Before: KENNEDY and BATCHELDER, Circuit Judges; and CONTIE, Senior Circuit Judge.
Kenneth N. Wexley appeals the district court's summary judgment disposition of his religious discrimination claims. We affirm the district court's April 19, 1993 determinations for the following reasons.
Plaintiff-appellant Kenneth N. Wexley, a Jewish professor, was a tenured faculty member at Michigan State University's College of Business. Defendant-appellee Richard Lewis was the Dean of the College of Business, defendant-appellee David Scott was the University's Provost and Vice-President of Academic Affairs, defendant-appellee John DiBiaggio was the President of the University, and defendants-appellees Delores Cook and Dean Pridgeon were members of the University's Board of Trustees.
On October 16, 1990, Dean Lewis recommended to Provost Scott that formal sexual harassment proceedings be initiated against Professor Wexley after four female students complained of his sexual advances. On October 22, 1990, Provost Scott notified President DiBiaggio of Dean Lewis' intent to initiate the dismissal proceedings before the University's Committee on Faculty Tenure ("UCFT") in accordance with the University's Dismissal of Tenured Faculty for Cause Policy ("Dismissal Policy") which provides that tenured faculty may be dismissed for "gross misconduct."
On October 24, 1990, Provost Scott charged Professor Wexley with gross misconduct. On November 28, 1990, Professor Wexley and the Provost's designee met with the UCFT to select the Hearing Committee that would hear the evidence. Seven of the UCFT's fifteen faculty members were randomly selected by the UCFT's chairperson to serve on the committee. The Provost's designee used his sole peremptory challenge to dismiss the only Jewish member selected to sit on the Hearing Committee, Professor Martin Fox. The Provost claims that he dismissed Professor Fox due to his previously-shown unwillingness to recommend that tenured faculty be terminated; Professor Wexley insists that the Provost dismissed Professor Fox because he is Jewish.
Hearing Committee's Preliminary Written Report and Decision at 11.
After considering "a wide range of penalties, including a warning letter, job transfer, last chance warning, counseling, removal of merit pay, suspension, suspension with conditions, and dismissal," id., the Hearing Committee recommended, by a five-to-one vote, that Professor Wexley be dismissed. Though the UCFT agreed, on appeal, with the Hearing Committee's finding of gross misconduct, the UCFT asked the Hearing Committee to reconsider its recommendation that Professor Wexley be discharged. Upon reconsideration, the Hearing Committee voted, once again, to dismiss Professor Wexley.
On May 14, 1992, President DiBiaggio recommended to the University's Board of Trustees that Professor Wexley be suspended, without pay, for 18 months, and that he be required to submit to psychological counseling. On June 12, 1992, the University's Board of Trustees unanimously adopted President DiBiaggio's recommendations. Professor Wexley refused to accept the terms of the proposed suspension and submitted his resignation to President DiBiaggio on June 26, 1992. The University accepted the professor's resignation on July 23, 1992.
On June 2, 1992, the district court dismissed Professor Wexley's due process and equal protection claims with prejudice. On April 19, 1993, the district court granted the appellees' motion for summary judgment, dismissed Professor Wexley's civil rights claims, and remanded the Bullard-Plawecki and "wrongful constructive discharge" claims to state court. Professor Wexley timely appealed.
Summary judgment is appropriate where "there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and ... the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c). A district court's grant of summary judgment is reviewed de novo. Pinney Dock & Transp. Co. v. Penn Cent. Corp., 838 F.2d 1445, 1472 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 880 (1988). In its review, this court must view the facts and all inferences drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. 60 Ivy St. Corp. v. Alexander, 822 F.2d 1432, 1435 (6th Cir. 1987).
The moving party has the burden of conclusively establishing that no genuine issue of material fact exists. Id. However, in the face of a summary judgment motion, the nonmoving party cannot rest on its pleadings but must come forward with some probative evidence to support its claim. Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 324 (1986).
"By its very terms, this standard provides that the mere existence of some alleged factual dispute between the parties will not defeat an otherwise properly supported motion for summary judgment; the requirement is that there be no genuine issue of material fact." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247-48 (1986) (emphasis in original). The dispute must be genuine and the facts must be such that if they were proven at trial, a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party. 60 Ivy St. Corp., 822 F.2d at 1435. If the disputed evidence "is merely colorable or is not significantly probative, summary judgment may be granted." Anderson, 477 U.S. at 249-50 (citations omitted).
A plaintiff presents a prima facie case of discrimination by showing that he belongs to a protected class, that he was qualified for the position that he held, that he was discharged from his employment, and that he was replaced by a non-minority worker.3 McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802 (1973). See generally Boutros v. Canton Regional Transit Auth., 997 F.2d 198, 202 (6th Cir. 1993) ("This Circuit has held that the required elements of prima facie proof necessary for a plaintiff charging a ... hostile work environment under both Title VII and 42 U.S.C. § 1983 are the same.") Moreover, " ' [p]roof of discriminatory motive is critical' when disparate treatment is claimed." Wilson v. Stroh Companies, Inc., 952 F.2d 942, 945 (6th Cir. 1992) (citation omitted).
When a plaintiff presents a prima facie case of religious discrimination under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the burden shifts to the employer to articulate non-discriminatory reasons for its actions. See Id. ("Once the plaintiff establishes a prima facie case, the defendant must articulate a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason for his action."). "If the defendant is successful, the plaintiff still may prevail if he establishes that the apparently non-discriminatory rationale was merely a pretext." Id. (citation omitted). "A plaintiff may show pretext by establishing that he did not violate the work rule for which he was disciplined or that other employees who engaged in similar misconduct received less severe sanctions." Id.
Professor Wexley was constructively discharged in accordance with the Hearing Committee's finding of "gross misconduct" which the University defines as "violations of professional ethics, to wit: the use of professional authority to exploit others, e.g., sexual advances to a student." Though Professor Wexley maintains that the appellees recommended his dismissal because he is Jewish, the professor failed to establish that the appellees treated similarly-situated non-Jewish faculty members more favorably. Accordingly, we need not determine whether Professor Wexley established a prima facie case of employment discrimination under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 because the appellees articulated non-discriminatory non-pretextual reasons for their actions, and Professor Wexley failed to establish pretext. Therefore, the district court properly rejected Professor Wexley's 42 U.S.C. § 1983 claim.


text:
Q: Align an equation and a tikz picture with anchor and baseline I'm trying to get the math part the equation to be centered with the tikz picture:
\begin{equation}
  \mathcal{G} =
  \begin{tikzpicture}[]
    \tikzstyle{vertex}=[anchor=base,baseline,
    circle,fill=black!25,minimum size=18pt,inner sep=2pt]
    \node[vertex] (G1) at (0,0)   {1};
    \node[vertex] (G2) at (1,0)   {2};
    \node[vertex] (G3) at (1,1)   {3};
    \node[vertex] (G4) at (0,1)   {4};
    \draw (G1) -- (G2) -- (G3) -- (G4) -- (G1) -- cycle;
  \end{tikzpicture}
\end{equation}

But instead it places it on an even baseline:

My attempts at the tikz portion come from the related questions:
Common baseline in TikZ and Mathmode
How to align a series of TikZ pictures at the baseline
I think I'm misunderstanding the syntax between \tikz \node, \tikzpicture and \tikzstyle. What do I change to align the tikz picture without adjusting the raw coordinates?

A: You need to use baseline on the tikzpicture, not on the nodes. As Tom Bombadil mentioned in the comments you can use current bounding box.center to put the center of the TikZ picture on the baseline. I would also add an yshift to center it around the middle of the = sign. -.5ex seems to do it.
\documentclass{article}
\usepackage{tikz}
\begin{document}

\begin{equation}
  \mathcal{G} =
  \begin{tikzpicture}[baseline={([yshift=-.5ex]current bounding box.center)},vertex/.style={anchor=base,
    circle,fill=black!25,minimum size=18pt,inner sep=2pt}]
    \node[vertex] (G1) at (0,0)   {1};
    \node[vertex] (G2) at (1,0)   {2};
    \node[vertex] (G3) at (1,1)   {3};
    \node[vertex] (G4) at (0,1)   {4};
    \draw (G1) -- (G2) -- (G3) -- (G4) -- (G1) -- cycle;
  \end{tikzpicture}
\end{equation}

\end{document}

A: There are a couple of things wrong with your setup.

*

*\tikzstyle are meant to be declarations which are global. This means that they are like preample statements where you initialize some styles that gets used a lot. Thus you should not put this inside the \begin{tikzpicture}. Also (as Martin correctly states), use the \tikzset or \pgfkeys commands instead, they are much more consistent).

*Temporary styles can be created in the \begin{tikzpicture}[<here>] segment of the picture.

*baseline is a style affecting the tikzpicture and is thus only used in the \begin{tikzpicture}[baseline].
For a reference about styles and their scoping you can see one of my previous answers: Scopes of styles
Ok, so a quick fix for your solution would be to do the following:
\begin{equation}
  \mathcal{G} =
  \begin{tikzpicture}[baseline,vertex/.style={anchor=base,
        circle,fill=black!25,minimum size=18pt,inner sep=2pt}]
    \node[vertex] (G1) at (0,0)   {1};
    \node[vertex] (G2) at (1,0)   {2};
    \node[vertex] (G3) at (1,1)   {3};
    \node[vertex] (G4) at (0,1)   {4};
    \draw (G1) -- (G2) -- (G3) -- (G4) -- (G1) -- cycle;
  \end{tikzpicture}
\end{equation}

which yields:

i.e. an alignment against the circle containing 1.
However, if you wish to align against the center of the structure you should specify the baseline shift for the tikzpicture. That is baseline=<length>.
In your case the middle of the figure can be calculated using the calc library. Here you need to realize two things:

*

*The baseline aligns the base of the line to the placement.

*You would rather align against the middle of the line.
This means that you need to calculate the shift according to the height of the line (i.e. include the text height in the shift).
This can be done easily by using this style:
baseline=($(G1.base)!.5!(G4.base)$)

This will yield:

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Plant and tree health
Pests and diseases in gardens
Xylella fastidiosa is a bacterial pathogen which has been found in parts of Europe and which could have a wide and damaging impact on nursery stock production, urban landscapes and the countryside.
Update for Northern Ireland plant producers
Xylella blocks the xylem vessels of affected plants obstructing the upward flow of water leading to symptoms including wilts, diebacks, stunts and leaf scorches. The EU is on high alert for this pathogen and we must be especially vigilant as the pathogen has not been recorded in Northern Ireland and a Pest Risk Analysis indicates that it could establish here and have a significant impact. For more information on Xylella fastidiosa go to the Plant Pest Factsheet.
Consumer info on Xylella
To help protect EU Member States against the introduction of Xylella fastidiosa, EU emergency legislation has been introduced, which includes requirements to protect against introductions from non-EU countries, as well as from those parts of the EU where it is has been detected. This includes a requirement upon 'professional operators' to ensure that all 'host plants' moving across the EU are accompanied by a plant passport. This applies to landscapers, designers, retailers, growers, suppliers and anyone directly importing plants.
List of high risk host plants
Olive trees (Olea) are amongst the worst affected host plants of Xylella. Symptoms on olive trees include leaf scorch, dieback and eventually tree death. A specific pest factsheet relating to Olive trees has been produced and can be accessed on the link below
Olive trees risk to trade form Xylella fastidiosa
There are four recognised subspecies of Xylella fastidiosa and three of these have been identified in infections in Europe. Xylella fastidiosa subsp. multiplex is considered to pose the greatest plant health risk to the UK. The hosts of the three subspecies identified in Europe are now subject to controls which are outlined in the UK Plant Health leaflet Guidance for importers and users of trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants.
You are recommended to read this leaflet and also to keep abreast of the developing situation. Please be aware of the symptoms, look out for signs of the disease and report any suspicious sightings to DAERA Plant Health Inspection Branch by phoning 0300 200 7847, or email planthealth@daera-ni.gov.uk
Further information on this pest can be found on the UK Plant Health information portal.
The latest list of susceptible hosts can be found on the EU database.
Citrus Longhorn beetle
Gardens - pests and diseases to look out for
Root knot nematode (M. fallax)
Root Knot Nematode (M. minor)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Whitney Johnson knows that personal disruption is the best way to level-up in your own career trajectory. She jumped from earning a degree in music to becoming a sought-after equity analyst on Wall Street and knows that the experience helped her to jumpstart a new learning experience. Her work today focuses on helping companies and individuals disrupt their own projects and lives in order to be the most innovative that they can be.
Who is Whitney Johnson? Whitney Johnson is an expert in corporate innovation, specifically as it deals with personal disruption. She has been named one of the top 50 leading business thinkers in the world, is a LinkedIn Influencer and a contributor to Harvard Business Review. Formerly an institutional investor-ranked analyst at places such as Merrill Lynch, Whitney is the co-founder of the Disruptive Innovation Fund and the host of the Disrupt Yourself podcast. Whitney is also the author of three books, including her latest, Build An A-Team: Play to Their Strengths and Lead Them Up the Learning Curve.
Whitney is looking not only to change the way we approach our own personal career trajectories, but also to change the ways in which we build our teams. In keeping the S-Curve theory in mind, we can seek to hire potential instead of proficiency and create teams with balances of experience, drive, and perspective.
Be a spiritual first-responder. When you get a spiritual prompting from God, respond to it — quickly.
Every learning experience follows an s-curve. If you follow the 10,000 hour rule, you'll likely spend 6-12 months at the low end of the curve, 2-3 years in the sweet spot, and you'll usually spend less than a year at the high end of the curve before you start dialing it in. Often, every 3-4 years, people start to reset and do something new.
Make sure that new team members give you their feedback on your industry, company, etc. three months into their new role. This will inject fresh insight into your mission, and make sure they know their contributions are valued.
When looking at taking a new job, look where the people that have been growing under your potential boss are now. Are they farther along the curve? If the answer is yes, that boss will likely help nurture you, too.
Embrace failure. It can help you stop living in a silo and start being challenged. It'll help you experience the fullness of life.


Art Aia collaborates on a local level with the Association Pro Sesto, the Province of Pordenone and the Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. The Associazione Culturale Grafite is also a local collaborator in terms of photography workshops.Art Aia also collaborates with Kineo Film and with the John Strasberg Studios in New York in the audiovisual field and in the theatrical training and with the Institut für Alles Mögliche in Berlin and the International artist residence Pilotenkueche in Leipzig – Germany for exchange residency programs in the visual arts.La MaMa Umbria International is also one of Art Aia's partner's thanks to Ellen Stewart. Our performing art community is also part of the networks of the European Polytheater and Terzo Cinema.Art Aia has not perceived any type of funding or sponsorship so far and all activities were realized with the help of the people directly involved in the projects. The goal, in economic terms, is to develop partnerships with private and public entities that enable the sustenance of the present and future activities of Art Aia in a cultural, innovative and contemporary vision.


text:
Stock Strategist
Boston Beer's Valuation Is Too Frothy
The shares are commanding an increasingly premium price without a major shift in fundamentals.
Sonia Vora
Boston Beer's (SAM) shares have rallied over the past year, up 72% versus a 16% decline for the brewers under our coverage and a 15% increase in the S&P 500 index. We attribute this recent strength to a recovery in the company's volume, with the first quarter of 2018 marking a return to depletion growth for the first time since the third quarter of 2015, thanks to the success of recent innovations like Sam '76, Angry Orchard Rosé Cider, and Truly Spiked & Sparkling.
While we agree that Boston Beer's near-term prospects appear more favorable, as evidenced by improving volume trends in the first half of the year (depletions were up 11% versus down 7% in the prior-year period), we don't expect this level of growth to persist, particularly given the lighter comparisons the company is lapping this year. While we've ticked up our forecast for 2018 sales growth to more than 9% from the low single digits and maintained our expectation for low teens operating margin, we've held the line on our longer-term outlook for around 4% sales growth toward the end of our 10-year forecast and average operating margin around 17% (versus a five-year historical average around 15%).
The market has valued the shares at an increasingly high multiple to earnings, hovering around 34 times roughly 30 times at the beginning of the year and a three-year historical average in the high 20s. However, we don't view this expansion as sustainable; we think the market is underappreciating the extent to which a maturing craft beer market will heighten the competition Boston Beer faces from both niche players and the largest beer producers. Although we think the company will be able to leverage its brand intangible assets, including the brand equity of its flagship Sam Adams brand and resulting entrenchment in wholesalers' supply chains, to stabilize its share and maintain its presence on retailers' shelves amid a potential craft shakeout, we expect volume growth to decelerate alongside the craft category.
Consequently, our outlook for 6.6% average top-line growth over the next three years remains about 190 basis points below consensus. Still, while we don't expect Boston Beer's margins to close the gap with its wide-moat brewing peers, we're more optimistic than consensus about its bottom-line strength as it continues to extract costs from its operations and as headwinds from deleveraged volume subside. Moreover, we expect these savings will provide the company with greater resources to invest behind its brands, whether through product innovation or advertising and promotional spending, ensuring a sustainable trajectory of growth.
Higher-End Offerings Remain a Pocket of Growth
U.S. beer volume has stagnated over the past decade, as consumers have increasingly opted for alternatives like wine and spirits. While beer still accounts for the largest portion of the domestic alcoholic beverage market, consumers are increasingly drinking across the beer, wine, and spirits categories. According to Constellation Brands, consumers who drink across all three categories hold upward of 50% share of total alcoholic beverage dollars and on average spend 6 times as much as consumers of just one category and more than twice as much as consumers of two categories.
Despite roughly flat sales growth for the overall beer category, premiumization trends in the category have lifted volume of higher-end offerings, while more mainstream and discount price points have ceded share. This aligns with our view that consumers across the global alcohol category are likely to trade up to more expensive categories or brands over time, as alcoholic beverages are often a more affordable luxury than other goods. This especially holds true for beer, where the price gaps commanded by premium fare tend to be modest on a dollar basis: While a six-pack of a craft offering may be priced 40% above a more conventional brand, the difference between $6 and $10 is much less striking in absolute terms. Premium and above-premium offerings now account for nearly 40% of domestic beer volume versus roughly one fourth a decade ago. Over the same time frame, we estimate the proportion of discount-priced beer has fallen from around 23% of total volume to the high teens.
Craft beer has been a beneficiary of this premiumization trend, with volume averaging low-double-digit growth over the past decade, according to the Brewers Association, which applies the "craft" definition to breweries that produce no more than 6 million barrels of beer annually, are less than 25% owned or controlled by a noncraft player, and derive the majority of their total volume from beers made "from traditional or innovative brewing ingredients and their fermentation" (that is, excluding flavored malt beverages).
We estimate craft beer now holds a nearly 13% volume share of the U.S. beer market versus around 3% in 2005. Imported beers have also performed well, gaining around 4 percentage points of share over the past decade to contribute 18% of beer volume in 2017. In aggregate, these categories accounted for 30% of volume in 2017. When craft and imported variants are excluded from volume, the weak performance of the mainstream beer category is even more pronounced, with domestic noncraft beer declining by a low-single-digit clip on average over the past decade.
Bud's Lost Fizz Offers Opportunity
In our view, craft beer's rapid growth reflects consumers' thirst for more flavorful beer and a greater variety of products. We think smaller brewers' nimble product innovation cycles have helped them create high-quality products that resonate with evolving consumer preferences, allowing their offerings to maintain a price premium over mainstream fare. Craft share gains are even more striking from a dollar perspective. Craft beer's value share has expanded by nearly 4 times over the past decade, amounting to 23% of the U.S. beer market. This suggests that consumers are willing to pay up on the basis of taste or product innovation and that there is modest runway for pricing growth even at the high end of the beer market.
While we expect craft beer volume to outpace that of the overall beer category longer term, signs of a slowing market are emerging. In 2016 and 2017, craft volume growth slowed to the midsingle digits, according to data provided by the Brewers Association. While this was well above the roughly flat growth of the beer category in aggregate, it represents a material step down from the 15% averaged over 2011-15. We forecast decelerating craft volume growth as the industry matures, averaging roughly 4% over the next five years. We also expect broader beer volume to stabilize over the next few years but don't foresee a return to growth.
In our view, this reflects increasingly challenging comparisons following a lengthy period of outperformance (with craft volume averaging above 12% annual growth between 2006 and 2015), rather than a sign that consumers' desire for more premium, flavorful beer has cooled, given that craft has continued to take incremental share from mainstream beer over this time frame. We also note that the Brewers Association's definition of craft beer (and consequently its growth figures) excludes breweries in which the largest beer producers hold a 25% or more economic interest; consolidation by large beer producers has ticked up since 2011. Even so, we would still view slowing volume growth by "independent craft" producers to be a telling indicator of category health, given that smaller players have historically driven growth. As evidence, the Brewers Association estimates that microbreweries (that is, breweries that produce less than 15,000 barrels of beer per year and sell at least 75% of their beer offsite) contributed nearly 60% of 2017 craft volume expansion.
Even as the craft market cools, we don't expect competitive intensity to subside, as entrenched players and newer entrants continue to vie for volume gains in a lower-growth environment. These competitive pressures may be compounded by relatively low brand loyalty within the craft segment, given its consumers' propensity toward trying new products. According to Nielsen, craft beer consumers make their purchasing decision at the shelf roughly 70% of the time (versus slightly below 60% for fast-moving consumer goods overall), and 60% of weekly craft beer drinkers look at beer style before they consider brand. Further, given the relatively low costs associated with trying a new variety of beer, we see minimal barriers to switching among brands.
Of the brewers we cover, we believe narrow-moat Boston Beer, Heineken (HEINY), and Constellation Brands (STZ) are best poised to benefit from ongoing U.S. premiumization trends, as their exposure to the beer category is exclusively in the faster-growing premium and superpremium price points. However, we think heightened competition in this space is likely as volume growth in the mainstream beer segment remains elusive. We expect larger players like wide-moat Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) and narrow-moat Molson Coors (TAP) will continue to look for opportunities to build out their presence in the high end, including through acquisitions or equity investments. We view craft consolidation as likely, given more than 6,000 craft breweries, a slowing volume environment, and the limited scale and resources of many craft breweries, which may impair their ability to appropriately support or expand their brands.
Strong Distribution Relationships Help Brands Maintain Visibility
We maintain that Boston Beer's competitive edge should help it sustain its recovering volume trends and defend its share in the face of competitive pressures. We estimate the company holds a roughly 2% volume share of the domestic beer and cider market, including a 60% share of cider (though this contributes just 1% of the overall category) and a low-double-digit share of craft beer. We think the company's position as one of the oldest and largest craft brewers in the United States has allowed it to amass an intangible asset in the form of entrenched relationships with wholesalers and retailers. These intangible assets underscore our narrow moat rating. The company's robust returns on invested capital, which have averaged 30% over the past decade (well above our 9% cost of capital estimate), support our view that Boston Beer has been able to leverage these intangible assets to generate economic profits.
We view distributor relationships as a key source of competitive advantage in the beverage space; this is especially pertinent to craft beer producers, given the three-tier distribution system that characterizes the U.S. alcoholic beverage landscape. This system, which has been in place since the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, mandates that alcoholic beverage producers must sell their products through an intermediary (the distributor/wholesaler), which in turn sells products to the retailer (which encompasses both off- and on-premises establishments). While the delineation of these tiers can vary from state to state--for example, many states permit certain breweries, often smaller entities, to self-distribute beer through brewpubs--this layer of complexity makes the relationships between producers and distributors a decisive factor.
Adding to the complexity of these distribution networks, craft beer consumers' demand for a variety of offerings, coupled with rapid category growth, has led the average number of stock-keeping units carried by distributors to more than double over the past decade. The average wholesaler carried north of 1,000 SKUs in 2016, versus just 200 in 2003.
However, we don't view this trend to be sustainable, and we expect distributors to pare the number of SKUs they carry as the craft beer category matures. From the distributor's perspective, it is preferable to carry brands with proven customer appeal, which are likely to have faster inventory turnover, thereby allowing them to shorten their cash-conversion cycle. Quick inventory turns are doubly important for beer distributors because, owing to the finite shelf life of craft beer (for optimal flavor), carrying too many SKUs can also lead to inferior or even unusable product.
While we don't expect distributors to shy away from craft, given that its growth prospects and margin profile remain more attractive than the overall category, we find it likely that they will increasingly prioritize leading brands for the aforementioned reasons. And although Boston Beer's share of the overall beer market remains shy of 2%, its position as the largest independent craft brewer (by our estimates, producing roughly twice as much volume as its second-largest independent competitor, Sierra Nevada) and long-standing relationships should ensure healthy distribution, supporting its brand intangible asset.
Further, more-established beer producers can leverage their deep industry knowledge to enhance their distributor relationships. Given the increasing complexity of distributors' portfolios due to SKU proliferation, we expect that a craft brewer's ability to differentiate itself by supporting its brands and helping distributors communicate their value to retailers will become increasingly important.
We also contend that Boston Beer's consistent position on retailers' shelves reflects the durability of its retail relationships, and we don't expect ongoing SKU rationalization at the retailer level to alter our outlook for the company. Over the past several years, retailers have increased the allocation of shelf space to craft brands at the expense of more mainstream offerings; during a 2012 presentation, Boston Beer's management claimed that craft space was growing faster than craft volume. However, by 2014, management noted that these increases in shelf space were slowing, due to "a limited amount of space that can be taken out of the mass domestic beers before they start running into out-of-stocks," as well as a finite amount of cooler space. By 2016, the trends of increasing fragmentation in the craft category, an increasing proportion of shelf space allocated to craft beer, and SKU proliferation had waned.
As further evidence, MillerCoors' Behind the Beer blog estimates that the average retailer added six beer, cider, or malt beverage items a year between 2013 and 2016, including four craft beer items. In contrast, retailers removed four items on average across these categories from their shelves in 2017.
We infer that Boston Beer's position on shelves held steady during the craft boom (evidence of the strong relationships it has maintained with retailers) but posit that its share of the shelf decreased as the total space dedicated to craft increased. As such, we expect SKU rationalization to have a neutral to positive impact on the company as this headwind subsides. We expect retailers will continue to favor SKUs of leading brands for many of the same reasons (including faster inventory turns and promotional support) as those discussed at the distributor level, as well as a lower likelihood of out-of-stocks.
These strong relationships at both the wholesale and retail levels should allow Boston Beer to maintain its products' visibility even as the craft market slows. Further, we think these relationships have helped the company secure shelf space for new offerings, which should support its volume recovery.
We Expect Increasing Consolidation in Craft Beer
We don't expect the outlook for brewers that lack the aforementioned competitive advantages to be as rosy, and we view a shakeout in the craft segment as likely. The craft beer landscape has become increasingly fragmented, as the number of breweries has expanded at a faster clip than industrywide volume. We estimate the number of craft breweries has increased more than 20% over the past five years on 12% craft volume growth, leading the average number of barrels produced by a craft brewer to decline at a mid-single-digit clip over this time horizon. This gap widened in 2016 and 2017 as the number of craft breweries grew 19% (versus 6% volume growth) and 16% (5% volume growth), respectively, implying a double-digit decline in average barrels per brewer each year. While we expect craft beer to continue to gain share, we think these gains will come at a slowing rate that may not be sufficient to support the current number of breweries, many of which are likely to face lower-than-projected volume as growth wanes. Therefore, we expect the number of craft breweries to decline longer term.
As overall craft growth slows, we expect further stratification in craft brewer performance, with brands that fail to resonate with consumers losing out as distributors and retailers trim the SKUs they carry. When combined with declining average production volume, craft brewers that fail to meet their top-line projections are likely to face excess capacity and volume deleverage, hampering profitability. Even brewers that experience top-line growth may not have sufficient capital to expand capacity to meet demand. Lastly, overleveraged balance sheets or rising input costs (including rent, labor, and ingredients) could limit operational flexibility. An uptick in craft brewery closures as of late, amounting to 2.6% of breweries in 2017, or around 1% higher than the average rate over the prior five years, supports this stance.
We expect brewers that are somewhere between the two ends of the spectrum--established, national craft brewers like Boston Beer and niche, local players--to bear the brunt of this turbulence, as they are the most likely to face excess capacity or fall flat in their efforts to expand geographically. Still, despite a potential shakeout, we expect Boston Beer will continue to face stiff competition from independent craft brewers (albeit a smaller number) longer term.
In addition to pressures Boston Beer has faced from the small, independent craft breweries that have fueled craft expansion, there's the threat posed by the largest brewers, wide-moat Anheuser-Busch InBev and narrow-moat Molson Coors, which still control the lion's share of the beer market and are probably thirsting for growth, given that each has been plagued by volume declines across their largest brands recently. We believe the largest brewers' scale affords them stronger distribution relationships and, in the case of AB InBev, a more favorable cost structure than smaller players. These factors limit our confidence that Boston Beer will continue to outearn its cost of capital over the next 20 years, which underlies our view that its moat is narrow rather than wide.
Despite Boston Beer's status as one of the largest craft players, its volume share of the broader U.S. beer and cider market pales in comparison with the largest brewers, amounting to less than 2%. We estimate AB InBev holds the largest share of the U.S. market with more than 40% of volume, followed by Molson Coors at 25%. Both companies have lost share over the past few years as volume of core brands like Bud Light (AB InBev) and Miller Lite and Coors Light (Molson Coors) has languished. We estimate that each of these brands has declined at a low-single-digit rate on average over the past five years as a result of the trend toward more premium, flavorful beer that has been a boon to the craft category. Nevertheless, these companies remain formidable opponents and still control nearly 70% of volume in aggregate.
These companies also benefit from vast distribution networks, with AB InBev maintaining a network of 440 wholesalers (17 of which are owned) and Molson Coors maintaining approximately 400 wholesalers (1 owned) in the U.S. as of 2017. According to Boston Beer chairman and founder Jim Koch, more than 90% of beer in most local markets is controlled by the distribution networks of these two companies. While Boston Beer's significant distribution network (350 wholesalers) shows its ability to secure widespread national distribution, the company usually doesn't control the primary brands in its distributors' portfolios. Koch has often said that a company like AB InBev contributes the vast majority of volume for its wholesalers and can therefore more quickly scale distribution through its network than a company like Boston Beer, which often competes with other brands in a distributor's portfolio.
In the event of a craft beer shakeout, we think these larger players could act as consolidators in the space. AB InBev spurred a wave of consolidation across the craft beer category in 2011, when it purchased Goose Island Brewery for $39 million. Since then, the company has scooped up nine more U.S. craft brewers in order to expand its presence in the higher end of the market. Molson Coors has also engaged in several tuck-in deals, taking a majority stake in four craft brewers since 2015.
Although the terms of these deals remain largely undisclosed, we wouldn't be surprised to see increasingly high valuations across the space following Constellation Brands' $1 billion acquisition of Ballast Point in 2015 (implying a multiple of 8-9 times sales, by our estimates). We recognize the appeal of this strategy, as craft brewers have been able to achieve substantially higher growth than mainstream brewers have been able to accomplish through organic means. Moreover, craft brewers can leverage a partnership with a large beer producer to secure more widespread distribution (from both a geographic and channel perspective) through their well-established wholesaler networks. As a result, many of the "craft" brands that can now tap into resources of larger brewers have been able to achieve tremendous volume growth over the past five years (which we primarily attribute to distribution gains), outpacing several more well-established independent craft brands. For example, we estimate Ballast Point has increased volume at a 75% rate on average over the past five years (including 60% in the two years since being acquired). Similarly, Founders Brewing (30% stake acquired by Mahou San Miguel, a leading Spanish brewer, in 2014), Lagunitas (50% stake acquired by Heineken in 2015, with the remaining stake acquired in 2017), and Goose Island have experienced 30%-50% volume growth over the past five years thanks to the enhanced capacity, distribution, and selling and marketing resources these partnerships afford.
While these dynamics aren't new, we expect continued pressure from both ends of the beer market to constrain Boston Beer's volume growth to the midsingle digits on average over our forecast. However, we expect the success of recent innovations like Sam '76, Angry Orchard Rosé Cider, and Truly Spiked & Sparkling to help the company recoup some of the share lost in recent years. In the longer term, we expect its volume to grow roughly in line with the overall craft beer market. This implies volume share stabilizing at around 10% of the domestic craft beer market and 2% of the overall beer and cider market.
We don't anticipate that international (4% of sales) or inorganic growth opportunities will meaningfully contribute to Boston Beer's top line, as management has historically pursued a simple wholesaler footprint. Expansion abroad introduces material operational complexity, with management citing beer's inability to travel well, complicated international distribution networks, and lower margins as reasons these markets are less compelling. Acquisitions can also complicate distribution, as franchise laws (which govern the relationships between producers and wholesalers in the U.S.) often limit brewers' ability to terminate contracts with distributors without facing penalties. As a result, consolidation can lead to multiple distribution networks in a specific territory, which management has often referred to as a negative synergy. However, we wouldn't rule out the possibility of tuck-in acquisitions in regions where Boston Beer can maintain a clean wholesaler footprint, as was the case with Angel City (2012) and Coney Island (2013). However, we expect the company to remain focused on revitalizing its core Sam Adams brand in the near term, particularly as craft valuations remain elevated.
No Cost Edge, but We See Margin Opportunities
We think the largest global brewers benefit from powerful economies of scale, allowing them to benefit from a cost advantage relative to their peer set. This scale affords these players the ability to make more substantial investments behind their brands, which further reinforces their entrenchment in wholesale and retail supply chains. As evidence of this, AB InBev's selling and marketing expenses amounted to 15% of revenue, or more than $8 billion, in 2017. Boston Beer's advertising, promotional, and selling expenses (excluding freight) stood around $200 million, which represented 25% of sales. AB InBev also benefits from a procurement advantage (for example, we estimate it buys 8% of the U.S. rice crop each year), which has helped it achieve best-in-class gross margins above 60%. While we project that Boston Beer's smaller scale will prevent its profitability from closing the gap with a wide-moat peer like AB InBev, we see room for modest gross margin improvement as the company's volume improves and efforts to extract costs from its supply chain continue.
Until 2015--when volume growth slowed to 6% versus 20%-plus over the prior two years--Boston Beer's rapid growth required substantial increases in capacity, and management has suggested that the speed at which this capacity could be added took precedence over manufacturing efficiency. However, as volume has faltered in recent years (deleveraging fixed costs), the company has taken a more stringent approach to its cost structure. It has made substantial investments to increase the flexibility of its supply chain, which should help it adjust production in response to demand fluctuations, and improve brewery efficiency. According to management, these efforts helped reduce filler changeover times by 70%-80% and reduce beer losses by 60%-80%. These cost savings should free up resources for Boston Beer to bolster investment behind its brands, which we view as necessary to support top-line expansion. We expect the company's advertising and promotion expenditures to average around 14% of sales over our forecast, about 2% higher than the level of spending over the past five years.
Shares Look Substantially Overvalued
We think the market has overreacted to Boston Beer's improving volume trends and underestimates the extent to which a maturing craft industry, combined with competitive pressures from small craft producers as well as the largest brewers, will constrain volume growth longer term. Our $189 fair value estimate incorporates nearly 6% compound revenue growth over the next five years (below the 9% average of the prior five years), with growth slowing to 4% in the out years of our 10-year forecast. This includes average revenue per hectoliter growth of 1% over our forecast, which is consistent with the low-single-digit pricing growth we expect for players across the U.S. beer space. We expect the company's efficiency initiatives should allow operating income to grow faster than sales, resulting in a 15% average operating margin over the next five years, which is 170 basis points above 2017 but comparable with the five-year historical average. We expect the company will shore up its advertising, promotional, and selling expenses (to a low teens percentage of sales versus a five-year historical average around 12%) as a means of supporting top-line growth.
Also, Boston Beer's shares appear expensive on a relative basis, commanding a hefty premium over brewing peers. There is a staggering discrepancy between Boston Beer's multiple, which stands close to 34 times, and the low 20s average of its peer set, including companies like AB InBev, which we view as having a stronger competitive edge, and Constellation Brands, which is similarly well positioned to benefit from domestic premiumization trends. This supports our contention that Boston Beer's share price has strayed from the company's intrinsic value.
We'd suggest investors seeking exposure to the beer space consider wide-moat Anheuser-Busch InBev or narrow-moat Molson Coors, both of which trade well below our fair value estimates.
Brown-Forman's Results Smooth but Shares Expensive
Sonia Vora does not own (actual or beneficial) shares in any of the securities mentioned above. Find out about Morningstar's editorial policies.
Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV ADR BUD $58.65 −1.69%
Boston Beer Co Inc Class A SAM $392.29 +0.61%
Constellation Brands Inc Class A STZ $228.79 +0.13%
Heineken NV ADR HEINY $49.36 −0.68%
Molson Coors Beverage Co Shs -B- Non-Voting TAP $51.30 −2.79%


Just about the only properly knobbly Cyclocross tyre available for Moda Minor X and Frog 24" x 1 38" wheeled kids bikes. An absolute must if your kids is racing winter CXs. I would describe it as a traditional fairly stiff walled wire beaded tyre but it has performed well on grass and heavy mud.


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gruiform
Food habits
Reproductive behaviour
Migration and locomotion
Evolution and paleontology
Distinguishing taxonomic features
Annotated classification
2-Min Summary
The order Gruiformes is a heterogeneous group bound by taxonomic characters that are largely anatomical but not readily evident on the live bird. Few are common to all members of the group, and no single character serves to separate the gruiforms from all other orders. Some of the features that have been used in classifying the order are the condition of the feet and toes; the type of palate, osteologically; the type of pelvic musculature; the number of carotid arteries; the presence (eutaxy) or absence (diastataxy) of the fifth secondary flight feather in the wing; the number of wing and tail feathers; the number of cervical vertebrae; the type of nostrils; the presence or absence of an aftershaft (a small "second feather" attached to the shaft of a body feather); and the behaviour of the young.
Order Gruiformes
Primarily marsh-dwelling birds of medium to large size. Toes not webbed (lobed in a few genera). Hallux (hind toe) usually elevated, sometimes absent. 2 carotid arteries usually present. Aftershaft usually present. Crop lacking. Young usually nidifugous (precocious). 11 families and approximately 210 species.
Family Mesitornithidae (mesites)
Superficially dovelike but with characters of order and suborder. Distinguished by reduced clavicles (collarbones) and the presence of 5 powder down patches. Hallux well-developed and functional. 3 species; terrestrial, in forest and dry brush; confined to Madagascar; length 25–27 cm (10–11 inches).
Family Turnicidae (button quails)
Small and quail-like; short legs, no hallux; beak short, slightly downcurved. Unique in the order in having only 1 carotid artery. Principal difference from other suborders is the possession of a well-developed basipterygoid process (a projection at the base of the skull). Female larger and more brightly coloured than male. Eggs roundly oval. Eutaxic. 16 species; in grasslands and brush; southern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia; body length 11–19 cm (about 4–7 inches).
Family Gruidae (cranes)
Bill long and straight; neck and legs long; hallux small and elevated. Head usually partly naked in adult. Wing diastataxic. Caudo-femoral muscle present (except in Balearica). 15 extant species; plains and marshes of the world, except South America; length about 79 to 150 cm (31 to 59 inches).
Family Aramidae (limpkins)
Bill long; neck long and slender; head feathered. Hallux large and functional. Caudofemoral muscle absent. Swamps and marshes of New World tropics and subtropics; 1 species; length 58 to 71 cm (23 to 28 inches).
Family Psophiidae (trumpeters)
Bill short. Separated from Gruidae and Aramidae by nostril shape, eutaxic wing, absence of occipital foramina (perforations at the base of the skull). 3 species, in lowland forest of South America; length 43 to 53 cm (17 to 21 inches).
Family Rallidae (rails, gallinules, and coots)
33 genera, about 138 species; principally in marshes; worldwide; length about 14 to 51 cm (5.5 to 20 inches).
Family Heliornithidae (finfoots)
Distinguished from all other gruiforms, except coots (Fulica), by the possession of lobed feet, by pelvic muscle formula, by the type of flexor tendons, and by the possession of 18 tail feathers. 3 species; slow-flowing streams in tropical areas of Central and South America, Africa, and India and Southeast Asia; length 30 to 62 cm (12 to 24 inches).
Family Rhynochetidae (kagu)
Large aftershaft; powder downs occurring as scattered groups of feathers. Large operculum (covering flap) over nostrils. Young nidicolous (dependent). 1 species, confined to forested highlands of New Caledonia; length about 56 cm (22 inches).
Family Eurypygidae (sun bittern)
Beak medium length, straight, sharp; neck slender. Tail of medium length. 1 pair of powder down patches. Oil gland nude. 18 cervical vertebrae. Young nidicolous (dependent). 1 species; margins of woodland streams in Central and South America; length about 46 cm (18 inches).
Family Cariamidae (seriemas or cariamas)
Moderate-sized cursorial birds; legs long, feet small; tail long; beak broad, moderately long, slightly decurved. Forehead and back of neck crested. Distinguishing features in palate structure, talonlike nail on 2nd toe, and type of flexor tendons. 2 species; in grassland and brush, respectively, of east-central South America; length 76 to 92 cm (30 to 36 inches).
Family Otididae (bustards)
Cursorial but strong flying birds of open plains of Eurasia, Africa and Australia; oil gland absent. Scales on tarsus (lower leg) hexagonal; hallux absent. Sternum with 2 pairs of notches. Wing with 11 primary flight feathers. Egg-white protein structure unlike those of other gruiforms. 26 living species; length 37 to 132 cm (about 15 to 52 inches).
The great diversity in the order Gruiformes is reflected in the uncertainty of taxonomists about gruiform relationships. Uncertainties about whether mesites, button quails and limpkins, for example, were gruiform or not have been put to rest. The plains wanderer (Pedionomidae) of Australia was removed from its position next to the similar button quails (Turnix) and assigned instead to order Charadriiformes. Conversely, the jacanas (Jacanidae) have moved back and forth between the Gruiformes and Charadriiformes; at present they are placed with the charadriiforms along with the painted snipe (Rostratulidae). Furthermore, relationships among the families in Gruiformes remain highly speculative.
G. Stuart Keith Frank Gill


I wanted to say a HUGE thanks to you and the guys for a fantastic gig on Saturday night !!! Christine's main aim for the party was to get everyone dancing & having a good time, and she was not disappointed! Everyone was saying how great the band was as they staggered off into the night – thanks very much for providing great entertainment!


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Fannie Mae names chief risk officer
By CW Staff2022-09-16T15:06:00+01:00
The Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) announced the appointment of Anthony Moon as executive vice president and chief risk officer.
He will join the management committee during the fourth quarter of 2022 and report to President and Interim Chief Executive David Benson.
With more than 30 years of experience, Moon will be responsible for Fannie Mae's enterprise risk management, which oversees the company's governance and strategy for global risk management.
Moon joins Fannie Mae from Morgan Stanley, where he has been leading risk management for the wealth management and private bank division. He previously held risk and operations leadership positions at GE Capital, Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi, and Bankers Trust.
Moon succeeds Andrew Brammer, who served as interim chief risk officer since April after the departure of Ryan Zanin. Zanin left in February to become chief risk officer at Australian bank Westpac.
Anthony Moon
Reports: Morgan Stanley fines bankers up to $1M for off-channel communications
Morgan Stanley fined its employees up to $1 million for using unauthorized communication channels in violation of recordkeeping rules, according to multiple reports.
Q&A: Ex-DOJ official on policy changes, new CCO expectations
Scott Hulsey, partner at Barnes & Thornburg, former federal prosecutor, and a former chief compliance officer, discusses with Compliance Week how CCOs should respond to the Department of Justice's recent policy changes regarding corporate crime.
Quad/Graphics promotes chief risk and compliance officer to general counsel
Marketing and printing company Quad/Graphics disclosed the promotion of Dana Gruen, currently senior vice president, chief risk and compliance officer and deputy general counsel, to general counsel and corporate secretary.
More GRC Appointments
CCO of Apollo units to depart
MidCap Financial Investment Corp. and Apollo Debt Solutions BDC will be searching for new compliance leadership following the resignation of Chief Compliance Officer Isabelle Gold.
Restore Hyper Wellness names chief compliance officer
Restore Hyper Wellness announced the appointment of Emma Nasif as chief compliance officer.
FINRA enforcement head to depart, acting successor announced
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority announced longtime Head of Enforcement Jessica Hopper will depart Feb. 3.


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O L1 é um carro concept supereconômico com capacidade para duas pessoas, apresentado pela Volkswagen na edição de 2009 do IAA.

Aspetos Gerais

Motor
A potência do carro é de 22 kw (29 cv).

Ligações externas
Fotos e informações sobre o modelo AutoBlogGreen (em inglês)

L1

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Previously known as HandsomePopplio, PopplioPrince, DraconequusPrincess, DragonCosmos, LoganCupcakeGalaxy, GalaxyCupcake and CammyStash.
Do not DM me about RPs or ERPs! I do neither!
I'm known as Cammy. I mainly draw furries, but have recently started drawing humans as well.
Thanks for watching AND faving!!!


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World | Missing 14 year old Thai boy found dead in Tokyo
Missing 14 year old Thai boy found dead in Tokyo
The mother of a Thai teenager who went missing in Tokyo last Monday has revealed that she has found her son but that he had died.
Yuwajitra Watchara-arpa has not revealed the cause of the death of 14 year old Thian Sukanonsawat on the social network, saying merely that he had passed peacefully from an "unexpected accident".
The mother thanked everybody for helping to find her son. She however asked for privacy following his death, saying the family would not answer any queries or contacts.
Thian went missing on Monday night, not longer after he and his family arrived in Tokyo for a holiday. His parents stayed in one room and their three children, Tien among them, shared another room.
After her mother found out that her son had gone missing, she alerted police and asked to see the hotel's security video footage. CCTV footage showed the boy leaving the hotel room on the fifth floor in the middle of the night and walking towards an elevator in his night clothes and hotel slippers.
His mother turned to Facebook to seek help in locating her son. She said the boy had no money, mobile phone or transportation pass cards.
Her post went viral and was shared by many Facebook users including the Thai Embassy in Tokyo and the Thai communities in Japan.
News Categories:World
Related Topics:14 years oldThaiThian SukanonsawatTokyo
Mitsubishi testing their new regional jet
Boeing investigation continues as attention turns to the engines
Japan suspends entry for non-resident foreigners amidst new Covid variant
Tokyo Olympics may cost almost US$2 billion more due to Covid delay
Thai Alex Albon scores podium finish in Tuscan Formula One GP
Find more SE Asian News courtesy of The Thaiger.
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If you have story ideas, a restaurant to review, an event to cover or an issue to discuss, contact The Thaiger editorial staff.
Australia might keep borders closed throughout 2021
Stock photo by Josh Withers for UnSplash
It might be a while until tourists can visit Australia. Borders might not be fully reopen until at least 2022. Australia is rolling out its immunisation program next month, but even if most of the population is vaccinated against Covid-19, the Australian government says it will probably wait to make sure the vaccine prevents the transmission of the virus before fully reopening borders.
Australia's borders are only open for citizens, residents, those with family in Australia and travellers who have been in New Zealand for the previous 14 days. All incoming travellers must quarantine for 14 days unless they come from an area classified as a "green safe travel zone."
There are currently 1,881 active Covid-19 cases in Australia, according to Worldometers. No local Covid-19 cases were reported today. Since the start of the pandemic, Australia has reported more than 22,000 local cases and 909 deaths related to Covid-19.
The state of New South Wales is a main focus for Covid-19 prevention measures at this stage and some neighbouring states have imposed travel restrictions on those from the state. NSW state Premier Gladys Berejiklian floated the idea about allowing venues in the area to ban entry to those who aren't vaccinated against Covid-19.
"Already airlines have indicated that if you're not vaccinated you can't travel overseas and I think that'll be an incentive to a lot of people… We'll also consider whether we allow venues … make up their own rules if they have a business or run a workplace about what they feel is Covid safe."
SOURCE: Aljazeera
Companies pull out from Trump brand after storming of Capitol incident
Corporate America is adding its weight in response to the insurgency at the Capitol building on January 6, and are pulling out from any association with the Trump brand after the storming of the capitol incidentwhich economists say will have a profound medium and long-term effect on his business interests. Recently, Signature Bank closed Trump's personal accounts and the PGA of America stopped plans to hold its 2022 championship at Mr. Trump's New Jersey golf course.
Such a parting of ways signals the business community's weariness in being associated with a political figure that has attracted worldwide attention and is indicative of what may happen to the Trump brand. The president's role in the incident, confirmed by his impeachment by the House this week, has gained criticism from the Business Roundtable to the AFL-CIO labour federation.
Michael D'Antonio, the author of a Trump biography, says the capitol incident has been a game-changer for the support of extreme politics.
"Trump's name is really an albatross. He is the most disgraced president in history. This is a person who's synonymous with a mob attacking the US Capitol. I just think this went a step too far."
Other experts like Tim Calkins, a marketing professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, say Trump's brand will inevitably suffer long-term.
"Before his term, Trump stood for wealth, success and over-the-top luxury. Now the brand has associations with anti-government views, racism and extremism. This makes the brand fairly toxic."
Deutsche Bank, to which Trump reportedly owes around $400 million, is also planning to stop engaging in business with him. But the president dismissed any business challenges in an October 15 televised event by saying that the $400 million he owed was "a tiny percentage of my net worth."
It appears true that some of Trump's properties have benefitted from his presidency as taxpayer revenue has continuously flowed into his golf courses and clubs where he stays with his family, the secret service and the White House staff.
In fact, CREW estimates that Trump's properties took in over $100 million from more than 500 visits by the president, according to a report in September 2020. But even that business transaction has received widespread criticism as many say Trump should not have mixed politics with his personal businesses.
D'Antonio predicts that Trump may sell current assets to pay off his Deutsche Bank debt, which means there could be fewer to none Trump hotels, golf courses or towers in the next 10 years.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post
The deaths of 23 elderly people are being investigated after dying a short time of receiving their first Covid-19 vaccine in Norway. Apart from the 23 deaths, medical officials are also reporting several people falling ill after receiving their first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.
At this stage there has been no direct correlation between the people's deaths and inoculation wit the Pfizer vaccine, but medical officials report that 13 out of 23 people who died showed "common side effects of mRNA vaccines" such as "diarrhea, nausea and fever".
mRNA vaccines are a new type of vaccine to protect against infectious diseases. To trigger an immune response, many vaccines put a weakened or inactivated germ into our bodies. Not mRNA vaccines. Instead, they teach our cells how to make a protein—or even just a piece of a protein—that triggers an immune response inside our bodies. That immune response, which produces antibodies, is what protects us from getting infected if the real virus enters our bodies – cdc.gov
The Norwegian Institute of Public Health has taken the action of cautioning against vaccinating elderly people above 80 years of age saying "those with a short life span may not benefit much from the jab".
"For those with the most severe frailty, even relatively mild vaccine side effects can have serious consequences."
"The agency listed fever and nausea as side effects which may have led to the deaths of some frail patients."
Earlier this week, the Public Health authority noted that "any side effects of the vaccine will be outweighed by a reduced risk of becoming seriously ill with Covid-19 for elderly, frail people."
Steinar Madsen, the medical director of the Norwegian Medicines Agency, says that it may be a coincidence, "but we aren't sure".
Pfizer and BioNTech are actively working with the Norwegian authorities to investigate the death.
"The regulator discovered the number of incidents so far is not alarming and in line with expectations."
But experts are of "the strong opinion" that doctors need to exercise caution in vaccinating people in the wake of the deaths of the 23 elderly people. The Norwegian Medicines Agency also reported that 21 women and 8 men reported side effects. Apart from the 23 deaths, 9 people have reported "serious side effects" without fatal outcomes such as "allergic reactions, strong discomfort and severe fever. Seven people reported less serious side effects such as severe pain at the injection site".
Norwegian medical staff had administered at least the first dose of the Pfizer or Moderna coronavirus vaccines to approximately 33,000 people as of the end of December.
Thailand1 hour ago


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ZOMBIE MONK: ICY IN ANTARCTICA • by Brenda Anderson
December 18, 2017 Every Day Fiction 7 Comments
Crushed, frozen and unable to breathe, Brother Martin cried out in panic, "Lord, where am I?"
"Dead, under a hundred feet of snow." The Lord's voice was clear and unaffected. "You've been buried for centuries on the side of the Carpathian Mountains. Enough. I have a job for you." Martin fought down joy and incredulity. Dead or alive, he remained the Lord's servant. He listened hard. "A massive glacier has calved off the Antarctic landmass and exposed a creature who, like you, has slept for centuries. Find him. Through no fault of his own, he's entered your world and cannot return to his. Take his hand. Here, I give you directions."
The ice around him split. With a surge of relief, Martin sat upright and quickly crossed himself. He saw weak light through a narrow tunnel. "How will I recognise him?"
"You won't," said the Lord. "Methane is a colorless, odorless gas. He's formed a shell round himself, to protect his core temperature. More than anything, he resembles a giant snowball. I repeat: take his hand."
Martin scrambled out, dusted off his monk's habit and trekked south as far as the ocean. Here, he stopped to pray. The waters lapped his feet and froze into a narrow pathway before him. Martin followed it. Countless days and nights later, he found the giant snowball. Its intense cold penetrated right through to his bones. Martin trudged up to the snowball, said a quick prayer and laid both hands on it.
Relief, fear and panic flooded his mind. Martin found that he could disentangle these feelings. After a while, he made sense of them and could even project his own thoughts. <Don't worry. The Lord sent me.>
The snowball backed off, picked up speed and rolled away. Martin tried to follow and fell flat on his face. <Wait> he gasped <I must extend the hand of friendship>
The snowball rolled away faster and faster. Martin got to his feet. What a failure he'd turned out to be: unable to win over even a snowball. A frozen tear slid down his face. In life he'd excelled at non-imaginative duties like peeling potatoes, tending the monastery garden and sweeping floors. By a long stretch, this was the most important task ever entrusted to him. His thoughts drifted. He'd gone out into the snow a few days before Christmas. With a little work, his newfound friend would make a passable snowman. Martin shook his head. What frivolous thoughts. Perhaps the Lord had already recalled the living and the dead. Perhaps He was gathering stragglers before unleashing the Apocalypse.
The giant snowball turned and rolled towards him, gaining speed.
As the snowball rolled over him, Martin remembered to extend the right hand of friendship.
Martin opened his eyes. Indescribable joy flooded through him. He stood in a place full of light, surrounded by a multitude of excited souls. He recognised the one next to him, and greeted him warmly.
The ex-snowball eyed him. "You."
His companion looked around. "And this is…?"
"We call it Heaven." At last, he'd come home.
"I remember now," said his companion, in a wistful tone. "I was frigid methane, a comet arcing through the nothingness of space, adrift in creation. I shielded myself against the probability of losing my very existence in a cold, uncaring universe. I'd lost all hope."
Martin looked him up and down. "I was crushed by a massive snowball. You."
They studied each other.
"Look at it this way," continued Martin. "We had a snowball's chance in hell of making it here. How merciful is the Lord," he added, with fervor.
"This Lord of yours…"
"Look, over there!" cried Martin. "He's coming! At last, my eyes have seen the glory of the Lord, the light of his shekinah! Behold, the Lord of Hosts, Almighty Father!"
The ex-snowball spluttered. "Wait! It's come to me! I know what this is about!"
"You do?"
The ex-snowball started to hum. "'See that star up in the sky? I wish somehow, I wish some day, I can meet that very star!' Except I was a comet, but hey… what did a little, dying kid know about astronomy? He pointed at me. Me! He wanted to meet me. And now I'm here."
Martin felt a surge of excitement, and awe. In the multitude of excited souls, one was about to get his dying wish.
How blessed is the Lord, he reflected.
Brenda Anderson's fiction has appeared in various places, most recently in Daily Science Fiction. She lives in Adelaide, South Australia, and tweets irregularly @CinnamonShops.
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Fantasy, Humour / Satire, Stories Brenda Anderson, comets, God, monks
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Q: Intermittent simplexml_load_file(): I/O warning on local Joomla site I've just started getting an intermittent error on all pages of a joomla dev site I'm running on localhost.
The full warning is:
Warning: simplexml_load_file(): I/O warning : failed to load external entity "/site/language/en-GB/en-GB.xml" in /site/libraries/joomla/language/language.php on line 1354
The strange thing is that it is intermittent and a few refreshes will usually resolve the problem.
Is there a code problem that could be causing this or is it something else?

A: Let me put it here just in case for somebody will google for an answer and the solution with not thread-safe libxml_disable_entity_loader(false) will not be applicable. The potential vulnerability of enabling the entity loader system-wide is shown below:
<!DOCTYPE scan [<!ENTITY test SYSTEM
      "php://filter/read=convert.base64-encode/resource=/etc/passwd">]>
<scan>&test;</scan>

The problem caused by the lack of thread safety is explained here. Although one might either register her own entity loader with libxml_set_external_entity_loader, or use locks  to protect calls to libxml_disable_entity_loader, these solutions seem a bit puzzling.
The good news is that the problem with external entities affects only the functions dealing with files (e.g. simplexml_load_file, DOMDocument::schemaValidate and like). That makes the solution straight and simple. First load file content as string and then execute the respective libxml string-oriented function.
simplexml_load_string(file_get_contents($xml));

and/or
$xml = new DOMDocument('1.0', 'UTF8');
$xml->loadXML(file_get_contents($xmlFile));
$xml->schemaValidateSource(file_get_contents($xsdFile));

Hope it helps somebody.

A: It's early days yet to say conclusively that this fix works but it seems to have fixed it for now.
EDIT: Haven't seen any reoccurrence since making this change so I can confirm that this has resolved the problem.
add libxml_disable_entity_loader(false); to joomla's index.php
Credit goes to Corneliu on the Joomla forum for his post in this thread:
J! 3.1.6/3.2 simplexml_load_file, JForm::getInstance errors


text:
50th ANNIVERSARY OF "THE LION SLEEPS TONIGHT" …JAY SIEGEL and THE TOKENS!
It's hard to believe that it's been 50 years when we first heard "THE LION SLEEPS TONIGHT" and the incredible falsetto of Jay Siegel of the Tokens. One of the defining records of the sixties that is still so fresh it could have been recorded yesterday. I talked to my old friend Jay a few days ago, and was amazed when he told me that he hasn't lost the stratospheric top notes in his vocal range, which is probably why i guess Jay Siegel and the New Tokens do so incredibly well on the oldies circuit…they sound like the hit records!
The original group, Hank Medress, Jay, Phil, and Mitch Margo in addition to making hit records themselves produced classic hits for other artists, The Chiffons ("He's So Fine", "One Fine Day") Tony Orlando and Dawn ("Knock Three Times", "Candida"). Although I never got a single cut with any of their artists I enjoyed playing material for them and engaging in the knock hockey tournaments they held in their offices at 1697 Broadway.
When I interviewed Hank Medress, for Spectropop, just before he passed away, I asked him how the group got together and how they came to record "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" Hank said, "I knew Jay Siegel from school, and Neil Sedaka, who was still halfway in our group, thought Jay sang great! Then I heard about these two brothers, Phil and Mitch Margo. I went down to Ocean Parkway to check them out. Right away we all started writing songs together, which included 'Tonight I Fell In Love'. I borrowed $60 and we made a demo of the song. I was riding the subway home to Brighton Beach, some lady overhears me talking about the record we just made, says she and her son have a record company … they release it and we have our first hit! On that same session, we recorded 'Wimoweh', before it became 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight'. That was the song we used to sing on street corners. Jay Siegel was the one who turned us on to that song. He was a big Pete Seeger fan and he loved his version of 'Wimoweh'."
Hank continued, "We had an audition with Hugo and Luigi at RCA. First we played them our original songs, but they weren't very interested. Then they asked if we had anything else? I said there's a song we sing on the beach. It's a chant and it doesn't have words. They wanted to hear it. They said, "That's a hit! What does the lyric mean?" We told them Jay had checked with the African consulate and it was about a lion hunt, etc. Hugo and Luigi said they wanted to put a lyric to it. When we came to the recording session, they handed Jay the lyric as he was about to go on microphone. Jay changed the melody to make the lyric fit the meter … and the rest is history!"
FOR THE TOURING SCHEDULE OF JAY SIEGEL AND THE NEW TOKENS VISIT THEIR WEBSITE http://jaysiegelandthetokens.com/
top photo left to right- Jay Traynor, Jay Siegel, and Bill Reid
bottom photo Hank Medress, Jay Siegel, Phil and Mitch Margo
Tags: "THE LION SLEEPS TONIGHT" 50TH ANNIVERSARY, hank medress, JAY SIEGAL AND THE NEW TOKENS
14 Responses to "50th ANNIVERSARY OF "THE LION SLEEPS TONIGHT" …JAY SIEGEL and THE TOKENS!"
Jay Siegel Says:
Hi, It's Jay.. This little historic story is right on!. One of the few articles that has been written about us that is so very accurate.. Artie should know as he was there!! Can' believe it's been 50 years that "The Lion" reached #1 in the nation..
I'm still performing that song in the original key.. Artie , keep it up..We need you!!….Jay Siegel -The Tokens
Jay Traynor Says:
It's funny but it's 50 years for my Jay and the Americans hit "She Cried" also, which by the way Jay let's me perform in our current Jay Siegel's Tokens show. I joined him 6 years ago. I have to tell you he kills audiences today with the "Lion Sleeps Tonight! Congrats to you and all of us who are still performing and keeping this part of music history going.
Jay Leslie Says:
I have had the pleasure and honor of performing with Jay Siegel's Tokens on numerous occasions as the featured saxophone soloist on "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" as well as other selections in their show;….
….and every time out, it's guaranteed that a standing ovation will ensue when they sing their last "Wim-O-Weh";
Thank you Jay, Jay, & Billy for allowing me to part of your storied careers
JAY LESLIE
steven frei Says:
Really enjoyed reading this.
Tom Diehl Says:
I've seen Jay Siegel and the Tokens a number of times (At least 5 or 6 in the last 3 years since I started actively attending oldies concerts as time and money has permitted me, I am only 26 after all, and work full time for a living). I've never been disappointed in their sound.
Here's a fun story for you. One time after a concert in Lancaster, PA my friend George and I were getting into George's car parked behind the theater (the only place we could find a parking space at all on the theater grounds, the show was sold out) and as I'm getting in the car, I noticed someone looking very much like Jay Siegel talking to someone else close to the theater, so I grabbed the 45 I brought to possibly have signed (most acts at that show were not out doing autographs, the Tokens among them, unfortunately) and I shyly walked up to him. I had so much wanted to gush on and on about how much I love their music and have ever since I was a little kid, but I couldn't force the words out, instead just replying "yeah!" when he asked if I had a 45 of his (the record, by the way, is of I Hear Trumpets Blow, something I've never heard them sing in concert but wish they would add it to their set sometime when I see them). So he signed my 45 and also one my friend brought, and then he went on his way and we went on ours. As we were driving around looking for a place to eat after the show, I think we passed by Jay in one of the local shopping centers (it would've been funny if we'd bumped into him again at dinner but there were no restaurants in that area, and we wanted to find someplace quick so we could eat before the second show that evening).
Jay is one of very few artists performing songs in their original key today and he's been blessed with an amazing voice. I'm proud that 50 years later, he still delights audiences and sounds as good as ever and I can't wait til I get a chance to see him again (which will be in about a month at Bowzer's Ultimate Doo-Wop Party Vol. XI at the Mohegan Sun area in Uncasville, CT — which will happen about a month from now, and a little over a week after my 27th birthday, so it will be my present to myself to attend that show).
The lion may sleep tonight, but the lion will live on forever.
posted on behalf of Warren Shatz
I love the Tokens and Jay is a very special guy'. They were kind enough to sing on almost all my records in the sixtys along with Ellie, Jeanie and Mikie.
posted on behalf of Norman Bergen
Jay is the best!
Malcolm Collins Says:
Love "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". It's the only time I go into the jungle. I wish I had the opportunity to see The Tokens, but nobody comes to Tallahassee Florida to sing. And when I sing, dogs bark.
posted on behalf of Richard Podolsky
Great story Artie. Jay tells it with a little twist in my upcoming Don Kirshner book: He brought the demo into Don's office for all to hear before it was released. At its conclusion he anxiously awaited Carole King's reaction. "It's a fucking smash!" she said, and Jay let out a sigh of relief.
Paul James Says:
In the winter of 1976, I was having some friends over and one, a Brother in the Catholic Church, had given a ride to a fella that was hitching to a gig in Florida. Turned out, he was one of The Tokens! I don't remember his name, but he gave me his autograph, which I have in a date-book somewhere "among my souvenirs"! He sang for us, quite well, however when he talked, he did stammer a lot. If this "rings a bell" with anyone, please give me a reply on Facebook. Paul James, Amory, MS
wimoweh@optonline.net Says:
Thanks Artie. Hope all is well.. Jay
John Laughter Says:
Does anyone know the name of the soprano sax player who played on the "original" recording by The Tokens? Thanks.
His name was Bob Burns
Thanks soooo much Jay!
« RON ANTON…ROCK IN PERPETUITY!
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HANUKKAH FROM ARTIE WAYNE ON THE WEB! »


text:
Queen City Roller Derby · Buffalo, New York
Western New York's Official Flat Track Roller Derby
About QCRD
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Featured Skater
Featured Skater – Jiffy Pop
March 8, 2019 March 19, 2019 - by QCRG Public Relations
Photo Credit: Katie Janese
This month's featured skater has been involved with QCRG since the very start, Jiffy Pop. Jiffy Pop (Jiffy for short) and her team the Saucies are currently undefeated. They have an upcoming on March 8th against the Alley Kats. Jiffy has played on several teams within the league and is one of the first Junior League graduates. Jiffy is a fantastic Jammer who will not hesitate to make that apex jump and leave opponents behind with her incredible speed. A fierce competitor, but an extraordinarily kind person both on and off skates Jiffy has an incredible passion for roller derby and is always willing to help.
How did you get started with roller derby?
Photo Credit: Jeff Ostrander
I started skating in 2012, but I got started in 2006 when my mom started the Queen City Roller Girls. I always wanted to play since she started it, I watched every single game, was in the locker rooms, getting an inside look at what teams looked like, and I really wanted her to start a junior league. We saw that some were popping up around the area. She started working on it in 2011, it got started in 2012. Me and my sister were the first to join, we had 2 teams and a good amount of skaters that year.
What are your hobbies outside of roller derby, do you have any?
Outside of roller derby? Not really. I really just hang out with my dogs a lot, like taking pictures with them and just doing a lot of stuff with my dogs. But nothing to crazy outside of derby.
What would you say has been your biggest challenge moving up from the junior league to the adult league?
I'd say my biggest challenge would be people taking into consideration how much experience I have. A lot of people when they hear about juniors moving up they think they don't have a lot of skill or experience, but junior play is actually very competitive. I played in the Junior Olympics and there were a lot of good skaters there, and some of the junior teams I've played with are on par with adult skaters. So I'd say being taken seriously by other skaters. I feel like people see juniors as rookies, when we're not really rookies. We're new to the adult league and it's a lot different, but skill wise it's similar.
If you could change one thing about roller derby, what would it be?
There isn't really anything I'd change about the sport, but maybe peoples perspective of the sport. I'd like to see it be taken more seriously as a sport. A lot of people think of derby as a hobby or something you just do on the side. A lot of people put a lot of their time into it, especially WFTDA high level teams and a lot of the home teams do too. So I'd really like to see it taken more seriously like mens sports. People tend to see women's sports a little differently but we definitely put in a lot of work. We do off skates training, put in a lot of time for practices. It's a lot of time and effort and I feel like people don't see it that way. That's what I'd change.
Photo Credit: Rene T. van Ee
You're on the Saucies this year, and your mom was on the Saucies, how do you feel about playing for the team? Do you feel a strong connection to it?
Yeah, I've always had a connection to the saucies because of my mom. Although the teams have changed so much, it's still pretty cool. I get to wear her old merch and rep all that so it's really cool. It's pretty exciting, I've been a Saucies fan since my mom played on there so it's cool to call myself a Saucie.
Last season you got to travel with the Lake Effect Furies to Georgia for playoffs, how was that experience?
That was really cool, although I wasn't exactly on the team it was cool to get an inside look at what the team looks like. It gave me a good idea of what being a fury is like. I participated in all the pregame stuff, all the off skates warmups, all the team talks. I saw how serious they took it and it was pretty cool to be part of that travel team experience. Unfortunately I didn't play, but it was still very cool to get to watch and be on the bench. It was awesome.
This season you made the Lake effect Furies how excited are you to be playing on the travel "A" team?
It's very exciting, I'm very honored to be on the team this year. It's something that I really wanted to do for a long time. When I started Juniors, my goal was to be a Fury. It's exciting to finally get there. Now I feel I can improve even more in my skills. The coaches are great this year. We've got Laci Knight, she's a top roller derby skater from Team USA, her input is so important, Guy and Bricks have tons of experience too. It's pretty cool to work with awesome coaches and awesome skaters. It challenges me more and more every practice.
Do you expect it will be a big change going from the Subzero Sirens to the Lake Effect Furies?
Oh definitely, Sirens was awesome too, I'm sad I couldn't be a part of it this year. I love griff and papa, their coaching skills are amazing. Unfortunately I couldn't find time for the Sirens too this year, but I'm very excited for the Furies, it will definitely be a jump up.
So what is it like going up against your sister? Do you two get very competitive outside of the game, or do you leave that all on the track?
I'd say we leave it all on the track. Before games we always get ready together, and talk about how we think the game's gonna go. We never really talk about going against each other until we're on the track and even then it sort of leaves your head. I just mostly focus on getting through the pack. So I don't really focus on my sister being out there. Although she is a crazy good blocker, so it's hard not to think about it. We do get competitive but we also do love playing with each other on the Furies, and previously the Sirens, but it's cool to mix it up.
Photo Credit: BrianGrinham.com
When you're skating, you tend to very quickly become a fan favorite. Does that fuel you during games, is it distracting, or a lot of pressure?
I say it fuels me more than anything. One thing I love about sports in general is the crowd, the cheering, the excitement you get from it. So I'd say when I get that from the crowd it does fuel me a lot. I feel like I build off the energy from the people in the audience. I definitely say it fuels me. It's super cool to take pictures with people after. I'm like "Really, you want a picture with me?" It's a lot of fun.
Do you personally have any favorite derby players?
Yes definitely. Well my all time favorite players I'd have to say are my mom when she played, and my sister, who definitely inspires me to be a better skater. WFTDA level wise I'd have to say Loren Mutch from Rose City and Blackman from Denver. They're both junior graduate skaters. Especially Blackman, she is a blocker and when I do block I relate to her because of her size. She's a smaller player so it's cool to watch her skate because I pick up things from watching what she does. And Loren Mutch is just so quick it's unbelievable, I don't know how she does it. And of course all of the Lake Effect Furies, the Subzero Sirens and everyone else in QCRG are my favorite skaters. They're all awesome to play with.
When you play, you're usually a Jammer, what is your favorite part about being a jammer?
I'd say my favorite part about being a jammer is that you don't get coached on how to jam exactly. Every jammer has their own style, so it's cool to build your own style when jamming. So I'd say that's my all time favorite part, you do work with your team, but it's cool to work on your own stuff, like footwork. So I'd say it's definitely being able to develop my own style.
Do you think you'll ever switch to being a pivot or a blocker full time and stop jamming?
I don't know if I'll be able to stop jamming. I'm thinking maybe in the future of taking a home season to block a little or pivot just to see how I like it, but I definitely have my heart set on jamming, I always have since I started. I do love blocking as well, it's cool to work with everyone a little more, and I think it's important to learn both positions because both positions help each other. They correlate well, when you learn how to jam as a blocker you learn what a jammer might do and when you block and you're a jammer, it's good for jammer defense.
In your derby career, what stands out as your favorite derby moment?
Photo Credit: Callam Sports
So far I'd have to say the AAU Junior olympic games. It was pretty cool to work with Teflon Donna and Devoida Mercy, they were awesome coaches. I got to play against skaters from all over the world. That was definitely a favorite moment. It was cool to work with skaters I never worked with before from different leagues that I otherwise would never have played with. It was definitely a cool experience. We placed 6th out of 8th, which is not last! It was awesome, and really fun.
Do you have any long term derby goals?
I'd say getting some more high level play, which I'll be getting with the furies. It's going to be cool going to playoffs and hopefully jamming more against higher level teams. My goal is definitely to work on my footwork more and my off-skates training because all that helps in becoming a better skater overall. Definitely just work on everything and keep improving myself.
There are some pretty cool roller derby venues, do you have a favorite place you've played?
Atlanta, GA was pretty cool. The furthest I've travelled was Dallas TX, that was pretty cool. It was an amazing venue. But honestly of all the places, my favorite venue I've ever played in is Buffalo Riverworks. It's pretty cool to be in a sports venue, and we get a good crowd here. We get a sports crowd and that goes along with getting that good audience that fuels everyone. I think we get that here, and I think it's really cool. So my all time favorite place to play is definitely Riverworks, and the coolest place I've travelled to was Atlanta.
Interview by Real Slim Skatey
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text:
Things Are Looking Green for the Olympics
Individuals have already begun speculating about which country will win the bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics. Many say that the United States is seriously pushing to win the bid. If they do indeed win this bid, not only is the United States Olympic Committee USOC looking to further athletic achievements, but to make substantial environmental changes to the event. This began with naming Andrew Liveris and Dow Chemical the worldwide partner in the Olympics for the next decade.
As fantastic and unifying as the Olympics are, it's quite a carbon-rich event. So while these changes may only seem minor, they're actually a huge deal. It has been estimated that over 2/3 of the carbon emissions from the event is a result of some of the 1.5+ million attendees traveling (mostly via airplane) to and from the event.
CEO Andrew Liveris and USOC members are looking to do more by following the lead of the 2008 Summer Games that were held in Beijing. The 2008 summer Olympics made great efforts to showcase conservation practices and sustainable energy sources, Exactly what environmentally friendly services did the Olympic facilities feature?
Solar power – Used to light lawns, courtyards and streets at several venues, including the Olympic Village. A 130 KW photovoltaic system illuminated The National Stadium, where events such as athletics and football were held.
Water Conservation – Waste water collected from the Qinghe sewage treatment plant was filtered and used for the various heating and cooling needs throughout the Olympics site, yielding a 60% savings in electricity. Rainwater was collected from around the grounds, collecting over 75,000 gallons by using water permeable bricks, pipes and wells installed on roofs, roads and green areas.
Natural Light – Remember the famous 'Water Cube' where the aquatic events were held? The walls of the National Aquatics Centre provided natural light, and for the interior of the building, specially designed 'beam-pipes' funneled sunlight into corridors, toilets and car parks at venues, including the Olympic Green.
Recycling – The 2008 Olympic hosts aimed for a 50 per cent recycling of waste including paper, metals and plastics at venues. A modest expectation, considering that a test run carried out during the 11th World Softball Championships held in 2007, achieved a nearly 90 per cent recycling rate.
While the Olympics in 2008 had great new ways of filtration and insulation for the events. That vision has progressed to include dozens of other products which will help reduce waste and promote conservation. You can expect these products to appear at the coming events over the next decade and be a part of the USOC recommendations.
Co-written by Nerissa Barry and Daniel Fielding
| Tags: energy efficiency, going green, green living, green living news, sustainability
European cities lead the way in influencing travel behavior through parking reforms
HGA House gets Awarded by USGBC LEED® Platinum. 4,800 Sq. Ft. Home One of Largest LEED Platinum Homes


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For many people, the thought of speaking in public invokes a huge amount of distress and anxiety. You may feel shaky, sweaty, nauseous or feel unable to speak. These are all a natural physical reaction to a perceived "danger" and your fight or flight response sets in.
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Costa will enable you to feel like someone who has never been afraid of communicating your message to others, and usually in just two sessions!
A self-belief that you can approach public speaking with a new level of calmness, confidence and control.


text:
Generalmente, el término aficionado o amateur se aplica a todo aquel que realiza las actividades de su afición sin un carácter de ejercicio profesional. Así, por ejemplo, un deportista amateur es el que, en contraste con uno profesional, práctica un deporte «por afición», es decir, sin que el realizarlo tenga una motivación económica. Un aficionado puede tener menor, igual o mayor capacidad y aptitud que un profesional en esa área de manera que el término no implica un sentido peyorativo al compararlos. Es frecuente que personas que realizan una actividad profesional también la practiquen en forma «aficionada». Básicamente, se trata de la persona que hace algo solamente por vocación.

Etimología
Amateur deriva de la lengua francesa, que a su vez derivada de la raíz de la palabra en latín amat, la cual significa 'amar a' o 'el amante de'. Un amateur puede ser tan hábil como un profesional, sin embargo su motivación es el amor o la pasión por una cierta actividad y no tiene el fin de ganar dinero por realizarla.

Aficiones comunes
Algunas aficiones difundidas son:
 Animal de compañía
 Acuariofilia
 Terrariofilia
 Car audio
 Bricolaje
 Cocina
 Audiofilia
 Coleccionismo
 Filatelia
 Numismática
 Fotografía
 Militaria
 Edificios Souvenir
 Glucofilia
 Cine y cultura cinematográfica
 Jardinería
 Bonsái
 Modelismo
 Aeromodelismo
 Tren eléctrico
 Pintado de miniaturas
 Lectura y cultura literaria
 Historietas
 Música
 Canto
 Tocar un instrumento musical
 Origami
 Papercraft
 Radioafición
 Deportes
 Pasatiempos
 Videojuegos
 Televisión
 Series de televisión
 Documentales

Véase también
 Amateur
 Pasatiempo
 Profesional
 Fanático
 Deporte
 Diversión

Referencias

Enlaces externos

Terminología deportiva