11 late last year.
As the economy recovers onsite traffic will grow, but so will customer acquisition costs. Ad rates have bottomed out and are set to rise. Competition will be tough as players such as Kayak.com divert traffic not only to these players but also to direct airline and hotel deals. Kayak.com also had tremendous growth last year, with revenues expected to have grown 76% to cross $150 million for the year. It remains one of the most interesting companies out there in the online travel space; for more on Kayak, see this interview with CEO Steve Hafner and my Forbes piece, The Gap In Google’s Defenses.
I wonder how much the acquisition of Agoda contributed toward Priceline's 75% increase in international bookings..
Clearwater officials are encouraged by news there may be a buyer for an abandoned 15-story concrete eyesore looming over downtown's east end. Now they need to encourage the deal to go through, and being open to forgiving tens of thousands of dollars in fines that have accumulated on the property could be a good place to start.
A Chicago investment firm with deep pockets is considering buying the structure and finishing it as condos or rental apartments. Formerly known as the 1100 Building, the structure housed federal government and corporate offices and was a hub of activity on east Cleveland Street until it was purchased in 2004 by an American subsidiary of the Spanish company Espacio and local developer Guy Bonneville.
They stripped off the outside skin of the building, leaving 15 floors of bare concrete and steel, and began work on a ground-level parking garage. They prematurely named the building the Strand and advertised it as a luxury condominium complex. But the partners ended up in a legal dispute and the only construction completed was the sales center across the street, now also abandoned. All work on the project stopped five years ago.
Still owned by Espacio, the ugly structure stands like a beacon advertising the continued struggles of Clearwater's so-called East Gateway.
It's not the first time that efforts to attract development to the east end to reverse the decline of commercial properties, neighborhoods and property values have hit a stumbling block. Clearwater removed a former Montgomery Ward and City Hall annex from the southwest corner of Missouri Avenue and Cleveland Street in 1996 in hopes of attracting investors.
IMRglobal, an information technology company, built its new international headquarters on the 15-acre site, lavishly landscaping the campus with magnolias, Canary Island date palms and Hong Kong orchid trees and promising that 1,000 employees eventually would work there. But within two years the company had been sold to a Canadian firm, CGI, which pulled out of the location a year later.
In 2004, FrankCrum, a thriving family-owned company that provides human resources services for corporate clients, bought the sprawling campus and has maintained it in top-notch condition. But even that attractive example of corporate responsibility hasn't been enough to bring about a renaissance in the East Gateway. It is clear that many such examples will be needed to spark significant change.
It is important for the city to eliminate barriers to renewal of the east end. The Strand, which is less than a block west of FrankCrum, is a barrier. While the potential buyer of the Strand is in a due diligence period prior to committing to purchasing the property, Clearwater officials should pursue any gesture that would help convince the investment firm it would find government cooperation and a hearty welcome here.Gigaclear Networks designs, builds and operates new, full fibre, gigabit broadband networks in rural areas. Established in 2010, their network now reaches more than 200 communities across 20 counties to date. They are working hard to reach 500,000 premises by 2022 to provide rural residential and business properties with the UK’s best broadband to allow them to work, communicate, play, study anytime all the time. Gigaclear Networks builds new networks using two investment models. The first communities were connected using investor funds and they continue to invest commercially in rural communities where there is a demand for better broadband. The second investment model is under the BDUK (Broadband Delivery UK) scheme, working with Local Bodies where we bid for and may be awarded a contract that part subsidises the build of new superfast broadband networks.How to Support Friend in TTI Program

TL;DR: Seeking advice from survivors. What would you have liked your friends from home/college to do or say to you while you were away at one of these programs to make you feel like they cared about you without smothering you? I'm able to call/text my friend while he's in there. I'm already planning on doing some advocacy work against the TTI, it's mostly the emotional support side of things that I'd like advice on. 

A good friend (M20) of mine (F20) is in an inpatient facility for troubled teens/young adults. He's now there voluntarily after a fall semester (also voluntary) in a pretty hard-core wilderness program (True North in VT). I can't remember the name of the one he's currently in, but I think it's in or near Bend, Oregon and he is allowed access to his own phone until a set time at night, so it may not be an overnight wilderness program. He chose the programs himself and has said that it's helping.

We were best friends for our freshman year in college, but he had to leave due to mental health issues last spring. \[Just to clarify, there's never been anything remotely romantic, we were just good friends.\] We've facetimed a few times, and he's responding to texts sporadically, sometimes not at all, although I know that he has access to his phone for at least part of every day. I'm not taking it personally, but I do wonder at what point I'm supporting him and at what point I'm bothering him when he's trying to get better.

Also, when we do talk or text, I'm struggling with how much to ask him about what's going on in his life. I absolutely want him to feel like he can talk to me and I want to know what's going on in his life and I don't want him to feel like I'm treading carefully around him, but I don't want to pry or seem nosey. I've been trying to keep it light so far, but we used to have really deep, good talks and I miss that part of our friendship. Is asking him how he's feeling too much? Are there topics that you guys think I should steer clear of?

I was wondering if I could get some insight from people who have been in his situation. What could a friend on the outside have said or done to make you feel supported and like people from your life outside the facility still cared deeply about you without smothering you during a vulnerable time in your life? Do I keep checking in periodically or give him space? Do I ask him questions or let him initiate and share what he wants to? What did you want from your friends when you left the facility? Any insight/advice would be very much appreciated.

\*I'm using an alt account because we used to comment back and forth on my main account and I don't want him to feel like I'm calculating how I'm interacting with him or anything.\*Is economic pressure considered soft power?

I've been doing a lot of research on China's use of soft power in the global south and I cant seem to understand one thing. If China is offering all this development aid and loans to developing countries as part of the BRI and these countries cannot pay it back, is it still considered soft power? Wouldn't the economic pressure to repay China be considered hard power or does hard power only apply to military force?

Do any of you have any reading suggestions that could help me understand what economic pressure falls under?package com.royken.bracongo.survey.dao.impl;

import com.royken.bracongo.survey.dao.ICircuitDao;
import com.royken.bracongo.survey.entities.Circuit;
import com.royken.bracongo.survey.entities.Circuit_;
import com.royken.generic.dao.DataAccessException;
import com.royken.generic.dao.impl.GenericDao;
import java.util.List;
import javax.persistence.criteria.CriteriaBuilder;
import javax.persistence.criteria.CriteriaQuery;
import javax.persistence.criteria.Root;

/**
 *
 * @author <NAME> <<EMAIL>>
 */
public class CircuitDaoImpl extends GenericDao<Circuit, Long> implements ICircuitDao{

    @Override
    public List<Circuit> findAllActive() throws DataAccessException {
        CriteriaBuilder cb = getManager().getCriteriaBuilder();
        CriteriaQuery<Circuit> cq = cb.createQuery(Circuit.class);
        Root<Circuit> circRoot = cq.from(Circuit.class);
        cq.where(cb.equal(circRoot.get(Circuit_.active), 1));
        return getManager().createQuery(cq).getResultList();
    }
    
}
Yes, but typically only the repeat offenders and the over the top asshats.  They typically get watched closer, less benefit of the doubt, and a shorter rope.

I also remember the players that take the time to say hi before the game, the ones that seem to never take penalties, and those that are just out to