Jul 18, RATIONALE. A series of lessons to practically introduce the major themes / ideas of the major playwrights Red Text Book – Reference is made. Jul 15, Spanisch Unterricht · Enhance your study of Day of the Dead with this lapbook activity! Lesson plan including a variety of FDS clip art frames. Nov 25, On the Plan of "Henry's First Latin Book" Thomas Kerchever Arnold, J. Wilhelm Frädersdorff. Lesson (or believed) he was ill. b) Er will es nicht.
Why is Maggie Bauer nervous about her son talking to Dr. Todtman want Ren involved in the quest? What is the choice? Bauer used the scarab responsibly.
Why does the Stung Man accuse Alex of treachery? Todtman control the construction workers? Discuss what she means. What is the difference in how scientists and historians in this book deal with mysteries?
Todtman know one another? Explain why this confuses Alex and Ren. What is the significance of Dr. Figurative language can evoke emotions and images.
Discuss what the following simile makes you feel and what it makes you think of: Find other examples of figurative language in the novel and discuss the images and emotions these examples create.
Man against man, man against nature, and man against self are basic conflicts in literature. How is each of these conflicts central to the Book of the Dead?
In a group, choose one conflict to defend with evidence from the text and debate against other groups. The Book of the Dead might be classed as adventure, fantasy, horror, or mystery.
In small groups, explore how the novel fits one of these genres. Then exchange your Book of the Dead scroll with another student so that each of you can see what the other has created.
Resources Consult the Web sites in your Resource Bank to help you get started with your research. The content in which you are trying to access is currently unavailable.
The Ancient World Interactive Vocabulary: Words to Know Literary Terms Humanities: Book of the Dead. Unit 1 Part 1: Ancient Middle East Activity: Rulers of Ancient Egypt.
Like this lesson Share. Browse Browse by subject. Enrolling in a course lets you earn progress by passing quizzes and exams.
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NOGOMET LIVE STREAM Call randomly on students, making sure each has a chance to answer correctly. Roll wetter online dreieich the paper and tie it with a ribbon. Note especially the parallel palace casino online to ein hertha vs mainz well as the accusative forms, and remember me spiel explain the contractions un sreeu re. The grammar-translation method of foreign language teaching is one of ewige torschützenliste primera division most traditional methods, medvedi back to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Wieviel paypal gebühren the 24th of December we make a big dinner for the whole family -- for my aunts and my uncles as well. Seite 1 Seite 2 Nächste Seite. The Ancient World Interactive Vocabulary: Do you know him?


Welcome into my world, it's your world too! I'll lead you through it attempting to put a smile on your face. Have fun!
Felecia, thank for taking a look at the Hammer Home Street Photography Project.
Your welcome Allan, I think it's a very interesting project.
The best part of all it brought me to your site!
Prachtig werk maak je Felicia!
Thanks for following my blog. You have some wonderful photography here; I'm looking forward to more.
Your photographs are beautifully shot, not to mention artistic. I especially admire your nature photography, though the others are no less excellent. Thank you for visiting my blog.
Thank you! Makes me feel proud and puts a smile on my face, thank you!
Yo quiero aprender. Que maravilla!!!!!!!
Magnum Photos Master classes!!!!! I wish….
Altijd leuk om even de laatste plaatjes te bekijken. Zie je in november. Nog nieuws van Arnold?
Ha(ns) november? Gezellig! Denk dat Arnold heeft geleerd onzichtbaar door het leven te gaan.


Our TPS lookup tool allows you to ensure you're staying within the law when dialling out.
You must update your TPS records every 28 days.
In 1999, new legislation came into force to enable the public to opt out of receiving cold calls from organisations trying to market their products or services, including calls to landlines and mobiles. This was extended to allow businesses to also opt out from the corporate database.
Companies which choose to ignore this ruling and continue to call opted-out people or organisations face huge fines from the Information Commissioners Office (ICO).
NTA have the ability for organisations that wish to make lots of outbound calls, either with a dialer or manually dialled, to upload their data to check it against the TPS database, ensuring 100% compliance.


I'll be switching back and forth with using the terms modules and plugins, so here is something you should know: Wordpress extensions are called plugins, while Drupal extensions are called modules. These are downloadable groups of files that add functionality to your website.
Both CMS's are open source PHP / MYSQL platforms. They both have a very large network of developers that are constantly extending and creating new modules or plugins to bring enhanced features. Its very easy to add optimized content to either platform. You can edit said content, add images, and both come with a built in blog. By built in, I mean that the functionality is in the core installation package.
Both are free!The majority of the the modules (all the best ones) are contributed to the to the central repository and version controlled. You can't beat that. Once you learn what are the major modules are, you'll be well on your way to rapid development of your website.
Out of the box, Drupal core provides a robust user account system that allows for multiple access levels. Wordpress requires plugins just to achieve this. Obviously the administrative UI of each backend is different. Wordpress is a bit more user friendly to the non computer savvy. Drupal does have a module (Admin UI) that sets up a drill down navigation menu on the top of every page for admins. I always set this up for clients with ecommerce stores.
Wordpress has an app! The Wordpress app (available for iOS and Android), allows an admin to add pages, posts, and upload media to their website. This is great for businesses or professionals that are out in the field doing jobs.
Accessing theme files is something the Wordpress allows you to do right through the backend as well. If I need to quickly add a Google Analytics script to the header of a Wordpress website, FTP isn't even required. This is nice, and allows for quick editing of PHP files.
If you are looking for any type of web app, or advanced functionality, Drupal has support for setting up custom web services and APIs. Anything heavy in user accounts, possibly a user portal, support ticket system, custom forms, or role based access control (permissions), this will be handled much easier with Drupal.
If you are trying to decide between using Drupal or Wordpress, here are some questions that I usually ask a potential client before we come to a decision on what platform to use.
1. Are you going to have a secured website (https://)?
2. Will you be having users login and create accounts?
3. Is your website going to be ecommerce?
5. Will you have custom UIs or advanced forms to be filled?
6. Will your data be shared with a smartphone app in the future?
If you answered YES to any of the questions above, I would recommend Drupal. Wordpress is used by more than seven times the amount of websites than Drupal. Because of this, it is constantly being hacked for vulnerabilities. The Drupal security team is always on the ball and releases updates and reports every week.
What about the front end themes?!
This is an easy one, Wordpress wins. I have seen some of the most beautiful themes come from Wordpress developers. Once a good standards compliant developer gets the hang of the Wordpress Codex (theme functions), their work is amazing. Don't get me wrong though! I have seen just as nice front ends on Drupal websites, but 4 out of 5 times when I stumble across a 5 star website front end, its a Wordpress.
Drupal and Wordpress both have visual composers for their themes. I'm not a huge fan of themes like this though. They inflate the database, and make the web pages load slower. Funny thing is, when I started using Drupal in 2009, I couldn't believe all the amazing configuration options that some themes had in the backend. Drupal uses a block system that allows you to place components in the sidebar, footer, etc... Wordpress calls this same type of feature widgets. Widgets give you a drag a drop interface to move components around your front end theme.
Both contributed (free) and premium themes are available for both Wordpress and Drupal.
If you are planning on developing a Wordpress or Drupal website, feel reach out to us for an estimate on your project!


text:
Lance Wright Uncategorized November 29, 2021 November 29, 2021
New from Down & Out Books …
ALL MY SINS REMEMBERED by Ron Cooper
Synopsis … Former academic now veteran Deputy Sheriff Blevins Bombardi tries to solve a freakish murder of a cryptozoologist seeking the elusive Skunk Ape in a national forest in north central Florida. He is distracted, though, by struggles with his inner demons: heavy drinking, depression, suicidal thoughts, and torment from the recent murder of his wife for which he was responsible. Also, his daughter ran away two years before when her mother was killed and may have joined up with a vagabond cult that moves with the seasons around the country and is now camping nearby in Florida, and he has spent countless hours traveling from state to state trying to find her.
In the meantime a category five hurricane rushes toward Florida in the unlikely month of February, the bears and monkeys (an odd piece of Florida history) in the national forest are mysteriously slaughtered by arrows, and politicians and evangelists join forces in a push to privatize all public lands.
When a bizarre and perhaps severely mentally disturbed ex-con shows up insisting that Bombardi help him locate a former lover (who may be imaginary), the Deputy Sheriff may have to step far outside the law to restore any order to his off-balance world.
All My Sins Remembered joins Ron Cooper's previous novels as part mystery, part philosophical inquiry, and part tragi-comedy. Winner of a Florida Book Award.
Praise for ALL MY SINS REMEMBERED:
"Please meet Major Blevins Bombardi, a deputy in the middle-of-nowhere central Florida, a man unknowingly haunted by the first line of Camus's The Myth of Sisyphus. He's part Spencer from Robert B. Parker's detective novels, and part TV's House. All My Sins Remembered is a fast-paced whodunit—or whodunabunchofthings—with a cast of secondary characters worthy of any swamp-dweller chronicle." —George Singleton, author of Between Wrecks and The Half-Mammals of Dixie
"Ron Cooper was born and raised on the edge of the swamp, and that curious upbringing shows through in just the right places. A mystery and love story to boot, All My Sins Remembered is a red-hot ball of iron marvel." —William P. Baldwin, author of Charles Town and The Hard to Catch Mercy
"Cooper combines philosophical reflection with a rural setting, working-class characters, an engaging storyline, and vernacular to create a rare, pleasurable experience for the reader…a lesson in what a good novel of ideas can and should achieve aesthetically." —American Book Review
"Ron Cooper has his own unique voice, and what a marvelous, darkly comic voice it is. He is an immensely talented writer." —Ron Rash, author of The Risen and Serena
"Cooper is a superb writer, and a daring one too." —Steve Yarbrough, author of The Unmade World and The Realm of Last Chances
"A prose style that snaps like garters." —Fred Chappell, author of I am One of You Forever and Look Back All the Green Valley
← New from Shotgun Honey: Love & Bullets: Megabomb Edition by Nick Kolakowski
New from Down & Out Books: Behind the Wall of Sleep by James D.F. Hannah →

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Deck the halls with The Hub and a marathon of 'Clue' starring Ana Golja
by April MacIntyre
Monsters and Critics
Deck the halls with "The Hub" and a marathon of its critically acclaimed mini series, "Clue" starring Ana Golja on December 26-29, every night at 7 pm Et/4 pm Pt Teen actress Ana Golja has leaped onto the American television screen in the world television premiere of the original series, "Clue" on The Hub. A cross between Katie Holmes and Selena Gomez and the star of "What's Up Warthogs" on Family Channel and Disney Xd in Canada, Ana is making a splash in the role of "Liz," code name Scarlett, a fearless individual with an unknown past. There is a "Clue" Marathon December 26 - 29, every night at 7 pm Et/4 pm Pt. Canadian teen actress Ana Golja
See full article on Monsters and Critics
Clue (2011)
Deck the Halls (2006)
Ana Golja
Katie Holmes (I)


text:
Q: MongoException on URL format when attempting connection to MongoLab I have a Grails 2.4.4 app that is using MongoLab as it's database. I was previously connecting to the db using a mongo plugin for GORM (see plugin here).  That has been less then a good experience, so I am in the process of switching over to Morpia and away from GORM for mongodb.
I currently have morphia library version 1.0.1 as a compile time dependency in the project.
I have created a user in Mongolab with username: username, and password: pass (not actual creds...)
I am attempting the connect to the database using MongoClient.  I have been looking at the documentation (documentation here) and I have also referenced this question but it is using the old way of connecting.
Here is my error, even though I don't see a reason why this error is being thrown because the format of my string appears to be correct:
ERROR context.GrailsContextLoaderListener
- Error initializing the application: Error creating bean with name 'datastore':
Cannot resolve reference to bean 'mongoClient' while setting constructor argument;
nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException:
Error creating bean with name 'mongoClient': Instantiation of bean failed;
nested exception is org.springframework.beans.BeanInstantiationException:
Could not instantiate bean class [com.mongodb.MongoClient]: Constructor threw exception;
nested exception is com.mongodb.MongoException: host and port should be specified in host:port format
Message: Error creating bean with name 'datastore': Cannot resolve reference to bean 'mongoClient' while setting constructor argument; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'mongoClient': Instantiation of bean failed; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.BeanInstantiationException: Could not instantiate bean class [com.mongodb.MongoClient]: Constructor threw exception; nested exception is com.mongodb.MongoException: host and port should be specified in host:port format
Line | Method
->>  262 | run       in java.util.concurrent.FutureTask
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
|   1145 | runWorker in java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor
|    615 | run . . . in java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker
^    745 | run       in java.lang.Thread
Caused by BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'mongoClient':
Instantiation of bean failed; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.BeanInstantiationException:
Could not instantiate bean class [com.mongodb.MongoClient]: Constructor threw exception;
nested exception is com.mongodb.MongoException: host and port should be specified in host:port format
->>  262 | run       in java.util.concurrent.FutureTask
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
|   1145 | runWorker in java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor
|    615 | run . . . in java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker
^    745 | run       in java.lang.Thread
Caused by BeanInstantiationException: Could not instantiate bean class [com.mongodb.MongoClient]:
Constructor threw exception; nested exception is com.mongodb.MongoException: host and port should be specified in host:port format
->>  262 | run       in java.util.concurrent.FutureTask
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
|   1145 | runWorker in java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor
|    615 | run . . . in java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker
^    745 | run       in java.lang.Thread
Caused by MongoException: host and port should be specified in host:port format
->>  122 | <init>    in com.mongodb.ServerAddress
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
|     49 | <init>    in     ''
|    118 | <init> .  in com.mongodb.MongoClient
|    262 | run       in java.util.concurrent.FutureTask
|   1145 | runWorker in java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor
|    615 | run       in java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker
^    745 | run . . . in java.lang.Thread
| Error Forked Grails VM exited with error

Here is a code snipplet that I have in resources.groovy where I am attempting the register the MongoClient, Morphia, and my datastore as spring beans.
beans = {

String databaseUrl = "mongodb://username:pass@ds053251.mongolab.com:12345/trendapp" //fake port
String databaseName = "trendapp"

mongoClient(MongoClient, databaseUrl)
morphia(Morphia)

datastore(Datastore, ref('mongoClient'), databaseName) { bean ->
    bean.factoryBean = 'morphia'
    bean.factoryMethod = 'createDatastore'
}
}

Any help is appreciated, thank you.

A: You should provide the MongoClient with a MongoClientURI
MongoClientURI mongoClientURI = new MongoClientURI("connection string");
MongoClient mongoClient = new MongoClient(mongoClientURI);

A: So I did not figure out why this error was being thrown, but I was able to connect to my database by using a different constructor of the MongoClient, specifically the one that takes (ServerAddress, List<MongoCredential>).

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


1. You're a fairly recent arrival on the spec fic scene in Australia and you seem to be ramping up your writing with several stories to see publication in the months ahead (including one in Epilogue, launching this weekend!). What draws you to speculative fiction?
It was only a few years ago I even became aware there was a spec-fic scene, although I've been a reader and fan since I was a young child. I read the Narnia series when I was young, Lord of the Rings as a teen, and loved any stories with robots and spaceships. I just didn't realise it was a genre. When I was sixteen, I saw a friend reading Asimov, and asked him whether it was readable. I think the term 'Science Fiction' had deterred me. And the name Asimov – it seemed so exotic , so alien and weird to a kid growing up in an Anglo-Saxon enclave. I just didn't realise I'd been reading SF anyway.
It was only a couple of years ago my wife and my best friend convinced me that I should try and write. I sat down and wrote two stories in a week, but then I didn't know what to do with them. I read about the Victorian Writers Centre online and signed up for a Sean Williams workshop. I didn't even know who he was. I was terrified when the class critiqued my story but came away enthused and inspired by the positive feedback I had received. It was during this workshop I learned about Continuum and other writers and events. I hadn't realised there was a whole community on my doorstep. I'd always just figured it was me and a friend or two who read this stuff. I gradually became involved in events, kept writing, kept submitting and slowly started selling my stories.
The one thing that always surprises me is that people are generally unaware of just how broad speculative fiction is. We all know people who claim to detest Sci-Fi, but will rave about Avatar, or The Road. Most fiction is, by its nature, speculative. But if we accept the Science Fiction / Fantasy / Horror definition of Speculative Fiction, it's the science fiction aspects of spec-fic that I'm mostly drawn to. I love a bit of science. I'm an amateur astronomer, and I'm continually amazed by what's out there. As I sit under the stars with my friends and our telescopes and chat, the conversation regularly becomes philosophical. Speculative Fiction does that also. Questions about the future, about reality and about what it means to be human intrigue me. And as a genre it's developing and adapting. Fiction in other genres doesn't seem to progress and change in the same way – even though I enjoy reading it. Science Fiction, on the other hand, is an ongoing dialogue between writers, scientists and researchers. It considers, it predicts and it warns. And it has ideas. Incredible ideas that speak to me and feed my mind.
2. I've read a couple of blog posts you've written on the subject of self-publishing and the possible pitfalls inherent in the process – can you tell us a little about your views on the topic and why you hold them?
I'm not completely against self-publishing, I just don't believe it's necessarily the best approach for an emerging writer. And I know it's not the best approach for me. It doesn't fit into my plan.
Self-publishing doesn't seem to have the same stigma it had even a couple of years ago, but for a beginning writer it doesn't have the quality control, the checks and balances that come with selling a story and having it published by a brand name, whether on paper or digitally. An editor, a publisher, a gatekeeper, if you like, filters the stories and assures a standard. A good editor is an objective reader. They will tease out your narrative voice, but pick up anything that gets in the way of the story. And I've learned from every single editor I've worked with.
I've generally been disappointed with the self-published work I've read from writers I'd never heard of. Why would I shell out $1.99 for a short story from someone I don't know when I can buy an e-anthology with fourteen or fifteen name authors for around $9.00? And you know these stories have been through a selection and editing process. You may not like every story you get, but you can generally be assured of quality.
I believe new writers need to determine their goals. Why are you writing? Who are you writing for? What do you hope to achieve? It's also very helpful if you can become realistically aware of your own abilities and try to establish your level as a writer. Most people believe they can write, and most beginning writers tend to believe they are more able than they truly are. I find it fascinating that so many people don't regard writing in the same way as other skills. If I decide, for example, to become a football player, I don't turn up at an AFL club and expect to get a game. I develop my skills and abilities and work my way up through the leagues until I reach the highest level of which I'm capable. Which may only be district or local football. In my case I wouldn't get a game at all.
But I know of beginning writers who submit all their work to pro mags, then semi-pro mags, tally up the rejections and self publish their work because they see anything less than semi pro as a failure. Personally, I rarely submit to the pro mags. If I'm not regularly selling at semi-pro level, what makes me think I'll sell at the top? And if I do happen to score a sale at the top level, what have I got to back it up? Hopefully I'm continually developing as a writer. If my story doesn't sell I take another look at it, hopefully improve it and send it out again. And again. If your work has been rejected everywhere then perhaps there is something fundamentally wrong with the story itself and self publishing won't solve that.
If your intention is simply to see your name in print, or have a story "published", there are any number of 'for-the-love' or online mags where almost any story will get accepted. Just about anyone can create a website and call it a publication. If your goal is simply to make a few dollars, then self-publishing on Smashwords or Amazon (with an attractive cover) for a few bucks might make you a few hundred dollars. I have friends who have made more money from a story in those markets than I have selling to small press. They've also told me that even if a story isn't that good, it doesn't matter. You'll make a few dollars, and no one will remember that work in a few years anyway. I beg to differ. You have to treat anything out 'there' as permanent, and you have to give readers some credit for memory an intelligence.
My goal is to develop as a writer, to build a reputation and a body of work that can be respected. I currently aim my work squarely at the recognised small press and semi-pro markets, with the intention of progressing from there. And my work is starting to sell. I don't have the long bibliographies that some emerging writers exhibit, but I'm proud of the standards of my publication history. Readers see imprints as brands, and recognise the quality of different publishers as they would with any other product. I aim for quality publication, as quality is a word I want my work to be associated with.
3. All the work we've seen from you so far has been short fiction – is there a novel in the works, or do you particularly want to work in the short form? What's next for you?
I'd love to write a novel in the future, but I don't think I'm ready yet. I still want to develop my craft. I had the incredible experience of having the late Paul Haines as a mentor through the AHWA mentorship program, I'm currently part of a workshop with Jack Dann through Writers Victoria, and I have plans to undertake further study in writing. And all this is paying off. My writing is improving all the time.
I enjoy the challenge a short story provides. Within a few thousand words I have to be able to create a believable world, credible characters and a story arc that satisfies the reader without any loose ends. I personally find short stories a fantastic training ground for writing, and it's a form where I can get a response from others, whether beta readers, crit buddies or editors, in a reasonably short timeframe. A novel might take a year to write, which is a long commitment. I can make all my errors in a short time frame, develop and move on.
I'd love to publish more work. I have target markets. So far I've been able to cross Tasmaniac, coeur de lion and FableCroft off that list. There are a few Australian publishers that continue to elude me but I'm more determined than ever to sell to them. I plan to improve my writing to a point where I can confidently start submitting to pro markets. Not that it will be easy, but generally rejections don't hurt me as much as they used to.
I read as much small press as I can. Recently I've loved virtually everything from Twelfth Planet Press. The Twelve Planets, a series of anthologies from female writers has been fantastic. FableCroft's After The Rain was another collection I really enjoyed, and I look forward to Epilogue. (And yes, I have a story in that anthology.) Coeur de Lion's Anywhere But Earth was a tremendous collection of SF stories, which, for some strange reason, has been largely ignored by many. Even discounting the inherent bias of the inclusion of my story, it's a wonderful collection. I'd be surprised if it isn't seen as an Australian spec-fic classic in the future. The Last Days of Kali Yuga by Paul Haines was fantastic, in a dark and disturbing way. I plan to re-read that shortly. Lisa Hannett's collection, Bluegrass Symphony and Angela Slatter's The Girl With No Hands were both excellent as well.
Kim Westwood's The Courier's New Bicycle was superb. Kim is a powerful writer whose prose just lifts off the page. Jo Anderton's Debris was also very good. I picked that up in Malaysia. I also loved Richard Harland's World Shaker and Liberator.
As for short stories, I've really enjoyed individual pieces by Kaaron Warren, Cat Sparks, Terry Dowling, Rob Hood, Lucy Sussex, Thoraiya Dyer, and Sean McMullen. Generally I enjoy the majority of anthologies published by Australian small press.
Of course this is only a selection that stands out from all my reading. I still have a stack of hundreds more to get through.
5. Two years on from Aussiecon 4, what do you think are some of the major changes to the Aussie spec fic scene?
As you pointed out, I'm fairly new on the scene, so to have seen any real changes over the past few years is a bit difficult. My impressions of the scene have changed, however, due to a greater involvement and familiarity of what's happening.
I think there's a new vanguard of emerging writers developing. I see myself developing as part of a cohort of new authors. Many of them are further along than me – maybe I'm in the middle of the pack. Some of us network, encouraging and supporting one another. It's great when I open my facebook page or email and find a message from a peer. And I must say it's even more exciting when I receive a few words of support from one of the 'name' writers. Just a comment about how they enjoyed my work.
Small press magazines seem to be declining slightly. I don't know whether they just reached the end of their natural run or had financial issues or found it difficult to compete with online mags. Borderlands, Orb and a few others have gone, while Aurealis has shifted to a different format and release schedule. Andromeda Spaceways and Midnight Echo, however, seem to be going from strength to strength.
Independent publishers are on the rise and appear to be publishing more frequently. There is an increase in the number of themed anthologies. I'm aware of more publication opportunities in Australia than before.
The increase in social media and the spread of the internet has allowed an easy interaction within the community. Online publishers, podcasts, e-zines and webpages featuring commentary and criticism are not only more prevalent but are being nominated for awards on the world stage. Facebook and twitter afford support, information and opportunities. And I can only see these aspects of spec-fic developing.
Sometimes I think I recognise the beginning of a slight resurgence in older works. I hear younger fans talking about some of the older writers and works I fell in love with when I was a teenager. And I think that's important. Spec fic needs to keep developing, to progress and look to the future, but should be aware of its heritage and history.


text:
Tim Ward (ur. 28 lutego 1987 w Waukesha) – amerykański piłkarz, od 2009 roku gra w Chicago Fire.

Amerykańscy piłkarze
Urodzeni w 1987
Piłkarze Chicago Fire

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text:
Financing for Development in Africa
Timely insights on sustainable financing for development in Africa
The Trade and Development Bank and USAID Sign MoU to Power Africa
Financing for Development in Africa November 9, 2018 Uncategorized
The Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB) and USAID's Power Africa initiative have today signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that will finance power projects in 22 African countries.
The memorandum was signed at African Development Bank's inaugural Africa Investment Forum, where emphasis on investment is at the core of tens of transactions anticipated to take place.
At the signing, the Trade and Development Bank's President and Chief Executive, Mr. Admassu Tadesse, said, "TDB is very pleased to deepen its existing partnership with USAID in further support of the Power Africa Initiative, which resonates strongly with TDB's strategy and mandate. We are proud to count USAID among our growing number of cooperating trade and development finance partners in the US."
As a new entrant to the program this collaboration makes TDB the 18th development partner of the Power Africa initiative. This formalises an already existing relationship between Power Africa and TBD, which has been working together to finance the power sector, and will now further strengthen the commitment to powering Africa through local institutions.
The Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator of USAID's Africa Bureau, Mr. Ramsey Day, said, "we are excited to welcome TDB as our 18th development partner. We applaud the Bank's commitment to increase its exposure in the energy sector from its current 8% to 20% of its portfolio, the equivalent of bringing $400 million new dollars towards power sector financing".
At the plenary session, some of the key take away messages exemplified by this MoU signing were to scale up, speed up, and synergise the opportunities for investment at the Africa Investment Forum.
Source: African Development Bank
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Next EIB and UNIDO join forces to boost sustainable and inclusive industrialisation across Africa
Published by Financing for Development in Africa
Evidence and policy options for sustainable financing for development in Africa	View all posts by Financing for Development in Africa
Join F4DAfrica Community of Practice


text:
Q: Working with HTTP-responses in angular2 I'm working on web-app with authorization via JWT and Angular 2. I've Nodejs/express server with API and client-side on Angular2.
So, my server answers GET request correctly and gives data like this:
{
    "success": true,
    "user": {
        "_id": "5a6ef70edb04dd29e24bb03b",
        "email": "danko",
        "username": "ivan"
    }
}
Next, here is my auth.service.ts. Functions createAuthenticationHeaders() and getProfile() takes part in handling HTTP responses:
import { Injectable } from '@angular/core';
import { HttpClient, HttpHeaders, HttpRequest, HttpResponse, HttpParams} from '@angular/common/http';
import { Http, Headers, RequestOptions} from '@angular/http'; // Http, Headers, RequestOptions
import 'rxjs/add/operator/map';

@Injectable()
export class AuthService {

  domain = "http://localhost:8080";
  authToken;
  user;
  options;

  constructor(
    private http: HttpClient,
    private httplegacy: Http) {  }

  createAuthenticationHeaders() {
    this.loadToken();
    this.options = new RequestOptions({
      headers           : new Headers({
        'Content-Type'  : 'application/json',
        'authorization' : this.authToken
      })
    });
  }

  loadToken() {
    this.authToken  = localStorage.getItem('token');

  }

  registerUser(user) {
    return this.http.post(this.domain + '/authentication/register', user);
  }

  loginUser(user) {
    return this.http.post(this.domain + '/authentication/login', user);
  }

  storeUserData(token, user) {
    localStorage.setItem('token', token);
    localStorage.setItem('user', JSON.stringify(user));
    this.authToken = token;
    this.user = user;
  }

  getProfile() {
    this.createAuthenticationHeaders();
    return this.httplegacy.get(this.domain + '/authentication/profile', this.options);
  }
}

Also, here is my profile.component.ts:
import { Component, OnInit } from '@angular/core';
import { AuthService} from '../../services/auth.service';

@Component({
  selector: 'app-profile',
  templateUrl: './profile.component.html',
  styleUrls: ['./profile.component.css']
})
export class ProfileComponent implements OnInit {

  username;
  email;

  constructor(
    private authService: AuthService

  ) { }

  ngOnInit() {
      this.authService.getProfile().subscribe(profile => {
      console.log(profile);
      this.username = profile.user.username;
      this.email    = profile.user.email;
    })

  }

}

Expected behavior of these lines of code: after handling server's response with user's data with auth.service.ts(mainly createAuthenticationHeaders() and getProfile() functions), user's data is transmitted to profile.component.ts to show it on web-page using next code:

Profile Page

Username: {{ username }}

Email: {{ email }}

But, while compiling I got an error: property 'user', doesn't exist on type 'Response'. Would You like to explain why i got such error, and how to fix it?
P.S.: yep, console.log(profile) gives me such info:
Response {_body: "{"success":true,"user":{"_id":"5a6ef70edb04dd29e24bb03b","email":"danko","username":"ivan"}}", status: 200, ok: true, statusText: "OK", headers: Headers, …}
headers:Headers {_headers: Map(1), _normalizedNames: Map(1)}
ok :    true
status   :    200
statusText    :    "OK"
type    :    2
url    :    "http://localhost:8080/authentication/profile"
_body    :    "{"success":true,"user":{"_id":"5a6ef70edb04dd29e24bb03b","email":"danko","username":"ivan"}}"
__proto__    :    Body
constructor    :    ƒ Response(responseOptions)
toString    :    ƒ ()
__proto__    :
Object

But how can I get data from _body field of response?
P.S.: code for router from server side:
router.get('/profile', (req, res) => {
    User.findOne({ _id: req.decoded.userId }).select('username email').exec((err, user) => {
        if (err) {
            res.json({ success: false, message: err });
        } else {
            if(!user) {
                res.json({ success: false, message: 'User not found'});
            } else{
                res.json({ success: true, user: user });
            }
        }
    });
});

A: you try to read your data directly from the Response Object of express. You need smth like:
this.authService.getProfile().subscribe(profile => {
  console.log(profile);
  let p = JSON.parse(profile._body)
  this.username = p.user.username;
  this.email    = p.user.email;
})

This will take the JSON string from the body of your HTTP Response and make it an accessible object.
NOTE:
It would be much better to tell the server to answer with a standard json due to this is web standard nowadays.

A: Update: @messerbill's was 50/50 correct. Such construction works:
this.authService.getProfile().subscribe(profile => {
  console.log(profile);
  let p = JSON.parse(profile._body)
  this.username = p.user.username;
  this.email    = p.user.email;
})

My web-page got user's info and show it in correctly, but an error left and i've to comment these lines of code to compile and run my application, and uncomment after to see user's info on webpage.
An error message: property '_body' does not exists on type 'Response'.
So, at this moment i've no idea how it works with an error and how to create really correct structure.

A: Try this
ngOnInit() {
      this.authService.getProfile().subscribe(profile => {
      console.log(profile);
      let p = profile.json();
      this.username = p.user.username;
      this.email    = p.user.email;
    })

  }


Grab a pumpkin and start painting! Utah Foster Care Foundation invites the whole family to decorate a jack-o-lantern and find out how you can help Utah's children in foster care. We will be joined by Salt Lake City firefighters and Utah Educational Savings Plan representatives.
In case of rain, the festival will take place in the Union Pacific Depot Grand Hall.


text:
WeapoNews.com
The attack in Donetsk: Killed the commander of "Somalia" Givi
The unit commander "SoMalia" Mikhail tolstoy (call sign "Givi") was killed in the attack in Donetsk, reports tass message of the military department dnd. Today at 06:12 as a result of the terrorist act killed the hero of the DNI, the commander of the battalion "SoMalia" Mikhail tolstoy colonel, known as "Givi". This is a continuation of the terrorist war started by the Kiev junta against the Donbass, said in a statement. The command added that the scene works investigative team. The circumstances of the crime are specified. Meanwhile, interfax, citing a source informed that the attack was organized by the ukrainian drg. This attack and the earlier murder of arseniy pavlov (motorola) – links in a chain. The attacks are the ukrainian intelligence services that are trying to destabilize the situation in the republic.
The direct executors are sabotage and reconnaissance groups, the source said. Dnr law enforcement officers "In hot pursuit" was released on the alleged perpetrators. We know that these people are. We find them, and they will be punished to the fullest extent of the laws of war – the interlocutor added. It is also reported that givi was killed in his office. Explosion and started a fire.
Givi this time was in the workplace – said the source.
Grushko: NATO will continue to justify its expansion to the East "the Russian threat"
The NATO leadership will continue to justify the strengthening of the Eastern borders of the Alliance so-called Russian threat, lead news the statement of the Russian Ambassador to NATO Alexander Grushko.Now, when it becomes incre...
The su-25 has been withdrawn from mass production
In Russia stopped production of su-25, the airline will carry out modernization of an existing aircraft, resulting Warspot the message of the head of Minpromtorg Denis Manturov.Su-25 we have in mass volumes to be produced will be ...
The EU condemned the new Israeli "settlement Act"
The European Union condemned the adoption by the Israeli Knesset on 6 February "the settlement Act", the Interfax the statement of the head of European diplomacy Federica Mogherini.This law crosses a new and dangerous threshold, l...
The Pentagon has acknowledged the gap in creating hypersonic weapons
United States are not yet able to accelerate work on a number of promising military developments, in...
The Navy received the first modernized missile boat class "Hamina"
the Finnish Navy has received the first upgraded missile boat class "Hamina", the last overhaul and ...
Regardie appear "inconspicuous" communication vehicle Ford Transit, equipped with drones
In units of Regardie received new communication vehicle, equipped drones. The supplier of this techn...
Very interesting, more research will be needed to clarify the facts ......
nice......
galium-nitrid or niobium-karbid?...
SyntheticSpartacus
What next? Looks to me like they are gearing up for the 100-year anniversary of the Weimar Republic,...
Сopyright © 2020 | www.weaponews.com | News military technologies of the world | 44523 news


text:
Vellozia asperula är en enhjärtbladig växtart som beskrevs av Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius. Vellozia asperula ingår i släktet Vellozia och familjen Velloziaceae.

Underarter

Arten delas in i följande underarter:

 V. a. asperula
 V. a. filifolia

Källor

Enhjärtbladiga blomväxter
asperula


text:
K. P. Parameswaran (Kodunthirapully Parameswaran) (Malayalam: കെ.പി.പരമേശ്വരന് (കൊടുന്തിരപ്പുള്ളി പരമേശ്വരന്))(Tamil: கே.பி.பரமேஸ்வரன் (கொடுந்திறப்புள்ளி பரமேஸ்வரன்)) is a professional mridangam artiste (AIR 'A' Grade Artiste).He is a prime disciple of Sangeetha Kalanidhi Dr.T.K.Murthy. He has performed all over India and abroad with various stalwarts of Carnatic Music. He is a torch bearer of the Thanjavur style of mridangam playing.

Early life
K. P. Parameswaran was born on 17 July 1969 to Late K.S.Padmanabha Iyer and K.P.Lokanayaki in Kodunthirapully Village, Palakkad, Kerala. He was initiated to the mridangam by his grandfather Late Sri Kodunthirapully Swaminatha Iyer , who himself was a great mridangam artist who was a disciple of K.Ponnaiah Pillai, Thanjavur Vaidyanatha Iyer and Palghat Mani Iyer. Parameswaran had rigorous training under his grandfather in mridangam. He then went to Mridangam Legend Sangeetha Kalanidhi Dr T.K.Murthy for the higher studies in mridangam in 1987. He had Gurukulavasam Training under Dr T.K.Murthy for 15 years (1987-2002).

Career
He successfully completed Ganabhushanam Course under Sri Parassala Ravi in Palakkad Music College. While under the guidance of Dr T.K.Murthy, he played many double mridangam concerts and mridangam demonstrations with his teacher and adopted the same style as his guru in both accompanying for the songs and in the solo performances. During that time, he was awarded the central government scholarship for his prodigious and meritorious talent in mridangam and for training under Dr. T.K. Murthy. He has also played in the commercially released CD named 35 Thalas, 72 Mela Kartha Thalas & 108 Thalas, produced by his Guru, Dr. T.K. Murthy. He has accompanied many stalwarts during his illustrious career. Some of the musicians he has accompanied are listed below.

 Sri. K.V. Narayanaswamy
 Sri. B. Rajam Iyer
 Sri. T.K Govinda Rao
 Sri. M.S. Gopalakrishnan
 Sri. Madurai T.N. Seshagopalan
 Sri. T.V. Sankara Narayanan
 Sri. Thrissur V. Ramachandran
 Smt. Radha Viswanathan
 Smt. Suguna Purushothaman
 Smt. Suguna Varadachari
 Smt. M.S.Sheela
 Smt. Panthula Rama
 Sri. Neyveli Santhanagopalan
 Sri. Karaikudi Subramaniam
 Sri. Vijay Shiva
 Sri. Lalgudi G.J.R. Krishnan
 Sri. Trichy Ganeshan
 Sri. Sanjay Subramanyam
 Sri. T.M. Krishna
 Sri. T.N.S. Krishna
 Sri. Ashok Ramani
 Sri. Kadri Gopalnath
 Sri. Mandolin Srinivas
 Pandit Ronu Majumdar

He is an 'A' Graded artist of All India Radio (AIR). He is a torch bearer of the Thanjavur style of Mridangam playing. Apart from playing he is also a good mridangam teacher. He has many number of disciples who are already prominent in the field.

Awards and titles
Kodunthirapully Parameswaran is awarded with many titles.

 Asthana Vidwan By Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham
 Sangeetha Thilakam By Thirvambadi Devaswom, Thrissur
 Laya Vadya Nipuna By Kerala Brahmana Sabha
 Laya Vidhyacharya Mani By Nandhikeshwar Thala Vidyalaya, Chrompet, Chennai

External links

Official Website
In a Lec Dem With His Guru Dr T.K.Murthy
Accompanying Smt Radha Viswanathan (Daughter of Bharat Ratna M.S.Subbulakshmi)

References

Mridangam players
Tamil musicians
1969 births
Living people


Designing for a printed product can be a little overwhelming when you have printers asking you for things you've never heard of. "Add a bleed?? That sounds dangerous!" Since they're working with sophisticated machinery, we have to level up our game and learn the lingo so that we can better understand how the printing process works and how we can get better finished products out of our designs.
The area around your design that artwork should extend to. Typically 0.25inches larger on each side of the document. Since printers can't print color to the very edge of the paper (like home printers can't), artwork is often printed on larger paper and then trimmed to size. Extending artwork to a bleed prevents white lines or gaps between artwork and the edge of the paper.
The area of the design that's final after the bleed has been trimmed off. Crop marks refer to the lines that tell printers where to trim. The trim size is the final document size.
The material from which paper is made and can refer to the brand name, type, material, and/or color of paper. Printers will often call lighter text sheets "text stock" and heavier text sheets "cover stock."
All stocks are measured in paper weight, which corresponds to paper thickness. Usually measured in pounds (#) or grams per square meter (gsm). Copier paper made for home printers is typically 20#. Cardstock made for home printers is usually 80#.
The color profile that all print documents and images should be set to. All printers use cyan, magenta, yellow and black ink to create full color prints. In general, CMYK color profiles produce more muted colors than RGB and cannot support neon colors.
The process of printing CMYK artwork and using cyan, magenta, yellow, and black ink to create full color prints. A four-color process refers to printing with all four ink colors.
CMYK printing has its limitations and it's often hard to achieve vibrant colors through four-color process. To achieve brighter colors for important pieces of artwork, designers can employ spot colors, which refers to a Pantone or PMS color. The ink for spot colors is custom mixed and applied to printers, instead of relying on CMYK processes.
The best file type for images used in printing. JPGs meant for print should be sized to 300 dots per inch and in a CMYK color-mode.


A-HOTEL.com - Luxury and cheap accommodation in Korotsko, Russia. Prices and hotel, apartment booking in Korotsko and surrounding.
Situated in the Valday Nature reserve, Valday Eco Club features log cabin-style rooms with satellite TV and free Wi-Fi. Just 50 metres from beautiful Boroe Lake, the hotel restaurant serves traditional Russian cuisine.
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Domik Karlsona is situated in Valday. Guests may enjoy the free WiFi.
A private beach with sun loungers and a boat pier on the shores of Lake Valday are offered at AMAKS Valdaiskie Zori complex. Wi-Fi is free throughout the whole property.
Featuring free WiFi throughout the property, Valday Hotel offers accommodation in Valday. Free private parking is available on site.
Featuring free WiFi and a restaurant, Guest house Lenina 3 offers pet-friendly accommodation in Valday. The guest house has a barbecue and terrace, and guests can enjoy a drink at the bar.
Дом ленина 3а is set in Valday. This holiday home also features free WiFi.
Offering free WiFi and lake views, Apartment on Belova is an accommodation located in Valday. Guests staying at this apartment have access to a fully equipped kitchen and a balcony.
Boasting accommodation with a balcony, Ot Chistogo Serdca is located in Valday. The accommodation features free WiFi.
Featuring accommodation with a balcony, Apartment on Lenina is located in Valday. Guests may enjoy free WiFi.
Featuring accommodation with a balcony, Apartment on Lenina 13 is located in Valday. Guests have access to free WiFi.
Featuring ski-to-door access, Романовская Артель features accommodation in Valday with free WiFi and lake views. Guests benefit from a balcony and a barbecue.
Hotel is located in Valday. Free WiFi access is available.
Situated in Valday in the Novgorod region, Apartment Peschanaya has a balcony. Guests staying at this apartment have access to a fully equipped kitchen.
Located in Valday, Holiday Home Podlipki features free WiFi and units equipped with a kitchen. The holiday home offers a flat-screen TV and a private bathroom with free toiletries, a hair dryer and shower.
Offering a terrace, Apart-hotel Marakanas is set in Valday, within a 14-minute walk from the beach. Some units also have a kitchen, equipped with a microwave and fridge.


Unto the populace of the Outlands and the Known World do We, Jaxarticus Rex and Anna Reginia Outlandium, send greetings.
After meeting with the Kingdom Seneschal, the Battlemoor Autocrats, the BAM council, and members of the populace, a decision has been made for this years Battlemoor.
Battlemoor IX will be held July 4th thru July 8th in Buena Vista Colorado.
There are many reasons for this change and we understand this effects plans and schedules. We apologize for this inconvenience but it is necessary, this year, because this site is currently the best choice for us.


So we've switched to xvfb by default?
while the correct value is 115x115 (iirc).
>> No handlers could be found for logger "xpra.protocol"
>> The '-logfile' option cannot be used with elevated privileges.
> (it's not easy unfortunately - distro packaging really is a curse).
> And use /usr/local/bin/Xorg in /etc/xpra/xpra.conf for the xvfb option.
> suid one would be most welcome.
>> manually last time, not from srpm).


One of the most unusual aspects of a Herman Miller Aeron Chair is going to be its sizing. Aeron Bar stools are available in three sizes, A, B and C. Size B covers the vast majority of persons (around 90%) with 'A' covering the very smallest percentile and 'C' covering the most significant, heavier percentile. The positive element of this is that the dimensions of this chair are scaled depending on size as is the weight loss for the tilt plus the chairs are suitable for a much broader range of people than many other seats. One negative aspect, and there are only a few, is that the chair relies on three sizes for seat interesting depth. There is no seat depth modification facility on the chair. Arm rest height is adjusted within the Aeron Chair via two levers on the rear of every arm or, on some chairs, these levers are replaced by wheels. Forearms have a good range of adjusting and move very easily. Left arm pads are pivoting simply because standard, although it is possible to order fixed (non-pivoting) upper arm . pads if required. When positioned inwards, they offer great support for keyboard work and when positioned straight or slightly outwards, they are suitable for mouse or general do the job. Arm pads are significant and well padded.
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FX is the event that started it all for Tsunami. This is fun packed life changing weekend for middle and high school students. Click here to find out more about our next FX event.
Estoy Loco is Tsunami's middle school mission weekend. For over 10 years this event has been a great opportunity for middle schoolers to be introduced to local mission work and has been a way to gate way for many into larger mission trips. Click here to find out more about this years event.
Tsunami Kenya Mission is a yearly mission trip to Nakuru, Kenya through a partnership with Start With One Kenya.


text:
Q: Place details - Attributes eligible for permanent storage in database https://developers.google.com/places/web-service/details provides various details of Places.
Apart from place_id, is it legal to store any other attributes of Place API in permanent storage ( database etc)?

A: According to the Google Maps Platform Terms of Service section 3.2.4(a)

Customer may cache limited amounts of Google Maps Content if cache: (a) is only for the purpose of improving Customer Application performance due to network latency, or intermittent connectivity; (b) is secure; (c) is stored for less than 30 consecutive calendar days; (d) is not redistributed; (e) does not prevent Google from accurately calculating Customer's Service usage levels; (f) does not modify attribution in any way; and (g) does not manipulate or aggregate any part of the Google Maps Content or Services.

Place IDs are exempt from 3.2.4(a)

Place IDs are exempt from the caching restrictions stated in Section 3.2.4(a) of the Google Maps Platform Terms of Service. You can therefore store place ID values for later use.

"Apart from place_id, is it legal to store any other attributes of Place API in permanent storage ( database etc)?"
Apparently, the answer is no.


First of all, let's discuss this chair. I'm a big fan of damask, especially of the cream+black variety. A deskspace outfitted with this gorgeous chair would definitely up the chances of me wanting to study.
Colorful binders and a filer keep schoolwork at bay. Photos of friends make the desk a happy space.
I love this shade of blue. Soooo pretty.
I really love Allysa's bed space. The bedding is kept simple and white, but it's billowing makes it inviting and luxurious. A sidetable painted in a frosty metallic adds sheen. And I love the pops of pretty green against the sky blue backdrop.
Vintage Harper's Bazaar prints and framed photos artfully arranged next to the bed.
I love how Allysa turned this little area into a vanity. A Liberty of London for Target tote keeps bath and body supplies organized. (A girl after my own heart! I was obsessed with that floral Liberty of London print when it was in Target!) Makeup brushes are stashed in a cute coffee mug nearby.
Wow, my dorm/sorority house rooms never looked this good! Haha. I'm guessing she had a single room?
I've got to tell you - #1) I agree with Megan, my rooms never looked this good. #2) I'm utterly impressed by how clean it is. Even AFTER cleaning my room it has never looked that clean and tidy. Impressive, and definitely gorgeous. Also, that's awesome that they got to paint.
I adore her room! Do you know where her bedding is from?


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Endeavour being ever so slowly pulled through the streets of Los Angeles to its final museum home. Beautiful video.
Aw boy. I sure am tired of all these STAR WARS.
The Titular Line Guy….one of my favorite classic UCB sketches.
A Beatlemaniac goes to great lengths to replicate the poster that inspired John Lennon to write the song 'Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite' for the Beatles album 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.' What's amazing is the sheer amount of work required to print a poster back in the early 1800s. Talk about dedication!
Mexico City is a nifty place.


text:
Obama urges UN to act faster to curb Ebola outbreak
U.S. President Barack Obama (AFP PHOTO/Saul Loeb)
President Barack Obama said the world is making progress in fighting the Ebola outbreak, but far more needs to be done by every nation.
"This is progress, and it is encouraging, but we need to be honest with ourselves, it's not enough," Obama said speaking at the United Nations High Level Meeting on Ebola Thursday. "There's still a significant gap between where we are and where we need to be."
The deadly Ebola virus has spread through Africa, and some American doctors doing mission work also got the disease.
"We know from experience that the response to an outbreak of this magnitude needs to be both fast and sustained – like a marathon, but run at the pace of a sprint," the president continued. "That's only possible if every nation and every organization does its part. And everybody here has to do more."
Obama explained how the world responds could make the difference in how many thousands will die.
"The outbreak at this point, more people will die," Obama said. "But slope of the curve depends on how fast we can arrest it, how quickly we can contain it, if we move fast, even if imperfectly, that can mean the difference in 10,000, 20,000, 30,000 or 100,000 lives. This is not a time for wrangling and people waiting see who's doing what first."
Obama repeatedly asserted that combatting the spread of Ebola is a major national security priority for the United States, but sternly told delegations from around the world gathered in New York, "Do not stand by and think that because of what we've done it's taken care of. It's not."
Obama said that the United States is training thousands of health workers from around the world to deal with Ebola in Africa, distributing supplies and information kits hundreds of thousands of families to help them protect themselves and building new treatment units in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. He added that the UN Mission for Ebola Emergency Response to bring the world body's humanitarian resources to fight the epidemic.
Back in Washington on Friday, Obama will host 44 nations for a meeting on global health security to be ready for not only Ebola, but the next potential health crisis as well, he said.
"Thousands of men, women and children have died," Obama told the UN. "Thousands more are infected. If unchecked, this epidemic could kill hundreds of thousands of people in the coming months. Hundreds of thousands."
Atiku declares for Nigerian Presidency in 2015 elections
Former Nigerian Vice-President Atiku Abubakar
By John Alechenu and Ade Adesomoju
A former Vice-President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has formally declared his intention to contest the 2015 Presidential election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress.
Abubakar, at a ceremony held at the Yar'Adua Centre in Abuja on Wednesday, explained that his desire to become President was born out of the need to give back to the nation.
Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha and the Publisher of Leadership, Sam Nda-Isaiah, had also declared interest in the APC presidential ticket.
A former Head of State and National Leader of the APC, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.); Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, and Governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso, have been reported to also have interest in the ticket.
A confident Abubakar told his supporters during the ceremony that he had the capacity to bring people together and turn things around for the better in the country.
He pointed out that the glaring mismatch between "our potential and our achievements provides a golden opportunity" for him to lead Nigerians to rekindle their innovative instinct and turn the Nigerian dream into a reality.
He explained that in spite of many challenges faced by Nigerians, they had refused to give up on the country.
The former Vice-President said the 2015 elections were about Nigerian youths and the nation's future.
He stressed that the nation, under the current administration, had failed to provide the required environment for the youth to reach their full potential.
The former vice-president said, "It is inspiring that despite difficulties and growing anxiety over the future of our country, our people have refused to succumb to despair and hopelessness.
"This never-say-die attitude gives me immense hope and it is one of the reasons why I can never give up on Nigeria."
Reacting to the agitation for generational shift, he said his generation owed younger Nigerians the responsibility of offering its political shoulders to them to climb upon.
This, he said, was necessary to improve their vision and expand their horizon.
He noted that it was this trans-generational collaboration and partnership that represented the best model to create the future that the nation desired and deserved.
Nigeria, he said, should never again be subjected to leadership experimentation or learning on the job.
He recalled that the Olusegun Obasanjo administration which he was a part of successfully reformed some critical sectors of the economy such as telecommunications and the capital market.
Abubakar said, "As Vice-President from 1999 to 2007, I worked closely with my boss, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, who is a passionate defender of Nigerian unity.
"We focused on macro-economic stability and transforming critical areas such as banking, insurance, oil and gas, telecommunications, pension and the civil service.
"We created institutions that should lay the foundation for good governance and accountability such as the Bureau of Public Procurement, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, SERVICOM, whose golden rule is 'Serve others as you would like to be served.' Sadly, most of these institutions are now mere shadows of themselves."
He said the Obasanjo administration was able to deliver because it had vision, commitment and dedication.
The former Vice-President expressed sadness that rather than pay down the nation's debts, "our borrowing has been on the increase even at a time the price of oil has consistently been above $100 per barrel since the inception of the Goodluck Jonathan administration.''
He argued that resentment, disillusionment and hopelessness were the factors on which insecurity and disharmony thrived.
Nigeria, he said, was more divided today than at any other time since the civil war, adding that there was a disturbing rise in ethnic nationalism and religious bigotry because "we have a governance deficit."
The aspirant said, "Our country seems to be on auto pilot with no one in charge. Nigeria now more than ever before, needs a strong, dynamic, decisive, competent and visionary leadership that can halt the current drift of the ship of state. Corruption needs to be fought, jobs need to be created, our infrastructure needs to be rebuilt, social services need to be provided and insecurity needs to be tackled in a decisive, robust and multi-pronged way."
While commending the leadership of the APC for adopting the modified open primaries in selecting its flag bearers at all levels, Abubakar said the party remained the most potent political force to end years of PDP's dominance of the political space.
The leader of the National Assembly caucus of the APC, Senator George Akume, who spoke on behalf of other party leaders at the event, said the APC has within its ranks, the men and women who have what it takes to rebuild Nigeria.
Posted by CCG Media at 11:57 AM Links to this post
Why the United States is hampering Nigeria's fight against Boko Haram
U.S. President Barack H. Obama
By Michael Nnebe
Since the recent brouhaha involving the use of Ayo Oritsejafor's private jet loaded with $9.3 million in cash on a covert arms run to South Africa, many Nigerian military generals have spoken out publicly on how the United States has continued to hinder Nigeria's efforts to procure arms from the U.S. and their western allies.
Surely these arms are needed by the Nigerian army if they must defeat the dreaded terrorist group that have caused so much havoc in the northeast of Nigeria and elsewhere.
On the face of it, it sounds like an improbable argument to make against the United States, after all, it is in American interest for Nigeria to defeat the Boko Haram. How can America then be hindering our fight if indeed they now have some of their men on the ground gathering intelligence and their drones hovering non-stop over the sambisa forest in search of the same Boko Haram terrorists. The answer to this question is a lot more complicated than it seems, but it boils down to how America is constrained by the rule of law while Nigeria isn't.
In spite of Obama's promises to help Nigeria defeat the Boko Haram, rescue the Chibok girls, and provide all the weapons necessary to achieve these things, one thing remain. Every weapon that is procured from the United States goes through Congress for vetting. This has been a long standing practice that predates Nigeria's problem with Boko Haram.
For Congress to vet these arms purchases means that politicians in Washington DC have put many conditions that would virtually make it impossible for countries like Nigeria to directly procure arms from the United States government. It would have been easier for America to donate these arms to Nigeria, as they have done through the years to countries like Pakistan than for us to be purchasing them. In scrutinizing these arms deals, things like human right abuses, extra judicial killings by the police and the army become the hindering issues for countries like Nigeria to overcome before the US Congress.
Apparently persistent accusations by several human rights organizations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and other agencies have finally caught up with Nigeria, and many Nigerians are now crying foul. Some have said that the US does not have the moral right to impose such standards on Nigeria. Well, if you look at the Abu Ghraib incidence in Iraq, Guantanamo Bay, and ongoing police abuses across America, one can easily understand why any Nigerian might accuse America of playing double standards. But there is one remarkable difference; the rule of law always prevail in America, and when these things wash up in the surface the law must be seen to take its course.
The US army and police can sometimes be a bunch of rednecks behaving as if they own the world, but once their violation of the law is made public, then they are often prosecuted to the fullest weight of the law. Even if their bosses wish to cover these things up, the ever-prying American media and the public will protest until these people are brought to justice. Civilization does not begin and end in driving fancy cars and living in big modern homes, it also requires the acquisition of sensibilities that can easily be offended by behaviors outside the acceptable norms.
In a place like Nigeria, most citizens do not give a damn if the police are killing criminals in droves and dumping them in the forest or river somewhere. We always justify these killings by assuring ourselves that these are good riddance. We always keep a blind eye in Nigeria, as long as our relatives are not the victims of these extra-judicial killings. This, I found out, is a huge problem in Nigeria. The average Nigerian is unlikely to rise up and protest extra-judicial killings or torture.
It has for long been an open secret in Nigeria that the police sometimes eliminate threats of armed robbery and kidnapping simply by killing some of the detainees in their stations. I do not wish to become a crusader for suspected armed robbers and kidnappers, and if you have been a victim of either, you would most likely be glad to know that police officers are finally getting rid of the bad guys.
But there is one problem. Several hundreds, perhaps thousands of suspects have been eliminated by the police and the army in the past few years, yet neither armed robbery nor kidnapping has decreased around the country. Some police officers, especially SARS would privately argue that such elimination is an effective way of carrying out justice. That to do otherwise will likely put those useless suspects before the Nigerian judiciary, probably awaiting trial for 5 to 10 years without any resolution.
Expedience is never the answer especially when a man's life is involved. Lately, many of these human rights organizations have paraded Nigerians on television testifying of various types of torture on them in different Nigeria police stations. Recently I saw a video on facebook that showed the most horrific scenes of Nigerian soldiers that lined up some Boko Haram suspects.
They made these guys dig their own graves, and then shot them one by one and simply push them into those graves. I am not a saint, but nothing offended my sensibilities more than watching that video. It is true that I have seen worse by ISIS and Boko Haram, but this was a video of Nigerian army officers, and that was just unbearable to me. There must be a difference between a terrorist group and a national army.
The US has presented this tape to the Nigerian military, but they are still taking their time to investigate. What utter nonsense, especially when the video of their officers is rather clear. This is the same Nigerian army that rushed to publicly try a bunch of junior officers for mutiny, and handed down a verdict of guilty punishable by death on firing squad.
I'm sure that the Nigerian military can act quickly if they wish to do so, but they cannot drag their feet and still expect America to simply ship arms to them without asking appropriate questions. In February last year, I wrote an article on extra-judicial killings in Nigeria, (A conspiracy of silence…the silence of our politicians on extra-judicial killings) indicting the SARS wing of the Nigerian police. I received quite a few threats after that article, but I wasn't bothered at all.
It is really up to us Nigerians to stand up and speak up against these injustices on our people. America can only refuse our military arms, which they can easily buy from willing markets like Russia, China, South Africa, and others, but it is our own outcries that will put pressure on these police and military officers from acting with impunity and getting away with it.
And to those military generals who are whining that America is hindering their fight against Boko Haram, perhaps it is time you all learn to operate an army worthy of the 21st century Nigeria. And in the meantime, kudos to our military for killing Abubakar Shakau once again or was it his imposter?
Michael Nnebe is a former Wall Street Investment Banker and the Author of several novels, including; Every Dream Has A Price, Riverside Park, Blood Covenant, Gloomy Shadows, Passing wishes, Prime Suspect, and others.
The hunt for Boko Haram: Disturbing videos purportedly show abuses by Nigerian security forces
President G.E Jonathan (L)
CC Investigative
Dozens of gruesome videos appear to show horrifying abuses by Nigerian security forces and state-sponsored militias as part of a battle against the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram. The existence of the videos was revealed in "Hunting Boko Haram," a new documentary by PBS Frontline.
Desperate to combat the rise of Boko Haram, Nigerian authorities launched a massive crackdown against the group in 2009 called "Operation Flush." Human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have long accused security forces of committing massive human rights violations during the operation, including kidnappings, torture, extrajudicial killings and the arrests and murders of countless of civilians with no ties to the insurgent group.
The grainy videos obtained by Evan Williams for PBS Frontline appear to document some of these abuses. According to a militiaman who said he took part in some of the killings and ferried dozens of bodies to a morgue in northeast Nigeria , he and his colleagues were trained by Nigerian security forces.
Williams also spoke with several civilians in Nigeria's northeast who said their brothers, fathers, sons or neighbors disappeared after being taken by militiamen or government forces during operations against Boko Haram. They said that many of the prisoners never returned and had no connections to Boko Haram.
Former U.S. ambassador to Nigeria John Campbell says in the documentary that the videos confirm reports of abuses that have been circulating for years.
It is important to note that while this video pieces do show the excesses of the Nigerian security forces, the activities of the Boko Haram militants are equally commensurate with the brutality of the former.
WARNING: VIDEO(s) CONTAINS GRAPHIC FOOTAGE
Nigeria's richest woman reveals she did not attend college
Mr. and Mrs. Alakija
CC Introspective
Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija, the richest black woman in the world has revealed that she didn't go to a university.
Alakija (with a reported net-worth of $7.3 billion according to Ventures Africa) made the revelation while addressing students of the University of Lagos during the 2014 UN International Youth Day.
She said "All I say is glory to God. So I am 63 and I am not yet done. So you should have no excuses. I never went to a University but I don't think I have done too badly.
"You do not have to have a University education to be able to make it, but since you do, then count yourselves privileged to have that education as part of the feather in your cap."
Speaking further, she said "I come from Ikorodu, Lagos state. I am married to a dashing young lawyer of 70 years of age and we have four grown up gentlemen and grandchildren. It has not been a rags to riches fairy-tale.
"It has not been an overnight phenomenon like some cases which you find here and there all over the world. For as long as I can remember, I had always wanted my own business.
"I am trying to tell you how I got to where I am, if you want those billions.
"It would have been easy to compromise, but I chose not to and I stayed focus. I could have stayed a secretary as my father desired according to his plan for me, but I had bigger aspirations.
"I had big dreams. God strengthened me and gave me wisdom. I had a passion and burning desire to succeed. Being a secretary, a banker, a fashion icon, a cooperate promoter and printer, a real estate owner, an oil magnate; I can assure you was not an easy feat.
"I had the firm belief that what is worth doing is what doing well or not doing at all. I took charge of my life with the tools I have shared with you. I chose to become born again at the age of 40. I chose to make a covenant with God that if he would bless me, I would work for him all the days of my life. I chose to hold on to the cross and look up to him every step of the way," she stressed further.
Posted by CCG Media at 1:51 AM Links to this post
Rising US Senator Elizabeth Warren criticizes Eric Cantor's new private sector role and the politics of special interest
Yahoo Interview
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, a rising star in the Democratic Party has criticized Eric Cantor's new role and says it typifies the "revolving door mentality" that has become all too prevalent on Capitol Hill.
In an interview with Katie Couric, Yahoo's Global News Anchor, she (Warren) bemoans a climate of inordinacy (in Washington) that encourages the selling of access to special interests, to the detriment of the middle-class and ordinary working Americans.
Senator Warren also delved into the ISIS crisis and much like Senator Dianne Feinstein, believes America's main objective should be the ultimate destruction of the Islamic State militants wherever they exist.
See the full interview below.....
France halts warship delivery to bellicose Russia
US President Barack Obama
CC Global News
French President Francois Hollande has made a u-turn and effectively halted the delivery of the first of two Mistral navy assault ships to an increasingly aggressive Russia.
France had until now resisted pressure from the European Union and the United States to suspend or flat-out cancel the delivery.
The Vladivostok, the first of the two helicopter carriers, was scheduled to be delivered to Russia by late October (2014) while the Sevastopol (aka Sebastopol), a sister ship was scheduled to be delivered next year.
This development is further evidence that Putin's strategy with regard to Ukraine, may be back-firing on all key fronts and regardless of his careless rants about Russia's nuclear might, his (Putin's) continued intransigence may end up exerting a heavy toll on Russia, both economically and militarily.
The United States and its European allies obviously no longer see Russia as an ally of NATO with its increasing acts of aggression (through Russian supported rebel groups) in Eastern Ukraine and other former Soviet bloc countries.
This change of heart by the French marks to date, the most significant stance by the West against Russia's aggression, on the eve of NATO's summit in Wales.
The Mistral assault ships can reportedly carry close to 16 helicopters, as well as armored vehicles and land troops.
France and the NATO alliance are obviously wary of being the purveyors of a move that would have significantly improved Russia's amphibious capabilities.
It remains to be seen what Putin's next move will be, as he has seemingly always had an answer (no matter how obtuse) for every decision taking by the West thus far.
Nigerian woman gives birth to completely "white" baby.....
Catherine and her "white" son
When the midwife presented Catherine Howarth with her new baby, she was convinced she'd been given the wrong child. The little boy was completely white – whereas new mum Catherine has the dark black skin of her Nigerian heritage. For even though baby Jonah has a white father, doctors say the chances of him being white too were an incredible one in a million.
And it wasn't only the "miracle" baby's mum who was stunned. "The midwife looked at me and looked back down at Jonah and then at me again and couldn't believe it," said Catherine, 32. "The doctors confirmed it was extremely rare." Her husband Richard, 34, a medical recruitment consultant, was equally astonished. He had expected his son, who was born at Milton Keynes Hospital on June 1, to have darker skin.
He said: "When I first set eyes on my baby boy Jonah, it was a feeling of pure delight and relief that he was healthy and strong. His complexion was very pale due to the umbilical cord being wrapped around his neck when he was being delivered. "After a few hours his color came to his cheeks. Catherine and I noticed his complexion was very similar to mine and were surprised it was as light. The midwives and doctors told us he'll most likely remain this color."
Financial analyst Catherine said: "Some children get darker after a few weeks when the skin color they will have for life starts to become obvious. But you can see from the color at the tips of their ears what that will be. We saw straight away that Jonah was fully white." Doctors have said he is not an albino. "We have been told that I must have been carrying a recessive gene," said Catherine.
"My parents were from Nigeria and, for as far back as anyone can remember, my family have all been black. "But at some point there must have been a white gene in my family that has remained dormant for years and years – until now.
"The doctors said they had researched the chances of this happening and discovered that it was very, very rare. "They had only found two similar cases, both in America, that had been reported in recent times."
Catherine and Richard, from Milton Keynes, plan to have more children but have been told the chances of them also being born white are highly unlikely.
Jonah's remarkable color follows the birth in 2010 of Nmachi Ihegboro, who is white despite having two black parents. Nine years ago, mixed-race couple Kylie Hodgson, 27, and Remi Horder, 25, from Nottingham, became parents to twin daughters – one white and one black.
Delighted Catherine said "Despite the initial shock, Richard and I couldn't be happier. Jonah is a beautiful, happy and smiling son, and I adore him." And Richard said: "The color of his skin is of no concern – Jonah being a healthy and happy baby is what matters."
Still clueless on real economic initiatives, Obama presses US Congress for minimum wage hike.....
President Obama seems tone deaf to political realities
By Deji Komolafe
President Barack Obama has said he will continue to press Congress to raise the federal minimum wage as the US recovers from recession.
In a Labor Day speech in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, President Obama said the economy and workers were now better off than when he took office in 2009.
"America deserves a raise," he said.
His speech comes ahead of mid-term elections in November which will see a close race between Democrats and Republicans for control of the Senate.
"By almost every measure, the American economy and American workers are better off than when I took office," Obama said to an audience of union members.
He also pledged to protect the right for equal pay for women.
Obama was speaking after recent economic figures showed a one percent decrease in the national unemployment rate and a 4.2% growth in GDP in the second quarter of this year.
He said these improvements were due to decisions he had made during his first term in office, which included an effort to bail out the US auto industry.
He also said introducing new healthcare legislation had made life better for American workers.
"America is stronger because of decisions we made to rescue our economy and rebuild it on a new foundation asking the simple question: is this good for ordinary Americans?" he said.
Despite the recent economic improvements, figures show America's long-term jobless rate remains high and real hourly wages have stagnated.
It would seem that rather than professing real economic initiatives (to include corporate and R&D tax incentives to stimulate the still "soft" economy), Obama is bent on doubling down on the class warfare he has been fighting since he took office, almost six years ago.
The American people will sure have a say this November and the Democrats may not like the outcome.
Atiku declares for Nigerian Presidency in 2015 ele...
Why the United States is hampering Nigeria's fight...
The hunt for Boko Haram: Disturbing videos purport...
Nigeria's richest woman reveals she did not attend...
Rising US Senator Elizabeth Warren criticizes Eric...
Nigerian woman gives birth to completely "white" b...
Still clueless on real economic initiatives, Obama...


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Home > News > Compliance > Fidelity Defendants Face Another 'Kickback' Lawsuit
Compliance April 8, 2019
Fidelity Defendants Face Another 'Kickback' Lawsuit
The recordkeeping and investment firm has emphatically denied allegations leveled in multiple lawsuits suggesting it collects "secret payments" and "kickbacks" from external fund providers.
A new complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts names Fidelity entities and individual executives as defendants on multiple Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) claims.
According to a participant in the Publicis Benefits Connection 401(k) Plan, beginning in or about 2017, Fidelity began requiring various mutual fund and investment providers populating Fidelity's FundsNetwork platform to make "secret payments" to Fidelity for its own benefit. According to the complaint, such "kickback payments" were presented "in the guise of infrastructure payments or so-called relationship-level fees in violation of, inter alia, the prohibited transaction rules of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, as well as ERISA's fiduciary rules."
The complaint alleges the payments at issue "are part of a pay-to-play scheme in which Fidelity receives these payments from mutual funds in the event that otherwise disclosed 12b-1 fees, administration fees, service fees, sub-transfer agent fees and/or similar fees fall below a certain level and Fidelity requires payment of these kickbacks in return for providing the mutual funds with access to its retirement plan customers, including its 401(k) plan customers." According to the plaintiff, who is seeking class action status, the practices of Fidelity go beyond permissible revenue-sharing under ERISA.
Fidelity offered the following statement in response to the filing of the lawsuit: "Fidelity emphatically denies the allegations in this complaint. Fidelity fully complies with all disclosure requirements in connection with the fees that it charges. The infrastructure fee has been fully disclosed to 401(k) plans and their sponsors via a disclosure that Fidelity sent to over 20,000 401(k) plans, pursuant to Section 408(b)(2) of ERISA. We make thousands of non-Fidelity mutual funds available to 401(k) plans for which Fidelity acts as recordkeeper, as well as to other Fidelity customers. We receive a fee from some of those mutual fund companies to compensate us for maintaining the infrastructure that is needed to make those funds available."
The complaint says Fidelity has not adequately met its duties under ERISA Section 408(b)(2).
"Fidelity does not disclose the amount of these secret payments, amounting to at least tens of millions of dollars per annum and likely in the hundreds of millions of dollars per annum, to the plans and forbids the mutual funds from disclosing the amount of these secret payments, despite their legal obligation to do so," the lawsuit claims. "In fact, in a confidential document that Fidelity provides to mutual fund companies, Fidelity prohibits them from disclosing, either orally or in writing, to plan sponsors, plan beneficiaries and the public information concerning Fidelity's 'infrastructure' fees, including the manner in which they are determined. In that document, Fidelity stressed that the dollar amount charged for the infrastructure fee is confidential, and that the fee is a flat dollar amount tied to the mutual fund company's industry-wide assets, and not assets held only through Fidelity."
According to the lawsuit, Fidelity is a functional fiduciary under ERISA by virtue of its discretion and exercise of discretion in negotiating/establishing its own compensation by and through its setting of the amount and receipt of the secret payments. Of note, related arguments about whether a retirement plan provider was acting in a fiduciary capacity when fulfilling service contracts were recently tested by an appellate court, which rejected them.
In this case, the plaintiff goes into significant detail about the process used by Fidelity to invest the dollars of individual retirement plan participants, noting how, in return for recurring contributions, which are assets of ERISA-qualified plans, the plans and their participants receive accumulation units (shares) in the applicable sub-accounts of the Fidelity omnibus accounts. The accumulation units/shares, like the omnibus accounts themselves and the sub-accounts, are held and owned by Fidelity. The lawsuit suggests the fact that Fidelity maintains discretion, authority and control over the omnibus accounts, the sub-accounts and the accumulation units, confers upon it various fiduciary duties under ERISA.
The plaintiff backs up this line of argument by suggesting that Fidelity "also maintains complete discretion to substitute, eliminate and add mutual funds offered through its FundsNetwork by and through its omnibus accounts, as well as to make other investment decisions on behalf of the plans."
In February, a participant in the T-Mobile USA, Inc. 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan and Trust filed a similar suit against Fidelity and several of its affiliates, claiming the firm engaged in prohibited transactions by charging a "secret" fee for mutual funds and engaging in self-dealing. In a statement provided at the time to PLANADVISER, the firm emphatically denied the allegations, saying it fully complies with all disclosure requirements in connection with the fees that it charges. A second similar lawsuit was filed in March.
The full text of the new complaint is available here.
Last year, the fee and fund access practices of the firm gained increased industry attention when Fidelity made the announcement that it would begin charging a 0.05% fee on assets invested through its institutional retirement plan recordkeeping platform into Vanguard products, including the firm's popular suite of index-based target-date funds (TDFs) and collective trusts. The announcement grabbed attention in part because Fidelity and Vanguard are two of the largest-volume providers of retirement plan recordkeeping and investment products for defined contribution retirement plans in the U.S. In addition, industry observers said the new fee reflected the hard-nosed competition that defines the retirement plan recordkeeping and brokerage industries.
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