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'Always Be My Maybe' is a 'nostalgic' look at modern romance
Need some hope in the love department? The romantic comedy genre sure has lately. But recently, Netflix's "Always Be My Maybe" has reignited a flame...
Netflix's basketball movie 'High Flying Bird' breaks filmmaking norms
One of Netflix's newest original films, big-time producer and director Steven Soderbergh's "High Flying Bird," takes place in the midst of an NBA...
Coen brothers' 'Ballad of Buster Scruggs' a unique Wild West adventure
Late last year, the Coen brothers' newest film, "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs," debuted on Netflix, and their biggest fans should be overjoyed to...
Mix up your Valentine's Day with these diverse romantic movies
Valentine's Day is upon us, and whether you're alone, with friends or with that special someone, you can rest assured that there's always going to...
OPINION: Fyre Festival: What we are willing to sacrifice
The Fyre Festival will probably be recorded as the greatest party to be planned. The promise of supermodels, concerts and exclusive access duped thousands...
TV review: We're talking about 'You'
The DM's managing editor Devna Bose, news editor Hadley Hitson and assistant arts & culture editor Eliza Noe sat down yesterday to discuss "You,"...
'Roma' demands viewers invest time to appreciate art of film
Hailed as the best picture of the year by a wide range of critics and garnering 10 Oscar nominations, Alfonso Cuarón's "Roma" has a lot to live up to. The film, which was written, produced, co-edited, shot and directed by Cuarón and stars Yalitza Aparicio and Marina de Tavira, had its wide release on Netflix, but it's not your typical care-free Netflix film....
What to watch this weekend: 'The Christmas Chronicles' and 'Bad Santa'
With winter break right around the corner, many of us will be gearing up to use our Christmas movie collections during the holiday season. Surprisingly,...
Netflix's 'Sabrina' a dark twist on the original series
The new Netflix series "The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" takes viewers on a series of dark and twisted events complimented with charm and black...
What to watch this weekend: 'Good Will Hunting' and 'The Hateful Eight'
With some cold weeks ahead of us, it is safe to say that fall is in full swing. For those of you who look to movies to pass the time during this part...


Rosy Lopez is the Founder & CEO of Rosy Strategies, an Integrated Marketing company providing businesses with a collaborative approach to maximizing their visibility through Marketing, Public Relations, Branding, Web Development, SEO, Social Media and Content Marketing.
With more than 25 years as a senior marketing executive working in house, Rosy has overseen the business development and marketing initiatives of several top AmLaw firms. Her extensive experience in all marketing disciplines includes community relations/corporate responsibility programs, PR, branding, competitive analysis, public speaking, coaching, budget development and management. Rosy works closely with a company's leadership team in developing and implementing short and long-term strategic plans and tactics that result in measurable growth of business. Rosy is the 2014 Apogee Award Honoree for Chief Marketing Officer of Broward County by South Florida Business & Wealth Magazine.
Rosy currently serves as Chair of Women United for the United Way of Broward County. Women United mobilizes women donors to become powerful philanthropists and community change leaders. She is also a Founding Forty Member of the United Way of Broward County's Envision United. In addition, Rosy serves on the Board of Directors for ARC Broward. This nationally accredited, private, 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization provides services to children and adults with autism, Down syndrome, and other developmental disabilities, as well as those with various life challenges. She also serves on the Winterfest Advisory Board. Winterfest is best known for its one of a kind Boat Parade that has an economic impact on Broward County of over $48 million per year. Rosy received her Bachelor of Business Administration in International Marketing and Management from the University of Miami School of Business.


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Green bonds offer pricing benefits to both issuers and investors
Latest research reveals the gains of going green across primary and secondary markets
The latest Green Bond Pricing in the Primary Market is now available, assessing the performance of issuances in the second half of 2021. The findings follow the H1 2021 report and longer-term Climate Bonds analysis which suggests that pricing benefits of green bonds are pervasive.
Now in its 13th iteration, this research has embedded the concept of 'greenium' in the discourse of sustainable finance. The greenium represents a great result for issuers as it means they pay less to finance their green bonds compared to vanilla equivalents.
However, this does not necessitate a loss for investors, as this research reveals the premium paid by the investor on green debt can be justified by the strength of the secondary market performance of green bonds when compared to vanilla equivalents.
The report includes the assessment of 73 green bonds with a combined face value of USD71.8bn. Pricing benefits have remained visible as the market expanded to over half a trillion USD in issuance in 2021 and USD1.6 trillion since market inception in 2007, based on the Climate Bonds Green Bond Database.
The Greenium remains visible
When a bond is issued with a higher price, and thus has a lower yield compared to outstanding debt, this is known as a new issue concession. New issue concessions are often present in green bonds, a phenomenon we have termed a 'greenium' in this reporting series.
Issuers pay less to fund green bonds as the yield is lower, and the greenium can be visualised as it will price inside its own yield curve, mapped through the pricing of vanilla equivalents.
The American energy company Dominion's issuance in August 2021 provides an example of greenium observed as seen below in green.
The report observes that, on average, both EUR and USD green bonds in the sample achieved larger book cover and spread compression compared to vanilla equivalents. Half of the bonds with yield curves priced with a greenium or inside their yield curves.
Yield curves were available for 34 non-sovereign bonds in our sample and 17 of those were priced on or inside their yield curves.
Two-thirds (66%) of green bonds were allocated to investors describing themselves as green.
Sovereign Green Bond and ETF Highlights
In H2 2021, four sovereigns brought six new green bonds denominated in either EUR or USD which qualified for our analysis in our pricing research.
Spain and Korea priced their first sovereign green bonds, while Germany and Hong Kong returned to the market with new bonds. Yield curves were available for Spain, Germany and Hong Kong (USD), with Germany and Spain's bond (SPGB 2042) exhibiting greenium (see below).
A ninth green bond ETF, the Lyxor Euro Government Green Bond DR UCITS, was launched in July with an initial size of EUR48m.
At the end of 2021, there were nine green bond ETFs with combined fund assets of USD1.4bn - an increase of 18% on the prior period (14% without the new fund). The growth of green bond ETFs adds further demand pressure to green bonds in the secondary market.
Investors benefits for secondary market performance
The report demonstrates that green bonds experience stronger secondary market performance compared to vanilla equivalents. The research reveals that green bonds achieved a greater magnitude of spread, tightening after both 7 and 28 days when compared to baskets constructed of matched vanilla bonds and indices. The performance of green bonds in the secondary market can help investors to justify the greenium.
The resolve of green bonds to be tested
Central banks are winding down post-pandemic support and rates are expected to increase in 2022. Going into year-end, investors are naturally cautious of investments that could face volatility by rising rates, including all types of bonds.
Green bonds would be naturally more vulnerable to this trend due to the slightly longer duration of green bond indices. However, noting the rise in demand for sustainable investments across the board, the green label may offer some protection, though not complete immunity, against reallocations.
Demand for green debt has been soaring since market inception, with over USD1.6tn issued to date and 2022 touted to see the first annual trillion. Likewise, pricing advantages are expected to show endurance during a changing economic landscape, driven largely by this heavy demand outstripping the supply as asset managers look to address climate risk in their portfolios.
Sean Kidney, CEO of Climate Bonds, is optimistic of green bonds performance during these last turbulent years. Sean remarked:
"The demand for green bonds is defiantly withstanding the economic, social and geopolitical turmoil of the last couple of years. The ability to weather storms and survive downturns is absolute gold dust and promises value across primary and secondary markets."
We would like to thank Lyxor ETF-Amundi Group, IFC, and SSGA for their support in producing this paper.
Report findings will be presented in a Webinar with panellists from the Spanish Treasury, Amundi Group, Smurfit Kappa Group and SSGA.
Date: Tuesday, 30th of March 2022
Time: 15:00 Paris / 14:00 London / 09:00 New York / 22:00 Hong Kong, Singapore
Climate Bonds
Upcoming Events not to be missed!
Climate Bonds Standard expands into hard-to-abate sectors this year, enabling Certification for debt issuance from heavy industry sectors!
Chemicals sector is one of the biggest industries in the world and the largest industrial user of energy, accounting for 30% of energy consumption. It also represents around 5% of total global GHG emissions. Join us at the launch of the Public Consultation Basic Chemicals Criteria, as we present the draft Criteria that will enable green transition pathways for the industry that serves as building blocks for thousands of products and materials.
Date: Tuesday 29th March
Time: 14:00 BST (London) / 15:00 CEST (Paris) / 09:00 EDT (New York) / 21:00 (Singapore)
Special Event: Ukraine War & Global Energy Impacts to 2030 - How clean energy will outpace fossil fuels
The Russia Ukraine war has triggered both a policy shift towards clean energy independence and debate around a longer life span for fossil fuels in the global energy mix.
Will the crisis extend fossil fuel dependency? Or will policy makers double down on energy security through renewables?
We bring you a special Webinar Event from Global NGOs Inevitable Policy Response (IPR), Carbon Tracker Initiative and Climate Bonds.
Using IPR forecast policy scenarios (FPS), Carbon Tracker oil and gas industry analysis and Climate Bonds market intel this special event for investors and policy makers will assess the current uncertainties and political responses against long term trends in climate policy, green finance and energy transition.
Date: Monday 4th April
The information contained in this communication does not constitute investment advice in any form and the Climate Bonds Initiative is not an investment adviser. Any reference to a financial organisation or debt instrument or investment product is for information purposes only. Links to external websites are for information purposes only. The Climate Bonds Initiative accepts no responsibility for content on external websites.
Certification under the Climate Bond Standard indicates alignment with the provisions of the Standard concerning the climate attributes of the financed assets and projects. It does not reflect the creditworthiness of the issuer or the designated debt or other green financing instrument, nor does confirm compliance with national or international laws.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Wild Animals of the North by Dieter Braun
See 2 Critic Reviews
The skillful integration of artistry and naturalistic detail makes this a striking addition to a child's wildlife library, to be followed by Wild Animals of the South.
-Publishers Weekly
The first in a pair of illustrated books covering the animals of the world, Wild Animals of the North features Dieter Braun's beautiful drawings of northern animals accompanied by fun facts and clever descriptions that children will love!
From the polar bears of the Arctic to the North American pumas and pandas in Asia, Wild Animals of the North takes children on an exciting journey of discovery. The stunning and accurate drawings show these animals in all their natural majesty and the witty and charming descriptions will teach children all about their new favorite animals!
Dieter Braun is a freelance illustrator and children's book author from Hamburg, Germany.
About Dieter Braun
Dieter Braun is a freelance illustrator and children's book author from Hamburg, Germany. He studied Communciation Design at the Folkwangschule in Essen. International publications like Time Magazine, The New York Times, stern, Cosmopolitan, Newsweek, Elle and Glamour are part of his many clients. The illustrations for the anniversary edition of Momo by Michael Ende are among his most recent work.
Published June 7, 2016 by Flying Eye Books. 144 pages
Genres: Nature & Wildlife, Arts & Photography, Children's Books, Science & Math.
Critic reviews for Wild Animals of the North
All: 2 | Positive: 1 | Negative: 1
on Mar 30 2016
The text repeats the unfortunate and no-longer-used name "oldsquaw" for the long-tailed duck and attributes the raccoon's name generally to "Native Americans" though it comes from a specific Algonquian word...Amazing art makes this a browser's delight, but they should go elsewhere for solid information.
Read Full Review of Wild Animals of the North | See more reviews from Kirkus
on Apr 23 2017
Read Full Review of Wild Animals of the North | See more reviews from Publishers Weekly
Reader Rating for Wild Animals of the North
An aggregated and normalized score based on 9 user ratings from iDreamBooks & iTunes


text:
Lands and Languages
Why Treaty
Treaty Process
Treaty Milestones
Treaty Team
Elder's Council
Lands & Resources
Health & Family Services
Treaty Update
The New GNN Website is here!
Here is our opportunity to provide information to help you better understand the status of the Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Nations (GNN) Treaty Process.
This updated GNN website has been a long time coming. The upgraded site will give us new communication tools with information to help each member be fully aware of activities that are planned as well as reports about work done in the treaty process (see TRMs and studies carried out that will be soon linked here). The tools used to communicate with you will be written, adding photographs, audio recordings, audio visual recordings and other documents such as newly produced GNN Brochures. Our film, How a People Live, will also be linked for easy access.
Communication is Key to understanding the Treaty Process
At community meetings hosted by the GNN Treaty Office over the years, we talked about and heard of the need for improved communication between GNN Treaty and GNN members. This new GNN Website will assist in this way, in addition it can be supplemented by Facebook and Instagram activity for those who search news and information through social media sources.
Communication Since Covid-19
Conference Call and Zoom Meetings are the new way meetings are held since the Covid-19 Pandemic appeared. With social distancing and meeting restrictions, this website is a way to report out to community on plans, agendas, reports and schedules for meetings. Also, here you can provide feedback and opinion on matters through Q and A sections, future surveys, discussion groups and live meetings that can be shared on this website for you to attend in person or to review later.
What is Happening with Treaty Negotiations?
Currently the Treaty Team, (please see list and photos of members on the treaty team included here), attend Conference and Zoom meetings on a weekly basis, the main sessions are the Main Table Negotiation Conference and Zoom/Skype calls between our GNN Negotiation team, the Federal and Provincial negotiation teams. During these once per month three-day sessions, we deal with topics related to the following: lands; natural resources such as fish and forests, shellfish, plants and wildlife; rebuilding in the Homelands; remediation of the homelands where contamination has occurred; GNN laws – GNN traditional and modern governance, GNN jurisdiction in the territories; fiscal/taxation issues; return and repatriation of artefacts and cultural objects held by museums; parks; and infrastructure such as Tsulquate Bridge repair as well as our planned Gukwdzi (Bighouse). At the Main Table Sessions we help to facilitate in areas such as Children and Family Jurisdiction by bringing Government representatives to the 'table' to work with our Staff to help seek resolution to issues. We work closely with GNN Chief and Council, the Band Manager and departments to achieve goals.
Recognition of Rights and Title and Loan Forgiveness
Why have treaty negotiations taken so long? For too long the GNN were mandated and prepared to negotiate a GNN treaty but we faced the roadblock of federal and provincial governments without a mandate to make progress, the biggest impediment was lack of recognition of GNN Title and Rights to our GNN territories in Smith Inlet, Seymour Inlet and out-lying islands. Another block was what is referred to as "certainty", the governments argued that certainty of who had title and rights needed to be final, as set out in a final agreement. The word extinguishment was used to characterize the lands at the end of negotiations. To make matters worse, our Nations were required to take out a loan to negotiate with governments who held tight to their 'positions'. Our political leaders united together with concerns about this process of negotiations. Eventually through the BC Treaty Commission, the First Nations Summit, several ground-breaking court cases and an international recognition of basic rights, (Tsilquotin Court Case, Delgamuukw Court Case, UNDRIP), the governments changed their positions.
Recently, at the Main Table Negotiation session in July, the federal negotiator presented new federal law that is based on Recognition of Rights and Title. Also we received a letter from Minister Carolyn Bennet saying all past and present negotiation loans are forgiven. And there will be no additional negotiation loans in the future.
What is next for Treaty?
We continue with the Tripartite Negotiations – the GNN Treaty Team which includes Chief, Council, Hereditary Chiefs, legal/technical advisors and staff meet to carry out work plans that have been developed. We align ourselves with a schedule that lists dates for meeting to take place a full year in advance. In addition to the regularly scheduled negotiation sessions, the Treaty Team prepares proposals to fund negotiations as well as other projects such as the following current and past TRM's: "Tsulquate Land Study for Housing", "Warner Bay Contamination and Remediation Plan", "Restoring Traditional Knowledge for Land and Resource Management", "Conservancy Management in GNN Territories" "Comprehensive Community Plan Development for 2020-21" "Archaeological Studies in GNN Village Sites" "Communications Strategy" "Historical Traditions and Modern Governance" and "2019 GNN Land Use Plan" to name just a few of the activities. The reports provide data and detail required to strengthen our negotiations, and they will be available for GNN Members to access on this new GNN website.
Treaty and Covid-19
Treaty negotiations and activities have not been impacted by Covid-19, some say the frequency of meetings and activities have increased over the last 6 months. An example of recent progress is when our treaty team along with our lands and resources office worked with the Province, who assisted with funds and Canada, who stepped forward to help with a clean-up, of one of our ancient village sites in 'Nakwaxda'xw Territory, called, Warner Bay. This is one example of many situations and activities that will be regularly written about in the Treaty Updates to appear here on our new GNN website.
Gratitude and Acknowledgements
Thank you for this new site goes to the GNN Web designers Kelsey Wood, the band manager, the GNN departments, the GNN treaty team, especially contractor Sharlene Frank, for completing details required for this website, it has taken a period of a year to get this done and here we are!
Thank you Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw folks for your continued support as we progress through these times. There are many challenges to be faced but we know with the strength of your support, the strength of our leaders and staff/contractors as well as the wisdom of our elders, the life ways that our children and future generations deserve here in Tsulquate and in the Homelands will be achieved.
Gila'kasla,
Clu'ya'gilakw,
Chief Negotiator, Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Nations
Reclaiming Control: How the Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw are Determining their Economic Future
Coastal Guardian Watchmen Network Featured in Sierra Magazine
Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw School has won the Charlie Cup Championship
Nation News
Treaty Updates
Lands and History
© 2020 All rights reserved Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Nations, Site By Red Toque Creative.


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Q: How to use an alternate go.mod file for local development? Currently I am working on an API which uses Serverless Framework with Go.
I'm using the Serverless-offline plugin for local testing.
This API depends on a few other repositories (which I also maintain), which I import using the go.mod file.
However I am having a hard time refining my developer workflow.
Currently, if I want to make changes in a repository which this API depends upon, I have to alter the projects go.mod to include replace directives for the purpose of testing, but then I'm having to manually change it back for deployment to production.
Basically I'm looking for a way to include replace directives, which only get applied during local development. How has everyone else dealt with this problem?
Bonus question: Is there any way to run Serverless offline in docker? I'm finding that serverless-offline running on the bare metal is causing inconsistencies between different developers environments.

A: You can run go commands with an alternate go.mod file with the -modfile option:
From Build commands:

The -modfile=file.mod flag instructs the go command to read (and
possibly write) an alternate file instead of go.mod in the module root
directory. The file's name must end with .mod. A file named go.mod
must still be present in order to determine the module root directory,
but it is not accessed. When -modfile is specified, an alternate
go.sum file is also used: its path is derived from the -modfile flag
by trimming the .mod extension and appending .sum.

Create a local.go.mod file with the necessary replace directive for development and build, for example, with:
go build -modfile=local.go.mod ./...

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Danny Burton
FormFuture Entries
14/01/21 2/11 Loch Garman Aris HURDLE Bangor-on-Dee, 2m 7f 7y, Heavy, C5 40/1
11/01/21 11/14 Talk Of A Storm N_H_FLAT Hereford, 2m 53y, Soft, C5 150/1
30/12/20 PU Zellerate HURDLE Taunton, 2m 104y, Heavy (Soft in places), C4 150/1
28/12/20 2/9 Wbee HURDLE Catterick, 3m 1f 71y, Soft, C4 22/1
28/12/20 5/10 Sir Tivo CHASE Catterick, 1m 7f 145y, Soft, C5 20/1
26/12/20 8/13 Laverteen HURDLE Wetherby, 2m 5f 56y, Soft, C3 150/1
16/12/20 3/5 Aasleagh Dawn CHASE Ludlow, 2m 4f 11y, Soft, C3 100/1
08/12/20 2/6 Zellerate HURDLE Fontwell, 2m 1f 162y, Soft (Good to Soft in places), C4 200/1
02/12/20 PU Laverteen HURDLE Haydock, 2m 2f 191y, Heavy, C3 80/1
01/12/20 PU Time For Champers HURDLE Lingfield, 2m, Heavy, C4 16/1
01/12/20 4/6 Alberts Monarch N_H_FLAT Lingfield, 2m, Standard / Slow, C5 200/1
25/11/20 11/11 Maroc CHASE Hereford, 2m 8y, Soft, C5 33/1
24/11/20 9/12 Silvretta Schwarz HURDLE Southwell, 1m 7f 182y, Good to Soft (Good in places), C5 100/1
23/11/20 10/12 Whitley Neill CHASE Ludlow, 2m 7f 171y, Good to Soft (Good in Places), C5 80/1
10/11/20 PU My Anchor HURDLE Huntingdon, 2m 4f 145y, Good, C5 125/1
13/10/20 9/10 Ebnal Explorer HURDLE Hereford, 2m 3f 147y, Good to Firm (Good in places), C4 250/1
26/09/20 PU My Anchor HURDLE Market Rasen, 2m 2f 140y, Good, C5 150/1
25/09/20 9/14 Stripe Of Honour HURDLE Uttoxeter, 2m 7f 70y, Good (Good to firm in places), C5 150/1
11/07/17 7/9 Pension Madness HURDLE Uttoxeter, 1m 7f 168y, Good to Soft, C5 13/2
25/06/17 3/12 Pension Madness HURDLE Worcester, 2m, Good, C5 4/1
30/05/17 8/15 Pension Madness HURDLE Newton Abbot, 2m 2f 110y, Good (Good to Firm in places), C5 6/1
17/05/17 PU Griffington HURDLE Worcester, 2m 7f, Soft, C4 100/1
27/04/17 1/7 Ohms Law CHASE Market Rasen, 2m 3f 34y, Good (Good to Soft in places), C5 16/1
27/12/16 8/13 How's Vienna HURDLE Chepstow, 2m 3f 100y, Good to Soft (Soft in places), C3 100/1
26/12/16 2/12 My Anchor HURDLE Market Rasen, 2m 4f 139y, Good to Soft (Good in places), C5 33/1
08/08/16 5/5 Martha Mccandles FLAT Wolverhampton, 1m 4f 50y, Standard, C5 7/1
14/07/16 6/7 John Biscuit FLAT Epsom Downs, 1m 4f 10y, Good, C5 33/1
20/06/16 12/12 Thenobleprankster FLAT Windsor, 1m 0f 67y, Soft (Heavy in places), C5 80/1
05/06/16 12/12 Wun Destination FLAT Goodwood, 1m 1f 192y, Good to Firm, C5 150/1
03/06/16 6/10 The Tichborne FLAT Bath, 1m 0f 5y, Good to Firm (Good in Places), C6 10/1
20/05/16 10/10 Sunny Monday FLAT Wolverhampton, 1m 0f 141y, Standard, C5 100/1
21/04/16 5/11 Kilrush HURDLE Exeter, 2m 7f 25y, Good (Good to Soft in places), C5 50/1
13/04/16 6/10 George Baker FLAT Kempton Park, 0m 7f 0y, Standard, C5 20/1
05/04/16 PU Kilrush HURDLE Newton Abbot, 3m 2f 105y, Soft (Heavy in places), C4 66/1
14/03/16 PU Phar Away Island HURDLE Taunton, 2m 7f 198y, Soft (Good to Soft in places), C5 9/1
08/03/16 PU Kilrush HURDLE Exeter, 2m 7f 25y, Good to Soft (Soft in places), C4 80/1
25/02/16 7/7 Wicked Woo FLAT Lingfield Park, 0m 6f 1y, Standard, C6 20/1
30/01/16 PU Kapricorne CHASE Uttoxeter, 3m 0f 2y, Heavy, C4 4/1
24/01/16 - Kapricorne CHASE Fontwell Park, 3m 1f 106y, C5 5/1
26/12/15 PU The New Trick (IRE) N_H_FLAT Huntingdon, 1m 7f 171y, Soft (Good to Soft in places), C6 50/1
26/12/15 2/10 Kapricorne CHASE Huntingdon, 2m 7f 129y, Soft (Good to Soft in places), C5 16/1
12/12/15 8/11 Tamarillo Grove HURDLE Doncaster, 2m 0f 140y, Soft (Good to Soft in places), C4 100/1
10/12/15 3/11 Old Magic HURDLE Newcastle, 2m 0f 98y, Heavy (Soft in places), C5 11/1
17/11/15 PU Kheskianto HURDLE Fakenham, 2m 7f 95y, Soft, C5 33/1
17/11/15 PU Monzino HURDLE Fakenham, 2m 4f 1y, Good to Soft, C5 66/1
16/11/15 4/8 Xenophon CHASE Leicester, 2m 6f 151y, Good to Firm (Good in Places), C4 33/1
14/11/15 F Pantoloni HURDLE Uttoxeter, 2m 3f 207y, Soft, C5 100/1
13/11/15 7/7 The Society Man CHASE Cheltenham, 2m 4f 78y, Good to Soft (Good in places; Cross Country: Good, Good to Firm in places), C2 250/1
11/11/15 5/6 Tamarillo Grove HURDLE Exeter, 2m 0f 175y, Soft (Heavy in places), C3 14/1
05/11/15 UR Pantoloni HURDLE Towcester, 2m 4f 217y, Good (Good to Soft in places), C4 100/1


Since the announcement of the new Video Cloud two weeks ago, we've heard great feedback from many customers who have started working in the new Studio. There are so many reasons why we are incredibly excited about the release of the new Studio so I am starting a weekly blog series to tell you about all of them.
Throughout the blog series I will update you about some of the cool new features and benefits of the new Studio as well as provide some best practices along the way. I hope you find this information beneficial. If you have specific questions or items that you would like covered in this series, feel free to contact me directly at kborrero@brightcove.com.
The first post is going to be a follow-up from the video blog that Aaron posted last week regarding the new Upload Module!
In the new Video Cloud Studio we've broken out uploading into it's own separate module, and as a result we have been able to add lots of significant improvements to the upload process and workflows within the new Video Cloud Studio. First, by moving it out of the Media Module, we were able to add a new "module access" user role just for uploading. This means that you can provide any number of users on your account with access to the Upload Module, but you don't have to give them full read and write access to your entire Video Cloud catalog. This is especially valuable for organizations who are getting content from many different sources or users. To read more about this new feature, check out this article on our Support Portal.
In addition to the new module access user role for uploading, users on your account can now upload videos on-the-go from a phone or tablet device. We've heard lots of requests over the years for mobile uploading capabilities, so we are very excited that the new Studio is now mobile and tablet friendly. Simply open up a browser on your phone or tablet and go to studio.brightcove.com. Select the Upload Module from the drop-down menu in the header and you are ready to select your files. As your videos are uploading, you can add metadata to your videos the same way as you would on the desktop Upload Module, which will save you time in the publishing process and ultimately allows you to get your videos out faster to your end viewers. Soon we'll be adding a way for you to upload your video still/thumbnail image and any captions files from the Upload Module while your video is uploading as well. Read more about this new feature on our Support site.
Finally, the last feature I want to highlight in the new Upload Module is the ability to upload videos directly from your Dropbox folder or other remote file storage locations. In the Upload Module, you can click the "Enter URL" button and provide the URL to the public folder where your video can be pulled from (for example, any public Dropbox folder or Amazon S3). Note, all Dropbox URLs need to end in dl=1. If you have a URL that ends in dl=0, just simply change the 0 to a 1 and you'll be all set. Once the URL is entered and you click the "add to queue" button, the file is pulled from the remote storage location and immediately begins the transcode process. This essentially skips the entire upload process and allows the start of the transcoding of your files sooner.
What I've highlighted above are just some of the benefits of the new Upload Module within the new Video Cloud Studio. I'm excited to continue sharing information with you about the new Studio in the coming weeks, and my next post will be about organizing your content with the Media Module, specifically highlighting our new Folders feature.
Up Next: New Video Cloud Studio: Now with Folders!
Try Video Cloud for Free for 30 Days!


The Early Modern Women Journal is now distributed semi-annually!
Volume 9.1 will be distributed in November 2014.
Volume 9.2 will follow in May 2015.
Click an image below or choose from the menu on the left to see the Table of Contents from published volumes of the Early Modern Women Journal.


American Business Executive, CEO of Avis, Director of American Express, Author of "Up the Organization"
Consultants are people who borrow your watch and tell you what time it is, and then walk off with the watch.
Don't hire a master to paint you a masterpiece and then assign a roomful of schoolboy artists to look over his shoulder and make suggestions.
Many people give lip service, but few delegate authority in important matters. And that means all they delegate is dog-work. A real leader does as much dog-work for his people as he can: he can do it, or see a way to do without it, ten times as fast. And he delegates as many important matters as he can because that creates a climate in which people grow.
Most people in big companies are administered, not led. They are treated as personnel, not people.
Flooded vehicles are sometimes cleaned up by unscrupulous sellers without disclosure of flood damage. In most states, this is illegal, but unfortunately some vehicles will slip through the system.
One of the most important tasks of a manager is to eliminate his people's excuses for failure.
If asked when you can deliver something, ask for time to think. Build in a margin of safety. Name a date. Then deliver it earlier than you promised. You'll be very valuable wherever you are.
Rewarding outstanding performance is important. Much more neglected is the equally important need to make sure that the underachievers don?t get rewarded. This is more painful, so it doesn?t get done very often.
If people are coming to work excited...if they're making mistakes freely and fearlessly...if they're having fun...if they're concentrating on doing things, rather than preparing reports and going to meetings...then somewhere you have a leader.
If you don't do it with excellence, don't do it at all! Because if it's not excellent, it won't be profitable or fun, and if you're not in business for fun or profit, what the hell are you doing there?
If you have to have a policy manual, publish the Ten Commandments.
These are stretch targets - they are not easy for us.
They know they're very good issues to be fighting for. They all feel good about it.
[A good leader should] carry water for their people, protect them from distraction, and appeal to the best in every employee. They should be visible to the troops.
To be satisfying a job should have variety, wholeness, autonomy, and feedback. In other words, no job description.
In combat, officers eat last. Most people in big companies today are administered, not led. They are treated as personnel, not people.
To have a successful organization, you?ll have to give up being an administrator who loves to run others and become a manager who carries water for his people so they can get on with the job.
A good manager doesn't try to eliminate conflict; he tries to keep it from wasting the energies of his people. If you're the boss and your people fight you openly when they think that you are wrong -- that's healthy.


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Trends in the Sports Business
Dr. Regina Henkel
More on the topic
Know-HowVegan Athletes: 15 Top Athletes on a Plant-Based Diet
Sustainability5 sustainability trends that will keep the sports industry busy
ISPO TextrendsTeam up for change: Jointly against Greenwashing
All about Sustainability
Sustainability I 03/05/2019
How Sports Retailers Differentiate Themselves from Their Competitors
New Brands and Concepts Enrich the Sports Retail Trade
Exchangeable assortments are out. It is becoming increasingly important for sports retailers to differentiate themselves from their competitors in order to offer customers the much-quoted "unique" shopping experience. As a retailer, you can hardly get past the big brands, but there are also a number of interesting small brands that deliver something special. These brands are not difficult to find - they come from the fashion, luxury and sustainability segments, for example. At ISPO Munich we looked for brands that presented themselves in a new way and with different approaches.
Hall C5 at ISPO Munich 2019.
Image credit: ISPO.com
Tentree: Planting with Fashion Trees
The three founders of the Canadian streetwear label Tentree have actually just one goal: to plant one billion trees by 2030 in order to protect the climate and the environment. Tentree was founded in 2013 with the sale of print T-shirts to finance the project. Ten trees are planted per product sold, which is still the heart of the business idea today. "We primarily see ourselves as tree planters," explains co-founder David Luba, who - like his two partners - had never worked in the apparel industry before.
In the Video: Sustainability in the Outdoor Industry at ISPO Munich
He also refers to his dealers and ultimately also his consumers as tree planting partners. "In this way, consumption can contribute to something positive," says Luba. What started with one T-shirt has meanwhile become an impressive collection, and 58,230 trees have already been planted in the European business alone. 25 million worldwide. Of course, the registered B Corporation also places a high value on sustainability in its materials and production.
Oberalp-CEO Christoph Engl about new brands in mountain sports
At Tentree, ten trees are planted for each sold product.
Image credit: Tentree
Templa: Between Luxury, Fashion and Performance
So far, the luxury sports segment has primarily consisted of sports collections of the major designer brands. If there was any luxury at all, it was only in the area of skiing - and it usually looked quite traditional. The Australian label Templa has discovered this market niche for itself and presents a young, very contemporary ski collection in the luxury segment. All materials and their processing are highly functional. Only the look is strikingly different: calf-length down coats, sack-like parkas, wide cargo pants.
Sebastian Kemmler: "No one is up for marketing bullshit anymore"
OutDoor by ISPO 2023
We are looking forward to experiencing the spirit of OutDoor by ISPO together with you again in 2023. Save the date: June 4 to 6 at the MOC - Event Center Messe München.
The label has just launched a collaboration with Belgian high fashion designer Raf Simons. "There is a real need for a different kind of luxury sport," says Creative Director Rob Maniscalco. "In the past, brands could dictate what sports collections had to look like, but today it's different. The conservative sports looks won't work in the future."
The Australian brand Templa presents a young, modern and luxurious skiing collection.
Image credit: Templa
Kathmandu: Sustainable Travel Wear from Down-Under
With 165 stores, the Kathmandu brand no longer is a newcomer in Australia and New Zealand. For over 30 years, Kathmandu has stood for outdoor clothing and equipment as well as sustainability. Now the label also wants to gain a foothold in the US and Europe, initially in the German-speaking area. "Kathmandu concentrates exclusively on the Wholesale sales channel," explains Maximilian Hofbauer, who advises the outdoor brand on its market entry.
"And don't forget: Kathmandu has its own retail origin and understands the business very well. To ensure that consumers also learn more about the brand, Kathmandu will be cooperating, among others, with National Geographic, Google and GoPro from spring 2019 onwards.
Kathmandu is established in the Australian and New Zealand markets.
Image credit: Kathmandu
AdM: A Producer of Sportswear Breaks New Ground
Artisan de Montagne - AdM for short - is the name of the new outdoor brand from KTC Unlimited. The Chinese company under Austrian management has been producing highly functional clothing for international sports brands for decades and has been committed to more social responsibility in the supply chain for many years. Now KTC wants to use its production know-how to develop its own brands and become a brand itself.
Read Here: Sustainability - Sports Brands Choose Different Strategies
"China is becoming more and more expensive as a production location, and at the same time more and more performance is demanded at lower prices," explains CEO Gerhard Flatz. "This isn't working." Instead of moving itself to cheaper production countries or commissioning cheaper subcontractors, whose standards can hardly be controlled, KTC wants to establish AdM, a new outdoor brand of high quality craftsmanship, and place its own production know-how at the center of the brand.
OutDoor by ISPO 2023: Become an exhibitor now
Outdoor is an attitude, outdoor is nature, a way of thinking, a key competence for a regenerative economy. Be there at the next OutDoor by ISPO. Online registration is now available here.
Blutsgeschwister: Fashion with Water Column
With its strikingly colorful women's collections, the Berlin label Blutsgeschwister actually has been at home in fashion for many years. Blutsgeschwister serves around 350 fashion locations in Germany, and now sports retailers are added as well. "The time has come to actively approach the sports retail trade," explains Sales Manager Martin Hoben. "We're just noticing that more and more sports retailers want to differentiate themselves from their competitors."
Parkas, hoodies and hooded jackets in particular are also doing well in sports retailing - compared to the eye-catching fashion looks of the brand, they are "light fare", as Hoben says. Jackets and parkas are equipped with an 8,000 m water column and are therefore ideal for urban environments. In addition, the brand attaches great importance to sustainable production.
The Berlin label Blutsgeschwister also attaches great importance to sustainable production.
Image credit: Blutsgeschwister
Sporting goods industry
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This commercial for IlGWU (The International Ladies Garment Workers Union) ran in various forms throughout my childhood. This commercial is from 1976.
The next one is the 1978 version.
And here is the 1981 version.
This was when some clothes were still made in the U.S.A, although that was starting to change.
It was reasonably easy to get a job back then . . . not like now.
These commercials were really famous back in the 1970s and the early 1980s. Remember, with only 3 networks plus PBS, television advertising was very powerful. As a matter of fact, there were quite a few parodies of this song.
Real workers were used in these commercials. I didn't pay much attention to them back then, although I would sing the song as the commercial played, but they really touch my heart now.
i remember these commercials. i am very observant of buying local, supporting local farmers and craftsmen when i can. i don't think often about unions!!!
It's very important to support local businesses.
These commercials are so memorable partly because they used real workers in them instead of actors. And of course the song.


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Buyer Motivations Are Shifting in the Solar Industry
The entire goal of the energy industry has always been to provide safe and reliable energy at a low cost, and the fact that we do have electricity as reliably as we do is nothing short of a miracle of engineering. However, surging costs and aging infrastructure has led some people to worry about the stability of their power supply going forward. Rising electricity rates, an increasingly volatile climate from excessive carbon emissions, and an increase in power outages has many people concerned about their power for the future, and this has led to a shift in buyer motivation for those who switch to solar.
We were proud to discuss this trend with our friends over at Scoop Solar, a developer of solar management software. While the majority of those who initially made the switch to solar because of the financial benefits (and many still do), today there's a new type of buyer who is becoming increasingly common in the solar market: those looking for security and reliability. These emotionally-motivated buyers are looking for ways to protect themselves and their families and ensure that they have as much control as possible over everything from the reliability of their power to the cost that they pay for it as well.
The Rise of Solar
Why has solar become so popular? The industry has been blessed by a metaphorical "perfect storm" of circumstances. In addition to rapidly plummeting costs of hardware, the industry has also been blessed with new financing options which have made more investment capital available for those who want to make the switch. Falling interest rates have lowered costs, reduced payoff periods, and decreased the payoff period. Home and business owners, particularly those in states like California where energy costs only continue to climb dramatically, are seeing a positive return on their investment in an increasingly short amount of time.
All of this made solar a more affordable and lucrative investment for the future, and California even went so far as to pass a law requiring all newly constructed homes in the future to be outfitted with solar panels. As decades pass and more and more homes are constructed in the state, the strain on our public power grids should alleviate, and not a moment too soon as power infrastructure continues to be threatened by natural forces and the passage of time.
An Emotional Appeal for Security
This is where a new type of solar buyer is becoming prominent. With power becoming more and more inconsistent, people are seeking a better way of guaranteeing a consistent supply of power. On the heels of one of the worst wildfire seasons in recorded history, PG&E, one of the largest utility providers in the state, began implementing a policy of Public Safety Power Shut-offs where the utility provider would begin turn off power during times factors like wind and heat make wildfire danger at its highest. For homeowners who depend on power for their comfort and health and business owners who need their energy to operate, going without power for days at a time because of the weather simply isn't an option.
And to make things even more complicated, the way we buy power from the public grid is changing as well. Time of use rates (or TOU rates) are becoming mandatory throughout the state—a change that has increased distrust in public utility companies. Rates were already confusing as it is, but shifting of peak power rates to later in the day along with complications in price structure indicates that home owners may soon see a huge spike in power costs, all because they're going to pay the most for their power during the times when they actually need it the most. It's no wonder the average home or business owner is wondering if their power will even be affordable in as little as 10 to 15 years' time.
All of this means a lot of stress on homeowners in the Golden State, and that's why many people have made the emotionally-fueled decision to go to solar. Whether it's installing a battery backup system to have emergency power at the ready in the event of a blackout, or a solar energy system to provide more power during California's many long hours of energy-filled sunlight, more and more people are choosing to move to renewable solar energy for better security in the future. Security for their power supply, security against rising costs, and even security for the environment, as solar helps reduce dependence on environmentally-harming fossil fuels.
Want to learn more about switching to solar? Call HES Solar at (619) 350-0032 today to request a consultation with one of our installation experts.
March 12, 2018 HES is Named the Commercial Regional Top Producer of the Year Read More


A few years ago, I decided to try my hand at the Advent of Code problems in Rust, as a way to help me learn the language. One of the things I like to do in Rust (which I also liked to do in Python) is make heavy use of iterators, so when I come up against a problem like this, I reach for them first!
I know 2016 was pretty terrible for the world in general, but it was okay for me. No-one died (well, no-one I'm related to), I managed to leave the country without any hassles and come back, I worked, I played. It was a straightforward year.
Habits are a powerful tool for success, whatever that means to you. Through habits you can manage how you spend your time, how you eat, when you exercise, whether you floss, and myriad other little things which add up to bring you closer to being the person you want to be.
I stopped using a paper day planner quite a few years, but in 2016 I used a different kind of planner, not to keep track of day to day events, but to keep track of my goals.
The Ink+Volt Volt planner, designed by Kate Matsudaira (who wrote one of the chapters in The Architecture of Open Source Applications) includes pages to track yearly, montly, and weekly goals. But what I'm going to write about here is the Monthly Challenge page, which allows you to set yourself a new daily challenge each month, write down why you want to do the thing, plan to do it, and track your success.
These are the challenges I set myself for 2016, and what I learned from them.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I wasn't really excited by the new MacBooks that were announced this year. And the more I read the less compelling they seemed… As I talked with my co-workers, I heard some really good reviews of a couple of models of Windows computers, and since 90% of Firefox's users are using Windows it's probably not such a bad idea if I use it, too, both to help me understand the problems they're running into, and to make sure that the code I'm writing will work for them.
In December 2015, I stopped reading Twitter. It was the school Christmas break, the girls were home and I wasn't working so I wasn't on my computer much, and I was too busy to read Twitter on my phone.
Then I just... didn't get back on again.
I'm writing a series about switching to Windows, and thought it would be nice to have a summary post, with links to all the other ones.
I work out every day. Hah, no I don't. I do work out most days, though. I didn't used to be a workout-every-day person. I got to this point through years of incremental changes and adjustments in my habits and attitudes.
But valued or not, exercise is profoundly important. If there is such a thing as a panacea, it's not aspirin or vitamin D or fish oil, it's exercise. It's good for your body, it's good for your brain, and it's good for your mood. Apart from the actual doing of it, there is no downside to exercise.
That's the trick, though, isn't it? The actual doing. The taking time out of your day, the sweating, the special clothes. It's a bit of a drag.
If you want to enjoy the benefits of exercise, you need to minimize the drag. This is how I manage it.
My problems with the new MacBooks.


Every club has to have some rules that we keep you as safe as possible when you dive. It helps everyone to understand what is expected when we are out and about.
All divers on trips need to have current next of kin details on record. If your personal/next of kin details change it is your responsibility to inform the dive leader for the trip.
To secure a dive space on a club dive trip a deposit will be required, the size of the deposit will depend on the cost of the trip and will be communicated out when the trip is announced.
Please Note: The deposit is non-refundable unless you can secure a replacement for your space.
All trips are required to be paid in full 30 days prior to the trip.
You can cancel 30 days prior to the trip and all monies, except the deposit will be refunded, unless you have a replacement, upon which all monies will be refunded.
On both these occasions your trip will be refunded in full.
Consider practicing basic dive skills in the pool. A pre first UK sea dive visit to an inland dive site is strongly recommended regardless of what level of experience or qualification. Take it easy during your first UK dives of the year; don't push yourself at the beginning of the season; it is not safe to do so.
February and March are good times to get your kit serviced and to check it out generally. Do your drysuit seals need replacing? Cylinders tested? Replace strobe batteries before the first dive and check batteries/charging of torches. Check knives are sharp and coated in grease. Remember to allow sufficient time (2-3 weeks) for servicing. Follow manufacturer recommendations for routine maintenance.
Allow time to get tanks filled before diving. If using Nitrox, ensure you have the right mix for the planned depth. If you are not present when the tanks are analysed, ensure you analyse the tanks before you use them. Mark the tanks with the MOD and mix.
If you require a dive medical please check it is still valid.
You must carry a Delayed Surface Marker Buoy (DSMB) and reel (except on Level 1 dives, see levels). It is recommended that you also carry a knife or snips and a torch or strobe, as well as a whistle or other audible signalling device.
Divers are advised to limit their alcohol consumption during the 24 hours preceding a dive. If you suffer from sea sickness the alcohol will make it worse.
If you drink before a dive you are placing yourself and potentially your buddy in danger, and are certainly at a greater risk of narcosis and DCI due to dehydration.
If you are taking any medication please confirm with a dive doctor that it is safe to dive whilst on the particular medication.
Please drink lots of water whilst on diving trips and don't get dehydrated.
Please monitor your air gauge regularly. Divers should surface with a minimum of 50 bar, in accordance with diving recommendations.
Start ear clearing at the surface and continue to clear all the way down. Do not continue to descend if you cannot clear both ears or if either hurts. Ascend as required and try again. If you cannot clear both ears you MUST abort the dive.
Descend and particularly ascend slowly. Fast descents may mean you hitting the bottom out of control and fast ascents could result in a loss of buoyancy control and potential DCI problems.
Ascend no quicker than 18m per minute, or well within the ascent rate suggested by your computer. Slower is generally better.
Obtain guidance if you haven't used a DSMB before, or are uncertain how to deploy a DSBM properly. If you have not used a SMB before, or are out of practice, go to the pool and have a play with them before you dive in the sea. Assist your buddy in the deployment of their DSMB and reel during your early dives; this will teach you how to use them properly.
Follow standard guidelines for buddy procedures. Remember visibility in the UK can be poorer. If you feel uncomfortable about a dive, end it.
If you are involved in any of the above, you must notify the dive organiser (and skipper if applicable) as soon as possible.
If you think you might be suffering from DCI inform the dive organiser and/or skipper immediately. Please do not remain silent.
The skipper is always in charge of the boat. Listen carefully to the boat briefing and follow instructions about placement of kit. If you are uncertain about any aspect of the dive or procedures, please ask. If you haven't dived from a boat before read the Boat Diving section in the Adventures in Diving manual and/or ask for a full orientation from the dive organiser or skipper. Follow instructions from the dive organiser and skipper at all times. If in doubt about anything, please ask!
All divers wishing to dive below 30m must hold the PADI Deep Diver Specialty that qualifies them to a maximum of 40m, or equivalent from another certifying agency. Even PADI Divemasters are only qualified to 30m without the Deep Specialty. Below 25m a redundant air supply is advised; e.g. a pony.
And Finally… Remember to dive within your training, experience and ability. Follow recommended safe diving practices – and have FUN!


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Online Open Day
Wed 30 Nov 2022, 5:00 – 7:00pm
Did you miss one of our on-campus Open Days? Or maybe you did visit us on campus, but still have some questions?
Why not join us for our Online Open Day for the chance to find out all you need to know about studying at University of the West of Scotland and find out why we were named Higher Educational Institution of the Year at The Herald Higher Education Awards 2022.
Sign up on Hopin
UWS Recognition
UWS has been recognised for its contribution to society:
Higher Educational Institution of the Year (source: The Herald Higher Education Awards 2022)
Ranked in the top 150 of the world's best universities that are 50 years old, or younger (source: The Times Higher Education Young University Rankings 2022)
Officially recognised by Times Higher Education in the top 200 universities worldwide as assessed against the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UWS was the most impactful university in Scotland for 'decent work and economic growth' (UN SDG 8), and 23rd most impactful university in the world for 'reducing inequalities' (UN SDG 10) (source: The Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2022)
90 percent of research at UWS is classed as world-leading, internationally excellent, or recognised internationally (source: Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021)
Our Academic School Structure
Helping us achieve this recognition, UWS is organised into four academic Schools for learning, teaching and research.
Find out more about Business & Creative Industries
Business & Creative Industries
Our professionally-focused business courses and practitioner-focused creative industries courses will equip you to make an immediate impact to business or creative industries.
Find out more about Computing, Engineering & Physical Sciences
Computing, Engineering & Physical Sciences
Building on a heritage of over 100 years' experience of engineering and technology education, our bachelors, masters and research courses help change the world.
Find out more about Education & Social Sciences
Education & Social Sciences
Ranked highly in the UK for Education provision, the School is concerned with understanding and impacting society, from Education to Social Work, Sociology to Criminal Justice and Psychology.
Find out more about Health & Life Sciences
The largest faculty of its kind in Scotland offering innovative teaching, firmly focused on the real-world challenges facing today's health care and life sciences.


We've proven that clinical and social service providers can work together to address the social determinants of health.
Clinical and non-clinical service providers delivering care in a collaborative accountable network, tracking and improving outcomes for every vulnerable patient in need.
Our four-step process for building community networks supports every organization throughout the life of the network to ensure efficiency, accountability, and long-term success.
Our patient-centered software streamlines direct referrals between all community providers, tracking 100% of external outcomes and providing visibility into your patients' entire health journeys through real-time SDoH reporting.
Connecting your patients to the community resources they need to reduce hospital utilizations and improve health outcomes.
Transforming system-wide care delivery by proving and improving the collective impact of all partners involved.
Increasing visibility around you and your patients with our robust data tracking tool – replacing outdated, manual processes to save you time.
Empowering you to work together to strengthen and rebuild communities, investing in the future for those who need it most.
The technology gives us a chance as a community to see who's accessing services, what services they're trying to access, and then the effectiveness of that access... that has really been a game-changer for our community.
In only six months of launching this network, we're already seeing success and results in the form of improved access and speed of service.
This is collective impact. Rather than duplicating services, we partner to unify them.
We are having a direct impact on people's lives – making things better in our community by ensuring access to justice for people who served this country to ensure the Rule of Law around the world.
Before utilizing the platform, we were at the mercy of assisting clients by giving them a list of community providers.
One of the problems that I ran into initially was that the network of contacts was very loose – which I found very frustrating and inefficient – until I was introduced to Unite Us software program, and that eased my burden considerably.
The Unite Us blog is written for you, by us (and our awesome partners), and aims to provide the information that matters most when serving your community.
We knew that if innovative software were in the hands of all organizations and services in the country, it could truly bring together public, private, and nonprofit agencies and change communities and innovate our government's systems. Our team is made up of passionate, talented, and fresh-minded individuals who work hard to solve some of our communities' hardest problems every day.


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You are here: Home » Portfolio Items » Karl Rove
Chair of College GOP, Karl Rove, interviewed by Dan Rather CBS 1972
Rove's Non-Denial of Involvment
Karl Rove Resigns
The Political Prosecutions of Karl Rove by J. McTiernan
"I READ ABOUT IT IN THE NEWSPAPER"
On August 12, 2007, Karl Rove resigned his position at the White House. He gave no other reason to the press than "the time is now."
In fact, he resigned under a cloud of pending investigations signaling the beginning of his long, slow decline. The Congressional Judiciary Committee had subpoenaed Rove for his participation in a number of white hot scandals. He was wanted for questioning in the Valerie Plame Affair, the Attorneys General scandal and last, but not least, his direction of the Don Siegelman Political Prosecution.
It is hard to believe today that Karl Rove was considered a young genius or the "Architect" of anything. But at one time he was the Steve Bannon in the White House, the Paul Manafort of GOP election campaigns, and he could not be beat, he could do no wrong no matter how dirty the tricks he used to win. Today he is barely a player.
The "Dirty Tricks" legacy for which he was famous, preceded him in the Nixon White House and will not die despite his professional decline. The dirty tricks legacy lives on in old Rove pals, GOP player Jeff Sessions. The dirty tricks legacy is alive and well in the appointed staff and advisors at the Trump White House. Here we look at the
Karl Rove & Don Siegelman
Rove said he knew nothing about the Siegelman Case when he was first accused of directing the prosecution. Furthermore, he claimed to have nothing to do with Alabama or its politics. He asserted that he had learned about the case by reading about it in the newspapers.
Roots in Alabama
In reality, Rove put down deep roots in Alabama and decades long involvement its politics. More than 30 years earlier, Karl toured the south as the Southern Coordinator for the National College Republicans. In that role, he met many future Republican politicians and politicos, including Lee Atwater and Alabama's Jeff Sessions in 1973. Karl returned to Alabama in the 90's to commandeer the Alabama Judiciary for the Republican party as he had done in Texas.
He worked closely with Alabama Republican politicos for the next decade, the decade following his political work for Gov. Bush in Texas, and preceding his tour at the White House. William Pryor, Bill and Leura Canary, Bob and Rob Riley all worked closely with Karl to advance a Republican takeover of Alabama. (On a personal note, his wife and beach house at the time, were both rooted in the Flora-bama coast.) Yes, Karl Rove had plenty to do with Alabama.
Texas was the Training Ground for the Alabama Turn-around
Texas and Alabama broke politically from blue to deep red in strikingly similar ways. Rove, famous for dirty-tricks against democratic opposition and in-house republican opponents alike, directed a take-no-prisoners Republican Revolution in both states. Both political conversions featured mad-dog Federal investigations and prosecutions of political, usually Democratic, opponents.
"I learned about it for the first time by reading about it in the newspaper."
Accused of directing the Hightower prosecution in Texas, Karl Rove responded with "non-denial" denials. He insisted that the FBI investigation of his political rivals was prompted by stories, he said "which had appeared in August and September, I believe, in the Dallas Morning News."
Leura Canary similarly insisted that the Siegelman case was inspired by newspaper articles. She pointed to the investigative reporting of the Mobile, Alabama Journalist, Eddie Curran. However, his journalistic series started in mid-2001, a year after the Pryor/Canary investigation began. Some claimed the investigators fed the stories to journalists, rather than the other way around.
Karl gave his famous non-denial denial to George Stephanopoulos on ABC's This Week when asked about being involved in the Siegelman Case. "I've — you know, I read – I heard about it, read about it, learned about it for the first time by reading about it in the newspaper." Rove insisted. Sounds familiar.
From Texas to Alabama
Read about the striking similarities between Siegelman and Jim Hightower in the Washington Specator (2007) PAYWALL
Take over the Courts
Read about how Rove created a Republican Supreme Court in Democratic Alabama Rove in A Corner in the Atlantic (2004)
Sometimes you see his southern roots
"He was Southern coordinator at the time, [and] the campaign manager in the South was one Lee Atwater. So the two of them would hop in a car and would travel around the South . . . appealing to young collegians who were Republicans for this campaign to be the head of the College Republican group." - PBS Frontline
Karl Rove Resigns Under a Cloud of Pending Investigations
"But Mr. Rove was in the eye of the political storm once again this year as Congress set out to learn his role in the attorney firings, which critics charge had been carried out to impede or spark investigations for partisan aims. . . . The White House cited executive privilege in blocking the testimony of Mr. Rove before the Senate Judiciary Committee." Karl Rove Plans to Resign in the NYT (2007)
Dirty Tricks Legacy under Nixon and Trump
Read Nixon's tricks, and Trump's: The uses and limits of the Watergate parallel in the Daily News
Related Portfolio Items
Other places and players in the Don Siegelman Saga.
Don Siegelman
The former Alabama Governor was an unbeatable Democrat in Alabama.
Karl Rove has a long history of directing Alabama electoral politics.
Bill Pryor
He began investigating his Governor from the Governor's first week in office.
Leura Canary
She and her husband, "Bill" Canary, were a GOP power-couple in Alabama.
Mark Fuller
He was over-the-top as the "Siegelman Judge," abusive at home.
Jack Abramoff
He admitted to "wargaming" Siegelman with Scanlan, Norquist and Ralph Reed.


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DICER1-Associated Central Nervous System Sarcoma with Neural Lineage Differentiation: A Case Report
Yao Kun, Duan Zejun, Feng Jing, Qi Xueling
posted 27 Sep, 2021
Background: DICER1-associated central nervous system sarcoma (DCS) without evidence of other cancer-related syndromes is rare. Though the morphology of DCS was highly variable, the immunophenotype was predominant myogenic phenotype. Other lineage markers were consistently negative. Herein, our objective was to identify the clinical, pathogenesis, treatment and driver mutation of DCS with neurogenic differentiation through whole-exome sequencing (WES) and RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) of both leukocytes and tumor tissues.
Case presentation: We describe here the case of a 8-year-old female patient presented with a 8-day history of headache, nausea and vomiting. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a heterogeneous mass in left parietal lobe. The patient underwent the craniotomy via left parietal approach. Histologically, the tumor predominately showed fibrosarcoma-like spindle cells with obvious cytoplasmic eosinophilic globules. Immunohistochemically, the tumor stained positively for NF, Syn, MAP-2, Desmin and DICER1. WES of tumor tissues detected the DICER1 somatic mutation. This case harbored tumor-driving mutations mainly including AR, AXL and ETV5 mutations, proved sarcoma-associated genes in other kind of sarcomas growth, in addition to TP53 and RAF1 mutations which were common found in DCS. All theses findings indicated the diagnosis of DCS with neurogenic differentiation. This neural lineage differentiation was further confirmed by the result of Gene Ontology (GO) analysis. The patient subsequently received high dose radiotherapy (60Gy) and chemotherapy. The MRI showed no evidence of tumor recurrence at the 12 months' follow-up.
Conclusions: This unusual case of DCS with neuronal differentiation is an important addition to the immuno-phenotypic spectrum of DCS. The prognosis is poor for DCS, and total tumor resection and high dose radiotherapy may assist in prolonging survival. Further research is needed to better understand the behavior and treatment of this rare DCS with neuronal differentiation.
DICER1-associated central nervous system sarcoma
neurogenic differentiation
whole-exome sequencing
Intracranial sarcomas are uncommon tumors with poor prognoses and mainly occurred in adult patients [1]. However, they rarely affect children, and when they do, they are often associated with syndromic disorders [2–4]. DICER1 syndrome is one kind of this rare syndromic disorders with intracranial sarcomas, pinealoblastoma, pituitary blastoma, cystic nephroma, and several other rare tumor entities and always exhibit the combination of germline DICER1 mutations and somatic DICER1 mutations [5, 6]. Pediatric intracranial sarcomas involving somatic DICER1-mutants without evidence of other cancer-related syndrome are rare [7]. Koelsche C et al reported a group of predominantly pediatric intracranial spindle cell sarcomas to be called "spindle cell sarcoma with rhabdomyosarcoma-like features, DICER1 mutant" [7]. In this study, a germline DICER1 mutation was only detected in two of five cases. Then, Kamihara J et al reported another six cases of "DICER1-associated central nervous system sarcoma (DCS) ", In their group, only three cases harbored somatic DICER1 mutations without germline DICER1 mutations [8]. Moreover, most of the reported cases showed highly variable morphology, but they consistent with the positive of myogenic markers. Other lineage markers were consistently negative[5–8]. To the best of our knowledge, there is no report of a DCS with expression of neurogenic markers. Herein, we describe the clinical, Imaging, pathological, molecular profiles and treatment of a rare DCS harboring the somatic DICER1 mutation with neural lineage differentiation.
An 8-year-old female presented to the neurosurgery department with intermittent headache, nausea and vomiting for 8 days. Neurological examination revealed no abnormalities. She had no family history of cancer or visceral. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain revealed a heterogeneous mass in left parietal lobe that was predominantly hypointense on T1 (Fig. 1a) and inhomogeneous hyperintense on T2 (Fig. 1b), as well as the fluid attenuation inversion recovery (FLAIR) sequence was iso-intensity (Fig. 1c). After the administration of contrast, the mass displayed heterogeneous enhancement (Fig. 1d, 1e). The patient underwent a craniotomy via left parietal approach, which revealed a well-defined, soft, gray and gelatinous lesion attached to the falx cerebri (5 cm × 5 cm × 5 cm). The lesion was completely resected and postoperative course was uneventful. Postoperative CT scan showed that the intracranial tumor had been completely removed (Fig. 1f).
Light microscopy examination revealed sarcomatous neoplasms predominantly presented with spindle-shaped cells in a fascicular pattern (Fig. 2a). There was a clear boundary between tumor and peripheral brain tissue (Fig. 2b). In some areas, a myxoid stroma matrix was found with a few multinucleated tumor giant cells (Fig. 2c). The nuclei of the tumor cells were with brisk mitotic activity (Fig. 2d). Prominent cytoplasmic eosinophilic globules were easily identified (Fig. 2e, 2f).
Immuno-histochemical studies were performed using an automated Ventana Benchmark Ultra autostainer (Ventana, Tucson, Arizona, USA). Briefly, tissue sections were deparaffinized, antigens retrieved and endogenous peroxidase was blocked with 1% H2O2. The primary antibodies were used for target protein detection: Desmin (clone D33, Dako, 1:50), smooth muscle actin (SMA, clone 1A4, Dako, 1:400), MyoD1 (clone 5.8A, Dako, 1:50), myogenin (clone F5D, Dako, 1:50), CD34 (clone QBEnd10, Beckman Coulter, 1:500), S-100 (clone 4c4.9, Zytomed, 1:3000) and Ki67 (clone MIB1, Dako, 1:80). Olig2 (clone H-68, Santa Cruz, 1:200), MAP2 (Abcam Cambridge; 1:1500), Syn (Bio Genex, 1:100), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP, clone 6F2, Dako Cytomation, 1:500), epithelial membrane antigen (EMA, Dako, 1:50), cytokeratin (CK, clone AE1⁄AE3, Zymed San Francisco, 1:200), NF (clone 2F11, Dako Cytomatio, 1:150), TLE1 (clone sc-9121, Santa Cruz, 1:100), STAT6 (Abcam Cambridge, 1:500), TLE1 (clone sc-9121, Santa Cruz, 1:100), SOX10 (Abcam Cambridge, 1:400), somatostatin receptor 2A (SSTR2A, cloneUMB1, Abcam, 1:200), BRG1 (clone G-7, Santa Cruz, 1:200), INI-1 (clone BAF47, Biosciences, 1:200), DICER1 (clone 4A6, Abcam, 1:100). Revelation was performed using the ultra-VIEW TM DAB systems (Ventana). All tissue sections were counterstained with hematoxylin II/Mayer's hematoxylin (Ventana). Immunohistochemically, the MIB-1-positive cell index was 70%. The tumor cells stained positively for vimentin. The tumor cells had a focal expression of Desmin (Fig. 2g) and did not express myogenin, SMA. DICER1 protein immunostaining was extensively positive in the tumor cells, raising the possibility of DICER1 mutation (Fig. 2h). Interesting, the tumor cells stained positively for S-100 (Fig. 2i), Syn (Fig. 2j), MAP-2 (Fig. 2k) and NF (Fig. 2l), and INI-1(Fig. 2m) and BRG1 were retained. But tumor cells were negative for GFAP (Fig. 2n) and Olig-2. The Syn, MAP-2, and NF immunostaining highlighted the neural lineage differentiation of tumor cells. SOX10, CK, EMA, CD34, TLE1, STAT6 and SSTR2A were negative. The tumor cells displayed with a large amount of thin reticulin fibers (Fig. 2o). A diagnosis of primary intracranial spindle cell sarcoma with neurogenic and myogenic differentiation, possibly associated with DICER1 mutation, was favoured.
Next, WES analysis was performed in surgical formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tumor tissues and normal plasm. In brief, WES analysis sequencing libraries were generated using Agilent SureSelect Human All Exon V6 kit (Agilent Technologies, CA, USA). DNA libraries were sequenced on Illumina Hiseq platform and 150 bp paired-end reads were generated and cleaned. Data was mapped to the reference human genome b37 by Burrows-Wheeler Aligner (BWA) software [9]. SAMtools [10] and Picard (http://broadinstitute.github.io/picard/) were used to sort BAM files and do duplicate marking, local realignment, and base quality recalibration. Samtools mpileup and bcftools were used to do variant calling and identify SNP. Variants were selected by applying more filters on germline variants callsets. DICER1 p.E1813D (c.5439G > T) mutation located within the Ribonuclease III domain was detected in tumor tissues but not in plasm sample suggesting a somatic mutation. A final diagnosis of DCS was established. TP53 mutation (c. 560-2A > T) was found in this case. It harbored RAF1 mutation (p.R191T) which was predicted to cause activation of the MAP kinase signaling pathway. Other tumor-driving mutations including AR mutation (p.G473del), AXL mutation (p.T45P), ETV5 mutation (p.F11Y) were detected. Alterations in all genes (including not reported/undetermined significance = 158) are summarized in (Supplementary Table 1). Then we performed GO analysis to identify the potential molecular function of these driver-genes. GO analysis showed that genes involved in chromatin organization (SATB1, ATAD2 and CHD4), neuron development (TENM4, SECISBP2 and HS6ST1), histone deacetylation (SIN3B, CHD4 and MTA2) processes that were mutated in this case.
Additionally, WES indicated that the tumor presented a high level of tumor mutational burden (TMB), but did not show microsatellite instability (MSI). RNA-seq was performed for as previously described [11]. We did not find any gene fusions by RNA-seq.
With DICER1 p.E1813D (c.5439G > T) mutation confirmed, a final diagnosis of DCS was established. The patient received postoperative radiotherapy (60 Gy/30f) with the following cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin and vincristine for the first, third, fifth and seventh chemotherapy cycles. In the second, fourth, sixth and eighth cycles ifosfamide and etoposide were used for chemotherapy. After eight cycles (median duration of 21 days among cycles) of combination chemotherapy, brain MRI revealed no evidence of tumor recurrence at the 12 months' follow-up. The present study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and under the guidelines of the institutional board on ethics of the Sanbo Brain Hospital. Written informed consent was obtained from the family member (mother) of the patient for the publication of any potentially identifiable images or data included in this article.
We describe here a case of DCS haboring somatic DICER1 mutation with neurogenic differentiation. Early reports have described that though the morphology of DCS was highly variable, spindle cell morphology was common with immunopositive myogenic markers (SMA, desmin, and myogenin) [7, 8]. Other lineage markers were consistently negative [7, 8]. In the current case, the tumor predominately showed fibrosarcoma-like spindle cells with brisk mitotic activity, including obvious cytoplasmic eosinophilic globules. These microscopic features are quite similar to previous reports [7, 8]. Unlike previous cases, this case showed the expression of neurogenic markers (NF, Syn, MAP-2) in addition to myogenic marker (Desmin). GO analysis of WES have indicated that genes involved in neuron development were mutated, such as TENM4, SECISBP2 and HS6ST1. We have shown that this case both have neural characteristics and the potential for neural development. The neurogenic differentiation was found in DCS, and this testified the statement of "highly variable heterologous differentiation of DCS" on the other side.
There are additional genetic changes in addition to somatic DICER1 mutation detected in this patient. The TP53 mutation and mutations in the MAP-kinase pathway were frequent in SCS-RMSlike-DICER1[7]. TP53 mutation and RAF1 gene mutation associated with MAP-kinase pathway had also been observed in the current case. Furthermore, the patient also carried AR, AXL and ETV5 mutations. Recently Axl has been proved a candidate for pathogenesis and therapeutic investigations in leiomyosarcoma [12] and osteosarcoma [13]. It was demonstrated that ETV5 had oncogenic function on Ewing's sarcoma [14]. This may be of interest because AXL and ETV5, proved sarcoma-associated genes in leiomyosarcoma, osteosarcoma and Ewing's sarcoma growth, can be also detected in DCS cases [12–14]. Similar tumor-driving mutations in this DCS and other kind of sarcoma suggested that there was also an inherent relationship between DCS and some other mesenchymal sarcomas.
Clinical experience with DCS is very limited. Some DCS cases without germline DICER1 variants and family history of DICER1-related tumors were presumed to represent sporadic disease [8]. It is worth noting that sometimes a few cases without germline DICER1 variants may present de novo neoplasm in other organs besides intracranial sarcoma as time goes on [7]. That is, generally, even if the DCS patients without DICER1 germline mutation did not have any other diseases at the time of DCS. It is needed to pay close attention to their general and systemic examination in postoperative follow-up. There was no recurrence and other diseases in our case after 12 months of follow-up.
Sporadic reports of long-term cure indicate that achieving gross total resection, immediate postoperative focal radiotherapy, and prolonged combination chemotherapy may be of importance [8]. Effective regimens include cyclophosphamide, topotecan, ifosfamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and dactinomycin. In addition, while we found that 3 of the DCS patients in the previous study who had been exposed to high dose rate radiotherapy (≥ 59.9 Gy ) had relatively good prognosis [8], the treatment of this DCS case included gross total resection, high dose rate radiotherapy (60 Gy) and the following chemotherapy.
In summary, this first report of a patient with DCS with neuronal differentiation further expands the immuno-phenotypic spectrum of DCS. The prognosis is poor for DCS, and total tumor resection and high dose radiotherapy may assist in prolonging survival. Long-term observation is necessary to better elucidate the biological behavior of DCS with neuronal differentiation .
Written informed consent was obtained from the family member (mother) of the patient for the publication of any potentially identifiable images or data included in this article.
Author contributions:
The overall experimental design was conceived and supervised by Qi Xueling. Yao Kun contributed to the analysis of the data and the final draft of the manuscript. Duan Zejun contributed to the analysis of the data and the figure. Feng Jing helped analyze whole-exome sequencing data. All authors and approved the final manuscript.
Data availability statement:
The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author.
Our study was carried out according to the ethical guidelines of the ethics committee of Sanbo Brain Hospital. It was approved by the ethics committee of Sanbo Brain Hospital
Acknowledgment: We are grateful for the cooperation of the patient's family. We appreciate Dr. Liu Hailong for polishing up the article.
Conflicts of interest: All authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest
Zhang G, Xiao B, Huang H, Zhang Y, Zhang X, Zhang J, Wang Y. Intracranial synovial sarcoma: A clinical, radiological and pathological study of 16 cases. Eur J Surg Oncol. 2019;45(12):2379–85.
Kuhlen M, Borkhardt A. Cancer susceptibility syndromes in children in the area of broad clinical use of massive parallel sequencing. Eur J Pediatr. 2015;174:987–97.
McBride KA, Ballinger ML, Killick E, Kirk J, Tattersall MH, Eeles RA, Thomas DM, Mitchell G. Li–Fraumeni syndrome: cancer risk assessment and clinical management. Nat Rev Clin Oncol. 2014;11:260–71.
Ripperger T, Bielack SS, Borkhardt A, et al. Childhood cancer predisposition syndromes-a concise review and recommendations by the Cancer Predisposition Working Group of the Society for Pediatric Oncology and Hematology. Am J Med Genet A. 2017;173:1017–37.
Schultz KAP, Williams GM, Kamihara J, et al. DICER1 and associated conditions: identification of at-risk individuals and recommended surveillance strategies. Clin Cancer Res. 2018;24:2251–61.
Kim J, Schultz KAP, Hill DA, Stewart DR. The prevalence of germline DICER1 pathogenic variation in cancer populations. Mol Genet Genomic Med. 2019;7:e555.
Koelsche C, Mynarek M, Schrimpf D, et al. Primary intracranial spindle cell sarcoma with rhabdomyosarcoma-like features share a highly distinct methylation profile and DICER1 mutations. Acta Neuropathol. 2018;136:327–37.
Kamihara J, Paulson V, Breen MA, Laetsch TW, et al. DICER1-associated central nervous system sarcoma in children: comprehensive clinicopathologic and genetic analysis of a newly described rare tumor. Mod Pathol. 2020;33(10):1910–21.
Li H, Durbin R. Fast and accurate short read alignment with Burrows Wheeler transform[J]. Bioinformatics. 2009;25(14):1754. 1760.(BWA).
Li H, Handsaker B, Wysoker A, Fennell T, Ruan J, Homer N, Marth G, Abecasis G, Durbin R. 1000 Genome Project Data Processing Subgroup. The Sequence Alignment/Map format and SAMtools. Bioinformatics. 2009;25(16):2078–9.
Li Z, Jin Y, Zou Q, Shi X, Wu Q, Lin Z, He Q, Huang G, Qi S. Integrated genomic and transcriptomic analysis suggests KRT18 mutation and MTAP are key genetic alterations related to the prognosis between astrocytoma and glioblastoma. Ann Transl Med. 2021;9(8):713.
Dantas-Barbosa C, Lesluyes T, Loarer FL, Chibon F, Treilleux I, Coindre JM, et al. Expression and role of TYRO3 and AXL as potential therapeutical targets in leiomyosarcoma. Br J Cancer. 2017;117:1787–97.
Han J, Tian R, Yong B, Luo C, Tan P, Shen J, et al. Gas6/Axl mediates tumor cell apoptosis, migration and invasion and predicts the clinical outcome of osteosarcoma patients. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2013;435:493–500.
Kedage V, Selvaraj N, Nicholas TR, Budka JA, Plotnik JP, Jerde TJ, et al. An Interaction with Ewing's Sarcoma Breakpoint Protein EWS Defines a Specific Oncogenic Mechanism of ETS Factors Rearranged in Prostate Cancer. Cell Rep. 2016;17:1289–301.
SupplementaryTable1.doc
Supplementary Table 1 Summary of genetic alterations
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This page-turning supernatural mystery revolves around a hero cursed with a psychic ability that many others would relish.
Jack Briscoe is a womanizing woodworker, suddenly afflicted with visions from the past. Now, working with the material he loves is a no-go area. So too are the women with whom he spends any leisure time. Both are off-limits, but for different reasons. How can these afflictions somehow be connected?
An ancient Pagan artefact lusts for women's blood, and in a desperate bid to save them he must travel to the remote Scottish Highlands where the past, and a ruthless enemy, await him.
Spotted in a shop in Suffolk.
This mug, gifted to me, shows the original book title from the late 1980s.


text:
Digital Banking: A Trend You Can Bank On
On June 8, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde warned that the growing presence of tech players leveraging big data and artificial intelligence technology could significantly disrupt the world's financial system.
There is no question that the accelerating developments of financial technology — popularly known as "fintech" — applications are starting to visibly impact the banking sector.
"A significant disruption to the financial landscape is likely to come from the big tech firms, who will use their enormous customer bases and deep pockets to offer financial products based on big data and artificial intelligence,"Christine Lagarde, IMF Managing Director
The first rumblings were heard in early 2016, when Bloomberg reported that "Venture capitalists, angel investors, and bankers themselves have plowed more than $24 billion into fintech startups worldwide in the last two years, according to Innovate Finance, a London-based trade group."
A scant two years later in January 2018, CB Insights' research revealed that investors had poured $16.6 billion in 2017 across 1,128 deals into venture-capital-backed fintech companies around the globe.
Fast forward to January 2019 when CB Insights reported that fintech companies had raised a staggering $39.6 billion in 2018 in 1,707 deals. That's a 233% increase over the average 2014-2015 pace.
The imminent arrival of a host European banking startups is the first manifestation of the fintech trend.
As discussed in an article last year, "Blockchain: A Fintech Revolution," that invasion includes London-based Revolut and Berlin-based N26.
"Revolut is coming to the U.S.A (sic)" We're guessing that America really doesn't need any additional punctuation. Revolut was supposed to launch in the U.S. in fourth quarter 2018.
Both promised to enter the U.S. market in 2018 but may lose that first-mover advantage to the pending launch of U.K. digital bank Monzo, which recently crossed the 2-million-customer mark and claims it's adding 200,000 new customers each month.
Monzo is reportedly launching "in the coming weeks" by signing up potential customers at events in Los Angeles, New York City and San Francisco.
N26 Co-founder & CEO Valentin Stalf had a particularly pointed observation of U.S. banks: "We've looked at the products in the U.S. and we figured out that most banking products in the U.S. are even worse than in Europe."
"Made for the US" claims N26's website. N26 CEO Valentin Stalf announced at the October 2017 Money20/20 conference that N26 was going to launch in the U.S. "around mid-2018." It's now mid-2019 and N26 is still a no-show. The Berlin-based bank recently claims to have passed the 3.5-million customer mark.
This new wave of banks offers the ability to open an account, order a debit card and get your own checking account in a few minutes.
"We've looked at the products in the U.S. and we figured out that most banking products in the U.S. are even worse than in Europe."Valentin Stalf, N26 Co-founder & CEO
All European startups, however, have been beaten to the punch by none other than T-Mobile, which has launched T-Mobile MONEY working with New Haven, CT-based BankMobile, a division of Customers Bank.
T-Mobile MONEY provides a customer experience that U.S. banks are going to have to emulate, quickly.
T-Mobile has more than 81 million customers, which puts it right up there with the largest U.S. banks in terms of market access. And unlike legacy banks, T-Mobile is headed by marketing wizard John Legere who has consistently out-innovated his rivals.
Asked to comment on how T-Mobile MONEY was conceived, a T-Mobile spokesperson says, "We looked at traditional banking with fees, almost non-existent interest rates and terrible customer service, and knew there had to be a better way for customers and consumers to do their everyday banking."
To drive the point home, T-Mobile MONEY offers a 4% interest rate on balances up to $3,000, compared to a 0.06% industry average.
Perhaps T-Mobile was one of those tech giants, Lagarde was referring to at the two-day meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank heads.
T-Mobile is acutely aware that in a world where all competitors are at parity, the customer experience is the ultimate weapon. Notes the T-Mobile spokesperson, "We know mobile and we are always looking to create awesome customer experiences…on the devices people use every day. We designed and developed T-Mobile MONEY as a mobile-first experience. This is very different to big-bank apps that are usually adapted from websites."
We captured the entire T-Mobile MONEY sign-up experience, a mere 10 screenshots, in the gallery at the end of this story. Study it. Emulate it, legacy banks and savings and loans. (And, by the way, the debit card showed up in less than five days.)
On the horizon lies Apple Card, which, besides all Apple's trademark user experience niceties, offers 1% cash back on physical card purchases, 2% on Apple Pay purchases and 3% on purchases from Apple, with cash back credited every day. And, of course, there are no late fees, no annual fees, no international or over-limit fees.
It's quite appropriate that the subject of the June Group of 20 meeting where Lagarde spoke was "Our Future in the Digital Age." Tech giants, and startups, will disrupt the future indeed. 🤯
T-Mobile MONEY Account Sign-up Steps
(Click images to enlarge.)
T-Mobile MONEY Step 1
T-Mobile MONEY Step 10


text:
<template>
	<require from='Element/highlight'></require>

Configuration

		While conventions remove the need to configure all of CakeJS,
		you'll still need to configure a few things like your database credentials.

		Additionally, there are optional configuration options that allow you
		to swap out default values & implementations with ones tailored to
		your application.

Configuring your Application

		Configuration is stored in the config folder which if not created
		should be created to be able to customize the application.
		Bootstrap

Creating Bootstrap

		First things first, creating config/bootstrap.js,

	<highlight type="js" style="color: black">
		<template replace-part="text">
			import path from 'path';
			global.ROOT = path.resolve(__dirname, '..');
			require('cakejs');
		</template>
	</highlight>

		As default the constant ROOT should always be present in bootstrap files.
		But all constants can be modified by specifying them before the require.

		To see all available constants run the following command

	<highlight type="cli">
		<template replace-part="text">
			$ bin/cakejs constants
		</template>
	</highlight>

		You should not modify the CAKE_ and CORE_ constants to avoid difficulties

Creating App Configuration

		Create config/app.json.

		Let's adjust the port which will be used for the static content
		and the websocket

	<highlight type="json" style="color: black">
		<template replace-part="text">
			{
				"Web":{
					"port": 8081
				}
			}
		</template>
	</highlight>

		Let's add a mysql database configuration

	<highlight type="json" style="color: black">
		<template replace-part="text">
			{
				"Web":{
					"port": 8081
				},
				"Datasources":{
					"default": {
						"driver": "Mysql",
						"host": "localhost",
						"username": "add username here",
						"password": "add password here",
						"database": "add database here"
					},
					"test": {
						"driver": "Mysql",
						"host": "localhost",
						"username": "add username for tests here",
						"password": "add password for tests here",
						"database": "add database for tests here"
					}
				}
			}
		</template>
	</highlight>

		You can also forward to a CakePHP application instead of providing
		static content with CakeJS. When you do it like this it will only
		intercept websocket traffic and those controller and actions which
		you have creaeted in CakeJS. You can also use nginx or apache rules
		to do this, but for development purposes it easier to just do it
		like this.

	<highlight type="json" style="color: black">
		<template replace-part="text">
			{
				"Web":{
					"port": 8081,
					"forward": "localhost:8080"
				},
				"Datasources":{
					"default": {
						"driver": "Mysql",
						"host": "localhost",
						"username": "add username here",
						"password": "add password here",
						"database": "add database here"
					},
					"test": {
						"driver": "Mysql",
						"host": "localhost",
						"username": "add username for tests here",
						"password": "add password for tests here",
						"database": "add database for tests here"
					}
				}
			}
		</template>
	</highlight>
</template>

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Thames Valley Police is appealing for witnesses following a burglary in Great Hollands Bracknell.
Between 6.15pm and 7.15pm on Thursday 7 February 2019 offenders gained entry to a house in Wylam, Great Hollands, Bracknell by forcing the front door with a bladed tool.
Once inside offenders made an untidy search of the upstairs rooms and stole items including several items of jewellery and money.
Investigator PC1503 Jake Knight of the Crime Investigation Hub based at Loddon Valley police station said "We are appealing for anyone who may have witnessed the incident or may have CCTV recording in the road or surrounding area, or other information to call our 24-hour enquiry centre on 101, quoting reference 43190040609.
At this time of year burglars like easy targets such as homes that are left in total darkness in the early evenings. You can reduce the risk of them targeting your home when you're not in by using a simple timer switch to turn a lamp or two on as it gets dark.
Please feel free to share this report and information with neighbours, family and friends.