participated in this 2017 Certification Ceremony.
In the diversity of peoples who experience the gift of God, each in accordance with its own culture, the Church expresses her genuine catholicity and shows forth the "beauty of her varied face" (Pope Francis, The Joy of the Gospel).
The Office of Multicultural Ministries seeks to serve all cultural and ethnic communities located in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis and to respond to the needs all new newcomers. We have assisted many immigrants within our diocese to join in parish and diocesan activities that are respectful to their cultures and enrich the lives of the immigrants within our Church.
This office works to promote an increased awareness of the cultural/ethnic strengths and diversity of the archdiocese, to assist parishes in developing services to meet multicultural needs, and offer intercultural approach to ethnic and cultural diversity in the Archdiocese.


THOUGH GOLD PRICES HAVE LOST a lot of steam since their 2004 start, gold-mining companies are expected to remain averse to gold hedging for the foreseeable future, market-watchers say.
Mining firms hedge to offset the risk of price volatility by locking in a sale price for a portion of production during a predefined period of time; they do this through an intermediary such as an investment bank. The practice allows the miner to secure a stream of income to finance expansion or facility upgrades, while the bank can either use the gold as collateral or sell the gold production into the market and use the proceeds to invest in other assets.
During the late 1990s, when the gold price came under pronounced pressure from the strong U.S. dollar, hedging allowed miners to secure forward sale prices that, incorporating interest rates, were often well above the prevailing market price.
But once the gold price pushed higher in the early 2000s -- on a combination of a weakening U.S. dollar, declining U.S. interest rates and a spike in geopolitical tensions -- the differential between the forward sales, or hedge prices, and the actual price of gold narrowed considerably.
Indeed, during gold's climb from around $350 an ounce in mid-2003 to near 16-year highs around $430 by April 2004, gold's market price actually climbed above many hedge-sale prices to effectively lock the miners into a loss-making position. This placed many miners under acute pressure and sparked a flurry of hedge buybacks, through which many miners undid their hedge requirements by purchasing the pre-sold number of ounces from the market and delivering it into their hedge early.
At the same time, there was a shift in investor appetites toward mining companies with no or few hedge contracts and away from hedge-laden miners.
The phenomenon of "de-hedging" provided an additional fuel for gold's price rise during late 2003, and the shift to a non-hedged mining community was deemed another reason to be bullish on gold over the longer term.
But as 2004 unfolded, a brightening in global economic data prompted investors and fund managers to reassess their expectations for global interest rates and currencies, bringing a stretch of stability for the dollar versus its main rivals since April.
As the preceding spate of U.S. dollar weakness coupled with declining interest rates had been one of the key drivers behind gold's strength, the period of greenback solidity has served to mute gold demand in recent months.
With Federal Reserve policymakers now widely reported to be adopting a tightening monetary-policy stance, rising interest-rate expectations will further tarnish gold's allure from the standpoint of certain investors. As a result, many gold watchers have altered previously bullish forecasts of prices scaling the $500 level by year-end, to those that have gold forging a sideways trading band between $380 and $420 for the next few months.
Despite this cooling in market sentiment, analysts expect the mining industry to remain averse to hedging.
"Even though it might make sense now in some cases, I think the pressure among shareholders is still too great for miners to start hedging again," says Victor Flores, mining and metals analyst at HSBC USA. "The industry is still gripped by anti-hedging fervor even though the prices have stopped rising. The few investors who demanded total exposure to the gold prices have been allowed to dictate industry policy, and still run the show," he adds.
Tim Gardiner, manager of precious-metals trading at Mitsui Global Precious Metals in New York, says the current mindset of the industry is such that many mining companies might be foregoing the flexibility and security offered by hedging in favor of avoiding the potential wrath of investors. "Hedging has worked before for many companies, and I think it will become more prevalent again. But right now it is still an unpopular move," he argues.
HSBC's Flores concurs: "Once you look past the prevailing dogma, hedging is just a tool which, if used well, can help a business. But right now companies might be making bad decisions by refusing to hedge and sticking to the current trend."
OIL PRICES CLIMBED nearly 3% last week amid concerns about supply disruptions in southern Iraq as OPEC output nears capacity. September crude futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange hit a record $49.40 a barrel Friday, but the expiring contract ended the week at $47.86.
GAVIN MAGUIRE is a reporter for Dow Jones Newswires.


Get ready to FAWL in Love with GAL (Guardian ad Litem) by participating in an upcoming one-day training for volunteers at multiple locations throughout the state. CLE credit is pending.
May 3, 2019 from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
The training is free but only open to FAWL members who volunteer to serve as a mentor for the FAWL in Love with GAL project. A limited number of travel scholarships are available.


His name is Gunther. We got him from a family member.
We are confident that he is a German Shepherd/Malamute/Border Collie mix.
His appetite is poor in the heat. This dog is definitely food motivated.
For exercise, he gets running in the yard, catch, flirt pole, running and playing catch at the park.
Our dog Gunther was given to us at 2 months old. He is extremely hyper and never wants to settle down except right after play or at 2200 bedtime.
He was a very bitey, hyper puppy to the point we almost gave him away. We started with a professional trainer soon after bringing him home and ended up going with another trainer.
He is better at just over a year, however, is still extremely hyper all the time even after training time and despite being fixed. He is crated to this day because he is too nosy and we feel he can't be trusted alone in the house.


This month has become a lesson about progress. A challenge like NaNoWriMo requires a steady increase in words through out the four weeks of November. Ideally, one makes daily progress at a steady pace. When that pace is disrupted by missed days and those days multiply the word count skyrockets out of reasonable control. That's what happened this year.
I have missed twelve days so far. Of the days I did write, I did not get the suggested minimum of 1,667 words. I've never hit the bare minimum, in fact. Many of the days have come in significantly lower than that. So, the result is that I won't be finishing my 50,000 word novel by this coming Sunday. I think I will try to put more words down between now and then.
I had high hopes of getting a book done this year. I came pretty close last year. But, real life gets in the way of the best conceived plans. I'll just try to deal with that and keep going. So there it is, fellow Nanos.


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Visions of National Socialist Democracy, Part VI: Rosenberg
An excerpt from Alfred Rosenberg's 1946 political testament, describing a form of multiparty National Socialist democracy
On the face of things Alfred Rosenberg might not be considered a typical example of heterodox political thought. Commonly regarded as the theoretician and 'political philosopher' of the Hitlerian National Socialist movement, Rosenberg was a deeply ideological man whose worldview and attitudes could be perceived as rigid even by his colleagues and contemporaries within the NSDAP – certainly the Allied authorities at Nuremberg regarded him as a hidebound fanatic, and he was charged as a war criminal. Yet Rosenberg exhibited his own independent streak at times, particularly in his position as Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories and most especially in his post-War Memoirs (published in German as Letzte Aufzeichnungen), written over the course of 1945-1946 while imprisoned as a defendant at the Nuremberg Trials. In his Memoirs Rosenberg is remarkably candid about the faults and failings of the Third Reich and the NSDAP. While he consistently defends National Socialism as a great and noble ideal, he also argues that its misuse and demoralization led Germany to ruin – whether through the excesses and overwhelming reach of the SS police state; the abuse of the justice system; the all-powerful role of the Party; and even the actions of his Führer Adolf Hitler, who Rosenberg contends was a great man undone by hubris. One of the most interesting of these sections is near the book's conclusion, where Rosenberg criticizes the Reich's over-authoritarian political system; argues that Hitler's role as dictatorial Führer was originally intended only as a temporary measure; and sketches out an ideal, democratic, multiparty National Socialist system which he (rather unrealistically) seems to be suggesting would be suitable for Germany once freed from its present state of defeat and Allied occupation. This section of Rosenberg's Memoirs is reproduced below, from the abridged Ostara Publications translation. I have made some minor revisions to the text to add several untranslated sections from the original German edition.
My Political Testament
Only Hitler Could be Supreme Leader: Next in Line Would Have to Have Been Elected
The leadership of Hitler was the necessary result of a great national awakening, the Führer state an organically sound re-creation of the idea of the Reich.
Leadership is as different from rulership as it is from chaos. Tyrant and masses belong together just as much as do leader and follower. The two are possible only if they are paired, and are held together in a common bond of duty.
The ever greater power given Hitler was a temporary exception, permissible only after a fourteen-year-long test. This was not one of the goals of the National Socialist idea of state.
The first leader had to come into power as Hitler did. All others were to be elected to serve only for a limited period of time.
Thus it was provided, though no Wahlgremium [electoral college] was founded. Before the Ordensrat [Order Council] of sixty-one men from all walks of life, anyone could, and would have to, speak confidently and freely.
Before it every minister would have to defend his measures. It was the National Socialist plan to find a strong personality for every given task, and to give that individual all the authority he needed.
Adolf Hitler later broke this rule which he himself had made when, to all practical intents and purposes, he put the chief of police over the minister for the interior, when he allowed special appointees in ever increasing numbers to break into fields of activity that had been circumscribed by elections, and when he permitted several distinct functions to be concentrated in a single new office. Naturally, these may have been emergency measures, justified in times of revolution and war; but they should never be tolerated as permanent practices. Continue reading →
Posted in Alfred Rosenberg, Articles, National Socialism
Tagged Democracy, National Socialism, NSDAP, Nuremberg
Paetel and the Programme of the Social-Revolutionary Left of the NSDAP
A revised, social-revolutionary draft programme for the NSDAP, written by Karl Otto Paetel and supporters in late 1929
Karl Otto Paetel is most well-known today for his 1933 National Bolshevist Manifesto. The Manifesto was written in a period when Paetel was a leader of the 'Group of Social-Revolutionary Nationalists' (GSRN), an organization which, inspired by the Communist Party of Germay's (KPD) 1930 'national-communist' programme and its nationalist-oriented propaganda journals like Aufbruch, centered much of its activism on encouraging nationalists to forge links with the revolutionary Left. The GSRN's heavily pro-communist orientation in part stemmed from earlier, unsuccessful attempts by Paetel to reform the National Socialist movement. Before the GSRN was founded on Ascension Day, 1930, Paetel was involved in an informal grouping called the 'Young Front Working Circle'. While still focused on promoting cooperation between left and right, the Young Front at the time regarded the NSDAP as being the key source for potential social-revolutionary change, directing most of its energies towards supporting the 'left-wing' opposition within the NSDAP and encouraging internal Party debate over its policies and direction. It was for this purpose that Paetel and other Young Front members wrote the short draft programme reproduced below. A revised version of the NSDAP's original 25-Points (a number of the items are almost word-for-word identical), the Young Front's draft programme is more explicitly social-revolutionary, including demands for mass nationalization, land expropriation, and a German-Soviet alliance. The programme was first distributed clandestinely at the August 1929 Nuremberg Party Congress before its formal publication in nationalist journal Das Junge Volk on October 1st. The document, inevitably, had little real impact – in May 1926, in the wake of the Bamberg Conference, Hitler had already officially declared the 25-Points "unalterable", and the Young Front's programme made no headway in encouraging debate among the leadership. It did generate interest among some of the Party's grass-roots, however, leading to stronger links with members of the NSDAP, many of whom would later go on to form the core of the GSRN.
Social-Revolutionary Nationalism:
A Proposal for the Revision of the Programme of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP)
First published in Das Junge Volk, XI, 1st October 1929.
The NSDAP is a nationalist party. Its goal is the free German nation.
The NSDAP is a socialist party. It knows that the free German nation can arise only through the liberation of the working masses of Germany from all forms of exploitation and oppression.
The NSDAP is a workers' party. It professes itself to the class-struggle of the productive against parasites of all races and creeds.
The NSDAP therefore demands:
1. The integration of all Germans, on the basis of peoples' rights to self-determination, into a Greater German Reich;
2. Equal status for the German Volk with other nations; the annulment of all the treaties, obligations, and debts of the prior capitalist government;
3. That only he who is a folk-comrade should be a citizen, – folk-comrades can only be those of German blood. Jews, Slavs, Latins [Welsche] can therefore not be German citizens; non-citizens to be classed as guests and placed under legislation governing foreigners;
4. That the right to determine the leadership and laws of the state may be conceded only to citizens; therefore, the NSDAP demands that every public office of whatever kind, whether in Reich, state, or municipality, may be occupied by citizens alone;
5. Elimination of the corrupting parliamentary state of affairs; realization of the self-government of the working Volk on the basis of enterprises, with the dismissal and destruction of the organizational apparatus of all parties; the organizational form of self-government is the Peoples' Council-State [Volks-Rätestaat]; the council structure is organized from the bottom up through indirect elections from the council formations; Continue reading →
Posted in Articles, Karl Otto Paetel, National Bolshevism, National Socialism
Tagged Karl Otto Paetel, National Bolshevism, National Socialism, NSDAP, Paetel
Orwell's 'English Socialism'
George Orwell's prescription for a patriotic English Socialism, from his 1941 essay 'The Lion and the Unicorn'
"Patriotism has nothing to do with conservatism. It is devotion to something that is changing but is felt to be mystically the same, like the devotion of the ex-White Bolshevik to Russia. To be loyal both to Chamberlain's England and to the England of tomorrow might seem an impossibility, if one did not know it to be an everyday phenomenon. Only revolution can save England, that has been obvious for years… But when the red militias are billeted in the Ritz I shall still feel that the England I was taught to love so long ago and for such different reasons is somehow persisting." The preceding words, written by George Orwell in his 1940 essay 'My Country Right or Left', illustrate very well the pro-English sentiment that ran through much of his writing. Orwell was a socialist, but an idiosyncratic one for his time – he abhorred Stalinism, was doubtful of Trotskyism, and his attitude to Marxism could be summed up as sympathetic but skeptical. What particularly set Orwell apart from other contemporary left-wing intellectuals was his patriotism. Rather than viewing English culture as something to be ashamed of or sniggered at, as a bourgeois anachronism needing to be swept aside to make way for a gleaming new utopia, Orwell instead had a genuine affection for his country and its people. This affection extended into the political vision he had for his nation's future. Orwell recognized the mobilizing power that lay behind patriotic sentiment, believing that patriotism (as opposed to nationalism, which he saw as motivated by power & competitive prestige rather than defensive & devotional sentiments) could and should be employed for the success of a socialist revolution. His hoped-for revolutionary England would not just be socialist and egalitarian, but gently patriotic – free of the evils of property, but still eternally English down to its very soul. A detailed description of the English Socialism advocated for by Orwell is contained within his 1941 essay 'The Lion and the Unicorn', the relevant sections of which I have excerpted below (the bolded headings were added by myself to make the demarcation between topics clear). As well as being a unique example of patriotic-socialist writing, 'The Lion and the Unicorn' is probably one of Orwell's best non-fiction works; I recommend that anyone who finds this excerpt interesting seek out the original essay in full.
As I write, highly civilized human beings are flying overhead, trying to kill me.
They do not feel any enmity against me as an individual, nor I against them. They are 'only doing their duty', as the saying goes. Most of them, I have no doubt, are kind-hearted law-abiding men who would never dream of committing murder in private life. On the other hand, if one of them succeeds in blowing me to pieces with a well-placed bomb, he will never sleep any the worse for it. He is serving his country, which has the power to absolve him from evil.
One cannot see the modern world as it is unless one recognizes the overwhelming strength of patriotism, national loyalty. In certain circumstances it can break down, at certain levels of civilization it does not exist, but as a positive force there is nothing to set beside it. Christianity and international Socialism are as weak as straw in comparison with it. Hitler and Mussolini rose to power in their own countries very largely because they could grasp this fact and their opponents could not.
Also, one must admit that the divisions between nation and nation are founded on real differences of outlook. Till recently it was thought proper to pretend that all human beings are very much alike, but in fact anyone able to use his eyes knows that the average of human behaviour differs enormously from country to country. Things that could happen in one country could not happen in another. Hitler's June purge, for instance, could not have happened in England. And, as western peoples go, the English are very highly differentiated. There is a sort of back-handed admission of this in the dislike which nearly all foreigners feel for our national way of life. Few Europeans can endure living in England, and even Americans often feel more at home in Europe.
When you come back to England from any foreign country, you have immediately the sensation of breathing a different air. Even in the first few minutes dozens of small things conspire to give you this feeling. The beer is bitterer, the coins are heavier, the grass is greener, the advertisements are more blatant. The crowds in the big towns, with their mild knobby faces, their bad teeth and gentle manners, are different from a European crowd. Then the vastness of England swallows you up, and you lose for a while your feeling that the whole nation has a single identifiable character. Are there really such things as nations? Are we not forty-six million individuals, all different? And the diversity of it, the chaos! The clatter of clogs in the Lancashire mill towns, the to-and-fro of the lorries on the Great North Road, the queues outside the Labour Exchanges, the rattle of pintables in the Soho pubs, the old maids biking to Holy Communion through the mists of the autumn morning – all these are not only fragments, but characteristic fragments, of the English scene. How can one make a pattern out of this muddle? Continue reading →
Posted in Articles, George Orwell, Socialism
Tagged England, Orwell, socialism
National Socialists Before Hitler, Part II: The National Labor Movement
Documents from the early period of the original German Workers' Party and the national labor movement in Austria-Hungary
German National Socialism was born out of the labor movement. By the late 1800s, racial tension within the multi-ethnic Austro-Hungarian Empire had created major divisions within the trade unions. Increasing competition between Czech and German workers, especially in industrial and border areas like Bohemia, combined with the Empire's hollow sense of national-identity and aggressive clashes over cultural and language competition to foster a serious split within both the unions and the social-democratic movement. Nationalism took hold among both Czech and German laborers, leading to violent brawls and riots. The nascent Social-Democratic Workers' Party in its 1897 conference fractured over the 'national question', breaking into six separate sections based on race. And workers of all ethnicities, dissatisfied with the internationalist ideology of the most prominent unions, began forming their own nationalist 'protective-associations' in response. These associations were not at first official unions for bargaining over wages or working conditions, merely pressure groups intended to provide collective aid to members against 'foreign' competition – but by the time of the German Workers' Party's (DAP's) founding in 1903, several had evolved into unions proper and the others were growing in strength. This 'national labor movement' was in fact why the German Workers' Party was founded in the first place. All the DAP's leading members were active within the German nationalist associations, and their original intent was that the Party should serve as the political arm of the German national labor movement, taking the demands of the völkisch workers into parliament. The DAP in its early years thus placed a heavy emphasis on uniting the various independent nationalist unions and associations into a consolidated force, providing them with the common vision and organizational tactics necessary to make both political and industrial activism more effective – a process aided greatly by the unifying ideology of National Socialism as it developed within the Party. The documents below, translated from DAP co-founder Hans Knirsch's history of Austrian & Sudeten National Socialism, provide an intriguing window into this early period of National Socialism's history, demonstrating how intrinsic were issues of labor, work, reform, and socialism to the early evolution of National Socialist philosophy.
The First Common Conference of the
Völkisch Trade-Union Movement,
Leitmeritz, April 29th, 1906
Although the DAP's founders were all leading members of the ethnic-German unions and protective-associations, and although the Party was expressly founded to give the nationalist workers a political voice, the links between the DAP and the national labor movement were not concrete at first. Wariness of political (as opposed to industrial) activism was common among the völkisch workers; the Imperial government had in the past proven perfectly willing to persecute unionists who dabbled in party politics, and previous attempts to ally the nationalist unions with Georg Ritter von Schönerer's Pan-German Association and Karl Wolff's Free Pan-German Party had led to disillusionment and a suspicion of parliamentary politicians as bourgeois opportunists seeking to exploit the workers in pursuit of purely middle-class interests. As a consequence, the DAP's major goal after its founding was to unite the fractious, highly-independent nationalist labor organizations and to convince them of the need to take a more organized, cooperative stance with each other and with the DAP.
To this end on April 29th, 1906, the Party organized the first common conference of all nationalist workers' associations, held in Leitmeritz, Bohemia. Represented were delegates from the various ethnic-German bakers', miners', builders', assistant-metalworkers', and woodworkers' associations, among others. The conference's purpose was to convince these groups of the necessity to reconstitute themselves as formal trade-unions; to establish guiding principles for the national labor movement; and to set out binding statutes for future collaborative work. The event was considered a success by its attendees, and although the organizers found it necessary to maintain that the conference was not formally affiliated with any one political party, the links forged at Leitmeritz between the unions and the DAP grew strong enough over the following years that, by 1909, the unions had officially recognized the Party as their "greatest ally" and official political representative. Reproduced below are two short documents from this conference: a brief extract from Alois Ciller's report on the German trade-unions' goals and tasks (Ciller was another DAP co-founder and the author of the Party's original programme), along with the four guiding principles unanimously adopted by the conference delegates. –Bogumil
Goals and Tasks of the German Trade-Unions (Extract)
The German trade-union has the task of winning rights and recognition for the German working-class within its own Volk. To this end the international principle proves itself, particularly in the Austrian peoples' state, utterly unsuitable and detrimental. Where the economic struggle involves making common cause [with non-Germans] this is self-evident from the outset. The cultural work of German workers in associations with Slovaks, Croats, Poles, etc. is in all circumstances an absurdity. We wish for the working-class of every nation to create better conditions through their own resources. We have to think of ourselves and our duty. That duty consists of tireless German trade-union work. Continue reading →
Posted in Articles, Hans Knirsch, National Socialism
Tagged Austria, DAP, DNSAP, National Socialism

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Nendoroid Kyouno Madoka Previews | Wcloudx (kumo)'s Blog - Ramblings about Figures, Gunpla, & More!!
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I made the background out of three pieces of patterned paper and then used the center part as a focal point for my banner from Bannerific. I love the summery look. :) Warm weather, where are you?
Supplies: Cardstock- Papertrey Ink (Vintage Cream and Aqua Mist), Patterned Paper- October Afternoon (Modern Homemaker 8 by 8 pad), Stamps- Lawn Fawn (Bannerific and Sophie's Sentiments), Ink- Ranger (Brown Sugar by Jenni Bowlin Studios and Tea Dye and Vintage Photo Distress Ink by Tim Holtz).
Lawn Fawn – buy pretty stamps that you see used in the challenge!
So what are you waiting for? Head over to the challenge blog and get started! All you need to do is find a card of Kelly's that inspires you and create a card based off of it. Easy. :) Can't wait to see what you create!
See you later today for Video Tutorial Monday!
Your card is soooo charming! LOVE it!!!
Wow Britta! I want to CASE this! What a fabulous idea, I just love it! My fave Lawn Fawn baner & all the distressing just has me smiling my cheeks off! I love this. You did an amazing job! Thanks for the inspiration girl!
So stinkin' adorable!! I love the colors you picked!!! SO happy you are in my reader again! LOL! We need to chat soon! I have some ideas!
Oh, Britta, this is just… wow. All I can say is thank God you aren't actually participating in the challenge because nobody else would have a chance! This card is all sorts of fabulous. My favorite part? Those little eggs perfectly centered on one of the flags! Too stinkin' adorable.
I cased the same card but went with a more literal case than you did. I LOVE your take on Kelly's card! Wonderful!
This is fabulous! I love the papers you used on this and the banner is terrific!
I love the paper piece banners!


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Home Digital
How To Win Votes & Influence People Using Social Media
With Malaysia's 14th General Election just around the corner, it's a perfect time to relook at how political parties are using social media to influence how we vote. In an earlier article, we explored how they utilised social media to listen, segment, connect, build personal brands, battle misinformation and engage the next generation of voters.
Back in 2017, BN and its party leaders held 78% and 77% of online Share of Voice, according to social listening tool Digimind. In January, Politweet attempted to predict the outcome of seat distribution in Peninsular Malaysia using a combination of polling and twitter data.
They forecasted that "in a straight fight against BN, PH can form the Federal government with a 5-point swing of support leading to a win of 115 seats. However a slim margin of 3 seats (112 seats is the minimum required) would not be enough for a stable government."
They concluded that PAS dissolving from the opposition would most likely benefit BN and create a "3-corner fight" between the parties. However, that was in January and a lot has changed.
Since then, the Malaysian political landscape has exploded with new players and uniquely Malaysian drama that have shifted the conversation on social media. The most outstanding of which has been the overwhelming support of citizens to support fellow citizens to #PulangMengundi and #jombalikundi which raised thousands of ringgit to help Malaysians balik kampung and vote on May 9th. According to Digimind, these citizen created hashtags far out measure any government initiated ones, such as #umno and #bajet2018.
Overall, there has been a 2.7X increase in engagement with political content, compared to last year. However on a deeper inspection, this can be attributed to the large increase in paid interactions. We had reported earlier that Opposition parties had promoted Facebook posts, garnering over 2X paid interactions. Not to be outdone, in 2018 according to Socialbakers, BN parties increased the amount of paid interactions per month by over 100X just to meet the level of opposition paid engagement.
However, this strategy may not be working for political parties as the interactions that they are getting aren't all positive. Since 2017, the sentiment of Malaysian voters has changed and perhaps unsurprisingly, reactions to political content have become more polarised.
According to Socialbakers, the distribution of reactions has increased the most in both Love 😍 and Anger 😡. When accounting for time, Malaysians have expressed 4X more Angry Reactions, where the majority of it has occured on BN and MCA posts. This correlates with Digimind sentiment data that indicates an 8% increase in negative sentiment around BN in relation to 2017.
These tidal shifts are further reflected by Invoke Malaysia whose data-driven campaign analysis and founder, Rafizi Ramli, predicted that "support [for the opposition] had been increasing steadily each month since December. He noted what was more significant in the same three months was the decline of Malay support for BN by 6% a month since December from 41.1% to 28.5%."
In line with this this, Digimind data shows UMNO's Share-of-Voice has declined from 64% in 2017 to 46% in the first four months of 2018. This was due to an increased Share-of-Voice for opposition parties such as DAP and PKR.
Muddying a clear picture of this data however is the recent onslaught of Twitter bots, which have flooded Twitter "with tens of thousands of pro-government and anti-opposition messages," according to Reuters.
Ahmad Maslan, the information technology bureau chairman of Prime Minister Najib Razak's United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), has claimed he did not know who was behind the bot activity and that it was not his team.
Oliver Woods, Director of Red2 Digital and active monitor of the Malaysia election summarizes both sides election strategies:
"Firstly, the opposition leverages the Mahathir factor at a national level, amplified via social media and state issues via messaging apps. Nationally, Mahathir and his team have implemented a best-in-class strategy across social platforms that tugs at the heart strings and plays to a deep vein of concern around Malaysia's direction.
In response, we've seen Barisan National and their component parties skilfully use digital to attack Mahathir – not just PM Najib but also Abdul Rahman Dahlan, Khairy Jamaluddin and Eric See-To. These BN figures have sowed serious doubts in the minds of many, particularly in rural and provincial areas, of the true motives behind the opposition."
At Social Media Week 2013, Najib aptly described social media like "running on a treadmill that never stops" (Source: The Star). The truth is that in politics, as much as marketing, the treadmill will often speed up or even change directions.
Since last year, public opinion has swayed and sentiments have shifted. Consequently, political parties risk promoting their campaign messages at the expense of losing the core points to a more emotionally charged audience.
No doubt as we edge closer to May 9th, the social media treadmill will cause mass perspiration in even the most seasoned politicians. It's yet to be seen who has the most endurance.
By: Chris Greenough – CMO & Co-founder of HYPERLAB
This article first appeared in MARKETING magazine issue 220. You can view the online version of the magazine here.
Nestlé launches Global Procurement Hub in Malaysia serving over 100 countries
AdWords Express comes to Malaysia
Pitch Watch: Find out who won what in October


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Mcast may refer to:

 MCAST, Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology
 multicast — simultaneous delivery of information to a group of destinations

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Red Maryland Radio #211: 4/16/2015
Brian Griffiths
on April 16, 2015 at 10:13 pm
It was an all new edition of Red Maryland Radio tonight on the Red Maryland Network.
Check Out Politics Conservative Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with redmaryland on BlogTalkRadio
On tonight's show:
We continue our review of the Maryland General Assembly session, including an inane Baltimore Sun editorial, a scathing Washington Post one, and an inane Barry Rascovar one.
And we look forward to this weekend's Maryland Republican Party convention, which will inclue at least one resolution and a speaker that's raised some eyebrows.
All that and more is why you can't afford to miss an episode of Red Maryland Radio tonight at 8 PM on the Red Maryland Network…….and don't forget that you can subscribe to all Red Maryland Network programming on iTunes and on Stitcher.
General Assembly 2015Larry Hoganmaryland gopRed Maryland NetworkRed Maryland Radiotaxes
Brian Griffiths is the Editor-in-Chief of RedMaryland.com, Maryland's leading news conservative news source. He is also a host of Red Maryland Radio and The Air Raid on The Red Maryland Network, Maryland's only podcast network of political content. In 2004, Brian became Maryland's first political blogger, earning him the nickname "The Dean of Maryland Bloggers." Brian has been involved in Maryland conservative politics since 1998 when he became involved in his College Republicans chapter. Since then he has been involved in numerous local, state, and federal-level campaigns. He was twice elected Chairman of the Maryland Young Republicans, the only person to be twice elected to that position unanimously. He also served as the Assistant Secretary and the Northeast Regional Vice-Chairman of the Young Republican National Federation. Additionally, he served four years as a member of the Maryland Republican Party Executive Committee from 2011-2015. In addition to his duties with Red Maryland, Brian is also a columnist for The Capital in Annapolis, where he writes about state and local issues. His writing has also been featured in the Baltimore Sun, Maryland Reporter, the Pasadena Voice, and Camden Chat. Brian is also a frequent commentator on local politics for WBAL Radio in Baltimore and WMAL Radio in Washington. Follow Brian on Twitter @BrianGriffiths or on Facebook at facebook.com/briangriffithsMD
Susan Reimer's Nothingburger
Red Maryland News Hour: 4/17/2015


MaraJet DI-LS is a low-odour, mild solvent after market ink for Roland wide format solvent printers. A perfect colour match allows users to simply install MaraJet DI-LS 440 ml cartridges into the printer when their current cartridges are emptied. MaraJet inks offer outstanding performance and value for your printing needs by combining excellent light fastness, vivid colour density and a wide colour gamut. Sold in 440 ml cartridges and 1 litre bulk containers.
– MaraJet saves time and money.


We are celebrating another fall Friday! We are starting to get more fall merchandise in though, so we will eventually be changing our fall Friday into something else. What kind of blog entry would you be interested in reading about? Until then, we have a really cute dress that we are wearing now with heels and then showing you how to "Fall" it up!
Next up we have Chevelle. She is ready for fall! She added a cute denim jacket (her own) with this dress. The contrast in color and texture is nice. She added boots to complete the look. She is happy go lucky in this crazy weather we're having! This dress is a rainbow after the storm – a promise that you CAN convert any summery dress into the perfect fall outfit!
As you know, we really can't wait until fall! The store is filling up with new autumn dresses. Come by and check them out! We will also have them online soon along with new boots!
Enjoy the games this weekend and thanks for reading!


text:
9/11 Anniversary|Fortress D.C.
9/11 Anniversary | The 9/11 Decade
Fortress D.C.
By STEPHEN CROWLEY SEPT. 7, 2011
Some things are obvious: the Capitol Hill police armed with assault rifles, standing on the Capitol steps; concrete barricades blocking the once-grand entrances to other federal buildings; the surface-to-air missile battery protecting the White House; the National Archives security guards, almost as old as the Declaration of Independence enshrined inside, slowly waving a magnetic wand over all who enter. But most of the post-9/11 security measures have simply been embedded in the landscape and culture of the nation's capital.
From the reflecting pool at the foot of the Capitol to the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial, government cameras take pictures of citizens, who smile for Big Brother and snap their own pictures of the government cameras. In the $561 million underground Capitol visitors center, completed in 2008, people clutching gallery passes from a senator's or representative's office are funneled through magnetometers, to witness a secure Congress in its sealed chambers.
On Sept. 11, 2001, staff members who had fled the White House complex while the military tracked a fourth hijacked plane gathered under a tree near the Ellipse, uncertain as to where they should go. Washington, once as open as a town hall, had changed forever.
Security measures after 9/11 include closed streets and barriers around many Washington landmarks, keeping vehicles at a safe distance. Above, the black-and-white photos are from just after the attack, the color photos from this summer.
A version of this article appears in print on September 11, 2011, on Page F15 of the New York edition with the headline: Fortress D.C. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
Fortress D.C. SEPT. 5, 2011


The Random Forest node in Watson Studio is implemented in Python. The nodes palette contains this node and other Python nodes.
For more information about random forest algorithms, see https://scikit-learn.org/stable/modules/ensemble.html#forest.
1L. Breiman, "Random Forests," Machine Learning, 45(1), 5-32, 2001.


Unit measures 13.8" x 9.8" x 9.8"
Braun Cafehouse 10 cup 1100 watt coffee maker for use overseas with a 220 volt outlet requirement. Not for use in the USA or Canada. Has several features including the OptiBrewSystem, PureAqua water filtration, Filter release button, and an open anti slip handle.
Krups 049-33 Gold Tone Filter.
The Krups 049 Gold Tone Filter fits models 176 180 197 198 199 229 FMC2 536 538 392 394 FME4 FMF4 FMF5 FMF014 FME2 FME1.
Braun Brita Patented KWF2 Water Filter (2-Pack).
Two-pack of Brita water filters for all Braun FlavorSelect and AromaDeluxe coffeemakers. Each filter lasts for about 70 brewing cycles. Also reduces calcification. Improves coffee flavor by filtering out chlorine.
BetterBrew Coffee Maker Cleaner, 3-Pack.
Coffee maker cleaner. Safely removes lime scale build-up. Helps to eliminate bitter tasting coffee and slow brewing problems. Enjoy better tasting coffee. Package consists of 3 cleanings.


text:
Helping Canadian Exporters Succeed in Asia since 1986
Brands We've Helped
Our Current Clients
Oh, we have some stories…
Our Story – The 70's were an important time for us…as was 1986
Although it took a few years to realize, the 1970's were a foundational time for CACL. After 4 years in Taiwan, CACL founder Bill Coleman returned to Vancouver and, in June 1970, our VP Business Development, Bill Jr. was born. Then, in the summer of 1972, Bill (Snr.) met the Premier of the Peoples' Republic of China, Zhou Enlai. Bill still talks about one of those events with great fondness. 🙂
In 1986, Coleman Associates (Consulting) Ltd. opened its basement door in Oakville, Ontario. Over the years CACL has imported Chinese products into Canada, taken Canadian steel processing technology to China, and helped numerous Canadian exporters establish solid marketing and distribution partnership across Asia.
You might think that, after 30+ years of experience in Canada-Asia trade, we would have a canned process to shuffle clients along which provides a predictable outcome.
The reality is that doing trade with Asia is anything but predictable. It is dynamic and exciting, and opportunities are constantly arising from new consumer behaviour and disruptive business models. We are currently marketing icewine, craft beer, and high protein health foods.
CACL uses its knowledge and experience to find the right business model and right partners to be successful in Asia. It is a global marketplace, and we help build the right models for our Canadian clients to compete against their global competitors.
Like most of our clients, we're small and mighty!
Bill Coleman
Founder & Chairman
Bill started his life-long affair with Asia in Taiwan in 1965, where he successfully challenged for his Masters Degree in Chinese History at the National Taiwan University. If you can read Chinese, ask him for a copy of his thesis!
Bill returned to Canada, with his wife and daughter, in 1970, and after a successful career managing the China portfolio at the Canadian Wheat Board, Bill was asked to open the Canada-China Trade Council (now the Canada-China Business Council) in 1978.
One highlight of Bill's career was the time he organized a Chinese delegation from CEROILS (China Food) to visit the home of Dr. Norman Bethune in Gravenhurst, Ontario. It was the first Chinese delegation anyone remembers, and the homestead in Gravenhurst is still used to this day as a National Historic Site, with thousands of Chinese tourists visiting to honour Dr. Bethune each year.
Finally, in 1986 Bill opened CACL and has been focused on helping Canadian companies trade with Asia ever since.
Bill Jr.
Bill Jr. started his career in Taipei, Taiwan, working for a large trading company, name Getz Bros. After 5 years of living and working in Taiwan, he returned home, married his university sweetheart, Alana, and continued marketing and trade consulting for another 5 years.
Then Bill Jr. took a decade away from international trade to work for Canadian Blood Services, first as a Regional Manager in Toronto, then as a Regional Director in Winnipeg, and eventually as the National Director for Partnership Development based in Ottawa, overseeing one of the largest Corporate Social Responsibility Partnership and volunteer programs in Canada.
Today, Bill Jr. is back in international trade and is excited to help Canadian exporters explore and expand into Asia.
We have the expertise to take your brand and your products to Asia. Give us a call!
Billjr@cacl.net
6073 Forestglen Crescent
Ottawa, Ontario, K1C5N6
WeChat: 16134154744
Bill@cacl.net
Canada West Office
Cascade at the Pier, East Tower
Suite 704, 185 Victory Ship Way
North Vancouver, BC CANADA V7L 0G2
www.CACL.net


Sugared cranberries are a wonderful holiday treat and add an extra festive touch to baked goods and cocktails (or mocktails). They are easy to make and once you make a batch you'll be hooked. Fun gift idea too!
I can't think of anything more festive for the holiday season than cranberries. They segue from Thanksgiving cranberry sauce to all sorts of fun home decorations and edible treats. Has anyone strung them as a garland for your Christmas tree? How about floated them in a beautiful bowl of water with some floating candles for a centerpiece (they float just like the candles)? Just having a bowl of them sitting out feels like Christmas to me.
Outside of being a key ingredient in so many sweet and savory recipes, there are fun, easy recipes to prepare them as a treat or a small gift. I shared a recipe for Brandied Cranberries some time ago that I found in a vintage recipe collection. Today I'm sharing another holiday favorite: How to make Sugared Cranberries.
I'm sure you've seen the white sparkly orbs with some red showing through in photos or on fancy desserts. They are wonderful on cakes and cupcakes, in drinks (though they lose their sugar coating) or anywhere you are feeling it (like my Instant Pot Gingerbread Steel Cut Oats).
The process of sugaring the cranberries is easy and transforms their texture as well as flavor. The cranberries soak in a homemade simple syrup recipe overnight and then are rolled in fine baking sugar (it coats the best). The simple syrup both infuses some sweetness but also creates a coating on the cranberries allowing the extra fine sugar to stick. After sitting to fully dry for about an hour, the outer coating becomes dry and crisp creating a wonderful 'pop' in your mouth when eating them.
The infusion of the simple syrup coupled with the sugar coating diminishes the usual tartness for a sweeter cranberry bite. Not all cranberries are created equal, so there may be a tart one in the bunch! Once dried, their coating becomes hard so the sugar stays in place too.
The easy trick about this recipe is that all you need to rememember is to use the same amount of water, sugar and cranberries. Simple syrup is made with equal parts of water and sugar, and this tutorial for how to make sugared cranberries uses the same amount also of cranberries. This makes it simple to create batches of whatever size you need without having to remember measurements.
Giving a little jar of them as an unexpected gift for a friend or neighbor, especially one who loves to bake, is always appreciated. Of course if you want to keep them all for yourself, I'll never tell.
Sugared cranberries are easy to make and a wonderful holiday treat or holiday garnish. The recipe may be made for any amount of cranberries. Just adjust to the amount of water, sugar and cranberries are the same and proceed with the recipe. The volume of 1 cup has been used as an example in this recipe.
Combine the granulated sugar and water in medium sauce pan and bring to a low simmer (aproximately 3 minutes), stirring often, just until the sugar is dissolved; remove from heat. Add the cranberries. Add the liquid (now a simple syrup) and cranberries to a sealable container and refridgerate for 8 hours.
After chilling: Pour the extra fine sugar onto a plate. Remove the cranberries from the liquid with a slotted spoon to drain and deposit a few at a time into the fine sugar. NOTE: the simple syrup may be reserved for use in cocktails. Using a light touch, roll cranberries one by one in the sugar to coat. Gently place on a rimmed baking sheet for 1-2 hours until fully dry.
I love anything that involves Cranberries and this looks amazing!
These are so perfect for the holidays!
Sugared cranberries…what a novel idea!!!
Wow these are pretty elegant. I never had sugar cranberries super festive.
I would definitely try to make these! I've never tried any but I love cranberries. Give me a recipe I will not likely mess up, and I'm all over it! I really like the idea of giving them as treats.
I love how easy these are to make. These will be a wonderful addition to my Christmas table.
Yes! Whether for decor or eating, they are a perfect fit!
Wow these look really, really cool! I am going to have to try this.
Please do! I think you'll see how many ways you can use them!
Please post the recipe for the brandied cranberries! You have my attention!!!!! Thank you….I love your recipes!!!!! Just passed your site to my two Broomfield daughters!!! They are missing too many goodies!!!!!!
Hi Dee! Thanks for passing BoulderLocavore.com along! If you click on the link in the blog post (where it says Brandied Cranberries) you'll land on the recipe! Alternatively you can use the search function too.
That is really good to know. I might sugar up some other things too!


text:
Hollywood heavyweight Clint Eastwood: His numerous women and seven kids
Clint Eastwood is among the few men in Hollywood to have written their names on the sands of time. The 86 year old actor is an internationally acclaimed icon that is now a political figure. He has been for years an enduring icon of masculinity in the American culture and is a wealthy winner of several awards.
Zodiac Sign: Gemini
As much as there is a story to his success, there is quite another story when it comes to his not-so-private life. Eastwood being a great commercial success has for ages been the desire of millions of women and the legendary actor has shown over time that he truly has a weak spot as regards the female race. Got married twice but has had countless affairs. He has fathered seven verified children with five different women. Read on to know more about this serial Lothario.
Clint Eastwood wife
Margaret Neville Johnson (ex-wife)
Duration of Marriage: 1953 – 1984 (31 years)
On December 19, 1953, Clint made his first ever move towards matrimony. At this time, he was still in the struggling as a young actor. He married Maggie Johnson who was a worker at an auto parts supply company. He met his first wife on a blind date in Los Angeles and they got married six months after their first meet.
The Maggie-Clint marriage was somewhat open as he was also in a serious relationship while still married to Margaret. Did she know about this relationship? People say she did, maybe it was all speculations. However we are sure that Maggie might not have known details but she definitely knew he was seeing so many other people and probably knew he had a child too.
Maggie Johnson with kids Kyle and Alison
Johnson was hurt and decided to let it go but after a trial separation, she re-considered her decision and thought she could make it work with the growing celebrity. It was after this decision they had two kids; Kyle and Alison. They say a chameleon can never change its skin, this was true about Eastwood as after some years of trying to make it work with Johnson, they decided to finally part ways (most likely because she could not keep up with the womaniser in him). She then married Henry Wynberg only for it to also end after 5 years.
Sondra Locke (ex-girlfriend)
Duration of Relationship: 1975 – April 1989 (14 years)
Eastwood and Locke were in a 14 year long relationship until it was called off in 1995. They started living together while filming a movie in autumn of 1975. At this time, Eastwood told Locke that there was nothing left of his relationship with Johnson and that with her he had found love. Sondra indeed made the untamed Hollywood icon a monogamist.
They never got married but he fell in love with her and was faithful to her at least until he met Jacelyn Reeves. Fellow actress Locke decided she was done when she found out her supposed 'faithful' boyfriend had become a father to two more children. Before Clint, Sondra was married to homosexual Gordon Anderson and she described their marriage as two sisters living together.
Jacelyn Reeves (ex-girlfriend)
Jacelyn Reeves with son Scott
Jacelyn untamed what Sondra already kept under – his habitual womanizing addiction. He was already living with Locke by this time but still could not help but father two kids with Jacelyn.
Frances Fisher (ex-girlfriend)
Duration of Relationship: 1990 – 1995 (5 years)
Dating actresses was no longer a big deal for Eastwood, maybe because they were the majority of ladies around him. Fisher met the acting legend on the set of Pink Cadillac in 1988. Two years after, she moved in with him because she felt this was heaven to her. Little did she know that all the women before her also thought Eastwood was the key to their matrimonial bliss. Three years after they began living as a couple, Frances had a baby girl and two years later, her matrimonial dream was shattered with a divorce.
Dina Ruiz Eastwood (ex-wife)
Duration of Marriage: March 31, 1996 – December 22, 2014 (18 years)
Zodiac Sign: Cancer
With this long list of failed relationships, it is surprising to know that Eastwood got married only twice. The second marriage was to a reporter that interviewed him once in 1993 while he was expecting his child with Fisher. On March 31, 1996, he married Dina Ruiz claiming she is the woman he has been waiting for. As usual, a few years after tying the knot, they separated and Ruiz filed for full custody of their only child Morgan. Dina is now married to basketball coach Scott Fisher.
Clint Eastwood current girlfriend
Christina Sandera (girlfriend)
Duration of Relationship: 2014 – present
Christina is the newest lady to walk in the arms of the multiple award-winning icon. In her previous marriage, she was tagged a husband beater. The courts tag her as an 'alcoholic spendthrift gold-digger'. Eastwood could only care less what everyone else has to say because at 84, his mind is made up on this one, for now at least. The Hollywood pride says he is happy with her and all his seven kids seem to like her also.
Clint Eastwood children: 5 daughters, 2 sons
Kimber Lynn Eastwood (daughter with Roxanne Tunis)
Kimber is the first verified child to the Hollywood icon. We say verified because there were rumours that he had fathered a child before getting married to Johnson but these allegations were not proven true. Kimber was born to Roxanne Tunis, Eastwood's girlfriend of 14 years while he was still married to Maggie. Lynn's existence was kept secret from the public for years after her birth.
Kyle Eastwood (son with Maggie Johnson)
Kyle has brought a little twist to their family of entertainment; he is a talented jazz singer. Music has always been a prominent fixture in the Eastwood home even though none of them was a professional musician. Clint and Maggie Johnson, Kyle's mum used to play the piano so they were thrilled when their son told them he wanted to go into music.
The occasional actor is also a husband and father. He married Cynthia Ramirez at his father's hotel in 2014 and they are now parents to Graylen, a female child.
Alison Eastwood (daughter with Maggie Johnson)
Alison is a model, actress and fashion designer. She was married to Kirk Fox from 1999 to 2000 and on March 15, 2013, tied the knot with Stacy Poitras.
Scott Clinton Eastwood (son with Jacelyn Reeves)
Date of Birth: March 21, 1986
He is the youngest son of the renowned actor Clint Eastwood and is himself now a great actor. He has followed closely in his father's footsteps but apparently Scott has s long way to go before reaching even half of what his father has achieved.
Kathryn Eastwood (daughter with Jacelyn Reeves)
The one time Miss Golden Globe is also an actress and a writer by profession.
Francesca Eastwood (daughter with Frances Fisher)
Francesca's arrival marked the first time the Oscar winner would be present at the birth of any of his kids. She is today an actress, TV personality and socialite. Francesca is most famously known for starring with other family members on the E! show – Mrs Eastwood and Company. She married Jordan Feldstein (Jonah Hill's brother) on November 17, 2013 but their marriage was annulled less than two weeks after.
Morgan Eastwood (daughter with Dina Ruiz)
The Dirty Harry (1971) star is considered to be a 'big dork' not just by his last child Morgan but by most of his kids. When she was still in school, it was always embarrassing when her 'very old' father drops her off at school. Even now that she is more grown, the actress still has issues with their age gap but her father loves her all the same.
Clint with sons Scott and Kyle
I wonder why, except for first wife, all these women ever thought he would be faithful & their relationships would last?
It is just not in his DNA. Although I must confess I can see
why they certainly would be tempted. I think he is a charming &
very talented man from " real life " interviews I have seen & he certainly,even now, is a very attractive man.
And last, but no least, he is CLINT EASTWOOD.
I think you pretty much answered your own question. He just oozes alpha male masculinity, and a LOT of women said "I want that DNA", and they wanted it so badly that they were willing to fool themselves into thinking he would be faithful to get it.
Chris Puccetti
He does make very attractive children. They all seem to be happy. Good luck to him and them 🙂
Family of Spider-Man Tom Holland
The Big Family of Beverly Hills Star Jennie Garth


Lasbela is a coastal district in the province of Balochistan. It became a separate district in Kalat Division on the 30th of June, 1954. The name is derived from the words Las which in Sanskrit signifies a settlement or lived in or lively and Bela which means "A Sea's Shore" in Sanskrit and is also the name of the principal town of the district. Bela is the district headquarters. The district is divided into 9 Tehsil and 21 union councils and covers an area of 12,574 km2.
The main river is the Porali with its tributaries, Winder and Wirhab Rivers. Other rivers are the Phor and Hingol which rise in Awaran District before flowing through Lasbela on their way to the Arabian Sea.
The majority of population speaks either Sindhi or Baluchi. Much of the population also speaks a language called Lasi, which is derived from Sindhi or Jadgali.
The area of the district was formerly a princely state of British India (Las - with Bela as capital), which later merged with Pakistan.
Sassi Waro-Chodo (Sassi's Spring), near Paboni Naka, about 68 km from Karachi.
Bakkar Buthi, a small Harappan site located in the remote mountainous area to the east of the Las Bela plain.


Unique, stunning, natural, round woody accent stool in a solid natural teak that provides natural character & a rustic ingenuity. It also has leather straps and brass studs. If you like standing away from the crowd with innovative design and furnishing your home with natural wood products, this is for you. Perfect for your dining table, under the kitchen bench, in your entertainment area, and lounge room.


An irritatingly self-involved American takes a long and uneventful road trip to the Chilean seaside with some indulgent locals to get high on the boiled essence of an exotic cactus. That set-up may not bring the words "cinematic crowd-pleaser" to mind, especially when the group hooks up with a spacey 30-ish free spirit who calls herself Crystal Fairy, doesn't shave her pits and believes in magic pebbles.
Also, the full title of this ultra-low-budget endeavor is "Crystal Fairy & The Magical Cactus and 2012," which has at least two too many aging hippie and psychedelic school bus overtones.
Gaby Hoffman, who starred in Silva's 2012 "The Boring Life of Jacqueline," has been invited along for the ride in a moment of drunken insincerity by Jamie. Apparently oblivious to Jamie's later resentment and insults (he wants to ditch her at a bus stop, and refers to her as "Crystal Hairy" after seeing her full-frontal naked), she gives off an earth-mother vibe that's obviously hiding a more complicated soul.
Where Jamie is rudely rational, Crystal dreads the upcoming end of the Mayan calendar because she worries "that this incarnation of humans is not going to realize its freedom." By contrast, Jamie's biggest fears are "madness, hopelessness and cops." When Crystal is out of hearing range, Jamie asks one of his fellow travelers whether he would prefer sticking his nose in Crystal's armpit for two hours or making out with his father for that long.
None of this is played sit-com broadly, which has the effect of making Jamie and Crystal seem more like irritatingly amusing but believable human beings than stock odd-couple comedy characters. Jamie is so petulant and immature you may find yourself hoping he gets robbed or at least beat up a little when he brings a pair of streetwalkers home for a meal, but he's not wholly irredeemable. Crystal is "kind of exhausting" (Jamie's words) and placidly passive-aggressive, but she's hard to actively dislike. Who hasn't known people like that?
"Crystal Fairy" allegedly was almost entirely improvised and shot in 12 days while director Silva was waiting for production to begin on another movie ("Magic Magic," also starring Cera). Expect a lot of handheld camera work, bad lighting and occasionally awkward ad libbing from the supporting cast, in other words. But Cera and Hoffman are appealingly offbeat naturals whose characters will stay with you considerably longer than a hallucinogenic cactus high.


The standard writing and citation style manual used at Regent College is Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 9th ed. (2018). Turabian is a condensed version of the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th ed. (2017). Unless otherwise directed by a professor, students at Regent College are expected to follow Turabian. Individual professors may ask students to substitute another citation style (e.g., SBL). If in doubt, check with your professor or TA.
It makes a definite and limited assertion that needs to be explained and supported by further discussion.
It shows the emphasis and indicates the methodology of your argument.
It shows awareness of difficulties and disagreements.
Demonstrate how the argument of the paper will proceed through to its conclusion.
Ensure that each section and subsection of the paper does, in fact, support the thesis statement.
Prevent you from following unnecessary rabbit trails.
Your thesis statement indicates to readers your position; the body of the paper, based on your outline, shows a logical progression of claims that leads to your paper's conclusion.
Avoidance of stereotypical representations of either gender.
In written work we encourage students to work towards bias-free language, as a mark of our love and respect for our neighbours and out of a desire that both genders should feel included in our discourse and neither should feel excluded by it (see Chicago Manual of Style, 17th ed., 5.251ff).
All persons and views discussed in written or oral presentations should be fairly represented and assessed. It is all too easy in argument to set up "straw women and men" whose views and opinions, inadequately represented, are then easily dismissed. Do not caricature others' work. It is a matter of respect and integrity that we avoid this in our discourse.
See Academic Integrity and Plagiarism.
As mentioned, the standard style guide used at Regent is Turabian, which is a text you should become familiar with and turn to for guidance when you have questions about how to cite different kinds of sources in footnotes and bibliographies; about when to use a semicolon, colon, or comma; about how different forms of puncation relate to one another when placed next to each other; and about the many other grammatical and stylistic issues that you should attend to when writing. Whether or not you appreciate the importance of taking care with style, please note that it is important. First, because your writing will be clearer, and clearer writing is better writing. Second, because it is a matter of courtesy to your reader to present your work in as clean and readable a manner as possible. And third, because your professors care about these things and they do affect your grade.
What follows are some brief notes and advice for writing at Regent.
Your name and student number.
Name of your instructor (correctly spelled!).
Word count, including footnotes but excluding bibliography.
Pagination of your paper should begin with page 1 starting on the body of the paper, not the title page. Page numbers should be indicated in the header, in the top, righthand corner.
Papers should be double-spaced with one-inch margins on all sides; should use 12-point Times New Roman font; and should be left justified.
While it may enhance the readability of lengthy papers to subdivide them into sections with headings, avoid dividing the paper into too many sections.
Unless instructed otherwise, use footnotes rather than endnotes. Footnotes should be numbered consecutively through the body of the paper.
Reading your paper out loud will often reveal where there are problems.
Use the full words rather than contractions or elided forms. E.g., "do not" rather than "don't, "is not" rather than "isn't," etc.
Avoid split infinitives, which occur when one or more words is included between the infinitive marker "to" and the verb itself. E.g., "boldly to go" or "to go boldly" rather than "to boldly go," etc.
Do not confuse "its" (as in "its purpose") with "it's" (which is the contraction of "it is," as in "it's a fine day").
Avoid the use of run-on sentences and incomplete sentences.
Spelling is important! Use a spellchecker, but don't rely on it to catch everything. You will still need to read your paper carefully to catch the correct choice of, e.g., "compliments" or "complements."
Attend carefully to stated word limit.


text:
Virginia on the Vine
By By Scott Jones and Warner McGowin
Credit: Charles Walton IV
Yes, the wine is that good. Now more than ever, a trip to this state's wine country includes fun for everyone.
Fall days in Virginia's wine country energize the senses. Winding roads pass by majestic farms ablaze with color. The cool mornings dawn with gentle sunshine, until deep blue skies blanket the mountains. In the foothills of those mountains lie fields lined with vines heavy with promise.
In Virginia, more than anywhere else in the South, that promise rings true. The state is by far the leader in our region for consistently good wine. Virginia's acreage devoted to wineries and the number of wineries here have more than doubled in the past 20 years. That translates into more feedback from the soil (telling vintners what grows best) and from consumers (telling them what sells best).
An Experience Worth Remembering
The state also leads the way in enticing not just wine experts, but also visitors who are still learning the difference between Chardonnay and Scuppernong. A wealth of special events, fine restaurants, wine classes, and family-friendly festivals make a trip here an autumn experience worth remembering.
Come along for a tour. You'll find great-tasting wine and a whole lot more.
The three largest trails are Blue Ridge Wine Way, Loudoun Wine Trail, and Monticello Wine Trail. Blue Ridge Wine Way (with 10 wineries and vineyards) and Loudoun Wine Trail (with 17 participating wineries) are both located in the northern part of the state. The Monticello Wine Trail (with 22 wineries) winds around Charlottesville and the nearby countryside.
A Quick Tasting Guide
We think two grapes in particular stand out here: Viognier (a full-bodied white traditionally grown in the France's Rhône Valley) and Cabernet Franc (a medium-bodied red traditionally used as a blending grape in France's Bordeaux region). You'll also find terrific examples of everything from Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio to Cabernet Sauvignon and Nebbiolo (and all sorts of delicious, food-friendly blends in between).
Blend It Like Bordeaux: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petit Verdot--classic grapes from the Bordeaux region of France--are probably the most recognizable red wine-producing grapes in the state. In fact, if you see the word "Meritage" (which is a legal designation rhyming with "heritage") on the label, you'll find a combo of these grapes inside. Definitely Drink: 2006 King Family Meritage, 2006 Jefferson Meritage, 2006 La Grange Meritage, or 2006 Rappahannock Cellars 2nd Bottling Meritage.
Hometown Hero: Virginia's own Norton grape produces a hearty, Zinfandel-esque red that shouldn't be missed. Definitely Drink: 2004 Horton Cellars Norton or 2006 Chrysalis Vineyard Barrel Select Norton.
The Other White Wines
There's no denying the popularity of Chardonnay; however, in Virginia, Viognier is the premiere full-bodied white. For a lighter style white, consider Sauvignon Blanc. Definitely Drink: 2006 White Hall Vineyards Viognier, 2006 Chester Gap Cellars Viognier Reserve, 2007 Linden Vineyards Avenius Sauvignon Blanc, or 2006 Chester Gap Cellars Sauvignon Blanc.
That's Italian: The influence and growing popularity of Italian wines such as Pinot Grigio (white) and Sangiovese (red) in Virginia is unmistakable (and unmistakably delicious). Definitely Drink: 2005 Ingleside Vineyards Sangiovese, 2005 Villa Appalaccia "Toscanello" (a blend of Cabernet Franc and Sangiovese), 2005 Gabriele Rausse Pinot Grigio, or 2007 Barboursville Pinot Grigio.
A Couple More Surprises: Though not often talked about, Virginia turns out some pretty fabulous sparkling wine, particularly NV Thibaut-Janisson Winery Brut and NV Oasis Brut. If dessert wine is your thing, you'll flip for Linden's 2005 Late Harvest Petit Manseng and King Family 2006 "Loreley" Late Harvest Viognier.
More Than Wine
Even with all these stellar wines, a trip to this part of the South is about more than sampling vintages in a tasting room. As the region's wineries have grown, so has the variety of experiences available for visitors. Barrel-room tastings, wine classes, blending parties, and food-and-wine festivals abound. We've come up with three ideal afternoons in Virginia's wine country. Try one of these itineraries to soak up what makes this area special.
At King Family Vineyards, every Sunday through the end of September, watch a polo match on the field just outside the winery. Tailgaters sip wine and watch the regal sport in a laid-back setting.
Get a crash course in all things Jefferson with a visit to Monticello, the former President's heralded home. Then head just 1 mile down the road for a tasting at Jefferson Vineyards, where the President tried (unsuccessfully) to make wine in the mid-1770s.
Have a late lunch at Palladio, one of the finest restaurants in Virginia. (If it's on the menu, try the beet-and-goat cheese ravioli with lump crabmeat.) Then, take a tour of the Barboursville ruins. The Jefferson-designed house, built in 1814 and burned in 1884, stands as a tangible and strangely compelling reminder of the living history in this area.
Pack a Picnic
Touring the wine country works up an appetite, and there's no better way to take in the pastoral beauty than a picnic at a vineyard. Our favorite three spots for buying a gourmet lunch-to-go are spread out in a loop that follows much of the Monticello Wine Trail.
BRIX Marketplace: Across the street from Jefferson Vineyards, this gas station-turned-market sells gourmet sandwiches, olives, cookies, and more.
Greenwood Gourmet Grocery: Just down the road from King Family Vineyards, you'll find everything local: cheese, honey, meats, you name it. The sandwiches are terrific, and they'll recommend a wine to pair with the one you choose.
Kluge Estate Farm Shop: This store, adjacent to the Kluge Estate Winery and Vineyard, offers a great selection of cheeses, preserves, and gourmet meals.
Tips for the Trip
If you're renting a car, spring for the GPS. You'll be traveling down farm roads, some of which are marked well, while others aren't.
Pick up the 2008 edition of the Virginia Winery Guide (available at wineries and tourist information kiosks or by calling 1-800-828-4637) for a travel map listing the state's more than 130 wineries. Also, visit www.virginiawine.org/passport so you can participate in the Passport to Virginia Wineries program. Visit at least 15 wineries before the end of the year, and you'll be entered into a drawing for various prizes, including a one-year membership for the Virginia Wine of the Month Club.
Trail Guides and Maps
Do a little Internet research before you leave town.
Monticello Wine Trail: www.monticellowinetrail.com
Blue Ridge Wine Way: www.blueridgewineway.com
Loudoun Wine Trail: www.loudounfarms.org
Bedford Wine Trail: www.bedfordwinetrail.com
Wine Trail of Botetourt County: www.botetourtwinetrail.com
1 of 9 Virginia on the Vine
2 of 9 An Experience Worth Remembering
3 of 9 Getting Started
4 of 9 A Quick Tasting Guide
5 of 9 The Other White Wines
6 of 9 More Than Wine
7 of 9 Pack a Picnic
8 of 9 Tips for the Trip
9 of 9 Trail Guides and Maps


DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., December 17, 2015 - DeVry University today announced the appointment of Joe Mozden as vice president of workforce solutions. In this new role, Mozden will identify how the university can best prepare its graduates for today's most pressing workforce challenges. In addition, Mozden will be responsible for developing a portfolio of services that will help the university's employer partners improve their teams' performance through employee engagement, staff development and talent acquisition.
Mozden was most recently executive vice president, chief operating officer and senior vice president of strategic accounts at the Allant Group, where he built and managed business processes to improve the company's efficiency and productivity. He also established Allant's strategic account management practice, which was recognized as an industry-leading program. He has served as a sales and management consultant for Lighthouse Consulting, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Commonwealth Telephone Enterprise and vice president of sales and general manager at LSSiDATA.
Mozden earned his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and his Master of Business Administration in finance and international business with distinction from New York University's Leonard N. Stern School of Business.


text:
Student side-hustles to help pay for university
by globalpro | Aug 15, 2019 | Finance | 0 comments
Image copyright Dana Bott
Studying sociology and criminology at Sheffield University is a hard, and sometimes stressful, task for Dana Bott.
So the 20-year-old from Telford turns to a creative passion to relax – making and selling T-shirts and jewellery.
Given that her student loan fails to cover the rent, and despite some financial assistance from her parents, the money she makes from her venture helps to pay her living costs too.
"It is a nice break, because I stress a lot about university work. It definitely helps me to chill out," she says.
"I'd say I make an average of about £50 profit a month. I would love to make it into a proper business and career one day."
Dana is typical of a host of students who are making money from self-employment or part-time jobs which are moving beyond stereotypical bar work.
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Getting through uni without the bank of mum and dad
Drag queen or delivery driver: What's your 'side hustle'?
As a result, nearly four in five worried about making ends meet, while 57% said they suffered poor mental health because of money worries – up 11% from the previous year.
"This year we have seen a shocking jump in the number of students suffering from the stresses of rising living costs, especially surrounding mental health, socialising and academic performance," says Jake Butler, from Save the Student.
'Working helps me have fun'
Image copyright Holly Skyrme
Image caption Holly Skyrme sells items from home at car boot sales
Holly Skyrme, a human geography student at the University of Leeds, says that creating her own mini-business has helped not only her finances, but also eased the pressures felt by many at university.
"I have been able to enjoy my time more by making money on the side," the 21-year-old from Pembrokeshire says.
She says she can make hundreds of pounds a time selling unwanted items at car boot sales, or on internet auction sites, and she has a regular income from selling beauty and health products at parties.
"I used to work in hospitality, but could not make it fit around university life. Now I enjoy being my own boss," she says.
"I have learnt a lot about selling and managing my time and products."
Image copyright Getty Images
Image caption Bar work has always been a popular part-time job for students
Some students have moved into more extreme ways of making money, through adult work. This can range from dating older men for money, to selling intimate photos or used underwear via social media.
About 4% of those asked had done some kind of adult work of this kind, double the proportion of the previous year.
An additional 6% of students said they would try adult work if they needed emergency cash.
One second-year student at Manchester Metropolitan University told researchers: "Being an escort is tiring and you are constantly living two lives and concerned about your safety.
"However, if I needed to, I would do it again, as it can be a quick and relatively easy way to make money."
What is your side hustle that helps you pay for university? Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways:
Tweet: @BBC_HaveYourSay
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University of Sheffield
Read more: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49295041


Vancouver, British Columbia — The Cannabis Culture Lounge has everything a pothead might need to feel right at home: $3 marijuana buds, bongs for rent, bags of Skittles and Doritos for sale, and black leather couches where customers can recline in zoned-out contemplation in a pungent haze. Never mind that it is all technically prohibited by Canadian law.
Still, some enthusiasts have higher hopes for the business, which opened more than a decade ago as a kind of speakeasy for marijuana smoking — long tolerated by the city's authorities. The lounge began selling marijuana after Justin Trudeau was elected prime minister in November.
"This is what recreational marijuana legalization in Canada looks like," said Jodie Emery, an activist and the co-owner of the lounge and several medical marijuana dispensaries across Canada.
Mr. Trudeau has promised to make recreational marijuana legal in Canada as soon as next year, bypassing the nation's strict medical marijuana regulations. Under the latest rules for medical use, announced last week, patients must be registered, have a prescription and obtain their supplies only by mail from a government-licensed producer or by growing a limited amount privately.
Impatient to test the shifting political boundaries, entrepreneurs have opened hundreds of illicit dispensaries across Canada, selling products like organic marijuana buds and potent cannabis concentrates, while local governments and the police have tended to look the other way.
The marijuana boom they hope for has yet to materialize, though the Canadian government is now doing preliminary work on a measure to govern recreational use.
Even so, the authorities in some cities have begun to crack down, raiding scores of the illegal dispensaries and arresting dozens of owners and workers.
And a lobbying battle is raging between the new entrepreneurs and the licensed medical marijuana producers, who were the only ones allowed to grow and provide the plant under the old regulations. One side complains about being shut out by a politically connected cartel, while the other complains about unfair and damaging competition from those who are breaking the law.
The collision of money, politics and policing has made recreational marijuana a major test for Mr. Trudeau. How he solves it will be watched closely in Canada and the United States, where federal law bans marijuana but state laws are inconsistent.
But it will not come quickly. A task force will take a few months to gather comments from local officials and the public before the Canadian Parliament starts to draft a measure. "It's a long process, and we're hard at it," said Bill Blair, a Liberal Party lawmaker and former Toronto police chief whom Mr. Trudeau has put in charge of the marijuana effort.
Mr. Blair said in an interview that the government's top priorities were to keep marijuana away from minors and the profits out of the hands of organized crime. That may point to a system similar to the way liquor is sold in some Canadian provinces and American states: strictly through government-owned or licensed stores.
Some cities in British Columbia are unwilling to wait for Ottawa, though, and are introducing their own marijuana policies in defiance of federal law. The province has been a center of marijuana growing and culture for decades, and it borders Washington State, where recreational marijuana is legal — and extremely profitable.
In Victoria, the provincial capital, where more than 30 dispensaries have opened in recent years, city leaders proposed new regulations in late July that would allow such businesses to operate if they abide by certain restrictions.
Victoria is following Vancouver, which has begun issuing licenses to some of the 120 or so marijuana shops in the city, provided they comply with rules, like being at least 1,000 feet away from the nearest school. Two licenses were granted in the spring, and at least 11 more are in the pipeline, officials said.
Dispensaries that do not obtain a license will be shut down, according to Kerry Jang, a Vancouver city councilor. Mr. Jang dismissed complaints that the regulations and fees — up to 30,000 Canadian dollars, or about $23,000, for a license, and 250-a-day fines for violations — were too onerous. "They got used to making money hand over fist with very little oversight," he said.
In the Downtown Eastside, a gritty Vancouver neighborhood, a crowd of people were smoking crack and shooting heroin on the sidewalk outside Farm, a dispensary with a self-avowed social-justice mission. It employs only women, many of them immigrants, former prostitutes or victims of sexual assault, and its proceeds help finance neighborhood programs like needle collection and a community garden.
The city tolerates open use of illegal drugs in the neighborhood and a local safe-injection site for heroin users, but Farm still fell afoul of the distance restrictions in the new marijuana regulations, and had to win an appeal to stay open.
Wang Jingzhi, 83, an immigrant who lives in the nearby Chinatown neighborhood, said she frequently bought marijuana from Farm to soothe the aches and pains of old age. "Whenever I smoke it, my whole body feels better," she said in Chinese.
Like many in the local marijuana business, Cait Hurley, 28, the dispensary's manager, said she was worried that new government regulations would favor corporate interests and exclude women and the working class. "There's a lot of fear this will all be taken away from us," she said.
Under Mr. Trudeau's conservative predecessor, Stephen Harper, the government stripped patients of the right to grow their own medical marijuana in 2013, and centralized production and distribution through a few licensed companies. But in February, a federal court reinstated patients' growing rights; the new rules announced on Aug. 11 put that ruling into effect.
Facing greater competition, the 34 government-licensed producers are calling for everyone to be held to the same rules they must follow, said Colette Rivet, the executive director of a producers' trade association, Cannabis Canada. "We would be shut down if we tried to sell to dispensaries," Ms. Rivet said.
Some critics of Mr. Trudeau's legalization efforts see a conflict of interest in the close ties between political insiders shaping marijuana policy and the licensed producers. The head of the task force, A. Anne McLellan, is a former cabinet minister who advises a law firm that represents clients in the industry, and Chuck Rifici, a founder of one of the licensed producers, was the volunteer treasurer of Mr. Trudeau's Liberal Party until June.
While lawmakers design new legalization policies, law-abiding entrepreneurs like Ivan Miliovski say they feel caught in the middle. Mr. Miliovski said his company, Vodis Pharmaceuticals, had spent years and millions of dollars seeking a license to produce medical marijuana under the existing regulations. His entire business plan is now in doubt.
A version of this article appears in print on August 16, 2016, on page A6 of the New York edition with the headline: As Canada Moves to Legalize Marijuana, Shop Owners Ask: Why Wait?.
And this is what I call beneficial information. Maintain the good work.


Food Safety expert joins the California LGMA staff - The Produce News - Covering fresh produce around the globe since 1897.
The California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement hired Greg Komar as the organization's new technical director. Mike Villaneva, the LGMA's current technical director, is retiring in May of 2019. Komar will report directly to Scott Horsfall, LGMA's chief executive officer.
With over 20 years of experience in technical aspects of production agriculture, Komar has served in a wide variety of roles. Early in his career Komar worked in areas including laboratory analysis, applied research and seed breeding. Komar has also managed compliance programs for leading U.S produce companies, including Mann Packing, Green Giant Fresh and Earthbound Farms, and helped manage audit programs for certification bodies NSF Agriculture and SCS Global Services.
As the technical director, Komar will work closely with the food-safety community and industry stakeholders to assure the LGMA-accepted on-farm food-safety practices are fully understood and implemented. Additionally, Komar will help to develop and deliver training programs to the industry. His ultimate goal in this position is to work with stakeholders to continually strive for ways to assure that leafy greens are safe and healthy for consumers.


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Norsat Announces Third Quarter Fiscal Year 2016 Financial Results - Revenue and Earnings Down
Richmond, BC, November 9, 2016--(T-Net)--Norsat International Inc. (TSX: NII and NYSE MKT: NSAT), a provider of communication solutions for remote and challenging applications, today reported financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2016.
For the three months ended September 30, 2016
$8.9 million in revenue for the quarter, a decrease of 5% compared to $9.3 million for the same period last year.
Gross profit margin of 47% for the quarter, an increase of 5% from 42% for the same period last year.
Net earnings for the quarter were $1.4 million, or $0.24 and $0.23 per share, basic and diluted, compared to $1.5 million, or $0.26 per share, basic and diluted, for the same period last year.
Adjusted EBITDA(1) of $1.9 million for the quarter, an increase of 14% from $1.7 million for the same period last year.
For the nine months ended September 30, 2016
$27.4 million in revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2016, an increase of 3% compared to $26.6 million for the same period last year.
Gross profit margin of 46% for the nine months ended September 30, 2016, an increase of 6% from 40% for the same period last year.
Net earnings for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 were $3.5 million, or $0.60 and $0.59 per share, basic and diluted, compared to $2.7 million, or $0.47 per share, basic and diluted, for the same period last year.
Adjusted EBITDA(1) of $5.4 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2016, an increase of 41% from $3.8 million for the same period last year.
$12.1 million of cash and cash equivalents at September 30, 2016, an increase of $7.5 million compared to $4.6 million at December 31, 2015.
$24.5 million of working capital at September 30, 2016, an increase of $5.1 million compared to $19.4 million at December 31, 2015.
(1) Adjusted EBITDA is a measure that the Company uses to reflect the results of its core earnings. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as earnings before income tax expense, financing costs, depreciation and amortization, foreign exchange gain or loss, corporate development costs, write-down of inventory, impairment charges or recoveries, discontinued operations and other non-cash charges.
"We are very pleased with the third quarter results. Our total revenue and profitability have remained strong as we continue to manage our cost structure while challenging ourselves to develop and market reliable products to meet customer needs, which was demonstrated by the significant order received from Harris Corporation during the quarter," said Dr. Amiee Chan, President and CEO of Norsat.
"To demonstrate our continued commitment to our long-term strategy to expand our market share in remote and challenging applications, we have introduced new products and solutions during the quarter, including a new series of heavy duty vehicle mounted duplexers and an expanded portfolio of covert antennas designed to support law enforcement activities," added Dr. Chan.
A full set of financial statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis for Norsat is available at www.norsat.com and will be available at www.sedar.com.
Norsat International Inc.
Condensed Interim Consolidated Statements of Financial Position
(Expressed in United States dollars)
Trade and other receivables
Prepaid expenses and other
Investment tax credits recoverable
Trade and other payables
Accrued liabilities
Taxes payable
Long-term deferred revenue
Contributed surplus
Accumulated other comprehensive loss
Retained earnings/(deficit)
Total shareholders' equity
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity
Condensed Interim Consolidated Statements of Earnings and Comprehensive Income
Three months ended September 30
Nine months ended September 30
Cost of sales
Selling and distributing
Less: Government contributions
Loss/(gain) on foreign exchange
Interest and bank charges
Earnings before income taxes
Current income tax expense/(recovery)
Deferred income tax expense/(recovery)
Other comprehensive income/(loss)
Items that may subsequently be reclassified to income:
Gain/(loss) on translation of foreign subsidiaries
Weighted average number of shares outstanding
Condensed Interim Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
Cash and cash equivalents provided by/(used in)
Net earnings for the period
Income taxes paid
Adjustments for items not affecting cash:
Write-off of intangible assets and property and equipment
Unrealized foreign exchange loss/(gain)
Acquisition loan cost amortization
Share-based payments
Vesting of RSUs
Government contributions
Changes in non-cash working capital
Net cash flows provided by operating activities
Purchase of intangible assets, property and
equipment, net of SADI
Net cash flows used in investing activities
Repayment of acquisition loan
Proceeds from exercise of share purchase options
Purchase of treasury shares, including purchase costs
Net cash flows provided by/(used in) financing activities
Effect of foreign currency translation on
Increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period
Reconciliation of IFRS to non-IFRS Measures
Tax expense/(recovery)
EBITDA(2)
Corporate development costs
Adjusted EBITDA(2)
(2) We disclose non-IFRS measures as we believe they provide useful information on actual operating results and assist in comparisons from one period to another. Readers are cautioned that non-IFRS measures do not have any standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. For a more detailed description of non-IFRS measures, please refer to Management's Discussion and Analysis for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016 posted on Norsat's website and SEDAR.
About Norsat International Inc.
Founded in 1977, Norsat International Inc. is a provider of unique and customized communication solutions for remote and challenging applications. Norsat's products and services include leading-edge product design and development, production, distribution and infield support and service of fly-away satellite terminals, microwave components, antennas, Radio Frequency (RF) conditioning products, maritime based satellite terminals and remote network connectivity solutions. More information is available atwww.norsat.com, via email at investor@norsat.com or by phone at 1-604-821-2800.
The discussion and analysis of this news release contains forward-looking statements concerning anticipated developments in Norsat's operations in future periods, the adequacy of its financial resources and other events or conditions that may occur in the future. Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates,", "predicts," "potential," "targeted," "plans," "possible" and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions or results "will," "may," "could" or "should" occur or be achieved. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements about Norsat's market opportunities, strategies, competition, expected activities and expenditures as it pursues its business plan, the adequacy of available cash resources and other statements about future events or results. Forward-looking statements are statements about the future and are inherently uncertain, and actual achievements of the Company or other future events or conditions may differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors, such as business and economic risks and uncertainties.
The forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, expectations and opinions of management on the date the statements are made. Consequently, all forward-looking statements made in this news release are qualified by this cautionary statement and there can be no assurance that actual results or anticipated developments will be realized. For the reasons set forth above, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and Norsat assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, other than as required by law.
Richmond, BC (InfoTech)
50 Employees In BC (165 Total)
Founded: 1977 | Revenues: $20-50 Million
Norsat International Inc., founded in 1977, is a leading provider of communication solutions that enable the transmission of data, audio and video in remote and austere environments.
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Norsat International Launches Family of Products to Address the Issue of 5G Interference
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Richmond, BC (InfoTech & Communications)


Never let it be said bad timing isn't my friend…because it is.
While driving this morning on an errand, I was taken aback by how lovely were the reflections of the recently installed street lamps, as well as the red lights of the traffic signals, upon the rain-slicked road as it stretched out before me.
As I came closer to the intersection I decided the view was too much to pass up without breaking out the always-at-the-ready Canon Rebel XTi/400D. I turned round the car, drove back about a half-mile, turned back around and pulled over onto the shoulder of the road. I pulled the camera bag up to the front street, broke out the camera and began fiddling with the settings to make the most of this cloudy and raining morning.
ISO? 400. White balance? Cloudy. Auto-focus? On. Focus point(s)? All. Aperture? 7.1. Ready!
The street lamps cycled off.
I can only imagine how bizarre I must have appeared to those folks driving by as I stood next to my car, facing the direction of the formerly lovely scene, yelling obscenities at the lights.