text:
Overview of Italian machine tool, robot and automation manufacturing industry
Source:UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE Date:2021-07-15
In 2020 the world economy suffered the disastrous effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, as evidenced by the fall in the global GDP that dropped by 3.9%. The crisis concerned both the industrialised (-5.1%) and the emerging countries (-3%), with the only exception of China.
International trade, considered as the engine of the global growth over the last decades, highlighted a considerable contraction (-6.9%, after -0.3% in 2019); the exchanges of manufactured products also decreased, accounting for 6.7% (versus -0.1% in 2019).
In 2020, Italian economy, shrank significantly (-8.9%), however achieving a better performance than some other important European countries, such as Spain and the United Kingdom. The quarterly analysis of its GDP trend changes shows that the crisis started in the first quarter (-5.8%), reached the lowest point in the second quarter (-18.2%), had a weaker decrease in the period July-September (-5.2%). In the last part of the year, with the second wave of the pandemic, the crisis worsened again (-6.6%).
Investments represented the weakest component of domestic demand (-9.1%). Investments in building and construction (-6.3%) had a better performance than those in machinery and equipment (-12.1%). There was a remarkable reduction in household consumption (-10.7%), whereas public spending went up (+1.6%).
In a very complex context, Italy maintained its fourth place in the ranking of world manufacturers, even if its production fell to 4,677 million euro (-20.6%). Its fourth place was confirmed even in the export ranking, although its sales abroad decreased to 2,625 million euro (-22%).
In 2020, the Italian production of machine tools, robots and automation systems amounted to 5,182 million euro, reporting a 20.4% downturn versus 2019.
Consumption fell by 26.6% to 3,561 million euro, due to the contraction both of deliveries to the domestic market (-20.3%, 2,321 million euro) and of imports (-36.2%, 1,240 million euro). The market share covered by foreign machinery accounted for 34.8%.
A fall was registered with regard to exports as well, which, in 2020, totalled 2,861 million euro, i.e. 20.5% less than in the previous year. The export/production ratio remained substantially stable, going from 55.3% in 2019 to 55.2% in 2020. The trade balance went down by 2.1%, reaching 1,621 million euro.
The negative performance of the Italian industry of the sector affected the utilisation rate of production capacity, whose yearly average decreased significantly, changing from 82.4% in 2019 to 65% in 2020.
On the decrease was also the order portfolio, standing at 5 months of guaranteed production versus 6.4 months in the previous year. Machine selling prices rose by 0.2% compared with the previous year.
In 2020, Italian exports of machine tools dropped (-22%) to an amount of 2,625 million euro: for the first time in ten years, they decreased below 3 billion euro. The quarterly trend was particularly negative in the first part of the year (-17.9% in the first quarter, -44.8% in the second quarter); the fall was smaller in the third quarter (-16%) and even smaller in the fourth quarter (-8.4%).
The exports to the European Union fell (-24.7%) to 1,200 million euro. Germany was the first European and the second world market for Italian manufacturers, (289 million euro, -23.1%), followed by France (158 million euro, -32.2%), Poland (143 million euro, -17.2%) and Spain (95 million euro, -34.1%). The United Kingdom, which is still included in the European Union for this survey, recovered fifth place (59 million, -17.1%) among countries of destination for the Made in Italy.
There was only a moderate decrease in the sales to the rest of the European continent (-7.3%) for an amount of 304 million euro. In detail, a growth was reported in the exports to Turkey (100 million euro, +29%), one of the few markets showing an opposite trend. Exports to Russia stood at 100 million euro (-16%), registering a better performance than in Switzerland (54 million euro, -23.8%).
Sales to North America dropped, (-10.2%) to 480 million euro. In 2020, the United States of America confirmed as the first market of destination for the Italian product offering of the sector, with 374 million euro (-11.3%). Exports of Made by Italians to Mexico went down as well (62.2 million euro, -12.1%), whereas those to Canada went up (44.4 million euro, +4.2%).
Negative results were registered in South America, which reduced its purchases from Italy by 32.9% for an amount of 53.9 million euro. At the top positions were Brazil (37.3 million euro, -20.8%) and Argentina (4.5 million euro, -53.7%).
Exports to Asia, second area of destination for the Made by Italians, went down (-28.9%), totalling 485 million euro.
East Asia absorbed the largest share of total exports to the continent, importing Italian machine tools for an amount of 296 million euro, (-25.5% versus 2019).
In detail, there was a downturn in the sales to China (224 million euro, -26.1%,), to South Korea (21.9 million euro, -20.2%,) and to Japan (21.6 million euro, -42.3%), whereas there was a rise in the sales to Taiwan (26.3 million euro, +6.3%).
A fall was registered in the sales to South Asia as well (-25.9%) for a value of 79.8 million euro. In this area, the sales to India were predominant (69.2 million euro, -29.8%).
The Middle East reduced its purchases of Italian machine tools (-18.3%) to 70.7 million euro. An increase was reported in the exports to Saudi Arabia (22.4 million euro, +13.6%), whereas there was a reduction in the sales to Israel (16.7 million euro, -21.9%) and to the United Arab Emirates (14.5 million euro, -26.7%). Sales to the ASEAN area collapsed, losing 57.5% for an amount of 38.5 million euro. In first place was Vietnam (8.5 million euro, -62.1%), followed by Thailand (8 million euro, -34.7%) and Singapore (7.5 million euro, -50.9%).
Exports to Africa fell (-24.4%) to 63.6 million euro: only sales to Egypt grew (19.7 million euro, +12.8%). Performances were very negative in Morocco (11.2 million euro, -18.9%), Algeria (9.3 million euro, -54.8%), Tunisia (4.7 million euro, -33.5%) and South Africa (4.6 million euro, -60.9%). Sales to Oceania dropped (-38.4%), amounting to 34 million euro.
THE STRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTICS
The structural characteristics of the Italian machine tool, robot and automation manufacturing industry are the same as those observed within the national production system: small-sized enterprises, high propensity to export, and high-quality product offering.
The machine tool
According to the survey conducted by UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE, in 2019 (the year to which the latest data are referred), 54,6% of machine tool manufacturing enterprises invoiced less than 12.5 million euro and 62.8% of them employed less than 100 people.
Nevertheless, the most structured companies gave the highest contribution to production and exports: those with more than 100 employees, representing only 37.2% of the total number of units operating in Italy, manufactured 82.4% and exported 85.8% of the total. Analogously, the enterprises that invoiced more than 25 million euro (accounting for 32.6% of the total number) manufactured 80.7% of production and covered 84.7% of Italian machine tool exports.
The geographic distribution of the sector was consistent with that of the Italian production system, proving that it is essential for machine tool manufacturing companies to be close to the enterprises of their customers and suppliers: the largest part of the sector production facilities are in Lombardy (44.6%), Triveneto (21.7%), Emilia-Romagna (19.3%) and Piedmont (10.8%). To the total turnover, Lombardy contributed 42.3%, Triveneto 20.4%, Emilia-Romagna 18% and Piedmont 17.9%. The companies from Emilia Romagna showed the highest propensity to export, (corresponding to 61.7% versus a sector average of 57.1%). The main user industry of machine tools was that of metal products (44%) - which includes production and first processing of metals, subcontractors, building and construction components and other products different from machinery - followed by the automotive industry (21.9%).
In 2019, the breakdown between large-sized enterprises (turnover higher than 5 million euro) and small/mid-sized enterprises (turnover up to 5 million euro) confirmed the predominance of large-sized enterprises (92.2%).
Lombardy and Piedmont are the regions with the highest density of companies operating in the robotics market, respectively with 36.5% and 30.8% of the enterprises. Again, Piedmont had the highest turnover percentage (51.3%) and the highest number of employees (63.8%).
THE WORLD MACHINE TOOL INDUSTRY 2020 TREND
In order to analyse the trend of the world machine tool industry,UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE refers to the information made available by the national associations, to the international sector rankings processed by Gardner Publications and to the official foreign trade data. For almost all observed countries, the data concerning local production of machine tools are available; in the remaining cases, production is indicated as "zero" in the world tables: for the same reason, the consumption figure indicated concides with that of net imports, since is not possible to quantify the value of deliveries by local manufactures on the domestic market.
In 2020, the world production of machine tools collapsed (-19.1%) to 58,700 million euro. To the composition of the total amount, Asia contributed 55%, Europe 35.5% and the Americas 9.3%.
The world consumption (TABLE 9) went down versus 2019 (-19.5%), amounting to 57,400 million euro. The Asian market absorbed 53.8% of global sales, whereas the European market covered 28% and the American market acquired 17%. Other areas (Africa and Australia) took up the remaining 1% share.
Leading countries
China confirmed its world leadership also in 2020. The Asian Giant was the first manufacturing country (16,950 million euro, -2.3%) and the largest consumer (18,657 million euro, -6.3%), well outpacing all other countries, despite another year of fall. The consumption share covered by imports decreased to 28%, for a value of 5,227 million euro (-19.7%). Exports dropped (-10.8%) to 3,520 million euro, but China defended its third place in the world ranking of exporting countries.
German manufacturers kept their positions, despite registering remarkable decreases for all main economic indicators. Production, amounting to 8,660 million euro (-31.5%), enabled Germany to maintain its second place in the world ranking. Despite a significant decline, (-30.7%) accounting for 5,802 million euro, the country confirmed its top position in the export ranking. Analogously, although there was a strong reduction in its domestic demand, down to 4,551 million euro, Germany kept its third place in the consumption ranking. The German market ranked third also with regard to imports of machines from abroad: its import/consumption ratio stood at 37% and the value of imports amounted to 1,693 million euro.
Japan confirmed its third place in the ranking of manufacturing countries, with a value of 8,218 million euro, down by 23.8%. Although it recorded a downturn in its sales abroad (-27.7%) that was higher than the world average, the Land of the Rising Sun maintained its second place among exporting countries, totalling 5,131 million euro. A considerable reduction was registered also with regard to Japanese consumption (-20%) down to 3,656 million euro. The country was the fourth world market in the consumption ranking. The market penetration of foreign machines was again very reduced: only 569 million euro, corresponding to 16% of the market.
Italy maintained its fourth place in the ranking of world manufacturers, even if its production fell to 4,677 million euro (-20.6%). Its fourth place was confirmed even in the export ranking, although its sales abroad decreased to 2,625 million euro (-22%). Imports totalled 809 million euro (-44%). Again in 2020, the Italian market ranked fifth in terms of sales volumes, with 2,861 million euro (-27.9%).
With an output of 4,566 million euro (-10.2%), the United States ranked fifth among machine tool manufacturing countries, a position they already had in 2019. Among the leading countries, the USA highlighted the highest import penetration, corresponding to 58%: their purchases abroad amounted to 4,103 million euro, which ensured the country's second place in the ranking of importing countries, after China. Even with regard to consumption, the US market confirmed to be the second largest, with 7,025 million euro (-16.4%).
In 2020, South Korean production dropped to 3,477 million euro (-15.7%); exports were also on the decrease ( 24.7%). The downturn of its domestic demand (-8.6%), which resulted smaller than that expressed by its competitors, allowed the country to reach the sixth position in the world consumption ranking, with 2,709 million euro. Imports covered 29% of the market.
Taiwan showed a strong fall in production, (-28.9%), totalling a value of 2,509 million euro. A similar trend was observed in relation to exports, (-34.3%): the value of 1,800 million euro ensured the country's fifth place in the world ranking.
Machine tool production in Switzerland decreased to 2,038 million euro (-28.9%). An 81% share of the machines was exported, for a total of 1,654 million euro, which confirmed the country's sixth place in the ranking of world exporting countries.
In 2020, Russia went up to seventh place in the ranking of markets, with a machine tool consumption of 1,526 million euro (-3.9%). Imports decreased by 6.6% to 1,019 million euro, whereas local production remained stable at 574 million euro. Propensity to import stood at 67%. India went down to eighth place among consumer countries, with 1,418 million euro (-49%). A very heavy fall was reported both in national production (-44.1%) and imports (-51.8%). With 908 million euro, the Asian country registered the seventh import value worldwide in 2020.
Mexico was the tenth world market in 2020, with a consumption of 1,062 million euro (- 40.1%). Imports reached 1,049 million euro and covered the demand almost completely. The national output was estimated at 79 million euro. Machine tool consumption in Canada attained 1,007 million euro (-17.4%), making the country the eleventh world market. A 73% share of consumption was covered by imports: with 732 million euro, Canada ranked thirteenth in the world ranking.
In 2020, the Turkish market highlighted a growth (+19.7%) to 976 million euro, an outcome that ensured the country's twelfth place in the global consumption ranking. The particular time dynamics of the pandemic spread and the trend of the exchange rate were at the base of this trend, which was against the prevailing tendency. We should mention that in 2020, Turkey showed an opposite trend after three consecutive years of reduction in the demand for machine tools.
In 2020, with a value of 830 million euro (-30.5%), France lost positions compared with the previous year, becoming the fourteenth world market and the fourth one in Western Europe. Domestic production remained weak (500 million euro) and imports covered 90% of the demand.
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The defined benefit pension plans for employees of governmental or quasi-governmental organizations, particularly school teachers, provide pension benefits and death benefits.
A typical benefit given by a Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS), which they call present value is the dollar amount of the death benefit; it is not the present value of the pension benefit. Unfortunately, the state government bureaucracy often adopts this terminology which leads to confusion in equitable distribution cases.
The PSERS death benefit is quite generous and is a very much larger amount than the value of the pension as a pension. On the usual individual annual statement of account that PSERS issues, the death benefit may be referred to in parentheses as the present value. It's a good employee benefit as life insurance, but it does not indicate what the pension benefit is worth.
When PSERS uses the term present value, they mean the death benefit payable to the beneficiary of a covered member. The annual account statement given to members may show the item labeled as death benefit or as present value.
PSERS generally provides a very generous death benefit, which they compute using a low interest rate, say 4%. There is a standard mathematical inverse relationship between the interest rate and the present value. The lower the interest rate, the higher the present value of a future payment. So, by using an interest rate as low as 4% a very high death benefit is produced.
The death benefit is not the value of the retirement pension. The present value of the retirement pension itself is usually not computed nor shown by PSERS. Upon receiving an inquiry for a pension present value in a divorce action, the amount of the death benefit mislabeled as present value may be given.
Upon retirement, many options are available to the member, some of which reduce or even eliminate a death benefit. Generally these systems require employee contributions, and often interest is credited on these contributions at a very low rate, say 4%.
The rationale is that the low investment credit awarded on employee contributions is balanced by the high death benefit that is derived by using that very same low rate. In looking to the future for investment gains on present amounts, higher interest rates generate higher results. But in determining the value now of money due in the future, higher interest rates mean a lower present value.
By using a low internal interest rate, PSERS is able to provide a large death benefit but is not obligated to bestow significant interest earnings on employee contributions. Many more employees will leave service and withdraw their contributions with interest, than will die in service. The apparent generosity of the death benefit may be considered upon reflection to be overshadowed by the paucity of investment earnings on the employee's own money.
Is it misleading to communicate the death benefit as a present value, or is it just bureaucratic terminology? Either way, please don't accept such a figure to settle an equitable distribution of a pension in divorce.


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Why Are You So Proud? LGBTQ Detention and Deportation
Jason Huettner July 1, 2014
At a recent Democratic National Committee fundraising dinner in New York, President Obama recognized June as national LGBT pride month and heralded the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell and the Supreme Court ruling against the Defense of Marriage Act. Outside the gathering, protestors rallied to demand an end to LGBTQ immigrant detention and deportation. The demonstration and similar actions organized this year ruptured the single-issue agenda set forth by leading LGBT organizations like HRC. These organizations seek to expand institutions like marriage and the military, and fail to recognize that immigration, violence, and economic justice are integral to queer politics. Queer, an identity that connotes possibility, displacement, reassessment, and innovation, is not unlike the lived experiences of immigrants. As pride month comes to a close in the US, marked by depoliticized parades of corporate sponsorship and Stonewall worship stripped of its radical possibilities, it is estimated that thousands of LGBTQ-identified immigrants are currently held in mandatory detention at over 250 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) related facilities across the country. $2 billion a year is appropriated to fund immigrant detentions. The overwhelming majority of these facilities, some of which are prisons, are operated not by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, but by subcontracted private entities who profit from immigrants' desire for freedom.
Trans and Queer Immigrants proclaim "Liberation, Not Deportation"
The majority of detainees are indiscriminately held for non-criminal, civil, immigration-related proceedings and pose no threat to public safety or national security. Despite this, freedom of movement is severely restricted and conditions inside detention facilities border on inhumane. Many detainees are asylum seekers who experienced violent oppression in their home countries and now face the double oppression of for-profit incarceration. The amount of LGBTQ asylum seekers has tripled since the early 2000s. LGBTQ detainees are uniquely vulnerable in detention and are subjected to widespread harassment and assaults from guards and the general population of the facility. A searing 2013 government audit implicated the DHS for failing to provide safeguards against sexual assaults in immigration detention facilities. LGBTQ detainees are more likely to experience assault than their heterosexual counterparts. The detention apparatus has been sluggish to implement reforms outlined in the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), missing a September 2013 deadline set by Congress. There has been reluctance on the part of private corporations that operate detention centers, as the reforms outlined in PREA aren't yet legally binding to facilities outside the Bureau of Prisons.
Transgender detainees often go without access to vital medical care, such as access to medication and hormone therapy. Detention facilities are not trans-affirming and engage in a rigid enforcement of gender binaries. Transgender detainees are subjected to humiliating anatomical assessments of their bodies and housed according to genitalia and not their professed gender identity. Transgender women are often told to "act male" or "man up" by guards. Detainees that formally complain about abuses are often placed in "administrative segregation," a state of housing not unlike the dreaded "solitary confinement" of prisons, where detainees face long periods of isolation and sensory deprivation ("23-hour" cells that only permit 1 hour of recreation per day). This is currently the primary transgender harm reduction strategy implemented by detention facilities, and such segregation has been reported to cause significant mental duress and, in some cases, suicide attempts.
85% of immigrant detainees lack legal counsel and are not legally provided counsel during removal proceedings if they are unable to afford it. This makes it extremely difficult for detainees to overcome institutional barriers as they fight deportation or prove asylum cases. There is also the case of institutional meddling, particularly in situations where the detainee is HIV-positive. HIV-positive detainees experience difficulty acquiring access to medication and suffer increased harassment. Even though the two-decade HIV Ban on travel and immigration conceived by the Reagan administration was struck down in early 2010, detainees who have disclosed or whose serostatus is assumed positive by administrative officials are at risk of being deemed a burden to the state and are more likely to face deportation. This is of particular concern to HIV-positive detainees who have engaged in sex work. It has also been reported that immigration officials elevate sex work-related offenses of asylum seekers as "serious crimes" or crimes of serious "moral turpitude" in order to deny asylum, an abhorrent practice that violates the principle of nonrefoulment, where the government is barred from returning someone to a country if there is a high risk of violence and persecution.
There currently exists a Congressional quota for 34,000 detainee beds. Despite pledges of immigration reform, the Obama administration plans to increase its strategy of detention and deportation and further the militarization of US borders. Detention is a criminalizing system that compromises basic human rights. It is high time to pursue community-based, proportional alternatives that eliminate detention from the immigration enforcement apparatus. And in the spirit of queering immigration, it is time for mainstream LGBT organizations to recognize immigrant justice as an area of intersectional importance.
Queering Immigration from Southerners on New Ground (SONG) on Vimeo.
Below is a partial list of organizations committed to establishing alternatives to immigrant detention and deportation:
-> Queer Detainee Empowerment Project (currently the only alternative-to-detention organization that provides direct services and resources specifically for LGBTQ and HIV-positive detainees in the US)
-> Immigration Equality
-> Detention Watch Network
-> #Not1More
Jason Huettner is Blogs Editor for Warscapes Magazine. Follow him on Twitter @jasonhuettner
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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An Insight On Emerging Property Markets Of Lucknow
By George Gonigal
See all Articles by George GonigalGet Updates on Future TrendsGet Updates on George Gonigal
Owing to the unprecedented demand for newly-constructed residential properties, property values in Lucknow suburban areas have shot up by 20-30 per cent in the past one year. In fact, the appreciation is as high as 50 per cent in the past couple of years at Gomti Nagar, Mahanagar, and Janakipuram.
Positive trends have tempted real estate developers like Parsvnath, Omaxe, Eldeco and Uppal Group to ambitiously launch their real estate projects in the city. According to sources, all three groups have announced different projects in the regions.
In Gomti Nagar, residential properties in Phase I and Phase II are fairly populated but Gomti Nagar Extension is a recent development and in fact has become the IT hub in Lucknow.
Capital values for apartments at Gomti Nagar are currently between Rs 1,600 and Rs 2,250 per sq. ft, as per MagicBricks reports. The same, however, hovers around Rs 850-Rs 1,250 per sq. ft in the upcoming residential areas such as Sitapur Road and Hardoi Road.
Property values are pretty moderate in the range of Rs 650 to Rs 1,050 per sq. ft at Raebareli Road.
Commercial property scenario
Lucknow portrays an exquisite example of emerging real estate markets in India. The commercial markets here have been picking up in tandem with the improvement in business environment in the city.
According to market sources, the office space rentals at Hazratganj—the prime most commercial market of Lucknow—are currently at the levels of Rs 40-Rs 60 per sq. ft. That means, renting a property sizing some 2,000 sq. ft is a matter of Rs 80,000 to Rs 1,20,000, which in case of a metro city could be as high as Rs 25 lakh.
Rental values at other major commercial market of Lucknow like Gol Market, Alambagh, Charbagh are between Rs 30 and Rs 50 per sq. ft, depending upon quality, location profile and facilities available.
For more details on Lucknow Property, log on to magicbricks.com
For more information on Delhi Property visit magicbricks.com, here you can also know about Bangalore Property.
Gaurav Verma
Lucknow, Delhi, Noida, Faridabad and Gurgaon are booming area of real estate sector..In Delhi there is 40 percent rate increased from last year. So they are highlighted areas for investment.
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The City of Melton (Council) has identified that they would like to have a better understanding of the movement of people within the Regional Sports Facility and Regional Playspace in the Atherstone development. More specifically, they want to know where community members are travelling to/from and how they are using these facilities. This will then enable Council to better allocate services to reflect the needs of the community and allow for better informed future planning of the development and similar developments within the municipality in future.
The solution involves developing an integrated near real time data capture process that combines the high rate of market penetration of mobile phone technology, with a number of sophisticated algorithms and analytical techniques to create insights that can feed a map based decision support system.
Development of a Phone App, for use by Atherstone residents and the Melton community to enable 2 way digital engagement with the community.


How can supernatural acts be explained and proven?
Reciting which Surah of the Quran has more thawab (reward)?
What should a person do or what dua should he read in order for him to see a lost relative in his dream?
What is your opinion about the numerical miracle of the Qur'an?
Was the present Quran compiled by the Holy Prophet (s)?
Were the heavens and the earth created in six days or eight days?
What are the methods to prove that the Quran was sent down to the Prophet (pbuh) through revelation?
Which verse in the Holy Quran is a confirmation of tawassul (seeking means) and how is justified?
Exactly how much time has passed from the immediate and gradual revelation of the Holy Quran?
1-How is it possible for fruit and food to come to Lady Maryam from heaven? 2- Is it possible for residents of heaven to return to this world?
Which surah is Surah Bani Israel?
What do the separate letters (Huruf Muqatta'ah) in the Quran mean?


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Best Practice• March 2, 2016
Using Measurement To Drive Internal Communication at Concur Technologies
Denise Cox
"There's nothing like throwing a pie chart or an email performance issue-by-issue up to have your data-driven leaders say 'Hey, Internal Communication has thought this through'
Jody Wilkins, Product Communications, Concur Technologies
Concur Technologies is a US travel management company, providing travel and expense management services to businesses around the world. Headquartered in Washington state, Concur Technologies has an employee base of over 5,000, which includes offices in the US, Europe, Asia, and Australia. The twenty-one year old company was recently acquired by SAP.
There wasn't an Internal Communication function when Jody Wilkins joined Concur Technologies six years ago. He was tasked to build a scalable model to fit a business that was growing quickly. Jody says "at the time we only had 600 employees – and now we're at over 5,000 globally."
Once the structure was in place, his strategy was to create access to metrics so that he could measure employee engagement and prove business value. "Concur is a metrics driven culture. My goal was to demonstrate to stakeholders that the IC function had business value."
Jody focused on increasing the effectiveness of the internal email channel. "We are a very email-centric organization, but we employed a spray-and-pray mentality. While we had been communicating to employees in an effective and fun way; we couldn't measure the effectiveness of the emails."
He selected Newsweaver Internal Connect to create, send and measure his internal communications. One of the objectives of his communications was to drive traffic to the intranet, so he had a newsletter template designed to mirror the employee portal.
"Also, we know employees love videos, and with Newsweaver we can embed and link videos really easily into our emails. That makes them measurable – another reason I'm such a proponent of Newsweaver. It's all so easy to use, and you're able to publish quickly."
Jody says he now has access to a depth of measurement he didn't have before. "We can measure destination traffic from the emails – what links in the mail drove traffic. It's been really helpful to us around the videos."
"I can now go into decision-making meetings with my leaders and make a business case. I can share what we've learned from our employees through our email internal communications; whether it's traffic to the intranet portal, benchmarking or trending specific campaigns. There's nothing like throwing up a pie chart, or an email performance issue-by-issue, to have your data-driven leaders say 'hey Internal Communication has thought this through.' And now these leaders can say we are making the smart business decision and we have the data and measurement to prove it. That's exciting for me."
One of the senior leaders recently said to me "Without the data you provided, we would have gone in a completely different direction." To me that highlights the real value of measurement – and the importance of internal communicators using measurement, and sharing insight and measurement with stakeholders."
Denise Cox has award-winning experience in corporate, media and PR communications. She uses her knowledge and skills to help companies and customers deliver measurable success through smarter, more effective and interactive communications across all channels. Denise has created and deployed a wide variety of strategies at large organizations, start-ups – and in her own business.
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Enjoy our Bismillah range of tableware for your mini muslim, a beautiful tumbler, bowl and plate with a minimalist design. This set is stain-resistant and versatile, it can be used for dinner and picnics alike!
We received this as a gift from our family and we absolutely love this bowl, plate and cup set. My kids say bismillah before they start their food and alhumdulilah after they have eaten. I was a bit hesitant initially because they have images of burgers and fries but now my kids look at the plates and say burger and chips are not healthy food. Sounds strange writing this but these plates have been very educational for my kids.
We have been using these plates for over a month now and they are excellent quality. They are dishwasher safe and do not leave any curry stains, which is a bonus.


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Anno Dracula: The Bloody Red Baron, or simply The Bloody Red Baron, is a 1995 alternate history/horror novel by British author Kim Newman. It is the second book in the Anno Dracula series and takes place during the Great War, 30 years after the first novel.

Plot
The book takes place during World War I and explores the Diogenes Club's efforts to investigate Germany's attempt to make powerful, undead fliers. Heading up the German operations are the likes of Rotwang, Doctor Caligari and Doctor Mabuse. One of their more successful efforts is an undead flier known as the Red Baron. The story also features Edgar Allan Poe as a vampire writer assigned to ghostwrite the Red Baron's autobiography.

Setting
The book is set in an alternate history universe in which Professor Van Helsing failed in his efforts to kill Count Dracula. This resulted in a vampire proliferation across the world. The book combines a large number of historical and fictional characters, as did its predecessor, Anno Dracula, and pays tribute to a great many World War I movies and novels.

Characters
The novel features numerous characters from other media, including TV and movies, as well as published novels and short stories. Some are directly named, while others are described. The following list is far from complete.

Central Powers

Fictional references
Count Dracula - Dracula by Bram Stoker
Brides of Dracula - Dracula by Bram Stoker
Paul Bäumer — All Quiet on the Western Front, anti-war novel by Erich Maria Remarque
Doctor Caligari — The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) film
Baron von Emmelman — Comic book character The Heap
Hammer - Comic book character Enemy Ace
Hardt - The Spy in Black (1939) film
General Karnstein — Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu
Doctor Mabuse - Norbert Jacques' literary works
Baron Meinster — The Brides of Dracula (1960) film
Doctor Orlof - The Awful Dr. Orloff (1962) film
Count Orlok - Nosferatu (1922) film
Hjalmar Poelzig — From the 1934 film The Black Cat
Robur — Robur the Conqueror by Jules Verne
Rotwang - Metropolis (1927) film
Theo Kretschmar-Schuldorff — From the film The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
Bruno Stachel - The Blue Max (1966) film
Erich von Stalhein — Biggles series by W. E. Johns
Professor Jakob Ten Brincken — Alraune (1911) novel
Armand Tesla - The Return of the Vampire (1943) film
Lemora  - Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural (1971) film
Faustine  - Algernon Charles Swinburne published a poem of the same name
Gregory von Bayern -- The Dragon Waiting by John M. Ford
Chateau du Malinbois  - Stories of vampire-haunted Averoigne by Clark Ashton Smith
Renamed Schloß Adler (The Castle of the Eagles) - Where Eagles Dare (1968) film
Doktor Krueger - recurring villain of G8 and His Battle Aces, first appearing in The Bat Staffel (1933)

Historic figures
Oswald Boelcke
Hanns Heinz Ewers
Franz Ferdinand
Franz Joseph I of Austria
Anthony Fokker
Erich von Falkenhayn
Hermann Göring
Fritz Haarmann
Mata Hari
Paul von Hindenburg
Adolf Hitler
Max Immelmann
Franz Kafka
Peter Kürten
Béla Lugosi
Erich Ludendorff
Helmuth von Moltke
Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau
Edgar Allan Poe
Willi Sanke
Peter Strasser
Ernst Udet
Manfred von Richthofen
Lothar von Richthofen
Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg
Kaiser Wilhelm II
Ferdinand von Zeppelin

Allies

Fictional
"Red" Albright - Captain Midnight radio show
Kent Allard - The Shadow series by Walter B. Gibson
James "Jim" Apperson - From the 1925 film The Big Parade
Doctor Arrowsmith - Arrowsmith, novel by Sinclair Lewis
Ashenden - Ashenden: Or the British Agent, novel by W. Somerset Maugham
Jake Barnes — The Sun Also Rises, novel by Ernest Hemingway
Eddie Bartlett — The Roaring Twenties film
James Bigglesworth — From the Biggles series by W. E. Johns
Lady Jennifer Buckingham — Doctor Who serial The War Games
Jerry Dandridge — Fright Night film
Clifford Chatterley — Lady Chatterley's Lover, novel by D. H. Lawrence
Caleb Croft - Grave of the Vampire (or "Seed of Terror") film
Courtney - The Dawn Patrol (1930 film)
Tom Cundall — Winged Victory, novel by Victor Maslin Yeates
Sergeant Dravot - The Man Who Would Be King by Rudyard Kipling
Bulldog Drummond - the works of H. C. McNeile
Augustus "Gussie" Fink-Nottle- the Bertie Wooster series by P. G. Wodehouse.
James Gatz (Jay Gatsby) - The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Private Charles Godfrey - From the TV series Dad's Army' '(referred to as "the Quaker stretcher-bearer, Godfrey")
Mina Harker - Dracula by Bram Stoker
Ginger Hebblethwaite — From the Biggles series by W. E. Johns
Mycroft Holmes - From the works of Arthur Conan Doyle
Sherlock Holmes - From the works of Arthur Conan Doyle
Nick Knight - From the TV series Forever KnightKostaki — From The Pale Lady by Alexandre Dumas, père
Algernon "Algy" Lacey — From the Biggles series by W. E. Johns
Bertie Lissie — From the Biggles series by W. E. Johns; an upper-class character who wears a monocle, utters clichéd expressions, and bears some resemblance to P. G. Wodehouse's Bertie Wooster.
Cary Lockwood - From the 1931 film, The Last FlightLt. Col. Andrew Blodgett "Monk" Mayfair - One of Doc Savage's five assistants
General Mireau — From the movie Paths of GloryDoctor Moreau - From the novel The Island of Doctor Moreau by H. G. Wells
Ouran- From the 1932 film Island of Lost SoulsRoger Penderel - From the 1927 novel Benighted by J.B. Priestley
Kate Reed — A character from Dracula who was cut from the final novel
Lord Ruthven - From the short story The Vampyre by Dr. John William Polidori
Severin — From the film Near DarkGeorge Sherston - From the Sherston trilogy by Siegfried Sassoon
Count Sinestre - From the film Devils of DarknessCaptain Elliot Spencer — The original identity of Pinhead from the movie HellraiserSimon Templar - From The Saint novels and TV series.
Tietjens - Probably Christopher Tietjens from "Parade's End" by Ford Maddox Ford
Dr. Thorndyke - From the novels of R. Austin Freeman
Isolde - From the French film, "Le frisson des vampires"
Jedediah Leland - From Orson Welles's Citizen Kane
Herbert West - From the short story "Herbert West–Reanimator" by H. P. Lovecraft
Lord Peter Wimsey - From the Peter Wimsey novels of Dorothy L. Sayers (referred to as "the second son of the Duke of Denver")
Wilson - From the Biggles series of books
Clive Wynne-Candy - From the film, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp.

Real
H. H. Asquith
Albert Ball
Thomas Beecham
Roy Brown
Edith Cavell
Winston Churchill
Arthur Rhys Davids
Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig
Lanoe Hawker
Sydney Horler
David Lloyd George
Edmund Gosse
Oswald Mosley
Philippe Pétain
Nicholas II of Russia
Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia
Charles Nungesser
John J. Pershing
Mary Pickford
Grigori Rasputin
William Robertson
Saki
Mansfield Smith-Cumming
J. R. R. Tolkien
Hugh Trenchard
King Victor of Britain
H. G. Wells
Henry Hughes Wilson
Woodrow Wilson

Non-aligned

Fictional
Fantômas - From the works of Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre
Jules and Jim — From the movie Jules and JimArsène Lupin -From the works of Maurice Leblanc
Perle von Mauren — From Carl Jacobi's Revelations in BlackOliver Mellors — From the novel Lady Chatterley's LoverCharles Plumpick — From the 1966 film King of HeartsSnoopy - From Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz
Švejk — From The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek
Langstrom of Gotham University/Man-Bat - Robert Kirkland (Kirk) Langstrom of DC Comics'Batman fame; an anachronism of course
Jacques Lantier - From Émile Zola's novel La Bête humaineDes Esseintes - From A rebours by Joris-Karl Huysmans
Sadie Thompson - From the eponymous 1928 film
Lola-Lola - From the 1930 German film, The Blue AngelGigi - From the French novella Gigi by Colette
Jiggs - From the 1958 American film, The Tarnished Angels''
Judex - From the 1912 silent French serial

Real
Vladimir Lenin

References

External links
Chapter One of The Bloody Red Baron
The Wold Newton Universe - The Anno Dracula Character Guide

1995 British novels
1995 fantasy novels
British alternative history novels
Crossover novels
Dracula novels
British horror novels
Vampire novels
Wold Newton family
Novels set during World War I
World War I alternate histories
Novels by Kim Newman
Fiction set in 1918
Aviation novels
Cultural depictions of Adolf Hitler
Cultural depictions of Bela Lugosi
Cultural depictions of Hermann Göring
Cultural depictions of Manfred von Richthofen
Cultural depictions of Mata Hari
Cultural depictions of Franz Kafka
Cultural depictions of Philippe Pétain
Cultural depictions of Winston Churchill
Cultural depictions of David Lloyd George
Cultural depictions of J. R. R. Tolkien
Cultural depictions of Grigori Rasputin
Cultural depictions of Wilhelm II
Cultural depictions of Edgar Allan Poe
Cultural depictions of Peter Kürten
Cultural depictions of Oswald Mosley
Cultural depictions of H. G. Wells
Cultural depictions of Nicholas II of Russia
Cultural depictions of Vladimir Lenin
Cultural depictions of Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig
Cultural depictions of Paul von Hindenburg
Cultural depictions of Anthony Fokker
Cultural depictions of Erich Ludendorff
Cultural depictions of Franz Joseph I of Austria
Cultural depictions of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
Carroll & Graf books

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Karl Richard Stöckigt (* 16. Februar 1878 in Roda; † im 20. Jahrhundert) war ein deutscher Tischler und Politiker (USPD).

Leben
Stöckigt war der Sohn des Handarbeiters Heinrich Friedrich Louis Stöckigt in Roda und dessen Ehefrau Ida Wilhelmine geborene Füchsel. Er war evangelisch-lutherischer Konfession (seine Ehefrau trat am 14. September 1938 aus der Kirche aus; es ist plausibel, dass er es auch tat) und heiratete am 10. Mai 1903 in Triebes die Laborarbeiterin Frieda Alma Pitzler (* 28. November 1884 in Triebes), die Tochter des Fabrikarbeiters Franz Otto Pitzler in Triebes.

Stöckigt machte eine Tischlerlehre und arbeitete als Tischler in Triebes.

Nach der Novemberrevolution wurde er zum 17. Februar 1919 für die USPD in den Landtag Reuß jüngerer Linie gewählt. Als Abgeordneter wurde er Mitglied des vereinigten Landtages des Volksstaates Reuß. Am 1. Mai 1920 schlossen sich der Volksstaat Reuß und sechs weitere thüringische Kleinstaaten zum Land Thüringen zusammen. Damit wandelte sich der Reußer Landtag in eine Gebietsvertretung. Auch dieser gehörte er an. Zum 31. März 1921 schied er aufgrund der Verkleinerung der Gebietsvertretung aus.

Literatur
 Reyk Seela: Landtage und Gebietsvertretungen in den reußischen Staaten 1848/67–1923. Biographisches Handbuch (= Parlamente in Thüringen 1809–1952. Tl. 2). G. Fischer, Jena u. a. 1996, ISBN 3-437-35046-3, S. 312.

Landtagsabgeordneter (Reuß jüngerer Linie)
Landtagsabgeordneter (Volksstaat Reuß)
USPD-Mitglied
Deutscher
Geboren 1878
Gestorben im 20. Jahrhundert
Mann


Number of category "standard" of 18 – 20 sq. m . equipped with a Queen – size bed and a comfortable work space. Ideal for the business person or traveler.
View on the Truda st.
The bathroom has a bathtub and a shower, a makeup mirror, a hair dryer, scales, toiletry.


Lava Cap Winery - Recent Awards for Lava Cap!
Lava Cap pulled in some awesome scores in the March and April edition of Wine Enthusiast Magazine!
Cabernet Franc 2014 - 93 Points "Editors Choice"
Viognier 2106 - 93 Points "Cellar Selection"
Chardonnay 2016 - 92 Points "Editors Choice"
Petite Sirah 2014 - 92 Points "Editors Choice"
Lava Cap also pulled in GOLDS and DOUBLE GOLDS at the San Francisco Chronicle Competition this year!


With OTOTO you can unpack the kit and make anything from a drum kit of saucepans to origami that sing when touched.
The core of the kit is the PCB synthesizer, slightly larger than a cassette tape, which works as a musical keyboard straight out the box.
By using crocodile clips you can connect board to conductive materials which will the trigger sounds.
The sound can also be changed by connecting electronic modules to four outboard sensor inputs.
For example you can easily build a light Theremin by connecting light sensor to control the pitch.
We wanted to created a kit that makes physical computing and interactive projects accessible for eveyone.
amazing electronic sound projects with minimal knowledge.


text:
The Might and the Right: How Far Will Brazil's Military Back Bolsonaro?
Members of the Brazilian Armed Forces take part in a military exercise as part of the Agata operation, on the Oiapoque River in Oiapoque, Amapa state, Brazil, on the border with French Guiana, on 31 October 2020. NELSON ALMEIDA / AFP
Commentary / Latin America & Caribbean 1 July 2021
As momentum builds for impeaching President Jair Bolsonaro, he relies on the armed forces for support. Will the generals stay the course? Could they break with him, at peril to their institutional interests? These questions, crucial to Brazilian politics, have no obvious answer.
Jair Bolsonaro is in a tight spot. Bedevilled by a pandemic whose seriousness he does not recognise and confronted with political rivals who are gathering strength, the Brazilian president nonetheless seems to have one ally he can count on. Bolsonaro, himself a former army captain, has filled his right-wing government with military personnel, handed the armed forces additional powers and done his utmost to rehabilitate the military dictatorship that ran the country for two decades until 1985. His rhetoric invokes values cherished in the barracks – order, nationalism and authority. But as pressure on his government mounts, with the COVID-19 death toll topping half a million and a presidential election looming in late 2022, the future of this partnership is becoming clouded with uncertainty. Much as the generals have benefited under Bolsonaro, and much as they may sympathise with his ideology, how far would they be prepared to go on his behalf?
The threat that Bolsonaro would attempt a power grab, potentially by resisting impeachment or rejecting defeat at the ballot box, and that the military would either back him up or decline to stop him, is a concern among the president's opponents. In early June, former Brazilian President Michel Temer reportedly noted that Bolsonaro could be inclined to seize power illegally in 2022 if his electoral prospects weaken. Certain senior military figures have implied that the president would be justified in doing so: on 28 April, the head of the Brazilian Military Club, a guild for retired officers, issued a statement in which he condemned senators and Supreme Court judges accused of corrupt activities, and insisted that Bolsonaro call on the armed forces to "re-establish law and order". Nonetheless, the strength of Brazilian institutions makes a coup and return to dictatorship seem far-fetched. Recent Supreme Court rulings and decisions by state governors have contradicted Bolsonaro. The president also lacks support from key players such as most media outlets, while the military itself has affirmed its commitment to adhering to its constitutional role.
Instead of defending Bolsonaro to the hilt, senior officers might be more interested in protecting themselves from the more noxious effects of his rule.
Moreover, relations between Bolsonaro and the top brass are complicated. A recent political spat between the president and military suggests that instead of defending Bolsonaro to the hilt, senior officers might be more interested in protecting themselves from the more noxious effects of his rule. At the peak of the pandemic in Brazil in late March, with around 4,000 deaths being recorded each day, Bolsonaro fired Defence Minister Fernando Azevedo e Silva, seemingly out of frustration that he could not command the retired general's unquestioning loyalty. The dismissal set in motion of a chain of resignations by the army, navy and air force commanders. Since then, relations between the military and civilian wings of the Brazilian government appear to have calmed. But the armed forces' apparent fear that they have strapped themselves to a political time bomb may not yet have dissipated.
Turning against the Left
In the generals' eyes, Bolsonaro's attractiveness as a defender of military interests has never obscured his past quarrels with the armed forces. An army captain from 1974 to 1988, Bolsonaro became mired in controversy toward the end of his military career, largely due to his public complaints about troops' poor wages. In 1988, army prosecutors accused him of planning to plant bombs in military units and at other strategic sites to protest low pay and budget cuts. The Supreme Military Court acquitted him of the charges.
After the trial, Bolsonaro resigned from his army post and turned to politics. In 1988, he was elected to the Rio de Janeiro city congress, and in 1990 he won a seat representing Rio de Janeiro state in the federal Chamber of Deputies (the lower house of Congress), a position that he managed to retain until his victory in the 2018 presidential poll. During his seven consecutive terms as a congressional deputy, Bolsonaro was affiliated with eight different political parties and became a well-known advocate of military causes. According to the military expert João Roberto Martins Filho, Bolsonaro served in effect as a "union leader", defending the interests of lower-ranking officers from his perch in the legislature.
After a generally unremarkable political career laced with obscene outbursts and attacks on women and LGBT individuals, Bolsonaro vaulted to national prominence in 2016. Throughout the impeachment proceedings against his predecessor President Dilma Rousseff, Bolsonaro was a savage critic of her political base in the Workers' Party. He made himself a magnet for those deeply dissatisfied with her rule: the far right, conservative evangelicals, agribusiness, the police and the military, among others.
Substantial state investment in armaments and the prestige gained through participation in UN peacekeeping … fanned the military's corporate pride.
Support for Bolsonaro from the armed forces was nothing new, but it received a jolt in 2016, reflecting the military's sharply deteriorating relationship with the Workers' Party. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, popularly known as Lula, had served as president on behalf of the party before Rousseff. Throughout Lula's two terms in office, starting in 2003, ties between the left-leaning government and the military remained cordial. Substantial state investment in armaments and the prestige gained through participation in UN peacekeeping – notably the mission to Haiti – fanned the military's corporate pride. Numerous officers and military experts proclaimed success in stabilising Haiti and reducing violent crime there, often putting these achievements down to particular characteristics of the Brazilian military, notably its historical involvement in community and economic development and the social background of the troops, many of whom come from poor families. These same considerations help explain the military's popularity in Brazil itself, where governments are traditionally inclined to call out the troops when faced with massive logistical headaches, like the World Cup or Olympics, or stubborn social problems such as violent crime. The latter spurred the military occupation of Rio de Janeiro's favelas during rollout of the Pacifying Police Unit Program in the 2000s.
Rousseff, on the other hand, saw the military's allegiance to her presidency drain away. At the start of her first term (2011-2015), she courted military resentment by firing the long-serving Defence Minister Nelson Jobim, who was popular with senior commanders but had riled the president after alleged critical comments about two other female ministers. Stripping the ministerial status of the Institutional Security Office, a department traditionally occupied by the military, further soured relations.
But it was the establishment of the Truth Commission, signed into law by Rousseff in 2011 with the task of investigating crimes committed during the 1964-1985 military dictatorship, among other human rights abuses, that poisoned the president's reputation in the armed forces for good. The military regarded the Commission as a vindictive left-wing ploy, created by a former guerrilla fighter (Rousseff had been tortured by the military regime, and imprisoned for two and a half years from 1970 to 1972) and devoted solely to the military´s alleged misdeeds while ignoring crimes committed by insurgents whom the armed forces branded "terrorists". In the eyes of the military and the U.S. government at the time, the ouster of President João Goulart in 1964 had come not a moment too soon, with the danger of communist revolution imminent. Goulart's policies had included land reform and nationalisation, although the coup's immediate spark was a sailors' protest that the naval high command perceived as a mutiny.
The Tryst with Bolsonaro
As the military's trust in the Workers' Party evaporated and the 2018 presidential election approached, Bolsonaro emerged as a staunch defender of military interests and ideology. The top brass, and several senior commanders in particular, shared his conviction that the military regime had heroically defeated communism and thus secured Brazilian democracy. Despite their warm relations with Lula, they suspected that what they portray as far-left dogma remained rife in Workers' Party ranks and among allied political forces. They also agreed with Bolsonaro that it was imperative to restore conservative values in place of "cultural Marxism" and to intensify efforts to curb violent crime.
Military support for Bolsonaro's presidential campaign ranged from discreet background assistance ... to overt shows of solidarity by retired or soon-to-retire officers.
Military support for Bolsonaro's presidential campaign ranged from discreet background assistance – political activism is prohibited for serving personnel – to overt shows of solidarity by retired or soon-to-retire officers. Several retired generals, including Hamilton Mourão (now vice president), Carlos Alberto dos Santos Cruz (former interior minister) and Augusto Heleno (now head of the Institutional Security Office) played an active role in the campaign, both by giving Bolsonaro public backing and by privately lobbying the top brass on behalf of a candidate whom many generals still distrusted due to the charges against him in 1988. The military as a whole displayed its support by repeatedly inviting Bolsonaro to cadets' graduation ceremonies.
Another key platform for the military's electioneering was social media. According to recent research, a significant number of high-ranking officers opened Twitter accounts in the six months before the 2018 presidential election, with most of them voicing support for Bolsonaro or lambasting his opponent from the Workers' Party. Perhaps the most telling tweet came from General Villas Boas on 3 April 2018, on the eve of former President Lula's trial before the Supreme Court, which paved the way for his arrest and prohibition from candidacy. The general posted that "the Brazilian Army believes that it shares the desire of all citizens to repudiate impunity and respect the Constitution, social peace and democracy, as well as keeping an eye on its institutional missions", a remark that was widely interpreted as a veiled attempt to pressure the Supreme Court to remove Lula from the electoral race. Two years later, Villas Boas acknowledged in an interview for a book that the army high command had drafted his tweets.
The Military in Power
Since his election, President Bolsonaro has leaned heavily on the military to fill government posts. Retired or active military personnel have consistently occupied ten of 23 cabinet positions since 2019. A 2020 report further noted that 6,157 military officers were in federal government jobs – a higher number than the same headcount under the military regime. Perhaps counterintuitively, in the eyes of the president's critics the military's presence in the state appeared, at first, to be no bad thing; they believed that the officers' competence, incorruptibility and moderation would serve to cushion the country from the effects of Bolsonaro's erratic behaviour. Early friction between the president and several of his military ministers lent credence to this perception: by mid-2019, six army generals had already quit the government, while senior officers called for sensible government policies when the pandemic hit Brazil in mid-2020. This approach contrasted with Bolsonaro's own attempts and those of his close allies to belittle the virus, resist movement restrictions, and blame the pandemic on the Chinese Communist Party.
These differences were largely patched up, however, as the military secured a bevy of additional perks. For instance, officers occupying government posts are allowed to earn salaries from both the armed forces and the state (even the total exceeds the constitutional salary cap) under new ministry of finance regulations; they are largely exempt from pension cuts; and they are the only branch of the public sector that got a wage hike in the 2021 federal budget. Bolsonaro also saw to it that the military's institutional powers were significantly enhanced, above all through their involvement in policing deforestation in the Amazon.
All these privileges, powers and special benefits under the auspices of a hard-right government have come at a high reputational cost to the military, spurring calls for it to break with Bolsonaro. Nothing better exemplifies the tensions than the disastrous mishandling of COVID-19, led in large part by General Eduardo Pazuello, who served as health minister for much of the pandemic. When the president opposed lockdowns and movement restrictions, and adopted a deeply anti-scientific understanding of the dangers posed by the virus and how to fight it, senior military officers appeared meekly to follow his cues. The armed forces were tasked with mass production of hydroxychloroquine, touted by Bolsonaro as a protective measure without evidence of its effectiveness. Three million pills have since been manufactured in military laboratories, amid media reports that the army has been buying raw materials for the drug without following proper procurement procedures and paying over three times the market price.
But it is the military's role in the health ministry that has brought it the most derision. Two civilian health ministers departed in the pandemic's early days after disagreeing with Bolsonaro. From June 2020 until his resignation in March 2021, General Pazuello was placed in charge of the ministry, where he proceeded to watch over a series of worsening blunders and controversies. These included changing the data released daily by the ministry so as to spotlight recoveries rather than infections or deaths (a plan that was abandoned in the face of criticism); the appointment of over twenty military officers to key positions in the ministry, displacing technical staff; the refusal to buy tens of millions of Pfizer vaccine doses in late 2020 and recent accusations of corruption and bribery in the vaccine procurement process; and, most seriously, the failure to respond to January's oxygen crisis in Manaus as a fresh wave of infections, seemingly driven by the P1 variant, brought a rapid depletion in the city hospitals' stocks. At least 50 people died as a result.
Just as in the health ministry, the expanding military role in the Amazon has been associated with far from impressive results and with the suspicion that its job is to provide a smokescreen for the administration, which has no real interest in the environment. Handed the mandate to protect the rainforest in 2019 as raging fires in the Amazon stirred global alarm, the army was given extra funding and responsibility for coordinating federal environmental monitors as part of Operations Green Brazil 1 and 2. Even so, the deforestation rate and the number of fires have steadily increased, while the number of fines and penalties handed out for illegal activities in the Amazon has fallen. According to the Climate Observatory, a group of civil society organisations dedicated to preventing climate change, Bolsonaro and former Environment Minister Ricardo Salles, who resigned on 23 June soon after the Supreme Court began looking into charges that he protected illegal logging from a police probe, have been systematically aiming to weaken environmental protection laws, cut budgets and dismantle watchdogs.
A Relationship on Thin Ice
Days after Pazuello's resignation, attention turned to Foreign Minister Ernesto Araújo, a conservative ideologue and scourge of "globalism" and the left, who was taking flak for his mishandling of orders for COVID-19 vaccines. Araújo was eventually forced to resign on 29 March. His departure was followed just hours later by a far more significant fissure: the dismissal of Defence Minister and retired General Fernando Azevedo e Silva. The commanders of the army, navy and air force quit the next day.
From what is known of these events, it appears that Bolsonaro was displeased with the lack of public support for his more controversial policies from the army chief, Edson Pujol, and to a lesser extent the defence minister. According to media reports, as well as interviews with experts on the military, the defence minister protested Bolsonaro's decision to replace the army chief, prompting his sacking; in his letter of resignation, Azevedo e Silva said he had endeavoured to preserve the armed forces as an impartial state institution. To replace Azevedo e Silva, Bolsonaro immediately appointed former General Walter Braga Netto, who in terms of military rank stood beneath the army chief. Upset about Azevedo e Silva's dismissal and the choice of a perceived junior to the defence ministry's helm, the three force chiefs also jumped ship.
The break between the military and president that some of Bolsonaro's opponents long for may not be imminent.
Two different accounts of these events have become commonplace in the media and political circles. Much of the media reported that the defence minister and force chiefs had valiantly resisted the president's efforts to ensure their absolute loyalty to his political and electoral dictates; that their departure signalled they would not comply with Bolsonaro's every whim; and that the military as a whole might eventually abandon the government. Yet the break between the military and president that some of Bolsonaro's opponents long for may not be imminent, according to a number of political analysts. Instead, they argue that the late March peak in the pandemic and the president's political tribulations presented an opportunity for the military to distance themselves from Bolsonaro and his catastrophic health policies. According to this line of analysis, the goal of the top brass was not to decisively ditch the president, but to restore their own credibility while retaining access to the considerable benefits of state officialdom.
There is some evidence to support this second perspective. The new defence minister, Braga Netto, has not only accompanied the president on his extra-official activities, including weekend walkabouts to meet his supporters, but also gave a short speech at an anti-lockdown demonstration called by Bolsonaro in Brasilia on 15 May. During a rally days later, former Health Minister Pazuello stood beside the president and said a few words to the crowd, violating the rules forbidding the military from taking part in political events. The new army chief nevertheless went on to exonerate Pazuello, earning rebukes from prominent former generals and Vice President Mourão.
Twenty-one years after taking power in 1964, faced with major unrest, the military handed power back to civilians, claiming that they had accomplished their solemn mission to pacify the country and preserve democracy. Their return to the heart of the state under Bolsonaro has certainly roused fears, but the president's critics also hoped that the military would ensure a degree of probity in a government with limited experience and an ultra-conservative agenda. These hopes appear to have waned.
Instead of toning down the president's more outlandish positions, several individuals from the top brass have instead lent their support to some of those positions, especially regarding the pandemic response. The military's technical competence has come under scrutiny following the poor results in dealing with illegal deforestation and fires in the Amazon. Dragged into the media spotlight as a result of their positions of power in the state apparatus, military personnel have also been exposed to accusations of corruption and embezzlement, with two of the most telling cases involving diversion of funds earmarked for fighting deforestation and forest fires, and an overpriced project to rebuild warehouses in Rio de Janeiro reportedly approved by a colonel from the health ministry. The latter bypassed procurement procedures and used COVID-19 emergency funds to contract a company that was blacklisted due to alleged fraud involving the armed forces.
The recent friction between Bolsonaro and the military could be seen as serving the armed forces' interests by distancing them from the government's failures.
For these reasons, the recent friction between Bolsonaro and the military could be seen as serving the armed forces' interests by distancing them from the government's failures. These moves have also helped reinforce the perception in the media and among politicians that the armed forces will not back an attempt by the president to subvert the Brazilian constitution should he face impeachment or lose the 2022 election. Impeachment remains unlikely: a total of 120 impeachment requests are pending in the Lower House of Congress, and although public support for such a process has risen, many doubt that Congress will follow through. But Bolsonaro seems likely to contest any defeat at the polls. He has already cast doubt upon the electronic voting system's reliability, stating in January that "if we do not have paper ballots, a way of auditing the vote, we will have a problem bigger than what happened in the U.S.".
As for what the military might try to do as the 2022 presidential race unfolds, much as it has sought to walk a fine line, its options are limited. The military presence in state institutions remains large, has benefited many individuals and brought additional prerogatives for the military as an institution. Its full withdrawal from government would strip the executive of nearly half its cabinet ministers, and place in peril hundreds of key posts in almost all ministries and thousands of positions in the federal administration – a huge decoupling that could plunge the government into a grave institutional crisis. On the other hand, it would be risky to shore up Bolsonaro, if only half-heartedly, as the pandemic rages on and the election battle heats up: the military could find itself further enveloped in political matters. The risk would be especially high if the president foists uncomfortable and controversial responsibilities on the armed forces, such as calling on troops to contain public demonstrations or enlarging their current support for election logistics, which traditionally includes ensuring access to the ballot for remote settlements and providing security if requested to do so. Speaking at a late May luncheon with officers in the Amazon, Bolsonaro declared that the military were "political beings" and said he was sure they would support him in 2022.
A last possibility is that the military opts for a "third way": seeking an alternative to both Bolsonaro and the Workers' Party whom the top brass could cheer in the 2022 presidential race. But opinion polls suggest that no candidate stands a chance against the established dyad of Lula or Bolsonaro in that election.
With Brazilian politics more polarised and caustic than ever, the burning question – how will the armed forces position themselves? – is unlikely to go away.
Commentary / Latin America & Caribbean
Brazil's Deadly Calm
Also available in Español, Português
Video / Latin America & Caribbean
Video: The Combustible Border Between Venezuela and Brazil


Using bandwidth like fish; rolled RF transformers; recycling plastic for batteries.
Researchers from the University of Georgia developed a method to make fuller use of wireless bandwidth, inspired by a cave-dwelling fish's jamming avoidance response.
Eigenmannia fish live in complete darkness, sensing their environment and communicating through emitting an electric field. When two fish emit signals at similar frequencies they can interfere with each other, however Eigenmannia can adjust their electric communication signals so that they don't interfere with those coming from other nearby fish.
To mimic the jamming avoidance capabilities of Eigenmannia, the researchers used an off-the-shelf semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) to mimic its jamming avoidance response, or JAR. The SOA identifies the properties of its own emitted signal and uses that as a reference to detect a potential jamming and to determine if that signal is higher or lower in frequency. It then moves the emitted signal away from the potential jamming signal.
Because the jamming avoidance system is light-based, only slight adjustments are needed to use it with a wide range of frequencies. Using a light-based device also allows faster automatic response to a potential jamming signal than an electronic system could accomplish.
Applications include avoiding unintentional jamming when radars aboard planes or military vehicles are operating in the same area, or in environments such as hospitals where wireless devices can interfere with wireless transmissions coming from medical instruments. The researchers also hope it could bring down the cost of using the wireless spectrum, making it more affordable to bring mobile technology to developing countries.
The researchers are now working to improve the system so that it can respond to more than one jamming signal nearby. They also want to make the system portable and more user friendly.
Engineers at the University of Illinois are working to shrink the size of radio frequency transformers, creating a three-dimensional rolled-up version that takes 10 to 100 times less space and also performs better when the power transfer ratio increases.
The new transformer design uses techniques the team previously developed for making rolled inductors. "We are making 3-D structures using 2-D processing," said Xiuling Li, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Illinois. The team deposits carefully patterned metal wires onto stretched 2-D thin films. Once they release the tension, the 2-D films self-roll into tiny tubes, allowing the primary and secondary wires to coil and nest perfectly inside each other into a much smaller area for optimum magnetic induction and coupling.
The nested 3-D architecture leads to high turns ratio coils. "A high turns ratio transformer can be used as an impedance transformer to improve the sensitivity of extremely low power receivers, which are expected to be a key enabler for IoT wireless front ends," said Songbin Gong, an electrical and computer engineering professor at the University of Illinois. Rolled transformers can also receive and process higher frequency signals than the larger devices.
According to the researchers, the new transformers have a robust fabrication process, are stable beyond standard foundry temperatures and compatible with industry-standard materials. This study used gold wire, but the team demonstrated the fabrication of their rolled devices using copper.
Researchers at Purdue University propose a method to both improve the quality of lithium-sulfur batteries and reuse discarded plastic bags by putting ink-free plastic soaked in sulfur-containing solvent into a microwave, and then into batteries as a carbon scaffold.
Lithium-sulfur batteries are cheaper and more energy-dense than lithium-ion batteries, however their lifespan has been limited to about 100 charging cycles.
When a current is applied to a lithium-sulfur battery, lithium ions migrate to the sulfur and a chemical reaction takes place to produce lithium sulfide. The byproduct of this reaction, polysulfide, tend to cross back over to the lithium side and prevent the migration of lithium ions to sulfur. This decreases the charge capacity of a battery as well as lifespan.
"The easiest way to block polysulfide is to place a physical barrier between lithium and sulfur," said Patrick Kim, a Purdue postdoc research associate in chemical engineering.
The team found that low-density polyethylene plastic, which is used for packaging and comprises a big portion of plastic waste, can be incorporated into a carbon scaffold to suppress polysulfide shuttling in a battery. Past research had shown that low-density polyethylene plastic yields carbon when combined with sulfonated groups.
"The plastic-derived carbon from this process includes a sulfonate group with a negative charge, which is also what polysulfide has," Kim said. Sulfonated low-density polyethylene made into a carbon scaffold, therefore, suppressed polysulfide by having a similar chemical structure.
Next, the team plans to fabricate a larger battery using the concept.


text:
HLS Dorms Compete to Reduce Electricity Use
By Kate Cosgrove
For one week, all HLS Dorms competed to REDUCE THEIR JUICE, and Shaw led by Green Living Rep Katy Yang emerged victorious, reducing electricity consumption 6.4% and saving 144 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity and winning a dorm dinner from Spice restaurant. Taking action to reduce electricity use in dorms is an important part of Harvard Law School's commitment to reducing our carbon footprint, because dorms are a large consumer of energy. In the course of an academic year (from September to May), HLS dorm residents used over 1,000,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity, which produced about 380 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents (MTCDE). This is about 2000 kWh and .75 MTCDE a person!
During the awareness-building and active reduction competition, dorms competed against each other to reduce electricity consumption off of a baseline taken the previous week. HLS dorms have competed in an annual electricity competition since 2008, but this year was the first year that all dorms reduced their net energy consumption. The HLS apartments located at 1637 Mass. Ave, 3 Mellen St, 5 Mellen St were also included in the competition for the first time. Throughout the competition, Green Living representatives in each dorm helped their residents learn about and implement energy conservation opportunities, including study breaks lit by hand-crank powered LED lanterns!
The average electricity consumption reduction achieved across all dorms was 3.1%, or a total of 738 kWh saved, which is equivalent to a .51 metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalents (MTCDE). If these savings were maintained for 1 year, the Harvard Law dormitories would save 38376 kWh, which is equivalent to 26.5 MTCDE – like taking 5.2 passenger vehicles off the road for a year, and a $5,000 savings in utility costs.
In the dorms or in your home apartment, there are many steps you can take to conserve energy. Try these tips and watch the savings add up!
Turn off your lights. Open your blinds and use natural light during the day. If you still haven't swapped your regular incandescent bulb for an energy-efficient CFL (lasts 6x longer, uses 75% less energy) let me know and we can arrange a swap. Use "task lighting," like a desk lamp, instead of lighting up your whole room.
Shut down your computers at night and enable automatic power management. This is a one-time settings adjustment, and once you do it, you don't have to think about it anymore. See the Office for Sustainability website for how to set Windows and Macs to save energy.
Reduce phantom power draw: Unplug chargers, and use power strips!!!!! (It's best to plug everything into a power strip except your alarm clock, so that it can be switched off without turning off the clock.) Don't leave your chargers for laptops/cell phones plugged in…they continue to use electricity even when they're "off"!
Use drying racks instead of dryers. This is gentler on your clothes and helps stop them from falling apart or pilling.
Try and shave just one minute off your use of appliances, like a hair dryer.
Clean out the fridge! They operate more efficiently when the air is allowed to circulate. Also, it will make your neighbors happy to have clean and spacious fridges. Consider raising the temperature setpoint in fridges/freezers if it's not necessary to keep items at the coldest temperature.
Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Save energy AND get some exercise!


text:
Q: Installing aws cli I am getting this message when I try to install aws. Anyone have any ideas of what's going on?
Exception:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/pip/basecommand.py", line 209, in main
    status = self.run(options, args)
  File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/pip/commands/install.py", line 317, in run
    prefix=options.prefix_path,
  File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/pip/req/req_set.py", line 725, in install
    requirement.uninstall(auto_confirm=True)
  File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/pip/req/req_install.py", line 756, in uninstall
    paths_to_remove.remove(auto_confirm)
  File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/pip/req/req_uninstall.py", line 115, in remove
    renames(path, new_path)
  File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/pip/utils/__init__.py", line 266, in renames
    shutil.move(old, new)
  File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/shutil.py", line 302, in move
    copy2(src, real_dst)
  File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/shutil.py", line 131, in copy2
    copystat(src, dst)
  File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/shutil.py", line 103, in copystat
    os.chflags(dst, st.st_flags)
OSError: [Errno 1] Operation not permitted: '/tmp/pip-TIuiKe-uninstall/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/Extras/lib/python/six-1.4.1-py2.7.egg-info'

The command I'm using is pip install awscli

A: The problem is about permisson. The installer are trying to write in a folder that doesnt have permission.
try sudo pip install awscli

A: It looks like it is trying to uninstall six-1.4.1. I had the same issue. Telling pip to ignore installed package should work.
sudo pip install --ignore-installed awscli

A: sudo pip install --upgrade --user awscli
--upgrade : tells pip to upgrade any requirements that are already installed

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


August 01, 2017 Lehigh Valley, Pa.
*The results and guidance in this release, including in the highlights above, include references to non-GAAP continuing operations measures. These exclude discontinued operations and are identified by the word "adjusted" preceding the measure. A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP results can be found at the end of this release.
Air Products (NYSE: APD) today reported GAAP net income from continuing operations of $104 million and diluted earnings per share (EPS) from continuing operations of $.47, down 58 and 59 percent, respectively, from the prior year, for its fiscal third quarter ended June 30, 2017. These results include noncash impairment charges referenced below.
For the quarter, on a non-GAAP basis, adjusted net income from continuing operations of $363 million was up 16 percent versus prior year, and adjusted diluted earnings per share from continuing operations of $1.65 was up 15 percent versus prior year.
Third quarter sales of $2,122 million increased 11 percent from the prior year, on eight percent higher volumes and five percent favorable energy pass-through, partially offset by two percent unfavorable currency. Volumes were positive across all three regions, while continued progress on the Jazan project was partially offset by lower LNG activity. Taken together, the Industrial Gas regions increased overall volumes by eight percent. Pricing was flat with the prior year.
For the quarter, on a GAAP basis, operating income of $253 million decreased 36 percent. Operating margin of 11.9 percent decreased 870 basis points versus prior year.
Adjusted operating income of $463 million increased 11 percent, and adjusted EBITDA of $722 million increased seven percent over the prior year. Adjusted operating margin of 21.8 percent was unchanged versus prior year, as unfavorable energy pass-through of 90 basis points was offset by favorable volumes. Adjusted EBITDA margin of 34.0 percent decreased 120 basis points from the prior year and was negatively impacted by 150 basis points from higher energy pass-through; excluding this impact, this margin increased 30 basis points. ROCE based on GAAP items of nine percent decreased 180 basis points from the prior year. Adjusted ROCE increased 10 basis points over prior year to 12.2 percent.
Commenting on the results for the quarter, Seifi Ghasemi, chairman, president and chief executive officer, said, "Once again, the committed and motivated team at Air Products delivered strong results. We had another quarter of excellent improvement in our safety performance. Adjusted EPS increased 15 percent over prior year, which is the 13th consecutive quarter of adjusted EPS growth, and we generated a significant amount of cash flow. In addition, our customers awarded us significant new orders, and we successfully started up our very large hydrogen plant in India and another very large oxygen plant in China."
Industrial Gases – Americas sales of $930 million increased 12 percent versus prior year on three percent higher volumes and nine percent higher energy pass-through. Operating income of $236 million increased one percent. Adjusted EBITDA of $367 million increased one percent, as the contribution of the higher volumes and productivity actions were partially offset by outage-related costs. Adjusted EBITDA margin of 39.5 percent decreased 400 basis points from the prior year, primarily due to higher energy pass-through; excluding energy pass-through, adjusted EBITDA margin decreased 70 basis points.
Industrial Gases – EMEA sales of $452 million increased five percent versus last year, as six percent higher volumes and four percent higher energy pass-through were partially offset by four percent unfavorable currency and one percent lower pricing. The higher volumes were driven by the new hydrogen facility in India coming onstream. Operating income of $94 million decreased by 10 percent. Adjusted EBITDA of $155 million decreased three percent from the prior year, as productivity actions and higher equity affiliate income were offset by lower equipment sales and a negative impact from price versus variable cost; on a constant currency basis, adjusted EBITDA would have been up slightly. Adjusted EBITDA margin of 34.3 percent decreased 310 basis points from the prior year, with higher energy pass-through accounting for 140 basis points. Excluding this impact, adjusted EBITDA margin was down 170 basis points, approximately evenly impacted by lower equipment sales and price versus variable cost.
Industrial Gases – Asia sales of $538 million increased 20 percent versus prior year, with volumes up 20 percent. About half of the volume growth was from equipment sale projects, and the remainder was evenly split between new project onstreams and base business growth. Higher pricing contributed two percent, as merchant pricing improved across Asia, including China. Operating income of $149 million increased 26 percent. Adjusted EBITDA of $211 million increased 15 percent, driven by the higher volumes and the higher pricing, partially offset by lower equity affiliate income and higher costs. Adjusted EBITDA margin of 39.2 percent declined 160 basis points.
Non-GAAP results for the Company in the fiscal third quarter of 2017 exclude pre-tax expenses of $162.1 million, or $0.70 per share, for a noncash goodwill impairment charge on the Latin America business; $79.5 million, or $0.36 per share, for an impairment charge on an equity investment in Abdullah Hashim Industrial Gases; $42.7 million, or $0.14 per share, for cost reduction and asset actions; and $5.5 million, or $0.02 per share, for pension settlement costs. Non-GAAP results also exclude $8.2 million, or $0.04 per share, of tax benefits related to changes in tax positions on business separation activities. See reconciliation of non-GAAP measures starting on page four.
Air Products increased fiscal 2017 adjusted EPS to $6.20 to $6.25, which at midpoint, is up $0.10 from prior guidance and represents an increase of 10 percent over last year. For the fiscal 2017 fourth quarter, Air Products expects adjusted EPS from continuing operations of $1.65 to $1.70 per share, which at midpoint, represents an increase of 12 percent over last year.
Management has provided adjusted EPS guidance on a continuing operations basis. While it is likely that we will incur additional costs for items such as cost reduction actions and pension settlements in future periods, it is not possible, without unreasonable efforts, to identify the amount or significance of these events or the potential for other transactions that may impact future GAAP EPS. Management does not believe these items to be representative of underlying business performance. Accordingly, management is unable to reconcile, without unreasonable effort, the Company's forecasted range of adjusted EPS to a comparable GAAP range.
Access the Q3 earnings teleconference scheduled for 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time on August 1 by calling (323) 794-2130 and entering passcode 4223198, or access the Event Details page on Air Products' Investor Relations web site.
NOTE: This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements about earnings guidance, business outlook and investment opportunities. These forward-looking statements are based on management's reasonable expectations and assumptions as of the date this release is furnished. Actual performance and financial results may differ materially from projections and estimates expressed in the forward-looking statements because of many factors not anticipated by management, including, without limitation, global or regional economic conditions (including, as to the United Kingdom and Europe, the impact of "Brexit") and supply and demand dynamics in market segments into which the Company sells; political risks, including the risks of unanticipated government actions; acts of war or terrorism; the inability to eliminate stranded costs previously allocated to the Company's Electronic Materials and Performance Materials divisions which have been divested and other unexpected impacts of the divestitures including tax impacts; significant fluctuations in interest rates and foreign currencies from that currently anticipated; future financial and operating performance of major customers; unanticipated contract terminations or customer cancellations or postponement of projects and sales; our ability to execute the projects in our backlog; asset impairments due to economic conditions or specific events; the impact of price fluctuations in natural gas and disruptions in markets and the economy due to oil price volatility; costs and outcomes of litigation or regulatory investigations; the success of productivity and operational improvement programs; the timing, impact, and other uncertainties of future acquisitions or divestitures, including reputational impacts; the Company's ability to implement and operate with new or untried technologies; the impact of changes in environmental, tax or other legislation, economic sanctions and regulatory activities in jurisdictions in which the Company and its affiliates operate; and other risk factors described in the Company's Form 10-K for its fiscal year ended September 30, 2016. The Company disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained in this release to reflect any change in the Company's assumptions, beliefs or expectations or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances upon which any such forward-looking statements are based.


Normally, we must avoid judging people, and concentrate our efforts on fighting against our own faults. On the other hand, in Politics, sometimes we must pass judgment, if we want to choose which political party we're going to support.
- By definition, this text is not permanent (Party leaders change, and parties themselves change). I'm writing this in June 2006 (but I re-checked everything in January 2010, and January 2011).
- All the warnings of numbers 1 and 2 for "Right-Wing Christians Against Bush's Sins" also apply to this text.
2) Is Harper really pro-choice?
2.1) Historically, Stephen Harper has never been pro-life. I've never been able to find a document, coming from Harper's political career, where he would have demonstrated a pro-life position. Compare that to the very first time I tried to get elected in Louis-Hebert: I proudly filled out the CLC questionnaire, and I was ranked as the only pro-life candidate in my riding.
2.2) Harper as stated several times that he wouldn't try to stop abortions. He even promised he'd use all his influence to prevent abortion from being discussed in Parliament.
2.4) Harper gets along just fine with pro-choice collegues. Just in the ridings near my home, there is Luc Harvey (with whom I talked for 4 hours at his place concerning this topic), and Josée Verner. But elsewhere in Canada, there are plenty of examples. The majority of Conservative MP's might even be pro-choice.
2.5) Harper rejects pro-life candidates, because they are pro-life. We could always claim that poor Harper isn't surrounded by pro-life MP's, because there aren't enough pro-lifers who show up as candidates. But that's false; these people are turned away by Harper.
2.7) Harper is even opposed to small baby-steps to reduce abortions. Some people claim the Conservative Party is "draining the swamp", i.e. not directly attacking abortion, but indirectly making small baby-steps to change the climate which would eventually allow the elimination of abortion. But this doesn't fit with reality.
3) Does Harper have the choice to pretend to be pro-choice?
"Harper is forced to pretend to be pro-choice, in order to get elected, so he can then change things".
This isn't true. It's never permissible to do evil, even with a very good intention. See among others: Pure As Doves, But Dumb As Dodos.
4) Is the Conservative Party fundamentally flawed?
J. Thomas Sabourin told me about events that occured a few years ago, at the United Alternative founding convention held in Ottawa, at which he and the Leader of the Christian Heritage Party, Mr. Ron Gray, attended as delegates. There were also a few other CHP members present. The objective of the convention was the coming together of the Reform Party and the Progressive Conservative Party to unite the Conservative politicians from across the land. The CHP representatives offered to join ranks, turn over every facet of support to the New Party that would come out of this Convention. The only three conditions proposed by Mr. Gray were that the new Party would have to be pro-life, pro-family and "pro-God" (i.e. that they would guide their Party Policies with the Preamble of the Canadian Constitution which states the supremacy of God).
The United Alternative (which subsequently formed the Alliance Party, which then became the Conservative Party of Canada) at that moment decided to go against God, quite simply. That party, at its very birth, turned away from God.
I repeat that this is only my opinion. This is Politics, not Religion, and other good Christians might arrive at different conclusions. I know good people who struggle inside the Conservative Party of Canada, and I want to help them, insofar as they are pro-life, pro-family and pro-God.
On the other hand, I'd rather support a party that puts the truth on the home page of its web site, and on the flyers it hands out door to door. It might be less profitable, but only in this lifetime!


This privacy notice describes how we collect and use personal data about you in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Data Protection Act (DPA) and any other laws, regulations or legislation as amended or updated as part of Data Protection Legislation.
As a company, Craster is involved in the design and production of luxury product ranges and associated activities. We are a registered as a limited company under number 04503732 and our registered office is at Suite 218, Great Western Studios, 65 Alfred Road, London, W2 5EU.
Craster is the controller and processor of data for the purposes of GDPR and DPA. This means we are responsible for deciding how we hold and use personal data about you.
· Information we receive from other sources such as publicly available information, information provided by your employer, our clients, our suppliers or information from our associated network.
We may process your personal data for the performance of our contract with you or our clients.
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