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13 Jan 2020 JEEP WRANGLER PHEV: First official specs and details
13 Jan 2020 LeBron James to relaunch Hummer as an electric car brand
2019 Hyundai Kona Electric Review
Paul Horrell 2018-09-03
03 Sep 2018 Paul Horrell
Paul Horrell's 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric review with price, specs, performance, ride and handling, ownership, safety, verdict and score.
IN A NUTSHELL Game-changer: an EV that manages to combine ample battery endowment, a fashionable body style and an affordable sticker.
2019 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric Specifications (Global spec)
Price N/A Warranty 5 years/unlimited km (expected) Engine Permanent-magnet synchronous electric Power 150kW Torque 395Nm Transmission single-speed Drive front-wheel drive Body 4180mm (l); 1800mm (w exc mirrors); 2050mm (w inc mirrors); 1570mm (h) Turning circle 10.6m Towing weight NAkg (braked), NAkg (unbraked) Kerb weight 1685kg Seats 5 Battery 64kWh Spare Opt Energy consumption 14.3kWh/100km Range 482km WLTP
If Australia takes to electric vehicles, Hyundai will be ready. It will shortly launch an efficient hatchback called the Ioniq, as a pure-electric car, as well as simple hybrid and plug-in hybrid.
Read our Australian first drive review of the new Hyundai Kona Electric
Then next year in Oz this more revolutionary electric proposition, the Kona Electric: the first affordable electric vehicle to get close to the 500km range threshold will arrive. OK if you live in America there's the Chevrolet Bolt, but GM can barely be bothered with us foreigners these days so the Bolt isn't built in RHD. And the Tesla Model 3 for Australia is late-2019 or early 2020.
What is the Hyundai Kona Electric?
The Kona Electric has just gone on sale in other parts of the world, and in the UK where we've been doing the review, it comes in two versions. One has a 39kWh battery, which is similar to the new-generation Nissan Leaf, providing (slightly more-than-Leaf) 312km range on the new WLTP test.
But the headline version of the Kona Electric has a 64kWh battery for a 482km range, and that's the one that'll be brought into Australia next year.
That's very similar to the electric range of the Jaguar I-Pace on the same test, and the Jag is over $140k. Teslas aren't cheap either. In Europe, Hyundai's pricing for the 64kWh Kona is only about half the price of a Jaguar or Tesla Model S with equivalent range. Roughly the same price ratio will apply here.
In its regular piston-engined form, Hyundai's Kona follows the standard template for a compact crossover: slightly chunky-looking body, room for a small family, compact enough on the outside that it's at home in cities as well as out on the road. Four-wheel-drive versions of the piston-engined version can be had, but the electric one is front-drive only.
You can spot the electric version. It's got a smoothed-off front and mostly-fake radiator grille. You might think it looks a little piscine. But the petrol version is a mess to my eyes: contrasting grey plastic splattered all over the place, and three levels of lights and grilles that don't match up at all. The Electric looks tidier.
What's the interior and practicality like?
The Kona's platform is new and was designed from the outset for the EV version as well as 2WD and AWD petrol and diesel. So the battery fits neatly under the floor and rear seat, and doesn't burgle any space. The high-voltage electronics and the motor and cooling system all fit under the bonnet.
That said, the Kona is very much a baby crossover. So rear seat room is tight for adults. The issue is foot room, because the front seats are too close to the floor. It's better if the people in the front adjust their backsides upwards but if you're taller this will put you too close to the roof.
For the same reason, the boot's a tight 332 litres with the seats up, and remember if you're off on a trip you'll be carrying a bulky bag of coiled-up charge cable with you.
The facia and console are unique to the Electric version of the Kona. The matt-metallic finish on the control panels is no doubt a designer's attempt to make it look high-tech. Sadly it just calls to mind a cheap microwave oven.
Never mind, the actual arrangement is sensible. With no need for a gear linkage, Hyundai carved out a two-storey centre console. The lower level has a large tray with a rubberised non-slip base, useful as home to your snacks and devices, and equipped with sockets and inductive charger.
Above that a balcony-level console has the forward/reverse/park switches, electric park brake, a couple of cupholders, and other controls. They include heated and fan-cooled seats, and heated steering wheel. That's useful on an EV because it takes far less power to directly cool or heat your bum and back and hands, than it is to warm or cool the cabin air via the climate control.
On that subject, the climate-control switchgear includes a button to set a blower on the driver only, not all occupants. Another energy-saving measure.
The instruments are a TFT screen, with plenty of choices for bring up navigation or infotainment info. But their main emphasis is on energy flow, so you know enough to be confident you'll reach home or the next charging station before the electrons expire. The biggest display shows power use – between the extremes of hooning consumption or recuperating energy into the battery as you coast down. It's a good feeling to be doing that, rather than wasting energy with the brakes.
What are the infotainment and controls like?
Anyone who's driven a recent well-equipped Hyundai or Kia will find this unit familiar. I got into the Kona from a top-spec Kia Stinger, and it had the same thing. The graphics aren't super-stylish nor the resolution pin-sharp, but the main thing is it's easy to use.
That said, the system does have a couple of extra apps unique to this vehicle. They give detailed energy consumption data, and allow precise control of charging. For instance you can plug in now but set the vehicle to charge at some other time, to get advantage of cheap nighttime electricity.
Switching between major functions is either by hard keys or a 'my menu' you can customise. Navigation is built-in.
Or if you're more comfortable with Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, they too are very neatly integrated. That means you can toggle easily between the car's native screens and the mirroring, and you can opt for a slit screen with the music track off your phone on the right and the car's native navigation on the left.
The top-spec Kona Electric comes with a hi-fi by Krell. Given that the intrinsically quiet powertrain isn't competing against the music, you've got yourself a bit of a concert hall.
What's it like on the road?
As with any decent EV, it's acceleration that strikes you the moment you stand at the crease. The instant, silent force of it. The moment you tickle the pedal you're off, and it carries on that way without let up or hindrance. It's not like having an auto transmission where each change of ratio brings a small but definite step-change in acceleration. Instead, it's just one gear, and the acceleration simply tails off towards the maximum speed, a speed too high for you to reach on the road anyway.
In fact on most roads the issue is too much performance not too little. Lively EVs so far have been AWD or RWD. The front-drive Kona has trouble laying down the torque. Too much of a brush with the right foot has the tyres chirping, writhing and struggling for traction. I very soon switched to 'comfort' or indeed 'eco' mode from 'sport', not because I wanted to save the battery but because I wanted a more progressive and gentle pedal action.
Anyway, if you need to scoot down a country road with a grippy surface, or sharply gain speed for a highway overtake, the Kona's up for it.
The shortage of traction tells you the tyres are specced for low resistance rather than grip, but the Kona's cornering is no disgrace. The low centre of gravity – heavy battery is under the floor remember – means little body roll, and the firmish springs and decent dampers keep things tidy. There's no road feel in the steering mind.
The eco mode is especially good for smooth and gentle urban trickling. Via steering column paddles you can alter the degree of regeneration, and hence deceleration, brought on by a lift-off of the accelerator pedal. In the most aggressive setting, you hardly need touch the brakes at all. But the calibration of this slowdown is a bit odd at first: the effect doesn't tail away once you coast down to walking speed, so it takes practice to be entirely smooth approaching junctions.
The ride is what the handling leads you to expect it'll be: a bit turbulent over lumpy surfaces but generally tolerable. Not much different to the majority of compact crossovers.
It's quiet though, lending an air of class. Not silent mind. Below 30km/h you hear a strange hum like a jet passing a very long way overhead. It's an artificially generated tone designed to get the attention of pedestrians who might otherwise walk a out in front of a silent EV.
With bigger speed, you hear wind and tyre noise. They're not louder than in other crossovers this size, but you're more aware of them because there's no engine noise, just a polite high-pitched hum under full acceleration.
Why does range matter?
Most people charge up their electric cars at home overnight, and most people don't commute more than 100km each way. So why the obsession with 400-plus kms of real-world range? Because if it's to be more than a second car, you'll do the occasional long journey. Around the East Coast, there's now a useable network of rapid chargers. The Kona, on a CCS rapid charger, can take on 400km's worth in little over an hour.
Imagine you have a car like the new Nissan Leaf which has around 250km real-world range. You charge at home and set off. If quick chargers are 100km apart, you'll stop after 150km because you can't be sure of making it to the next one, or of finding it vacant.
Now rapid-charging works best in taking the battery up to 80-percent. So you do that and the range is now just 0.8x250km or just over 200km. If that doesn't get you where you're going, you'll have to stop again, and again you might do it with 100km to spare. That hop you've done only 100km.
With a 400km safe range, you'll stop after 300km, and charge to 0.8x400km equals 320km range. Again, stop with 100km remaining and you'll have done a 220km hop.
What about ownership?
It's a sensible and fun little thing to use. That's the key takeaway. It might be a bit cramped in the back, and there are times when the power overflows the ability of the front tyres.
But heck you can't get too picky when for the moment it's in a class of one. Nothing else ticks the big three boxes. Electric, tick. Long-range, tick. Affordable, tick.
Moderately quick AC charging spots are becoming pretty common, and the Kona can also use the far more rapid DC chargers, making long coastal drives a possibility even today.
Even so, an EV isn't a no-thought vehicle. Before getting one, look carefully at your driving habits and locations. Then consult a charger map. Only if the latter fully covers the former should you go ahead. At least unless you can borrow or hire a combustion car for the occasional trip outside charger-land.
Hyundai offers an eight-year warranty on the battery and in other markets where it has already launched is offering a unlimited kilometre warranty that matches its regular range. We would expect this vehicle to launch in Australia with a five-year unlimited kilometre warranty.
What about safety features?
People worry about battery packs catching fire. But it has happened in vanishingly few real-life instances. The cells are very well cooled and the electrics will shut off if there's trouble. Besides, how about driving around with a 50-litre can of explosive liquid strapped under your backside, like you do at the moment?
The petrol-engined Kona did well in the crash-test for ANCAP, scoring five stars. Of course the Electric one carries its weight differently and has a different under-bonnet layout, so you can't read across directly. But encouragingly it uses much of the same structure.
The Kona Electric is offered with a huge suite of driver assistance features, which Hyundai calls SmartSense. Here's the list: forward collision avoidance assist (autonomous braking) with pedestrian detection; blind-spot warning for lane changing, and the same systems' sensors also give you cross-traffic warning when reversing.
Then there's lane departure warning, and, optionally, a system that nudges you to following the centre of the lane, so that paired with the active cruise control the car can often do most of the highway driving itself, under your oversight. There's also a head-up display. Especially handy as it's harder than usual to judge speed in a car with no engine noise and no gears.
How do we rate the interior and practicality?
How do we rate the infotainment and controls?
How do we rate the performance?
How do we rate the ride and handling?
How do we rate the safety?
PRACTICAL MOTORING SAYS: Let's put the electric thing aside for a minute. Assuming you're OK with a compact car not a family hauler, here's crossover that's extremely lively, smooth and easy to drive. Very well equipped too. If you merely commute, you'll never need to go to a fuel station. Now, the EV bit. It's got similar range to vastly more expensive cars. Just plug it in one night on your driveway or garage and that's enough for several days' normal driving. If you want to do long journeys, it will serve better than any other affordable EV.
Tags:electric carHyundai KonaSUV
You can order the new VW T-Roc online this week
Mazda updates CX-9 for 2020
LeBron James to relaunch Hummer as an electric car brand
Paul Horrell
Paul's working life has been paced out in cars. He began road-testing when the VW Golf was in its second generation. It's now in its eighth. He covers much more than the tyre-smoking part of the road-test landscape. He roots around in the financial machinations of the car corporations and the apparent voodoo of the technologies. Then he clarifies those complications so his general readers – too busy to lodge their heads up the industry's nether regions – get the fast track on what matters and what doesn't. A freelance writer living in London, he usually gets around the city by bicycle, which adds to his (sometimes justified) reputation as a bit green and a bit of a lefty. He's a member of Europe's Car of the Year jury.
Toyota LandCruiser 3.5L Hybrid to be revealed in August


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Фестон (, ,  – празнична гирлянда;  – празничен) е украшение, което е широко разпространено в почти всички жанрове на изобразителното и приложното изкуство, особено в архитектурата и интериорния дизайн, както и в шивашкото изкуство.

Фестон в шивашкото изкуство се нарича декоративен елемент – бордюр (ива, ивица) във вид на малки дъги по края на дреха, покривка и под; ивица в низходящ образец под формата на листа, цветя, стъпаловидни зъби, равнобедрени триъгълници и др.

Древните гърци и римляни по религиозни и други празници () украсявали сгради, отвори, глави на жертвени животни с фестони (виж също: гирлянда).

Характеристики и разпространение
Този чисто декоративен елемент се използва в архитектурата, стенописната и декоративна живопис, като мотив за тапети, мебели и златарски изделия, най-често под формата на гирлянда, изработена като релеф или нарисувана в стил тромп лой, с една и множество свободно провиснали дъги, чиито краища висят надолу. Обикновено тази гирлянда изглежда уж държана от два или повече уж застопоряващи елемента – в Античността, например, това са били черепи на лъвове, овни или бикове, докато в Новото време – капители. Свободно окачените фестони са по-рядко срещани.

Гирляндата, образуваща фестона, може да се изработи с множество мотиви, според които може да бъдат различени фестони с лента, с цвете, с цвят (на цвете), с листо или с плод. Популярни мотиви на листа са лаврови, дъбови листа и лозови ластри.

Фестоните се появяват през IV век пр.н.е. в елинистическата архитектура. Силно разпространени са в римската архитектура и стенопис. Като украшение върху представителни вази или надгробни камъни, този елемент многократно се използва и в Новото време. През 18-и и 19 век той е бил част от декоративния репертоар на представителния интериорен дизайн като цяло.

Текстилна обработка
Освен в горе упоменатата форма, разпространена върху архитектурни елементи и мебели, фестонът се среща и в шивашкото изкуство като бордюр (ива, ивица) във вид на малки дъги по края на дреха, покривка, кърпи, пердета и пр. с декоративна цел. Те могат да бъдат ръчно изработена или механично изготвена пасмантерия, която е направена в различни стилове и техники. Така например фесонни бордюри могат да са направени като брюкселска плетка, плетка на една кука, плетка на две куки или бродерия.

Бележки

Приложни изкуства
Облекло
Архитектурни елементи

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


There are a few tricks you need to learn if you want to change the style of your toolbar and the buttons on it. Xcode supports custom tints on the toolbar and toolbar buttons if you only want to re-color it. However, if you need to apply a new theme you'll need to use code to adjust the button images.
To help you get started, I've written a utility class that can customize the UIBarButtonItem for a UIToolbar. If you need to customize a UINavigationItem the concepts are similar, but there are slightly different method calls. Check the reference for details.
1. You can download the source code and sample project from github or ZIP.
I want to share how the code works, so that it doesn't seem magical. After you start working with more code these types of things will become second nature. Let's write some code.
1. First we'll need an image to use as a button in normal and highlighted (pressed) states. On iPhone you'll want to use stretchable images, because button titles can be variable widths. You can create a stretchable square image in PhotoShop CS6. Toolbar buttons are 30x30 "points." On current retina screens it's 2x scale factor, which means you'll need a 60x60 pixel image. I use a rounded rectangle with a 10 pixel corner radius in PhotoShop for toolbar buttons.
a. Save your retina image (60x60) in PhotoShop with the @2x ending (i.e. StretchButton@2x.psd) and then you can export the StretchButton@2x.png file and add it to your Xcode project.
b. Tip: When you edit your custom button graphic you'll want to replace the existing file in the project directory instead of re-adding it to Xcode. Right-click on the image in Xcode's project navigator and choose "Show in Finder." Using this window copy and paste the .PNG image and replace the old image. Or you can directly export from your .PSD file into your project directory to replace the old asset.
2. Here are the button squares that we'll use as button graphics. I have a normal, highlighted, and a crosshair test image to show how stretching works.
3. In code we load the image into a UIImage, and then we'll need to make that image resizable to allow for different button widths. The method calls are nested together.
a. I'm only adding the "StretchButton@2x.png" (retina) image for the button because Xcode/iPhone will auto-scale for non-retina devices. When we load the image, use the "StretchButton.png" to get this auto-scale behavior. Note: Unless you want pixel perfection on a non-retina (iPhone 3GS, iPad 2, or iPad Mini) you shouldn't need to add two versions of the same image.
b. The UIEdgeInsets technically only needs to be set for the left and right, but I like to set all my edges to the same value. In the above code (15, 15, 15, 15) corresponds to the sides (top, left, bottom, right). This tells the iPhone to move 15 pixels in on each side and then to stretch the pixels in the middle region (we strive for a 1 pixel row/column on one of the axises).
c. Tip: When creating the art asset, you'll want to make sure that your insets account for any corners or non-stretchable regions. If you don't, you'll get weird effects when the image stretches.
A stretchable image with a crosshair in the center. The blue vertical line stretches horizontally.
d. If you create your image correctly, the toolbar button will only stretch horizontally. If you work with UIButtons, they can be resized both horizontally and vertically. Be consistent with your insets and your button images can work in both situations (UIButtons have a 14 pixel corner radius).
e. Use UIImageResizingModeStretch for optimal performance. If you have 6+ buttons or use resizable images in a UITableView you'll notice lag.
4. In order to set a UIBarButtonItem to a custom image, we need to create a custom UIView and put it inside the UIBarButtonItem. To get the same tap behavior, we'll use a UIButton as our custom UIView.
a. We're responsible for setting both a normal and a highlighted state, which means you'll need two different images to provide visual feedback. The highlighted state is when a user touches the button.
b. To utilize the button titles from interface builder, we'll use the same title and then we need to resize our custom button. Setting the contentEdgeInsets and the font size will give make sizeToFit resize correctly and match the default button style.
c. Adding a drop shadow makes the title text pop out a little more from the button graphic.
5. The last step is to copy the target/action from the UIBarButtonItem and set it on the UIButton object. The custom view will receive all the touch events and we want it to respond like we've set it up in interface builder.
6. I wrapped the toolbar customization code in a helper class as a class method, so that you can just import the Helper.h file and then use a single method to stylize your button.
a. Set IBOutlets to the buttons and the toolbar, so that you can reference each of them in code and modify their appearance before the app starts.
hange the appearance of your UIToolbar to match the style of your new buttons using and IBOutlet to the toolbar and the method below. Use a stretchable image to resize when the iPhone is rotated, or you can set the landscape using the setting UIBarMetricsLandscapePhone.
Download the sample project and replace the image assets with your artwork.


For decades it's been well understood that soft-sand beaches move — and that hard structures like concrete sea walls and stone jetties can in fact accelerate erosion. With climate change — rising sea levels and more frequent violent storms — the inevitable beach erosion and migration has only increased.
Along the southwestern coast of the Netherlands, not far from The Hague, kite surfers glide on the waves around a huge sand peninsula where beachcombers photograph seagulls. But the peninsula is more than just a recreation spot. It's also an experiment in coastal management: It keeps the sea away from nearby cities.
Coastal erosion may release waste from ten per cent of England's historic coastal landfills in the next forty years, according to research from Queen Mary University of London and the Environment Agency.
Coastal communities count on beaches for recreation and for protection from large waves, but beaches are vulnerable to threats such as erosion by storms and flooding. Whether beaches grow, shrink, or disappear depends in part on what happens just offshore. If we understand these processes, scientists can include them in computer models of coastal change that can be used to forecast future changes over years, decades, or even centuries.
The Malaysian Minister of Natural Resources and Environment said about 10 per cent of the country's 6,700km coastlines are now badly affected by erosion, especially in areas where coastal developments projects are being implemented.


Soul Artist Management model Justin Hopwood arrived from South Africa four years ago and has already become a regular in ads for Polo. When not hanging around male model buddies like Chad White, Hopwood gets behind the camera, shooting black and white photography.
"Dream as if you will live forever, live as if you'll die today."
What do you actually do all day? When I am not working I'll be walking around soho shooting or you can find me running or biking the west side highway.
My biggest secret is... it's a secret.
My motto is... Dream as if you will live forever, live as if you'll die today.
The last drink I had was...Last weekend in Atlantic City.
My secret crush is... Don't have.
What was your first job? Abercrombie by Bruce Weber 2010.
Coming from? Going to? Coming from Cape Town, South Africa, going to where ever the wind blows me!


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Brothers and Sisters All: Studying Pope Francis' Call to Hope (Saturday)
10:00am | Ends March 27, 2021 at 11:30am
Addressed to "all people of goodwill," Pope Francis' latest encyclical letter boldly calls for discovering "a love that transcends the barriers of geography and distance, and declares blessed all" those who love the human family.
Francis begins his letter with an incisive examination of the ills that plague society — greed, inequality, racism, religious violence — "these dark clouds … may not be ignored," he writes, and then "take[s] up and discuss[es] the many new paths of hope."
Join the Precious Blood Renewal Center team for four sessions studying Pope Francis' encyclical "Fratelli Tutti: On Fraternity and Social Friendship."
Fr. Ron Will, CPPS, will lead the discussions on four consecutive Saturday mornings with prayer and reflection. (If you prefer a Tuesday evening meeting, follow this link.) In the spirit of the letter, these discussions are open to all people of goodwill.
March 6, 10-11:30 a.m. central time
March 13, 10-11:30 a.m. central time
The letter was issued Oct. 4, 2020, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi and much of it was written when Italy was on lockdown because of the COVID pandemic.
One commentator calls Fratelli Tutti a "powerful 'cry from the heart' to all people of the earth to see beyond their differences — indeed to work with their differences — and begin to grow together to build a new and peaceful world."
Others have called Fratelli Tutti "a radical challenge" and "a blueprint for a world after coronavirus."
"The signs of the times clearly show that human fraternity and care of creation form the sole way towards integral development and peace."
— Pope Francis
There is no charge for the discussions, but you will need to purchase a study guide. After you register, you will receive information on how to make that purchase. If you cannot afford or need help purchasing the guide, please contact the Renewal Center (info@pbrenewalcenter.og).
An Overview — Brothers and Sisters All: Pope Francis' Call to Hope
Brothers and Sisters All: Studying Pope Francis' Call to Hope (Tuesday)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Aquinas, Doctors of the Church, January, Order of Preachers, Saints
Jan 28 – St Thomas Aquinas, O.P., (1225-1274) – Doctor of the Church, Doctor Communis, Doctor Angelicus, "The Dumb Ox!"
Also known as the "Common Doctor/Doctor Communis", which is high praise, meaning his opine is universal, something for everyone, relevant in every situation.
Probably, for me, the highlight, liturgically, of the year is Holy Thursday, after communion has been distributed and the priest is enwrapped in cope, incense is lit, the Blessed Sacrament is placed in the monstrance, the procession to the place of reservation begins and Pange Lingua, attributed to St Thomas Aquinas, and not just because I am his wonk, is sung beautifully and reverently, nearly as chant…
"Sing, my tongue, the Saviour's glory,
of His Flesh, the mystery sing;
of the Blood, all price exceeding,
shed by our Immortal King…
Faith for all defects supplying,
Where the feeble senses fail…"
https://soul-candy.info/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/06-Hymnus_-Pange-Lingua-1.mp3
It is very moving for me. My mother always taught me to genuflect on both knees when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed. The altar is then stripped and ornamentation in the sanctuary is removed in anticipation of the events remembered the following day. There is such a peace, solemnity, silence, and profound meaning beyond words I look forward to each year.
I tried reading the Summa on my own, once, and only once. Emphasis on the word "tried" and "once". I quickly gave up. Calculus is easier, more self-evident.
There are a great number of erudite tomes way over my head which are best introduced to the novice, literally, with a well seasoned, compassionate guide to whom the bewildered, overwhelmed student can revert with great frequency, great frequency, receiving tender mercies of experienced instruction and wisdom, presuming these qualities are present in the teacher. Thank God for merciful instructors. We would never graduate without their encouragement and support. I try to imitate that with my own students, who, too, are deeply grateful, usually, but there are some… 🙁 For those students, I have to pray even harder!!! 🙂
Don't try the Summa on your own, boys and girls. Fair warning. Many of the original works of the Church Fathers fall into this category as well. You have been fairly warned! I have the intellectual scars from those "knowledge bombs", a term one of my students recently introduced me to, to prove it! Wanna see? 🙂
St. Thomas Aquinas was born January 28, 1225, in Aquino, a town in southern Italy from which he takes his surname. In his masterwork, Summa Theologica, he represents the pinnacle of Scholasticism, the philosophical and theological school that reconciles faith with reason and the works of Aristotle with the scriptures.
At the time Thomas lived, the works of Aristotle were being rediscovered in the West and great Christian thinkers of the day spent a good deal of attention and effort trying to unify Divine revelation with human philosophy. In the East, intellectual life flourished. The West was still recovering from the inertia of the "Dark Ages", where little intellectual innovation occurred. It is said St Thomas was the spark who prepared the the West for the Renaissance. Aristotle had been preserved in Arabic, and Islam was producing great Aristotelian thinkers. Western Christians needed to respond in kind.
The family of Thomas Aquinas was a noble one, his parents, the Count of Aquino and Countess of Teano, were related to Emperors Henry VI and Frederick II, as well as to the Kings of Aragon, Castile, and France. He was the youngest of eight children.
During his early education, Thomas exhibited great acumen in the medieval trivium of grammar, rhetoric, and logic. Described as "a witty child", who "had received a good soul", even as a child student, he posed the question to his instructors, "What is God?"
Because of his high birth, Thomas' entry into the Dominican order in the early 1240s was very surprising, and especially disturbing to his family. They especially opposed entry into "mendicant", or begging orders, who beg for their sustenance, thinking it far below their family status.
Thomas' family employed various means to dissuade him from his vocation, including kidnapping him and imprisoning him for two years. Thomas spent his time tutoring his sisters, and communicating with other Dominicans. His resolve was strong. Family members became desperate to dissuade Thomas, who remained determined to join the Dominicans. At one point, two of his brothers resorted to the measure of hiring a prostitute to seduce him. Thomas drove her away wielding a fire iron. That night two angels appeared to him as he slept and strengthened his determination to remain celibate giving him a mystical belt of chastity. He never faced sexual temptation again. (????!!!! Really? Wow? :< I guess. Mixed feelings on that one…. 🙂 [I DO like my sin, unfortunately. 🙁 Give me strength, Lord! :] Concupiscence.
Upon his escape, which was arranged by his mother, Theodora, as a face saving measure, rather than all out surrender to a religious order, Thomas returned to the Dominicans and his studies. Since, "still waters run deep", Thomas was a thoughtful, and hence, quiet student. His taciturn nature was deceiving. So much so, his classmates thought him dim-witted. Possessing hefty stature, his classmates nick-named him "The Dumb Ox!"
After a stint as a student in Paris, Thomas made his way to Cologne to teach, receiving ordination to the priesthood in 1250. Soon after this, he was assigned to teach at Paris, where he also worked toward his degree of Doctor of Theology, which he received in 1257, with his friend St. Bonaventure, after some intramural political difficulty.
The remainder of his life was spent in prayer, study, and writing his great Summa Theologica, a systematic attempt to present the findings of scholasticism. Although Thomas is sometimes perceived simply as an analytical and methodical writer, he was, especially in his later years, given to periods of mystical ecstasy. During one such experience, on December 6, 1273, he resigned from his writing project, indicating that he had perceived such wonders that his previous work seemed worthless. During the Feast of St. Nicolas in 1273, St. Thomas Aquinas had a mystical vision that made writing seem unimportant to him. At Mass, he heard a voice coming from a crucifix tell him, "Thou hast written well of Me, Thomas; what reward wilt thou have?" to which St. Thomas Aquinas replied, "None other than Thyself, Lord."
When St. Thomas Aquinas' confessor, Father Reginald of Piperno, urged him to keep writing, Aquinas replied, "I can do no more. Such secrets have been revealed to me that all I have written now appears to be of little value, as so much straw." St. Thomas Aquinas never wrote again.
The Summa Theologica was left unfinished, proceeding only as far as the ninetieth question of the third part. St. Thomas Aquinas died a few months later, on March 7, 1274. Today, Thomist theology stands at the center of the Roman Catholic tradition.
-The Temptation of St Thomas Aquinas, by Diego Velazquez, 1631-2, oil on canvas, Orihuela Cathedral Museum
– artist anonymous, Cusco School, (1690 – 1695), "Saint Thomas Aquinas, Protector of the University of Cusco", oil on canvas, H:1,610 mm (63.39 in), W:1,170 mm (46.06 in), Museo de Arte de Lima, Peru.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eyF0PiIY_o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz-qarqY0Cc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYCxtvlqmeA
"Joy is the noblest human act." -St Thomas Aquinas
"Charity is the form, mover, mother and root of all the virtues." – Saint Thomas Aquinas
"To love God is something greater than to know Him." -St. Thomas Aquinas
"Almighty and ever-living God, I approach the sacrament of your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. I come sick to the doctor of life, unclean to the fountain of mercy, blind to the radiance of eternal light, and poor and needy to the Lord of heaven and earth. Lord, in your great generosity, heal my sickness, wash away my defilement, enlighten my blindness, enrich my poverty, and clothe my nakedness. Amen." -St Thomas Aquinas
"May I receive the bread of angels, the King of kings and Lord of lords, with humble reverence, with the purity and faith, the repentance and love, and the determined purpose that will help to bring me to salvation. May I receive the sacrament of the Lord's Body and Blood, and its reality and power. Amen." -St Thomas Aquinas
"The Eucharist is the Sacrament of Love; It signifies Love, It produces love. The Eucharist is the consummation of the whole spiritual life."— St. Thomas Aquinas
Wonderful Theologian and Doctor of the Church, you learned more from the Crucifix than from books. Combining both sources, you left us the marvelous "Summa" of theology, broadcasting most glorious enlightenment to all. You always sought for true light and studied for God's honor and glory. Help us all to study our religion as well as all other subjects needed for life, without ambition and pride in imitation of you. Amen.
Father of wisdom, You inspired Saint Thomas Aquinas with an ardent desire for holiness and study of sacred doctrine. Help us, we pray, to understand what he taught, and to imitate what he lived. Amen.
Previous PostJan 13 – St Hilary of Poitiers, (315?-368 AD), Doctor of the Church, Doctor of Christ's Divinity, Hammer of the AriansNext PostFeb 21 – St Robert Southwell, SJ, (1561-1595) – Poet, Priest & Martyr


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Ohio Valley Hidden Gems: McColloch's Leap
Wheeling, W.Va (WTRF) – The Ohio Valley is full of History, especially the friendly city.
There is history at every corner of the Ohio Valley; tucked to the side of National Road is a small monument remembering McCulloch's Leap.
The Monument is a hidden gem but the story is not so hidden.
It's a tale of bravery shown by Major Samual McColloch on September first, 1777 as he was fleeing from three Native Tribes as they were surrounding Fort Henry.
Local historian Jay Frey says that it's one of the two defining moments of bravery in Wheeling's history and it's one that needs to be remembered.
Knowing where you come from and knowing how the community survived is kind of an amazing story to be told and I think worth remembering.
Jay Frey | Local Historian
McColloch's Leap is just one of many Hidden Gems in the Ohio Valley and we're ready to find them.
Ohio Valley Hidden Gems: Strand Theatre
Ohio Valley Hidden Gems: The Cockayne Farmstead
Ohio Valley Hidden Gems: Schmulbach Brewery
Ohio Valley Hidden Gems: YMCA Valentines Day Weekend over-nighter


A hundred days till the start of the 505 World Championships in Gdynia!
It's only a hundred days to go till the most important regatta for the 505 competitors in the season of 2018! On the 18th, July exactly, the waters of the Bay of Gdańsk will welcome the best sailors of this fantastic class. Till today, more than 40 teams from 12 countries have signed up. Ultimately, we are expecting to reach more than 100 yachts total.
Among the admitted competitors, it is worth mentioning the former world champion, Ian Pinnel (GBR 9190),the present champions, Mike Holt and Rob Woelfel (USA 9072), as well as all the well-known veterans of 505 sailing family. It is the Polish Yachting Association together with the Polish 505 Class Association, representing the International 505 Class Association, that organise the Regatta. Anyone who possesses a 505 yacht may take part. All you need to do is visit our website: www.505worlds2018.com and sign in! The full entry list can be found here.
What awaits the signed-up competitors?
The measurements and weighing of the yachts have been planned for the 18th and 19th of July. Each of the boats shall go through a detailed inspection held by an international team of measures. It is not only a custom and formality, it is also about being sure that the rivalry follows the the fair play and class rules. On the 20th, the Pre-Worlds will take place. These short, one-day regattas are a warm-up and an opportunity to test the equipment and the waters. Such recognizable Races require a grand race committee. The Pre-Worlds give them a chance to get to know each other in order to have a unified team of people responsible for the organisation of the championships on the water. The 21st of July is the last the day for the final measurements of the boats. The 22nd, July, marks the beginning of the World Championship races that will last till the 27th, July. During the races, each day will mean two races. The 25th, July, is to be a lay day - a break for the competitors. Poland is well known for it's hospitality. Shortly we will publish a detailed list of on-sore activities during the regatta and the lay-day.
The characteristic element of the regattas as renowned as the European or World Championships is the gate start. It means that the team appointed by the Committee (a pathfinder), on a given signal, begins to sail the port tack and this way open the so-called gate. The remaining boats need to sail the starboard tack behind the stern of the pathfinder starting the race. This allows for the start of the whole fleet together avoiding any false starts.
For those who own the older yachts, there has been a separate classification prepared during the Worlds. The participation within the classical 505 yacht classification is available for all participants whose yachts meet the requirements named in the Appendix A of the Notice of Race.


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China Underground > China Views > Interview with Artist & Activist Jas Charanjiva
Interview with Artist & Activist Jas Charanjiva
January 21, 2022 January 21, 2022 by Dominique Musorrafiti
1 Jas Charanjiva is an artist, activist, and entrepreneur
1.1.1 Dominique Musorrafiti
Jas Charanjiva is an artist, activist, and entrepreneur
Jas Charanjiva is a Mumbai-based street artist, who was raised in Northern California and was influenced by San Francisco's Mission District murals, uses her vibrant art in service of global feminist and activist movements. Jas Charanjiva, at the age of 12, while living in California received her first professional skateboard and loved the art on the back of its deck. Since then she was deeply interested in underground street art and started to observe and shape her style in graffiti and underground art. Jas is currently a co-founder at Kulture shop which is an art + design brand that curates and champions the best Indian Graphic Artists from around the world and prints their exclusive works on limited editions tees and art prints.
Official site | Instagram | Twitter | Asian Art Museum
What life obstacles has art helped you overcome, and what did it help you strengthen? What is the biggest lesson you have learned from art?
As an Indian teen living in America, I had strict parents who didn't allow us to hang out with our friends outside school. I wanted to be like my American friends who had the freedom to have boyfriends, go to parties, attend sleepovers, etc. Music and art provided an outlet for me that kept me busy and allowed me to discover and become inspired by artists I still love today. Later in life, art helped strengthen my voice to speak on issues. It's become a tool for me, in that sense. My voice through art is much louder and more far-reaching than the voice with which I normally use. People tend to pay attention when they see art. This opens the gate for me. My voice through art is then shared and seen by others. Art is a powerful way to amplify my message. The biggest lesson I've learned from art thus far is that sometimes you just need to allow the viewer to come up with their own interpretation. I was watching an interview with Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails speaking about his own music. He said (verbatim) "The reason why I tend to shy away from talking about lyrics is it can shed too much light on what my intent was. To me, it's about your experience with that song what it means to you, and how it feels to you. I've had many songs ruined by the writer telling me what they meant by it, or correcting me about what I thought the lyric was about which was way better." I resonated with what Trent Reznor had said. Two years ago, I created a 5-story mural of a young girl standing amongst nature, looking peaceful with a river flowing from her belly. Several people who walked by were asked by an interviewer to express what the mural meant to them. At first, I thought "I hope they give the right answer otherwise I didn't do a good job", but then I let go of this thought once I started hearing the responses. Their unprovoked interpretations were beautiful and some were very personal.
"Everything starts from the fire I have for wanting to see things change."– Jas Charanjiva
Her street art rallies for women's empowerment and for an inclusive, cruelty-free future. The Pink Lady means different things to different people
"Don't Mess With Me" (2013/2020), aka The Pink Lady, is a piece of street art that became quite viral over the years, due to Jas's character. After a violent crime in Delhi, a gang rape, Jas Charanjiva turned to art to confront harmful social conventions and raise awareness about the "boom" of new cultural approaches towards women and women's safety. The artist responds to the public outcry and demand for change with an image of a woman brandishing brass knuckles that spell out "BOOM." The Pink Lady mural has come to be known as a symbol of women's empowerment. This artwork is becoming a symbol of courage and change for many women in and outside India. "Don't Mess With Me" is open for visitors in 2021 at the East West Bank Art Terrace, an outdoor platform for contemporary art featuring thought-provoking works by both emerging and world-renowned artists. The artwork can also be viewed from the corner of McAllister and Hyde Streets, outside the Asian Art Museum.
"Creating art is often an inward journey that makes you question everything that's going on around you." – Jas Charanjiva
She lived outside of San Francisco so Jas was fully exposed to quite a lot of street art, especially the works of Mexican artists, which showed to her the richness of Latin culture
How can art help build a more inclusive world? What role can art play to cope during this time of increase in bias and hate crimes?
Preface: Throughout my childhood and teenage life, I was influenced by mostly Caucasian people. They were everywhere – on my cereal box, cartoons, tv shows, store catalogues, magazines. It made me want to be like them because they were being celebrated, I suppose. Thankfully, we had 'Good Times' and 'The Jeffersons', both shows that revolved around Black culture. For my first few years of schooling in Canada, I was among a handful of brown kids in a predominantly white school. My sister and I were loved by our peers and we had seamlessly blended in as far as I knew and still know looking back. I remember with such regret a sweet small-framed Indian boy sitting alone next to me and my girlfriends in the cafeteria. He leaned over and gently asked if I was Indian. I scoffed and told him "No" before I scooted closer to my friends. The little boy must have felt traumatized. What a horrible and uncharacteristic thing I did, which left me feeling really bad and confused about my sudden action. I understood many years later that not living in an inclusive world can be dangerous, harmful, hurtful, and confusing. It can make you reject yourself and in turn reject others. There were no Indian influencers for me growing up.
Jas Charanjiva is a self-taught artist that often uses non-conventional characters in her work
Where was the South Asian representation in pop culture during my formative years? Art plays a massive role in pop culture. Through pop culture, we shape society for better or worse. In order for art to play a role in this volatile time of hate crimes and biases, art with an agenda needs to reach the masses NOW. If art is as powerful as I and others believe it to be, then we need to get the most impactful work that people can resonate with out to the streets and subways in the form of street art and video installations – in order to create dialogue, in order to question ourselves, in order to influence new concepts and open the eyes of those who aren't "woke". Bringing the art from marginalized communities and giving those artists a platform to talk intimately about personal experiences where biases and hate affected them can touch hearts and change perspectives. Art already does that but when art can't be stumbled upon by the public, then art won't be able to reach its fullest potential in reaching those who need their hearts touched and their perspectives changed the most.
Artist and entrepreneur Jas Charanjiva, co-owner of Kulture Shop proves that change begins from within. She believes in the importance of self-care rituals
Photos courtesy of Afruz Amighi & Asian Art Museum
Special Thanks to Zac Rose
Dominique Musorrafiti
CHINA-UNDERGROUND. Ciao! My name is Dominique. I'm Italian and I'm proud to be a mix. My father was an Italian chemical engineer and high school teacher, with Greek and Polish heritage. My mother is Haitian, she was high school language teacher, with Dominican, Spanish, French, Portuguese, African and Native American heritage. Being a mix makes me appreciate to want to understand different cultures and lifestyles. I grew up in Italy, lived few years in Haiti, travel around main European capitals, lived seven years in China, six in Spain and UK. Traveling makes me feel that we can learn something from every situation in every part of the world.
Interview with Graffiti Artist Chen Dongfan
Interview with SimpleBao, Visual Storyteller and Street Artist
Interview with Fashion Designer & Mural Artist Zoie Lam
Interview with the Dutch jazz singer Laura Fygi
Interview with Artist & Photographer Xing Danwen
Categories China Views, Contemporary art in China, Featured Articles Tags designer, graffiti
Interview with Installation Artist & Sculptor Afruz Amighi
Interview with Actress & Producer Nancy Kwan


Tyler Hubbard is going to be a father of two!
The 32-year-old Florida Georgia Line musician and wife Hayley revealed that they were expecting their second child.
The couple announced the exciting news while they stepped out for Clive Davis' Pre-Grammys Party on Saturday night (February 9).
This will be the second child for Tyler and Hayley. They welcomed daughter Olivia back in December 2017.
The couple will be welcoming their second child in August.


CLI support for .c, .cc, .cxx, .and .c++ source files has been added.
In the CLI, you can use multi-byte character and space character when you specify the path of an workspace and a source file.
The IDEs have increased the language support set of the following tools: configuration editor, web localization, manifeset editor, PO editor, and resource manager view.
The NFC module value in the wearable circular emulator is set to ON by default.
After building on the CLI is finished, the name of the generated .mo file is automatically set to be the same as the name of the IDE.
The Stale Object Checker for the Web IDE has been updated to support Windows® 10 (64-bit).
The bug, where the SDK Update Notification did not appear when you ran the dynamic analyzer on Mac OS® X, has been fixed.
When you tried to convert a project to an earlier version, an error occurred and the conversion failed. This bug has been fixed. You can convert the project to earlier versions.
In a native project, the Restore Defaults feature in Properties > C/C++ Build did not work properly. This bug has been fixed.
The project build failure on the Mac OS® X, which occurred due to the missing msgfmt binary, has been fixed.
When you used the package command with the -r option for multi-packaging, a non-signed file was wrongly included in the multi-package. This bug has been fixed.
If the SDK Update Notification appears when you start the Tizen IDE or Emulator on Mac OS® X, a terminal (shell.exec) icon can appear on the dock for a few seconds.
When you select in the IDE menu Help > Help Contents, if JRE 1.8 is installed on your computer, the "HTTP ERROR:500" message may appear in the Help page due to an Eclipse Kepler bug. See https://developer.tizen.org/development or use JRE 1.7.
The Preview tab in the Web Page Editor sometimes does not appear properly. Use an alternative feature, named Web SDK HTML Editor, which has enhanced features compared to the Web Page Editor. Instead of the Preview tab in the Web Page Editor, use the preview (Ctrl+4) feature of the Web SDK HTML Editor.
When you import some projects generated from Tizen 2.3 Rev2, the importing can take some time.
On Windows®, when you build a native project containing a PO file, the IDE sometimes stops responding. In this case, create a new workspace and move the project to it. The project may be built successfully there.
When the WYSIWYG editor of the Native UI Builder for Windows® is running, a project deletion does not work properly. To solve the problem, close the editor.
If the WYSIWYG editor of the Native UI Builder for Windows® runs over 12 hours, your computer slows down because of the editor's high memory usage. To solve the problem, restart the Tizen IDE.
The Tizen Store currently does not accept a wearable circle app which is developed by the Native UI Builder because some blacklist API set are used in the Builder. This issue will be solved at upcoming release.
Ubuntu sometimes stops responding for a few seconds after closing the Emulator Manager. This issue is related to an Intelligent Input Bus (IBus) bug. When the issue occurs, restart the ibus-daemon by entering the ibus-daemon –drx command at the command prompt, and use another framework, such as uim and fcitx, for multilingual input.
If the host machine is using Nvidia Optimus™ technology on either Ubuntu or Windows®, you must set the Tizen Emulator to run with your Nvidia® graphics card. In case of Ubuntu, check the bumblebee project (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bumblebee). In case of Windows®, select "High Speed NVIDIA Processor" as "Preferred Graphics processor" in the Nvidia® control panel.
On Ubuntu, if the graphics driver is out-of-date, your Ubuntu desktop session can be occasionally logged out when launching the Emulator Manager, or the Emulator skin can be drawn improperly. Check the prerequisites and upgrade to the latest graphics driver.
If the RAM size is set to 768 or 1024 MB for the VM in the Emulator Manager, change it to 512 MB.
Increase the user area of the virtual memory in the system to 3 GB by entering the bcdedit /set increaseuserva 3072 command on the console with administrator rights (Windows® 7 only), and reboot.
If you use a MacBook Pro which has both Intel HD and Nvidia GPUs, when you execute the Emulator with the OpenGL ES ver. v1.1 & v2.0 option, the Emulator can be unexpectedly terminated. Use the OpenGL ES ver. v2.0 & v3.0 option.
To use the SDB bash completion feature, enter the source .sdb-complete.bash command on the bash shell. The feature runs manually from the official Tizen 2.4 release onwards due to the Installer and Update Manager issue.


Nowadays I'm less active on twitter because most of people I follow aren't very active over there anymore. It's quite lonely on that realm. Anyone feel this way?
I'm more active on Instagram. There are less interactions on Instagram but it's a different story. It's easy to snap and upload (of course I do some extra works of putting them in grids and add watermarks in between). Besides "a picture says a thousand words", Instagram doesn't seem to limit text input to 140 characters only when I need to babble.
Here's a compilation / selection of what I Instagramed last month.
Continue to show off my love of lipsticks!
Earlier this month I participated on #7daysoflipsticks and had a great time looking for bold and bright lipsticks to wear. I posted about this great cause so I won't repeat it here.
After wearing bold and colorful lips for a while, I'm now into stained lips. Stained lips look is great for those who are afraid of wearing bold and colorful lips. I'm not afraid of bold and colorful lips but it's a nice change to look more subtle. I think it goes better with my usual minimal makeup face.
Besides, it's spring and everything looks better softer.
One thing I wanted to do more since re-launched this blog is nail posts, but my nails aren't cooperating with me. It's always the nails on my left hand that choose to break. Sadly I can only use left hand for swatching because 1) my fingers on right hand don't look that great and I blame it on not holding pens properly when I was younger and 2) I can't apply nail polish properly with my left hand.
Both of these braided styles come from YouTube tutorials. Left, I can't remember where it comes from. Right, from Lilith Moon.
I don't like fruits but I have to eat them for healthy reasons. We discovered a new way to make me enjoy fruits more. Drown them in creams! I love cream and it has to be full fat cream! Probably not that great from keeping my figure's perspective but it's yummy in my tummy. Now I have excuses to buy cream more regularly. And probably need excuse to buy new jeans because at this rate I probably won't fit into what I wear soon!
We eat dumplings almost every weekend. Frozen dumplings of course. I love making dumplings from scratch, including from the dough, but it's not fun doing it all by myself. I wish I have friends here whom I can make dumplings with. I used to be really against frozen dumplings but I can't fight the convenience it brings.
Yes, I'm still addicted to 2048. Found Hexagonal 2048 and enjoyed the variation. However this app drains so much phone battery I have to uninstall it. Sad.
I'm back to play 4×4 grid because it takes too long for 5×5 and bigger grids. It was amazing I went into 16384 zone. I've never gone this far and I'm still going. Yes, I'm in practice mode that's how I can get this far. Shhhh….
Love your lipstick and your nails! So so beautiful!!
Her hair is beautiful! Don't cut it! I know it's all very well for me to say that because I don't have to comb it every morning. Those lipsticks are lovely. You look as though you could get away with any colour!
I don't hang out much on twitter anymore either. Too many social media networks to keep up with! I much prefer Instagram too. I love looking at everyone's pictures. Gosh, you are such a true lipstick lover!!
Mandy, yes, there are too many social media out there. If you had known me me 10+ years ago, I was even crazier about lipsticks!


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Massive increase in broadband traffic - Telenor to launch new speeds
WEBWIRE – Tuesday, October 31, 2006
(Fornebu, Norway 31 October 2006): Internet usage is becoming increasingly advanced, and since June last year we have seen almost a doubling of broadband traffic from Telenor's customers. In response to this, Telenor is once again increasing the speed of its most popular broadband subscriptions in the consumer market.
The speed increases apply to the three most popular subscriptions: Mini, Basis and Pluss. The new speeds (kbps) will be up to 1500/300 (previously 700/160), up to 2500/350 (previously 1500/300) and up to 4000/400 (previously 3000/350), respectively. Prices will be unchanged. For new customers the new speeds will apply from 1. November, existing customers will be moved over to new speeds by Christmas. Network capacity is also being increased, both locally and centrally.
"Recently, development in the broadband market has moved from an explosive increase in number of customers to an explosive increase in use by those who have broadband. You could say that it seems broadband customers have definitely seen how they can utilise broadband to the full," says Olav Sande, Director of Broadband and Telephony in Telenor Consumer.
Immediately after the launch of ADSL in 2000, customers were most concerned about uptime and coverage. From there, demand turned to capacity and price, while now we see that services and content, which require higher bandwidth, are more important. Downloading music, streaming movies and web-TV, e.g. football matches, are all content services that require high-speed Internet. Football represents the greatest content success on the Internet so far, and is a major cause for increasing traffic both regionally and centrally. For example, in Bergen there has been at times a doubling of traffic when the local football team play, especially during away matches.
"The speed customers receive is especially dependent on factors such as line quality and distance to the exchange, but in general we will increase speeds where justifiable. And if the customer's maximum speed is overtaken by the subscription class below, we reduce the price to the customer," says Sande.
For new prices and information, please see: www.telenor.no/adsl.
Telenor ASA
Atle Lessum
Telenor Nordic
Household / Consumer / Cosmetics


This blog is another one that is long overdue that I completely missed of Sararose!
Anyways, I have a confession about this session. It was the first that I've done in Camera Raw. I know, shooting in Jpeg is equivalent to the photographer's sin, but when I decided to finally do it, I've never looked back!
Well, we decided to go to downtown Lynchburg by Waterstone. My internship was a block away and one day I drove that route home and realized that was the place I wanted to do her session! I loved it especially because I felt it fit her look and personality the most (other than a meadow). Here are some of my favorites!
I took so many amazing pictures over the past few days that I'm going to be posting several sneak peeks over the next few weeks. But here is a few from the Fashion Show from the weekend!


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Laughing Water Creek is a stream in the U.S. state of South Dakota.

Laughing Water Creek's name comes from the Sioux Indians of the area.

See also
List of rivers of South Dakota

References

Rivers of Custer County, South Dakota
Rivers of South Dakota


Fourteen years on, they are seen as football's new supervillains and it is time for the sequel: the considerably rarer How-I-fell-out-of-love-with-my-club book. In addition to the books and articles he has written on sport and British and American social and cultural history, he also lectures on film and history at Cambridge University. Though it had its downbeat moments Shindler's first book was essentially optimistic in tone, so it is a strange experience to read such a negative follow-up. I enjoyed this book quite a bit, but feel like Shindler got lost in his details from time to time. Losing faith by Colin Shindler Headline, £16.
But if you just want a pleasant read about a nice chap growing up in Manchester in the middle of the last century, then you may well find this book quite enjoyable. That he does not fall off that tightrope owes much to the bleakly humorous honesty about his conflicting emotions. As he details how football courses through his veins, Shindler reveals how it intersects with his own life, a life that has been marked by family tragedy, and how he finally found personal redemption even as his team lost its soul. Interesting reading for supporters of any club, particularly United and City. As a City fan and old Clavian I went to Bury Grammer School too , I probably enjoyed it more than somebody who has neither of these things in common with the author.
Manchester City Ruined My Life Colin Shindler first wrote of his deep love for Manchester City in Manchester United Ruined My Life. From the nail-biting victory over Gillingham 1999 to the equally dramatic winning of the Premier League in May 2012 Shindler watches as his team becomes more successful yet, to his own bewilderment, he feels increasingly alienated from the club. By interweaving his narrative with accounts of the death of his wife, father and best friend he treads a precarious line about the relative importance he places on football and family life. This guy seriously needs to sort his head out. All images and information © 1999-2018. As he details how football courses through his veins Shindler tells how it intersects with his own life, a life that has been marked by family tragedy, and how he finally found personal redemption even as his team lost its soul. Here it is given the briefest of mentions, as if it had been achieved by someone else's team.
As he details how football courses through his veins Shindler tells how it intersects with his own life, a life that has been marked by family tragedy, and how he finally found personal redemption even as his team lost its soul. In their zeal to win every competition the new Manchester City has spent money with wild abandon, signing outstandingly talented players as well as a few ordinary ones but in almost every case at hugely inflated prices. Colin Shindler first wrote of his deep love for Manchester City in Manchester United Ruined My Life. His writing is so attractive. Now he tells the story of his sorrowful disenchantment with his home town club as, on the instruction of its new foreign owners, it turns itself remorselessly into a global brand.
Despite being American born, and raised on baseball, I have a strong love for football, especially the Premiership and more precisely Manchester United. The lack of enthusiasm over recent pre-title successes is particularly jarring and supports his claim to have fallen out of love with the club. One might say that Shindler proves he is a real City fan by embracing the darker view. In recent years he has never been happier than when he saw Lancashire win the County Championship in 2011. As he details how football courses through his veins Shindler tells how it intersects with his own life and how he finally found personal redemption even as his team lost its soul. As he details how football courses through his veins, Shindler reveals how it intersects with his own life, a life that has been marked by family tragedy, and how he finally found personal redemption even as his team lost its soul.
For the casual football fan, it might be a bit detail-laden I equate it to discussing baseball fandom with someone obsessed with sabermetrics but there are enough personal stories and cultural anecdotes to carry the book for those who think a pitch is what happens during at bats in baseball games. . As he details how football courses through his veins, Shindler reveals how it intersects with his own life, a life that has been marked by family tragedy, and how he finally found personal redemption even as his team lost its soul. If you fit those criteria, bump it up to 3 stars. He believes his team has lost its human and local scale. Charming and amusing as it was, the reason for its popularity and success can undoubtedly be traced to its subject: Manchester City.
If anyone wants an explanation about why football rivalries have grown to be what they are - this book is unlikely to give you all the snwers you're looking for. City's fortunes of the time may weave in and out, occasionally taking centre stage, but this is really the story of the last decade and a half of the author's life, as he copes with the breakdown of his marriage, bereavement, ageing and the search for a new partner. It is our turn to be out in the sun, we haven't forgotten where we came from and we do not want to go back, but this is now and I love everything that is happening! This is the story of a frustrated romantic who finds in the glitz and glamour of the current media-obsessed game a helter-skelter of artificially fabricated excitement. Financial considerations aside, perhaps the answer is that the football side is the selling point, there to enable the writing of a cathartic autobiography. Yet, it captures something profound about who we are, making it compulsive viewing. Manchester City Ruined My Life by Colin Shindler 320pp, Headline t £14. Still, I couldn't help but feel a certain sense of dragging when he got into some of the heavier stats and mental replays of results.
Even though this book is about growing up in Manchester as a United fan it strikes a universal chord for all those ordinary kids with an extraordinary passion for life on the edge and football. Or the death of his wife, which releases him from the need to have an alternative life tied to the football season. It seems that in a sense, for Shindler, it was. Had City won 6-1 at Old Trafford 40 years ago it would probably have merited a whole chapter in the first book. They were the quintessential underdog back then, well liked and sympathetically regarded beyond fans of their few natural enemies.
With more relegations and skirmishes with bankrupcy than any football fan would like. Yes, I know that they all reflect his obsession with the squad and their results, but as a piece of literature, it got a little rough at spots. From the nail-biting win over Gillingham in the League Two Play Off final at Wembley in 1999 to the climax of the 2011 season, Shindler watches his team get steadily more successful and, to his own bewilderment, feels steadily more alienated from it. There are vainglorious notes, such as his sexual prowess in the internet dating arena, but it is hard not to sympathise as he attempts to cope with the hand fate dealt him. Evocative and warm-hearted, it offers an insight to the other side of the beautiful game.


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QUADRIGAS OVER MADRID
Cavalier perspective
The German term "Weltlandschaft" has no literal translation, but it establishes the notion of "the landscape of the world" in art, an aerial panoramic view conceived long before the first human ascended in a hot-air balloon. "Weltlandschaft" is the scenography of the world where the human comedies and dramas of men turned into tiny actors unfurl across the landscape of the universe, silent narratives that tell us about whatever they want to tell, including that which is prohibited, that which is often told between the lines.
We see it in paintings by Patinir, Bruegel or Hieronymus Bosch. Historians refer to an imaginary and bucolic landscape, but it greatly resembles certain regions in northern Europe.
Aerial perspective was learned by observing light in nature, long before the French impressionists. Whatever is far away loses contrast, becomes grey and tinged with turquoise or ultramarine blue, depending on the color of the sky.
Cavalier perspective is one of the basic ways of projecting a three-dimensional body in one plane. After the invention of printing, it became popular due to the proliferation of atlases and engravings that show the ports and cities of the world with panoramic bird's-eye views. Geometric projection was more than a valuable system of realistic representation for painters; it was also used in military and commercial cartography and in construction engineering for buildings and fortifications. In the sixteenth century, it received the curious name of "cavalier" because it is reminiscent of the oblique view of a man on horseback looking at a small object on the ground.


Kaba, the provider of ILCO and Saflok electronic locks, announced Sun Suites, operated by Park Management Group, will install Kaba's ILCO 790 contactless RFID electronic locking systems in all of its 20 properties.
The ILCO RFID technology not only enables Sun Suites to provide a reliable, secure guest experience but also significantly reduces operational overhead since RFID keycards cannot be de-magnetized by cell phones or other personal items. This will free Sun Suites properties from the cost and inconvenience of repeatedly replacing guests' magstripe keys.
Kaba's ILCO 790 RFID locking system offers increased durability, reduced maintenance, and enhanced reliability. With batteries that last up to 3 years, the locks offer a variety of finishes to match each property's unique style.
The Sun Suites chain will upgrade from its existing locks at twenty hotels and installation is expected to be completed in June 2012.


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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The Greatest Ukrainians () was a Ukrainian TV project. The programme was the result of a vote conducted to determine whom the Ukrainian public considers the greatest Ukrainians have been in history. According to Savik Shuster, more than 2.5 million people participated in voting.

The show is running under a license from the BBC and originally appeared on British TV under the name 100 Greatest Britons and was a successful show. Such countries as Canada, France, Germany, Romania and many others have also created their own versions.

Results
The TV show was broadcast on Inter being 90–180 minutes long during Sunday prime-time. The host of the program, Savik Shuster, started primaries (pre-voting) during his other Friday talk show The Freedom with Savik Shuster. The co-host of the programme was Inter's news anchor Hanna Homonai. Pre-voting took place in a number of Ukrainian cities such as Kyiv, Lviv, Yalta, Kharkiv, Odesa, Donetsk, Simferopol, Nizhyn, Mykolaiv, Ostroh, Chernivtsi, and Kamianets-Podilskyi.

Top Ten
On 11 April 2008, the top 100 of Great Ukrainians were announced. The top 10 was to be re-voted, and the results were shown on 16 May 2008. The final top 10 were:

 Yaroslav I the Wise (978–1054) (40%)
 Mykola Amosov (1913–2002) (19.88%)
 Stepan Bandera (1909–1959) (16%)
 Taras Shevchenko (1814–1861) (9.3%)
 Bohdan Khmelnytskyi (1595–1657) (4.02%)
 Valeriy Lobanovskyi (1939–2002) (3.18%)
 Viacheslav Chornovil (1937–1999) (2.63%)
 Hryhoriy Skovoroda (1722–1794) (1.73%)
 Lesia Ukrainka (1871–1913) (1.64%)
 Ivan Franko (1856–1916) (1.49%)

11100

11. Ivan Mazepa (1639–1709) Hetman of Zaporizhian Host in 1687–1708
12. Roman Shukhevych (1907–1950) politician and military leader
13. Vasyl Stus (1938–1985) poet and journalist
14. Mykhailo Hrushevskyi (1866–1934) academician and historian
15. Vitali Klitschko (1971–) politician and former professional boxer and Wladimir Klitschko (1976–) professional boxer from 1996 to til' 2017
16. Volodymyr I of Kyiv (958–1015) prince and grand prince
17. Serhiy Korolyov (1907–1966) rocket engineer for Soviet Union
18. Mykola Hohol (1809–1852) dramatist
19. Andrey Sheptytskyi (1865–1944) Metropolitan Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
20. Viktor Yushchenko (1954–) President of Ukraine 2005–2010
21. Yuliya Tymoshenko (1960–) politician and the first woman appointed Prime Minister
22. Oleksandr Dovzhenko (1894–1956) film producer
23. Volodymyr Lenin (1870–1924) communist revolutionary and political theorist
24. Volodymyr Dal (1801–1872) lexicographer
25. Lina Kostenko (1930–) poet and writer
26. Symon Petliura (1879–1926) leader of the Ukrainian National Republic
27. Leonid Bykov (1928–1979) actor and film producer
28. Petro Konashevych-Sahaidachnyi (1582–1622) military leader
29. Ivan Kotliarevskyi (1769–1838) writer, pioneer of modern Ukrainian literature
30. Volodymyr Ivasiuk (1949–1979) songwriter

31. Solomiya Krushelnytska (1872–1952) soprano
32. Nestor Makhno (1888–1934) anarchist revolutionary
33. Andriy Shevchenko (1976–) politician, former striker for Milan, Chelsea and football manager
34. Danylo of Halychyna (1201–1264) king of Ruthenia
35. Serhiy Bubka (1963–) former pole vaulter
36. Pylyp Orlyk (1672–1742) Grand Duchy of Lithuania
37. Ivan Kozhedub (1920–1991) military aviator
38. Levko Lukianenko (1927–) politician
39. Volodymyr Vernadskyi (1863–1945) founder of geochemistry, biogeochemistry, and radiogeology
40. Yevhen Konovalets (1891–1938) military commander of the UNR army
41. Mykola Lysenko (1842–1912) composer and pianist
42. Sydir Kovpak (1887–1967) partisan leader in Ukraine
43. Olha of Kyiv (890–969) saint
44. Volodymyr Shcherbytskyi (1918–1990) politician
45. Oleh Antonov (1906–1984) aircraft designer
46. Yevheniy Paton (1870–1953) engineer and Borys Paton (1918–2020) chairman of National Academy of Sciences
47. Bohdan Stupka (1941–2012) actor
48. Yosyf Slipyi (1893–1984) Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
49. Mykhailo Bulhakov (1891–1940) writer
50. Volodymyr Boiko
51. Leonid Kravchuk (1934–) First President of Ukraine
52. Petro Mohyla (1596–1647) Metropolitan of Kyiv

53. Ivan Sirko (1605–1680) Ukrainian Cossack military leader
54. Sofiya Rotaru (1947–) pop singer
55. Anatoliy Solovianenko (1932–1999) opera singer
56. Oleh Blokhin (1952–) football manager
57. Liliya Podkopaieva (1978–) former artistic gymnast
58. Volodymyr II Monomakh (1053–1125) Grand Prince of Kievan Rus
59. Mykola Hrynko (1920–1989) actor
60. Nina Matviyenko (1947–) singer
61. Ihor Sikorskyi (1889–1972) American aviation pioneer
62. Viktor Yanukovych (1950–) politician and fourth President of Ukraine
63. Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) General Secretary of the Central Committee
64. Sviatoslav Vakarchuk (1975–) lead vocalist of Okean Elzy
65. Illia Repin (1844–1930) realist painter
66. Mariya Zankovetska (1854–1934) theater actress
67. Ivan Mykolaichuk (1941–1987) Soviet actor
68. Vasyl Virastiuk (1974–) Former strongman competitor
69. Ivan Pulyui (1845–1918) physicist and inventor
70. Mykola Pyrohov (1810–1881) medical doctor
71. Oles Honchar (1918–1995) writer
72. Vasyl Symonenko (1935–1963) poet and journalist
73. Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi (1864–1913) author
74. Raisa Kyrychenko
75. Nazariy Yaremchuk (1951–1995) singer
76. Ruslana (1973–) pop singer
77. Yana Klochkova (1982–) swimmer

78. Les Kurbas (1887–1937) Most important theatre director of 20th century in Ukraine
79. Petro Symonenko (1952–) politician
80. Kostiantyn Vasyl Ostrozkyi (1526–1608) prince
81. Roksolana (1504–1558) Wife of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent
82. Pavlo Skoropadskyi (1873–1945) state leader
83. Oleksiy Stakhanov (1906–1977) miner, known for Stakhanovite movement
84. Kateryna Vasylivna Bilokur (1900–1961) folk artist
85. Ivan Bohun Cossack colonel
86. Vasyl Sukhomlynskyi (1918–1970) teacher
87. Anton Makarenko (1888–1939) social worker and educator
88. Petro Kalnyshevskyi (1690–1803) Koshovyi Otaman of the Zaporozhian Host
89. Mykola Vatutin (1901–1944) military commander
90. Oleh Skrypka (1964–) musician
91. Ivan Piddubnyi (1871–1949) professional wrestler
92. Illia Mechnikov (1845–1916) zoologist
93. Mykyta Khrushchov (1894–1971) statesman
94. Olena Teliha (1906–1942) poet and activist
95. Oleg Koshevoy (1926–1943) Soviet partisan
96. Ostap Vyshnia (1889–1956) writer, humourist
97. Dmytro Vyshnevetskyi (1516–1563) Hetman of the Ukrainian Cossacks
98. Valentyn Yenevskyi
99. Victor Glushkov (1926–1982) Founder of cybernetics
100. Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Great Ukrainians series
An hour-long documentary was filmed on each of the top 10 nominees, each of them hosted by a celebrity advocate, who delivered a passionate argument as to why their choice should be voted the greatest Ukrainian of all. The series concluded with a debate on the merits of each selected Ukrainian, bringing all of the advocates together to make a final plea to voters.

Controversy

Manipulations
The Chief of Great Ukrainians project, journalist Vakhtang Kipiani, informed the public in his blog, that the voting system had been manipulated by unknown persons. He stated that a couple of days prior to publishing the results he was aware of a possible win for Yaroslav the Wise. Prior to that, with a huge lead in first place was the controversial Stepan Bandera. For example, the winner, Yaroslav I, received 60,000 votes in one month and almost 550,000 in just one day. Mykola Amosov, who took second place, received almost 150,000 votes in just one day. Kipiani said that if these manipulation hadn't taken place Yaroslav would not have won.

Among other Great Ukrainians for whatever reasons appeared Vladimir Lenin as well as such names like Stakhanov, Glushkov, and Vatutin.

Other editions

Other countries have produced similar shows; see Greatest Britons spin-offs

References

External links
 Official website of the project
 Blog of the project in Live Journal
 Telekritika: Hanna Homonay will be co-hosting "Great Ukrainians"
 Kyiv Post: Ukrainians choose their 'greats'
 Manipulations in Ukraine
 Manipulations in Ukraine II

Ukrainians
2008 Ukrainian television series debuts


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ASIC continues clamp down on shareholder intention statements
By Guy Alexander	1 April 2019
Mergers & Acquisitions Private Equity
In brief 12 min read
Bidders and targets must exercise caution in securing shareholder support over more than 20 per cent of target shares for bids and schemes, as ASIC continues its clamp down on shareholder intention statements and prepares to issue new guidance on 'truth in takeovers'. In this article, we take a closer look at ASIC's policy concern and recent market practice, and set out our views on the right way forward for shareholder intention statements.
What is ASIC's concern?
ASIC's intervention in recent transactions
Inconsistencies in ASIC's approach
Our view: finding the right way forward
Adopting a cautious approach for now
Since the Takeovers Panel decision in MYOB in 2008,1 a market practice has developed under which a bidder will seek to 'tie-up' more than 20 per cent of the shares in the target by requiring, effectively as a condition of the bidder's willingness to make a bid or propose a scheme, that one or more major shareholders make statements to the market (usually contained in the bidder's announcement of the bid or the target's announcement of the scheme) that the shareholders intend to accept into the bid, or vote in favour of the scheme, in the absence of a superior proposal. A shareholder intention statement like that enlivens ASIC's 'truth in takeovers' policy,2 effectively binding the shareholder to that statement once made.
The background to this is that Australian takeover law prohibits a person from acquiring a 'relevant interest' in more than 20 per cent of a target's shares, except pursuant to a bid or scheme. If a bidder was to obtain contractual undertakings from major shareholders over more than 20 per cent of the shares to accept into the bid, or to vote in favour of the scheme, the bidder would breach this prohibition. However, obtaining an appropriately caveated shareholder intention statement over more than 20 per cent, which then becomes binding under 'truth in takeovers', has been seen as a way of overcoming this issue.
Since its decision in MYOB, the Takeovers Panel's approach has been that obtaining a shareholder intention statement is likely to be acceptable, provided the statement is expressed to be subject to no superior proposal, and allows a reasonable period of time for a superior proposal to be received. This is because a statement which is caveated in this way will not kill off any auction for control. Note that the Takeovers Panel is an administrative body, not a court, and doesn't have to make a declaration of unacceptable circumstances, even if the 20 per cent prohibition in the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (the Act) has been breached.3
The issue here is that ASIC doesn't like the practice, because it says solicitation by a bidder of a shareholder intention statement over more than 20 per cent of the shares gives the bidder a 'relevant interest' in those shares and breaches the 'black letter' law, even if the statement is expressed to be conditional on there being no superior proposal. In recent years, ASIC has become more active in trying to curb this practice, although its enforcement continues to be sporadic, at best.
Earlier this month, ASIC released its latest report into its regulation of corporate finance in Australia.4 In that report, ASIC indicated it will continue its campaign against bidders soliciting shareholder intention statements over more than 20 per cent. Also, ASIC will shorty release, for consultation, revisions to its regulatory guide on 'truth in takeovers', which could potentially include an express prohibition on this practice
As ASIC is reviewing its 'truth in takeovers' regulatory guide, we take a closer look at ASIC's policy concern and recent market practice, and set out our views on the right way forward for shareholder intention statements.
As discussed above, ASIC takes issue if a bidder has, effectively as a condition of its willingness to make a bid or propose a scheme (or, in fact, to increase the consideration under a bid or scheme), obtained an acceptance or voting intention statement from major shareholders whose shareholdings, when aggregated with the bidder's, exceed 20 per cent. Often, these statements of intention are contained in the bidder's announcement of the bid, or the target's announcement of the scheme, and are attributed to the major shareholder. Including such a statement in the bidder's or target's announcement requires the shareholder's consent. In those circumstances, the only logical explanation for the intention statement appearing in the announcement would seem to be that there has been some pre-existing agreement, arrangement or understanding between the parties..
ASIC's view is that this sort of agreement, arrangement or understanding will give the bidder a relevant interest in the major shareholder's shares in breach of the 20 per cent prohibition in the Act. ASIC points out a contractual undertaking from the major shareholder in this form would breach the Act, and that bidders should not be free to avoid this simply by convincing the major shareholder to make a 'truth in takeovers' statement instead.5 ASIC's view is that, even where the communication between the bidder and major shareholder is indirect (such as through the target, per the Unity Mining scheme in 2016)6, a breach of the Act may still arise.
It is not uncommon for ASIC to look behind shareholder intention statements to determine whether there was any agreement, arrangement or understanding between the bidder and the major shareholder who made the statement, whether direct or indirect through the target, which could cause the bidder to acquire a relevant interest in breach of the 20 per cent prohibition in the Act. Some recent examples include the followingthe Act. Some recent examples include the following:
Tawana Resources scheme of arrangement
In this transaction, shareholders holding, in aggregate, 39.5 per cent of the target shares had made statements confirming their intention to vote in favour of the scheme in the absence of a superior proposal. Prior to the first court hearing, ASIC reserved its position as to whether those arrangements had given the bidder a relevant interest in more than 20 per cent of the target, in breach of the Act. ASIC also required the target to 'tag' the votes of those shareholders who had given the statements. That way, ASIC could appear at the second court hearing to object to the scheme if those votes ultimately proved determinative of the scheme's approval.
ASIC's approach in Tawana Resources was similar to its approach in the Unity Mining scheme in 2016 (where the shareholder intention statements were, in fact, given to the bidder through the target after the bidder had indicated it would increase the scheme consideration if the major shareholder made a 'truth in takeovers' statement). Although the court in Unity Mining and Tawana Resources found the shareholders who made the statements did not constitute a separate class for the purpose of voting on the schemes as a result of their statements, it remains to be seen what a court would do if, in the future, there was a challenge to the fairness of a scheme that would not have been approved by the requisite majority without the votes in favour of those 'tagged' shares.
Oz Minerals' takeover bid for Avanco Resources
Oz Minerals' announcement of its offer included a statement that it had entered into a pre-bid acceptance deed with Appian in respect of 18.45 per cent of the target shares, and that funds and accounts managed by Blackrock (which owned 11.6 per cent of the shares), intended to accept the bid for all of their shares in the absence of a superior offer, and subject to the satisfaction of the bid conditions.
A few days later, Oz Minerals further announced ASIC had asked it to clarify Blackrock's statement of intention, that Blackrock was not bound by its intention statement, and that Blackrock reserved the right to deal with its Avanco shares in its absolute discretion.
Billabong scheme of arrangement
Billabong's announcement of the scheme noted the bidder, Boardriders, had an existing 19.3 per cent relevant interest, and that Centerbridge, another 19.3 per cent shareholder, intended to vote in favour of the scheme in the absence of a superior proposal.
In that matter, ASIC sought details of any discussions between Oaktree and Centerbridge which may have caused Centerbridge to agree to that shareholder intention statement. Here, there was no such relevant agreement, arrangement or understanding because Boardriders had not sought the statement from Centerbridge. Rather, the target board had wanted the assurance Centerbridge would support the scheme, given Centerbridge's support was vital to the transaction proceeding.
Investa Office Fund scheme of arrangement
In the IOF transaction, Blackstone sent the target a letter which was released to the ASX, stating it was prepared to increase the consideration under its scheme to acquire IOF if the 19.95 per cent shareholder, ICPF, issued a public statement within two days stating it intended to vote in favour of the Blackstone scheme in the absence of a superior proposal. ICPF then issued a public statement in those terms, and Blackstone increased the scheme consideration.
Again, ASIC sought details of any discussions between Blackstone and ICPF which might point to an agreement, arrangement or understanding to make the public statement. Here, Blackstone argued there was no such arrangement – it had simply stated publicly it was prepared to increase the consideration on condition that ICPF make the public statement, and then ICPF had satisfied that condition. Despite this, ASIC maintained Blackstone had acquired a relevant interest, and required that a substantial holder notice be filed.
While ASIC has intervened in some transactions, there are still examples of 'truth in takeovers' statements from the past year where ASIC does not appear to have taken any action, eg:
in NextDC's bid for APDC, the bidder's announcement of the bid indicated 360 Capital, a 67 per cent shareholder, intended to accept the bid in the absence of a superior proposal. 360 Capital then accepted the bid four days later; and
in the Wattle Hill/Roc Capital scheme for Capilano Honey, the target's announcement of the scheme included a statement that Wroxby, a 20.6 per cent shareholder, intended to vote in favour of the scheme and to elect to receive the scrip alternative consideration, rather than cash consideration, in the absence of a superior proposal.
Additionally, while ASIC has intervened in some transactions, its interventions have mostly been limited to making submissions to the court on a scheme, seeking to have the votes tagged, or requiring clarification by the maker of the 'truth in takeovers' statement. ASIC hasn't yet prosecuted a bidder in court for breach of s606 of the Act.
Our view (which we submitted to the Panel when it consulted on Guidance Note 23: Shareholder intention statements in 2015), is that shareholder intention statements should not be unacceptable or unlawful, provided they are expressed to be subject to a 'no superior proposal' qualification, and allow a reasonable period for a superior proposal to emerge. So long as an intention statement leaves open the possibility of an auction for control, then no policy objection can arise. Rather, such statements may in fact promote an efficient market for control of listed companies by facilitating bids and schemes which would not otherwise proceed, and are therefore consistent with the policy underlying our takeovers laws.
For this reason, back in 2015, we recommended ASIC issue class order relief so that a bidder who obtains an appropriately caveated shareholder intention statement does not acquire a relevant interest or voting power in the underlying shares. While that would be a step in the right direction, it would be better still to avoid the whole charade of bidders seeking to bind major shareholders through 'truth in takeovers' statements to the market, by allowing bidders instead to obtain appropriately structured pre-bid undertakings from major shareholders holding more than 20 per cent of target shares. ASIC could issue class order relief,7 allowing bidders to enter into pre-bid agreements with major shareholders, under which the shareholders undertake to accept the bidder's bid in the absence of a superior proposal made, say, within four weeks of the bidder despatching its takeover offer. This could be done easily by the relief disregarding any relevant interest obtained by the bidder as a result of the pre-bid agreement.8 This would be both simple and consistent with the principles underlying the takeovers provisions of the Act.9
The other argument ASIC makes against the practice of obtaining shareholder intention statements is that the major shareholder effectively binds itself before seeing the bidder's statement or scheme booklet, and that this is inconsistent with the policy underlying the legislation that they should have the benefit of the relevant disclosure document before making that decision. ASIC is particularly concerned that shareholder intention statements could be obtained from multiple retail target shareholders before those shareholders see the bidder's statement or scheme booklet. That objection could be addressed, however, by ASIC's class order relief only applying in respect of statements or undertakings by institutional shareholders.
It is worth remembering that, as part of the CLERP reforms to the Act in 2000,10 it was originally proposed the changes to the takeovers laws introduce a mandatory bid rule, like those found in most other major jurisdictions, allowing a bidder to acquire shares in excess of the statutory threshold, provided it makes a follow-on bid. That part of the reforms was rejected by the Senate in 2000 and did not become part of the law. In 2004, the Takeovers Panel put a different proposal to Treasury, recommending amendments to the Act to allow for pre-bid undertakings to accept into the bid, subject to a 'no superior proposal within a reasonable period' qualification. That proposal did not proceed (largely due to political constraints), but ought to be revisited as it would do directly what the Panel's policy on shareholder intention statements does indirectly.
ASIC's recent enforcement activity has certainly impacted the market. In Hancock Prospecting's recent bid for Riversdale Resources, Hancock (which already held 19 per cent of Riversdale) made clear in its bidder's statement that the commitments it had obtained from shareholders (holding, in aggregate, 16.5 per cent of Riversdale) to accept the offer in the absence of a superior proposal were not binding under the 'truth in takeovers' policy, and could be withdrawn at any time.
So, for the moment, great care must be taken by bidders, targets and major shareholders when discussing shareholder intention statements prior to the announcement of a bid or scheme.
While not all such discussions will give the bidder a relevant interest in the underlying shares,11 that may occur if the bidder effectively requires a shareholder intention statement as a pre-condition to its announcing the bid or proposing the scheme. While the Panel may not object if the statement is subject to a 'no superior proposal' qualification, ASIC may have a different view on the black-letter law.
As mentioned above, ASIC is currently reviewing its 'truth in takeovers' regulatory guide and is likely to say more on this issue in its revised draft, once released. We understand that revised draft will be open to a period of public consultation, prior to finalisation.
In the Matter of MYOB Limited [2008] ATP 27.
See ASIC Regulatory Guide 25: Takeovers: false and misleading statements, and Takeovers Panel Guidance Note 23: Shareholder intention statements.
In its Guidance Note 23, published in December 2015, the Panel avoided the issue of whether shareholder intention statements give bidders a relevant interest or voting power in the shares the subject of those statements. Provided the shareholder intention statement is subject to a 'no superior proposal' qualification, the Panel is only likely to intervene if the shareholder subsequently acts inconsistently with their statement. That was the case in the Ambassador Oil decision in 2014, where the Panel found the bidder did in fact have a relevant interest in the underlying shares. That result notwithstanding, the matter would not have come before the Panel at all if the relevant shareholders had not acted contrary to their earlier intention statements.
ASIC Report 612: ASIC regulation of corporation finance: July to December 2018, dated March 2019.
In its submission responding to Takeovers Panel Consultation Paper on Guidance Note 23: Shareholder intention statements, ASIC said, 'A binding shareholder intention statement in the usual form accepting or rejecting a bid is difficult to materially distinguish – commercially or practically – from a formal pre-bid acceptance or non-acceptance agreement'.
Re Unity Mining Ltd 3 [2016] VSC 831
This could also be achieved through a regulation passed under section 609(10) of the Act.
Other than for the purposes of the substantial holding notification provisions in Chapter 6C of the Act.
The principles underlying the takeovers provisions of the Act are contained in section 602 of the Act.
CLERP is a reference to the Corporate Law Economic Reform Program.
ASIC accepts there is a difference between soliciting shareholder intention statements on the one hand, and shareholder canvassing on the other. In its view, the latter is permitted but the former is not. It says conduct goes beyond shareholder canvassing if the bidder requires the major shareholder to commit to a course that means the shareholder will be bound under 'truth in takeovers', or to consent to the intention statement being included in a regulated document or being publicly announced by the bidder or the target.
Guy Alexander
Partner, Head of M&A
Tom Story
Partner, Practice Group Leader, Corporate
Charles Ashton


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Josiah Tattnall (ur. w 1762 nieopodal Savannah w stanie Georgia, zm. 6 czerwca 1803 w Nassau na wyspie New Providence na Bahamach) – amerykański polityk.

Wraz z wybuchem wojny o niepodległość Stanów Zjednoczonych wyemigrował wraz z ojcem do Anglii, gdzie studiował na Eaton College. Następnie powrócił do Ameryki i w 1782 roku wstąpił w szeregi Armii Kontynentalnej. W 1793 roku służył w randze pułkownika, a w 1801 roku awansował do rangi generała brygady.

W latach 1796–1799 reprezentował stan Georgia w Senacie Stanów Zjednoczonych a w latach 1801–1802 był gubernatorem tego stanu.

Bibliografia

Amerykańscy generałowie
Gubernatorzy Georgii
Senatorzy z Georgii
Urodzeni w 1762
Zmarli w 1803


A mother from Maryland realized upon waking, a moment ago, that the United States elected a president who knows less about this country's constitution than her ten-year-old son, who has recently studied it with his fifth grade class. She then decided to go back to sleep.
The realization came after President-elect Donald Trump's early morning tweet on Tuesday, which talked about the need to jail and perhaps strip the citizenship of Americans who burn the American flag.
"He's done it before, or shown this lack of knowledge, but today's tweet really brought it home," the mother said. She has chosen to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals from people in her social circle who might have voted for Mr. Trump.
The mother said she was also concerned with Trump's apparent lack of a grasp of the functions of the three separate branches of the U.S. government, the judicial. legislative and executive.
"I should have written in my son for president," the woman said as she closed her eyes. Moments later, she was asleep.