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Mud Hens pitcher Evan Reed charged with sexual assault
Mud Hens pitcher Evan Reed was charged July 30 with sexual assault related to a March incident in Detroit when he was a member of the Detroit Tigers.
Evan Reed
Reed, 28, was charged with two counts of criminal sexual conduct for alleged committing “an act of penetration through force or coercion” when he “had reason to know the victim was physically helpless or mentally incapacitated or mentally incapable to consent,” according to a news release from the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 15 years.
He is expected to turn himself in to authorities accompanied by his attorney Ben Gonek and be arraigned in 36th District Court in Detroit at 10:30 a.m. July 31, according to the prosecutor’s office
The alleged assault occurred in Detroit the day before the Tigers’ home opener on March 31.
The incident was reported by a 45-year-old Oakland County woman, who said she was at a bar in Royal Oak around 10 p.m. March 29, where she met Reed and they danced, according to the release. Afterward they sat in a booth with others and chatted. At some point, the woman finished an alcoholic drink and “began to feel odd.” After midnight, she and Reed left the bar and went to a Detroit hotel, where she alleges Reed sexually assaulted her around 7:30 a.m. March 30 and then asked her to leave.
“It is important to note that in any case the investigation must be thorough and all witnesses must be located and interviewed. This protocol remains the same if the alleged defendant is wealthy, privileged, a known figure or even a promising athlete,” Prosecutor Kym L. Worthy said in the release.
Reed was drafted by the Texas Rangers in 2007. He joined the Tigers organization in 2013, and shuttled between Detroit and Toledo last season. He made his major league debut with the Tigers in May 2013. He started the 2014 season in Detroit and was sent to Toledo in late June.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, July 30th, 2014 at 12:52 pm and is filed under Baseball, Community, Crime, Mud Hens, Sports.
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I'm getting about the same thing trying to update "tf" (team fortress 2) on Ubuntu 7.10 (just updated it yesterday). DSL connection near Seattle, WA. Come to think of it, might have been "Connection Closed", I'll have to check when I'm home in 10 hours.
This was fixed by time. Now when it runs, it's downloading a newer version. (so they probably had it down for an update)
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Mounting tensions with Syria sink US stocks
NEW YORK (AP) — Fears of an escalating conflict in Syria rippled across financial markets on Tuesday, sinking stocks, lifting gold and pushing the price of oil to the highest in a year and a half.
The increasing possibility of U.S. military strikes raised worries on Wall Street that energy trade in the region could be disrupted, raising fuel costs for consumers and business.
"If Syria becomes drawn out and becomes a long-term issue, it's going to show up in things like gas prices," said Chris Costanzo, investment officer with Tanglewood Wealth Management.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 170.33 points, or 1.1 percent, to 14,776.13, the lowest in two months.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 26.30 points, or 1.6 percent, to 1,630.48 and the Nasdaq composite fell 79.05 points, or 2.2 percent, to 3,578.52.
"The law of unintended consequences and the history of previous military interventions in the region is not a recipe for political and economic stability," said Neil MacKinnon, global macro strategist at VTB Capital.
The sell-off in U.S. stocks was broad. All 10 industry sectors in the S&P 500 index were in the red, and only 31 of the index's 500 stocks rose. Utilities and other high dividend-paying stocks mostly escaped the selling.
The impact wasn't just in stocks. Gold prices advanced and government bond prices jumped because traders see those investments holding their value better in times of uncertainty. Gold rose $27, or 2 percent, to $1,420 an ounce while the yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.71 percent from 2.79 percent.
While Syria itself has little oil, traders feared an intervention in Syria could cause further instability in the Middle East and possibly disrupt the flow of oil from the region. Oil surged $3.09, or 2.9 percent, to close at $109.01 a barrel, the highest closing price since February 2012.
"People worry about this becoming a worst-case scenario and turning into a regional conflict," said Bill Stone, chief investment strategist at PNC Asset Management.
Energy prices dragged down the airline industry on concerns that higher oil prices could lead to higher fuel costs. United Continental Holdings, the world's largest airline by revenue, dropped $2.15, or 7.2 percent, to $27.71 and Delta Air Lines lost $1.16, or 5.7 percent, to $19.11.
Stone said oil prices could start weighing on consumer spending down the road, but it is still too early to gauge the longer-term impact.
In corporate news, discount shoe seller DSW jumped $6.43, or 7.9 percent, to $87.75 after the company reported an adjusted profit of 97 cents per share, easily beating analysts' estimate of 80 cents per share, according to FactSet.
J.C. Penney fell 18 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $13.17 after the company's biggest investor, Bill Ackman, said he plans to sell his entire stake in the discount department store chain.
The tensions with Syria overshadowed two positive reports on the economy.
The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index rose to 81.5 in August, up from 80.3 the month before. Economists had expected 79, according to FactSet.
The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index rose 12.1 percent in June from a year earlier, nearly matching a seven-year high. But month-over-month price gains slowed in most markets, a sign that higher mortgage rates may be weighing on the housing recovery.
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Upcoming Events
Catholic Theologians Call to Abolish the Death Penalty
In the wake of the September 21st executions of Troy Anthony Davis in Georgia and Lawrence Brewer in Texas, over 350 Catholic theologians, including JSRI's Alex Mikulich, have called for the abolition of the death penalty in the United States. The statement can be found here.
The statement has received extensive news and media coverage. For example:
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Tag Archives: west texas
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In the summer of 1980, if I remember right, we traveled from Kansas to northern Arkansas to visit my Dad’s older brother, Uncle Don. He, my Aunt Mary and my cousins lived in Harrison, near Dogpatch. I also remember something about getting some Cavender seasoning, since it’s made in Harrison. (I still use it today, although I prefer the salt-free form).
As we traveled to Harrison, my seven-year-old mind seemed to record us being on some sort of mountainous hill. One road went to Harrison while another road seemed to lead to another town down in a distant valley. A look at a map reveals it might’ve been Omaha, Arkansas.
To this day, 32 years later, I still wonder about that town. What was its name? What secrets did it hold? What stories did it tell? Or, did it exist solely in my imagination?
I have resurrected and transported the town approximately 800 miles southwest into West Texas in a short story I am working on, titled Garth, Texas. In this lengthy, in-progress short story, a road goes up a hill, reaching a zenith; what lies on the road beyond the zenith is completely unknown to anyone seeing the road from the main road it bisects.
But to those who travel to the top of the road, they will see a sharp, gradual decline as the road slopes downard for about five miles. And in the distance is a tiny speck of a town.
Forget defeat, headaches, past-due bills, the death of your favorite pet duck, the election of a woefully-inexperienced president, a traffic jam when you’re already late, finding out the man/woman of your dreams is already married, running out of iced tea and a check-engine light on your car’s dashboard. Nothing is more agonizing than writer’s block.
Let me take stock. I have a novel and several short stories in the production stage. Currently, I’m about two-thirds done on my rough draft of The Game Show and am about a third into my short story whose name I’d rather not divulge. Both are suspenseful thrillers with characters that seem alive and well.
My problem? I am not sure what to write next.
In my short story, for instance, a man stumbles upon a town that’s not on the map in West Texas and learns, much to his dismay, the locals already know who he is and want to punish him for past deeds. What happens next is something I can’t quite figure out.
Same for the book about a game show where more meets the eye. And, of course, same for the short story about the astronomer who discovers a strange planet and a long short story about a man who buys a gorgeous house at way below its appraised price.
How do you overcome writer’s block?
I think I may need to google “Lois Duncan” and “writer’s block” and see what she wrote about it in The Writer magazine. We’ll see if that helps.
Richard Zowie’s first short story was a very forgettable one, written on a single sheet of notebook paper when he was eight. Scorpions in a lake. Blech. Post comments here or e-mail Richard at [email protected].
Please keep in mind that this is not a critique of Mr. Bradbury’s book Zen in the Art of Writing. This blog posting is simply what I’ve gathered from the book and how I think I can apply it to my own fiction writing career. It’s also my motivation to finish this book and to move onto others.
I’ve often wondered how to best describe Bradbury as a writer to those unfamiliar with his work (my two favorite Bradbury books are The Illustrated Man and Fahrenheit 451). Perhaps Stephen King said it best: with Mr. Bradbury, everything’s green and wondrous and seen through a lens of nostalgia.
“The Joy of Writing” chapter
Mr. Bradbury believes it’s imperative to write with zest and gusto. Writing should be pleasurable, so have fun with it. This type of mentality helps a person put out 2,000 or so words a day. If you find it a burden, then you may have a problem. The same rings true for other professions. To be a successful chef, Gordon Ramsay has said you must a passion for cooking. Actors have told me that getting in front of a camera or on stage requires a love for performing; if your motivation is fame or fortune, forget it.
What should a person write about? Things that you love or hate. One example Mr. Bradbury references is seeing a photo in Harper’s Bazaar that used Puerto Ricans in the background as “props”. Upset by this, Mr. Bradbury wrote a short story where a Puerto Rican man taunts such a photographer by always appearing in his photographs and making some type of gesture that ruins the picture. In his book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, King recounts working at a mill and hearing a crazy story about how giant rats lived in the cellar of a decrepit building. Wheels spun and soon King wrote the creepy short story Graveyard Shift.
Sometimes we write about our fears. One short story I’m working on focuses on one of my worst fears: having an automobile breakdown in the summer heat in the middle of nowhere. The main character is on the run from the police but has his car break down in one of the more rural areas of the country: West Texas.
Sometimes, Mr. Bradbury feels writing a story can be as simple as finding a character who wants or doesn’t want something with all their heart. Give them orders, let them go and follow them and write what you see happening. Darn the outlines and character profiles, full speed ahead!
Writing also requires a person to read voraciously and diversely. Books, magazines, anything you can get your hands on. Myself, I suspect much can be learned even by reading bad prose. You learn how not to write and what doesn’t work. For me, what comes to mind is one particular sci-fi novel written by a scientist who simply wasn’t a good writer. Another involves a curious delve into trasy western paperbacks where the methaphors are so bad they’re comical. Obviously, this is best kept at a minimum while energies should be focused on good writing and what does work.
Finally in this chapter, Mr. Bradbury reminds us that life is indeed very short. Write. A writer writes now. Procrastination is the death of writing. This is indeed something I can relate to: my twenties flew by and now, at 37, I’m beginning to wonder what happened to my thirties. If only we lived on a planet like Pluto, where the days are six days long instead of a measly 24 hours.
Up next, the chapter “Run Fast, Stand Still”.
Richard Zowie is a professional writer. He’s worked as a journalist and columnist and also blogs and writes fiction. Post comments here or e-mail him at [email protected].
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Screenshots of 4Videosoft TRP Video Converter
4Videosoft TRP Video Converter Publisher's Description
4Videosoft TRP Video Converter is considered as the best TRP video conversion software, which helps you convert TRP videos to all popular video formats, like MP4, FLV, AVI, ASF, WMV, 3GP, MOV, M4V, MPG, WMV, as well as all audio files including AAC, M4A, MKA, MP2, MP3, WMA, etc. Moreover, this TRP Converter can also convert TRP files to iPod, Apple TV compatible formats.
With this special TRP Video Converter, you shall have rich options to adjust video settings and set audio properties. Moreover, this excellent TRP conversion tool provides other functions: adjust video effect, crop movie, join several files together and trim any segment as you like. You can easily convert TRP video files and freely enjoy them on different players.
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Hi all! It's been a long while since I posted here. I am pleased to announce that Jamie's Revenge 2 shall be released in late September/ Early October. After being in development for 5 years in my very little spare time, I can't wait for you all to play it. I hope you all enjoy it. Right now I am running thorough tests to ensure it is as glitch free as possible. Until then, you may all enjoy this screenshot of the last world. Enjoy:
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Straight waveguide can be manufactured with different flange types. The available body materials include copper/brass, aluminum. We also supply other special configurations to meet customer's specific requirements.
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The FAM Newsletter
You know those letters you get at Christmas that tell you what your friends and relatives and possibly a neighbor you don’t remember sharing a street with have all been up to? What if those letters were from your favorite writers and filled with wonderful things to read?
That’s what the FAM Newsletter is: your source for all the wonderful work you may have missed or just want to read again. The author’s previous Split Lip work can be found by clicking on their name, and their good news is also hyperlinked.
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The Law & Order franchises are famous for recycling actors: One episode's stripper is the next episode's ADA. But no one individual — save for series regulars or semi-regulars — has been more prevalent in the series as actress Teresa Yenque. She has appeared in seven episodes of Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU — as… »1/17/12 1:35pm 1/17/12 1:35pm
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Calculate your savings
Discover Commuty
Commuty is a web and mobile application designed for a better parking and mobility management within companies. Commuty manages your parking policy (incl. priority rules for spots and employees, dedicated parking spots, visitors parking spots, etc.), invite your employees on the platform, include alternative transport means (carpooling, bicycle, etc.) and provide you reporting of the use of your parking.
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Culture, Lifestyle, and Commentary
03/17/2011
And the secret to profit from the country / place combination bets? The field bet, when used alone, is not a good bet. Must be used with other bets or a progression to make it profitable for the crapshoot experience. These seven different field numbers (2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11 and 12) can make a total of only 16 times, leaving 20 for the other numbers. If a 5, 6, 7 or 8 rolls is lost. So if you place a field bet on himself, will win 16 times and lose 20 times (in 36 rolls theoretical). According to Barry Rosenstein the field is only worth 1:1 - that is, if you bet $ 5, you win $ 5. For example, if you bet $ 5 on the field and 4 rolls, you win only $ 5 (1:1) instead of $ 9 (9:5) who would win if you place 4.
02/03/2011
The internet is a great educational tool, but if not properly used it can be very disappointing. MyWebSearch does everything possible to make your internet search simpler and more effective. It helps to know about what top level domains(TLD) are and how they can help you identify sites. Here are a few of the major TDL's in use today: .com are commercial company domains. They are the majority of the web sites on the internet. .org domains are used for organizations.They can be any type of organization. .gov domains are used for governments and government agencies. It generally refers to federal level organizations, but it could also refer to the state level organizations. .edu domains refers to educational institutions. .net refers to Internet network services or network companies
03/18/2010
With the economic crisis seemingly far from subsiding, many families have taken to homesteading. Although not as rustic as the real deal that has permeated American folklore, today's homesteading still has plenty of challenges and many perks.
"We feel we own our land and our lives again," one homesteader said as he puts the finishing touches on a roof of the home he and his wife bought on a 200 hundred plot of land in Idaho. "The land was inexpensive and beautiful," he adds.
More and more homesteaders are finding solace from immersing themselves in solitary areas, in hopes of escaping former financial trouble or the society that they feel is on sharp course with implosion.
03/17/2010
One of the least hit real estate markets in the country during the recession was Texas'. One main reason is Texans were never willing to pay the kind of prices for housing that other areas of the country were. This caused many areas in Texas to remain outside of the housing bubble.
With this in mind it is not surprising that Real Estate is Texas' third most important industry according Texas Real Estate. "The importance of Texas Real Estate activity in the Lone Star State cuts across State Boundary lines and affects the economy in other parts of the country. The complex web of inter-related finances which reflects the state of our modern economy means that what happens in Texas affects the rest of the USA and, more than likely, the rest of the world," says the magazine.
One area of particular interest that is still growing is the Austin condo market. Many people are still able to find god deals that are low risk for the buyer. Austin, Texas remains a desirable place to live as many transplants from different places in the U.S. have made their way giving it a cosmopolitan feel.
Other areas in Texas that have remained strong and good for investment is San Antonio and suburban Dallas.
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AI - AltimatOS Installer is a custom installation utility that will guide new users through the task of installing AltimatOS on to their computer. The overarching goal is to make AI intuitive and user friendly, yet not sacrifice the flexibility necessary needed for all three branches of AltimatOS (Desktop, Workstation, and Server). The technologies used in AI are Perl 5, PerlQt, RPM5, and GNU PartEd.
Goals:
The goals of the AI project are to develop an easy to use, and easy to maintain installer for AltimatOS. To acheive these goals, the user interface must conform to standard human interface design paradigms, be well documented both in the code and externally, and be flexible enough to be extended for other purposes.
Technologies:
The rapid application development aspects of Perl and Qt allow us to speed the development of AI and keep the interface attractive. Additionally, to develop the partitioning software, we aim to wrap the GNU PartEd command line tool with our PerlQt frontend. To optimise the application to run quicker, we use the Inline::C Perl 5 module to gain access to system level APIs that make certain slower code paths in Perl execute much faster. Finally, to innovate and lead the way for other distributions, AltimatOS' AI uses RPM 5, the main upstream development version of RPM from to install the operating system.
Overview of the Installer:
AI is comprised of two seperate applications ai amd aftwizard and a number of reusable PerlQt and plain Perl 5 modules. The ai application has been designed install the packages from the planned live DVD, and to get the common required configuration files written to disk. The second application, aftwizard, is meant to guide the user in completeing the system's configuration. The various libraries and modules developed for AI will be reused for other tools in AltimatOS.
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This December Skateistan's aiming to raise 35,000 USD and they need your help to KEEP SKATEISTAN ROLLING. By joining their biannual fundraising drive you can empower Afghan and Cambodian youth. Donate now at http://skateistan.org
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Data Use Policy
1. Information we receive and how it is used
Information we receive about you
We receive a number of different types of information about you, including:
Your information
Your information is the information that's required when you sign up for the site, as well as the information you choose to share.• Registration information: When you sign up for Just Croydon, you are required to provide information such as your name, email address, birthday, and gender.• Information you choose to share: Your information also includes the information you choose to share on Just Croydon, such as when you post a shout, upload a photo, or comment on a story.It also includes the information you choose to share when you communicate with us, such as when you contact us using an email address, or when you take an action, such as when you follow another member or like an organisation.
Your name, profile pictures, gender and networks are treated just like information you choose to make public.
Other information we receive about you
We also receive other types of information about you:• We receive data about you whenever you use or are running Just Croydon, such as when you look at another person's profile, send or receive a message, search for a friend or a Page, click on, view or otherwise interact with things.• When you post things like photos on Just Croydon, we may receive additional related data (or metadata), such as the time, date, and place you took the photo.• We receive data from or about the computer, mobile phone, or other devices you use to access Just Croydon, including when multiple users log in from the same device. This may include network and communication information, such as your IP address or mobile phone number, and other information about things like your internet service, operating system, location, the type (including identifiers) of the device or browser you use, or the pages you visit.• Sometimes we get data from our affiliates or our advertising partners, customers and other third parties that helps us (or them) deliver ads, understand online activity, and generally make Just Croydon better. For example, an advertiser may tell us information about you (like how you responded to an ad on Just Croydon or on another site) in order to measure the effectiveness of - and improve the quality of - ads.As described in "How we use the information we receive" we also put together data from the information we already have about you, your followers, and others, so we can offer and suggest a variety of services and features. We may also put together data about you to serve you ads or other content that might be more relevant to you.
We only provide data to our advertising partners or customers after we have removed your name and any other personally identifying information from it, or have combined it with other people's data in a way that it no longer personally identifies you.
Public information
When we use the phrase "public information" (which we sometimes refer to as "Everyone information"), we mean the information that is always publicly available.
Public information is exactly what it sounds like: anyone, including people off Just Croydon, will be able to see it.
Your public information:• can be associated with you (i.e., your name, profile picture, shouts, etc.) even off Just Croydon;• can show up when someone does a search on Just Croydon or on a public search engine;Information that is always publicly available
The types of information listed below are always publicly available:• Name: This helps people find you. If you are uncomfortable sharing your real name, you can always delete your account.• Profile Picture: This help people recognize you. If you are uncomfortable making any of these photos public, you can always delete them. When you upload a new profile picture the previous profile picture will be replaced.• Gender: This allows us to refer to you properly.• User ID: These allow you to give out a custom link to your timeline or Page, receive email at your Just Croydon email address, and help make Just Croydon Platform possible.Information that is not publicly available
The types of information listed below are not publicly available:• Email Address: Although people can search for you by this.• Date Of Birth
User IDs
User IDs are a way to identify you on Just Croydon. A User ID is a string of numbers and allows a custom link to be generated to your profile that you can give out to people or post on external websites.
How we use the information we receive
We use the information we receive about you in connection with the services and features we provide to you and other users like your followers, our partners, the advertisers that purchase ads on the site and websites you use. For example, in addition to helping people see and find things that you do and share, we may use the information we receive about you:• as part of our efforts to keep Just Croydon products, services and integrations safe and secure;• to protect Just Croydon's or others' rights or property;• to measure or understand the effectiveness of ads you and others see, including to deliver relevant ads to you;• for internal operations, including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, research and service improvement.Granting us permission to use your information not only allows us to provide Just Croydon as it exists today, but it also allows us to provide you with innovative features and services we develop in the future that use the information we receive about you in new ways.While you are allowing us to use the information we receive about you, you always own all of your information. Your trust is important to us, which is why we don't share information we receive about you with others unless we have:• received your permission;• given you notice, such as by telling you about it in this policy; or• removed your name and any other personally identifying information from it.We store data for as long as it is necessary to provide products and services to you and others, including those described above. Typically, information associated with your account will be kept until your account is deleted. For certain categories of data, we may also tell you about specific data retention practices.
We may enable access to public information that has been shared through our services.
We may allow service providers to access information so they can help us provide services.
Deleting and deactivating your account
If you want to stop using your account, you can either deactivate or delete it.
Deactivate
Deactivating your account puts your account on hold. Other users will no longer see your timeline, but we do not delete any of your information. Deactivating an account is the same as you telling us not to delete any information because you might want to reactivate your account at some point in the future.
Deletion
When you delete your account, it is permanently deleted from Just Croydon. It typically takes about one month to delete an account, but some information may remain in backup copies and logs for up to 90 days. You should only delete your account if you are sure you never want to reactivate it.
Certain information is needed to provide you with services, so we only delete this information after you delete your account. Some of the things you do on Just Croydon aren’t stored in your account, like posting to a group or sending someone a message (where your friend may still have a message you sent, even after you delete your account). That information remains after you delete your account.
2. Sharing and finding you on Just Croydon
Always think before you post. Just like anything else you post on the web or send in an email, information you share on Just Croydon can be copied or re-shared by anyone who can see it.
As a general rule, you should assume that information, unless specified, will be publicly available.
Finding you on Just Croydon
To make it easier for people to find you, we allow anyone with your contact information (such as email address) to find you through the Just Croydon search bar at the top of most pages - even if you have not shared your contact information with them on Just Croydon.
Access on phones and other devices
Once you share information with your followers and others, they may be able to sync it with or access it via their mobile phones and other devices. For example, if you share a photo on Just Croydon, someone viewing that photo could save it to a device. Similarly, if you share your contact information, they may be able to sync that information.
What your friends and others share about you
Links
Anyone can add a link to a story. Links are references to something on the Internet; anything from a website to a Page or timeline on Just Croydon. For example, if you are writing a story, you might include a link to a blog you are referencing or a link to the blogger’s Just Croydon profile.
Organisations
Just Croydon Organisations pages are public. Companies share information about their products and communities discuss topics of interest.
Because Organisations are public, information you share with an Organisation is public information. This means, for example, that if you post a comment on an Organisation page, that comment may be used by the Organisation owner off Just Croydon, and anyone can see it.
When you "like" an Organisation, you create a connection to that Organisation. You may be contacted by or receive updates from the Organisation, such as in your Activity Feed and your messages. You can remove the Organisations you've "liked" through your profile or on the Page.
3. Advertising and Just Croydon content
Advertising
Just Croydon offers a range of products that allow advertisers to reach people on and off Just Croydon. In addition to the information we provide in this section, you can also learn more about advertising products, how they work, our partnerships, and the controls you have, by visiting our “Advertising on Just Croydon” page.
When we deliver ads, we do not share your information (information that personally identifies you, such as your name or contact information) with advertisers unless you give us permission. We may provide advertisers with information when we have removed your name and other personally identifying information from it, or combined it with other information so that it no longer personally identifies you. For example, we may tell an advertiser how its ads perform or how many people viewed or clicked on their ads or install an app after seeing an ad.
So we can show you content that you may find interesting, we may use all of the information we receive about you to serve ads that are more relevant to you. For example, this includes:• information you provide at registration or add to your account or profile,• things you share and do on Just Croydon, such as what you like, and your interactions with advertisements or partners,• keywords from your stories, and• things we infer from your use of Just Croydon.For many ads we serve, advertisers may choose their audience by location, demographics, likes, keywords, and any other information we receive or infer about users. Here are some of the ways advertisers may target relevant ads:• demographics: for example, 18 to 35 year-old women• topics or keywords: for example, “music” or people who like a particular song or artist;• Page likes (including topics such as products, brands, religion, health status, or political views): for example, if you like an article about gluten-free food, you may receive ads about relevant food products; or• categories (including things like "artist" or a "dancer"): for example, if a person "likes" the "Croydon Arts Network" Page, we may infer that this person is likely to be an art fan and advertisers of the arts could ask us to target that category.Advertisers and their partners sometimes use cookies or other similar technologies in order to serve and measure ads and to make their ads more effective.
Just Croydon content
4. Cookies, pixels and other similar technologies
Cookies are small pieces of data that are stored on your computer, mobile phone or other device. Pixels are small blocks of code on webpages that do things like allow another server to measure viewing of a webpage and often are used in connection with cookies.We use technologies like cookies, pixels, and local storage (like on your browser or device, which is similar to a cookie but holds more information) to provide and understand a range of products and services.
We use these technologies to do things like:• make Just Croydon easier or faster to use;• enable features and store information about you (including on your device or in your browser cache) and your use of Just Croydon;• deliver, understand and improve advertising;• monitor and understand the use of our products and services; and• protect you, others and Just Croydon.For example, we may use these tools to know you are logged in to Just Croydon or to know when you are interacting with our advertising or partners.
We may ask advertisers or other partners to serve ads or services to computers, mobile phones or other devices, which may use a cookie, pixel or other similar technology placed by Just Croydon or the third party (although we would not share information that personally identifies you with an advertiser).
Cookies and things like local storage help make Just Croydon work, like allowing pages to load faster because certain content is stored on your browser or by helping us authenticate you to deliver personalized content.
To learn more about how advertisers generally use cookies and the choices advertisers provide, visit the Network Advertising Initiative at http://www.networkadvertising.org/managing/opt_out.asp, the Digital Advertising Alliance at http://www.aboutads.info/, the Internet Advertising Bureau (US) at http://www.iab.net or the Internet Advertising Bureau (EU) at http://youronlinechoices.eu/.Refer to your browser or device's help material to learn what controls you can often use to remove or block cookies or other similar technologies or block or remove other data stored on your computer or device (such as by using the various settings in your browser). If you do this, it may affect your ability to use Just Croydon or other websites and apps.
5. Some other things you need to know
Contact us with questions or disputes
If you have questions or complaints regarding our Data Use Policy or practices, please contact us by email at [email protected]
Responding to legal requests and preventing harm
We may access, preserve and share your information in response to a legal request (like a search warrant, court order or subpoena) if we have a good faith belief that the law requires us to do so. We may also access, preserve and share information when we have a good faith belief it is necessary to: detect, prevent and address fraud and other illegal activity; to protect ourselves, you and others, including as part of investigations; or to prevent death or imminent bodily harm.
Information we receive about you may be accessed, processed and retained for an extended period of time when it is the subject of a legal request or obligation, governmental investigation, or investigations concerning possible violations of our terms or policies, or otherwise to prevent harm. We also may retain information from accounts disabled for violations of our terms for at least a year to prevent repeat abuse or other violations of our terms.
Access requests
You can access and correct most of your personal data stored by Just Croydon by logging into your account and viewing your profile and your My Account section.
Notifications and Other Messages
We may send you notifications and other messages using the contact information we have for you, like your email address. You can control most of the notifications you receive, using controls we provide within your My Account section.
Affiliates
We may share information we receive with businesses that are legally part of the same group of companies that Just Croydon is part of, or that become part of that group (often these companies are called affiliates or partners). Likewise, our affiliates may share information with us as well. This sharing is done in compliance with applicable laws including where such applicable laws require consent. We and our affiliates may use shared information to help provide, understand, and improve our services and their own services.
Service Providers
We give your information to the people and companies that help us provide, understand and improve the services we offer. For example, we may use outside vendors to help host our website, serve photos and videos, process payments, analyse data, conduct and publish research, measure the effectiveness of ads, or provide search results. In some cases we provide the service jointly with another company. In all of these cases our partners must agree to only use your information consistent with the agreement we enter into with them, as well as this Data Use Policy.
Security and bugs
We do our best to keep your information secure. We try to keep Just Croydon up, bug-free and safe, but can’t make guarantees about any part of our services or products.
Change of Control
If the ownership of our business changes, we may transfer your information to the new owner so they can continue to operate the service. But they will still have to honour the commitments we have made in this Data Use Policy.
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Minnesota charities scrambling to recover millions of dollars invested with businessman Tom Petters violated a basic duty to be prudent with donated money, according to experts in nonprofit finance.
For at least five years, religious nonprofits, led by Fidelis Foundation, based in Plymouth, made large, unconventional loans to businessman Tom Petters' company -- supposedly secured by merchandise -- in return for interest payouts of 19 to 22 percent.
Six charities had more than $27 million invested with Petters when federal authorities alleged last month that he and others had run a massive Ponzi scheme that bilked investors out of more than $3 billion.
Petters, an entrepreneur with major holdings in Sun Country Airlines, Polaroid and other companies, is now jailed on federal fraud and money-laundering charges. He maintains he is innocent, though four others implicated in the alleged scheme have pleaded guilty to related charges.
As the criminal case developed, several of Petters' companies were put into receivership and 10 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Private investors lent far more to Petters' companies than did charities. But experts in nonprofit management say that charity boards of directors have special responsibilities to be financially prudent with donated, tax-exempt money.
And they say the charities dropped the ball for years by making the Petters' investments.
According to financial statements and charity officials, Fidelis Foundation invested most of its assets in Petters' companies, more than doubling its exposure over the past five years. It also made investments in Petters' company for six other charities, including Minnesota Teen Challenge, a drug treatment program, and Mars Hill Media, which produces faith-based advertising, Christian books and recordings.
Steve Klingaman, a Minneapolis nonprofit consultant and author of an upcoming book on running them, said it is highly unusual for a nonprofit to concentrate its investments in such high-interest loans. Most charities park money in conventional, secure investments offering modest returns, he said.
"Frankly, it doesn't even pass the smell test -- you look at it and how could they possibly make those kinds of returns?" Klingaman added.
That view is shared by Kate Barr, executive director of the Nonprofits Assistance Fund, which advises charities on management and finance. She said the charities' investments in Petters Co. Inc., a financing vehicle, and other Petters entities constitute a case study in how not to run a nonprofit.
"If you are going to ... put all your eggs in one basket and it is a basket that has no liquidity and no market value, how could that possibly be a prudent investment?" Barr said.
Joseph Smith, president of Fidelis Foundation, said the nonprofit has retained a lawyer to attempt to recover the money. Mars Hill already has filed a lawsuit seeking to recover its $800,000 investment.
Over the years, the Petters investments generated millions of dollars of income that helped ministries, Smith said. Merchandise-backed loans to Petters "seemed to be a logical transaction" and everyone assumed the products existed, he added.
"I recognize it has been devastating to the ministries -- it has been harmful to us, there is no doubt about it. We're all saddened by this, but it wasn't like it has always been that way," he added.
He and Fidelis board chairman Craig Howse declined to answer questions about how the board got involved in the Petters investments.
One of Fidelis' major supporters is Frank Vennes Jr. of Shorewood. He became a millionaire philanthropist by brokering investment deals for Petters' businesses, according to court papers. Vennes has not been charged in the fraud, but is identified in court papers as being part of it. He has 1987 convictions for money laundering and other crimes, and has said he underwent a religious conversion in prison.
Although Fidelis, like most charities, doesn't identify its donors, Vennes is known to have been a major contributor to the foundation and other religious charities.
Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., last year cited his philanthropy, including his backing of Fidelis Foundation, in a letter supporting a presidential pardon for him. She withdrew the letter after the federal fraud case was disclosed, saying she "may have too hastily accepted his claims of redemption."
Vennes is listed in corporation records of a company that donated a St. Louis County property to Fidelis. And he was part of a group that purchased a building from the Minneapolis schools in 2006 and donated it to Fidelis for use by Hope Academy, an inner-city school, and other nonprofits, according to Russ Gregg, the school's executive director.
Vennes' other connection to Fidelis is through his lawyer, Howse, who is the foundation's board chairman and a member of its finance committee. Howse cited attorney-client privilege as the reason he couldn't answer questions about Vennes, his contributions to Fidelis, or Howse's role in the foundation's investments with Petters. Vennes also declined to comment.
Vennes has told his friends in the Christian community that he is innocent of wrongdoing. Smith, the president of Fidelis, said he believes Vennes is a victim of the Petters fraud. Vennes' companies are listed as major creditors in the Petters' bankruptcy cases.
Brian Gudmundson, a Minneapolis attorney who represents a group of ministers and nonprofits suing to recoup their investments with Petters, said: "For now they are giving Frank [Vennes] the benefit of the doubt."
Jon Pratt, executive director of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, said relationships between donors and nonprofit officials generally have raised concerns with the IRS, which is changing disclosure requirements on tax forms.
He said he didn't have enough facts to comment on whether the Vennes-Fidelis-Howse connections are a conflict of interest. But he added: "It makes you want to know more."
Poor seamanship and flaws in keeping watch contributed to a collision between a Navy destroyer and a commercial container ship that killed seven sailors, Navy officials said, announcing that the warship captain will be relieved of command and more than a dozen other sailors will be punished.
Gunnar Birkerts, an internationally acclaimed modernist architect who designed buildings including the Federal Reserve Bank in Minneapolis, the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York, and the University of Michigan Law Library, has died. He was 92.
On the floor of the Honda Center, the USA Gymnastics championships are imbued with a sense of normalcy and routine. Of tumbling runs and coaching tweaks. Of blaring music and chalk dust. Of leaps and leotards. Of the search for who's next.
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Elder abuse at nursing homes is real, and it’s quite disturbing and disheartening.
While it may be shocking to even think that some people, let alone nursing home staff, are capable of hurting or abusing elders, statistics reveals just how monstrous and awful some of the nursing homes in Los Angeles and all across California are.
Fact: nearly 10% of all of our country’s nursing homes had violations and were either a priori deemed dangerous or had documented cases of serious injury or abuse-caused death of elderly residents.
Fact #2: over 40% of nursing home residents have reported elder abuse, and a staggering more than 90% said they have witnessed another resident of the facility being abused.
The statistics are surely disturbing, especially if you’re considering to place your parent or grandparent in a nursing home in Los Angeles or elsewhere in California anytime soon.
Disturbing elder abuse incident grabs headlines
A reputable Los Angeles-based law firm JML Law, which has handled elder abuse cases in California for the past 35 years, warns that placing your loved one in a nursing home without examining the facility’s standards of care, hiring practices and other factors poses a series of risks.
You wouldn’t want your mom or dad, grandma or grandpa, abused at the facility where they are supposed to be treated with care and love.
One elder abuse incident, in particular, has recently sent off waves of shock all across the U.S., when a hidden camera footage showed a celebrated World War II veteran asking for help and gasping for breath, while nursing home staff in his room laughed at him.
The video was leaked as part of a lawsuit into the death of James Dempsey, 89, of Woodstock, Ga., a decorated World War II veteran, who passed away back in February 2014. It took staff nearly an hour to call 911 after Mr Dempsey was found unresponsive.
The hidden camera video shows Mr Dempsey asking for help six times, before becoming unconscious while gasping for air. Lawyers representing Mr Dempsey’s two sons and two grandchildren were successful in holding the Northeast Atlanta Health and Rehabilitation nursing home staff liable for the war veteran’s death.
Family members had installed the hidden camera in Mr Dempsey’s room before his death. Without the footage, the family would not have known how the war veteran died or that the nursing home staff’s inexcusable actions, failure to respond and unlawful conduct caused his death.
Note: the nursing home’s lawyers attempted to keep the video sealed with an appeal, but eventually failed.
How to avoid placing your loved one in an abusive nursing home
This case alone makes you wonder: since little to no nursing homes are equipped with cameras – and surviving family members rarely get to see footage of their loved one’s death at a nursing home – how many elderly residents of these facilities die due to staff’s failure to respond?
Speaking from their own experience, Los Angeles elder abuse attorneys at JML Law, who have had unparalleled track record of obtaining compensation for elder abuse neglect, unlawful misconduct and other wrongdoing at nursing homes, hundreds of nearly 1.5 billion elderly residents in the U.S. may be dying due to failure to respond, failure to assess and failure to act, and other forms of elderly abuse at nursing homes, every year.
Elder abuse attorneys at JML Law perform background checks on nursing homes in Los Angeles and all across California; they examine patients’ medical records, interview nursing home residents, they look into care facility hiring practices as well as standards of care, among many other things.
Hiring a Los Angeles elder abuse attorney to perform these checks may be the only way to ensure that you’re placing your parents or grandparents in a safe, abuse-free facility.
Consult an elderly abuse lawyer by calling JML Law at 818-610-8800 today or send an email to get a free initial consultation.
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Add some gorgeous sparkle to your favorite outfit! This pendant comes with an 18" rolo chain and features two oval and pear cut peridots. The smaller pear cut peridot is bezel set to the bail right above the larger oval cut and prong set peridot. Housing both gemstones is two-tone floral scrollwork details.
Details
Metal:18K yellow gold embraced™ over sterling silver and palladium
Stone Information: One oval cut 11.5 x 9.5mm and one pear cut 5 x 3mm
Setting Type: Prong and Bezel
Approximate Total Weight: 4.74ct
Measurements: Pendant: 13/16"L x 3/8"W
Chain: 18”L
Chain Type: Rolo
Clasp: Lobster
Collection: Gems en Vogue
Country of Origin: China
Pendant can be removed from included chain.
Vendor warranty: One year from the date of purchase. Includes a gemstone romance card with purchase.
All weights pertaining to gemstones, including diamonds, are minimum weights. Additionally, please note that many gemstones are treated to enhance their beauty. Click here for important information about gemstone enhancements and special care requirements.
Vermeil Plating:
Pronounced "vermay," vermeil is an electroplating process in which 14K gold or higher is coated over sterling silver. Officially designated by the jewelry industry, items may only be sold as vermeil if they have a minimum thickness of 100 millionths of an inch (2.5 microns) of gold over the silver. Regular gold plating is less than 2.5 microns.
The "vermeil" technique of plating sterling silver with gold originated in France in the 1750s. It differs from "gold filled" or "gold plated" in terms of the thickness or thinness of the microns over sterling silver. "Gold filled" pieces have a much thicker layer, between 15 and 45 microns, which is mechanically bonded to the base metal with heat and pressure. Vermeil is a more expensive version of "gold plated". It does not wear off as quickly as gold plating does. However, over time, vermeil wears off and therefore will require re-plating.
Gold/Platinum Embraced Silver or Bronze:
Our platinum and gold embraced collections feature layers of platinum or gold over sterling silver or bronze for a lustrous, radiant finish everywhere you look and touch.
Store your plated jewelry in a jewelry box lined with felt or anti-tarnish material. Items should not be stacked as this may cause damage to the plating surface.
Do not use excessive pressure when cleaning with a polishing cloth or soft brush, as this may cause damage to the plating.
Over time your plated items will need to be re-plated. Contact your local jeweler for information on plating services.
Peridot: Peridot features a lively yellow-green color that is transparent with an oily luster. The iron that creates peridot’s color is an integral part of its structure, so the gem is only found in various shades of green. It is most prized in lime hues, but Italian peridot is a rich olive color and popular American peridot is a beautiful light yellow-green. The Romans called peridot “evening emerald” because its exquisite green color was said to glow at night. This is perhaps because the stone exhibits double refraction, meaning that when looking through the stone, objects appear double. So when looking into a faceted peridot, the number of bottom facets appears to be double the actual number, creating a glittering sensation.
Pronounced PEAR-A-DOE, the word “peridot” comes from the French word meaning “gem.” It is the gem variety of the mineral olivine and ranks a 6.5-7.0 on the Mohs Scale.
Born in cauldrons of fire, peridot is considered the “volcanic gem,” since small crystals of it are often found in the rocks created by volcanoes. In fact, Hawaiian legend called peridot the divine tears wept by Pele, goddess of the volcano. The island of Oahu even has beaches made out of olivine grains, but they are much too small to cut into peridot. Samples of the gem also have been discovered in meteorites that have fallen to Earth, many of which are more than a billion years old.
Peridot traces its jewelry roots to 3,500 years ago. The stone was first mined by the ancient Egyptians on the volcanic island of Zebargad in the Red Sea. Known as the “serpent isle,” it was infested with poisonous snakes that interfered with mining activity until one Pharaoh had them all driven into the sea. Today, Native Americans mine most peridot on the San Carlos Reservation in Arizona. Interestingly, a lmost all peridot sold in Hawaii is from Arizona, despite the fact that peridot is produced by Hawaii's volcanoes. The gemstone is also found in Norway, Brazil, China, Egypt, Italy, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. An exciting new deposit was discovered in Pakistan in 1994, yielding some of the finest peridot ever seen, including one stone that weighed more than 300.00ct.
Peridot is among the oldest known stones and has been mined as a gem for thousands of years. As early as 1575 to 1350 B.C., the ancient Egyptians used peridot beads in their ceremonial jewelry. In fact, it is believed the stone was one of the favorite gems of Cleopatra and that some of the “emeralds” she wore were actually peridot.
Ancient Egyptians also carved small drinking vessels out of large chunks of peridot. Priests would drink soma from them in rituals, believing the soma would put them in touch with the nature goddess, Isis. Legend has it that King Soloman traded cedar trees from Lebanon for 12 soma drinking cups and 144 liters of soma. The Egyptians made this trade for ramp logs to build their pyramids at Gisa, while King Soloman was said to have been enlightened by drinking soma from the peridot cups. Today, Mexican hill tribes still drink soma from green glazed cups to put them in touch with nature and their ancestors’ spirits. Additionally, some Native American Indians in Arizona use tea made from peyote ground with peridot crystals in their rituals.
Peridot has also been important to other cultures throughout history. Late in the Ottoman Empire (1300 to 1900), peridot was a highly prized gem and Turkish Sultans amassed some of the world’s largest collections of the gemstone. It is mentioned in the Bible under the name of “chrysolite,” and was used to decorate medieval churches with samples that were most likely carried back to Europe by the Crusaders. Large stones weighing more than 200.00ct adorn the Shrine of the Three Magi at the Cologne Cathedral in Germany.
Throughout the ages, peridot has been believed to hold mystical powers of protection and healing. The ancients regarded the stone as a symbol of the sun and wore it in amulets to prevent nightmares and drive away evil spirits. It was even favored by pirates to protect them against evil. Peridot was said to be useful for calming raging angers, curing nervous afflictions and promoting quiet sleep. It was also believed to strengthen any medicine drunk from goblets carved from the stone. South American Shamans used peridot to ward off snakebites and the evil spirits who have taken the form of mosquitoes who bring the sleeping sickness. They also say the heating of magic mushroom tea by peridot takes them on trips to the ancestor heavens.
Today, peridot is believed to bring the wearer success, peace and good luck. To be most powerful, it is said that the stone should be mounted in gold and surrounded with small diamonds. With powers that are thought to bring protection and health, modern folklore also says it can be used to attract love and calm anger while soothing nerves and dispelling negative emotions. T he gem is believed to protect the wearer from bad dreams when set in gold.
Peridot is considered the birthstone of August. Given as a symbol of fame, dignity and protection, this gem is also traditionally given to couples celebrating their 16 th wedding anniversaries.
Palladium:
A selection of our jewelry is made of sterling palladium alloy. Palladium is a member of the platinum group of precious metals. By replacing a portion of the copper content used in standard sterling silver with palladium, this proprietary formula renders a precious metal with superior performance attributes. Sterling palladium is five times more tarnish-resistant than standard sterling silver and has strength similar to that of 14K gold.
Palladium has been used as a precious metal in jewelry since 1939, originally as an alternative to platinum for making white gold. Its naturally white color requires no rhodium plating. Additionally, palladium is proportionally much lighter than platinum and is ideal for use in heavier gemstone jewelry. It is a more expensive alloy than nickel, but it seldom causes the allergic reactions that nickel alloy can.
Store your plated jewelry in a jewelry box lined with felt or anti-tarnish material. Items should not be stacked as this may cause damage to the plating surface.
Do not use excessive pressure when cleaning with a polishing cloth or soft brush, as this may cause damage to the plating.
Over time your plated items will need to be re-plated. Contact your local jeweler for information on plating services.
Description
Gems en Vogue 4.74ctw Pear Shaped Peridot Pendant w/ 18" Rolo Chain
Add some gorgeous sparkle to your favorite outfit! This pendant comes with an 18" rolo chain and features two oval and pear cut peridots. The smaller pear cut peridot is bezel set to the bail right above the larger oval cut and prong set peridot. Housing both gemstones is two-tone floral scrollwork details.
Details
Metal:18K yellow gold embraced™ over sterling silver and palladium
Stone Information: One oval cut 11.5 x 9.5mm and one pear cut 5 x 3mm
Setting Type: Prong and Bezel
Approximate Total Weight: 4.74ct
Measurements: Pendant: 13/16"L x 3/8"W
Chain: 18”L
Chain Type: Rolo
Clasp: Lobster
Collection: Gems en Vogue
Country of Origin: China
Pendant can be removed from included chain.
Vendor warranty: One year from the date of purchase. Includes a gemstone romance card with purchase.
All weights pertaining to gemstones, including diamonds, are minimum weights. Additionally, please note that many gemstones are treated to enhance their beauty. Click here for important information about gemstone enhancements and special care requirements.
Vermeil Plating:
Pronounced "vermay," vermeil is an electroplating process in which 14K gold or higher is coated over sterling silver. Officially designated by the jewelry industry, items may only be sold as vermeil if they have a minimum thickness of 100 millionths of an inch (2.5 microns) of gold over the silver. Regular gold plating is less than 2.5 microns.
The "vermeil" technique of plating sterling silver with gold originated in France in the 1750s. It differs from "gold filled" or "gold plated" in terms of the thickness or thinness of the microns over sterling silver. "Gold filled" pieces have a much thicker layer, between 15 and 45 microns, which is mechanically bonded to the base metal with heat and pressure. Vermeil is a more expensive version of "gold plated". It does not wear off as quickly as gold plating does. However, over time, vermeil wears off and therefore will require re-plating.
Gold/Platinum Embraced Silver or Bronze:
Our platinum and gold embraced collections feature layers of platinum or gold over sterling silver or bronze for a lustrous, radiant finish everywhere you look and touch.
Store your plated jewelry in a jewelry box lined with felt or anti-tarnish material. Items should not be stacked as this may cause damage to the plating surface.
Do not use excessive pressure when cleaning with a polishing cloth or soft brush, as this may cause damage to the plating.
Over time your plated items will need to be re-plated. Contact your local jeweler for information on plating services.
Peridot: Peridot features a lively yellow-green color that is transparent with an oily luster. The iron that creates peridot’s color is an integral part of its structure, so the gem is only found in various shades of green. It is most prized in lime hues, but Italian peridot is a rich olive color and popular American peridot is a beautiful light yellow-green. The Romans called peridot “evening emerald” because its exquisite green color was said to glow at night. This is perhaps because the stone exhibits double refraction, meaning that when looking through the stone, objects appear double. So when looking into a faceted peridot, the number of bottom facets appears to be double the actual number, creating a glittering sensation.
Pronounced PEAR-A-DOE, the word “peridot” comes from the French word meaning “gem.” It is the gem variety of the mineral olivine and ranks a 6.5-7.0 on the Mohs Scale.
Born in cauldrons of fire, peridot is considered the “volcanic gem,” since small crystals of it are often found in the rocks created by volcanoes. In fact, Hawaiian legend called peridot the divine tears wept by Pele, goddess of the volcano. The island of Oahu even has beaches made out of olivine grains, but they are much too small to cut into peridot. Samples of the gem also have been discovered in meteorites that have fallen to Earth, many of which are more than a billion years old.
Peridot traces its jewelry roots to 3,500 years ago. The stone was first mined by the ancient Egyptians on the volcanic island of Zebargad in the Red Sea. Known as the “serpent isle,” it was infested with poisonous snakes that interfered with mining activity until one Pharaoh had them all driven into the sea. Today, Native Americans mine most peridot on the San Carlos Reservation in Arizona. Interestingly, a lmost all peridot sold in Hawaii is from Arizona, despite the fact that peridot is produced by Hawaii's volcanoes. The gemstone is also found in Norway, Brazil, China, Egypt, Italy, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. An exciting new deposit was discovered in Pakistan in 1994, yielding some of the finest peridot ever seen, including one stone that weighed more than 300.00ct.
Peridot is among the oldest known stones and has been mined as a gem for thousands of years. As early as 1575 to 1350 B.C., the ancient Egyptians used peridot beads in their ceremonial jewelry. In fact, it is believed the stone was one of the favorite gems of Cleopatra and that some of the “emeralds” she wore were actually peridot.
Ancient Egyptians also carved small drinking vessels out of large chunks of peridot. Priests would drink soma from them in rituals, believing the soma would put them in touch with the nature goddess, Isis. Legend has it that King Soloman traded cedar trees from Lebanon for 12 soma drinking cups and 144 liters of soma. The Egyptians made this trade for ramp logs to build their pyramids at Gisa, while King Soloman was said to have been enlightened by drinking soma from the peridot cups. Today, Mexican hill tribes still drink soma from green glazed cups to put them in touch with nature and their ancestors’ spirits. Additionally, some Native American Indians in Arizona use tea made from peyote ground with peridot crystals in their rituals.
Peridot has also been important to other cultures throughout history. Late in the Ottoman Empire (1300 to 1900), peridot was a highly prized gem and Turkish Sultans amassed some of the world’s largest collections of the gemstone. It is mentioned in the Bible under the name of “chrysolite,” and was used to decorate medieval churches with samples that were most likely carried back to Europe by the Crusaders. Large stones weighing more than 200.00ct adorn the Shrine of the Three Magi at the Cologne Cathedral in Germany.
Throughout the ages, peridot has been believed to hold mystical powers of protection and healing. The ancients regarded the stone as a symbol of the sun and wore it in amulets to prevent nightmares and drive away evil spirits. It was even favored by pirates to protect them against evil. Peridot was said to be useful for calming raging angers, curing nervous afflictions and promoting quiet sleep. It was also believed to strengthen any medicine drunk from goblets carved from the stone. South American Shamans used peridot to ward off snakebites and the evil spirits who have taken the form of mosquitoes who bring the sleeping sickness. They also say the heating of magic mushroom tea by peridot takes them on trips to the ancestor heavens.
Today, peridot is believed to bring the wearer success, peace and good luck. To be most powerful, it is said that the stone should be mounted in gold and surrounded with small diamonds. With powers that are thought to bring protection and health, modern folklore also says it can be used to attract love and calm anger while soothing nerves and dispelling negative emotions. T he gem is believed to protect the wearer from bad dreams when set in gold.
Peridot is considered the birthstone of August. Given as a symbol of fame, dignity and protection, this gem is also traditionally given to couples celebrating their 16 th wedding anniversaries.
Palladium:
A selection of our jewelry is made of sterling palladium alloy. Palladium is a member of the platinum group of precious metals. By replacing a portion of the copper content used in standard sterling silver with palladium, this proprietary formula renders a precious metal with superior performance attributes. Sterling palladium is five times more tarnish-resistant than standard sterling silver and has strength similar to that of 14K gold.
Palladium has been used as a precious metal in jewelry since 1939, originally as an alternative to platinum for making white gold. Its naturally white color requires no rhodium plating. Additionally, palladium is proportionally much lighter than platinum and is ideal for use in heavier gemstone jewelry. It is a more expensive alloy than nickel, but it seldom causes the allergic reactions that nickel alloy can.
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Macro-Prudential Regulation
NOTE NUMBER 6
PUBLIC POLICY FOR THE PRIVATE SECTOR
JULY 2009
Macro-Prudential Regulation
FINANCIAL AND PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT VICE PRESIDENCY
Avinash Persaud Fixing Fundamental Market (and Regulatory) Failures
Avinash Persaud This is not the fir s t int e r na t io na l b a nk ing c r is is t he wo r ld h a s s e e n .
(avinash@intelligence
-capital.com) is chairman
The p re vious on e s o c c ur r e d wit ho ut c r e d it d e f a ult s wa p s , s pe c i a l
of Intelligence Capital investme nt ve hi c le s , o r e v e n c r e d it r a t ing s . I f c r is e s k e e p r e p e a t i n g
Limited and emeritus
the mselve s, it s e e m s r e a s o na b le t o a r g ue t ha t p o lic y m a k e r s n e e d t o
professor at Gresham
College in London. caref ully consid e r wha t t he y a r e d o ing a nd no t jus t “ d o ub le u p ” b y
sup e rf icially re a c t ing t o t he s p e c if ic f e a t ur e s o f t o d a y ’ s c r is i s . W h i l e
This is the sixth in a
series of policy briefs on we cannot hop e t o p r e v e nt c r is e s , we c a n p e r ha p s m a k e t he m f e w e r
the crisis—assessing the and mild er b y a d o p t ing a nd im p le m e nt ing b e t t e r r e g ula t io n — i n
policy responses, shedding
light on financial reforms
p articular, more m a c r o - p r ud e nt ia l r e g ula t io n.
currently under debate,
There is a widely held view that the current finan- 85th.1 If crises keep repeating themselves, it seems
and providing insights
cial crisis resulted from an insufficient reach of reasonable to argue that policy makers need to
for emerging-market policy
makers.
regulation and that the solution is to take existing carefully consider what they are doing and not
regulation and spread it without gaps across insti- just “double up.” It also means that policy makers
tutions and jurisdictions. If this were to be the should not superficially react to the characters
main policy response, it would be a mistake for and colors of the current crisis. The last 84 crises
several reasons. The most important one is that occurred without credit default swaps and special
at the heart of the crisis lay highly regulated insti- investment vehicles. The last 80-something had
tutions in sophisticated jurisdictions—Northern nothing to do with credit ratings. The solution
THE WORLD BANK GROUP
Rock, IKB, Fortis, Royal Bank of Scotland, UBS, to the crisis is not more regulation, though more
Citigroup. If there were no mortgage fraud, no comprehensive regulation may be required in
tax secrecy, and no conflicts of interest, a crisis some areas. Instead, it is better regulation—in
would still have occurred. And while risk did shift particular, regulation with a greater macro-
outside the capital adequacy regime, the special prudential orientation, as recommended by
investment vehicles were not secret and supervi- numerous recent official reports.2
sors had the discretion to look at how regulated
institutions were managing risks and to respond What is macro-prudential regulation?
if necessary. It seems banal today to point out that the reason
This is not the first international banking crisis we try to prevent financial crises is that the costs to
the world has seen. By some estimates it is the society are invariably enormous and exceed the
MACRO-PRUDENTIAL REGULATION FIXING FUNDAMENTAL MARKET (AND REGULATORY) FAILURES
private cost to individual financial institutions. degree of leverage, and interconnectedness with
We regulate to internalize these externalities in the rest of the system.
the behavior of such institutions. One of the main The existing framework of banking regulation
tools regulators use to do this is capital adequacy was insufficiently macro-prudential and had been
requirements. But the current approach to capi- recognized as such by commentators for some
tal adequacy is too narrow. Capital adequacy lev- time (see Borio 2005; Borio and White 2004; and
els are set on the implicit assumption that we can Persaud 2000). Moreover, the emphasis on micro-
make the system as a whole safe by ensuring that prudential regulation may have contributed to
individual banks are safe. This represents a fal- the buildup of some macro risks.
2
lacy of composition. In trying to make themselves Through many avenues, some regulatory
safer, banks and other highly leveraged financial and some not, often in the name of prudence,
intermediaries can behave in ways that collec- transparency, and sensitivity to risk, the growing
tively undermine the system. This is in essence influence of current market prices has intensi-
what differentiates macro-prudential from micro- fied homogeneous behavior in financial systems.
prudential concerns. These avenues include mark-to-market valuation
Here is an example of macro-prudential of assets; regulator-mandated market-based mea-
concerns. Selling an asset when it appears to be sures of risk, such as the use of credit spreads
risky may be considered a prudent response for in internal credit models or price volatility in
an individual bank and is supported by much market risk models; and the increasing use of
current regulation. But if many banks do this, credit ratings, where the signals are slower mov-
the asset price will collapse, forcing risk-averse ing but positively correlated with financial mar-
institutions to sell more and leading to general kets. Where measured risk is based on market
declines in asset prices, higher correlations and prices, or on variables correlated with market
volatility across markets, spiraling losses, and prices, it can contribute to systemic risk as market
collapsing liquidity. Micro-prudential behavior participants herd into areas that appear to be
can cause or worsen systemic risks. A macro- safe.3 And measured risk can be highly procycli-
prudential approach to an increase in risk is to cal, because it falls in the buildup to booms and
consider systemic behavior in the management rises in volatile busts.
of that risk: who should hold it, and do they have
the incentive to do so? If it is liquidity risk, is it Macro-prudential regulation and the cycle
in the interests of the system if all institutions, The economic cycle is a major source of homo-
regardless of their liquidity conditions, sell the geneous behavior, so addressing it is a critical
same asset at the same time? Risk in a financial macro-prudential concern. In the up phase of
system is more than an aggregation of risks in the cycle, price-based measures of asset values
individual institutions; it is also about endog- rise, price-based measures of risk fall, and com-
enous risks that arise as a result of the collective petition to increase bank profits grows. Most
behavior of institutions. financial institutions spontaneously respond by
Macro-prudential regulation concerns itself expanding their balance sheets to take advan-
with the stability of the financial system as a whole. tage of the fixed costs of banking franchises and
By contrast, micro-prudential regulation, con- regulation; trying to lower the cost of funding by
sisting of such measures as the certification of using short-term funding from money markets;
those working in the financial sector and rules and increasing leverage. Those that do not do so
on how financial institutions operate, concerns are seen as underleveraging their equity and are
itself with the stability of individual entities and punished by stock markets. In the more prosaic
the protection of individuals. Micro-prudential words of former Citigroup CEO Chuck Prince,
regulation examines the responses of an indi- in a July 2007 interview with the Financial Times,
vidual bank to exogenous risks. By construction, “when the music is playing, you have to get up
it does not incorporate endogenous risk. It also and dance.” By contrast, when the boom ends,
ignores the systemic importance of individual asset prices begin to fall and short-term fund-
institutions resulting from such factors as size, ing to institutions with impaired and uncertain
assets or high leverage dries up. Forced sales of Politicians want to reap electoral benefit from
assets drive up their measured risk, and the boom the sense of well-being and prosperity during
inevitably turns to bust. a boom. Policy officials convince themselves,
One of the key lessons of this crisis is that and try to convince others, that the boom is not
market discipline is little defense against the an unsustainable credit binge but the positive
macro-prudential risks that come with the eco- result of structural reforms that they have put
nomic cycle. The institutions that have been into place. Booms have social benefits. They are
most resilient to the crisis, such as HSBC and associated with a higher appetite for risk and a
J.P. Morgan, had lower equity “ratings” (lower perception that risks have fallen, and this often
3
price-earnings ratios) than those that proved to means greater access to finance for the previ-
be less resilient, such as Northern Rock, Bear ously unbanked and underinsured. Booms are
Stearns, Fortis, and Lehman Brothers. Market not quite a conspiracy of silence, but there are
discipline has an important role to play in the few who gain from their early demise. So booms
efficiency of the financial sector, but it cannot be tend to be explained away, excused, and accom-
on the front line of defense against crises. modated, allowing them to grow larger and larger
One reason that market discipline was seen as and thus to cause more damage when they even-
such an important pillar in the precrisis approach tually collapse.
to banking regulation was the implicit model that
regulators had in mind: financial crashes occur Countercyclical charges and buffers
randomly as a result of a bad institution failing, In light of the observations above, there is a grow-
and that failure becomes systemic. The histori- ing consensus around three ideas: Capital require-
cal experience is rather different: crashes follow ments need to have a countercyclical element in
booms. In the boom almost all financial institu- order to, in the words of the G-20 communiqué
tions look good, and in the bust almost all look of April 2, “dampen rather than amplify the finan-
bad. Differentiation is poor. The current crisis cial and economic cycle” by “requiring buffers of
is another instance of this all-too-familiar cycle. resources to be built up in good times.” There
But if crises repeat themselves and follow booms, should be greater emphasis on rules rather than
banning the products, players, and jurisdictions supervisory discretion to counterbalance the politi-
that were merely the symptoms of the latest boom cal pressures on supervisors. And these rules should
will do little to prevent the next one. include leverage limits and liquidity buffers.
Moreover, the notion that some financial The references in the G-20 communiqué echo
products are safe and some are not, and that a statement by the Basel Committee on Banking
the use of unsafe products is the problem, also Supervision following its March 2009 meeting,
looks suspect in a boom-bust world. The booms recommending the “introduction of standards to
are often a result of things appearing to be safer promote the buildup of capital buffers that can be
than they are. Securitization was viewed as a way drawn down in periods of stress.” These statements
of making banks safer. Diversified portfolios of by the G-20 and the Basel Committee, coupled with
subprime mortgages were viewed as having low similar conclusions by other official reports, sug-
delinquency rates. Micro-prudential regulation gest that the argument in favor of macro-prudential
is necessary to weed out the truly reckless insti- regulation has been won. But how countercycli-
tutions and behavior. But it needs to be supple- cal capital charges and liquidity buffers are to be
mented with macro-prudential regulation aimed implemented has not yet been addressed in great
in part at acting as a countervailing force against detail. Given the politics of booms, the how is almost
the decline of measured risk in a boom (and thus as important as the whether.
excessive levels and interconnectivity of risk tak- In practical terms, Goodhart and Persaud
ing) and against the rise of measured risk in the have recommended that regulators increase the
subsequent collapse. existing or base capital adequacy requirements
Supervisors have plenty of discretion, but (based on an assessment of inherent risks) by two
they find it hard to use because of the politics multiples calculated using a few simple, transpar-
of booms. Almost everyone wants a boom to last. ent rules.4
MACRO-PRUDENTIAL REGULATION FIXING FUNDAMENTAL MARKET (AND REGULATORY) FAILURES
The first multiple would be a function of the which increases systemic fragility and intercon-
growth of credit and leverage. Regulators should nectedness. This private incentive to create sys-
meet with monetary policy officials (where they temic risk can be offset through new capital or
are separate) in a financial stability committee. reserve requirements. It is partly this notion that
This meeting would produce a forecast of the the G-20 communiqué refers to when stating that
growth of aggregate bank assets that is consis- the G-20 leaders have agreed to introduce mea-
tent with the central bank’s target for inflation sures “to reduce the reliance on inappropriately
(or other macroeconomic nominal target). The risky sources of funding.” Liquidity buffers, with
forecast would have a reasonable band around their size related to maturity mismatches between
4
it reflecting uncertainty. If a bank’s assets grow assets and liabilities, would have similar effect.
above this band, the bank would have to put aside But once again there is little discussion of meth-
a higher multiple of its capital for this new lend- odology and implementation. Measuring the true
ing. If its assets grow less than the lower bound, maturity of bank assets and liabilities is not a
it may put aside a lower multiple. straightforward exercise.
For example, suppose that the financial stabil- In the framework set out in the Geneva Report
ity committee concluded that growth in aggre- (Brunnermeier and others 2009), assets that can-
gate bank assets of between 7.5 percent and 12.5 not be posted at the central bank for liquidity
percent was consistent with its inflation target of 3 can be assumed to have a minimum maturity
percent. Growth in a bank’s assets by 25 percent, of two years or more. If a pool of these assets
or twice the upper range, may lead to a doubling was funded by a pool of two-year term deposits,
of the minimum capital adequacy level from 8 there would be no liquidity risk and no liquidity
percent to 16 percent of risk-weighted assets. A charge. But if the pool of funding had a maturity
related approach is to have one minimum capital of one month and so had to be rolled over every
adequacy requirement for “bad” times and one month, the liquidity multiple on the base capital
that is twice that level for “good” times, with good charge would be near its maximum—say 2, so the
and bad times being determined by bank prof- minimum capital adequacy requirement would
itability. Of course it is impossible to ascertain rise from 8 percent to 16 percent.
whether these capital levels would have made In a boom in which the first countercycli-
the system safe, but the consensus today is that cal multiple is also 2, the final capital adequacy
they would have at least made it safer. requirement would be 32 percent of risk-weighted
Financial stability committees exist in many assets (8 percent 2 2). Liquidity multiples
countries. But they generally work poorly because would make lending costlier, since banks tradi-
their deliberations have no consequence. tionally fund themselves short and lend long.
Requiring such committees to agree on a sus- But the liquidity multiples would give banks an
tainable level of growth in bank assets could incentive to find longer-term funding, and where
make their work more penetrating and action they cannot do so, a liquidity buffer or liquidity
oriented. reserve that could be drawn down in times of
The second multiple on capital requirements stress would buy time for institutions to deal with
would be related to the mismatch in the matu- a liquidity problem.
rity of bank assets and liabilities. One significant
lesson of the crisis is that the risk of an asset is Can the cycle be measured?
determined largely by the maturity of its funding. Many people, most notably former U.S. Federal
Northern Rock and other casualties of the crash Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, voice the
might well have survived with the same assets if concern that it is very hard to know when we
the average maturity of their funding had been are in a boom. Of course, measuring the cycle
longer. The liquidity of banks’ assets has fallen far is what inflation-targeting central banks do on
more than the credit quality of those assets. a daily basis. But this misses the point a little. If
If regulators make little distinction on how the purpose of countercyclical capital charges
assets are funded, however, financial institu- were to end boom-bust cycles, we would need
tions will rely on cheaper, short-term funding, to be more confident about the calibration of
booms than we are today. But if the purpose is were still performing from a credit point of view,
to lean against the wind, our calibrations can be but had become highly illiquid, had long-term
less precise. funding. In the absence of fair-value accounting
Recall that without countercyclical charges, standards, they would not have joined the selling
the natural inclination in a boom is to lend even frenzy that compounded the crisis. Second, with-
more because measured risks fall. The precrisis out the mark-to-market volatility, institutions with
regulatory approach took the economic cycle long-term funding would have been more willing
and amplified it. The goal instead should be to to buy these assets. That would have provided
moderate the worst excesses of the cycle, not to greater price support, limiting the spiral of losses
5
kill it. Indeed, the cycle is an important source that endangered so many banking institutions.
of creative destruction in our economic system.
Compensation
Valuation and mark-to-funding accounting In the G-20 communiqué and elsewhere, great
Many commentators consider accounting issues attention is given to dealing with the incentives
to be central in the crisis. They argue that the use of individual bankers and traders. But there are
of fair-value accounting has added to the spiral clear limits to how much governments should
of sales. But suspending fair-value accounting is be involved in private firms’ decisions on execu-
not helpful in an environment made worse by tive pay. While measures to lengthen bankers’
uncertainty. Instead, financial institutions should horizons are necessary, greater hopes should be
complement mark-to-market accounting with placed in macro-prudential regulation pushing
mark-to-funding valuations (see Brunnermeier banks to develop incentive packages that better
and others 2009). promote through-the-cycle behavior. If that failed,
Under mark-to-funding valuations there are however, regulators should certainly do more to
essentially two alternative prices for an asset: address the important issue of incentives.
today’s market price and the discounted present
value of the future earnings stream. In normal Macro-prudential regulation beyond the cycle
times these two prices are nearly the same. But The other dimension of macro-prudential regu-
in a liquidity crisis the market price falls substan- lation is the cross-sectional one: how to manage
tially below the present value. If an institution the buildup of risks arising from the structure of
has short-term funding, the realistic price to use the financial system.
is the market price. If it has long-term funding,
the present-value price is a better measure of the Risk assignment
risks faced by the institution. Under a mark-to- Requiring the banking system to hold more capi-
funding accounting framework, a weighted aver- tal on average will not improve the resilience of
age of the market price and present-value price the financial system as a whole unless there is
would be used whose weights would depend on also a better match of risk taking to risk capac-
the weighted average maturity of the institution’s ity. Indeed, piling up capital requirements may
funding. The combination of liquidity charges act as an anticompetitive barrier, reinforcing the
and mark-to-funding value accounting would cre- specter of a few banks holding a government
ate incentives for institutions to seek longer-term hostage because they are too big to fail.
funding and would encourage a tendency for Micro-prudential regulation was often accom-
illiquid assets to be owned by institutions with panied by a misguided view of risk as an absolute,
longer-term funding. constant property of an asset that can be mea-
At first sight, mark-to-funding would not sured, sliced, diced, and transferred. This is an
appear to alleviate the problem facing banks elegant view of risk and has the merit of allowing
today—in fact, it could make matters worse— banks to build highly complex valuation mod-
because they have short-term funding. But this els and to sell highly complex risk management
proposal would have had two ameliorating effects products to handle and distribute risk. But it is
in the crisis. First, many of the bank-owned spe- also an artificial construct that has little bearing
cial investment vehicles that managed assets that on the nature of risk.
MACRO-PRUDENTIAL REGULATION FIXING FUNDAMENTAL MARKET (AND REGULATORY) FAILURES
In reality, there is not one constant risk. The rent system, the natural risk absorbers behave like
three broad financial risks—credit risk, liquid- risk traders, selling and buying when everyone
ity risk, and market risk—are very different. else is doing so.
Moreover, the potential spillover risk from some- Capital requirements encouraging those with
one holding an asset depends as much on who is a capacity to absorb a type of risk to hold that
holding the asset as on what it is. Different hold- risk not only will make the system safer without
ers have different capacities for different risks. destroying the risk taking that is vital for eco-
The distinction between “safe” and “risky” assets nomic prosperity; they also will introduce new
is deceptive: one can do a lot of damage with a players with risk capacities. This would both
6
simple mortgage, for example. strengthen the resilience of the financial system
The capacity for holding a risk is best assessed and reduce our dependence in a crisis on a few
by considering how that risk is hedged. Liquidity banks that appeared to be well capitalized during
risk—the risk that an immediate sale would lead the previous boom.
to a large discount in the price—is best hedged
over time and is best held by institutions that do Systemic institutions
not need to respond to an immediate fall in price. Not all financial institutions pose systemic risks.
A bank funded with short-term money market Regulation should acknowledge that some banks
deposits has little capacity for liquidity risk. Credit are systemically important, and others less so.
risk—the risk that someone holding a loan will In each country supervisors establish a list of
default—is not hedged by having more time for systemically important institutions that receive
the default to happen but by having offsetting closer scrutiny and require greater containment
credit risks. Banks, with access to a wide range of behavior. Critical factors that determine sys-
of credits, have a far greater capacity than most temic importance for an institution, instrument,
to diversify and hedge credit risks. or trade are size of exposures, especially with
The way to reduce systemic risk is to encourage respect to the core banking system and retail
individual risks to flow to where there is a capacity consumers; degree of leverage and maturity
for them. Unintentionally, much micro-prudential mismatches; and correlation or interconnectiv-
regulation did the opposite. By not requiring firms ity with the financial system.
to put aside capital for maturity mismatches and by In the past, interconnectivity has been under-
encouraging mark-to-market valuation and daily stood to include issues such as payment and set-
risk management of assets by everyone, regulators tlement systems, and these remain vital. Today,
encouraged liquidity risk to flow to banks even interconnectivity may also include institutions
though they had little capacity for it. By requiring that behave in a highly correlated manner even
banks to hold capital against credit risks, regula- if individually they appear small relative to the
tors encouraged credit risk to flow to those that size of the financial system.
were seeking the extra yield, were not required to Goodhart and Persaud, as members of the
set aside capital for credit risks, and had limited UN Commission of Experts on Reforms of the
capacity to hedge that risk. No reasonable amount International Monetary and Financial System,
of capital can remedy a system that inadvertently have urged the commission to recommend
leads to risk-bearing assets being held by those establishing a list of systemically important instru-
without a capacity to hold them. ments. And where instruments are declared sys-
What can regulators do? They need to differ- temically important because of their volume,
entiate institutions less by what they are called link to leverage, or interconnectivity, they rec-
and more by how they are funded. They should ommend requiring that the instruments be reg-
require more capital to be set aside for risks where istered and, where appropriate, exchange traded
there is no natural hedging capacity. This will and centrally cleared.
draw risks to where they can be best absorbed.
They also must work to make value accounting Host and home country regulation
and risk management techniques sensitive to A gathering view is that financial institutions are
funding and risk capacity. Instead, under the cur- global and so financial regulation needs to be
global. But reality does not rhyme so easily. The for individual institutions to lend more. Micro-
crisis would not have been averted by more inter- prudential regulation is not enough; it must be
national meetings, and it has taught us that there supplemented by macro-prudential regulation
is much that needs to be done at the national level that catches the systemic consequences of all
to strengthen regulation. Countercyclical and institutions acting in a similar manner. While we
liquidity charges cannot be set or implemented cannot hope to prevent crises, we can perhaps
globally but need to be handled nationally in make them fewer and milder by adopting and
accordance with national cycles. implementing better regulation—in particular,
Although there is a clear need for cross- more macro-prudential regulation.
7
border sharing of information and coordination of
regulatory actions and principles (particularly in
micro-prudential regulation), the setting of capital
rules and banking supervision is likely to switch Notes
back from “home country” to “host country.” This The author would like to thank Constantinos Stepha-
should not be resisted because it would have two nou, Aquiles Almansi, and Damodaran Krishnamurti
additional benefits, particularly for emerging for their comments, although the views expressed in
economies. First, if foreign banks were required to this policy brief remain those of the author.
set up their local presence as independent subsid- 1. For a discussion on the history of financial crises, see
iaries that could withstand the default of an inter- Reinhart and Rogoff (2008).
national parent, it would reduce exposure to lax 2. These include the April 2 communiqué of the G-20
jurisdictions more effectively than trying to force leaders, the Turner Review (FSA 2009), the G-30 report
everyone to follow a standard that could be inap- (2009), the de Larosiere Group report (2009), the UN
propriate and would in any case be enforced with Commission of Experts recommendations (2009), and
different degrees of intensity. Second, nationally the 11th Geneva Report (Brunnermeier and others
set countercyclical charges could give common- 2009).
currency areas or countries with fixed or managed 3. See Persaud (2000) for a discussion on how, through
exchange rates a much-needed additional policy the financial sector’s use of value-at-risk models, “the
instrument—one that could provide a more dif- observation of safety creates risk and the observation of
ferentiated response than a single interest rate risk creates safety.” The late economist Hyman Minsky
could to a boom in one member state and defla- also argued in more general terms, and long before
tion in another. This policy instrument may also the advent of value-at-risk models, that risks are born in
be important in emerging economies, where, per- periods of stability.
haps as a result of the absence of developed bond 4. The original ideas were published in Goodhart and
and currency markets, interest rates are not an Persaud (2008a, b) and expanded in Brunnermeier and
effective regulator of the economic cycle. others (2009).
Conclusion References
Warren Buffett famously remarked that you Borio, C. 2005. “Monetary and Financial Stability: So
see who is swimming naked only when the tide Close and Yet So Far.” National Institute Economic
runs out. By this, he probably means that while Review 192 (1): 84–101.
fraud and unethical practices are going on all Borio, C., and W. White. 2004. “Whither Monetary and
the time, they become visible only when the veil Financial Stability? The Implications of Evolving
of rising market prices is removed. They are not Policy Regimes.” BIS Working Paper 147, Bank for
the cause of the tide going out; they are merely International Settlements, Basel.
revealed by it. We must continue to clamp down Brunnermeier, M., A. Crockett, C. A. E. Goodhart, A.
on fraud and ethical abuses and promote trans- D. Persaud, and H. Shin. 2009. The Fundamental Prin-
parency, but this is not enough to avoid crises. ciples of Financial Regulation. Geneva Report on the
We cannot avoid crises without avoiding the World Economy 11. Geneva: International Center
booms—booms that are always underpinned for Monetary and Banking Studies; London: Centre
by a good story explaining why it is prudent for Economic Policy Research.
MACRO-PRUDENTIAL REGULATION FIXING FUNDAMENTAL MARKET (AND REGULATORY) FAILURES
de Larosiere Group. 2009. Report of the High-Level Group
on Financial Supervision in the EU. Brussels.
FSA (U.K. Financial Services Authority). 2009. The
Turner Review: A Regulatory Response to the Global Bank-
ing Crisis. London.
Goodhart, C. A. E., and A. D. Persaud. 2008a. “How to
crisisresponse
Avoid the Next Crash.” Financial Times, January 30.
———. 2008b. “A Party Pooper’s Guide to Financial
The views published here
Stability.” Financial Times, June 5.
are those of the authors and
G-30 (Group of Thirty). 2009. Financial Reform: A Frame-
should not be attributed
work for Financial Stability. Washington, DC.
to the World Bank Group.
Persaud, A. 2000. “Sending the Herd off the Cliff Edge:
Nor do any of the conclusions
The Disturbing Interaction between Herding and
represent official policy of
Market-Sensitive Risk Management Systems.” First the World Bank Group or
Prize Essay, Jacques de Larosiere Award in Global of its Executive Directors or
Finance, Institute of International Finance, Wash- the countries they represent.
ington, DC.
Reinhart, C., and K. Rogoff. 2008. This Time Is Different: To order additional copies
A Panoramic View of Eight Centuries of Financial Crises. contact Suzanne Smith,
NBER Working Paper 13882. Cambridge, MA: Na- managing editor,
tional Bureau of Economic Research. The World Bank,
UN Commission of Experts on Reforms of the Interna- 1818 H Street, NW,
tional Monetary and Financial System. 2009. Recom- Washington, DC 20433.
mendations. New York: United Nations.
Telephone:
001 202 458 7281
Fax:
001 202 522 3480
Email:
[email protected]
Produced by Grammarians, Inc.
Printed on recycled paper
This Note is available online:
http://rru.worldbank.org/PublicPolicyJournal
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DIY Air Brushed Picture Frame
I am sharing this picture frame I restyled using the eBrush, made by Craftwell. If you haven't tried out the eBrush yet, it's really really cool. It's an air brush that uses markers as its ink. You can read my review of it here.
This project is actually VERY similar to a journal I made back in February. I loved how the journal turned out and I thought it would be neat to use the same technique on a picture frame, so here it is!
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As your browser does not support javascript you won't be able to use all the features of the website. We strongly recommend you to enable the javascript in your old browser's settings or download a new one.
Here's What Cost GlaxoSmithKline PLC Nearly $10 Billion in Market Cap in October
What happened
Shares of U.K.-based Big Pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline(NYSE: GSK) tumbled during the month of October, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, losing nearly $10 billion in market cap in the process. The culprits for the drop appear to be its weaker-than-expected third-quarter operating results and rumblings about a large acquisition.
So what
The clearest issue for GlaxoSmithKline, which is more commonly known as GSK, was its disappointing third-quarter results. On a constant currency basis, pharmaceutical sales inched higher by just 2%, vaccine sales were flat, and consumer healthcare grew by a steady 2%. That's an overall increase in sales of just 2%, with sales in Europe actually declining. The company cited strong growth in new products, but pointed to divestments and generic competition to mature drugs as the culprit for its pedestrian sales growth in pharma. Comparably, GSK's revenue was pretty much right in line with Wall Street's expectations.
Image source: Getty Images.
Unfortunately, the company's bottom-line missed by about 20%, with adjusted operating profit increasing by 5% on a constant currency basis, and adjusted EPS flat year-over-year. The finger-pointing mostly goes to an 11% hike in research and development costs, and a 3% increase to its cost of sales.
In addition to its disappointing earnings report, GSK also announced that it's considering a bid for Pfizer's (NYSE: PFE) consumer-health unit. The deal, which could be worth more than $10 billion if it were to become a reality, would expand GSK's consumer-health offerings, which generally provide modest growth and solid pricing power. However, a deal of this magnitude could put GlaxoSmithKline's superior 5% yield at risk, according to some pundits on Wall Street. GSK's dividend is arguably the greatest lure of owning this stock, so a cut would be concerning.
Now what
I'd have to admit that buying Pfizer's consumer-health division would be a bit perplexing considering that GSK completed a major reorganization back in 2015. In a three-part asset swap with Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline wound up jettisoning its oncology division, bolstering its vaccines segment, and forging a consumer-health joint venture with Novartis, all while collecting billions in additional cash from Novartis as a result of the deal. Though GSK generates more than half of its sales from pharmaceuticals, and investors are typically fans of balance with regard to operating segment contributions as a percentage of sales, bringing a slow-growth segment like Pfizer's consumer-health division into the fold is a head-scratcher.
Image source: Getty Images.
If there is a bright spot here, GSK's next-generation respirator and HIV products are on fire. Breo Ellipta delivered 43% constant currency growth, along with 57% sales growth from Anoro Ellipta, while GSK's HIV therapies, Tivicay and Triumeq, also saw respective quarterly sales growth of 41% and 29% from the prior-year period.
At just a tad over 12 times forward earnings, and sporting a superior dividend, GSK has all the hallmarks of an income stock that could provide benefits to long-term investors. While not without risks, especially if GSK struggles to find its new identity following its reorganization, the company's respiratory and HIV segments appear to be on track. That's enough for me to suggest value and income investors take a closer look at GlaxoSmithKline.
10 stocks we like better than GlaxoSmithKlineWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*
David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and GlaxoSmithKline wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.
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b68026692e SimplyRAR. 14:48:41 03/31/14 Mon. Permissions in this forum:You cannot reply to topics in this forumFFE Gaming::FFE ZERO RECON CHATFFE Gaming::FFE ZERO RECON CHAT. Changes in version 0.1.3.1 (08/01/2010) Solved an error produced on preferences file update (only when updating from a previous version) that blocks the extraction. This version has no improvements, just changes on the default options so it can be submitted to the App Store. Changes in version 0.1.4 (05/11/2010) Changed lowercase name keka to Keka, as it seems to be better (Tracker ID 3012724) Visual changes in Process, Password and Exit windows (Thanks to kemeng for the tips) Added key shortcut in Process window to pause and continue (Space bar) Added two shortcuts for main two actions in Password and exit windows: Esc (to exit) and Enter (to proceed) Some minor changes in window placement Default format for new users will be Zip instead of 7zip.
- HQ::General::Spam in a canPage 1 of 1•Share•. Education Games Home & Personal Internet Multimedia & Design Utilities iOS Tools MacUpdate Promo MacUpdate Desktop 6 MUMenu Add/Edit App Developers Company About Us Advertise Career Opportunities Support Privacy Policy . Next Thread. Version 1.0.8: In this version only change rar Update rar 3.51 with 3.80 UniversalBinary sorry the website is offline and I don't modify other I hope you enjoy =) download install purchase purchase . MacUpdate Discover New Mac Apps. Changes in version 0.1.3.2 (24/01/2010) Now MACOSX folder is excluded when extracting a file New localizations : Chinese Traditional and French. Create now Already have an account? Sign in now. Its unstable, just for testing purposes Code of format selection simplified Better growl implementation If keka closed and drag files to archive and cancel, process window doesn't close If main window open, on cancel process main progress indicator continues activated If cancel pressed, when extracting/compressing again keka hangs Files not extracted correctly now are deleted . Brandt and PSW Group) Added Hungarian translation (Thanks to Andrs Oravecz) Added queued operations counter to the badge Added AES256 zip encryption support (Experimental, must enable Dev enviroment) [Ticket 18] Timed the auto-exit so the compression-extraction sound can be played (1 sec) Fixed badge error where number of operations can be negative and icorrect Fixed a bug causing never ending operations when compressing Volumes (Thanks to ChipMcK) [Ticket 56] Fixed absolute path management for TAR, TGZ and TBZ compression (Thanks to chris.alme) [Ticket 76] Fixed some English strings (Thanks to mboman) [Ticket 86] Fixed split menu string in English and Spanish (Thanks to Lotusbrod) Fixed Lion specific error that keeps a badge number in the Launchpad (Thanks to Edward) [Ticket 57] Fixed some English strings (Thanks to Costi and Alyshah) Fixed a cosmetic bug in the toolbar in Snow Leopard . Changes in version 0.1 Beta 2 (28/09/2009) Now keka runs in 64 bits when possible Added a dock menu where format, method and performed action can be selected Added always compress/extract options in preferences and in dock menu New option to don't close keka when no window is opened New object in window bar and dock menu to open keka default window Prevent to close keka with cmd+Q when a process is running Changed binary names with keka prefix to better control of them Made a cleaning open processes when keka crashes Updated to Growl 1.2b7 Now Growl notifies the name of the new compressed file Corrected minor cosmetic issue (quit and hide menu items).
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GIPA to Gosford City Council to determine the classification and purpose of several parcels of land within the Local Government Area. The GIPA was a representation on the behalf on the community, with the aim of achieving transparency and understanding of Crown Lands in the area, in the absence of any…
GIPA request to NSW Police Force for training materials related to PTSD training. The information requested was in relation to the way officers and cadets at the NSW Police Force Academy were instructed in dealing with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), including PTSD suffered by themselves and their colleagues. GIPA Request…
GIPA request to Blue Mountains City Council for: Maintenance reports since 1 January 2014 relating to 170-174 Laura Mall, Leura Engineering reports since 1 January 2014 relating to 170-174 Laura Mall, Leura Any business papers for Council meeting on 8 December 2015 relating to 170-174 Laura Mall, Leura
GIPA request to NSW Police Force for training materials related to TASER weapons. Information was provided in an extensive hard copy document which has been scanned in 28 parts. A highlight of the documents provided was the recommendation that police aim the weapon at the centre of body mass…
GIPA request to the NSW Police Force for: Correspondence, documents and/or information concerning or in response to Questions on Notice in the Legislative Council numbered 0856 to 0861 asked by David Shoebridge on 9 March 2016 How many people were searched by police officers as a result of a police…
GIPA request for: All communications from 1 June 2014 and 30 June 2015 between the Department of Education and the office of Education Minister Adrian Piccoli, the office of Premier Mike Baird, the Department of Planning and NSW Public Works regarding negotiations between the City of Sydney and the Department…
GIPA request to NSW Department of Justice and Primary Industries: All documents, agreements, options, arrangements or determinations relating to the disposal, sale or potential sale and/or lease or potential lease, of all or part of the Newcastle Court House (former) on Church Street Newcastle, including all or part of the…
GIPA to the Department of Education for: The total amount paid by TAFE NSW or related bodies to the Boston Consulting Group for the production of the 2015 report “The NSW Vocational Education and Training market and TAFE NSW’s competitive position within it”. The brief or instructions provided to Boston…
Following questions were posed in a GIPA application to the NSW Police Force. Information was released relating to some but not all questions was released. We have lodged an internal appeal and will update with any further materials received. How many warnings have been given to those “associating” under the…
GIPA 1 All documents relating to protocols developed by the NSW Police Force in August 2014 for non-government agencies to use when notifying them of historical allegations of child sexual assault. (We note the existence of such protocols was identified in the NSW Ombudsman’s Issues Paper 8: Experiences of Police…
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Sunday, January 6, 2019
Summer, Glorious Summer!
My garden looks its best in the Summer. A lot of the plants I’ve selected for colour seem to be the ones that flower in summer, which is great because that’s when the garden gets the most use. The most obvious of these flowering plants would have to be the Bougainvillea Vine which I’ve trained to grow over a pergola. It’s a really nice place to sit as it provides a bit of shade from the harsh New Zealand sun.
The garden has changed quite a bit as it’s matured over the last few years, so I realised it was time to update the header on my Blog. I’ve been waiting for the Bougainvillea to be in full bloom so I could get a few nice photos. The header photo I decided to use was a panorama shot I took from the roof of the sleepout. This year the pergola was a great place to take a few family photos too.
One of the plants I’ve really enjoyed this year would have to be the Hydrangeas. I’ve tried propagating a few over the last couple of years from cuttings and was pleased to see them flowering nicely this year (year 2). The most interesting aspect of this for me was seeing how the colours varied from the original plants I took the cuttings from, as the variations in soil acidity resulted in different coloured blooms. And what blooms they were after giving them a good feed in spring. They make terrific cut flowers too.
We’ve been spoilt this year with the number of cut flowers we’ve been able to take in the house.
Like these red beauties (which I forget the name of), plus a few others which I forgot to take photos of...
The big disappointment this summer was that despite my 2 plum trees fruiting super-abundantly, beyond expectations, the fruit was mostly spoiled by an infestation of worms and several days of torrential rain just as the fruit was ripening which caused them to split. I can see I’m going to have to be super vigilant next year and may need to relent as regards my organic, ‘no-spray’ policy.
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About Me
I'm from Auckland, New Zealand. I'm a graphic designer, web developer and print management consultant by profession. I started off as a printer having served a printing apprenticeship back in the early '80's but quickly moved into design, advertising and marketing and have been in the industry now for more than 30 years helping businesses to promote themselves and their products and services.
I have many interests besides this including gardening, fishing, photography, DIY and spending time with my family and friends. I also enjoy reading and discussing the bible.
If you wish to discuss any of the above, feel free to contact me or make a comment on any one of my posts and I'll respond as soon as I can. Have a great Day!
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Patek Philippe’s signature collection
was launched in 1932 and came
to represent the epitome of a round
wristwatch. Elegant in its simplicity,
the Calatrava is timekeeping at its
most classically understated.
GOLDEN ELLIPSE
When the Golden Ellipse was
launched it became an instant classic,
perhaps unsurprisingly, because the
distinctive case shape – a rounded
rectangle or linear oval – is based on
the principle of the Golden Section.
GONDOLO
Rigorous geometry and pure
lines of modernism, characteristic
design features of the Art Deco
movement, are recognizable in
the Gondolo collection, inspired
by classic models from the 1930s.
AQUANAUT
Inspired by the Nautilus collection
of elegant sports watches, the
Aquanaut was devised for a younger
audience that had an attachment to
classical values as well as a passion
for modernity.
NAUTILUS
With Patek Philippe’s first
sports watch, the company introduced
a timepiece that was both
rugged and streamlined.
The current Nautilus collection
is a result of the subtle evolution
of the original 1970s models.
COMPLICATIONS
Timekeeping instruments that provide functions beyond
indicating the time and date are called complicated watches.
In Patek Philippe’s workshops, this class of timepiece is
segmented into complications and grand complications.
“Useful” complications offer add-on functions that
are user-friendly, such as the legendary Annual Calendar.
This ingenious complication “knows” how many days each
month has and only needs to be corrected once a year at
the end of February. Another compli cation gaining significance
in the life of present-day nomads is the time-zone
indication as implemented in the Calatrava Travel Time –
it simultaneously displays the local time in two different
zones. This watch is available in a ladies’ version. Patek
Philippe’s World Time watch goes a step further and displays
all 24 time zones at the same time. It is based on a
principle devised by the ingenious Genevan watchmaker
Louis Cottier in the 1930s and perfected and patented by
Patek Philippe in 1999. The mechanism makes it possible
for the wearer to switch the watch easily from one time
zone to the next without compromising the rate accuracy
of the movement. Meanwhile, the moon-phase display
enjoys an enduring popularity. This poetic complication
indicates the gradual day-to-day progression of the moon’s
face in a curved dial aperture. But the mechanism behind
it is more sophisticated than meets the eye. It is so precise
that the display faithfully tracks the true lunation for
122 years and 45 days. Only then must it be corrected by
one day. “Useful” compli cations also include different
types of chronographs from classic manually wound chronographs
with column wheels to innovative self-winding
Annual Calendar chronographs with monocounter.
All these timepieces are crafted in Patek Philippe’s ateliers
in Geneva. Many of them are endowed with an Annual
Calendar mechanism, a moon-phase display, or a powerreserve
indication and they belong to a group of watches
that illustrates the subtle line between “useful” complications
and grand complications.
GRAND COMPLICATIONS
Grand complications represent the paragon of horology
and challenge the watchmaker to the ultimate degree.
This apotheosis of haute horlogerie has been a part of the
Patek Philippe heritage since the company was founded
in 1839. No other watchmaker has been involved in
the highest sphere of horology for such a long time
without interruption; no other company has created
such an impressive portfolio of complicated watches.
With 33 complications, the Calibre 89 was the world’s most
complicated portable timepiece when it was presented in
1989. Grand complications include intricate mechanisms
such as the tourbillon, which compensates variations of
the center of gravity of balance springs in vertical positions,
and the repeater function, which tells the time acoustically
by striking gongs. Split-seconds chronographs also belong
to this category, as do perpetual calendars and various
astronomical indications including sunrise and sunset
displays, and stellar progressions. All these mechanisms are
highly complex and correlated with one another in various
ways. Often, they are enriched with further refinements
such as retrograde displays or instantaneous calendarswitching
mechanisms. A Patek Philippe tourbillon consists
of 31 parts, yet weighs a mere 0.3 grams. Patek Philippe’s
minute repeaters draw on a tradition established over
150 years ago. Their sound as they strike the hours, quarter
hours, and minutes is considered to be the benchmark
of acoustic-time indication. Astronomical watches are
another domain in which Patek Philippe has shown
unprecedented prowess. The Sky Moon Tourbillon is a
prime example: it needs both sides of the watch to accommodate
all of its features. But these grand complications
are not spectacular, one-off showpieces. They belong to
Patek Philippe’s established collection and aptly demonstrate
the excellent skills the Geneva workshops employs
on a daily basis.
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Professional and enthusiast programmers have been able to ask their questions freely on online community site Stack Overflow for the last six years. Now, Australian-based enterprise software firm, Atlassian, has announced its own version for the enterprise, Confluence Questions 1.0.
Initially launched as a beta version last September, which has since been trialled by Atlassian customers, including Boeing and Dow Jones, Confluence Questions 1.0 is team documentation collaboration add-on for Confluence that allows enable teams or entire companies to share their questions and answers in a central internal location.
Confluence group product manager Bill Arconati described the platform as "Quora for your enterprise where it's a platform that gives employees one place to ask questions and quickly get answers".
Arconati said the Q&A software addresses the main problem companies currently face, which is company knowledge management.
"Often once a question gets answered the answer goes nowhere; it's not reported or made searchable for future generations to benefit from. There is no knowledge capture or value created," he said.
"Meanwhile, the people with the knowledge get bombarded with the same questions over and over again, and if they ever leave the company the knowledge goes out the door with them."
Arconati said users have the opportunity to pose questions based on topics to have them answered by experts within the company in different formats including images, videos, tweets, code snippets, and text. They also have the chance to opt-in and self-identify themselves as experts of other topics.
"People can answer and get multiple answers. You can also, through the wisdom of the crowd, ensure the best quality answer rises to the top and then all of that is searchable later through Confluence like your company intranet and have all your knowledge in one place," he said.
According to Arconati, Confluence Questions 1.0 is the first step for the company in developing knowledge sharing for enterprises.
"This is the beginning; we have a broader vision for knowledge sharing where we want to allow Q&A to be like googling the minds of your employees, so we have pretty big ambitions there. There is a lot of room to get a lot of knowledge through employees and this is our first step on that," he said.
Since completing a degree in journalism, Aimee has had her fair share of covering various topics, including business, retail, manufacturing, and travel. She continues to expand her repertoire as a tech journalist with ZDNet.
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Bring a little bit of the Middle-East to your night out with our range of intense and long-lasting Shisha flavours. A unique social experience, serving Shisha direct to your VIP booth when you're looking for something a little different to the usual.
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Discourse 26: The Eighth Chapter Concludes – The Journey of the Soul After Death
The Eighth Chapter of the Bhagavadgita deals with the subject of life after death. The Puranas, the Upanishads, the Yoga Vasishtha and the Bhagavadgita contain many varieties of descriptions of the condition of the soul after it leaves this body. The Puranas, especially, go into a detailed, lurid description of the condition in which the soul finds itself—particularly if it has not done any merit, or if the merit it has done is so negligible that the wrongs it has committed outweigh the good or are on an equal footing with it.
The stories in the Garuda Purana and such other scriptures, even in the Bhagavata, are really frightening. When the soul departs from the body in the case of these lower, unpurified and negligibly religious souls, it is taken away by the messengers of Yama and placed before the Lord of Death for judgment.
It is said that Yama asks the soul, “What have you done?”
Ordinarily, it cannot remember anything. It will say, “I don’t know.”
The shock of separation from the body removes all memory, and it cannot remember what it has done in the previous life. It is said that then a hot rod, called a yamadanda, is kept on its head, and immediately it remembers its entire past. It knows every detail of the actions that it did, both good and bad.
The soul says, “I have done a little good, but have also made many mistakes and performed so many erroneous actions.”
Yama asks, “What do you have to say about it now?”
The soul replies, “I have got relatives. They will expiate them for me. They will conduct yajnas, charities, worship, sankirtans, bhajans and meditations in my name, and I shall be free from the consequence of the sins that I have committed or the mistakes that I have made.”
“Go then!” says Yama, “And see what they do.”
Apparently, it takes ten days for the soul to be brought back, so some ceremony is usually done on the tenth, eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth days. The soul hovers around, observing what the relatives are doing, and Yama’s messengers stand behind like policemen to see what is done. If an expiatory ceremony is done in the name of the soul, such as the Bhagavata Saptaham, the Rudra Yaga, the Narayana Bali and the Vishnu Yajna, and varieties of charities are done, and all those things that were dear to the soul are also given in gift, the effect of these good deeds is credited to the account of the soul and it is exonerated to that extent.
But suppose this is not done and, like modern boys, the relatives do not believe in these observances: “If our father died, let it go, that’s all. We won’t bother about it,” and there is no charity, no goodwill, and they behave as if nothing has happened; or, they do not even believe that something happens after death because they think that there is no life after death. If that is the case, the soul is dragged back. When the policemen know that someone is a culprit, and it is confirmed, they deal with him very severely. If they know that he is going to be released and nothing is going to happen to him, they do not bother much about it. But if his relatives have done nothing, it is certain that he is going to be punished, so for one year they drag the soul to the kingdom of the Lord of Death. At first they brought it within ten days because they wanted to know what was happening. When it is certain that it is going to be punished, they drag it, pull it, scratch and beat it, and it will be hungry and thirsty and bleeding. That is why another ceremony is done after one year; it takes one year for the soul to return to the abode of Yama. The varshika (annual) ceremony is very important. If nothing has been done on the tenth to thirteenth days after the passing of the soul, at least something should be done on the anniversary so that some mercy may be granted by Lord Yama before the sentence is passed.
If the soul has no merit at all, it will be sent to the land of punishment, whatever the punishment be. In the Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana, the Garuda Purana, etc., the type of punishment and difficulties that the soul has to undergo are described in such gory language that we would not like to be born into this world again.
When the soul is expunged of all its sins by suffering in the prison of Yama’s hell, it is released. It is said that then it is sent to Rudraloka, and will not be allowed to leave. To release the soul from Rudra’s clutches, Rudra Yajna is done. Then it is sent to Vaikuntha, so Vishnu Yajna is done; and after many, many years, the soul attains moksha. This is how a bad person gets purified in a very painful way, and then finally attains blessedness.
Or, if the soul has a tremendous attachment to relations and to wealth, it can be reborn into this world. A Muslim gentleman lived near a house in which a Hindu family had a little baby. The baby was very beautiful. The Muslim wanted to fondle it, sit it on his lap, but the Hindus would not allow the Muslim to touch the baby, which greatly disturbed him. The child grew up, and then the Muslim died. This child, which had grown up, started talking in Persian.
They asked, “What is this matter? Who are you?”
He replied, “I am that Muslim gentleman who wanted to caress this child, and you didn’t allow it; and now I am possessing it!”
This is the effect of attachments. And very intense attachments, which do not even give the soul time to take birth in this world, convert it into a ghost. Preta yoni is the outcome and, as described in the Bhagavata Purana, it hovers around in space, hungry and thirsty.
Here the Bhagavadgita describes the more glorious paths to the higher realms. Those who are not spiritually awakened but have done immensely good deeds reach a lower kingdom called Chandraloka, the realm of the moon, where they stay invisibly and enjoy the fruit of their good deeds. When the momentum of their good deeds, charitable deeds, etc., is exhausted, they come back into this world. But if a person is spiritually awakened and is not merely a good man—not merely a charitable or a philanthropic person—then the path is different. These two paths are called the northern path and the southern path.
Yatra kāle tvanāvṛttim āvṛttiṁ caiva yoginaḥ, prayātā yānti taṁ kālaṁ vakṣyāmi bharatarṣabha (8.23): “I shall now tell you,” says Bhagavan Sri Krishna, “about that path treading which one returns, and that path treading which one does not return. These two paths I shall describe to you now—uttaramarga or jyotirmarga, and dakshinamarga or dhumamarga, as they are called.”
Agnir jotir ahaḥ śuklaḥ ṣaṇmāsā uttarāyaṇam, tatra prayātā gacchanti brahma brahmavido janāḥ (8.24): Everything is filled with light, everything is filled with divinity, and everything is superintended over by a divinity. The fire of cremation—that is the agni, the physical fire, which has a divinity of its own—assumes a divine form in the case of a person who is to rise up to the celestial realms. Then there is a divinity superintending over the daytime, in contrast with the night. If a person passes away during the daytime, and during the bright half of the lunar month, and during the northern movement of the sun, he shall reach the solar orb—Suryaloka. From there, he will be taken up further.
The Upanishads describe many more stages than the ones mentioned here. And at a particular stage beyond the sun, a superhuman entity is supposed to come and take the soul by the hand. Up to the solar orb, or even a little beyond, is called the realm of lightning. That is, beyond the sun, the lightning of Brahmaloka flashes forth. The individuality consciousness of the soul slowly gets diminished at that time, and it is not aware of any self-effort. It does not know that it is moving at all, inasmuch as the ego is almost gone. It is said that at that time an amanava purusha deputed by Brahma himself comes down in a luminous form, and leads the soul to the abode of Brahma, the Creator. This is the path of krama mukti, or gradual liberation, in which the soul is supposed to be glorying in Brahmaloka until Brahma himself is dissolved at the end of time—at the end of a hundred years of his life—and then the Absolute Brahman is reached.
But there is a possibility of immediate salvation without passing through all these stages—a hundredfold promotion, as it were. It is the dissolution of the soul in the supreme Brahman at this very spot. The soul need not have to travel in space and time because it is a jivanmukta purusha, one who has attained to a consciousness where there is no distance to be travelled. For him, there is no solar orb or anything else. He has spread his consciousness everywhere, in all beings: sarvabhūtahite ratāḥ (12.4). He is the soul of all beings, like Suka Maharishi, Vyasa, Vasishtha, etc. When his soul spreads itself everywhere in the cosmos, where is the question of moving? Na tasya prāṇā utkrāmanti (B.U. 4.4.6): His pranas do not depart, as is the case of other people. Brahmaiva san brahmāpyeti: They dissolve here, just now. That is, the moment the soul departs the body, it enters the supreme Brahman, the Absolute, then and there, without having to pass through all these stages. But in the case of krama mukti, the graduated steps mentioned in the Bhagavadgita, it is different.
The divinity of fire, the divinity of daytime, the divinity of the lunar month’s bright half, and the divinity ruling over the northern movement of the sun will take care of the soul and bring it up. In the Moksha Parva of the Mahabharata there is the story of a great ascetic who rose up from his body, and a little flame rising up through the sky could be seen. It rose higher and higher until it reached the orb of the sun, where a divine being emerged from the solar orb and received it. According to our tradition, the sun is not a material substance. It is a divinity—hiranmaya purusha—in which a golden-coloured Narayana is seated. Just as a human being is not a body, the sun is also not a body; and just as we see only the body of a person and do not see what the person is on the inside, we do not see divinity of the sun. We see only its outer appearance, which we call helium, atomic energy, etc., in just the same way as we call a person bone and flesh, nerves, blood, etc.—which is not a correct description. So there is something beyond the human concept here. Divinities are everywhere in the cosmos, in every atom, which is also controlled and enveloped by the universal God. If God is everywhere, why should He not be in every atom and in everything? In the case of such a realisation, there is immediate dissolution.
Dhūmo rātris tathā kṛṣṇaḥ ṣaṇmāsā dakṣiṇāyanam, tatra cāndramasaṁ jyotir yogī prāpya nivartate (8.25). There are those who have not spiritually awakened themselves, have not done spiritual meditation, and have an insufficient devotion to God. Even if they are very good people, highly charitable and humanistic in their approach, they will not be allowed to move along this northern path to the sun. They will not go to Brahmaloka. They will go to a lower realm, called Chandraloka. The smoke which rises from the fire during cremation will be their guiding principle. The dark half of the lunar month, and the southern movement of the sun, signify a deficiency in divine powers and a lesser chance of the soul going up along the path of brightness. It will reach Chandraloka, where it will enjoy the fruits of the good deeds it has done. Whatever good deeds were done will have their effect. Every action produces a reaction. Any good, charitable deed will bring the soul an abundance of joy in Chandraloka; but the soul will come back, because anyone who has not realised the universality of God will come back. Only a soul who is totally devoted to God will gradually pass through these stages of divine ordinances to the Ultimate Being. But if we are united with God here itself, we will immediately merge into God.
Śuklakṛṣṇe gatī hyete jagataḥ śāśvate mate (8.26). Broadly speaking, these are two paths of the soul after death. Either we go that way or we go this way, according to our karma and our spiritual status. Śuklakṛṣṇe gatī hyete jagataḥ śāśvate mate, ekayā yāty anāvṛttim anyayāvartate punaḥ: By the one path, one does not come back to this world; by the other path, one returns.
Naite sṛtī pārtha jānan yogī muhyati kaścana, tasmāt sarveṣu kāleṣu yogayukto bhavārjuna (8.27). Having known clearly that these are the two paths, who would like to tread the lesser path? “Therefore, be a yogi, O Arjuna, and try to tread the upper path.” Whoever knows the merits and demerits of these two paths will certainly pursue the path of merit rather than the path of demerit. It is the lack of knowledge that prevents us from working for our own salvation. But if we know that such a thing exists, and that even after death our karmas will pursue us wherever we go—that even if we go to the nether regions, we will be caught by the nemesis of our actions, the results of what we have done, because there is a law which punishes us—we will obey the law. And if we know that there are these two paths, and there is a chance of our entering into the lower one, we will certainly work to attain the higher one. Knowing this, we will certainly become wiser and, therefore, work for a state of establishment in yoga—union with the divinities in the various graduated scales of development, or with the Supreme Absolute itself, whatever the case may be. Either way, one will be a supreme yogi who is united with the Absolute now, or one will be a graduated yogi who will move systematically through the stages mentioned. Anyway, knowing this, one will not come to grief. Tasmāt sarveṣu kāleṣu yogayukto bhavārjuna: “Therefore, become a yogi, Arjuna!”
Vedeṣu yajñeṣu tapaḥsu caiva dāneṣu yat puṇyaphalaṁ pradiṣṭam, atyeti tat sarvam idaṁ viditvā yogī paraṁ sthānam upaiti cādyam (8.28). These discourses that you are hearing now as satsanga—the knowledge of these wonderful things beyond this world that you are gaining—is greater than all the good deeds that you do by way of charity, and all the sacrifices that you perform. All the merits that you will accrue by doing charity, good deeds and even the study of scriptures like the Vedas, and by doing austerity and living an abstemious life will bring you some good results. But this phala of satsanga, the blessing of this highly purifying training that your soul is undergoing by listening to these glorious eternal realities, certainly has a greater capacity to produce an effect than all the charities, studies and scriptures, etc. It transcends even the Vedas, and you attain to that place, that abode, which is the Ancient One. With this, we conclude the Eighth Chapter.
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Not too many updates today and that’s mainly because my wife & I finally closed on our first home this past Wednesday—a 4-bedroom (plus a den), 2-car garage, new construction with a tiny backyard, which is just the way I like it since I hate mowing the grass ;) Anyways, because of our schedules it’s a little difficult finding the time to get everything we need done, so all of our spare time is pretty much being devoted to the house, with our sights set on being fully moved by August 20th. So, just a FYI in case updates seem a little slow the next few weeks…
News & Tidbits:
First off, for any Lian Hearn fans out there, I recently learned that the winner of the Tales of the OtoriGIVEAWAY will get a nice little bonus—some signed bookplates courtesy of Ms. Hearn herself! I’m not sure how many bookplates there are, or which ones, but it definitely makes a great prize even better. So sign up HERE for the giveaway and look out for my review of the last book in the series “Heaven’s Net Is Wide” later this month (hopefully). And following up on my REVIEW for Joe Haldeman’s “The Accidental Time Machine”, there’s now an extract from the book HERE thanks to the author.In other book related news, Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist is hosting a couple of giveaways that I’d recommend signing up for, including a copy of Daniel Abraham’s “A Betrayal In Winter” (Sign Up HERE), which is another book I hope to review soon, and “Sandworms of Dune” by Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson (Sign Up HERE). Regarding the former, FantasyBookSpot has their own giveaway going HERE for SIGNED copies of “A Betrayal In Winter”.Newsarama has been keeping busy with a number of interesting articles including an INTERVIEW with Spawn creator Todd McFarlane that was conducted for the Write Now! magazine issue #16, an INTERVIEW with Austin Grossman, the author of the debut novel “Soon I Will Be Invincible”, NEWS on Wonder Woman and Batman animated DVDs, the latter of which would take place between the films Batman Begins and the forthcoming The Dark Knight, and over at the blog, there is this interesting piece HERE on 44 things said at the Warren EllisComic-Con panel. Newsarama also got an exclusive scoop HERE on a Darkchylde motion picture. I’m sure not many have heard of the Darkchylde comic book, but it was a pretty cool indie back in the day that was probably best known for its titillating artwork :DIn film adaptation news, artist Michael Hauge’s (The Wind In the Willows, The Wizard of Oz, The Hobbit) upcoming graphic novel “In The Small” has been picked up by Warner Bros. Pictures. According to Variety, Universal has gained the rights to Daniel Silva’s bestselling series of spy novels featuring recurring character Gabriel Allon, the latest of which was just released on July 24, 2007—“The Secret Servant”. Variety also reports that Guy Walks Into A Bar has acquired the rights to the first-person shooter videogame “Painkiller” from DreamCatcher Interactive. Another videogame, id Software’s (Doom, Quake) Return To Castle Wolfenstein, has been secured by producer Samuel Hadida (Silent Hill, the Resident Evil franchise) with Roger Avary (Beowulf, Silent Hill) writing & directing. And Virgin Comics in cooperation with New Regency (The Fountain, Mr. & Mrs. Smith) is turning the comic book Virulents into a movie with John Moore (The Omen, Behind Enemy Lines) directing. Finally, just how desperate is Hollywood for material? First, I hear that Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator) is involved in a movie based on the popular board game Monopoly, and then Disney recently purchased the rights to “The Dangerous Book For Boys”, basically a nostalgic compendium “covering essential boyhood skills such as building tree houses, learning how to fish, finding true north, and even answering the age old question of what the big deal with girls is…” Doesn’t exactly sound like blockbuster fare, but then again I didn’t think Disney could make a successful movie based on a theme park ride (Pirates of the Caribbean) and look how that turned out :)In other news, Universal is remaking the Japanese ninja film “Shinobi” (2005), which is based on the book, “The Kouga Ninja Scrolls” (1959) by Futaro Yamada. There’s actually an anime based on the novel as well called “Basilisk”, which I’ve seen and is pretty interesting. The remake is supposed to be a modernization of the story according to Variety. Also being remade is the film Death Race 3000 (1975) that starred Sylvester Stallone (Rambo, Rocky) & David Carradine (Kill Bill, Kung Fu), with the updated version to be directed by Paul W.S. Anderson (Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil, AvP) and starring Tyrese Gibson (Transformers, Waist Deep).Finally, IGN has a couple of exclusive movie trailers to check out: The Nines starring Ryan Reynolds (Smokin’ Aces, Van Wilder) & Hope Davis (The Matodor, The Weather Man) HERE, and GabrielHERE, which is about warring angels and looks like a cross between Underworld & The Matrix.
Hey, thanks! I might have to wait on that hamburger though. Since the house is brand new, and because we've been renting an apartment we have to purchase everything including a fridge, washer / dryer, stove, landscaping, etc. So, we still got a lot left to do, but it's definitely worth it :D
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Tasting what? Biodynamic wines?
Before you freak, let me just tell you my theory: you can’t be a great biodynamic wine maker unless you are a great winemaker.
If you’re a great wine maker, going biodynamic* can add a whole other dimension to your wines. More aromatics, more flavor components, subtle structural and finishing elements.
I saw this again at yesterday’s “Return To Terroir” tasting, an annual event I attend sporadically. There were great wines and not-so-great. But this year, everyone seemed to feel biodynamic isn’t a gimmick any more. It’s a growing system for people who are passionate about their grapes, their vineyards and their wines – in a certain way.
Winemaker/farmer Mike Benziger calls biodynamic a natural “energy management system.” Basically, I think he is successful by paying very close attention to his vineyards and treating them like an integral part of Mother Earth instead of like grape-growing machines. Modestly, he claims that in starting to farm biodynamically, “the biggest change is in the farmer!”
*Want to know more about what biodynamics is – and isn’t? Jim Fullmer was at this tasting, too, bringing biodynamic bread, cheese, yogurt, etc. He’s the exec director of the US branch of the biodynamic certifying organization Demeter http://www.demeter-usa.org/
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Iverson paid for funeral, but can't stop its cause
Allen Iverson this week did something that a bunch of people were quick to label as good, a few to dismiss as self-serving and the rest of us, I think, to receive as basically the only thing Iverson could think to do, which makes him fairly human in the face of a tragedy that transcends stardom.
Iverson's act
Iverson will pay for the funeral of a man who died three years after he was shot in southwest Philadelphia because he refused to hand over his Iverson jersey to a group of teens. Story.
When Iverson offered to pay for the funeral of Philadelphian Kevin Johnson, he set into motion several conversations at once. The root was the circumstance of Johnson's death itself: It came from complications more than three years after Johnson, then 19, was shot and left paralyzed because he refused to surrender his Iverson replica jersey to a group of teenagers at a Philly trolley stop.
Iverson was, and remained, Johnson's favorite player. Johnson, who lived as a quadriplegic with his mother until his death Tuesday, will be buried with an Iverson jersey. Technically, his ventilator failed late last week, leaving Johnson in a vegetative state; but more broadly, his life changed forever because somebody was willing to shoot him over a uniform.
And Iverson himself can do absolutely nothing about any of that, no more than he can prevent the next crime that's related to a material thing with some connection to sports. He couldn't prevent Johnson's shooting any more than Michael Jordan could prevent the 2005 death of Steven Terrett, who died on Chicago's South Side after apparently being shot by robbers who wanted his brand new Air Jordans.
So Iverson did the only thing he could think of, which was to call Johnson's grieving mother and ask if he could cover the cost of the funeral. Of course he can, and of course it is a decent and grounded gesture, even if it represents the slipperiest of slopes.
I have no trouble believing Iverson was hit hard by the news. Despite his own history with weapons (Iverson once pulled a gun on a cousin while trying to locate his wife, with whom he was feuding), the Sixers' star sounded genuinely anguished Wednesday while discussing Johnson's fate.
Iverson recited gun-death statistics, including "almost 400 people in Philadelphia" this year (actually 357 as of this week). "It's just terrible, what's going on in Philadelphia," he told reporters in Seattle before the Sixers played the Sonics. "I just feel like I've got to do something more than I have been doing to try to help this situation as much as I can."
And that's the rub, of course. The thing about being famous, or infamous, and monied is that it sometimes fosters the notion of a power that does not actually exist -- the power to transform society. As much as Iverson's words ring real, at the end of the day he is still a paid entertainer, not a social engineer. He won't solve gun crime in the inner city with a thousand free jerseys, or a million of them. But he will suffer all the same when something goes wrong that is even tangentially in his name.
Charles Barkley first elicited some awe, and then guffaws, when he once upon a time told viewers of a Nike commercial, "I am not a role model." Even Barkley now realizes that athletes in America are role models by definition, not choice. But his words have always been the source of great debate, just by the sheer audacity of what he (or the Nike scriptwriter) had to say.
I'm now convinced that Barkley uttered those words with such sincerity and passion because, deep down, one of his great fears was that somebody would use him as a role model, and what kind of deal was that? He was young, rich, on the prowl. Where was the upside to someone using him as a model for anything other than life in the NBA?
There is a component to their lives that famous people, famous athletes, can never fully control, and that is what direction the public or the fans will take when it comes to them. For his part, Iverson's public past is a checkered one -- gun charges, marijuana charges -- and even though it may be deep past, the record of a star never really goes away. It had to strike the 31-year-old point guard that he is now officially part of the concerned sect of society, the people who want the violence to end sooner rather than later. He sounds an awful lot like a grown-up.
"It was tough to see somebody die for something senseless like that, over a jersey, over something material," Iverson said. "Life is way more precious than a jersey."
If Iverson is looking for a way to channel his need to do something about the situation in Philadelphia, he can always follow Kevin Johnson's lead. Johnson spent the last three years of his life visiting schools and youth groups to warn kids and adults alike about the consequences of gun use. He was the living and suffering example of how badly it can go, and there are two other young men in prison as a result of their roles in that 2003 incident.
Of course, Iverson can't change the situation by himself. Neither could Michael Jordan, and neither can anyone. But Iverson can do what he can do, and judging by his words this week, it is what he wants. Take him at those words, and keep watching.
Mark Kreidler's book "Four Days to Glory: Wrestling With the Soul of the American Heartland," will be published by HarperCollins on Jan. 23, 2007, and may be preordered on amazon.com. Reach Kreidler at [email protected].
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Pile-CC
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How much does your Frenchie weigh, please? It takes 50 mg/lb of ibuprofen to cause gastrointestinal ulceration and 150 mg/lb to cause renal failure. Swelling of the face can indicate a hypersensitivity reaction to a drug but also envenomation, a food, vaccines, and other chemicals.
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Pile-CC
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uncertain
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End of preview. Expand
in Data Studio
MIA Dataset
This dataset is designed for Membership Inference Attack (MIA) research.
Dataset Structure
Splits
- target_data (1500 samples): Original target data for basic membership inference
- prefix_data (120 samples): Prefix data for ReCaLL and Con-ReCaLL
Fields
| Field | Type | Description | Available in |
|---|---|---|---|
| text | string | Text content (core data) | All splits |
| source | string | Data source (original dataset name) | All splits |
| is_member | string | Membership attribute | prefix_data only |
Data Sources
target_data sources:
- Pile_CC: 500 samples
- Wikipedia_en: 500 samples
- PubMed_Abstracts: 500 samples
prefix_data sources:
- PubMed Abstracts: 40 samples
- Pile-CC: 40 samples
- Wikipedia (en): 40 samples
Membership Distribution (prefix_data):
- Members: 60
- Non-members: 60
Usage
Loading the dataset
from datasets import load_dataset
# Load the entire dataset
dataset = load_dataset("RedKiKi/MemForg")
# Load specific splits
target_data = load_dataset("RedKiKi/MemForg", split="target_data")
prefix_data = load_dataset("RedKiKi/MemForg", split="prefix_data")
For Basic MIA
# Use target_data for basic membership inference
target_data = load_dataset("RedKiKi/MemForg", split="target_data")
For ReCaLL Attack
# Get non-member prefixes for ReCaLL attack
prefix_data = load_dataset("RedKiKi/MemForg", split="prefix_data")
nonmember_prefixes = [
sample['text'] for sample in prefix_data
if sample['is_member'] == 'non_member'
]
License
This dataset is released under the MIT License.
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