The tactic of changing style books in different print and electronic media is to change how news consumers think about what they're hearing. I recall the first tactic was making 'pro-life' a pejorative. Then the style books changed and they were not to be called 'pro-life' anymore, but 'anti'-something, as in 'abortion-rights', or 'opponents of abortion rights'. You know, plant the negative connotation about a social movement and turn public opinion against them as a bunch of activists who want to take rights away.
It would be tempting to call it a game, but semantic engineering has changed the way we hear public debates about social issues. Control information and you control thought.
National Public Radio has taken that tactic to the next level. They've changed their style books again.
The folks at National Public Radio understand the power of words. Managing Editor David Sweeney announced yesterday that the station would no longer refer to people in the abortion debate as "pro-choice" and "pro-life." Instead, the station will say "abortion rights advocates" and "abortion rights opponents," according to a memo circulated to NPR staff.
In making this change, NPR is shifting the terms of the debate to make it more friendly to the pro-choice position.
I called Sweeney to ask him if NPR was going to change its terminology concerning gun rights. He did not return my call (I will post an update if he does).
But NPR apparently does not see it that way. The station's staff sees the issue — and now frames it on air — as a battle over women's rights, not the rights of the unborn.
This debate will advance in greater strides when everyone can understand that it's about both.
Specifically, the Washington Post was responsible for this jaw-dropper. For anyone who has followed the groundbreaking work of pregnancy help centers, pro-life advocates and conscientous legislators in South Dakota over the past few years, WaPo's praise for the bravery of the state's only abortionist was astonishingly clueless.
Indeed. That sounds consistent with how Dr. Ball views her abortion involvement.
Let's go back and look at the most comprehensive document written on the subject since Roe v. Wade, the 2005 'South Dakota Report of the Task Force to Study Abortion'. When you get the chance, read the whole document. For now, let's look at a snip involving testimony from state Planned Parenthood director Kate Looby and Dr. Carol Ball.
At this point, the Task Force applies the standards South Dakota's legislators considered necessary to qualify any signed 'consent' as being truly informed.
We find first that Planned Parenthood fails to inform the pregnant mother in any language that her unborn child is in existence. It is impossible for a woman to give informed consent to an abortion if she does not fully understand that her child is in existence and that she is consenting to the termination of the life of her child.
cannot, in a professional or moral sense, contend that proper authority has been obtained from the mother if she is not fully aware that she is giving such authority. Dr. Ball and Ms. Looby testified that the women who come to Planned Parenthood sign a "consent" to have an abortion without first speaking to the doctor. These consent forms are filled out before the doctorsees the patient.
The video, Dr. Ball, and Ms. Looby all verify that the women are told that they may ask questions of the doctor who is to perform the abortion. However, we find that the process which results in the pregnant mother signing the consent form and making her decision before ever seeing or speaking to a abortion doctor is incompatible with the principles of a doctor's duty to see that the patient's decision is informed before she consents to an operative procedure.
Following her testimony, Dr. Ball was asked what she would tell a woman who asked her "Is this a human life?" or "At what point in the process does human life begin?" or similar questions. Dr. Ball testified that she would refuse to answer these questions. When pressed on this point, Dr. Ball stated that it is a subjective matter for the woman to decide, and an answer from her is nothing but her subjective personal opinion.
No, it is not a subjective personal opinion that human life exists from conception. Choosing to deny the facts doesn't change the facts.
That someone with a medical degree can make such a testimony is simply stunning. That she performs abortions, and is praised by the Washington Post for her bravery in continuing to do so, is in the realm of the bizarre. And another measure of how irrelevant big media can really be.
Health care summit or theater?
It's interesting……I was traveling, and caught some of the first few hours of this summit. Early on, a resolute President Obama started with his usual posture head tilted back, chin up, looking down the nose in a commanding way at those around him. That quickly faded to a dead-on stare, and then various positions of head cradled in hand while staring down the Republican opposition. Frankly, I didn't expect the Republicans to come better prepared than the Democrats, but they seemed to be measured and reasoned and fact-based. They've been represented in the media as discombobulated and void of ideas. Sounded like they offered plenty in the first two hours alone.
Coburn, a physician who has co-authored an alternative reform bill, was one of the key spokesmen at the summit for Senate Republicans, giving his views at the outset of the meeting and again at other points.
He said the nation could dramatically cut the amount spent in the health care system by attacking waste and fraud in the public programs, Medicare and Medicaid. The money saved from rooting out waste and fraud, he said, could be used to provide access to care for those who currently lack it.
Coburn said one-third of the money spent on health care doesn't go toward treating the sick or preventing illness.
Coburn also said fear of medical malpractice suits was akin to "extortion" that drives doctors to order tests for their own protection rather than for patients.
At the end of a long day, I was surprised to find little to no coverage of this dramatic event in most of the elite media. Fox News devoted hours to it. CNN seemed to be covering anything but this summit, at least when I checked, which I did throughout the evening. Online, top news stories of the day turned up all kinds of articles on events both national and international….with the glaring omission of the health care summit.
Obama dominated the meeting at Blair House, the presidential guest residence across from the White House. He challenged Republicans to defend their step-by-step approach to health care or come around to Democrats' comprehensive measure.
"After five decades of dealing with this issue, starting over … means not doing much," the president said.
What? Is he insinuating that "most Republicans [don't] want to do anything"? That's ludicrous, and if Thursday's summit openly showed anything it was the determination of both parties to put forward their own particular, specific plans.
Obama said the two sides should take up to six weeks to try and merge their philosophically divergent views about health coverage, costs and ways to overhaul the insurance market. If there's still no agreement, he said, "that's what elections are for." And he did not rule out having Senate Democrats pass the bill with a 51-vote majority, rather than a 60-vote supermajority they no longer have because of Republican Scott Brown's election in Massachusetts.
Before the health care 'summit' began Thursday morning, there was plenty of media skepticism over whether Washington politicians, in the Congress and the administration, can actually put bitter partisanship aside and finally and responsibly deliberate over the people's business. Consensus is that it's doubtful.
The Financial Times captures the ideas pretty well in this brief editorial.
Tuesday's meeting of Barack Obama and congressional leaders from both parties to discuss healthcare is, first and foremost, a political show – but do not underestimate its importance. Badly needed reform hangs in the balance, and so do the wider prospects for Mr Obama's presidency.
The theatrical aspect of this televised "summit" is apparent. There is no will on either side to compromise. The Republicans are intent on blocking comprehensive reform. The president's new proposal, on the other hand, merges bills recently passed by partisan majorities in the House and Senate, offering no concession to conservative complaints. Each party simply aims to embarrass the other.
Shamefully true. And they make the sorry point that it is also "sadly" true that partisan tactical moves on camera in front of the nation will wind up being the measure of success. Like how well Mr. Obama can obscure Democrats' plan to make a power play, or can 'expose Republicans' failure to offer an alternative'.
Outreach to Republicans on matters such as medical liability reform would improve the president's proposal, lend it a bipartisan flavour and impress many voters. Mr Obama should attempt that today. Unfortunately, he knows that this approach risks worsening the Democrats' splits, and would most likely elicit no new Republican support. And so the show goes on: a deeply dispiriting struggle, with no resolution yet in sight.
We'll see, at the end of the day.
The pivotal Washington health care summit is about many things and much of it is political posturing. Maybe most. By both parties. What's getting little attention is the persistent issue of abortion at the core of both House and Senate versions, and how the policians in Congress are handling it.
The day before the much-hyped event, at least the WSJ re-framed the picture.
Abortion was one of the final matters to be resolved in December when the Senate created its version of the health-care bill, with a carefully crafted compromise that left neither side in the debate happy. If a final bill is to clear the House, Democrats will have to find a way to finesse the problem again. One idea being floated involves inserting more-restrictive language later into a spending bill.
At issue is whether health-insurance policies people would buy with federal subsidies established by the legislation could offer abortion coverage.
 When the House debated its health bill last year, antiabortion Democrats led by Rep. Bart Stupak (D., Mich.) won language prohibiting insurers from selling plans that cover abortion to any person receiving the subsidies. With their votes, the bill passed 220-215.
The Senate language is less restrictive. It allows insurers to offer abortion coverage as long as customers write a separate check to pay for it, an exercise meant to assure that no federal money goes toward abortion services. That provision was a compromise aimed at satisfying Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, the last Democratic holdout.
But Mr. Stupak said the Senate version left too big a loophole, while abortion-rights supporters argued that in practice, it would be too cumbersome for insurance companies to collect separate checks and they wouldn't cover abortion at all.
Note the langauge in the reporting, "anti-abortion Democrats"…."abortion-rights supporters". Cue the readers…"anti" is bad, "rights" are good, right?
The WSJ has bought into the media style book that changed designations to change public opinion.
Let's think critically: If you can't assure citizens that the government won't pay to end human life, how can you buy into negotiations supposedly assuring that the government will pay to advance the health of all citizens?
Though it was much-anticipated and rather heavily promoted in the media, I made no note of the Tiger Woods press conference scheduled to televise his first public statement since his scandalous affairs broke last November. But then happened upon it simply by turning on the news that Friday morning, just as it was beginning. Asked about it a few days later on radio, I said little except that we can't judge the heart or intentions of anyone. But actions are visible, and he did seem kind of peeved that he had to be out there talking about this….
A lot of folks in the media did not hold back their opinion of the televised event, of the timing and location and wording Tiger Woods and/or his handlers chose for this occasion. It was everywhere.
So the next evening, my son and I are having this lively conversation and jokingly turn the television that was on in the background to something serene and calm to have on the screen in the background, but muted so it won't distract our attention. Laughing, he said 'The Golf Channel works well', and so we did. But an interesting thing happened…..
Tournament coverage was followed by a studio panel discussion of the Woods press conference, and it seemed serious and engaging, so we listened. It was some of the best insight I've heard yet. Especially the comments emerging from golf pros about what they've put up with for a long time…..Tiger Woods fell out of grace with his colleagues and the press that covered him (in more ways than one) a long time ago. He has behaved badly and angrily on the course time and again, throwing clubs and swearing angrily and breaking a sort of code of honor of the sport that was maintained with decorum by other golf greats before him. One of the broadcasters said he didn't uphold or even recognize the basic level of respectful human discourse expected in the game and certainly at that level when he faced the media after tournaments.
Wow. Good lessons here for everyone. Where was this conversation before the fall?
Anyway….here's a Golf Channel sample of reactions. Including the Dalai Lama's.
When Tiger talked about returning to Buddhism, he talked about realizing he had been looking outside himself too much. This is very different from a Christian come-to-Jesus apology where someone would admit to thinking too highly of oneself and realizing they need to look outwardly to Jesus. So, perhaps the "control-freak" aspect of this apology boils down somewhat to religious differences about where "redemption" is located.


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Loving the night of Beaujolais Nouveau in Paris is like loving country music. One is constantly obliged to explain oneself. No other genre of wine has been so rightly derided by the international wine press for its superficiality. And yet, as in country music, there remain practitioners of the form whose work attains a sublime simplicity, particularly when experienced in the correct context. In Paris, at the right party, Beaujolais Nouveau is a transcendental event, a cross between Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve, the one night of the year when an otherwise reserved and miserly population abandons its dime-sized, forward-facing café tables to stand around and sing and offer cheers to strangers. For the wine is so cheap that it lends itself to sharing. And the curious secret of the Beaujolais region is that its vanguard – the great winemakers who toil to redeem its reputation from the worldwide Nouveau hangover – still make some fine Beaujolais Nouveau themselves. The evening's challenge is where to find it.
What follows is a list and a map of Paris' greatest Beaujolais Nouveau parties: places where the tradition of ringing in the New Year of the region's wine persists in all its twangy, cherry-fresh glory.
La Robe et le Palais (13 rue des Lavandières Sainte-Opportune, 75001) Owner Olivier Schvirtz and sommelier Loic Mougene throw what is possibly Paris' last remaining quality-conscious midnight-release party for Beaujolais Nouveau on Wednesday the 20th November. The restaurant offers a 55€ menu paired with last year's Beaujolais Nouveau until 11:30PM, at which point they bust out this year's Beaujolais Nouveau, in the presence of a cavalcade of great winemakers. Beaujolais Nouveau from Karim Vionnet, Jean-Claude Lapalu, France Gonzalves, & Xavier Benier.
Café de la Nouvelle Mairie (19 rue des Fossés Saint-Jacques, 75005) Benjamin Courty and Corentin Cucillat are the latest owners of this historic natural wine bar in the 5ème, which has changed hands over the course of its 20 years in business, but has always remained a destination for magnificent wine and simple bistrot cuisine. Saucisson Lyonnais and a daube de boeuf will accompany the gypsy jazz of Paname Swing and sought-after primeurs. Beaujo Nouveau by Guy Breton, Jean-Claude Lapalu, Xavier Benier, Karim Vionnet, plus vin primeur by Nicholas Carmarans. 7:30PM – 1:45AM.
L'Entrée des Artistes (8 rue de Crussol, 75011) Owners Edouard Vermynk and Fabien Lombardi have the good fortune to celebrate their bar's birthday each year on the night of Beaujolais Nouveau. This year the bar marks its third year of reliably drawing pretty much every major Beaujolais producer to its counter for gin & tonics after said winemakers get sick of their own wine. Beaujolais Nouveau from Michel Guignier (the one from Vauxrenard, not the one from Villié-Morgon) and Remi Dufaitre. Music: a vinyl-only classicist hip-hop DJ set. 7:00PM – 2:00AM.
Ma Cave de Fleury (77 impasse Saint-Denis, 75002) Morgane Fleury, the fairy godmother of natural Champagne, hosts a rollocking Beaujolais Nouveau party with wines from France Gonzalvez, Jean-Claude Lapalu, & Remi Dufaitre, along with vin primeur from Jo Landron and Marcel Richaud. Music: Live fanfare (French traditional music involving brass instruments) from Les Charlots d'Eon.
La Quincave (17 rue Bréa, 75006) Come for the Beaujo Nouveau from Karim Vionnet, Jean Foillard, Georges Descombes, and Kéké Descombes at this hole-in-the-wall cave-à-manger by Montparnasse – but stay for the crowd, which reliably consists of a who's-who of the Beaujolais vanguard.
Le Repaire de Cartouche (8 boulevard des Filles du Calvaire, 75011) Legendary terrine maestro Rodolphe Paquin celebrates Beaujo Nouveau with gusto. Beaujolais Nouveau from Karim Vionnet & Guy Breton, along with vin primeur from Thierry Puzelat. Music: A live accordian-guitar-chanteuse combo. Bottles will be priced at 30€ – but they come with free small plates all evening. 7:30PM – 1:45AM.
Le Rubis (14, rue Léopold Bellan, 75002) Marie Carmarans and Geraldine Sarfati, co-owners of unfathomably discreet natural wine bistrot Le Rubis, will be serving Beaujolais Nouveau by Jean-Claude Lapalu, Remi Dufaitre, Jean Foillard, and Karim Vionnet, alongside saucisson Lyonnais by Madame Sibilia and music by Le Rubis Swing Quartet. Don't let the bistrot's unassuming mien fool you: the bistrot's central location and its owners' impressive industry rolodex all but assure a lively evening. 6:00PM – 1:45AM.
Aux Tonneaux des Halles (28, rue Montorgeuil, 75001) Proprietor Patrick Fabre has been throwing Paris' most rocking Beaujolais Nouveau event for 24 years straight at his dirt-simple terraced bistrot near Etienne Marcel. Expect appearances by all winemakers involved. Beaujolais Nouveau from Marcel Joubert, Jean Foillard, Georges Descombes, France Gonzalves, and Kéké Descombes. Music: Live New Orleans jazz by Les Barriques Aux Rouges.
Le Siffleur de Ballons (34 rue de Citeaux, 75012) Sommelier-restaurateur Thierry Brumeau's neighborhood natural wine bar will go all out this year for Beaujolais Nouveau, with oysters, mini-croques, and a special t-shirt design on offer, plus Beaujolais Nouveau from Xavier Benier, and, most fascinatingly, a 3D art installation in the toilet by artist Alexis Cladière, a.k.a. 36RECYCLAB. All tables and chairs will be removed, with server-slash-DJ Alexie spinning by the doors. 6:30PM – 1:45AM.
La Cave des Papilles (35 rue Daguerre, 75014) Gerard Katz's venerable natural wine institution offers a tasting of vin primeurs that run the gamut of the viticultural regions of France. Beaujolais Nouveaux from Jean-Claude Lapalu, Karim Vionnet, and Sylvère Trichard, plus other vins primeurs from Jo Landron (Loire), Thierry Puzelat (Loire), Jean-Christophe Comor (Provence), Marchel Richaud (Provence), & Jean-François Nicq (Rousillon). Music: live jazz. 6:00PM – 9:30PM.
Les Pipos (2 rue de l'École Polytechnique, 75005) Beaujolais Nouveau from Georges Descombes & Jean-Claude Lapalu. Probable appearance by Georges Descombes. Music: Live accordion.
Le Garde Robe (41 rue de l'Arbre Sec, 75001) Up-and-coming Beaujolais winemaker Sylvère Trichard will be present, along copious bowls of free onion soup at this popular natural wine bar by the Louvre, at a soirée they've dubbed "Mojo Nouveau." They'll also be pouring Beaujolais Nouveau by France Gonzalvez and serving a round of ratafia (think French amaro, only sweeter) at midnight. Music: A live guitarist. 7:00PM – 2:00AM.
Coinstot Vino (26 passage des Panoramas, 75002) All Beaujolais Nouveau will be served from magnum at Guillaume Dupré's evocative terraced bar in the Passage des Panoramas. Beaujolais Nouveau from France Gonzalvez, Marcel Joubert, Raphael Champier, Sylvère Trichart, & Nicolas Testard. Music: a gypsy swing band.
Juveniles (47 rue de Richelieu, 75001) Tim Johnston's Beaujolais-themed menu service for the evening has already sold out. But the restaurant invites all and sundry for apéros until 8PM.
Le Grisbi (138 rue Montmartre, 75002) Chef Bruno Schaeffer (ex-Café Trama) will be out of the kitchen and behind the bar at his brand-new bistrot, serving cheese, charcuterie, and Utah Beach oysters from Jean-Paul Guernier, along with Beaujolais Nouveau from Sylvère Trichard and Muscadet primeur from Jo Landron.
Le Rubis (10 rue du Marché Saint-Honoré, 75001) Comically gruff proprietor Albert Prat will be serving the Beaujolais Nouveau from the same domaine he chose last year, Domaine Duvernet, at this time-capsule address near the marché du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. If you get sick of the fresh, fruity stuff, his unlabeled bottles of Côte de Brouilly still contain wine from appellation standard-bearers Chateau Thivin. The toilet may be Turkish and the service may be on the sunny side of ferocious, but Beaujolais Nouveau at Le Rubis' zinc bar remains a fascinating glimpse into a world before Beaujolais became a bad word.
Le Bal Café (6, impasse de la Défense, 75018) Co-owner Anselme Blayney offers the first glass on the house at his brunch-mecca in near Place de Clichy. House-made charcuterie and Beaujolais Nouveau by Pierre-Marie Chermette and Santini Frères, to the sounds of a classic 1990's playlist.
La Pointe du Grouin (8 rue de Belzunce, 75010) Owner Thierry Breton – who also owns the adjacent restaurants Chez Michel and Chez Casimir – will be splitting a full barrel of Lapierre's Beaujolais Nouveau between his three restaurants. Beaujolais Nouveau from Marcel Lapierre.
Le Vin de Julien (42 rue Condorcet, 75009) Beaujolais Nouveau from Christophe Pacalet, Cyril Alonso, and Sylvère Trichard. A 5€ entry gets you a tasting of the vins nouveaux plus a casse-croute campagnard (country-style snack).
Le Mary Celeste (1, rue Commines, 75003) The Quixotic Projects group's scenester seafood juggernaut will feature a micro-cuvée of Beaujolais Nouveau by Santini Frères, along with winemaker Chris Santini. A special menu of the restaurant's takes on Beaujoloise classics plus Beaujolais cocktails will also be offered.
La Buvette (67 rue Saint Maur, 75011) Winemakers Marcel Joubert and Jean-Claude Lapalu will pass through at Camille Fourmont's bright, thimble-sized rue Saint Maur wine bar, which will offer terrines from Rodolphe Paquin for the occasion. Beaujolais Nouveau from Marcel Joubert and Jean-Claude Lapalu. 6:00PM – 1:00AM.
Au Nouveau Nez (104 rue Saint Maur, 75011) – Nadine Decailly's discreet cave-à-manger will host a concert by all-girl woodwind group C'desmoiselles. 10€ buys a ticket to the show plus a glass of Beaujo Nouveau by Cyril Alonso or Nicolas Testard.
Le Lapin Blanc (84, rue de Ménilmontant, 75020) Natural wine rabbit-hole Le Lapin Blanc will offer Beaujolais Nouveau by Isabelle & Bruno Perraud and Raphael Champier, along with a vin primeur of Dolcetto by Piedmontese domaine Lo Zerbone, and a Muscadet Nouveau by Jérémie Mourat. 7:00PM – 12:00AM.
Ô Divin Epicerie (130 rue de Belleville, 75020) – Nafouel Zaïm's new sandwich shack near the Buttes-Chaumont will be serving suckling pig sandwiches to accompany Beaujolaises Nouveaux by Remi Dufaitre and Jean Foillard.
Red House (1bis rue de la Forge Royale, 75011) – But wait, some might cry, isn't Red House an American bar? Owner Joseph Boley and his team nonetheless have embraced the spirit of the occasion this year, with a special DJ set and 3,50€ glasses of Beaujolais Nouveau by fellow American Chris Santini of Santini Frères.
Les Caves de Reuilly (11, boulevard de Reuilly, 75012) Pierre Le Nen, the new owner of this storied address in the wilds of the 12ème, will be pouring Beaujolais Nouveau by Jean-Claude Lapalu, Remi Dufaitre, and France Gonzalves. The cave-à-manger's distant location should be more than made up for by its vast, never-ending terrace. 5€ entry. 5:00PM – 12:00AM.


text:
Q: Как извлечь данные из array? Здравствуйте, есть такой array полученный через parse_str ( 88978knf4ae6c3715869b1a6d59ff7a35c60cshe15s84g4dd43cea3c48484848606bd6646e46db25&expires_in=0&user_id=101115877&email=wow@doge.pet):
Array ( [88978knf4ae6c3715869b1a6d59ff7a35c60cshe15s84g4dd43cea3c48484848606bd6646e46db25] => [expires_in] => 0 [user_id] => 101115877 [email] => wow@doge.pet )

Как можно оттуда вытащить 88978knf4ae6c3715869b1a6d59ff7a35c60cshe15s84g4dd43cea3c48484848606bd6646e46db25?

A: То, что Вы хотите получить это ключ массива.
Все ключи можно получить с помощью array_keys
Так как нужно получить первый ключ:
$keys = array_keys($arr);
$key = $keys[0];

Или:
reset($arr); // Сброс курсора, возможно необязательно :)
$key = key($arr);

A: Использовать array_key, при условии, конечно-же, что этот хэш у вас всегда идет первым.
parse_str("88978knf4ae6c3715869b1a6d59ff7a35c60cshe15s84g4dd43cea3c48484848606bd6646e46db25&expires_in=0&user_id=101115877&email=wow@doge.pet", $ar);
    $ak = array_keys($ar);
    echo $ak[0];

Так-же можно перебирать все ключи и отметать все имеющие осмысленное имя и значение - email, user_id и прочие.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: Getting an Image (Stream Data) from the ArDrone 2.0, using opencv2 or opencv I want to get an image (Stream Data) from the ArDrone, using opencv2 or opencv.
#include <iostream>
#include <opencv2/highgui.hpp>
#include <opencv2/imgproc.hpp>

using namespace std;
using namespace cv;

int main()
{
    cv::VideoCapture cap;
    cv::Mat image;

    if (!cap.open("tcp://192.168.1.1:5555"))
    {
        printf("AR.Drone ERROR CONNECT\n");
        return -1;
    }

    while (1)
    {
        cap >> image;

        if (!image.empty())
        {
            cv::imshow("AR.Drone", image);
            cout << "OK" << endl;
        }
        else
        {
            cout << "ERROR" << endl;
            cv::waitKey(1);
        }
    }

    return 0;
}

A: The AR.Drone uses a non-standard video format that many libraries and applications cannot handle.  For best results, you will need to decode the video as sent by the drone, which is H264 video combined with the drone's custom PaVE headers.  For more information, see other posts, such as Ardrone Video Stream decoding in Android

A: I ve just discovered that great solution which mixes AR Drone 2 and OpenCV.
It may help to have a look to it :
https://github.com/puku0x/cvdrone


Centuries ago, Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon searched for the Fountain of Youth, a spring that restores youth to whoever drinks from, or bathes in it. Today, some scientists are keeping the dream alive.
These thinkers believe genetic engineering, or the discovery of anti-ageing drugs, could extend human life far beyond its natural course.
Indeed, Australian geneticist David Sinclair believes such a pill could be as close as ten years away. Cambridge researcher Aubrey de Grey thinks there is no reason humans cannot live for at least 1,000 years.
It's certainly an enticing prospect, which has investors jumping on board. In 2013, Google started Calico, short for the California Life Company. Employing scientists from the fields of medicine, genetics, drug development and molecular biology, Calico's aim is to "devise interventions that slow ageing and counteract age-related diseases".
Those who fear death and want to live as long as possible would welcome this kind of research. But many philosophers and ethicists are sceptical about the implications of longer lifespans, both for the individual and society. Their doubts recall the old saying: be careful what you wish for.
For some, the idea of living longer is a no-brainer. According to bioethicist John Harris, the commitment to extending life indefinitely is justified by the same reasoning that commits us to saving lives. He believes scientists have a moral obligation to do so.
But Leon Kass, a former US presidential advisor on bioethics, takes the concept of eternal life deeper than simply "life is good and death is bad". He asks whether, if the human lifespan were increased, its pleasures would also increase proportionally.
Would professional tennis players really enjoy playing 25% more games of tennis? Would the Don Juans of our world feel better for having seduced 1,250 women rather than 1,000?
He wonders if life would be as serious or meaningful without mortality's limit. Kass believes an end point encourages us to make the most of our time, to live it passionately and struggle to achieve our goals in the short time that we have. In other words, "mortality makes life matter".
Philosopher Larry Temkin is similarly concerned about whether anything would strike him as new, exciting or bewitching if he lived forever. He echoes a worry many philosophers have about the prospect of immortality: all activities and experiences that make our lives interesting would become boring and meaningless after thousands of repetitions.
Temkin expresses another philosophical worry about a vastly extended human life. Our ability to remember is probably limited. As we age we tend to forget many things that happened earlier in our lives. Perhaps people who live for 1,000 years or more will forget altogether what happened in the earlier parts of their existence.
Even if their early lives were on record, they might have a hard time recognising these recorded experiences as belonging to them. Temkin says were he to live long enough, he might become so distanced from his first set of children that he would no longer care for, or even remember, them.
Echoing this, philosopher Bernard Williams thinks an extended life would be destructive of identity. As memories are lost and people change their characters and interests during the course of a very long life, they would lose contact with the person they used to be.
Williams thinks attempting to prolong our existence is self-defeating. The self that we want to preserve would, after a time, no longer exist.
But defenders of anti-ageing research, such as Harris, think long-living people would adjust to their new condition and find new ways of valuing and enjoying life.
Even so, social and ethical concerns raised by critics of longevity are not so easy to set aside.
Many critics fear life-prolonging treatments aren't likely to be available to everyone. Wealthy people, including powerful autocrats in poor countries, will be able to afford them. The poor will not.
The prospect of a 1,000-year-reign for the likes of Kim Jong Un, North Korea's leader, is not appealing.
But let's say most people would be able to extend their lives. If they continued to have children, then the world would be even more overpopulated than today. And the prospects for younger people won't be bright if older people, with their wealth of experience, continue to fill available jobs and retain their hold on power.
If children are to flower, says Kass, then we must go to seed. The flourishing of the young is important not only for their own sake. Young people are often the source of innovation and social progress.
Harris thinks if we were to overpopulate like this, some form of "generational cleansing" might be necessary. This would mean authorities deciding the length reasonable for a generation to live and ensuring individuals died once they reached the end of their term. Once they have had a "fair go", the old should be prepared to leave the world to the young.
It would be ironic, however, if a cure for death meant that people had to be forced to die.
But the issues described above are unlikely to be a deterrent. If we truly get a chance to sip from the Fountain of Youth, many are likely to take it.
Just in case the possibility comes about, Temkin thinks now is a good time to reflect on why life is valuable. "If your life isn't meaningful at 70 years, it's not going to be meaningful just because it's a lot longer," he says.


according to our doodle poll we will have our PandaRoot meetings now on Thursday mornings at 10 every second week.
The first meeting will be at Thursday 11.4.2019 at 10:00.
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Because Miami
Oscar Winning Movie Moonlight to Screen on Little Haiti Billboard Saturday Night
ByPavel Klein| August 22, 2019 August 20, 2019
Editor's Note: Saturday night, August 24, at the northeast corner of Little Haiti's NW 79th St. and NW 12th Ct. there will be a free screening of the 2016 Oscar winning movie Moonlight projected on a billboard under the stars (or the clouds). The event is free. The movie starts at 8:15, but you can grab your seat as early as 7:15. To celebrate Miami's most acclaimed movie we're running Pavel Klein's review, which originally ran on Punch Drunk Movies before Moonlight was immortalized as a best picture winner.
Moonlight is a patient movie that requires a little patience.
Filled with long silences and unfurling with a deliberate pace, it is demanding of its audience and is not the kind of movie that can be viewed passively. Meeting it half-way, though, rewards the viewer with a subtle and surprising film. These are buzzwords, to be sure, but they are wholly appropriate in this case. Moonlight is something special.
The film depicts the growing pains of its protagonist, Chiron, who struggles with his identity and the denizens of the ruthless Miami neighborhood in which he lives. It is divided into three chapters, with each section following Chiron at a different stage of his life: as a child (Alex Hibbert), a teenager (Ashton Sanders), and as an adult (Trevonte Rhodes).
His is a complicated life. He has a well-meaning, single mother, Paula (Naomie Harris), but she is addicted to drugs, and as her addiction strengthens, her parental skills weaken. Life outside the home isn't any easier. He is prey to bullies, partly because of his diminutive stature as a child (nicknamed "Little") but mostly because of his possible homosexuality. Isolated and confused, Chiron attempts to find out who he is and how, if at all, he fits into the world.
I'll dispense with the obvious accolades first. The performances are uniformly excellent. Because Chiron is introverted and quiet, there is a danger that he could come off as one note in the wrong hands, but all three of the actors portraying him do a phenomenal job of bringing the character to life. Naomie Harris acquits herself nicely also, though some of her vernacular comes off as a little forced. But it is Mahershala Ali that stands out from a crowd of great performances. He plays Juan, a kind and gentle father figure who also happens to be the neighborhood's drug dealer. He has a deep affection for the boy, but is weighed down by the guilt of his direct contribution to Paula's illness, and, in turn, Chiron's misery. It's a complicated role, and Ali manages to find the heart and the toughness, the yin and the yang, that drives the character.
But the film is more than just an actor's showcase.
The word "subtle" has already popped up, and for good reason; you have to pay attention to every nuance and every line of dialogue. A major character, for instance, disappears from the narrative completely, but no direct mention of it is made. It's only during a heated exchange that an event (forgive my vagueness. Spoilers, you know…) is mentioned, and it is up to us to connect the dots between that event and the character's disappearance. There's very little hand holding, narratively speaking, and if you don't pay attention, it will feel as if nothing of importance is happening and the movie will wash over like an eternal bore. It's not a bore, though, and, frankly, it's nice to have a film that challenges an audience to pay attention. Moonlight doesn't spell everything out, and I was happy to attend its spelling bee.
With an unpredictable narrative and an unexpected tone, the movie forgoes histrionics and maudlin drama. Though often sad, it also doesn't wallow in misery. And in the second half, especially, it goes in surprising directions. When describing Moonlight to a friend, the moment I mentioned its setting and that a drug dealer was involved, he immediately jumped to a natural conclusion: the film would end in bloodshed. While violence is not completely absent, it's not the film's raison d'etre. Refusing to traffic solely in cliché, the focus is firmly on the characters, their influence on each other, and the connections they attempt to make.
Moonlight won't be everyone's cup of tea. Honestly, I wasn't even sure it was mine as I watched it. With a nearly silent protagonist, there were moments of severe impatience on my part. I had to suppress the urge to scream, "Say something!" a couple of times. Afterward, though, the film kept brewing in my mind. I started making the connections that writer/director Barry Jenkins had set up, and as I began to understand it, I started to truly appreciate the movie. Moonlight is a touching film and a significant achievement. And, yes, it turned out to be my cup of tea.
Pavel Klein
Pavel Klein is a member of the Florida Film Critics Circle and author of the film-centric blog WritePavelWrite.com
View all posts by Pavel Klein →
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A planning application has been submitted that could see a derelict building on Cookridge Street, which was previously home to a well-known Leeds nightspot, transformed into a £10million, eight storey student accommodation scheme.
The scheme will be developed by longstanding Leeds based development, investment and lettings company YPP and has been designed by Brewster Bye Architects. Indigo Planning has advised on the planning application which will see the existing building demolished and replaced by a modern part six and part eight, storey building that will house 96 self-contained student apartments.
The development will also offer two ground floor retail units, a lettings office that will be occupied by YPP, and a range of communal facilities for the development including a lounge, gym and study area.
The building was formerly home to Australian themed bar chain Walkabout, which opened in 1999 but closed in summer 2013 due to poor trading conditions.
YPP recently started work on another student development, Fairbairn Residences, that Brewster Bye and Indigo Planning advised on, consisting of 25 apartments at 12 Clarendon Road. The development is due to complete this summer in time for the start of the next academic year in September.
Chris Austin, Managing Director at Headingley based Brewster Bye Architects, says: "The former Walkabout building has sat empty in recent years so this development would significantly enhance the existing streetscape and complement the sensitive conservation area.


A new tomb (AS 98) of Ankhires, inspector of hairdressers of the Great House, was excavated at Abusir South in the autumn seasons of 2016 and 2017. The stone-built mastaba is preliminarily dated to late Fifth Dynasty, from the reign of Nyuserre to Djedkare. It has an unusual architectural plan, consisting of a corridor chapel, Rooms 1 and 2, an L-shaped chapel, two serdabs and Shaft 1. It was obviously built in two phases. The extension gave the mastaba the area of 413 m2 . In view of several facts, the tomb represents a new phenomenon not only at the Czech archaeological concession but also at the Memphite necropolis. It was surrounded by several structures including tombs (AS 101, AS 102), a technical(?) structure (AS 100) or a cultic installation (AS 99), which were also partly excavated. The work has brought to light many interesting finds, being it remains of the original wall decoration, remains of wooden statues or ecofacts. An analysis of the animal bones assemblage is also incorporated in the present study.


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text:
Solaris Oilfield Infrastructure, Inc. (SOI) Q2 2019 Earnings Call Transcript
SOI earnings call for the period ending June 30, 2019.
Motley Fool Transcribers
(MFTranscribers)
Jul 31, 2019 at 11:24PM
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Solaris Oilfield Infrastructure, Inc. (NYSE:SOI)
Q2 2019 Earnings Call
Jul 31, 2019, 8:30 a.m. ET
Prepared Remarks
Call Participants
Prepared Remarks:
Good morning and welcome to the Solaris Second Quarter 2019 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions]. I would now like to turn the conference over to Yvonne Fletcher, Senior Vice President of Finance and Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
Yvonne Fletcher -- Senior Vice President, Finance and Investor Relations
Good morning and welcome to the Solaris second quarter 2019 earnings conference call. I'm joined today by our Chairman and CEO, Bill Zartler, and our President and CFO, Kyle Ramachandran. Before we begin, I'd like to remind you of our standard cautionary remarks regarding the forward-looking nature of some of the statements that we will make today. Such forward-looking statements may include comments regarding future financial results and reflect a number of known and unknown risks. Please refer to our press release issued yesterday, along with other recent public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, that outline those risks.
I would also like to point out that our earnings release and today's conference call will contain discussion of non-GAAP financial measures, which we believe can be useful in evaluating our performance. The presentation of this additional information should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for results prepared in accordance with GAAP. Reconciliations to comparable GAAP measures are available in our earnings release. With that, I'll now turn the call over to our Chairman and CEO, Bill Zartler.
William A. Zartler -- Founder Chairman and Chief Executive Office
Thank you, Yvonne, and welcome everyone. During the second quarter of 2019, Solaris generated $64 million in revenue, which was up 16% from the first quarter, and adjusted EBITDA of $35.2 million, which was up slightly from last quarter. During the quarter, we averaged 123 fully utilized systems earning revenue, which was up 8% from the first quarter, as we added work with both new and existing customers despite a frac market backdrop that was relatively flat, on average, from the first to the second quarter.
During the second quarter, we also grew our last mile management services, which was a large driver of the incremental increase in revenue in the quarter. Historically, we have primarily rented our mobile proppant systems, but several customers have asked us to provide a bundled solution for last mile trucking with a well site rental. Our last mile offering allows us to use our extremely reliable system and the Solaris line of software to provide a low-cost delivered solution to our customers.
Despite its growth this year, this bundled model represents less than 5% of our fleet. Further success in this new service offering could continue to contribute to future growth to offset industry activity reductions that we expect may occur in the back half of the year. As we shared on our last call, we continue to see increased penetration for our systems with new and existing customers whose development plans continue to shift toward more efficient completion operations, such as multi-well zippers and longer laterals, which drives higher daily sand consumption.
Our systems have the reliability and capability to meet their needs. This trend continues to provide us with the opportunity to grow our market leading position. That said, completion efficiency gains, when combined with operator budget discipline, likely leads to a lower active frac fleet count in the back half of the year, in our view. This concept of budget exhaustion has been very well telegraphed by the industry. And as an approximate one-third share of the market, Solaris will not be immune to the activity softness expected in the back half of the year.
Now that we're a month into the third quarter, we have seen some of our customers reduce activity levels modestly. However, we've continue to add to the list of customers that we work for. Our customer retention rates for system rentals have consistently averaged over 90% for the last couple of years, and we've won back the bulk of our customers that have in the past left us to try other solutions that often advertise cheaper headline rates, as they've discovered that Solaris offers the best value on a total cost basis due to our continued innovation, reliability, and high touch service.
Our system's value has also attracted an expansion of our customer type. We currently have operators, pressure pumpers, sand companies, and logistics companies as direct customers. Many of these customers own their own sand handling equipment and most have tested many of the other solutions on the market. Through these experiences, our customers have found that our system adds the most value for their needs, which is a result of our focus on consistently improving the reliability of our equipment and continued technological innovation.
These technology innovations include our auto hopper control that automates the delivery of sand into the blender, which streamlines operations and reduces personnel required on location. We continue to focus on ways to make well sites safer, cleaner, and more efficient. Another trend that we are seeing that fits well with the Solaris offering is growth in the electric frac fleet. Solaris' systems were designed to be all electric from the very beginning. The lack of hydraulics in our systems, combined with design redundancy and simplicity, contributes to our consistently high uptime performance on well sites.
When working with the traditional frac fleet, our system is powered by a single diesel generator. When integrated with an electric fleet, we connect directly to the same on-site electric power used to run the frac pumps, reducing diesel fuel consumption and expense for our customers. We are currently working with many of the electric frac fleets. While electric fleet growth will likely be measured, we are excited to partner with our customers in continuing to push the envelope for savings and efficiencies on the well site.
Turning to our new chemical system, which we also see as driving further efficiency gains in U.S. completions, our initial chemical system's design has been in the field for 2 quarters now, with roughly 6 systems gaining exposure to nearly a dozen different operators, pressure pumpers, and chemical companies. We currently have 8 completed systems and 6 that are nearly complete of our initial design, and are working through modifications that increase throughput and flexibility.
We initially designed our system based on current completions practices. We learned during field trials that frac designs are limited by equipment capabilities, and our customers want to push the limits of our systems to achieve higher efficiencies for even faster completions. We are in the process of making these upgrades to our initial system, which we believe will further help our customers continue to drive improved stage execution and reduce completion times.
We continue to have high expectations for growth of this product line, as it provides many value-added benefits to our customers. We want to invest the proper resources and time to ensure that we're developing the highest quality system for our customers. We are also continuing to develop and work on additional innovation in our R&D pipeline, where we continue to collaborate with our thought leading customers to address other operational and logistical challenges and completions activities. However, we will only invest dollars where we think we can earn a strong return on investment.
Lastly, I'd like to highlight the company's second quarter positive free cash flow. Solaris generated over $26 million in free cash flow during the second quarter and paid our third consecutive quarterly dividend. We expect to further slow down our spending rate in the second half of the year, and are lowering our capital spend expectations for 2019, which Kyle will outline. We continue to be focused on providing value-added products and services to our customers while generating positive free cash flow for our shareholders. With that, I'll now turn the call over to Kyle.
Kyle S. Ramachandran -- Chief Financial Officer & President
Thanks, Bill, and good morning everyone. As Bill mentioned, during the second quarter, we generated $64 million of revenue, which was up 16% sequentially, and adjusted EBITDA of approximately $35 million, which was up slightly from the prior quarter. The increase in revenue was driven by an 8% increase in the average number of systems deployed to customers, coupled with a flat price book and additional systems deployed in our last mile service offering. During the quarter, nearly 150 proppant systems worked with varying degrees of utilization.
Our calculation of 123 fully utilized systems reflects the number of equivalent systems that generated revenue every day in the quarter, which we believe is the best measure for our business activity and for modeling purposes. Gross profit for the quarter was approximately $39 million, up slightly from the first quarter primarily due to the increase in fully utilized systems and offset by lower contribution from our Kingfisher facility. SG&A costs, and salaries, benefits, and payroll taxes for the quarter or $5 million, in line with our prior guidance.
The $1 million sequential increase in total SG&A was primarily due to additional headcount and the full impact of restricted stock issuances that were made in March. For the remainder of 2019, we expect total SG&A and personnel costs to run slightly above $5 million per quarter. Net income for the quarter was $22.5 million or $0.42 per share. This was net of approximately $0.5 million or $0.01 per share in nonrecurring interest expense related to the write-off of unamortized debt issuance costs in connection with amending our credit facility. Our adjusted pro forma net income for the quarter was $21.2 million or $0.44 per share versus $21.6 million or $0.46 per share in the first quarter.
As a reminder, our presentation of adjusted pro forma net income adjusts for nonrecurring items and also assumes the full exchange of all Class B shares for Class A shares for a more comparative period-over-period presentation. Please refer to our press release issued last night for a full reconciliation of adjusted pro forma net income. Total capital expenditures for the quarter were approximately $8 million, which was down significantly from $20 million in the first quarter, primarily due to the slowing of our manufacturing rate of new proppant systems.
During the second quarter, we added 2 proppant systems to our fleet and ended the quarter with 164 mobile proppant systems in our fleet. We have 8 chemical systems completed and 6 more substantially completed. But as Bill mentioned, we are making additional design modifications to optimize this equipment for the industry's future demands. We will hold off building further chemical systems until those modifications are complete and we have consistent customer adoption with our initial fleet. As highlighted by Bill, the second quarter marked the second consecutive quarter of positive free cash flow generation for the company.
Our free cash flow, as defined by cash from operations less capital expenditures, was a positive $26 million for the quarter. Year to date, we have generated a free cash flow of approximately $29 million and have used some of that cash to return nearly $10 million to shareholders through dividends, and we have paid down 100% of the borrowings under our credit facility. As I previously mentioned, we amended our credit facility in the second quarter to increase our revolver capacity to $50 million with availability based on a total leverage covenant of 2.5 times total debt to EBITDA.
The amendment increases the company's revolver size by $30 million and includes an accordion feature, which could increase total availability under the facility to $75 million. We believe our amended credit facility better suits the needs of our business today, as well as allowing us flexibility as we grow. We ended the quarter with approximately $80 million of liquidity, including approximately $30 million of cash and $50 million of availability under our undrawn credit facility. As previously mentioned in a recent 8-K and press release, we issued an amended 10-K for 2018 and 10-Q for first quarter 2019 to correct for a misstatement of a certain balance sheet accounts for the reporting periods ended December 31, 2018 and 2017 and March 31, 2019, as well as the provision for income taxes in 2017.
The restatement had no impact on the calculations of EBITDA or adjusted EBITDA, or on the net cash from operating activities and net cash used in investing activities on the consolidated statement of operations or cash flow for any restated periods. We are working with our Board to ensure we have policies and procedures in place to ensure we have the appropriate accounting controls going forward. Turning now to outlook, as we sit today with the July almost in the books, we anticipate that U.S. frac crew count will be down 5% to 10% sequentially as operators manage their capital budgets through the second half of the year.
We expect our business to perform in line with the overall sector, with identified opportunities to outperform through targeted customer wins. We expect to end the third quarter with 166 mobile proppant systems, which represents the last of our planned additions for 2019, and we'll have 14 mobile chemical systems in the rental fleet once our design modifications are complete. We are narrowing our guidance for capital expenditures for the full year 2019 to be in the range of $40 million to $50 million versus the prior guidance of $40 million to $60 million, which we continue to expect will be funded by operational cash flow.
We currently have approximately $36 million of cash on the balance sheet, which over the course of the rest of the year we expect to grow as our capex spend continues to slow. Our balance sheet also continues to remain debt-free. Given our debt-free position, we expect our primary use of operating cash in 2019 will be our dividend and our capex plans, which will be limited to investments where we believe we can earn an incremental return on investment. We expect the likely result to be a build of cash on the balance sheet in the near term, and we look forward to updating you on the intended use of that cash as the year unfolds.
With that, we'd now be happy to take your questions.
Questions and Answers:
[Operator Instructions] The first question will come from John Watson of Simmons Energy.
John Watson -- Simmons Energy -- Analyst
Thank you, good morning.
Good morning John.
Bill and Kyle, you both touched on this to an extent, but I was wondering if you could provide further color on what the exact design modifications are for the chemical systems. And then secondly, is there a target date to help all 14 back in the rental fleet, or is it too early to target that as of today?
Well, I think, John, the specific design modifications we'll probably kind of keep internal. But I think the way I would describe it is pumping our first gallon of chemicals in the early part of the first quarter and where we are today, we've got a lot of learnings. It's a new disruptive technology that definitely has a learning curve not only for ourselves, but also for our customers, which include pressure pumpers, chemical providers, and operators. So it's getting kind of everyone to work together.
And initially, I'd kind of describe it as we were walking and our customers were walking as to using the system, were running it at certain rates. As we've gotten more advanced in the deployments, we've transitioned very quickly to running, and we've really tested the initial parameters in the system that were initially designed. And I think really what we're seeing is an opportunity to take a step back, take those learnings, make some modifications.
That allows our customers really, and I think we talked about this in prepared remarks, to really push the envelope as to driving additional efficiencies through this kit. And so I think those are kind of the learnings that we're now taking in in-house, to look at different pump parameters, different fill lines, different inputs as well as the off-takes of the system, that allow our customers to get the most out of them.
Yes, and I think I'd add that it's nothing massively structural that we're doing. It's all little tweaks to the system. So it's been highly functional, and I think the challenge has been it's made it easier to do things much faster. And as we do that, we've pushed some of the limits of the some of the initial equipment to it. So we don't expect this to be any kind of massive change in capital per system, either. There are some tweaks and some modifications, but the core of the system is in great shape and very functional.
We just see the need that it has created the desire to go faster and faster. And as we do that, we need to make some modifications. So we've pulled all but a couple back in to make those modifications.
Great. That's that's helpful color.
Thank you. And I guess switching gears to the proppant side, you mentioned the potential to take share in the third quarter. And it looks to me like you took share in the second quarter as well. In the past, we've discussed contracts expiring for some of your competitors presenting an opportunity for Solaris. Should we be thinking about that as a potential opportunity in the second half, or is that more of a 2020 event?
I'd tell you it's both, John. We certainly have visibility into contracts that are expiring into the second half, where we've gotten some positive indication on customers where they've got contracts in different basins that expire at different periods, where they have had already some contracts expire in certain basins. And now we have visibility into new basins. So we see that the second half. And there is a group of contracts, I would say, that do kind of going into recontracting at the end of this year and the first part of next year. So I think it's both. Its continued growth.
Kind of take a step back. If we look at our customers today, just a quick snapshot, we've got more than 30 customers. So if we kind of go back a couple quarters, that's certainly up pretty significantly. And we're seeing it not only from pumpers, not only from operators, but also from different sand companies who haven't necessarily invested in last mile and see this is the industry leading solution and no need to recreate the wheel. And then also on the third party logistics companies that are set up trying to build independent last mile businesses, I think the story is that this equipment works really well.
It's fit for purpose. And ultimately, if you're a last mile provider or you're a sand company, you want to assure volume and you want to have repeatability and assurance that that equipment runs efficiently. And so you want to lead with that type of solution rather than something you may have, say, on balance sheet. And I think we've seen that evolve. We've seen different sand companies purchase equipment, start a private side, and several of them have either put those out for sale or resold them back to the manufacturer. So I think we'll just continue to see this evolve as we all get back to our core competencies.
The next question will come from Stephen Gengaro of Stifel.
Stephen David Gengaro -- Stifel -- Analyst
Thanks. Good morning, gentlemen. Two things, if you don't mind. What I'll start with is we've heard on the well site storage side pockets of pricing headwinds. I also believe that you haven't seen it on your front very much for your system. But I was curious if you could just comment on what you're seeing out there in the market from a pricing perspective.
Yes, I think there have been different companies with different strategies. Ours has always been around providing the lowest all-in delivered cost for our customers. And we think that that's not necessarily led with pricing, but rather it's led with quality and reliability. So we definitely have had customers from time to time switch to other solutions based on headline rates. But the vast majority have come back once they've really seen the math themselves and run the MGT analysis, the waiting on sand analysis, that it's not necessarily about the headlight rate.
And so I think the concept of pricing being a lever certain competitors are using, we're going to continue to see that. But that's really not how we're managing the business. We're working with our customers to determine better ways for them to continue to drive down their cost. And we think, at $110,000 a month of rental, that the needle mover is on getting more efficient, not necessarily driving that number down in context of $15 million to $20 million of capital spend per month.
Yes, and add to that the continued speed at which the sand is moving through the system. So the $1.00 per ton, because it's a fixed basis, is actually accruing to our customers. And so that efficiency gain they get, whereas if it's a dollar per ton based touched system, they're keeping it flat.
Exactly. So we think that aligns interest with our customers and is really the right model.
Okay, thank you. That's helpful. And then as we think about the bundling of last mile trucking into the mix here, and obviously it had an impact on the revenue line in the quarter, and I think it kind of flows through at a sort of pass-through type margin, any thoughts or guidance on how we should think about baking that into the forward models? I mean, it doesn't seem like it has a big impact on the EBITDA line. But from a revenue perspective, any guidance there because it's evolving?
Yes, from a specific guidance perspective, I don't think we would at this point prescribe a significant increase or a decrease as we look into the third and fourth quarter in that piece. There is a certainly opportunities. But what I would say is we've been through a series of RFPs in the first half of the year from majors to small privates that have looks to de-bundle the last mile. And we have seen a significant number of them obtain price discovery in a way that they're capturing the economics but not having to take it on.
And so they're rebundling it in several instances either with the pressure pumper or with a trucking or sand company where they don't necessarily need us to step into that role. So we've got it. It's an offer. We think we've got an edge with our equipment and with Solaris Lens. But at this point, we're seeing it being a mixed reaction. And ultimately the operators are not necessarily wanting -- the majority of operators not wanting to take this on themselves. They want the lowest price.
And so they can capture lowest price and have maybe the pressure pumper manage it for them, who may be in a better position with their own trucks, their own dispatching capacity, their own software. That generally makes sense. And so I think that's kind of what we're seeing. We've seen majors out with big RFPs about de-bundling, and it ended up being rebundled.
The next question will come from George O'Leary with Tudor, Pickering, Holt.
George Michael O'Leary -- , Pickering, Holt & Co -- Managing Director of Oil Service Research
I'll jump back to a question John asked earlier with regards to just customer tendering activity. It's our understanding that there are a few E&P operators out there who maybe have historically used boxes or maybe used a mix of equipment that may actually be issuing tenders specifically for just silo only offerings, and then other customers who have historically exclusively used box systems that are going to open up tenders to all different types of on-site sand storage technology.
So I wondered if you could just speak to whether those rumblings we're hearing from the market are accurate, the degree to which you're having those discussions. Just any color there would be super helpful.
I think what you've stated is accurate based on what we've seen. And I think Bill touched on it a little bit earlier. The velocity of sand being consumed on a per day basis continues to increase. And I think that's what companies are coming to realize, that having a large buffer directly at the wellhead -- or at the blender, rather, is the most efficient way to manage that increased velocity. And that inherent in the boxes is just a challenge around a lot of movements.
And so I think that is the trend we're seeing. We're seeing more pads being done, more concentrated activity, more efficiencies throughout the chain. There's other components. So the pressure pumpers are getting more efficient with their uptime. Things like the electric fleets probably lend themselves to better reliability. So the entire completion process is getting more efficient, which means more sand is being pumped per day. And so from our perspective, really the foundation of this concept of the vertical storage was put a large buffer right at the demand center.
And that's what we do, and I think that those that have been using boxes for a while are starting to open their eyes to maybe there's another way of doing this.
Very helpful. And then you guys mentioned this earlier. You and Bill both spoke to it a little bit. But you guys have always historically been very innovative. And you touched on in your last question too the velocity of sand is going up. And so as you mull over those incremental technology investments, which you'll only make if you can see that economic return, what are the primary bottlenecks or issues that operators are coming to you asking you to solve?
So not asking for what the technological solution is today, but what areas are operators or pressure pumpers acutely focused on improving those bottlenecks?
It's multi varied. It may depend who you're talking to and what their priority is. So as we see some of the majors come back to U.S. in a big way, I think safety becomes more and more the focus. And that may mean automation. It may mean reducing people on location. It may mean just safer practices. From a process standpoint, I think there's a big push on ESG. We talked a little bit about our integration with electric frac fleets.
The system has been designed from the start to be electric or electrically driven. And so we're plug and play with that. And so there's a wide range. And we are engaged, and we've got a pretty significant initiative from a customer interaction standpoint to engage in these discussions and what do they see as the well site of the future.
Yes, and I think chemicals is a key part of that that Kyle didn't mention, in that the faster you go, the different types of friction reducers that are being done, with more recycled water and trends in acid consumption and rates, really make the automation and the flexibility around our chemical system very valuable on the well site.
The next question will come from Jon Hunter of Cowen.
John Hunter -- COWAN.
Hey, good morning. Thank you. So I wanted to ask on some of the market commentary that you had for the third quarter talked about overall completions activity being down 5% to 10%, but then Solaris has some opportunity to offset some of that with market share gains. So how do you think about your fully utilized system count as we move from 2Q to 3Q? Is there an opportunity for you to keep that flat, or would you expect there to be more of a bias downward with that market 5% to 10% you talked about?
Yes There's certainly an opportunity to keep it flat and to grab it. But I think what we are seeing is operators get ahead of what we saw last year, which was a dramatic drop off in the fourth quarter. So we're seeing operators indicate to us, look, we're going to slow down here in July, and we plan to be there for the rest of the year. And the reason we're slowing down here is to manage our capital spending. That is a corporate mandate. That is a corporate policy we are going to live with.
And we don't want to find ourselves in late October scrambling to say, OK, where are we going to cut? We're getting ahead of that now. And I think ultimately that leads to a much more productive industry. It certainly helps us manage the business. So that's sort of on the negative. And then on the positive, I think we've got, as I mentioned earlier, visibility to add with specific customers that are freeing up from contracts, as well as indications from customers that have historically not used Solaris.
Understood. And then kind of a follow-up to that, how is your activity? I mean, I guess we're a month into the third quarter here, so how is your activity in July compared to, say, where you were exiting June?
Yes, I think on average we're down slightly in July. As I indicated, we had a couple of operators come to us and say we're going to slow down here, and the additions that we're contemplating are in the later months of the quarter, I'll say.
The next question will come from David Smith of Heikkinen Energy Advisors.
David Smith -- Energy Advisors
A good mine,
I wanted to ask if any chem systems have been deployed outside of Texas, or maybe Texas plus New Mexico and, if not, whether there's visibility on expanding the geographic profile of the chem system deployment.
It's Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma so far. We've kept them close to home. We do have some strong interest in the Northeast and expect, once we get a couple of these modifications made in the next month, we'll probably have a system running out to the Northeast. Especially given pad constraints and sizes up there, it's a very logical addition to the fleet up there.
You answered my follow up question. Thank you very much.
The next question will come from Praveen Narra of Raymond James.
Praveen Narra -- Raymond James
I guess I wanted to follow up on George's question about growth and maybe how you think of M&A as a use of capital, because you're obviously generating significant cash flow and building that cash balance. So I guess, one, how do you think of M&A? And then two, do you want to limit yourself to low capital intensive acquisitions, if that is something that you guys are thinking about?
Yes, great question. I think we are all options open. We're evaluating the need of cash. We certainly like having a highly flexible balance sheet that allows us to do just about anything, and are not getting in a hurry doing the wrong thing. So we're evaluating. We look at things from additional technology and pieces to this puzzle that add to it, like our Railtronix acquisition a couple years ago; less capital-intensive but very value added to us.
And I think those are the type of things, along with sort of around our core equipment design and manufacturing competencies, where we see additional things that can add to our system's value that we deliver to customers make a lot of sense. We're very careful, very cautious, and we see a lot of what's out there, but are not going to be out there just spending it because we have it.
And we've been successful in really commercializing the new technologies. And so the opportunity where you've got sort of a proven technology that needs the right, say, infrastructure, commercial manufacturing, R&D, safety kind of built up around it, those are really exciting opportunities. Now, we haven't found very many of them, so we'll continue to be very cautious.
But our balance sheet, as Bill alluded to, is really critical to us to maintain just a lot of flexibility there, but just I think in general a pretty conservative approach to that.
Praveen Narra, Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Research Division-Analyst-35
Right. And I guess my follow-up question, different topic. So you mentioned retention. Retention obviously has been good for you guys, in the 90% probably plus range.
When you talk about how that's trended, I guess obviously systems have been out there, different varieties of systems have been out there, and you guys have also had good customer acceptance. I guess I'd be curious to hear how that retention rate, even if it's minor, has changed. Are you seeing that increase or are you seeing customers, as activity falls, looking at everything?
That's a good question, and I haven't really thought about it that way. I think it's been consistent for several years. When we look at the entire lifecycle of the business the last six years, it's probably trended higher as time has gone on, as people have increased their sand consumption so that the value proposition just continues to get stronger and stronger. And I think that kind of continues.
No doubt there was a lot of transition between '14 to where we are today, switching away from old technology to new technology. So people have been trialing and testing different solutions. And I think over call it the next 2 to 4 years, there's probably less volatility in the trials as people start to say, OK, I've tried everything and I really like X and I'm going to stick to X.
The next question will come from Jason Wangler of Imperial Capital.
Jason Winkler -- Imperial Capital
Hey Good morning, guys. I was curious. In the past you guys have talked about how local sand in some of the basins doesn't really impact you much as long as the sand is coming. I was just curious how you seen that market kind of evolve as it seems like the local sand continues to be more and more of a push. It has that changed much for you guys or is it still pretty much business as usual?
No, it's continued to change. It really doesn't affect us. Actually, it creates the need for a bigger buffer at the well sites, and especially in the far reaches of the Delaware Basin and places that are a long way from the local mines. We have seen, frankly, in Oklahoma the last local sand come in for regulatory reasons and possibly formation reasons. And so the Kingfisher facility has remained relatively busier than we've expected because of that.
But in general, the local sand has been adopted for sure in the Permian Basin and I think it's there to stay. Either way, for us it doesn't impact us one way or the other, whether we're running a Northern White or a local sand.
The only certain caveat I would say is several of the local mines that have been developed are offering a last mile package offering. And that has brought, I'll say, new customers to the business, some of the local mines.
[Operator Instructions] The next question will come from J.B. Lowe of Citi.
J.B. Lowe -- City
I was just curious. I was listening to the U.S. Silica call yesterday, and I think Bryan mentioned that they were seeing new entrants into the silo space potentially causing some competitive pricing. Now, I know that he's not as close to the story as you are. But Yvonne, we have gone through the marketplace pretty extensively. I haven't heard of any new entrants specifically. Are you guys hearing anything on that front?
Yes, there's always here and there's somebody with a new technology. And we've seen some small companies from Canada try and bring some systems down as that market has really shrunk. Haven't seen anything of any sort of scale in I'll say the last 6 months, 6 to 12 months.
Okay. All right, that's what I've been hearing too. And then as a follow-up just on the chemical system build out, I guess first, are you guys generating revenue on any of the deployed system yet?
Okay. And then do you expect the full 14 to be deployed by the end of 3Q and then you would resume construction in 4Q, or is that more of a 2020 kind of resumption?
I think directionally it's more of a 2020. I think really the rest of the year we're focused on making tweaks, getting as many of these out to customers to really drive the adoption. So, I think from a real material impact, I think it looks like more like 2020.
The next question will come from Thomas Curran of B. Riley FBR.
Thomas Curran
Good morning. Or on the MPMS side, the Mobile Proppant Management System side, would you share with us what the split for 2Q was between operators and service companies, and then how that compares to 1Q and 2Q of last year?
Yes, I don't think it's changed a whole lot. It's call it 50/50, and some of the 50 on the pumping side is driven by the operators. But I don't think it's changed a whole lot.
Okay. And then what would be your share on a volume of sand basis? And then based both on your preferred market share metric and perhaps that one as well, what do you see is the likely limit for share gain? Just how much of the market do you believe you could capture?
I think when we look at our share, we look at it in how does Solaris share in returns for its shareholders. And we define that by systems working. That's the majority of our business today. So it's not on a per ton basis. But if we were to translate it to a per ton basis, it's probably a higher percentage than what we quote as to the share that we talk about. So we really articulate it relative to the operating frac fleets.
Yes, I think that's right. And I think we don't -- market share isn't our drive. Our drive is customers and how do we get customers that believe we can help and save them money, and sort of the market share falls out of it. And so I think from a practical limit, it really is about customers that see the benefit of this, that we believe understand what this does to their completions cost. And we really don't -- our focus, we quote it in market share because it's grown, but we don't think about it like that.
And this concludes our question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Bill Zartler for any closing remarks.
Thanks, Carrie. Before we close it out, I just want to summarize a few of the points that we've made. Solaris continues to be in a very unique position where we grow with our current customer base and new customers. We've got the current product line with all of its enhancements, and we've got new products that we're continuing to develop. We aren't completely reliant on the overall market, but we're not completely immune to it either.
We've built a culture that is focused on making sure that our stuff works and making sure that we can help our customers improve their operations and safety. The free cash flow that we've generated so far in 2019 has been tremendous and it gives us a lot of options on top of our already flexible capital budget. We've demonstrated our willingness to return capital to shareholders with our dividends and continue to consider all of our options that maximize our shareholder return. And thank you all for attending.
[Operator Closing Remarks]
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Africa>
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NIGERIA – 'Why are you killing Christians?' Trump asked Nigeria's president
Post category:Nigeria
World Israeli News | November 2, 2020
"Why are you killing Christians?" US President Donald J. Trump apparently shocked his Nigerian counterpart, Muhammadu Buhari, by asking this question the first time they met in the White House in April 2018. The Nigerian president admitted this, according to a September 8, 2020 report, toward the end of a recent talk with his cabinet members:
[W]hen I was in his office, only myself and himself, with Allah as my witness, he looked at me in the face and said 'why are you killing Christians?' I wonder, if you were the person how you would react? I hope what I was feeling inside did not betray my emotion…
He should not have been shocked. Several international observers characterize what Nigerian Christians experience not just as "persecution" but as a "pure genocide."
Since 2009, "not less than 32,000 Christians have been butchered to death by the country's main Jihadists," according to a May 2020 report. Hundreds more have been killed since then. Earlier this year, Christian Solidarity International issued a "Genocide Warning for Christians in Nigeria" in response to the "rising tide of violence directed against Nigerian Christians and others classified as 'infidels' by Islamist militants…."
Under Buhari, who became Nigeria's president in 2015, the carnage of Christians has only accelerated. According to a March 8, 2020 report, titled, "Nigeria: A Killing Field of Defenseless Christians,"
Available statistics have shown that between 11,500 and 12,000 Christian deaths were recorded in the past 57 months or since June 2015 when the present central [Buhari-led] government of Nigeria came on board. Out of this figure, Jihadist Fulani herdsmen accounted for 7,400 Christian deaths, Boko Haram 4,000 and the 'Highway Bandits' 150-200.
In just the first four months of 2020, Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists "hacked to death … no fewer than 620 defenseless Christians," and engaged in the "wanton burning or destruction of their centers of worship and learning":
The atrocities against Christians have gone unchecked and risen to alarming apogee with the country's security forces and concerned political actors looking the other way or colluding with the Jihadists. Houses burnt or destroyed during the period are in their hundreds; likewise dozens of Christian worship and learning centers.
How have formerly simple and unarmed Fulani herdsmen managed to kill, since 2015, nearly twice as many Christians as the "professional" terrorists of Boko Haram — and exponentially more Christians than under Buhari's (Christian) predecessor, President Goodluck Jonathan? "Because," according to numerous Christian leaders in Nigeria, "President Buhari is also of the Fulani ethnic group," to quote Nigerian bishop Matthew Ishaya Audu.
The bishop is only one of a growing chorus of voices accusing the Muslim president not only of turning a blind eye to his clansmen's slaughter of Christians, but actively exacerbating it — including with fighter jets. A few examples:
The Buhari government is "using the levers of power to secure the supremacy of Islam… The only difference between the government and Boko Haram is that Boko Haram is holding the bomb." — Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah.
Buhari "is openly pursuing an anti-Christian agenda that has resulted in countless murders of Christians all over the nation and destruction of vulnerable Christian communities." — Bosun Emmanuel, secretary of the National Christian Elders Forum.
"Under President Buhari, the murderous Fulani herdsmen enjoyed unprecedented protection and favoritism… Rather than arrest and prosecute the Fulani herdsmen, security forces usually manned by Muslims from the North offer them protection as they unleash terror with impunity on the Nigerian people." — Musa Asake, general secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria.
In a statement issued earlier this year, the Christian Association of Nigeria, an umbrella group representing most denominations, repeated that "the federal government under President Muhammadu Buhari" is "colluding" with the Islamic terrorists "to exterminate Christians in Nigeria."
Even the average persecuted Christian is aware of Buhari's alleged role. After Muslim Fulani killed five Christians in a mini-store, Ibrahim Agu Iliya, a local Christian, explained why the terrorists were able to shoot for a full ten minutes — despite the presence of armed security — before absconding without a trace:
READ MORE AT WIN
Tags: Christian persecution, Nigeria, President Buhari, President Donald Trump
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NIGERIA – 'Does the World Know? Do They Care?' 15-Y-O Christian Girl Leah Sharibu Days Away From Execution
NIGERIA – Nigerian Christians plead for U.S. help in face of religiously driven violence
NIGERIA – ICC Marks One Year of Captivity for Leah Sharibu


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7 Adorable Japanese Mascots
BY David K. Israel
Japanese Mascots exemplify the concept of kawaii, which means cute. Kawaii is very, very popular in Japan right now. Don't believe me? Take a look at the following 7 mascots:
1. Pipo-Kun
One of the most easy to spot mascots in Tokyo is Pipo-kun, the mascot of Tokyo Metropolitan Police. You can see posters or paintings with Pipo-kun displayed on walls, construction sites fences or shop windows.
2. & 3. Kiccoro and Morizo
Kiccoro and Morizo were the mascots of the 2005 World Expo in Aichi prefecture. Kiccoro the Forest Child is full of energy. Morizo is an easy-going and kind old man.
4. Furi-bi
Furu-bi is the mascot of the Japan pavilion at EXPO Zaragoza 2008. He is on the left of the picture above, alongside Kiccoro and Morizo from the Aichi 2005 EXPO.
5. Mascott for the 1,300th anniversary of Heijo-kyo
The year 2010 marked the 1,300th anniversary of Heijo-kyo, the capital city of Japan for much of the Nara period (710-794), and home to the remains of the Imperial Palace, now a UNESCO World Heritage site. This is the mascot they chose after what can only be described as the cutest controversy ever, where people fought bitterly over 21 mascot submissions/nominations.
6. & 7. Sato-chan and Satoko-chan
This pair may be the most ubiquitous in Japan. Standing outside drug stores all over Japan, the elephants are often dressed in different costumes depending on the season or time of year. Sato-chan, the orange elephant, first appeared outside stores in 1961 sitting on top of a rocket. His sister, Satoko-chan, joined him in 1995. The siblings are modelled after an Indian elephant, which the creators believed to have a calm and gentle nature.


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Home / Dr Paul Meakin
Dr Paul Meakin - Director of Business Development
Paul joined Innova Partnerships as Director of Business Development in January 2016, bringing a wealth of experience in business development, marketing and project management, gained over the last two decades of working in life sciences.
Specialising in the life science and agriculture sectors, Paul has taken medical and agricultural diagnostics manufacturing offerings to international markets with companies such as Forsite Diagnostics. Paul also has a background in technology transfer and marketing in his roles with the Home-Grown Cereals Authority and the Food and Environment Research Agency. His most recent role was with the Knowledge Transfer Network Ltd as a knowledge transfer manager, Crops and Plants.
Experienced in public sector bioscience R&D innovation, Paul has combined a PhD level research background and an MBA with over fifteen years' of customer-facing roles in scientific fields. A graduate of Nottingham University School of Agriculture, he has achieved a BSc in agricultural plant sciences and a PhD in plant physiology. In 1997 he also went on to achieve an MBA with distinction from Westminster University, London.
Outside work, Paul has a strong interest in a range of sports and is actively engaged in the business planning and commercial future of the sports association in the Wiltshire town where he lives.


Maltese law provides for the establishment and operation of companies that engage in remote/online gaming activities such as online casinos, casino-style games, betting exchanges and lotteries.
The first online betting legislation in Malta was enacted in 2000, established under the Public Lotto Ordinance (L.N. 34 of 2000), to regulate offshore betting offices. Since then, the Lotteries and Gaming Authority (LGA) has been the single regulatory body responsible for the governance of all forms of gaming in Malta. Since 2000, the remote Malta gaming industry has witnessed a remarkable and rapid growth. Over 500 applications have been submitted to the Malta Lotteries and Gaming Authority since April 2004 by operators wishing to run remote gaming companies in Malta, including some of the world's leading operators. All forms of interactive internet gaming including online casinos, casino-style games, betting exchanges and lotteries through the use of any means of distance communication such as internet, mobile, telephone and fax can be carried on from Malta. All operators of remote gaming in or from Malta must possess a valid license of the relevant class as set out in the First Schedule of the Remote Gaming Regulations.
Class One – online gaming license.
Class Two – online betting office license or online betting exchange office license.
Class Three – license to promote and abet gaming from Malta (includes betting exchanges and poker operations).
Class Four – license to host and manage online gaming operators, excluding the licensee himself.


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