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Home / Lexus / 2023 Lexus GS Release Date, Redesign, & Price
2023 Lexus GS Release Date, Redesign, & Price
2023 Lexus GS Release Date, Redesign, & Price – The continuous GS has been launched returning this year, and it didn't modify much since. The car obtained a rather huge upgrade with the 2015 design, but this didn't consist of all that many improvements under the epidermis. While there are quite a few gossips about the stopping of the GS design, it looks like these may not be entirely real. Not that lengthy ago details about the future 2023 Lexus GS began to occur. It seems that Lexus will substitute the smaller editions of the car with the ES. However, they are still going to promote the GS as the activities providing, and so far it looks like the car may be quite amazing.
Source:caradvice.com
2023 Lexus GS Under the Hood
It has been verified a while ago that the future 2023 Lexus GS will function a variety of powertrains. The platform design is more than likely going to keep to a 2.0 litre turbocharged-four excellent for around 250 horse power and 270 lb-ft of twisting. This should be enough to allow the car to generally coordinate its competitors when it comes to efficiency and energy intake. Further up the product variety, the car will likely get a new turbocharged V6 fuel motor.
So far the details about this are still unidentified, but it looks like it may be a cut down LS motor providing around 350 horse power and 350 lb-ft of twisting. Both of these are supposed to be available with an automated gear box only with either returning or all rim generate. A high-performance form of the GS is also a. So far they don't really have the right motor for it. Even so, it secure to believe that a twin-turbo V6 with northern of 500 horse power is a. A multiple is also likely going to be sold later down the way in purchase to provide the car a energy effective edition.
Also Read: 2023 Tesla Model X Redesign And Release Date
2023 Lexus GS Launch date and Price
The new GS is supposed to be centered on Toyota's new TNGA flip structure. However, instead of being front side rim generate like the ES, the car will maintain its returning rim generate installation. This will be possible because it will actually discuss most of its elements with the more top quality LS. The distinction will be that the GS will feature a smaller wheelbase despite being nearly as extensive and as low. The car will also be quite a longer period than the continuous design which should mean that there will be more space within the cottage as well. So far there has been no available details about its release date. Even so, it looks like the car may be presented at the end of 2023 with a industry release at the beginning of 2023.
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Its prices are more than likely going to float around $50,000 which is quite a bit more than the ES or the present GS. The cost improve would allow Lexus to concentrate on the greater end industry and it should provide them with a opportunity against vehicles like the new BMW 6 Sequence Huge Vehicle.
Also Read: 2023 Honda CR-V: Release Date, Hybrid, Model, Rumors
2023 Lexus GS Design
While at first most said the car was going to be modified, factors modified since the model for the 2023 Lexus GS has been spied on the Nurburgring. It looks like the car will get quite a bit more competitive than its forerunner in purchase to be able to contend in top quality. From earlier spy photos, it seems the car will feature a fastback style which wasn't really the situation up until now. In the top, it will still function Lexus' polarizing grill but now around it will get a a little bit thinner style which should increase factors a bit more. The front lights seem to be taken returning while the fender looks to cover really big intake which would further improve its aggressiveness.
2023 Lexus GS Interior
We are quite sure that the 2023 Lexus GS will discuss a lot of style hints with both the ES and the LS. Anticipate the car to function a really traditional style within with the same kind of dash panel style and very identical elements to the other two vehicles. The big distinction will likely be the elements usually chosen. Some recommended the GS could come with graphite places and Alcantara instead of the regular set and metal seen in the other two vehicles. The GS is also supposed to function a much reduced generating place which will provide the travelers a much sportier encounter than otherwise.
Posted in LexusTagged 2023 lexus gs, 2023 lexus gs price, 2023 lexus gs release date, design, Engine, interior, lexus gs 2023, Specs
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A Mario Lemieux-less Pittsburgh Penguins team isn't a very intimidating team to face at the ACC, and that's precisely why I feared the worst. The Maple Leafs have a tendency to play down to their opponents ability. Thankfully, the end result was a relatively easy victory for the Leafs despite facing an 18 year old phenom goalie in Marc-Andre Fleury whose clearly living up to his billing.
It's fitting the Leafs played a Gordie Howe style game with five fights and four goals on a night when Mark Messier was passing Mr. Hockey to move into second all-time in NHL scoring. Mark Messier is the only player left in the NHL whom I remember from the first winter I followed this glorious sport closely. Messier broke in with the 1979-80 Edmonton Oilers and to this date has amassed an amazing 1850 points.


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Phil Collins is a British Oscar- and Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and musician. He served as the drummer and frontman for rock band Genesis before embarking on a solo career in the 1980s, recording such hits as "In the Air Tonight," "Against All Odds," "A Groovy Kind of Love" and "Another Day in Paradise." Collins has released eight studio albums, including the chart-topping No Jacket Required and …But Seriously. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010 as a member of Genesis. Collins' memoir, Not Dead Yet, will be published on October 25. A tour of the same name kicks off in 2017.
Phil Collins Shares the Real Story Behind "In the Air Tonight"

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Apex Court Modifies Order to the Benefit of Jamia
Jamia Millia Islamia April 17, 2014 JMI Press Release, News Leave a comment 109 Views
In an Okhla village land case (Suit No.2/14) pertaining to the State of Uttar Pradesh v/s Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, the Hon'ble Supreme Court has modified the maintenance of status quo that will facilitate the process of acquisition of about 107 bighas and 7 biswas of prime land to the benefit of Jamia Millia Islamia. A total of 107 bighas and 12 biswas of land shall remain under judicial restrainment. The State of Uttar Pradesh through its counsel had made a special mention before the learned judges seeking withdrawal of the modified order on the ground that the entire land of 214 bighas and 19 biswas was owned by them. The learned bench refused to intervene and asked the Counsel for the State of Uttar Pradesh to move an appropriate application to determine its maintainability as per law even as it refused to grant liberty to them to move such an application.
The grant of the prime land shall enable the university to actualize its developmental plans in near future.
About Jamia Millia Islamia
Official Press Releases of Jamia Millia Islamia
By Jamia Millia Islamia
V-C Prof. Talat Ahmad Inaugurates Two-day Annual Fest. ECOCRACY '16
Jamia Pays Tribute to Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam with a Statue


I'm aware that it's possible to associate a schema with a particular XML document; the schema information is added to the document and the document is saved.
However, I would like to 1) be able to create a "generic" association between a schema and any XML document of a type (which is saved across invocations of Stylus Studio), so that whenever that type of XML document is subsequently opened, the schema is automatically associated with it (without having to manually create the association for each document).
Alternatively, 2) is it possible to specify a schema "path" that StylusStudio will automatically search to resolve schema references in an XML document?
Is Stylus Studio capable of either of the above, or some equivalent functionality?
I'm assuming that what you are trying to avoid is to have a schema location referenced directly into the XML document, right?
If that's the case, one way to do that is to associate schemas to a project folder in Stylus Studio (right click on a project folder - that is a virtual folder, and select "Associate Schemas to Folder..."); after you do that, XML documents moved into that project folder (remember, that's not a physical movement; it's just a logical grouping) will be validate against the schemas associate to the folder without having to change the document itself. Saving the project will allow you to reload it at a later time, and the schema associations will be preserved.
Another possibility for not referencing "absolute schema paths" in your XML documents, is to take advantage of the OASIS Catalogs support in Stylus; see http://www.stylusstudio.com/learn_catalogs.html and additional online documentation for more details.


1) Cleans coils and inside surfaces of steam kettles used for cooking foods: Climbs inside of kettle and scrubs coils and interior surface of kettle, using cleanser, steel wool, and soap.
2) Opens drain valve at bottom of kettle and sprays water over interior of kettle to flush soap, steel wool, cleanser, and food particles through drain.
Is being a "COOKER CLEANER" your very best career choice?
See the Future Outlook and Educational Requirements for "COOKER CLEANER"
End Of Job Description for: "COOKER CLEANER"


The magical month of October is upon us and in full swing leading up to Halloween and "Magic Week" (as so designated in the U.S. by the S.A.M.). So, in recognition of the season, we kick off a series of three podcasts spanning the next three weeks featuring a chat with Paul Voodini from the U.K. Paul is admittedly not a magician but more interested in the paranormal. In this week's podcast he talks about Halloween, Guy Fawkes Day, Jack the Ripper, and of course, seances. He also shares some of the spooky sightings he has experienced in his life and during seances. The interesting thing is that Paul presents his Victorian seances as real without mechanical nor electrical apparatus. He merely creates the mood setting and sees what happens. He really walks the tightrope.
Remember to "Subscribe" to the Magic Word through your favorite podcatching app whether it's iTunes, Tunein, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeart Radion, Feedpress, and a variety of other methods. Whatever platform you use to listen, you can subscribe to The Magic Word Podcast. Subscribe today!


This paper considers reform possibilities posed by a type of base money that has heretofore been overlooked in the literature on monetary economics. I call this sort of money "synthetic" commodity money because it shares features with both commodity money and fiat money, as these are usually defined, without fitting the conventional definition of either; examples of such money are Bitcoin and the "Swiss dinars" that served as the currency of northern Iraq for over a decade. I argue that the attributes of synthetic commodity money are such as might supply the basis for a monetary regime that does not require oversight by any monetary authority, yet is capable of providing for all such changes in the money stock as may be needed to achieve a high degree of macroeconomic stability.


Brenda Lowry was named vice president of network program publicity at Crown Media Family Networks, parent network for the Hallmark Channel. She was previously director of communications at Syfy since July 2010. Before that, she was director of publicity at Bravo since August 2005. For more on the cable network, follow Hallmark Channel on Twitter and Pinterest.


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American Songwriter is a bimonthly magazine covering songwriting. Established in 1984, it features interviews, songwriting tips, news, reviews and lyric contest. The magazine is based in Nashville, Tennessee.

History
The American Songwriter staff concentrates on fulfilling the original objective of the magazine as set forth in the first issue in August 1984: producing an insightful, intellectually intriguing magazine about the art and stories of songwriting.

American Songwriter covers all musical genres. Over the years, issues have featured Garth Brooks, Bob Dylan, Poison, Clint Black, John Denver, Smokey Robinson, Wilco, Bon Jovi, Willie Nelson, Billy Joel, Kris Kristofferson, John Mellencamp, Richard Marx, Drive-By Truckers, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Beck, Dolly Parton, Eric Clapton, R.E.M., Weezer, Death Cab for Cutie, Ryan Adams, Jimmy Buffett, Merle Haggard, Rob Thomas, Toby Keith, Eddie Rabbitt, Roger Miller, Public Enemy, Sheryl Crow, James Taylor, Ray LaMontagne, Tom Petty, Neil Diamond, Zac Brown Band, Kings of Leon, Neil Young, My Morning Jacket, Taylor Swift and others.

In 2004 the magazine, previously published by Jim Sharp, was sold to an investment group based in Mobile, Alabama.  In 2011, Albie Del Favero took over the reins, "joining the team as Co-Publisher, and President of its parent company ForASong Media, LLC. Del Favero's extensive background in media includes being founding publisher of the Nashville Scene. More recently he served as Nashville-area group publisher at SouthComm, which currently owns The City Paper and the Nashville Scene." Since 2004, American Songwriter has grown from a 2,000 circulation to more than 30,000 as of November 2013, and claims a readership of approximately 90-95,000 per issue and 150-200,000 unique visitors to AmericanSongwriter.com each month. American Songwriter is distributed worldwide.

The magazine holds six bi-monthly lyric contests. The winner of each contest receives a new Gibson acoustic guitar, a Shure SM58 microphone, and a feature in the magazine. One annual grand-prize winner for the 2014 contest will win a co-writing session with Ashley Monroe, and get a chance to record a demo at a leading Nashville studio.

In 2019, American Songwriter was acquired by Savage Media.

A special section of the website, Songwriter U, focuses on the business of songwriting and includes articles on royalty collection, marketing, touring, guitar instruction and lyric technique.

Advertisers include national instrument manufacturers, record companies who want to gain exposure for their singer/songwriters and bands, publishers who honor writer achievements, demo studios, recording software and a select group of non-musical companies who are positioning their products within the musical culture.

See also
 :Category:Music magazines published in the United States
 M Music & Musicians

References

External links
 Website

1984 establishments in the United States
Music magazines published in the United States
Magazines established in 1984
Bimonthly magazines published in the United States
Magazines published in Tennessee
Mass media in Nashville, Tennessee

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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As a Cloud Foundry administrator, you can install the Liberty Buildpack as an `admin Buildpack`, which can be used by all users in your Cloud Foundry environment. To create the admin Buildpack:

1. Clone the `ibm-websphere-liberty-buildpack` repository to a machine with Ruby installed and Internet connectivity.

1. Customize the buildpack configuration as needed.

   If you are licensed to deploy the buildpack into your environment, you can create a `config/licenses.yml` file that contains the accepted license numbers prior to packaging:

   ```yaml
   ---
   IBM_JVM_LICENSE: <jvm license code>
   IBM_LIBERTY_LICENSE: <liberty license code>
   ```

   After adding the license to the buildpack package, individual applications will not be required to accept the license terms via environment variables.

1. In the top-level directory of the cloned repository, run the Rake `package` task to create an admin buildpack:

   ```bash
   bundle exec rake package
   ```

   This task pulls down the Liberty and IBM JRE binaries that are hosted on public IBM sites and packages the binaries  with the Buildpack code in a .zip file in the parent directory. The name of the file consists of the name of the repository directory appended with the shortened identifier of the latest commit. If you are using the default name for the buildpack repository directory, the file name is of the form ibm-websphere-liberty-buildpack-480d2de.zip where 480d2de would be replaced by the latest commit identifier.

   The rake package task can be customized by providing parameters.  The accepted parameters are _zipfile_, _hosts_, and _version_ in the following order:

   ```bash
   bundle exec rake 'package[zipfile,hosts,version]'
   ```

   _zipfile_ is the name of the generated admin buildpack and should include a relative location that is NOT the current directory.  For example, "../my-admin-buildpack.zip" can be specified as the zipfile to generate my-admin-buildpack.zip in the parent directory instead of the default ibm-websphere-liberty-buildpack-480d2de.zip. An example of this usage:

   ```bash
   bundle exec rake 'package[../my-admin-buildpack.zip]'
   ```

   _hosts_ is a list of sites that the package task should pull binaries from, for inclusion in the admin buildpack.  By default, only binaries from the public IBM site will be pulled. As IBM hosted sites do not include third party binaries, a package parameter should be specified to indicate that third party binaries should be included in the admin buildpack for cases where the admin buildpack will be used in offline mode. Using * will include all the binaries (if the download is possible during the packaging) in the admin buildpack. An example of this usage:

   ```bash
   bundle exec rake 'package[,*,]'
   ```

   _version_ is the version information that will be displayed when an application is deployed to CloudFoundry using the CF CLI.  By default, the displayed version is the latest commit identifier, such as 480d2de.  An example of the displayed version information when using the default:

   ```bash
   -----> Liberty Buildpack Version: 480d2de | git@github.com:cloudfoundry/ibm-websphere-liberty-buildpack.git#480d2de
   ```

   Specifying the version to be v1.2.3 in the following example:

   ```bash
   bundle exec rake 'package[,,v1.2.3]'
   ```

   Results in the output:

   ```bash
   -----> Liberty Buildpack Version: v1.2.3
   ```

1. Install the admin Buildpack using the `cf` client as follows:

   ```bash
   cf create-buildpack ibm-websphere-liberty-buildpack ibm-websphere-liberty-buildpack-480d2de.zip 1
   ```

  In this command:

  * `ibm-websphere-liberty-buildpack` is the name that will be given to the admin buildpack

  * `ibm-websphere-liberty-buildpack-480d2de.zip` is the path to the .zip file that is created by the Rake task

  * `1` is the priority given to the admin Buildpack. The lower the number, the higher the priority. See the Cloud Foundry documentation for further details.

  Result: Users of the Cloud Foundry environment using the Liberty Buildpack do not need to specify the `-b` option in order to use the buildpack directly from GitHub. They must, however, still provide the license information in the manifest unless a `config/licenses.yml` file has been provided as described above.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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Then you can submit that claim or news here, for our team to verify and fact check for you.We make every effort to ensure that our fact-checks represent updated, correct and the most relevant data which can be self-checked by readers themselves.
However, in case you find a discrepancy or an error, please submit a comment or send us a message with "Correction required in [heading of the article] dated [DD/MM/YYYY]" in the subject line, and we will review and do the needful as soon as possible.
Please allow minimum 7 days for an email response, even though we endeavor to respond as quickly as possible to our readers.
Please do go through the various policies and our code of principles before submitting any claims for fact-check.


When it comes to painting your home, you are going to get more value out of your project if you paint the exterior yourself. However, exterior paint jobs are always more complicated and more expensive than interior paint jobs. This is partly because the texture on exterior surfaces is usually rougher, you have to fight the weather, and you have a larger surface area to cover. This means you need to use more paint.
The weather can actually affect your paint job, particularly when it comes to the drying time in moist climates. This can be a problem if one section of your wall dries much quicker than another. Ultimately, your paint finish could look uneven if you paint on days where the moisture content of the air is different. Finally, there are more areas that are difficult to reach when painting exteriors. Basically, everything about the job is going to be a little more difficult. But, you can make your paint job a little less difficult by using a pneumatic spray gun.
Perhaps the most important thing to do when painting exterior surfaces is prep. Preparing your walls and the surrounding area for the eventual spraying can take longer than actually painting. First of all, you need to be prepared for all of the overspray when using a spray gun. This means you need to do extensive masking off using large sheets of painters paper or cloth. If you try and skim on the masking off, you will end up with a lot more cleaning to do when all the painting is done. Furthermore, you could irreparably damage things. For instance, paint that falls on a flower bed that is not covered can kill the flowers.
The job is almost always easier if you paint the walls first. This is definitely true if you are going to paint your trim a color that is darker than the wall color. If some of the lighter paint gets onto your trim, you don't really need to worry about it because the darker trim paint will easily cover it up.
Exterior paint jobs are little more strenuous, but they are still very manageable, especially if you have a few people helping on the project. The prep work might take a couple of days, but it will result in a better-looking paint job. For more information, contact a business such as Dwell House.


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Ethos is the stage name for Alex Hlavna, a 19-year veteran of the Cleveland, Ohio music scene where he played guitar, bass, and drums on numerous recordings. He has now released his own song entitled "V: Parents" from his new album Ten Commandments. The V is the Roman numeral for 5, as in the 5th Commandment: "Honor thy father and thy mother."
Each track on the album is titled this way, named after a commandment. Is this some type of "religious rap" or is Ethos being metaphoric? The actual definition of "ethos" is "the characteristic spirit of a culture, era, or community as manifested in its beliefs and aspirations." Judging from such a moniker and from statements he's made in interviews, it seems his goal is more about making observations, rather than instructing us that "thou shalt not whatever." It's a more provocative approach.
The song is a funk-bassline over an electronic beat and soft synths. Meanwhile Ethos' voice is anything but soft as he raps about honoring your parent, yet entwined in the coils of contemporary concerns, such as divorce, disillusionment, and modern media distractions. When he switches to singing during the chorus, Ethos' voice is a surprisingly smooth baritone. The soft synths later change into rapid dance notes. Without question, it's a cool song.
Though called "Parents," the track is mainly about his father. Ethos raps that "one day you woke up and made it walk through the door and now in the arms of a woman you never met before, you never met before…" Then later: "Oh hey, what's a Dad? I had two.." Apparently his father has made some mistakes.
There are upsides though: "The purpose of divorce is so that we can converse like we never could…" Ethos' voice and lyrics carry a hint of hurt, but he still empathizes with the difficulties his father must have experienced. "I would like to dedicate this song to you, Dad. I still love you…"
No parent is perfect, but there is a natural resentment towards moments where they might have fallen short. "We don't want our kids to make the same mistakes, but we keep on keeping on making them. / Monkey see, monkey do. / Yeah, I'm talking to you…"
Ethos soon lays down some poignant advice for the other dads out there: "Keep your kids accountable / Let them think for themselves / Don't let them be a dick…" Wise words. No one should want to raise a kid who's a dick.
Fortunately, it seems Hlavna's father has definitely managed that much.
alphabet pony ethos independent music independent music release independent music review independent song indie music music blog music blogger song release song review v:parents
Labels: alphabet pony ethos independent music independent music release independent music review independent song indie music music blog music blogger song release song review v:parents


text:
CurrentGK -> Papers -> IAS Exam Papers -> CSE Mains Public Administration Paper Year (2007)
CSE Mains Public Administration Paper Year (2007)
UPSC: IAS MAIN – 2007 PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION (Paper- I)
Time Allowed: Three Hours Maximum Marks: 300
Candidates should attempt all questions strictly in accordance with the instructions given under each questions. The number of marks carried by each question is indicated at the end of the question.
1. Answer any three of the following questions is not more than 200 words each: 20x3=60
(a) "Public and Private Administrations are two species of the same genus, but they also have special values and techniques of their own." Comment.
(b) "Taylor's scientific management ignored social and psychological factors." Comment.
(c) "The distinction between line and staff is relative rather than absolute." Discuss.
(d) "Delegated legislation is a necessary evil." Examine.
2. Analyze McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y. Do you agree with the view that with every passing year, McGregor's message has become more relevant and more important ?Substantiate your answer. 60
3. What is meant by morale? There is a belief that "morale and productivity go hand in hand and higher the morale, higher the productivity." Do you agree? Substantiate. 60
4.'Right to information promotes transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority". Explain. 60
5. Answer any three of the following questions in not more than 200 words each: 20x3=60
(a) "People's participation is crucial to development administration." Comment.
(b) "Training is essential not only for efficiency and effectiveness but also for broadening the vision of the employees." Substantiate.
(c) "Not to be comparative is to be naively parochial" (Riggs). Comment.
(d) "Implementing a public policy is a process of discovering what works and what does not." Examine.
6. Bring out the various techniques of 0 & M adopted in India to improve efficiency in administration. 60
7."The widening gap in the emoluments of government employees versus the public sector corporations and private sector employees has a strong bearing on the motivation and ability to work." Comment. 60
8. What is performance budgeting? Bring out its merits, limitations and difficulties. 60
Paper- II
1. Answer any three of tile following in not more than 200 words each: 20x3=60
(a) "Kautilya was not only the foremost politico-administrative thinker of ancient India but he was an advocate and preacher of moral values too." Comment.
(b) "Because of several judicial pronouncements, Governors in States are no longer viewed as agents of the 'Party in Power' at the Central level." Evaluate.
(c) "The President of India acts like grandparent in a family. If younger generation does not follow his/her advice, he/she is just unable to do anything." Comment.
(d) "'Memorandum of understanding scheme' between govemment and public enterprise has forced public undertakings to improve the overall performance." Comment.
2. There is a separate Central Ministry or Department on each subject allocated to State List. Does it mean supremacy of the Union Government or an emphasis on development administration? Analyze.	60
3."73rd Constitutional Amendment has provided permanent structural framework to PRI's resulting into silent social revolution." Comment. 60
4.''The dispute between Secretariat and Directorate is the result of Generalist us Specialist controversy." Analyse.	60
SECTION-B
5.Answer any three of the following in not more than 200 words each: 20x3=60
(a) "The blame for our poor public sector performance can be laid on the way our bureaucracy is structured." Comment.
(b) ''Parliamentary Departmental Committees have played their role effectively in analyzing the demands for grants." Evaluate.
(c) ''In spite of having Constitutional status the District Planning Committee is not able to implement decentralised planning due to centralized nature of economic planning." Comment.
(d) "A well-designed module-based training for Civil Servants is the best way to achieve the goals of good governance." Analyse.
6.''If information is power, nothing can perhaps empower a citizen more than the secret and developmental information held by various public authorities." Analyse the merits and demerits of RTI Act, 2005 in the light of this statement. 60
7. National Commission to review the working of the Constitution has suggested revolutionary changes in administrative culture. Analyse its major recommendations on Civil Services and Administration.	60
8. (a) Critically analyse the functions and role of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment with regard to development of disabled persons in India in not more than 200 words. 40
(b) Define Civil Society. Is it an effective organ to control administrative machinery? Comment. 10
(c) "Social (Welfare) Administration in India is witnessing specialization and faster expansion of its administrative agencies." Evaluate. 10
IAS Mains Previous Year Paper History (1993)
ISS - Indian Statistical Service General Knowledge Previous Year Paper (2001)
IAS Mains Previous Year Paper Geography (2006)
IAS GENERAL STUDIES PRELIMS QUESTION PAPER - 2005 (PART -3)
IES - Indian Economic Service General Studies Previous Year Paper (2002)
IFS - Indian Forest Service Forestry Previous Year Paper (2005)
IAS: Public Admiistration Prelims (1997)


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In every relationship on the planet, whether that be a strong or a week tie, there's a power balance in each and every one.
By power I mean authority but not in the traditional sense. You can have contrived power, this is classic dictatorship. This power balance is highly skewed towards the dictator and the further down the line you get that less respect they have for the person in charge.
In the 1993 classic, Schindler's List, Oskar Schindler talking to Amon Goeth (a notorious Nazi Army Commander) about what real power is, Schindler defined it as "power is when we have every justification to kill, and we don't".
Power isn't exercising your right to punish someone or do something negative. Power is realized or increased when one holds restraint and shows compassion.
Power legislated by someone else isn't actual power either. More and more politicians, elected officials, and executives give us reasons regularly as to why we shouldn't view them as powerful. In their current position they may be powerful but how long will that last? If you don't grow a following, if people don't look up to you, if you're not putting a dent in the universe, you're going to lose your power.
A kid on the Internet can record one message on YouTube and become very powerful.
You see the power balance has shifted a lot in the past 20 years. Who we're supposed to hold in high esteem isn't true anymore. But really, even 50 years ago, when someone gave someone power, be it political or in business, they had to earn it. No power is given, power is only taken.
When you're viewed as in a position of power you have a different (much higger) standard you are held to. And it's much easier to lose respect and fall out of power than it is to gain more power.
Money used to signify power, it still does to this day but it's losing its thunder. We get it, if you have money you can do some amazing things. But if you have money and you aren't helping make the world a better place you aren't gaining power, most likely the opposite is true.
So comes the obvious question, how do you acquire power? The easy answer, be someone who does well with more power/responsibility. That means trusting the people around you, building people up and having high expectations for yourself and the people around you.
It might sound counter intuitive but to gain power we must serve others. We must give power away. Going out of your way to help people changes the power balance in relationships, choosing the nobler motives, acting in others best interests not just our own is how you gain power.
True leaders (the most powerful) approach every problem the same. They ask how can I help? And how can I empower the people around me.
From elementary school sports to some of the largest companies in our world. Those who give the power away the most, end up gaining more from it in the end.
If you truly want to gain power, every day ask your team how can I help? How can I serve you better? Giving power away is the easiest way to gain actual power.
Photo Credit to one of my favourite authors, Hugh McLeod. He has a lot of great ideas.
https://strategylab.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/The-most-common-way-people-give-away-power-e1393881914441.jpg 622 800 Jeph https://strategylab.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/STRATLAB-2019-LOGO.png Jeph2014-03-04 08:04:282018-01-02 20:00:35What Is True Power?


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The team challenge is without a doubt one of the classics among the team events. Rightly so – the team challenge offers you and your colleagues flexibility at its best, a lot of variety and guaranteed fun. Customised according to your target group, your wishes and your event location, you can select from more than 100 different modules. Alternatively, we can design a completely new challenge, tailored to your individual demands.
Who is the strategist, the craftiest, the architect, the thinker in your team? Everyone can and must contribute with individual their talents and skills in order to complete the team tasks and achieve the highest possible score at every module.
Build the tallest tower with your team, construct the most stable bridge using innovation and creative solutions, activate all senses of your colleagues on the parcours of senses or transport a ball to the finish line using a pipeline, teamwork and coordination.
The team challenge is ideally suited as welcome change for your summer celebration! The participants can move around freely and decide which stations they want to go to, or they can complete challenges within the individual teams in order to collect points. According to the motto "everything is possible, nothing is necessary." Despite the competitive character of this event, the team experience and fun are at the core of your team challenge. Would you like to place the event under a certain motto or theme? No problem! How about the highland games, an Xmas challenge or the farm Olympics? We will gladly create an individual event concept for you.


Get inspired to try a new manicure.
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As seen at Tibi, Monse and Kith.


text:
Books & Comics »
Thrillpower Overload: the missing chapters
Pages: 1 ... 9 10 [11] 12 13 ... 15
Author Topic: Thrillpower Overload: the missing chapters (Read 36062 times)
I, Cosh
Bionic Fingers
Re: Thrillpower Overload: the missing chapters
« Reply #150 on: 13 May, 2019, 10:33:40 pm »
Quote from: Frank on 12 May, 2019, 03:19:38 pm
According to legend, Debbie Harry was the model for Anderson – true? She pretty much was … She was based on Debbie Harry.
She looks a lot more like Joni Mitchell there.
We never really die.
Quote from: I, Cosh on 13 May, 2019, 10:33:40 pm
She was based on Debbie Harry ... I'm not sure she's particularly Debbie Harry
https://jonimitchell.com/images/jm0014-300.jpg
Bolland's Anderson looks like almost anyone except Debbie Harry. She doesn't even look like the way Bolland draws Debbie Harry. *
I reinstated more of that Bolland quote because it's interesting to watch how he goes along with the leading question then walks it back. Not sure I buy Gosnell's story, but it's worth hearing.
* Which doesn't look an awful lot like Debbie Harry.
This Forum's Proudest Moment | Second Prize | 2000ad History
« Reply #152 on: 18 May, 2019, 11:33:17 am »
I posted scans of this before, but the images seem to have disappeared due to image-hosting site dickery. Sunday Telegraph magazine interview with Wagner, Grant and John Sanders, on the occasion of Eagle Comics launching in the US.
There's a Sanders quote that comes really close to paraphrasing Hitler, which fits with Pat Mills's characterisation of his former boss, but the real TL;DR for us is an excerpt from the script for what I'm guessing must be The Suspect (342), Sanders axed Ace Trucking, and the information that Dredd's accelerated cloning was prompted by a reader pointing out the discrepancy in dates:
In his eyrie 19 floors above the river Thames, the dark lord of British comics is talking about history. In a tower near the place where Shakespeare once lived, John Sanders holds illimitable dominion over the destinies of Tiger, Buster, Whoopee and 15 other publications. He is looking westward, where the land is bright. 'It has never happened before in the history of English comics', he says. The export of sand to Saudi Arabia does not compare; an English comic has been exported to the USA.
In an Essex farmhouse, two Scotsmen are sitting on the floor, pictures from Hindu mythology about them, choreographing Judge Dredd's next moves. Dredd was John Wagner's idea. A very large man of 34, with a boy's face somewhere in the bulk, he comes from Greenock and began his 15 years in comics in Dundee.
Wagner is not sure how he started working for the mysterious empire of DC Thomson. 'You just find yourself there one day'. He has worked for 26 comics, from Romeo to 2000ad, the home of Judge Dredd. He likes the life. He likes the absurdity of it ('where else do you get the chance to use your imagination in this way?').
In the farmhouse rented by his collaborator, Alan Grant, they're putting together something which has much more in common with the shooting script of a movie - 'Scene 11. Close shot of Dredd only, part of his face, visor/teeth conveying menace ... there is only the harsh glare of the lights, the hum of the lie detector, and the probing voice of the interrogator …'
Alan Grant's home looks exactly as you'd expect
But unlike filmmakers they work alone, and the instructions are for the artists only, men also working alone in places like this. Sometimes they add little words of encouragement to the scripts for the artist to read, like secret agents in an occupied country. When asked in a pub what they do for a living they say 'writer' and do not enlarge.
As no writer is allowed to take out copyright on any of his creations, and as rates of pay average £22 per page, they rely on volume, working under different names, creating characters and worlds with a profligacy which is staggering.
Few survive for long. Sales fall, the figures are relayed to the dark lord, and from the tower the command goes out. One of Wagner's favourite creations - a group of haulage men in space, including a walking skeleton and an alien covered in hair, called GBH - was snuffed out in this way.
John Sanders plays an important part in the history of such things. For anyone who was a reader in 1970, John Sanders booked himself a place forever in the lowest circle of the Inferno when, as Editorial Director of the IPC Juvenile Group, he killed off the Eagle. But then, eight years later, there was Dredd.
'A once in a lifetime find', purrs John Sanders. The letters poured in, and the benison came when Miss Koo Stark was photographed in public wearing a Judge Dredd t-shirt. Merchandising is an important side to the comic, says Sanders.
So now the tills were tinkling in the tower beside the Thames. Sanders saw an opportunity in the emergence of a new network of specialist comic shops and Dredd appeared as a monthly title in the USA, with a first print run of 93,000 copies.
I expect to succeed', says Sanders'. I like to think that by small beginnings we shall do something that will last for 100 years'. A new company has been formed in New York. 'It has taken its name from what is described as 'the most innovative comic ever published in England'. He has called it Eagle Comics.
Mills describes Sanders as his inspiration for Ukko
The film rights have already been sold to Hollywood, and on the bleak days in the Essex farmhouse Wagner and Grant amuse themselves by casting an actor to play Dredd. Their favourite is Bruce Forsyth, solely on the size of his jaw. Mr Forsyth would not be allowed to speak.
Many writers have worked on Dredd, the name coming from Pat Mills, the uniform and eagle from artist Carlos Ezquerra - 'Carlos, he loves the Spanish embellishments', says John Wagner'. But in the beginning Wagner was responsible for 90% of the scripts. For the last four years he has written all of them, either alone or, more recently, in collaboration with Alan Grant. He has thus worked on 350.
Because Dredd is still going strong and because they have written so many scripts, inventing so many criminals and mutants, they have long ago lost track of the facts. 'I was at this comic signing', says Wagner, 'when this kid came up to me and asked about Dredd's niece. We'd put her in a story, aged nine. But as this kid pointed out her father, Rico, had been in a penal colony on Titan for 20 years. We'd forgotten about that'.
Comic creators will never do an interview for legit media without being made to look a bit silly
And then there have been inconsistencies bequeathed by other writers. Dredd graduated from the Academy of Law in 2079, but that, as readers pointed out, would have made him 13 years old. Wagner & Grant informed readers that the Judge was an accelerated clone, who had been born at five years old. It was not entirely satisfactory, and they're now assembling an enormous index of events in the series.
The strengths of the series come from the way Wagner and Grant use it for social satire. Near them in Essex a council tenant, unhappy with the way he'd been housed, had written his complaint all over the front of his house. It's like that in Megacity One, says Wagner - nobody listens. One story, Citizen Snork, is about an unemployed teen who grows his nose just to become famous. 'A citizen', Wagner says, 'with access to technology of the future, who just wants to be a chat show guest'.
'Dredd seems to have caught on', says Wagner. 'He's not everyone's hero, but there is something about his devotion to the law. I thought he might become a cult figure, but I do have horrors of writing him forever'.
Scans of original article, here and here. I edited out some of the original hack's word-count filler and misunderstandings, but left others I thought were funny. I moved the frequent mentions of specifically English comics to juxtapose them with passages about Greenock, Dundee and the two Jocks responsible for the comic's success.
Steve MacManus is credited as an important editor because he was Tharg during a period of the comic everyone sees as a golden age (1978-1987).
But MacManus is seldom heralded for the equally important, perhaps more important, rescue job he performed returning to an active editorial role following the precipitous crash in readership of the early nineties (120,000 to 50,000 readers in 5 years)
Following Alan McKenzie's dismissal, sub-editor John Tomlinson and then Megazine alumnus David Bishop were nominally in charge of the Galaxy's Greatest comic, but the prog's most successful editor (now Group editor) was involved in the day to day task of putting 2000ad together alongside both Thargs.
"The Pit was Steve MacManus's idea", Wagner recalls. "He felt there was room for a different style of Dredd epic, more of a judicial soap opera. I was sceptical about it until I got down to working it out, then I saw how well it could work".
'The Pit introduced Galen DeMarco, a young judge whose future became inextricably linked with Dredd for years afterwards. "When the story started, I didn't know how it was going to pan out for any of the characters", the writer says, "but when I saw Carlos's interpretation of her, I knew I had to use her again".
From David Bishop's Thrillpower Overload, p.182
Bishop's actually underselling the importance of The Pit. He's right to say that the dynamic between Dredd and DeMarco (and Jura Edgar) drove the direction of all major Dredd stories between 1995 and 2000 - from The Pit to Doomsday.
But, more importantly, Wagner never wrote another major Dredd story that didn't involve Dredd working in a managerial capacity with a team of younger judges - much as MacManus had done in his mentoring role with first Tomlinson and then Bishop.
Prior to The Pit, Wagner's big idea to escape the corner he (and Grant) had painted Dredd into with stories that explored the fascism of Justice Department and portrayed Dredd as a bastard, like Revolution and America, had been to redefine Dredd, in stories such as Mechanismo and Wilderlands, as a rugged individualist hero who didn't play by the rules.
That approach and those stories proved, at best, qualified successes.
The team dynamic that's central to the second half of John Wagner's Dredd career - in my opinion, the really good stuff - all came from The Pit. It all came from Steve MacManus, the greatest editor 2000ad ever had (twice).
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mighty-One-Inside-Nerve-Centre/dp/1781084750
Evil Cyborg
Quote from: Richard on 19 May, 2019, 07:42:33 pm
Cheers, buddy. I should add that Bad Steve was voted Favourite 2000ad Editor at Lawgiver this weekend, by members of the 1977-2000ad Facebook group. You can see the obviously quite touched (not drunk*) Action Man's acceptance speech here.
* Yet
If John ever wanted to write his autobiography, maybe he could Nimoy it and call it 'I am not Drokk'
Dandontdare
CALL-ME-KENNETH!
The Sunday Telegraph piece is fascinating - although who uses words like "benison"? (and it wasn't a Judge Dredd T-shirt anyway!)
I got ... a dude sold me three front pages of The Eagle, from the nineteen-fifties, original Frank Hampson and, rarely, they were signed. They're from classic mid-period Dan Dare, and I got them for 500 quid, out of this bloke's boot.
I said 'have you nicked these?' and he was like 'no, no - my dad used to work for Hulton Press' and when Robert Maxwell bought out Hulton Press he went down to the basement and saw all the mapping drawers, where they used to keep all the old art from things like Look And Learn and The Eagle, and he said 'what's this? The art archive? I want all this shit out of here'. And this guy I bought the art off, his dad found it in the skip outside Hulton Press.
Robert Maxwell. You didn't think he was enough of a ****. Some of the greatest art of the golden age of British comics and he put it in a fucking skip. He didn't drown enough, in my opinion.'
Phil Jupitus, speaking on the Rule Of Three podcast (52 min)
When Jupitus says Maxwell bought Hulton Press, he means the Bouncing Czech's purchase of Mirror Group (which included the Hulton archive) in 1984. This tracks with the descriptions we've all read of original art being used as cutting boards or to mop up spills. Art editor Robin Smith's efforts to return 2000ad art to creators came just in time.
It's a good job that so many pages were "rescued" and are now safely in the hands of private collectors.
Quote from: Dandontdare on 24 May, 2019, 10:02:13 pm
From The Art Of Brian Bolland
It had never been the policy of IPC or Fleetway (I confuse the two), publisher of 2000AD, to return artwork to the artist, but by now they were coming to terms with the fact that they were running out of space to store it and something had to give.
There had been horrendous stories going round - like the one about the burst water pipe. Apparently some bright spark had had the idea of laying some of the art boards on the floor to soak up the standing water. The stuff they happened to pick was the sainted Frank Bellamys full color Neros the Spartan pages from the 1950s Eagle Comic.
Priceless historical artwork ruined. They didn't particularly want it, but they'd be damned if anyone else was gonna get it. Now the company was thinking the unthinkable: Why not let the artists have it back - providing the artists catalogue their pages and pay for a new transparency of each one. Like giving a kid his ice-cream back and then wrapping him on the knuckles for his impudence in asking for it.
Artists started doing just that and coming away with piles of their pages. I was a bit busy, so I made a deal with Mike Lake at Titan for him to catalogue my pages (there were about 280 of them), pay for the crannies, collect the artwork and sell it for a commission. After a while became back to me with news that hell taken possession of about 160 pages, but the rest were missing.
Fortunately, I'd recently borrowed my favorite 10 pages - including the "Gaze into the fist of Dredd" one - for an exhibition in Angoulem and hadn't got round to returning them - they're still safe with me - but unfortunately the remaining missing pages had been stolen.
People from Titan, and more recently Quality Comics, had been given access to the artwork in order to reproduce them in their editions, so Fleetway had been used to people walking off with them. What they didn't know was that 110 pages of what they, at the time, considered to be their property had been lifted and had made its way into the hands of American art dealers.
To me, it was the theft of artwork, some of which I would have kept, amounting to quite a few thousands of dollars.
I was furious. I talked to people in the London comic shops. One told me: Yes, he had seen some of those pages on US dealers tables, but when l asked him which dealer's tables he developed surprisingly abrupt amnesia and couldn't remember.
Over the next few months I detected strands that stretched between UK publishers to people working for them and finally to their friends in the US, who just happened to be artwork dealers. And I developed the distinct impression that many of the people around me, some of whom I considered friends, knew part or all of the story, but had other friends they wanted to protect.
One or two Americans have informed me they bought some of the hot pages in good faith from people who were also squeaky-clean innocent parties. Recently, I heard a story that a page of my artwork has turned up in the vaults, but if I were to ask for it back the vault keeper would know who had told me and it would compromise that person special access privileges. Kafka-esque, or what?
All the pages that were returned to me and sold were signed by me. If you own one without my signature it was stolen and I want it back.
Remember, kids; unless your page of Bolland original art is signed with red pen, it probably fell off the back of a van.
norton canes
Sentient Tea Bot
The leper heart will see you for what you are
« Reply #161 on: 04 June, 2019, 02:20:40 pm »
Just a quick thing to add, Frank - comics site downthetubes.net today published a piece on celebrities that have inspired the look of some 2000 AD characters, mentioning Debbie Harry and even Marianne Faithful as possible models for Judge Anderson. I've added a comment linking back to your recent post mentioning Deidre Vine, if that's OK.
Quote from: norton canes on 04 June, 2019, 02:20:40 pm
Thank you very much, Norton. I see Colin's updated his piece to reflect your contribution:
That Marianne Faithfull nonsense is my fault, too. Not just my fault, but the fault of this very thread*. I eventually got clarification that Bolland wasn't using Girl On A Motorcycle for reference, but The Internet had it by then.
Just as with the Debbie Harry guff, Colin and Roger's articles will be there for others to Google forever.
* The link to the Facebook discussion in that post's dead, so my guilt in suggesting that image of Marianne Faithfull as the one on Bad Steve's mood board for the Megazine dummy issue has been erased from history.
« Reply #163 on: 23 June, 2019, 11:33:32 am »
If you control for the overnight loss of 20,000 readers caused by the change of distributor in early 1993 (TPO p.158), 2000ad lost between 5000-6000 readers most years during the nineties, whoever was in charge.
Bishop gives a really good account of the numbers and the various factors that affected them here. His predecessor, Alan McKenzie, does the same here. Bishop's successor, Andy Diggle, confirms the weekly sales total when he took over here.
TPO says sales were starting to dip under 100k per week at the start of 1990 (p.138). McKenzie says sales were at 85k before the distributor switch and 65k after, falling to 55k per week by the time he left (Nov 1994), Bishop says sales were 'under 50k' per week when he took over (Dec 1995) and Diggle says sales were around 25k per week when he became Tharg (circa 2000). *
* That's 100k down to 85k in the three years between Jan 1990 and Dec 1992 (-15k), then 65k down to 55k in the two years between Jan 1993 and Nov 1994 (-10k). 55k down to somewhere under 50k a little over a year later, when Bishop succeeded Tomlinson as Tharg (more than 5k). Then more than 5k per year in the four years between Dec 1995 and Dec 1999 gets you to 25k when Diggle got the keys to the Command Module.
Bishop says there was a sales boost around the release of the 1995 Judge Dredd film, shortly before he joined 2000ad, just as there was following marketing pushes in the early nineties, but sales fell back to previous levels (and lower) following these blips.
Funt Solo
All of that historical data begs the question: what number the current readership?
Frank would know.


Investors have a chance to take advantage of a pullback in a very well-run Mexican consumer company.
The past year was not a particularly strong one in the consumer sectors of Latin American countries like Mexico and Brazil, and that was not good news for FEMSA (NYSE:FMX). One of Mexico's largest corporations, FEMSA has a significant presence in the retail/consumer world with its stake in Coca-Cola FEMSA (NYSE:KOF), a large Latin American Coca-Cola bottler, a 20% stake in brewer Heineken, and ownership of Oxxo, the third-largest retailer in Mexico.
The challenge for investors is weighing out the short-term challenges presented by a possibly improving (but not yet strong) Mexican economy, new taxes, economic problems in Argentina and Venezuela, and competition against the long-term opportunity of growing Coca-Cola FEMSA and leveraging the retail operations into new areas like pharmacies and fast food that are still underpenetrated in Mexico.
FEMSA owns slightly more than half of Coca-Cola FEMSA, with Coca-Cola (NYSE:KO) owning about a third (the remainder trades as KOF). Coca-Cola FEMSA is the second-largest Coca-Cola bottler in the world, supplying much of Mexico and Colombia, parts of Brazil and Argentina, and all of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Venezuela, and the Philippines with their Coca-Cola fix.
Importantly, Coca-Cola prizes strong bottling partners and has supported Coca-Cola FEMSA's efforts to expand its operations, including the sale of 51% of the Philippine bottling operations, an option to buy the remainder, and a put option to sell it back to Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola FEMSA has also been consolidating in Brazil, now holding about 40% of the Coca-Cola system in this large country.
Coca-Cola has long been the dominant soft drink in Latin America, and PepsiCo has struggled to close the gap. Starting this year, though, it may be a little harder to hold that market share in Mexico. The government of Mexico passed a junk food tax that will see a one-peso tax per liter (pro rated) on sodas, raising the price of Coca-Cola by around 10% (and about 14% for lower-priced Pepsi). What happens next is unknown -- will Mexican consumers drink fewer sugary beverages, switch their spending around to maintain their soft-drink habits, or switch to lower-calorie soda alternatives?
It's also well worth noting that Argentina and Venezuela are convulsing with economic turmoil. These two countries represent about 25% of sales, but rampant inflation and currency devaluations are adding significant volatility to results. It's also worth noting that weak consumer spending is hurting results in Brazil (organic volume declined 11% in the fourth quarter).
FEMSA's other major segment, Comercio, is dominated by OXXO, its franchise of convenience stores. OXXO is the third-largest retailer in Mexico by revenue, and it has been doing relatively well compared to the likes of WalMex (NASDAQOTH:WMMVY) in terms of same-store sales. For the fourth quarter of 2013, same-store sales rose 2.5% on slight traffic growth but the business struggled at times in 2013 with consumer weakness and pressures in the sale of mobile phone minutes due to greater price competition from mom-and-pop rivals.
There are still reasons to believe that Oxxo has room to grow. Management's estimate of a sustainable footprint suggests room for perhaps 50% more stores, and that is just in Mexico. FEMSA is also looking to add more grocery offerings and fast food, while increasing private label penetration and maintaining relationships with large banks like Banamex (owned by Citigroup) and Bancomer (owned by BBVA) for deposit-gathering.
Management is also looking to other concepts to drive growth in Comercio, including pharmacies (still very much a local mom-and-pop industry in Mexico), standalone fast food, and perhaps other channels like discount retail. FEMSA acquired the restaurant chain Gorditas Dona Tota in September, and fast food is still an underpenetrated concept in Mexico -- Alsea, a partner for many well-known American concepts like Burger King, Domino's, and Starbucks does quite well, but McDonald's and its local franchisee Arcos Dorados don't hold much market power.
The first half of 2014 is going to be a period of adjustment for Mexican consumers, as the impact of the junk-food tax and a higher VAT (16% versus 11%) work their way through the retailing world. Assuming that taxes do what they typically do, FEMSA is likely to see lower volumes although the company's strong share should help it offset some of the damage. In the meantime, the company has sufficient capital to continue investing in additional growth opportunities like pharmacies.
Between low-to-mid same-store growth and footprint expansion, Comercio should be able to post high single-digit revenue growth for a decade. That may be a little harder to match in Coca-Cola FEMSA, though there are share growth opportunities for Coca-Cola in markets like Brazil, as well as opportunities to use the operations in the Philippines to extend into markets like Southeast Asia.
All told, long-term revenue growth in the neighborhood of 8% seems reasonable, with scale and operating leverage supporting low-teens FCF growth.
FEMSA has challenges. Coca-Cola volumes need to get better in Brazil, and the unsettled economic situations in Argentina and Venezuela remain a threat. FEMSA also most definitely needs a stronger retail/consumer environment in Mexico; sector-leading comps are a definite positive, but better sectorwide growth would be very helpful to results.
Discounting those cash flows back and adding in the current value of FEMSA's 20% stake in Heineken, a fair value of around $104 seems reasonable for FEMSA. Likewise, with the sell-side projecting low-teens EBITDA growth over the next three years, an EV/EBITDA ratio of 11 is not unreasonable. All of this assumes that current sluggishness in Mexico is just temporary, but that's often the way it works with emerging market stocks -- the best bargains only appear when investors are worried that temporary macro challenges are going to last indefinitely.


text:
Brussels Airlines Launches New Logo and Livery
Brussels Airlines has unveiled a new brand identity, in an effort to cement its position as Belgium's number one carrier. Updated colours, a new logo, and aircraft livery are the visual token of the airline's new look, which the company claims readies it "for future challenges". "With this new brand identity, we are ready to […]
Grand Rounds Health and Doctor On Demand Rebrand as 'Included Health'
American health-tech firms Grand Rounds Health and Doctor On Demand have announced their combined integrated virtual care venture will be called "Included Health". The new brand, which comes after the two entities merged earlier in 2021, has been announced alongside results of a new national survey that shows nearly half of Americans (45%) are prioritising […]
Criteo Rebrands, Unveils New Logo Design
Online advertisement specialist, Criteo, has unveiled a new look that includes a refreshed logo, visual identity, and brand positioning dubbed "The Future is Wide Open." Founded in 2005, the Paris-headquartered company serves personalised ads across websites on behalf of e-commerce companies. "The time is right for a new brand identity and rally cry, as we […]
SPi Global Reveals New Name and Logo
SPi Global, a business process outsourcing (BPO) provider headquartered in Manila, has announced the launch of its new name as Straive (pronounced "strive"). The brand refresh reportedly comes on the back of a number of developments in recent years including several acquisitions, as well as new revenue streams for the over 40-year-old Philippines business that […]
FinTech Company MSTS Rebrands as 'TreviPay'
MSTS, a global B2B payment and credit solutions provider, has today revealed an all-new brand identity and name – "TreviPay". The Kansas-headquartered company says the new branding reflects its role as the preferred B2B payment provider for a number of leading Fortune 500 companies such as Alibaba, as well as other small- to mid-sized businesses. […]
Restaurant Tech Company Fishbowl Reveals New Identity
Personica, a marketing and analytics platform created specifically for restaurants, has launched its new identity, changed from its former brand Fishbowl. Founded 20 years ago by a team of restaurant professionals who wanted a better way to connect with their guests, the Fishbowl brand claims to have invented the "eClub" – effectively an email marketing […]
Cognate BioServices Unveils New Logo Design
Cognate BioServices, an American company specialising in the manufacture of cell and cell-mediated gene therapy products, has announced the launch of its new corporate brand identity, redesigned logo, and website across its portfolio of services and companies. The changes come at a time when the company says it is evolving its service offerings and expanding […]


Arkansas has become the first state in the Bible Belt to legalize medical marijuana.
With their approval of Issue 6 on Tuesday, voters will allow patients with a variety of medical conditions and a doctor's permission to buy marijuana from dispensaries. Patients won't be allowed to grow their own.
Some political leaders said they preferred that Arkansas legislators instead allow a version of the drug that is low in THC, which gives marijuana its high.
More than half of the states have now legalized medical marijuana.
A separate marijuana question had been approved but Arkansas' Supreme Court last month directed that votes not be counted. Justices said the petition lacked enough valid signatures.


text:
Top Five Metal Gear Solid game moments
Published on May 9, 2008, by GamerNode Staff - Posted in GN 0
Metal Gear Solid has been one of the premier franchises for the PlayStation.
Each iteration of the PlayStation has come with a Metal Gear Solid game, and with June 12th approaching the same can now be said for the PlayStation 3. Metal Gear Solid 4 promises to finally answer the questions which have lingered in the past three Metal Gear Solid games. Here at GamerNode we wanted to celebrate what could be the last time we get to control the original badass, Solid Snake. Look here in the upcoming weeks for a plethora of content as we dive deep into the Metal Gear Solid franchise's past.
And now we bring you:
Top Five Metal Gear Solid Franchise Moments
Disclaimer: These are the top five moments in MGS history in my opinion.
Also SPOILER ALERT!
#5 The Patriots
Saying Metal Gear Solid 2 had a confusing story is an understatement. Riddled with half developed plots and baffling characters, who were experts at triple crossing their closest friends, fans found the latest MGS to be more puzzling then entertaining. We won't debate this point here and now.
Despite the unique plot, there was one moment in MGS2 which made gamers' mouths drop. Midway through players finally found the current President of the United States and they, along with Raiden, were hoping he could offer them some answers. Little did we know what the President would divulge.
Instead of a country run on public opinion, the President revealed the USA had been under the control of a secret society that had been in charge since World War II. Every political race, every decision by the government was in the hands of a group known as The Patriots. This organization has persisted throughout MGS lore, and is a focal point for the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.
The Patriots Are Revealed – 10:30:
#4 Enter Psycho Mantis
Few games hold the honor of messing with a player's perception of what is real and what is not. Metal Fear Solid and the encounter with Psycho Mantis holds one of these coveted titles. A powerful telepathy and psychokinetic expert, Psycho Mantis will always be remembered as one of the best boss introductions and battles to grace the series.
After taunting Snake with mind controlled Meryl, Mantis turned to the player revealing their past by reading the PlayStation memory card, or commenting on how they had played MGS so far. Psycho Mantis even extended his power outside the gaming world by moving the PlayStation control across the floor, or periodically making the player think the television had broken. In a memorable boss battle players could only finish off Mantis by using a controller plugged into the second player slot. It literally took "out of game" thinking to survive this fight, and few games have achieved the feat again.
Enter Psycho Mantis:
#3 The End
Metal Gear Solid had always been about sneaking, but never were those skills as crucial as they were in Metal Gear Solid 3 and the boss battle with The End. An aged sniper expert who could literally talk to the forest, players had to stay low and quiet in hopes of spotting their target before The End finished them for good. When a boss battle can take over two hours, with only thirty seconds of those one hundred twenty minutes being action packed and that a player can still walk away feeling rewarded, there is obviously something special there.
#2 Metal Gear Solid 2 Intro
Metal Gear Solid 2 had some major shoes to fill. Some regarded its older brother, Metal Gear Solid, to be the best game created at the time (some still argue this point even today). As Kojima trickled out details regarding the sequel, each bit of information seemed to make MGS2 the ultimate Metal Gear Solid experience.
While the final game is a mixed bag, no one disputes the claim the first few hours of the game, when players took control of Solid Snake, are the best. Even more so is the amazing intro of Metal Gear Solid 2 which may just sit at the top of all Metal Gear Solid games. Whether it was the moody music, the downpour, or Snake bungee jumping off a bridge onto a tanker to discover the new Metal Gear, the opening minutes of Metal Gear Solid 2 are some of the most memorable in the series.
Metal Gear Solid 2 Intro:
#1 Gray Fox Saves Snake
Ask yourself, what makes the best Metal Gear Solid moment? Is it an act of selfless bravery? What about a heart wrenching confession to your closet friend? Couple that will a baddass and do we have a winner? If yes is the answer to all three of these questions then no one should dispute the best moment in Metal Gear Solid history involves everyone's favorite ninja, Gray Fox and his heroic rescue of Solid Snake from Metal Gear Rex.
Solid Snake was in trouble. His evil twin brother Liquid Snake had taken control of the latest model of Metal Gears known as Metal Gear Rex. Despite his best efforts Snake hadn't damaged the machine enough. Liquid had the upper hand, Snake was going to die. But at the last second, when all seemed lost, the man who Snake had fought in a mine field, left for dead, a man who had undergone countless genetic experiments to craft him into a weapon; Snake's best friend, Gray Fox, arrived in time.
I'd try to go on why this is the number one moment in Metal Gear Solid history but that would be like trying to explain Boba Fett to a Star Wars fan. No one has done it quite like Gray Fox, and no one ever will.
Gray Fox Saves Snake:
While these didn't make the top five, they are still worthy of mentioning. The first chronicles the origin of the Patriots while at the same time giving player's a glimpse into just what motivated the original Snake, Big Boss, to turn his back on his country. The second is more Gray Fox from the Twin Snakes.
MGS3 Ending:
Gray Fox Intro – Twin Snakes:


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Brook Green Hotel, Hammersmith
In Eat, Drink, Sleep
A London stay with history, style and a great location for Young's
Fusion By Design have been involved for a number of years with different design elements at the Brook Green Hotel, our most recent is the full refurbishment of the guest bedrooms.
The Brook Green Hotel is a relaxed, dining and drinking venue. With a dramatic basement bar called Smith's and 17 guest bedrooms above, the previously refurbished ground floor spaces are influenced by the Four Blue plaques of Brook Green and their classic pursuits of music, writing and art. In 2019 Fusion By Design were asked to once again return to the venue and provide interior design services for the refurbishment of the guest bedrooms.
The brief from the client team at Youngs and Co.'s was to bring the classical influence of the public areas into the bedrooms so that the rooms reflected the relaxed style of the lower floors. We looked to bring into the scheme accent fabrics in Silver Studio style prints synonymous with Brook Green and William Morris one of the contemporaries.
The suite bedrooms looked to provide more bespoke accommodation with individually designed wallpapers featuring above the headboard wall and unique stronger colour palette's of deep ruby and mustard, to differentiate the rooms from the standard accommodation.
Many of the rooms received new carpets and all of them were fully redecorated, in soft warm greys and blues. All the loose furniture items were reupholstered, and new scatter cushions and blinds were provided using the William Morris prints from Morris & Co.
The works for all the room refurbishments were undertaken whilst the hotel was in operation and were phased and sequenced to allow minimal disruption to the hotel guests. The scheme was well received and provided a much-needed refresh to the hotel which we have continued to return to with our design input over the years.
The dining room echo's a continental brasserie; soft, stylish and inviting with a modern atmosphere. A new kitchen pass has been provided which brings theatre to the space. Surrounded by a bespoke musical themed frieze, the button back fixed seating sits in front of mirrored wall panels' with the fluted seat back's in leathers and linens. A chevron oak floor compliments the marble of the kitchen pass area. The monochrome of writing paper inspires the tiled floor areas and the artwork of the dining room.
Relaxed and comfortable, the bar provides a variety of seating options; window seating to watch the world go by; mid height stools in front of the bar counter and a mixture of fixed and loose seats. With accent fabrics in Silver Studio style prints, synonymous with Brook Green and one of their contemporaries, William Morris.
The original back bar was stripped back to the original timbers, the bar front is painted in a contrasting deep ruby and the bar counter is bold and beautiful. A newly formed area adjacent to the bar has an exposed brick wall and elements of hanging faux planting, bringing the greenery of 'Brook Green' inside.
Head of Steam, Leeds
Drink,Eat
MyLahore Leeds
All Star Lanes, White City
Be At One, London
Salt Beer Factory, Saltaire
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Horoscopes 2023
Mario Testino Biography, Life, Interesting Facts
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When one wants to know the world through the lens of a camera that is when the name Mario Testino comes in. Born from a humble beginning and defying all odds, Mario Testino has grown up to become one of the famous photographers in the world. Mario Testino is a Peruvian photographer born on October 30, 1954. He is also a creative director, guest editor, museum founder and also an art collector. Mario Testino has worked with international magazines like Vogue, V Magazine, Vanity Fair and GQ. His hard-earned reputation as an astute photographer with a touch of class gained him the opportunity to work with big brands like Gucci, Burberry, Versace, Estee Lauder, Michael Kors and Lancome. Being entrepreneurial driven, Mario Testino formed MARIOTESTINO+to deliver services like brand strategy, product development, film and still production, creative directions and art direction.
Mario Testino had built an uncompromised image which his flawless work delivers which had made him the number one choice out there. He has captured celebrities like Madonna, Britney Spears, Julia Roberts, Lady Gaga, Janet Jackson and other supermodels. His trademark, which is perfection, has gained him the accolade as the world's most prolific magazine and fashion trade photographer according to the words of Aaron Hicklin of The Observer.
Mario Testino was born on October 30, 1954, as the eldest child of six. His family was an upper class Catholic with Irish, Spanish and Italian descent. Mario Testino grew up in Lima and attended Santa Maria Marianistas, a Catholic school. Growing up, his dream was to become a priest, but the dream changed as he pursued education. Mario Testino had his tertiary education at the Universidad del Pacifico where he studied economics. He continued to Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru and then to the University of San Diego, where he studied Law and International Affairs
Mario Testino's popularity was not built in a day, neither was it by chance, but by his passion, hard work, and love for the photography profession. It all started from a humble beginning when Mario Testino abandoned his previous studies as he traveled to London to study photography in `1976. After his photography lessons, he understudied John and Paul Nugent at their studio. It was this time that he made an attempt to take a photograph. His days in London were that of hardship which forced him to live in an abandoned hospital floor.
Mario Testino later found work as a waiter to earn income for his upkeep. Doing this, he dyed his hair pink draw people's attention to him being a photographer. This got him some attention, and as secular, as London was, he was able to express himself freely which was opposite to his years in Peru. Nonetheless, he never forgot his roots and inspirations of those days were incorporated into his photographic works. Working as a waiter, he got into contact with some workers of Vogue who identified him as a photographer and asked for some sample. This was the beginning of a great future Mario Testino may have not even thought of. In 1983, his first work appeared in vogue. He also worked with Vanity Fair, with which he later commissioned the iconic photograph of Princess Diana in 1997. He also worked with the American edition of Vogue as well as other popular brands.
In 2010, during the engagement of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, he was chosen as the official photographer for portraits. Mario Testino has since then worked for the British Royal Family with the most recent one being at the naming of Her Royal Highness Charlotte of Cambridge at Sandringham Estate. In 1998 he came out with the publication, Any Objection? and followed it with Front Row Back Row. His other publications include Alive in 2001 and Portraits, 2002.
Mario Testino has worked with famous brands like;
Allure, Burberry, Calvin Klein, Carolina Herrera, Bazaar, Hugo Boss, Lancôme, Loewe, The Macallan, Roberto Cavalli, Ralph Lauren, Revlon, Stefanel, St John, Stuart Weitzman, Shiseido, Shanghai Tang, Sonia Rykiel, Tod's, TChanel, Cîroc, Dolce & Gabbana, Estée Lauder, Etro, Fabergé, Ferragamo, Furla, Gap, GQ, Gucci, Givenchy, Harper's Massimo Dutti, Mercedes-Benz, Michael Kors, Missoni, Ochirly, RUS Sardi, V Magazine, Valentino, Versace, VMAN,
Charity Works
Aside from his photography work, Testino has been involved in numerous charity works and has been honored accordingly. Mario Testino has worked with organizations like Save the Children as an ambassador to raise fund for the building of El Salvador Clinic in Chincha District to treat children with tuberculosis. The fund was derived from the sale of his portrait of Princess Diana auctioned at £100,000 Mario Testino also helped to raise funds to build a playground for Natalia Vodiano's Naked Heart Foundation in Moscow specialized in cancer. He has also raised funds for amfAR, Elton John AIDS Foundation and the CLIC Sargent for children with cancer and several other philanthropic works.
Some of Mario Testino's notable solo exhibitions include, No Limits, Kunstforeningen GL STRAND, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2016, In Your Face, Kunstbibliothek /Kulturforum, Staatliche Museen Berlin, Germany, 2015, Alta Moda, Dallas Contemporary, Dallas, US, In Your Face, Fundação Armando Alvares, Penteado (FAAP), São Paulo, Brazil, Extremes, Yvon Lambert Gallery, Paris, France, In Your Face, MALBA, Buenos Aires, Argentina all in 2014. Others include Alta Moda, Queen Sofía Spanish Institute, New York, US, 2013, Private View, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China, 2012, Todo o Nada, Fondazione Memmo – Palazzo Ruspoli, Rome, Italy, 2011 and several others.
Mario Testino has gained recognition and honors like Clio Fashion & Beauty Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016, International Center of Photography Infinity Award2015, Honorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of services to photography and charity, 2014, and Best Photographer in the World Award.
Others are Spanish Vogue, 2014,British GQ Man of the Year, AmfAR Inspiration Award, 2012, Inspiration Award, 2011, Honorary Fellowship of The Royal Photographic Society,El Museo del Barrio Lifetime Achievement Award, Queen Sofía Spanish Institute Gold Medal, Rodeo Drive Walk of Style Award, 2005, Doctor Emeritus of the University of the Arts London, 2004 and many others.
October 30 Horoscope
Bill Brandt
Dorothea Lange
More People From Peru
Alan Garcia
Denisse Dibos
Abraham Valdelomar
Ciro Alegria
Boris Vallejo
More Scorpio People
Earl W. Sutherland, Jr.
Martin Dies, Jr.
More Chinese Horse People
Rene Balcer
B.J. Penn
Stanley B. Prusiner
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