Overview: The Lunar New Year celebration made for a quiet Asian session while a light diary in Europe saw subdued turnover. Equity markets are narrowly mixed. Among the three large markets open in Asia Pacific, Australia and Japanese equities rose while India slipped. European bourses are little changed, putting the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 four-day advance at risk. Benchmark 10-year bond yields have edged up. The dollar is firmer against most of the major and emerging market currencies. Of note, the dollar is knocking on JPY110, while the euro remains pinned near the lows seen after the US employment data (~$1.1450). The March light sweet crude oil future contract is pushing further through key resistance near $55.
China reported is Caixin service and composite PMIs over the weekend. The services PMI eased to 53.6 from 53.9, holding up a little better than expected, and helped by an increase in new export orders. The composite fell to 50.9 from 52.2. The impact of the numerous stimulus efforts has yet to be felt. However, it does seem as if the pace of decline is ebbing. Economic readings around the Lunar New Year holiday are skewed, which means clean data, as it were, may not available for another month, by which time we expect the stabilization to be more evident. That said, further easing of monetary policy (interest rates and/or required reserve ratio) is still expected to be delivered.
The Reserve Bank of Australia meets tomorrow. The 8.4% drop in December building approvals after a revised 9.8% decline in November brings the overall level of approvals to their lowest level since the middle of 2013 and 40% off the cyclical peak in November 2017. The central bank will likely offer a less optimistic economic assessment, but it will probably stop shy of signaling a rate cut.
The dollar reached JPY108.50 after the Fed's pivot last week, a two-week low. It began today near JPY109.50 and firmed to almost JPY110, its high for the year. There are two options that are defending it: A $360 mln option at JPY109.85 and $1.6 bln at JPY110.00 expire today. There is also a $450 mln option struck at JPY110.10 that will also be cut today. The Australian dollar is pulling back after almost reaching $0.7300 after the FOMC. The A$1.58 mln in expiring options at $0.7240-$0.7250 are less impactful now given the Aussie's pullback below $0.7230. Support is seen between $0.7185 and $0.7200.
Brexit uncertainty seems to be behind Nissan's indication that it was canceling plans to build the X-Trail SUV in the UK. Brexit is spurring a re-examination of the division of labor and the auto sector in the is vulnerable. Nissan's announcement is latest from foreign auto producers. Airbus may also step up its threats too. Meanwhile, Prime Minister May has formed a new working group to look for alternative arrangements for the Irish border. Ideas that it can unite the party are probably an exercise in wishful thinking.
Separately, the UK reported a rather dismal construction PMI. It fell to 50.6 from 52.8, the weakest since January 2018. The high from last year was reached in July at 55.8. It follows on the heels of a disappointing manufacturing PMI as well. The service sector reports tomorrow, and a small decline is expected.
Investors are considering how the ECB policy will respond to the newly recognized downside risks. The composite PMI is due tomorrow. Today Italy reported subdued inflation of 0.9% (from 1.2% in December). It was 1.7% in Germany, implying some competitive gain. Separately, Spain, which is one of the few economic bright spots, reported an unexpectedly large (85k) rise in January unemployment. There seems to be a large seasonal component.
The euro is trading inside the pre-weekend range. For a third consecutive session, it is finding support near $1.1435. The 20-day moving average is a little lower near $1.1425. The upside may be capped by 2 bln euro options at $1.1450-$1.1465 that expire today. Sterling was turned back from $1.32 last week the risk of a no-deal exit seemed to increase. Initial support is seen near $1.3040 and then $1.30.
President Trump sounded upbeat about the prospects of striking a trade accord with China. Ahead of the early March deadline, two more trade talks are being planned. The first, as early as next week, Mnuchin and Lighthizer go back to Beijing. The second, which is to ostensibly close the deal will be a meeting between the two presidents on February 27-28, according to the South China Morning Post. No matter what kind of trade deal is reached, the rivalry between the US and China is set to continue on different fronts. Note that China and Russia are scrambling to prevent Venezuela from moving back into the US orbit.
With the US government re-opening, the backlog of data has to be worked through, and today November factory and durable goods will be reported. Both are expected to improve after a soft October. The first estimate for Q4 GDP is now expected next week, and most anticipate that the world's largest economy expanded by around 2.5%. Growth here in Q1 19 is expected to have been hit by three separate developments: the extended shutdown of the government, the arctic weather, and the usual soft start to the year. Separately, activity in the energy belt appears to be slowing. Another 15 rigs were idled last week, leaving the total number a little below 850, the lowest since last May.
No fewer than seven Fed officials speak this week. Cleveland Fed's Mester kicks it off with a speech this afternoon about the economy. The highlight will be Powell's town hall meeting in the middle of the week, and Clarida the following day on the global considerations of the neutral rate. Many observers see the Fed's patience as a sign that the monetary cycle is over. We are less convinced and see some parallels with the adoption of "patience" in December 2014 before it was jettisoned in March 2015 and a rate hike delivered in December 2015.
There is no data of consequence of Canada today. Trade, housing starts, and employment are the highlights. The Canadian dollar is the best performing major currency year-to-date (~4.2%) and today (0.1%, only currency to gain on the dollar through the European morning). Partly, this is a function of it selling off nearly every week but one in Q4 18. It is hovering a little above CAD1.3070, the low from the end of last week. Several of the technical indicators are stretched, and the US dollar is threatening to slip below the lower Bollinger Band (two standard deviations from the 20-day moving average), warning against chasing the market. The US dollar is a little higher against the Mexican peso after a nine-week losing streak was broken last week. The greenback has been confined to a MXN18.88-MXN19.25 range over the last few weeks. For the first time since early December, the five-day moving average is crossing above the 20-day. This warns that short-term trend followers may be looking to buy the US dollar.


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Did Amazon violate federal laws?
Date: March 9, 2022Author: truenewstoday1 2 Comments
Lawmakers followed through Wednesday on their threat to seek a criminal investigation of Amazon, asking the Justice Department to investigate whether the tech giant and senior executives obstructed Congress or violated other federal laws in testimony on its competition practices.
The House Judiciary Committee escalated the bipartisan battle against the world's biggest online retailer with a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland referring the case for a criminal inquiry.
Amazon engaged in misleading conduct that appeared designed to "influence, obstruct or impede" the antitrust subcommittee's 2019-20 investigation into the market dominance of Big Tech, the letter says.
As an example, it cited testimony by a senior Amazon official maintaining that the company doesn't use the data it collects on third-party merchants on its platform to compete with them, and doesn't list its own products in customer search results before those of third parties. Those assertions have been contradicted by credible news reports, the letter says.
News reports have detailed Amazon's alleged practice of undercutting the businesses that sell on its platform by making "knock-offs," or very similar products, and boosting their presence on the site.
"Amazon attempted to clean up the inaccurate testimony through ever-shifting explanations of its internal policies and denials of the investigative reports," the lawmakers said. "The committee uncovered evidence from former Amazon employees, and former and current sellers, that corroborated the reports' claims."
"After Amazon was caught in a lie and repeated misrepresentations, it stonewalled the committee's efforts to uncover the truth," the letter says. It was signed by Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., and the Democratic and Republican leaders of the antitrust subcommittee.
Amazon spokespeople didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the committee's action. The Seattle-based company has previously denied that its executives misled the panel in their testimony.
Amazon's third-party marketplace, with independent merchants listing millions of their products on the site, is a huge part of the company's business. It has about 2 million sellers, and Amazon has said that more than half the goods sold on Amazon.com come from third-party sellers. It also makes money by charging third-party sellers fees, bringing in tens of billions in revenue.
In a May 2020 letter to Amazon founder and then-CEO Jeff Bezos, the antitrust subcommittee threatened a subpoena if Bezos didn't agree voluntarily to appear before the panel.
The Wall Street Journal reported in May 2020 that Amazon used sensitive, confidential information about sellers on its marketplace, their products and transactions to develop its own competing products. An Amazon executive denied such a practice in statements at a subcommittee hearing in July 2019, saying the company has a formal policy against it.
Amazon says it investigates any allegation of violations of its policies and takes appropriate action when warranted.
Bezos testified on the issue in an appearance at a July 2020 hearing on Big Tech's alleged monopolistic practices, along with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Addressing allegations that Amazon has used data generated by independent sellers on its platform to compete against them, Bezos said it would be "unacceptable" if those claims were proven to be true.
Andy Jassy took over the top position from Bezos last July. Bezos became executive chairman.
The District of Columbia sued Amazon last year in an antitrust action, accusing the company of anticompetitive practices in its treatment of sellers on its platform. The practices have raised prices for consumers and stifled innovation and choice in the online retail market, the lawsuit alleged.
The suit maintains that Amazon has fixed online retail prices through contract provisions that prevent merchants selling their products on Amazon.com from offering them at lower prices or on better terms on any other online platform, including their own websites. Amazon rejected the allegations.
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2 thoughts on "Did Amazon violate federal laws?"
Yes, definitely a violation here at Amazon.
This monster Bezos thinks he's above the law.
They must hold him accountable for this violation.
We The People HOPE So. Amazon is No better than the Rest of the CROOKS !

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Play Free Online Role-Playing Games for Girls
The Free Online Role-Playing Games for Girls at Games4html5 are arising in the PC game industry as a too mainstream kind. These role-playing games have existed since the late 1990s; over the most recent couple of years, the market has become progressively reliable. This generally new kind attracts a more extensive crowd, uniting the people who recently appreciated both pen and paper and PC role-playing games, as well those who enjoy associating with different parts in a virtual climate. Game designers see RPGs as a possibly productive business because of its inescapable appeal, yet actually, just a small level of role-playing games that are delivered become a success.
However, Role-Playing Games are the best; they take you to an entirely different new world. RPGs are the top pick of everybody, regardless of whether you are new or a pro. In RPGs, you are given the duty to end a specific task. There are so numerous RPGs available and on the web. Some of them are free, and some accompany a subscription expense; it is always hard to pick the best game so here Play Free Online Role-Playing Games for Girls at Games4html5.
Become a hero of the world requirements and play the role of Robin Hood in this cool adventure role-playing game for the Game Boy Color! Kill enemies, yet recall not to squander your arrows!
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Gingerbread Rescue
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Pirates Slay
If you thought pirates were awful news, stand by until you battle pirate zombies! Pirates Slay a phenomenal platform game that has similarities to retro games such as Super Mario World and Sonic. You should control your hero and work through a progression of various levels. During your excursion, you should kill the pirate zombies you encounter- keep an eye out; if they get excessively close, they will murder you!
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Tank Defense
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Penguin Vs. Snowman
Help a spunky penguin guard his lodge home by impacting attacking zombie snowmen with a super-charged electric snowball firearm! Penguin Vs. Snowman is a straight-forward, tower defense-based shooting match-up playable concerning cell phone, tablet, desktop, and much more. You play the role of a courageous and sure penguin who must safeguard his home by impacting the accusing snowmen of precise snowball shots! Complete the 20 progressively challenging levels by wiping out all of the snowmen.
Ninja Boy
Ninja Boy HTML5 game is an online free game. Utilize your great ninja hopping capacities to gather all the gold to take out the bad guys on each level.
So while PC gaming may have gained notoriety for being somewhat costly, our rundown demonstrates else: you can make some phenomenal memories without expecting to purchase a single game. Many free games are even the best Free Online Role-Playing Games for Girls at Games4html5. So what are you hanging tight for? It's an ideal opportunity to plunge into this new world of role-playing.
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If you feel focused or exhausted?
Thus, relax and have A good time playing these Free Online Role-Playing Games for Girls at Games4html5.


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Dicranomyia andinalta är en tvåvingeart som först beskrevs av Alexander 1957.  Dicranomyia andinalta ingår i släktet Dicranomyia och familjen småharkrankar.

Artens utbredningsområde är Peru. Inga underarter finns listade i Catalogue of Life.

Källor

Småharkrankar
andinalta

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Moon carrot is an odd name for this rather odd-looking plant. As a member of Apiaceae (the parsley family), it is indeed a relative of the carrot, but its origins are not extra-terrestrial. In reality, it is native to the coasts of the Black Sea and the Aegean.
In common with many seaside plants, the moon carrot (Seseli gummiferum) is protected from strong sunlight and desiccation. The leaves are covered with a fine coating of wax, which reflects the sun's rays and helps to prevent moisture-loss from contact with salty seawater spray.
The flowers first appear in flattened clusters of pinkish discs, but turn to white as they mature. The disks change, too, and slowly become a collection of white, fluffy balls.
See it blooming right now in the Dry Garden, adjacent to the Herb Garden.


"Built on paper; laced with gold"
Marathon is a town in the province of Ontario. It is on Lake Superior.
The community was named for Marathon Paper Mills of Wisconsin.
Sections below provide additional information and links about Marathon travel and tourism, maps, recreation, government and transportation.
Marathon locator map. Use the navigation tools in the upper left to move the map center or to zoom in or out. You can also click and drag the map to move in any direction.


Prescriptions for inner strength, meaning and hope. Collection of over 450 letter from Rebbe Natan to his friends, students and family, which speak to every Jew as if they were written especially for him. 128 pages, soft cover.
Kitzor Sefer Hamiddot in Spanish, 72 pages soft cover.
Collection of Rebbe Nachman's teachings, 304 pages hard cover, Spanish.


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Thanks to your support, the St. Louis Uhuru House continues developing November 18, 2018
This past week, tradesmen brought supplies to the third floor to begin insulating.
Skilled roofers who had worked on the Uhuru House renovations earlier in the year, returned to sheetrock additional space for offices on the third floor.
Musa, who works in the APSP Office of the Deputy Chair, installed lighting to enhance the beauty of Akwaaba Hall for upcoming wedding receptions and special events.
Mr. Gary Brooks stands next to the apple tree planted at the site of the Gary Brooks Black Power Community Garden and future home of the One Africa! One Nation! Marketplace, across the street from the Uhuru House.
Plum and pear trees were also planted, and a cherry tree will go in next!
Photos from Halloween at the St. Louis Uhuru House November 04, 2018
On Wednesday, October 31st, the African People's Education and Defense Fund (APEDF) hosted Uhuru Halloween Haunted Night at the St. Louis Uhuru House. It was fun for the whole family with treats, activities for kids, music and a costume contest.
APEDF has sponsored this popular community event for many years at the St. Petersburg, Florida Uhuru House and has now brought the tradition to St. Louis.
Local volunteers and supporters around the country make this and other programs of APEDF and Black Power Blueprint happen! Thank you!
Exercising for candy!
Mustapha Musa Abantu (left) who works in the APSP Office of the Deputy Chair leads a round of musical chairs.
One of the event organizers, Brandi Arrington (farthest right), with the winners of the contest where daughters got to fix their mother's hair.
Brandi pictured again with Mummy Wrap contestants.
Many from the community came out to enjoy this fun, family event.
MORE PHOTOS in the Uhuru Halloween Haunted Night Album >>
Latest photos from St. Louis projects October 21, 2018
Mr. Gary Brooks has planted three fruit trees at the site of the Gary Brooks Black Power Community Garden. One of these baby trees is seen here with the African flag and the Uhuru House in the background.
Pictured L to R: Luwezi Kinshasa, Secretary General of the African Socialist International, who came from London and three representatives of the Black Star Industries institution, Uhuru Foods and Pies in Oakland, CA - Sealli Moyenda, Su-Tchas and Bakari Olatunji. They all toured the site of the Uhuru Jiko Community Kitchen and Cafe.
From October 8-12, the St. Louis Akwaaba Hall hosted the last five days of the African People's Socialist Party's (APSP) Seventh Congress. Here APSP Chairman Omali Yeshitela speaks to a packed house of people who came from around the world to particpate and witness the historic event in which the Party gives reports on work from the past period, elects its leadership and sets the course for the next five-year period and beyond.
Each day, the APSP Honor Guard raised the African flag before the Congress convened.
In addition to political analysis and reports on the work from many different projects of the African People's Socialist Party, the Congress featured moving performances by the Freedom Mass Choir and Band, led by Director Elikya Ngoma (at the mic).
The APSP Congress also included a culture night, showcasing brilliant music, poetry and dance. Here local St. Louis talent Makeda (aka Sarah B. Tonin) sings for the audience.
Flag raising ceremony and community garden sign installed September 30, 2018
On Saturday, Sep. 29, the community came out to participate in a ceremony to raise the red, black and green flag at the site of the future One Africa! One Nation! Marketplace and community garden. The 25 foot African flag, flying high on a 50 foot tall flag pole, symbolizes a future of justice, prosperity and liberation for African people here and around the world.
The event featured a keynote presentation by Uhuru Movement leader Omali Yeshitela, speeches by other leaders in the African community, as well as poetry, African drumming, and a marching band.
Also, a sign was installed at the future site of the marketplace and community garden, letting the community know that's coming next spring.
All of this was made possible because of your support!
APEDF St. Louis Economic Development Coordinator Ticharwa Masimba and InPDUM President Kalambayi Andenet welcomed the crowd at the Black Power Blueprint flag raising ceremony at the site of the One Africa! One Nation! Marketplace and Gary Brooks Community Garden.
Chairman Omali Yeshitela of the African People's Socialist Party and leader of the worldwide Uhuru Movement gave the keynote address, speaking on the significance of the African flag.
Ngoma in Motion performed at the flag raising ceremony.
The St. Louis Cobras Marching Band also gave a dynamic performance.
The 25' x 15' red, black and green flag is shown here flying 50 feet high on the grounds of the future One Africa! One Nation! Marketplace and community garden, with the Uhuru House across the street.
(L to R: Black Power 96 Radio Station Manager Diakiesse Lungisani, The Burning Spear newspaper Managing Editor Olofin Ikemba, African People's Socialist Party (APSP) Director of Agit-Prop Akilé Anai, Mustapha Musa Abantu who works in the APSP Office of the Deputy Chair, APEDF St. Louis Economic Development Coordinator Ticharwa Masimba and Mr. Gary Brooks stand in front of the sign announcing the coming of One Africa! One Nation! Marketplace and the Gary Brooks Community Garden in Spring of 2019!
See more from the flag raising ceremony: Photo album » | Watch the video »
Latest photos from St. Louis September 23, 2018
Check out these latest photos from community events held at Akwaaba Hall, organized by the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement (InPDUM) and showing work at the future site of the Uhuru Jiko community kitchen and café.
Contributions from supporters like you make this possible. The Black Power Blueprint projects are moving forward, building a positive future for the African community every single day.
Zyon Farmer, age 9, leads the reading of the African Pledge at weekly InPDUM community meetings which are held at Akwaaba Hall.
Wanda Carson leads the monthly InPDUM Spiritual Rally held in Akwaaba Hall, mobilizing the church community around InPDUM's Keep 28 Campaign, organizing for black power and fighting back against the effort to reduce the number of St. Louis aldermanic wards from 28 to 14.
A spiritual song moves the audience.
Volunteers KC Mackey and Mustapha Musa Abantu returning to the Uhuru House after a work project at the site of the future Uhuru Jiko community kitchen and café (right)
Latest News from St. Louis September 16, 2018
Thanks to contributions from supporters like you, the Black Power Blueprint projects are making an impact on the community.
Aquandria Brown from St. Louis Youth Jobs completes her first week as the African People's Education and Defense Fund (APEDF) receptionist at the St. Louis Uhuru House.
Spotlight on InPDUM's Keep 28 Campaign, organizing for black power! September 09, 2018
On September 2, 2018, Akwaaba Hall hosted a fashion show organized by the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement (InPDUM), led by its dynamic President, Kalambayi Andenet.
InPDUM is leading the Keep 28 Campaign, organizing for black power and
fighting back against the effort to reduce the number of St. Louis
aldermanic wards from 28 to 14.
One of InPDUM's economic development initiatives, UZI Custom Clothing,
produced the fashion show titled: Keep 28 Cultural Fusion Black Power
Sunday Rally.
The Black Power Blueprint newsletter will continue to shine a spotlight
on InPDUM and its tremendous work in the struggle for black power in St.
Louis and around the country.
Below we share with you again some photos from the fashion show and other Black Power Blueprint project work from the past week.
The "Keep 28 Cultural Fusion Black Power Sunday Rally" featured the Re-Vamp'd African Collection by St. Louis designer Jordan Flyy.
The fashion show also featured a DJ and performances by local talent.
InPDUM President Kalambayi Andenet (in the "Black is Beautiful" shirt) stands with community members who came out to participate in the cultural evening.
This past week, work also continued on other Black Power Blueprint properties, part of the project's mission to feed, clothe and house African people. Here, Zion with On Call Heating and Cooling installs a new furnace in one of the buildings.
Replacing glass, new signage, Black is Back conference and community marketplace rendering August 19, 2018
This past week, maintenance was done on the future home of the Uhuru Jiko Community Kitchen. Also, on August 11-12, the Black is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations was able to use the beautiful Akwaaba Hall to hold its annual conference. People came from across the country to participate. And work continues to develop the community marketplace and garden space across the street from the Uhuru House.
Your contributions make this possible!
Glass was replaced at the future home of the Uhuru Jiko Kitchen.
Donovan, an artist and sign painter, creates the new Uhuru House sign.
The Black is Back Coalition annual conference opened with a dynamic performance by the drumming group, Ngoma.
Black is Back Coalition Steering Committee members Lisa Davis, Chairman Omali Yeshitela and Glen Ford listen to Jihad Abdulmumit during a presentation by the BIBC Political Prisoners Working Group.
The African People's Education and Defense Fund included this rendering in a grant application submitted to help fund lighting, fencing and paving for the community marketplace and garden across the street from the Uhuru House.
Flag pole arrives and work continues to renovate 4-plex August 05, 2018
This past week the flag pole arrived! And work continued to renovate the 4-plex building purchased by Black Star Industries as part of Black Power Blueprint's mission to feed, clothe and house African people and in preparation for the creation of the African Independence Workforce Program.
St. Louis Akwaaba Hall hosts first wedding reception July 29, 2018
Thanks to the contributions from supporters like you that have funded the Black Power Blueprint's renovation of the St. Louis Uhuru House, the African community in St. Louis now has a beautiful and affordable space available to rent for events and celebrations.
This past week, Akwaaba Hall prepared for hosting its first wedding reception (see photos below).
Preparing for the flag pole July 22, 2018
Work this past week included preparations for installing a 50' flag pole on the site of the outdoor event space that will be home to the One Africa! One Nation! Marketplace, across the street from the Uhuru House. The flag pole is estimated to arrive this coming week!
Check out the highlights below, made possible through contributions from supporters like you!
A huge auger drills into the earth and brings out the soil to make room for installation of the metal sleeve that will hold the flag pole.
Stone and rock challenged the flag pole installers as they drilled. APEDF St. Louis Economic Development Director Ticharwa Masimba jumped in and brought out a large stone that was preventing the auger from digging deeper.
The sleeve was installed five feet into the ground and the surrounding hole filled with cement to support 4000 lbs of pressure.
Community member and Uhuru Movement supporter, Geraldine, with the cement truck operator.
Ticharwa and the students working on the Black Power Blueprint projects this summer, stand in front of the Uhuru House after taking measurements for improvements to the facade and signage.
Photos from the July 13th Black Power Poetry night at the St. Louis Akwaaba Hall: Some of the artists who performed (above) and a packed house (below).
African People's Education and Defense Fund, Inc.
ABOUT African People's Education and Defense Fund, Inc.
The African People's Education & Defense Fund (APEDF) develops and institutionalizes programs to defend the human and civil rights of the African community, and to address the grave disparities in education, health, healthcare, and economic development faced by African people.


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Home / General / Put Love to Work
Put Love to Work2022-06-142022-09-09https://www.bluedotlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/header-logo.pngBlue Dot Lawhttps://www.bluedotlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/butterfly-pic-scaled.jpg200px200px
Disillusionment, divorce, isolation – these transformational forces chewed on me over a five-year cocooning period. As I emerge into flight, I am animated by an imperative to love. To love above all. To love fiercely. To love in my work as a corporate finance lawyer.
I have learned the most about love from Thich Nhat Hanh (or Thay), who died recently. Even after more than 15 years of being around his teachings and community, I continue to struggle to live those teachings on a day-to-day basis, especially at work. But in my best moments, I recognize – as he taught — that I am not separate from my environment and other people. If others suffer, then I suffer. If others are happy, then I am happy. He described this reality as "interbeing."
Love necessarily arises when I allow myself to feel into this state of interbeing, and this kind of love is boundless. We tend to limit love by categorizing it as appropriate in only certain kinds of relationships and situations. We don't think of love, for example, as something that should inhabit business and finance. We think that love should not live in these places because these places are objective, rational, technical; they are dispassionate. And look where all of that reason and knowledge has led us – a global society facing existential crises of inequality, racism, and climate change.
Imagine if instead we led with love rather than profit. We think we are doing something when we make money. We thinking making more of it means we are achieving something. But is that true? What is the meaning in profit really? What progress does it really represent?
What would it look like to put people first instead. Not people and profit, but just people – period. Build everything around people and our natural world. Make money serve those things.
If we realized our interbeing at a societal scale, we would have no poverty. We allow poverty to exist because we feel distanced from it; but what if that distance is a misperception? Do we even know deep down the impact that the suffering of poverty has on us? Thich Nhat Hanh proposed that we cannot be truly happy if we accumulate wealth while others suffer from poverty[1]From the fifth of what the Plum Village Buddhist tradition refers to as the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings: "Aware that true happiness is rooted in peace, solidity, freedom, and compassion, we are … Continue reading. We need to decide for ourselves if this is true. But at the very least, accumulated wealth feels like a lost opportunity. It is a lost opportunity to put love to work; to make love manifest in beneficial creations from investment and giving.
I have spent my entire professional career helping people to create and grow financial wealth. I now feel called to help people share that wealth, and to share it with the urgency that comes from knowing that someone or something we love will soon perish without our help. Because the truth is that all that we love is threatened with extinction. So now is not the time to hold back. Now is the time to reimagine everything. Now is the time to put love to work.
From the fifth of what the Plum Village Buddhist tradition refers to as the Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings: "Aware that true happiness is rooted in peace, solidity, freedom, and compassion, we are determined not to accumulate wealth while millions are hungry and dying nor to take as the aim of our life fame, power, wealth, or sensual pleasure, which can bring much suffering and despair."
Bruce Campbell
Tax-Exempt News and UpdatesGeneral, Nonprofits, Social Capital, Startup Corner, Tax
Introducing Beloved EconomiesGeneral


We got here because I started with Managing the Stream of Features in an Agile Program. That got me to Organizing an Agile Program, Part 1:Introduction, Organizing an Agile Program, Part 2: Networks for Managing Agile Programs, Organizing an Agile Program Part 3: Large Programs Demand Servant Leadership. Sorry I got behind. Life interfered.
Batch size matters. You need to make sure the batch size, the number of features the teams address before they integrate is as small as the teams can manage. Yes, that means you want to get the entire program as close to continuous integration as possible.
Iterate on the backlog and the roadmap. You want to see if you can finish the program early. I realize the schedule advances are rare in a program, but you want to allow for them.
This means that the architecture has to iterate, also. This is going to stretch the minds of the architects something fierce.
Make sure the program releases something every six months, if not before, preferably to the customers. (If you have hardware, maybe not to your customers, because the cost of that becomes prohibitive.) But, if you have a software-only product, whether it's SaaS (Software as a Service) or a boxed product, the larger the program, the more the requirements will change. Even with a roadmap to see where the product is headed, other people, aside from the sponsors need to see and feel and smell the product.
So, release the product. Let them touch it, play with it. That means the product needs to get to done at least every six months. Yes, the program—the entire program—needs to get to done at least every six months. Do you see why the batch size matters?
Okay, based on these principles, let's discuss specifics.
One of the things I've noticed is that I have rarely seen a successful team transition to agile without adding many of the XP practices. I don't know how a team gets to done at the end of an iteration without continuous integration, TDD, refactoring, test automation, and some form of review of the code. And that's just a single team. Remember I said back in Part 2 that larger programs do not linearly scale? In larger programs, I don't see how you succeed without the XP practices. Well, you can if you want to. You folks are very smart people. You can make anything succeed. It takes you much longer. Without the XP practices you will incur technical debt. You will have to pay off the debt at some point. Probably before you release to your customers.
Some programs have transitioned to using kanban/lean as a way to manage the problem of how to integrate as the teams proceed. Especially for teams who don't choose Scrum, this is a great idea. You don't need iterations.
Lean enforces the reduction of WIP (work in progress). Teams don't have to worry about the issue of "did we take enough for this iteration?" They just take the next item off the ranked backlog. They integrate it as they finish it. If you use lean, and you keep your stories small, you are likely to keep your technical debt down. This is one way of reducing batch size.
In a program, the program manager doesn't care what the teams do. The program manager cares about results. That's all. What the program manager does care is that the teams can deliver results week in and week out. Or, iteration in, iteration out, and that the iteration is short. This is why having a small batch size is critical.
The larger the batch size, or the longer the iteration, the less predictable anything is. The less predictable, the higher the risk. High risk is bad. Low risk is good.
High risk leads to inertia. Low risk leads to momentum. Remember Organizing Agile Program Part 3, Large Programs Demand Servant Leadership? I discussed inertia and momentum there.
With small batches, you can invite people to use continuous integration. The larger the batch size, the more continuous integration is out of your reach. Then you can throw predictability out the window.
Remember I said you needed roadmaps to tell you where you needed to go? You also need to manage the backlog. Your program and project backlogs are not static. No, sirree. Your product owners are going to pick and choose across the program what they want you to work on next, based on what they see, each iteration.
This means that the technical people do not get to decide what to do. This is critical. The technical people need to get to done at the end of a feature. They need to get to done at the end of an iteration. The technical people do not get to decide what to do next.
However, the technical people should absolutely discuss, plead, argue and wheedle with the product owners about the direction of the product. There is no reason that they should not. But the product owners have the final say. Always. That's because the product owners understand the business value of the features. The technical people might not.
The product owner is going to say, "Yes. I'm sure you will have a learning curve. That's fine. We'll start slow. You'll do something and I'll provide feedback for you. You see, we need to have enough across the product, so we have a fully-featured product. That's because we are going to release a version of the product in less than two months from now, because we are four months into this release.
This is when the architecture might well change. Oh well. Better that you know now than at the end of the program, right?
But we have technical debt!
Oh, I can sympathize with you. The question is this: how much technical debt do you have, and how transparent is your debt?
Is your debt transparent enough that you can see it each and every iteration, or every time you make the choice to take another item off the backlog for the next feature? This is when the Product Owner job is critical. Can one Product Owner do this job for an entire program? Of course not. You need a community of Product Owners for anything but the smallest of programs (3 teams) and you need a small world network to support that product owner's decision-making. How else will your product owner be able to make great decisions? This is why I recommend a Program Product Owner at the core team level, and a product owner for feature teams.
This is why you can share product owners for large (greater than 9 teams) programs across several teams, and still succeed, if you have communities of practice. But, if you attempt to share product owners for feature sets, the product owner is multitasking. Don't do that, unless you want the program to fail. When will the product owner actually talk to the real customers?
But the point of this post is that you do not want to create any more technical debt. In a program, more technical debt creates inertia, not momentum. We discussed inertia and momentum a little bit in Part 3: Large Programs Demand Servant Leadership.
Yes, I said that teams are responsible for what they do. If you are the program manager, you can request. You can wheedle, beg, influence. You can also entice. But, you cannot impose. You cannot command-and-control. You can measure to show the effects of not doing certain practices. You can request or suggest that the teams measure certain things to show their technical debt.
It also means the product owners cannot play the feature-itis game. Remember, no one can make you work in any way other than your best work.
The more people on your program, the more important it is to not add to your technical debt. Or, if you choose to take on technical debt, to make that decision consciously.
This is why each team has to be responsible for itself, and report on its own work. This is why each team cannot report on velocity as if that measure meant something globally.
Small batch size: small features.
Iterate on the roadmap so you can determine when to release.
Implement features as they need to be implemented, across the program, not just because they are in one feature set area.
Iterate on the architecture, making it more robust.
Release something at least every six months.
Now you have explained the results you want. These results lead the teams to want to perform the XP practices, to use continuous integration, to inspecting and adapting as they proceed.
For those of you who are not agile across the organization, I have advice. Hang in there. For those of you transitioning to agile, I have advice. Hang in there. Part of the advice will be driven by what you see in the measurements.
In part 5, I will attempt to tackle measurements. Hopefully everyone in my house will stay healthy and it won't take me months to do the next post.


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Accountants and IT programmers top list of skilled migrants!
The top five migrant occupations among sponsored workers were accountant, cook, software programmers, software engineers and developer programmers.
The top source country for migrants in 2011/12 was India with 29,018 followed by China with 25,509.
Meanwhile, the UK has dropped to third (after India and China) for the first time in decades – just over 25,000 UK citizens migrated here in the last year.
Ireland is the eighth largest source of migrants to Australia, with almost 5000 Irish folk (a 30% increase) migrating here permanently in the last 12 months.
The statistics include those granted permanent residency onshore and offshore but do not include, those on 457 sponsored visas or other temporary residents.
The total migration program outcome for the year to June 2012 was 184,998.
Of these, 125,755 people came in through the skilled stream while 58,604 places were taken up through the family stream.
Of the skilled migrants, over 46,000 were sponsored by their employer and the vast majority of those – over 35,000 – were onshore applicants.
The number of migrant visas issued to workers sponsored by their employers has more than doubled since 2006/07.
Many of those workers granted migrant visas were already on temporary residency visas like the 457, another indicator that this is the most desirable path to permanent residency.


On this page you can check the availability of DSL lines in Sherwood with instant, real time results. By filling in the short form below, you will be pre-qualifying for a fast DSL line from all the top local and nationwide DSL service providers available in Sherwood.	Your DSL pricing is heavily influenced by the distance between your local phone office (called the 'POP' or 'CO') and your business. This distance, called the 'local loop', helps determine which of the providers in Sherwood will be able to cost-effectively service your location.
Page Keywords: Sherwood Frame Relay Sherwood DSL line Sherwood DSL Connection Sherwood	DSL Service Sherwood DSL Provider Sherwood DSL Internet Sherwood DSL Internet Connection Sherwood DSL Service Provider Sherwood DSL price Sherwood DSL Speed Sherwood DSL Internet Service Sherwood DSL Internet Access Sherwood Fractional DSL Sherwood DSL Bandwidth Sherwood DSL Internet Service Provider Sherwood DSL Internet Provider Sherwood DSL Pricing Sherwood DSL Internet Services Sherwood DSL Services Sherwood T-1 Sherwood T-1 Line. Keywords are placed here to provide a quick summary of the services specifically offered by DSL Shopper in Sherwood.


text:
by William Cowper Brann [?]
A correspondent writes me from Nacogdoches, Texas: "The Baptists of this town have forced your agent to promise to discontinue selling the ICONOCLAST under penalty of expulsion from the church." That's all right; having purchased and paid for a Baptist ticket to the heavenly henceforth, he doesn't want to be bounced from the boat. Being thrown overboard in a canal two feet wide and four feet deep is not so bad by itself considered, but contumacious recalcitrants are invariable boycotted in business by the hydrocephalous sect which boasts that it was the first to establish liberty of conscience and freedom of speech in this country, yet which has been striving desperately for a hundred years to banish the last vestige of individuality and transform this nation into a pharisaical theocracy with some priorient hypocrite as its heierach. The ICONOCLAST is in its seventh volume and has never yet been caught in a falsehood or published an unclean advertisement. I am proud to say that no honest man or virtuous woman was ever its enemy, but that holy hypocrites and sanctified harlots regard it with the same aversion that a pickpocket does a policeman. Yes; the action of the Baptists of Nacogdoches was perfectly natural. What they want is a paper that will afford them a charming mixture of camp-meeting notices and syphilitic nostrums, prayer-meetings and abortion pills, Prohibition rallies and lost manhood restorers. I cheerfully recommend the Baptist Standard to their kindly consideration.
When J. S. Hogg was governor of Texas he compelled the Southern Pacific road to move a train-load of Coxey-ites, whom it had, carried in from California and side tracked west of San Antonio to starve. As counsel for that impudent corporation–whose officials seem to have been formed of the quintessential extract of the exerementitious matter of the whole earth–he now makes a "compromise" with the Culberson crew whereby it is some $975,000 IN and the state that much OUT. James Stephen can scarce be blamed for securing every possible advantage for his client, even tho' it be such a notorious criminal as the "Sunset"; but had he been attorney for the state instead of for the corporation there would have been no compounding of a felony "for the good of the people," no sacrifice of both dignity and dollars. It is amusing to see Culberson and Crane making a house of refuge of the coat tails of Reagan. "He approved it! he approved it!" Of course he approved it–Attorney General Crane "not having time during his term of office to prosecute all the cases." But he'll "have time" just as hard to spend half of next year chasing the governorship on time paid for by the people. Reagan was compelled to accept the compromise because the Culbersonian crew were too busy office-chasing to prosecute the corporation. If the Culbersonian crowd lined their pockets by that compromise they are a set of thieves; if they didn't line their pockets they simply suffered the corporation to play 'em for a pack of damphools. As neither a thief nor a fool is fit to hold a public office, I move that we build a large zinc-lined political coffin and bury the whole crowd.
The St. Louis Mirror, the brightest weekly in the world, recently had a remarkably interesting article on Texas politics; but somehow it suggested to my mind that German metaphysician who, having never seen a lion or read a description of one, undertook to evolve a correct idea of the king of beasts from his own inner consciousness.
It were interesting to know what kind of a swindle W. L. Moody & Co. have in soak this season for the guileless cotton grower. I have provided this office with a car-load of nickel-plated tear-jugs for the benefit of cotton men who will call later to tell me their troubles. My idea is to build a condenser, start a wholesale salt store and supply Baptist dipping-tanks with water free of wiggletails. Say! There's millions in it. Col. Mulberry Seller's eye-water enterprise were as nothing to my graft when I get it agoing.
I note that the Wrong-Reverend E. H. Harman, formerly presiding elder of the Methodist church at Brenham, but given the grand bounce for getting too gay at Galveston, where, in company with another sanctified ministerial hypocrite named Wimberly, he had "a hot time in the old town," with hacks, harlots and barrel-house booze, has been converted to the Christian (or Campbellite) faith and proposes to preach. Possibly his conversion is genuine; but it is worthy of remark that he saw nothing attractive in the Christian cult until no longer allowed to occupy a Methodist pulpit–until reduced to the necessity of either seeking a job in a new corner of the Lord's vineyard or taking a fall out of the lowly cotton patch. He ought to make an excellent running mate for the "Rev." Granville Jones, the poorty preacher who puts his picture on his evangelical guttersnipes to show the people how a holy man of God looks after confessing to having forged a letter derogatory to a poor motherless working girl's reputation. As my father is a Christian preacher I feel I have a right to protest against his being placed on a clerical parity with bilkers of hack bills and crapulous associates of two-for-a-penny prostitutes. If Harman attempts to defile the Christian pulpit with his presence, I hope to the good Lord that the decent members of that denomination will tie him across a nine-rail fence and enhance the torridity of his rear elevation with a vigorous application of pine plank.


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Q: How to let the user use fractions instead of doubles for percentages? I am creating an app that uses percentages. Multiple items are created by the user in order to make them add up to 100%. For example: if you have 3 items, each at 33.3%, this means that you are missing 0.1%. Fractions are a lot cleaner as they are the exact number. I was wondering whether I would be able to give the user a choice of either typing in a double or a fraction. Can anybody give me any assistance in how to tackle this? I have looked at inputTypes and things like that, but I just can't find anything on fractions.
Thanks in advance!

A: As @Bartek correctly pointed out, Android doesn't have native facilities to manipulate fractions. And it makes sense, because to represent a fraction you would need to have a new "object" that stores 2 values: numerator and denominator. Manipulating such objects will become increasingly hard, because each addition will require searching for the lowest common denominator. And we can't really settle on fractions. How do we accurately represent a square root of three? And then there's the next question, how do we calculate a sum of a square root of three and a cube root of eighteen and three quarters?
So I would suggest using doubles everywhere in calculations, but round them to a second digit after comma when printing it on the screen. I.e. when user types 100/3, keep 33.3333333 in memory, but print 33.33 on the screen. If you add three of those, you get 99.9999999 which when rounded to the second digit will show 100.00. I do realize that this approach can introduce certain error, but for actual real life applications this error might be negligible.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Home Euro Clubs Premier League Liverpool Add 2019 UEFA Super Cup to List of Trophies
Liverpool Add 2019 UEFA Super Cup to List of Trophies
Liverpool are the 2019 Super Cup winners
Liverpool FC add up another trophy by beating Chelsea in a thrilling game. The Champions League champions, Liverpool, and the Europa League champions, Chelsea, faced in Turkey for the 2019 UEFA Super Cup title.
The game was intense and players looked very fit early in the season. Chelsea had the lead in the first half thanks to a goal from its Frenchman Giroud. Mané tied it up early in the second half as both teams would end regular time with the tie.
Mané, again, would then give the lead to Liverpool before Chelsea equalizer from a penalty. Tied up at 2-2, both English clubs had to lay the penalty shootouts to determine the winner. Every player scored the first 4 goals for each side, then came Adrian's moment.
The second goalkeeper, who is replacing the injured Alisson, save the penalty taker from Chelsea and gave Liverpool their second European trophy in just 90 days, what a moment!
Coach Liverpool Klopp on winning again:
It was a big fight tonight and I didn't know before the game how good it would be when you win it, but it's brilliant, it's really big. The atmosphere in the stadium was outstanding, it showed us again how big this club is: wherever we go, our supporters are already there. I don't know exactly how many fans were from Istanbul but I can only say 'thank you' because it was just a brilliant atmosphere. We would have loved to bring our weather to Turkey for one day at least because it was really intense, but now it's done, we came through and we won it. The boys feel really good, I feel really good, so everything is OK.
I don't know where Adrian was two weeks ago when we played Man City! When I spoke to him for the first time, he told me he had a goalie coach and stuff like this. It was clear he would need time to get fit. But we didn't have that time, so he has to be fit now and he was fit. He played an incredible game, he had sensational saves.
On the meaning of lifting the Super Cup
I asked after the game again Millie and Hendo how do people see it. I'm not long enough in the country and was never in that game before. They said, 'Oh no, it's a proper trophy'. It's on a wall at Melwood, so good. They have to draw it again, to paint the wall at Melwood again, bring another number on the wall '2019' and a picture of whatever. It's big. How I said, I didn't know before the game how big it will feel. Now I know it and it's great. If I would again be in that game – which would be nice because it would mean you have won something before – I would now be more experienced. How I said, it's nice, really nice. From four opportunities in the last three months, we won two. That's good, that's absolutely OK.
For coach Lampard and Liverpool, they played much better than against Manchester United as the Blues adapt to their new coach.
Lampard shared his views:
"I respect Liverpool and they had chances in the game but it was clear to me that we were the stronger team,' he claimed. 'We had some bad luck at times and maybe some bad finishing which we need to be more clinical with but my overall feeling from the game is one of pride in the team performance.
I don't like losing, I'm a terrible loser and we all are at Chelsea. We wanted to win this game but we were unfortunate so I'm happy with the players. If that's a sign of what we can do this season – and we will get better – then it's a really good sign."
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If you like trying new things and meeting awesome people come to one of our events or contact us!
Eureka! is a summer program where girls go to the UMass campus to learn about STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, math).


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End of an Era?
Catholic swing vote jolts Austria's major parties.
April 29, 2011 Michael J. Miller News 0 Print
The September 28 national elections in Austria shattered the weakened, feuding Grand Coalition that had governed for decades. One out of every seven Austrians who voted in 2006 for the two major parties—the center-left Social Democrats (SPÖ) or the conservative People's Party (ÖVP)—defected. The main beneficiaries were right of center: the Freedom Party (FPÖ) doubled its share of the vote, while the Alliance for Future Austria (BZÖ), an antiimmigrant splinter group founded in 2005, made signifi cant gains; together they now represent almost 30 percent of the electorate.
After the previous government collapsed in July 2008, Gallup polls were predicting a 7 or 8 percent loss for both SPÖ and ÖVP. The figures proved to be accurate, but the secular media had problems interpreting them: "decline of the Austrian social-democratic movement," the era of major parties over (Der Spiegel); "deep-seated discontent with the country's outgoing governing coalition" (Wall Street Journal); graying European leftists whispered about a resurgence of the far right.
During the week before the election, Catholic news sources reported and debated an incident that may have precipitated a rebellion of "values voters," who in secularized Austria are in the minority but form an infl uential swing group.
On Monday evening, September 22, Wilhelm Molterer, head of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), declared in a televised panel discussion with young people that homosexual marriage would be legalized after the election, regardless of the outcome. This was, to say the least, a startling announcement from a Christian-Socialist party leader in a nominally Catholic country.
The moderator, Roman Rafreider, asked the party chief to explain. "There must be no discrimination against homosexual partners," Molterer went on to say. He also bragged that he himself had called for an end to discussion of the matter among ÖVP strategists.
Rafreider, however, was just getting started. He reminded the panelist that "the Church says homosexuality is an illness that should be cured." Molterer replied, "Herr Rafreider, that puts you in the nineteenth century. I live in the twenty-first century." The journalist objected that he was just repeating what the Church says. Molterer retorted, "Well, excuse me, is that a standard for me?"
An astonished Rafreider said, "I thought it was." "Well then maybe you thought wrong," the ÖVP chief continued. "I respect every individual's decision because he answers for it based on his own conscience, and that's my standard. Do you really believe that I need Bishop Laun for that?"
The televised exchange with Molterer sent shock waves through Catholic circles in Austria. His perceived attack on the Church elicited statements from at least three members of the hierarchy and rebuttals from other Catholic politicians, and had an appreciable impact on election results.
On Tuesday, the Austrian Catholic Internet news service KATH.NET asked the ÖVP for clarification. Through his media spokesman, Jürgen Beilein, Molterer said that in his remarks during the broadcast he had not intended to "relativize the Catholic Church, its ordained ministers and its values." Beilein explained: "Within the context of the discussion…the Vice Chancellor wanted to emphasize that for him personally the conscientious decision is the primary thing in this issue and that nobody should claim to be perfect. Admittedly his comments were formulated somewhat pointedly…." The spokesman acknowledged the Christian-Socialist roots of the People's Party and cited the many Christians who are politically active in it.
Auxiliary Bishop Andreas Laun of Salzburg responded with a commentary published by KATH.NET on Wednesday. It begins: "I am getting many concerned inquiries with the question: Where does the Austrian People's Party stand today? How does it differ from the Socialist Party of Austria on sensitive issues of social policy? The ones mentioned in particular are the defense of human life, the family, and 'homosexual marriage.'"
After quoting Molterer's controversial remarks ("homosexual partnership is coming," "Is the Church a standard for me?" and "Do you really think that I need Bishop Laun?"), the Salzburg Auxiliary continued, "Well, he certainly doesn't need me, I grant him that. It would be enough for him to look it up in the Catechism and to ask serious specialists, who could explain to him the complexity of the phenomenon of homosexual inclination, regardless of the spirit of the age, ideology and political expediency…."
"More and more voters say that, precisely because of homosexual marriage and the pro-life issue, they have lost their political home in the ÖVP." Bishop Laun concluded with a plea for "politicians in all parties" to care first and foremost "about the welfare of the people of this country and, for the sake of the common good, to listen only to reasonable, well-founded arguments, whatever the source, whether they come from a political opponent or even from Auxiliary Bishop Laun. The quality of good arguments, after all, depends neither on the century nor on the religion of the person who presents them. But I will say one thing: The probability that an argument will prove to be good and true increases considerably when it comes from a Catholic who knows his faith and takes it seriously…."
While Bishop Laun reasserted the Church's right and duty to speak about contemporary moral issues, Bishop Klaus Küng of Sankt Pölten, who heads the Austrian Bishops Conference's committee for the family, restated Catholic moral doctrine in an article dated September 25. He wrote that he was "surprised and put off" by Vice Chancellor Molterer's remarks about homosexual marriage. "It would be good to ask him whether he really meant it in the way it came across." Bishop Küng then called the Church's teaching about people with homosexual inclinations "highly nuanced."
"It emphasizes that homosexually inclined persons should be treated with respect and distinguishes morally between homosexual inclination and homosexual behavior. It unequivocally rejects any comparison between a homosexual relationship and a marriage between a man and a woman. Marriage is ordered to fidelity and offspring; children need a father and a mother." He noted the lack of professional consensus about the causes of homosexuality or the possibility of a "cure"; recent magisterial statements merely observe that "there is no proof that homosexuality is inherited."
An op-ed piece by Gernot Steier, a member of the brand-new political party, Die Christen [The Christians], recalled that Christian-Socialist policies must be founded on "respect for human dignity and a Christian view of man." The former presupposes a defense of the right to life; in this regard Steier criticized the People's Party for failing to act. "In the 22 years that the ÖVP has been part of the ruling coalition, not one of the promised measures to offset the Fristenlösung [Austrian abortion law] has been implemented."
A Christian view of man, Steier continued, includes the conviction that God created man and woman to be complementary, that homosexual inclinations are intrinsically disordered and that homosexual activity is a sin ("And there is a big difference between tolerating a sin and legally recognizing and promoting it….")
"Molterer has mustered the ÖVP to campaign for legalizing homosexual marriage, even though his party's base is not in favor of it," noted Steier. "Many ÖVP mayors, who would then have to marry homosexual couples, have protested to the party leadership, because they cannot reconcile that with their consciences. Yet Molterer himself, as he says, put an end to critical discussion. Just as the [ÖVP's] discussion about the abortion law was ended in 1995."
By Friday, September 26, Molterer was compelled to release a statement to the media. "Religion is a part of society; it offers values that must be respected…. If in recent days a statement of mine has been misunderstood, I deeply regret it." He insisted that the "values" enshrined in Christian social teaching are still the "basis" of his political work. Yet Molterer did not retract his plan to introduce homosexual marriage after the election.
That same day Bishop Elmar Fischer of Vorarlberg asked Austrian voters to make sure to consider, with every vote they cast, which candidate supports Christian values, especially traditional marriage and respect for human life from conception.
Bishop Laun, meanwhile, published an article in the Salzburg diocesan newspaper emphasizing that the Church's social teaching is not a matter of faith but of reason. "Those who vote solely on the basis of their traditional affiliation or gut feeling will not see why they should listen to any authority or any voice of reason instead of to a clever demagogue who sets out ideological bait…. God protect Austria—through responsible, informed voters!"
On Sunday, September 28, Austrians voted. As in every election since 1983, the parties on the political right and center-right, combined, won a clear majority. The Austrian People's Party lost 8.7 percent of the votes that it had garnered in the previous parliamentary election.
On September 30, Dietmar Fischer, director of the Austrian branch of Human Life International, called for a new "bourgeois" (i.e., non-socialist) coalition, implying that the People's Party no longer had a mandate to help form the next government. And he claimed that the regional breakdown of the election returns shows why.
"In those very provinces where ÖVP offi cials are the strongest advocates of registered homosexual partnerships, the party lost the most votes…. 11.6 percent in Steiermark, 7.3 percent in Lower Austria and 6.4 percent in Vienna." This was not mere coincidence or part of a general trend. "More than 80 percent of the ÖVP losses occurred in Steiermark, Lower Austria, Vienna and Upper Austria (where Wilhelm Molterer headed the local ballot). No wonder the right-leaning 'bourgeois' parties BZÖ and FPÖ won a disproportionate number of votes in those same provinces: Christian voters decisively cast their votes against homosexual marriage."
Statistical analyses subdivided Catholic voters into regular churchgoers and those who attend Mass sporadically: in comparison to 2006 the ÖVP lost 7 percent of its voters in the former sub-grouping and 9 percent of those in the latter. Even lukewarm Austrian Catholics abandoned their formerly "mainstream" Christian-Socialist party rather than support the legalization of homosexual unions.
Half of the churchgoing Catholic voters in Austria still cast their ballots for the ÖVP on September 28, 2008, but it cannot afford such losses again. Within 36 hours after the polls closed the executive committee of the People's Party replaced Wilhelm Molterer with the Minister of the Department of Agriculture, Josef Pröll, as ÖVP party chief.
About Michael J. Miller 127 Articles
Michael J. Miller Michael J. Miller translated Priesthood and Diaconate by Gerhard Ludwig Müller for Ignatius Press and Eucharist and Divorce: A Change in Doctrine? for the Pontifical John Paul II Institute.
Campaign Endorsements and False Promises
Pope Benedict XVI's Visits for 2011
Norbertine nuns' monastery expansion blessed
CWR Staff July 23, 2013 0
TEHACHAPI, CA – A blessing ceremony of the recently completed monastery expansion building was held this past Saturday, marking another milestone in the life of the growing community of Norbertine nuns. The Bethlehem Priory of […]


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Jóhann Jóhannsson No Longer Involved With Blade Runner 2049: Report
Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch were brought in as additional composers earlier this year
Photo by Jeff Vespa/WireImage
Jóhann Jóhannsson is no longer involved with Blade Runner 2049, according to Icelandic newspaper Fréttablaðið (via the Iceland Review). It had first been revealed in summer 2016 that Jóhannsson would be the film's sole composer. In July 2017, it was reported that Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch were brought on to assist Jóhannsson. All of Jóhannsson's contributions have now been reportedly removed from 2049. When reached for comment, Jóhannsson's representatives replied, "Unfortunately due to a legal Non Disclosure Agreement Jóhann signed we're not able to speak about this film at all." Pitchfork has contacted representatives for the film for more information.
TagsFilmJóhann Jóhannsson


text:
TemplateProject
===============

This project holds template web service project C++ files (originally from a Visual Studio Project Template export), and zips them as output.
It is done this way to make it easier to manage / edit the template files, and to keep the VSIX packaging process clean (as the VSIX project
can accept as input another project's output, rather than holding/referencing a static zip file).

If using Visual Studio 2013 you will need to install the [Visual Studio SDK](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/confirmation.aspx?id=40758)
for the VSIX project support. Haven't tested on Visual Studio 2015.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Q: PHPSessionId - where is it stored in IE? I have an IE10 on my windows machine, when I navigate to a site it allocates me a PHP session id.
I am trying to find out where this session ID is stored but cannot find it. I am looking in two different places:

*

*In memory - if I close the IE process and reopen it, I can still log on using the same session ID so it isn't the case

*If i look in the cookies folder in IE I cannot see any cookie from that site

Any ideas where is this session ID stored?

A: Go to Internet Options->General, then under Browsing History, click Settings.  Click View files to open the folder.  Cookies are stored in text files there based on the domain.
If you don't see it there, it's probably stored in a separate area such as Flash data or localStorage (in which case, not exactly cookies).
All that aside, what's the point of going through all that effort?  If you want to delete a cookie, there are much easier ways.

A: I was already looking in the trivial places for cookies and could not find the session ID.
The point here is not to delete the session ID, the point here is to understand where it is stored for Appsec purposes.


We specialise in manufacturing catering trailers and for over 20 years have been providing trailers for a range of purposes and means.
We manufacture all catering trailers at our i- house facility where you are assured of our constant monitoring and care. We can manufacture mobile catering trailers and mobile catering equipment.
Our professional catering trailers are constructed on heavy duty chassis and combine flooring with a safe, non-slip covering.
Professional catering trailers are designed with GRP walls with aluminium capping and a twin-lined roof. All our professional catering trailers are built to specification and to suit your requirements.
Our catering units are manufactured as individual units in the style of classic cabs, van conversions and barrows.
If you have an idea for catering units, we are ready to discuss your plans and create a unit especially for you. We also produce catering units around carts, market trailers and exhibitions.


In this article I talk about the 3 keys, 8 mm and 4, 5 mm for Consoles and Nintendo cartridges (Gamebit), acquired na AliExpress, shop Eurbo – Professinal SupplierOpen.
Have you ever tried to open a Super Nintendo or original cartridge of Super Nintendo? If the answer is Yes, You must have come across a few screws somewhat strange, that cannot be removed with the most common keys. That's where the 3 keys, 8 mm and 4, 5 mm. They are made exactly for these screws from Nintendo.
I've always been curious to open my Super Nintendo to know exactly which version of the Board and also to see how it was done the transcoding to PAL-M and the unlocking. He already came with those modifications, probably made dirty in any brazilian or Paraguayan joint. And in these 25 years he's with me, never been opened.
But despite being with the 3 keys, 8 mm and 4, 5 mm for Consoles and Nintendo cartridges a few months ago, I haven't done such research. I'm probably going to do it for a future article talking about the differences come in the Super Nintendo cards, comparing my 1Chip and my 2Chip, If it is that readers have some interest in this. If there is, leave a comment, If you do not have, leave a comment also :P.
2017.05.09 01:51 (GMT-7): Delivered to the addressee object,?
2017.05.09 16:51 (GMT-7): 【 Removed / SP 】 delivered to the addressee Object,?
REMOVED / SP Delivered to the addressee object ?
And I'm ending here the article on 3 keys, 8 mm and 4, 5 mm for Consoles and Nintendo cartridges (Gamebit), with a positive evaluation of the product and the store Eurbo – Professinal SupplierOpen. Share this article with your friends if you liked ;). If you also want to shop in AliExpress, directly from Hong Kong, click here and good shopping.


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Ski for Health
Snow skiing is not only a sport that the entire family can enjoy while on holiday but it is a sport that promotes health and fitness. While having tons of fun on the white slopes of various ski resorts, skiers increase their fitness levels with regular skiing outings. Studies have proven that there are long term benefits to being an avid winter sport enthusiast. And when it comes to the more senior skiers, taking up skiing as a sport can only be beneficial to their health.
The physical act of skiing increases a skier's aerobic capacity. This in turn, develops an athlete's endurance. The aerobic capacity of a skier is measured by the amount of oxygen that is used by the muscles and that is being pumped through by the heart. Swedish researchers were eager to prove the positive effect skiing has on the body, and used a group of cross country skiers of various ages as their test subjects. Some of the voluntary test subjects were over the age of eighty, and their fitness levels were compared to seniors their own age, who did not engage in any exercise, as well as younger participants who did not exercise on a regular basis. By doing chemical analysis on the cells in the muscles of these various participants, it was found that the avid skiers were in better condition than people their same age, and in some cases, at an improved fitness level than some of the younger members of the group. It was therefore proven, that lifelong skiers enjoy a healthier life than their counterparts who do not exercise.
The study has shown that the oxygen intake capacity in senior men who are active is double that of men of the same age that prefer not to exercise. A professor at the Mid Sweden University, from the sport science department, Professor Per Tesch, explained that: "The findings show that humans have a great potential to maintain a high level of physical work capacity and thereby better quality of life even at advanced ages." He went on to say, "The high values for maximum oxygen-uptake capacity that we have measured have never been reported before in a population of men of advanced age."
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Our Single Origin bars reflect the richness and diversity of cocoa and its flavour profile. As it is with wine, the soil, climate and varietal have an influence on the flavour profile. Each bean comes from a distinctive cocoa growing region and the bar reflects the nuances of that region.
70% cocoa dark chocolate with only two ingredients: cocoa beans and cane sugar.
Explore the diverse and natural flavours of cocoa with this new collection of organic single origins.
All of these bars contain only cocoa beans and cane sugar, with no added flavourings. The packaging has been specially designed to include detailed information about the origin and the flavour profile of the beans, as well as a useful tasting guide. An ideal gift for the dark chocolate lover!
Most of the world's cocoa beans come from Africa, however little chocolate is made on the continent and even less is made by Africans in African owned factories. DV Artisan Chocolate is a "Bean to Bar" chocolate maker located in the Cape Winelands of South Africa. We purchase high quality UTZ certified cocoa beans from the Bundibugyo district of Uganda for this chocolate range, making it authentically African. By buying UTZ certified cocoa, DV Artisan Chocolate supports sustainable cocoa farming. UTZ certified farmers implement better farming practices with respect for people and planet.
The wrapper artwork is taken from paintings done by African artist Marien Freddy Nsompy.
This range focuses on unique combinations of high quality ingredients (e.g. no vegetable fats) and the inclusion of confections like biscotti and caramel, made in our own chocolate kitchen. All of these bars are made with UTZ certified Ugandan cocoa beans. By buying UTZ certified cocoa, DV Artisan Chocolate supports sustainable cocoa farming. UTZ certified farmers implement better farming practices with respect for people and planet.
We have a gift pack for each of our chocolate collections. These are specifically tailored to suit the tastes of dark or milk chocolate lovers, as well as those who appreciate our African story. The gift pack is also the ideal way to sample a wide selection before deciding on your personal favourite and then purchasing the bar. Each mini chocolate bar can be easily divided into quarters, making it perfect for sharing and, in the case of our Single Origin pack, pairing with wine, brandy or whisky.
The organic cacao used to produce this chocolate is grown in the Bundibugyo District of Uganda which is at the foot of the Rwenzori Mountains in Western Uganda, bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo. These cocoa beans are sustainably sourced as well as UTZ certified, which supports farmers who implement better farming practices with respect to people and the planet.
Not only are they delicious 70% dark chocolate bars, they are also GMO, gluten, dairy and soya free. They are also free from artificial elements and hydrogenated vegetable fats. The perfect 'guilt-free' chocolate.
Our interest in coffee started with our Espresso dark chocolate bar which combines single origin Ugandan cocoa beans with single origin coffee beans from the same country. In order to remain true to our artisanal values, we wanted to roast the coffee ourselves. After weeks of struggling and many failed roasts we finally succeeded. With this initial challenge behind us, and having discovered the wonders of coffee and its complex flavour profile, (very similar to that of the cocoa bean and chocolate), we started our coffee journey. We now offer a selection of speciality coffees, all freshly roasted to our own unique profile, to bring out what we believe to be the best in each ones character.
This is the real deal! Our drinking chocolate is intended to create a rich and intense chocolate drink. Whether you prefer a mug full or an intense espresso-size "Chocolate Shot", the way we serve it at DV Cafe, the intensity is up to you and depends on how much chocolate you add. Choose between Original (plain, unflavoured dark chocolate) or Spiced (includes a symphony of flavours like orange, lime, ginger, cinnamon and chilli). For best results, add chocolate shavings to steaming milk (or water), stir until melted and then emulsify using a handheld blender or whisk.
Your healthy, on-the-go chocolate snack.
A combination of thin dark chocolate pieces with inclusions such as salted caramel, almond, toasted coconut and corn chip. The chocolate has a cocoa content of 55% and is made with UTZ certified Ugandan cocoa beans. Seriously addictive!
Our talented team of pastry chefs is responsible for creating our ever expanding range of confections, including nougat, fudge, coated nuts and fruits and traditional butter caramels. The emphasis is always on using the best quality ingredients and working in small batches to ensure hands-on attention to detail at every step. This includes roasting our own nuts to develop optimal flavours and incorporating our own coffee, roasted on site at DV Cafe.


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Q: asp.net MVC forms authentication with windows azure I am a newbie with Windows Azure, and still learn it. I have developed an ASP.NET MVC project that implements Forms Authentication and is run on Windows Server.
Now, if I want to run this MVC project using Forms Authentication on Windows Azure, then I have some questions:
Question 1: Can MVC Forms Authenticaion function is possible with Windows Azure?
Question 2: If possible, then do I need to modify my existing codes? How can I do so?
Thank you in advance.

A: You do not need to modify your code to run on Windows Azure. Just hook it up to a repository and create a new web site on Azure. Then connect the two and you'll have a fully functioning project.


Arizona Ranches For Sale - South Mill Ranch. At around 4,000 feet in elevation, the South Mill Ranch enjoys an idyllic climate for about eight months of the year.
Wholesale 4 high rolling mill 4 high rolling mill for sale. Wholesale 4 high rolling mill, China 4 high rolling mill for sale 310396 4 high rolling mill manufacturers.
4 High Cold Rolling Mill Stand For Sale. 4 high rolling mill stand for sale. International Rolling Mills Used Machines for Sales at Loor Online .


Atherosclerosis is a life-long illness that begins with risk factors, which in turn contribute to the development of subclinical disease, followed by the establishment of overt cardiovascular disease (CVD). Thrombotic-occlusive complications of atherosclerosis are among the most widespread and costly health problems. Oxidized low-density lipoprotein (OxLDL) plays an important role in atherogenesis by promoting an inflammatory environment and lipid deposition in the arterial wall. As cardiovascular events occur in individuals without common risk factors, there is a need for additional tools that may help in CVD risk assessment and management. The use of biomarkers has improved diagnostic, therapeutic and prognostic outcome in cardiovascular medicine. This review elaborates on the value of circulating OxLDL as a biomarker of CVD. Three enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (4E6, DLH3 and E06) using murine monoclonal antibodies for determination of OxLDL blood levels have been developed. How...ever, none of these assays are currently approved for routine clinical practice. We identified studies investigating OxLDL in CVD (measured by 4E6, DLH3 or E06 assay) by searching the PubMed database. Circulating OxLDL was found to be associated with all stages of atherosclerosis, from early atherogenesis to hypertension, coronary and peripheral arterial disease, acute coronary syndromes and ischemic cerebral infarction. The results of studies investigating the usefulness of OxLDL for CVD prediction were also summarized. Furthermore, OxLDL was found to be associated with pathologic conditions linked to CVD, including diabetes mellitus, obesity and metabolic syndrome (MetS). In addition, we have addressed the mechanisms by which OxLDL promotes atherogenesis, and the effects of antiatherogenic treatments on circulating OxLDL. Finally, we highlight the evidence suggesting that lipoprotein (a) [ Lp(a)] is the preferential carrier of oxidized phospholipids (OxPL) in human plasma. A strong association between OxPLapoB level (representing the content of OxPL on apolipoprotein B-100 particles, measured by E06 assay) and Lp(a) has been determined.


Heather Roselli, 35, who had special needs, was slammed to the ground in a 45-minute attack in Webster.
Two former group home workers responsible for the death of a resident were sentenced Wednesday in state Supreme Court.
Sarah DiLallo and Sandra Abdo each admitted to playing roles in the death of 35-year-old Heather Roselli on June 18, 2017. Roselli lived in a group home for people with special needs, prosecutors said.
DiLallo, who pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter and first-degree endangering the welfare of an incompetent person, each felonies, was sentenced to 1 to 3 years in state prison.
Abdo, who pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide in April, was sentenced to five years probation.
Sarah DiLallo sentenced to 1-3 yrs DOC on her plea to Man 2 and Sandra Abdo sentenced to 5 yrs probation on her plea to CNH, for the death of Heather Roselli, a young woman with special needs living in a Webster group home. Thank you #JusticeCenterNY!
Roselli was slammed to the ground at a Webster group home. After an attack that lasted about 45 minutes according to officials, Roselli was found unresponsive inside 30 Pierce St. in the village of Webster around 1 p.m. June 18, 2017.
She was taken to Rochester General Hospital, where she died later that night. She died from "multiple internal injuries and asphyxia following a restraint" employed by DiLallo and Abdo, prosecutors said.
"The home was operated, staffed, and supervised by New York state's Office for Persons with Developmental Disabilities," a release said.
Assistant District Attorney Leslie Schildt said when the indictment was unsealed that DiLallo and Abdo ignored their training and put Roselli facedown on the ground after she wanted to call her stepfather on Father's Day. Schildt said Roselli was "slammed" to the ground and called "derogatory" names.
Schildt called DiLallo the "initiator." Police were not called until Roselli was unconscious.


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A mosquito flew right in the way while I was peeing, fell in the toilet and drowned. As a married man, I'm legally not allowed to say that was the happiest moment of my life, but that was the happiest moment of my life.
The United State's Justice Department announced today that they will no longer use private prisons and would only use public institutions in the future. The government wants to make prison accessible to everyone, not just the few who can afford it.
McDonald's fisheries in New Zealand are accused of under reporting their catches, as well as their continuing danger to the local endangered dolphin species. Reports have come in that fisheries associated with the fast food chain have not been forthcoming with accidental dolphin catch numbers. Bowing to public pressure, McDonalds has pulled the release of their newest burger, the "All-Dolphin Supreme".
Oil is now cheaper than the barrel it goes in. Good thing I invested all my money in all those barrel futures. This bubble is never going to burst!
Barrel companies are now looking to expand their product line to other energy producers and are currently developing barrels to deliver solar and wind power to a doorstep near you.


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Broadlume acquires BanaBoom, hosts Town Hall
By Reginald Tucker—Broadlume utilized its first-ever Virtual Town Hall meeting, held on March 23, as the platform to make several major announcements. The first of which entailed its strategic acquisition of BanaBoom, a web-based platform providing floor covering retailers with integrated solutions from the front office to the back end. The purchase comes on the heels of Broadlume's purchase of RollMaster last fall.
"One of the reasons we made the purchase is we believe the flooring industry deserves better," said Todd Saunders, CEO, Broadlume. "We believe [retailers] deserve a simpler platform and better interface with better tools. We're going to take the best parts of RollMaster and the best parts of BanaBoom to give retailers the best flooring software out there."
Another reason Broadlume acquired BanaBoom, which specializes in enterprise resource planning, is the company's presence in the cloud. "Retailers deserve to be able to access every single feature and every single piece of their flooring software from anywhere on any device, and that starts with the cloud," Saunders said. "No more broken promises, no more server rooms that you have to rely on in the back of your showrooms. The cloud gives you the freedom that every retailer deserves, and at Broadlume we are committed to being the industry leader in cloud technology."
The acquisition of BanaBoom also reflects Broadlume's emphasis on system security. "You have poured your blood, sweat and tears and countless years in your business, and with a single cyber attack on your software, you can lose everything," Saunders told the retailers who participated in the Virtual Town Hall. "That's all of your records, your credit card statements and your customers' personal information. We are committed to doubling down on security and making sure your data is safe."
To demonstrate its commitment to the success of retailers and elevating their digital capabilities, Broadlume is putting its money where its mouth is. "We have allocated $22 million to bring in the best engineers, the best data scientists and the best security experts to bring you fully integrated flooring software, CRM and website platform," Saunders told attendees.
As a result of the acquisition, Josh Pendergrass, CTO and founder of BanaBoom, is joining Broadlume. Prior to starting BanaBoom, Pendergrass ran seven Carpet One stores that his family owned, and he has held every single job in a carpet store. What's more, he built his own flooring accounting software. "We are excited to welcome Josh to the Broadlume family," Saunders said.
Pendergrass said he looks forward to the next phase. "BanaBoom was built with the security of Fortune 500 companies. We are a cloud-based technology, so we have heightened capabilities, which is really important in this space. Data integrity is important to me, so we wanted to put together a data structure that actually made sense. I am very excited to join the Broadlume team and joining the BanaBoom and RollMaster products together. The flooring industry can really use some new technology, and I love what Broadlume is doing. They are here to help the dealer. It's going to improve everything about your store."
The next announcement at the company's first-ever Town Hall event was regarding FloorCon 2022. After the company's successful and sold out FloorCon 2021, it was decided to not only upgrade to a larger venue but to add another day to the event so retailers can have the opportunity to learn more and engage with fellow industry professionals. "If you were at FloorCon 2021, that was not just another flooring show—the networking, the energy," said John Weller, CIO, Broadlume. "We were there for one reason—to help you sell more floor covering. But we sold out almost immediately, and we had to turn people away. This year, we are tripling down; we're going from two days to three days and we're tripling the size of the venue in Tucson, Ariz."
Along with the larger venue and extra day, Broadlume is offering "early bird" 2022 FloorCon tickets at a discount.
The third and final announcement revealed a two-day, hands-on boot camp with America's Floor Source's CEO, Jason Goldberg. "Jason is going to take every dealer through his eight-step process on how he built one of the most profitable $175 million flooring stores," Saunders said. "If you come to this event, and follow his eight-step process, you will have the opportunity to build the biggest and most profitable store in your market. Jason has been an incredible advisor to the Broadlume team, and he's one of the best business people I know. His operation, his process and his training materials are similar to what I've seen at Google, Salesforce and Facebook. This is going to be a really exciting event."
According to Goldberg, a select few people will be invited to Columbus, Ohio to see the inner workings of a $175 million flooring store. He'll be answering questions from those that attend while working together to both come up with ideas on how to improve their business and show them how to run a successful flooring store.
Saunders said when it comes to technology companies, a lot of the time they are labeled as disrupters. "I don't look at Broadlume as a disrupter; I look at what we're doing and the community we're building as an integrator and an organization that's bringing the industry together from all three pillars—the manufacturers and their brands to the retailers and the consumers—to build a much better experience and help everyone in this industry sell more flooring and make more money," Saunders said. "We want to bring transparency, honesty and a breath of fresh air to this industry. Moving forward, we're going to be doing more of these Town Hall meetings and continue to do whatever it takes to bring this industry together."
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