover, and pay for, ALL available AIDS drugs on the exchange plans, which will lead to their bankruptcies even sooner (single-payer, here we come).


In this fast-moving world, a number of people stay always on tours. This is their job and to maintain the diet and weight while eating in the eateries is quite impossible. Therefore, it will be best to choose such restaurants those are serving healthy food. It is true that you can't certainly get the homelike healthy food from the restaurants but if you'll follow few tips, it is highly possible to maintain your weight without much hassle while eating at the finest restaurants.
Always try to sip a glass of water and eat fruits those are easy to digest. These are like banana, avocado apple before you set off your meal. It will make you sure about the health is truly on its track. While choosing the menu always focus on their health points. If they are not healthy, you can't certainly attain the best health points. Chinese dumplings is known as the best way to celebrate your best time in these restaurants.
When ordering sides, check if fries or mashed potatoes can be replaced by a simple salad. This keeps the calorie count down and adds important vitamins that are essential for good health.When requesting drinks, recollect that wines function admirably with dinners when tanked with some restraint. Check the sugar in non-mixed drinks previously requesting them. Packaged natural product juices have unfortunately high sugar content. Request crisp pressed ones if accessible. For beverages like lemonade, request the sugar syrup as an afterthought and use as per taste.
Plain water is the most beneficial beverage you can request and it likewise gives you a chance to make the most of your nourishment to the greatest.If you love meat for your every meal, by all the means go for that steak once in a while. But, one thing is to keep in mind that, to stick to lean white meat like fish, turkey and chicken are great to the consumer. All these foods are good for your heart and for your general well-being. Instead of fried meats, choose grilled recipes flavored with herbs and spices rather than fat.
You should turn down any chance to consumer such salads those are rich with creamy dressing. You can go for a vinaigrette or other verities those are containing the heart-healthy olive oil. If you are still bound to have salad, try to consume that without processing the cheese and friend bacon because these add calories without nutrition.


I once challenged my husband (then boyfriend) to a food contest. We were planning a dinner and I told him that we both should come up with our own menu and get my Mom to judge which was better. He had very simple tastes (then) and I since I would pour over food magazines during my spare time – it was a no brainer who would win. I can't even remember what his menu was (nor could I remember mine) – but I do remember how excited he seemed and how serious he was taking the challenge. I took one look at his "entry" and in a moment of kindness I decided that I would let him win. I liked that he tried hard and was I excited to see him passionate about food (for once). When he wasn't looking I snuck to where my Mom was and told her that we were having a competition on who could make a better menu and whatever happened – to please say that he had a better menu.
I regret doing this now.
He has never let me forget that he won the menu challenge. No matter how many times I tell him it was rigged, he insists that he won.
To this day we have these menu competitions. The last one was about a month ago when we had dinner at Duke's Bistro in Darlinghurst. One dish we shared were these slow cooked beef ribs with mustard sauce, daikon and some shiso served with mandarin pancakes – like how you would serve peking duck. We both loved the idea of the pancakes and thought wrapping something other than peking duck was genius. "Can you come up with something better?" He asked.
"Challenge accepted." I told him.
Can you guess whose idea the roast pork belly was?
This is the first part of two. The dish is served with some Mandarin pancakes, spring onions, and cucumbers. I've used sriracha sauce although a spicy Chinese mustard sauce would also work well. The secret to the crispy skin is to make sure it is completely dry before roasting. To ensure the meat is moist, roasting over a pan of water does the trick. I'll post the Mandarin Pancake recipe next.
Score the pork belly lengthways (or ask your butcher to score the skin for you). Place the pork belly skin side up, on a plate and on top of the kitchen sink. Boil around three cups of water and pour this over the pork belly. Pat the pork belly dry and place on a plate in the refrigerator for an hour or two.
In the meantime, prepare the paste by mixing the salt, five spice, garlic and caster sugar – using a mortar and pestle or food processor until the mixture resembles a rich dark brown paste.
Once the pork is ready, place this on a chopping board, skin side down, and cut through the flesh, making sure not to cut through the skin. You will need to rub the spice paste all over the flesh, including the crevices and sides. Make sure not to rub any paste on the skin.
Place the pork belly on a rack and place this back into the refrigerator to allow the skin to dry, at least four hours, or overnight.
To cook the meat, remove the pork belly from the refrigerator. Bring the oven to 220 c (fan forced). Fill a deep baking tray around half way with water and place a wire rack over this. This will keep the pork flesh moist while the skin crisps up. Place the tray and rack in the oven and put the pork belly (skin side up) on top of the rack. Roast the pork for 20 minutes at this temperature and then drop the temperature to 180 c for 30 minutes. Finally, take the temperature up to 230 c for 15 minutes. Remove the pork from the oven and rest for around 10 minutes. Cut into serving pieces and serve with Mandarin pancakes.
This recipe was awesome! I just took it out of the oven and it's amazing! One thing though, after the cooking time the skin still was soft and pink so we placed it under the broiler on low heat for the last 15 minutes and the skin is super crispy now and the meat moist! Thanks for this great recipe.
Your pork belly looks delicious and will be a terrific addition to my favorite ramen recipe.
The crispy rind and succulent meat leaves more than a delicious biting memory. This is one of my favourite recipes. Thanks for sharing Trissa.
Brilliant idea! You're just brimming with them! I just happen to have some Chinese roast pork at home too.. Your pork looks perfect – love those delicious cartiliagey soft bones in there too. Yum!
Is it really that easy? I tried making this once but the skin wasn't crispy at all. I'd love to try it again with your recipe 🙂 It looks really quite mad!
You never fail to have a story to tell, Trissa :). Though not quite a big fan of roast pork, I have to agree that this would work beautifully with the wrapper.
P.S: still trying to get used to this 'swipe' format for iPad.
I wish I had a husband who would cook once in a while…never mind do a challenge! The next best thing though, is he doesn't hesitate to feed me well because we eat out at least 4 times a week. My favourite cut for roast pork is the belly and of that, the crispy skin is to die for! Looks kind of difficult to make but you did a marvelous job!
Yum! I really love the look of the crispy pork belly!
my mom always gets this from the local asian supermarket when i go home and it always seemed so hard to make. thanks for posting the recipe. love your photos.
Lol you guys are too cute! I don't eat pork, but these look delicious and love the idea of serving other things in the pancakes.
this is my all time favourite dish, I could never master the crisp skin that crackles upon first bite. interesting to serve it with chinese rice pancakes that we use for Peking duck! would slather on lots of mustard!
I love the add of the mandarin pancake. The pork looks great.
Genius! I made some roast pork belly last week too, too bad I didn't serve it the 'Peking Pork' way. Looks so good!
I've been dying to try pork belly at home, Trissa! I adore the presentation with the pancakes. Fess up. Whose ideas was it? Yours, I hope. You can't let we foodies down!
That looks amazing! My mouth is watering already!
Looks gorgeous. I love roast pork belly and I love things that you can wrap together and eat!
LOL.. you guys are too funny!
This is very similar to the process I use to cook pork belly although usually I cook it in wine and water. Your photos are breathtaking.
Sounds like you two have so much fun and your pork pictures are so enticing. I've had a pork belly recipe in my purse for days and days, hoping that I'd finally have the time to make it. I'm hoping this week will be it but that remains to be seen. Until then, I'll linger here to drool over the crispy skin and tender meat. Great idea to serve them with pancakes as I gave up rice for Lent.
oh my goodness YUMMMMMMM! your roast pork looks fantastic trissa!!!
I think your husband is my husband's lost twin!
Crisp spicy pork is culinary heaven on earth in my book. You win every time.
Perfectly Roasted pork belly!! I'd eat it with lots of rice!
Winner!!! 🙂 I'd be in cholesterol heaven with several rolls of this one!
You should try the wrap with lechon + lechon liver sauce! It's been a hit here and dunno who started the concept but I've attended a lot of parties with the centerpiece lechon served 2-ways (carving and wrap).
I always said I would be vegetarian so long as I could eat pork. This just confirms my theory.


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Obama knocks Trump for anti-Muslim rhetoric
January 13, 2016 Written by Admin
President Barack Obama took aim on Tuesday at Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump and accused critics of playing into the hands of Islamic State in a speech meant to cement his legacy and set a positive tone for his final year in office.
Obama, delivering his last annual State of the Union speech to Congress as president, called for leaders to "fix" US politics and criticised candidates such as Trump for using anti-Muslim rhetoric that betrayed American values.
"When politicians insult Muslims … that doesn't make us safer," he said, drawing applause from the crowd in the House of Representatives chamber.
"It's just wrong. It diminishes us in the eyes of the world. It makes it harder to achieve our goals."
Trump, whom Obama did not mention by name in his speech, is leading the Republican field ahead of the November 8 election to pick the next president.
The billionaire businessman, citing national security concerns, has called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States and a wall on the US border with Mexico to stop the flow of illegal immigrants, ideas the White House strongly opposes.
Obama sought to contrast his more optimistic view of America's future with those of the Republican candidates trying to replace him.
He said it was "fiction" to describe the country as being in economic decline. While acknowledging that al-Qaeda and Islamic State posed a direct threat to Americans, he said comparing the effort to defeat the militants who control swaths of Iraq and Syria to World War Three gave the group just what it wanted.
"Masses of fighters on the back of pickup trucks, twisted souls plotting in apartments or garages: they pose an enormous danger to civilians; they have to be stopped. But they do not threaten our national existence," Obama said.
Republicans say the president's strategy to defeat Islamic State is flawed and insufficient.
"His policies aren't working. He didn't have an answer for how to defeat ISIS," Republican House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said in a statement after the speech, using an acronym for Islamic State.
Obama's address to lawmakers, Cabinet members and Supreme Court justices was one of his last remaining chances to capture the attention of millions of Americans before the November election. The next president will take office in January 2017.
Trump, in a posting on Twitter, called the speech "boring" and lacking in substance. "New leadership fast!"
But South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who delivered the Republican response to Obama's address, took her own jab at Trump and other less moderate candidates in her party.
"During anxious times, it can be tempting to follow the siren call of the angriest voices. We must resist that temptation," said Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants. "No one who is willing to work hard, abide by our laws, and love our traditions should ever feel unwelcome in this country," she said.
Obama's address came as 10 sailors aboard two U.S. Navy boats were taken into Iranian custody. Iran told the United States the crew members would be "promptly" returned, U.S. officials said. The event gave Republicans further fodder to criticize Obama's nuclear deal with Tehran.
Obama did not address the issue in his speech. The White House expects the situation to be resolved quickly.
Legacy, regret
Obama, who is constitutionally barred from a third term, stuck to themes he hopes will define his legacy, including last year's nuclear pact with Tehran.
He noted areas where compromise was possible with Republicans in Congress including criminal justice reform, trade and poverty reduction.
He called for lawmakers to ratify a Pacific trade pact, advance tighter gun laws and lift an embargo on Cuba.
The president also said he regretted not having been able to elevate U.S. political discourse during his time in office.
"It's one of the few regrets of my presidency – that the rancor and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse instead of better," he said.
To help "fix" U.S. politics, Obama pressed for an end to "gerrymandering," the practice of drawing voting districts in ways that gives advantage to a particular party; reducing the influence of "dark money" or political spending in which funding sources do not have to be disclosed; and making voting easier.
Obama also said he had tasked Vice President Joe Biden, whose son died last year of cancer, to lead an effort to find a cure for the disease.
The president noted some outstanding promises from his own 2008 campaign. He pledged to continue to work to close the US prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and called on Congress to lift the embargo on the Communist-ruled island nation.
Obama, whose 2008 victory was driven partially by his opposition to the Iraq war, said the United States could not serve as policeman of the world.
"We also can't try to take over and rebuild every country that falls into crisis, even if it's done with the best of intentions," he said. "It's the lesson of Vietnam; it's the lesson of Iraq; and we should have learned it by now."
Obama is eager for a Democrat to win the White House to preserve his legacy, but anger over his policies and fears about security threats have helped push non-traditional candidates to the fore in the Republican and, to a lesser extent, the Democratic races to succeed him.
Trump and Senator Ted Cruz of Texas are at the top of the Republican field, while self-described "socialist" Bernie Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, is giving former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tough competition in early voting states for the Democratic primary contest.
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The overall death rate from gun violence has remained unchanged in the United States for more than a decade, but suicides by firearms are now more common than homicides, a new study shows.
In 2012, nearly two-thirds, or 64 percent, of deaths from firearm violence were suicides, compared to 57 percent of deaths in 2006. The growth in suicide is especially prominent among white males beginning in early adulthood.
"Suicide by firearm is far more common than homicide," says Garen J. Wintemute, professor of emergency medicine and director of the Violence Prevention Research Program at University of Caliornia, Davis.
Published online in the Annual Review of Public Health, the analysis of data for firearm homicides and suicides by age, gender, and race/ethnicity reveals other emerging patterns. For example, homicides among black men and women rose steeply in adolescence and peaked in early adulthood before falling steadily thereafter. In contrast, suicide rates among white men increased in adolescence but continued to rise throughout the lifespan.
When assessing the number of deaths from firearm violence in 2012 for males by age and race/ethnicity, the research shows that 88.7 percent of all deaths among black males aged 15 to 44 were caused by homicide and that 89.2 percent of deaths among white males aged 35 to 64 were from suicide. When researchers corrected for population growth in both groups, the rate of death among white males aged 35 to 64 had increased by 29.1 percent.
"The overall death rate from firearm violence in young black males is very high, and there has been little net change since 1999," Wintemute says.
According to the General Social Survey, more than 50 million people in the United States own firearms. Firearm ownership increases risk of firearm homicide or suicide at the population, household, and individual levels.
"Focusing on known risk factors and predictors for firearm violence can have a broad impact. We know alcohol and controlled substance abuse are important predictors of future risk for violence directed at others or at oneself, whether or not mental illness is also present, Wintermute says.
Source: UC Davis. Republished from Futurity.org under Creative Commons license 3.0. Read the original.
Concealed Weapons in the Streets: Should Handgun Owners Be Allowed to Carry Guns in Public?


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Q: can we "fight" against "an issue" and a "social tension"
We should fight against these issues.

and

We should fight against these social tensions.

are they correct?

A: Both of these strike me as very casual uses of the words in play: the sort of thing people say when they're content to say something in the general neighborhood of what they mean without stopping to think about what they are saying.
In casual speech, for instance, issues has recently come to mean basically the same thing as problems—"I have issues with that". But in formal discourse an issue is either a point of disagreement or the disagreement itself. It makes little sense to speak of fighting a disagreement. One may fight for one side or the other, or fight to resolve the disagreement, but I don't see how you can fight against the disagreement itself.
Tensions, whether social or political or economic or personal, are in much the same case. No doubt we all want to reduce tensions, or resolve them, or minimize them; but it's hard to see how this might be accomplished by fighting against the tensions themselves, which would on the contrary seem to be a pretty tension-inducing activity!

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Ok, I am so with you about the Farmer's Market. It's as if they know I don't grown my own organic food and they drip disdain with every word. I just learned what Quinoa was and it was not a happy education. Now about the damn mascara wands, what is up with that? I just want to apply a dash of non-clumping, non-running makeup to darken my light eyelashes, I am not performing surgery. Maybe they can invent a makeup remover that doesn't have me scrapping off makeup and pulling my eyelids in unnatural directions. The bathing suit issue, well that happens to me all the time. I find turning in a circle in the stall and cursing, helps immensely. Great Post.
Hahaha! Great response! I'm still laughing!


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Good and Bad PR: We have no love for Love Island and Klaus-Dieter Flick this week
5th August 2021 Good & Bad PR 5 minute read
Hey there public relations fans, I return after two weeks off, feeling refreshed and raring to go. Did you miss me? Maybe don't answer that.
So what have you all been up to? Those of you who also attended the Summer PRty in Manchester, organised by Radioactive PR, will have seen just how much the industry has missed face-to-face events and judging by the worldie attendance list, it feels like we are all ready to get our summer's going! Nice one to Rich Leigh and all the sponsors for such a great event, can't wait for the London one in September.
Bad PR
Speaking of worldies, the first Bad PR goes to Love Island. Not just because of the general attitude of those taking part in the reality TV show competition, but also because the editing has got the Muggles all worked up, to the point that 5000 of them have complained to Ofcom about it. The fact that 5000 people care so much is mind boggling, but it is also a massive distraction and waste of time for Ofcom which has far better things to be dealing with than monitoring lip-fillers and allegations of misleading allegations.
As a slight side note, one of the bigger issues that Ofcom has had piled on to it is the Government seeking its advice on the application by Team Murdoch to be freed from its obligation to keep The Times and The Sunday Times as separate editorial outlets… Talk about a hospital pass.
WhatsApp wins the "Andy Barr Good and Twee" campaign of the week for the images and example it used to announce the launch of its "view once" tool that you can now apply to your picture messages. According to WhatsApp, we will all be using this for things like "sharing a password code". Tell that to the unlucky recipients of the billions of dick pics that are sent across the internets every day! WhatsApp, this is a great idea, I love it, but I love the twee nature of the campaign even more.
Over to the world of oil barons and petrol prices and the RAC won some great PR headlines this week by highlighting the steady rise of the prices at the pumps. We are in our 9th month of price rises and we are now at the highest pricing since 2014. The demand for oil since the slowdown of the pandemic is being blamed and whilst demand continues to rise, so does the price.
As ever China is apparently key to the way the price goes in the next few months. If the Chinese manufacturing industries slow down, prices should drop, if demand gets higher, as will the prices. Great work by the RAC to spot this and get the story out there before any of its motoring competitors.
At the time of writing (Wednesday evening) Mike Ashley wins a rare Good PR shout for his decision to step away from the day-to-day running of Frasers Group (formerly, Sports Direct). The cynics, myself included, say this could be a distraction technique because the company's financial results are out tomorrow, or it could genuinely be an attempt to move with the times and remove the risk that having him involved in the day to day realistically brings.
Love him or hate him (don't ask!), he has transformed his company and taken it to new heights, year on year. The news also came on the day it was announced that the company had won a employee tribunal over its decision to send all workers home who were over 60, during the pandemic. As I say, a rare, good week for Ashley and the Fraser Group.
Bad PR again
Klaus-Dieter Flick
Bad PR this week also goes to plucky 84-year-old German, Klaus-Dieter Flick who was found to be hoarding a large chunk of WW2 memorabilia in the grounds of his property, including a tank, anti-aircraft cannon, mortars, guns and two thousand rounds of ammunition.
His arsenal was discovered by the local police whilst they were investigating rumours of his having Nazi symbols dotted around his garden. Imagine their faces when they found his war bunker. He has been fined £250k and told to shift it all within two years… Museums from across the globe are queuing up to buy it all, no really.
Brilliant PR
Propellernet
To end on a high, a big shout out to the Propellernet Digital PR posse who hit a home run this week with a campaign that looked at how having certain restaurants near your home could add to your house price value.
For those keen to know, being near a Byron adds the most value to your property (circa £34k) and being near a KFC will probably add more to your waistline than it will pound value (£13k). No, I am not adding in a live follow-link to this write up, so don't email and ask (jokes, lols, digital PR FTW).
Got it right or wrong, hit me up on The Twitter @10Yetis.
Written by Andy Barr, owner of 10 Yetis Digital. Seen any good or bad PR lately? Abuse and contradictory points welcomed over on The Twitter @10Yetis or andy@10Yetis.co.uk on email


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Cowichan Valley's finest restaurant
InBest Places to Travel in Canada, British Columbia, Cowichan Valley, Duncan, Food & Drink Reviews, Vancouver Island
April 17, 2015ByAdrian Brijbassi
Locally sourced oysters are a specialty at Hudson's on First in Duncan, the largest town in Vancouver Island's Cowichan Valley. (Julia Pelish/Vacay.ca)
Story by Adrian Brijbassi
Vacay.ca Columnist
DUNCAN, BRITISH COLUMBIA — When I speak with Daniel Hudson it's right after I have dined at his elegant restaurant and the dichotomy between who he is and what he does strikes me as intriguing. Hudson is an everyman, a humble immigrant from Britain who is chasing an opportunity to feed the people of Cowichan Valley with the best food he possibly can. Juxtapose that humility with his cuisine — which is brilliant, highly ambitious and refined fare — and you can see why I would be so curious.
Hudson's on First is a neighbourhood restaurant only because you haven't heard enough about it to make it a destination restaurant — a place such as the Bearfoot Bistro in Whistler or Fleur de Sel in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. Those are places travellers seek out because they want to cross it off their fine-dining must-try list.
Chef Daniel Hudson, a former "Top Chef Canada" contestant, opened Hudson's on First with his wife, a long-time Vancouver Island resident. (Julia Pelish/Vacay.ca)
"I don't like pretentious food," says Hudson, who retains his British brogue and speaks with such conviction when he talks about cooking that you wonder if he might go Gordon Ramsay on you. "I enjoy what we're doing here because it is exactly the type of food I want to cook. It would be a waste of time otherwise. But we're doing the sort of plates that we like and we're fortunate that so far we have customers who like it too."
One of Vancouver Island's Best Restaurants
What Hudson's on First does is prepare French cuisine flawlessly and with the contemporary flair that diners expect of a great restaurant. A terrine of hamhock served with foie gras and brioche was a highlight on the night I dined. For such a bold dish, the flavours and textures were subtle, epitomizing the best of Hudson's on First. Despite a combination of flavours and ingredients that you would think are a challenge to put together on a plate, Hudson manages to pull it off with precision and care.
"This is the kind of restaurant that people come to for special occasions. They expect a certain level of quality and we know that. We know it's important to them and that makes it even more important to us," he says.
There's artistry involved too. The plates are beautifully presented, the wait staff is professional and attentive, the wine list is small but well thought out. It all adds up to what is undeniably one of the best restaurants on Vancouver Island and one that is worth the short drive from Victoria to sample.
Hudson's on First is a showcase of the Cowichan Valley's culinary might. Many ingredients are sourced from the bounty of organic produce and sustainably harvested seafood in this region that ranked among the 2015 Vacay.ca Best Places to Visit in Canada. The Cowichan Valley retains a deep sense of community and gastronomic best practices because many of its citizens like Hudson have ventured here to chase an entrepreneurial dream that is based on creating a quality product or experience, not simply a making-money endeavour.
"There are enough people here who like the food that I make to allow me to keep making it," Hudson says with earnest matter-of-factness. "And at the end of the day that's all you want, isn't it?"
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Hudson's on First is in a historic building converted into an elegant restaurant in Duncan, BC. (Julia Pelish/Vacay.ca)
MORE ABOUT HUDSON'S ON FIRST
Address: 163 First Street, Duncan, BC (see map below)
Website: www.hudsonsonfirst.ca
Menu Price Range: Main courses for dinner range from $21-$34 (menu items change often). Lunch entrees (served 11 am-2 pm, Tuesday-Friday) range from $18-$21. Weekend brunch entrees (served from 10 am-2 pm) range from $12-$21.
You Must Order: Whatever terrine is on the menu. Currently, it is a chicken-and-chestnut option ($15), served with brioche, pickled onions and cranberry mustard.
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BCbest places to travel in canadabritish columbiacowichan valleydaniel hudsonduncanfeatured-postshudsons on firstvancouver island
Adrian Brijbassi
Adrian is the editor of Vacay.ca and VacayNetwork.com. He also edited "Inspired Cooking", a nutrition-focused cookbook featuring 20 of Canada's leading chefs and in support of the cancer-fighting charity, InspireHealth. "Inspired Cooking" was created in honour of Adrian's late wife and Vacay.ca co-founder, Julia Pelish, who passed away of brain cancer in 2016. Adrian has won numerous awards for his travel writing, travel photography, and fiction, and has visited more than 55 countries. He is a former editor at the Toronto Star and New York Newsday, and was the social media and advocacy manager for Destination Canada. His articles have frequently appeared in the Huffington Post, Globe & Mail, and other major publications. He has appeared on national and local broadcasts, talking about travel, sports, creative writing and journalism. In 2019, he launched Trippzy, a travel-trivia app developed to educate consumers about destinations around the world.
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Is PDR the right choice for me?
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