text: Mike Lopresti | NCAA.com | November 9, 2015 Albany basketball: Peter Hooley's final season fueled by loss of mother Albany's Peter Hooley enters his final season with the Great Danes. Share Peter Hooley still has the letters from the mother he lost to cancer. He keeps them in a folder, to read again in times of trouble, just as he did that morning last March, hours before he hit the buzzer-beating jump shot that would earn him national admiration, in the darkest winter of his life. "Even though it's been eight months," he was saying on the phone the other day, "you're going to have down times when everything falls apart. That's just the process of it. I try to go back and reflect, and that holds me together. So I'm going to keep those forever." You might remember Hooley, the guard from Albany, by way of Australia, who had to leave his team last season to be with his dying mother back home. Who, after her funeral, returned in time to play in the America East tournament. Who, with Albany down two points to Stony Brook in the final seconds of the league championship game, retrieved a loose rebound at the top of the key and buried a 3-pointer to send the Great Danes to the NCAA Tournament. It was among the most poignant moments of March. The mourning son doing something unforgettable, with the words of his late mother in his head. The day of the Stony Brook game, he had sat alone and read the last letter from Sue Hooley. Her hand was traced on the back, with the words: "If you ever need a hand to hold, I'm always here. I love you son." And then he knew he was ready to play. For her. "Looking back, him hitting the shot was needed, especially for him and his family," coach Will Brown said. "I think everybody just rallied around the game of basketball. It's funny, what sports can do." Eight months later, graduate student Peter Hooley eyes his final Albany season. The Danes have won the America East tournament three years running – he has been named most outstanding player of the past two – and Hooley wants badly to add one last NCAA Tournament bid. The journey opens with heavy lifting; a date this Friday night against mighty Kentucky. So much has happened since last spring. How could he have ever imagined the echoes that would carry from one shot, even after it long since stopped being a SportsCenter highlight staple? Hooley was asked to deliver Albany's commencement address. He spoke of hope and perseverance, though he said public speaking was more daunting than any crucial free throw he had ever taken. In the audience that day were his father and twin sister, and that meant a lot. Something else happened, too. "All these messages and call and emails came from people I'd never met, saying they were touched or inspired," he said. "Now and then someone will still say they were going through similar times, and they were looking at how I handled the situation and gained strength from it. "That's the best thing of all for me, and something I'll remember the rest of my life." There was, for instance, the 12-year-old boy who had also just lost his mother. He, too, had a championship game to play and was wondering if he should. Someone passed the story along to Hooley, who gave the boy a call. They talked of life and loss. So the memories from last winter lingers at Albany. There were times, as the news grew worse from Australia, Brown would be tending to Peter, while his wife Jamie would be on the phone with a Hooley family member. "It was one of those things where you're living with it every second of every day as a coach, even when you go home at night," Brown said. "Peter was dealing with it every second of every minute of every day, too, but the difference is he couldn't go home. He couldn't have access to his family until he actually physically went home. "An old coach told me once, the X's and O's are easy. It's how you handle crisis management that will really determine what type of coach you are. This was as difficult a time for me as a coach as I've ever had for sure, and something I've never experienced in my coaching career and hopefully something I'll never experience again." Hooley is a three-year team captain, so he's obviously been a good one. Maybe this has made him even a better one. "I think he's learned to really appreciate each day and each opportunity, because I think he understands you can lose it quickly," Brown said. "Also, the way his teammates supported him last year, he's looking for ways to uplift them and guide them. "It was a tragic situation, but I think a lot of good has come from it." Hooley said he wants to help Albany's new players to experience the sense of success he has had, and for the seniors to leave on a high note. "I like to live in the moment and take every single moment and try to make the most of it," he said. He heard when he was a little boy that he would grow up to become a great leader. His mother told him that. He spent part of the past summer with the Australian World University Games team, and part of it home on the family farm, "getting back to what I had done, really, my whole life. Mornings and nights and days, I'd spend out on the farm with dad, doing all those things. Feed the cows, cut the grass. I love it. Maybe if I could sing, I could be a country singer." Those weeks gave him a chance to reflect and regroup with family. He needed that. Now, a new season. Now, bring on – gulp – Kentucky. "We have nothing to lose," he said. "The way I see it, we play some of our best basketball when our backs are against the wall." MORE: Nine of the greatest college basketball teams of all time For Brown—in his 15th season as Albany coach with five trips to the NCAA Tournament on his resume – this will be a blast from the past. His first game as a college player came in Rupp Arena in 1990, when he was a freshman for Pennsylvania. He came off the bench and hit two free throws. "We got beat up. As a young 18 year old, I was just happy to get in the game and get fouled by Jamal Mashburn," he said."I was just hoping I would hit the rim with the free throws." Brown understands the reality of Friday night, but he has three seasoned perimeter players, and that should help against all of Kentucky's future NBA lottery picks. He hopes. "I saw Coach Cal said the other day that they stink. But boy, I'd love to have his problems," Brown said. "We're going to have to play terrific just to hang around, but we are excited about the opportunity. We're going there to win. We're not going there to say we played Kentucky, or to say we played in Rupp." When they take the floor, the Danes will have the initials SH on their uniforms. Sue Hooley. Brown said it is out of respect, not to dredge up painful memories. "I don't want to keep harping on Peter losing his mom because I don't want it to be a constant reminder in his head, because it is anyway," Brown said. But Hooley is never far from his mother on the court. She loved the sport too much. Brown said he will always remember that the first thing she said last February when her son had traveled from America and walked into her hospital room was express concern that he was missing a big game at Stony Brook. She was gone 12 days later. Peter Hooley said he can still hear his mom's words, can still see her encouraging him. Now he truly understands how significant that shot was, not only for what it won, but what it meant. And how everything he has must be given to this final season at Albany. He will not be stopped, not then, not now. "It's important for myself and my family to know that we're finishing what we started," he said. "Not just in basketball terms, but in life."


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(CNN) - While President Barack Obama's attempts to increase the nation's minimum wage through legislation have stalled in Congress, the White House announced plans on Tuesday to use the president's executive powers to partially address the problem.
Just hours before the President is scheduled to deliver his fifth State of the Union address, the White House revealed that Obama will issue an executive order to increase the minimum wage for new federal contract workers.
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The action will cover all workers employed under future government contracts, ensuring that none is paid less than $10.10 an hour. In a fact sheet announcing the action, the White House highlighted several occupations that will be helped by the move, including kitchen and laundry workers on military bases, as well as janitors at federal buildings and construction workers at government building sites.
"The President has embraced the idea in the past that he can use his authority as President and the powers available to the President to advance his agenda on behalf of the American people," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said at his briefing on Monday. "What we have said is that he views 2014 as a year of action and that he has tasked his team to come up with new ways in which we can - he can - advance that agenda."
An administration official confirmed the action will only apply to new contracts, and the White House believes contractors will have time to factor the new wage requirements into future bids.
Included in Tuesday's announcement was a call for Congress to pass an increase in the minimum wage nationwide and an endorsement of a proposal put forward by two senior Democrats, Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa and Rep. George Miller of California. The proposal would raise the minimum wage for all workers in stages, ultimately reaching $10.10 an hour, while also indexing the wage floor to inflation going forward.
Tuesday morning, House Speaker John Boehner pushed back against the executive action by the President.
"This idea that he's just going to go it alone, I have to remind him we do have a constitution. And the Congress writes the laws, and the President's job is to execute the laws faithfully. And if he tries to ignore this he's going to run into a brick wall," the top Republican in the House told reporters.
"Were just not going to sit here and let the President trample all over us," Boehner added.
The White House says the President has the authority to make the move.
Cecilia Muñoz, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, said in an interview Tuesday with CNN Senior White House Correspondent Jim Acosta that the President "clearly has the authority" to raise the minimum wage for federal contract workers.
Obama has made wages and economic inequality a central theme of his second term in office, raising the issue repeatedly, including during a call for an extension of emergency unemployment benefits in his first public event of 2014.
"America is getting stronger, and we've made progress," the President said. "And the economy is growing, and we've got to do more to make sure that all Americans share in that growth. We've got to help our businesses create more jobs. We've got to make sure those jobs offer the wages and benefits that let families rebuild a little security. In other words, we've got to make sure that this recovery leaves nobody behind. And we've got a lot of work to do on that front."
Two national polls conducted in the past two weeks both indicate widespread support for raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. Seventy-two percent of those questioned in a CBS News survey and 73% of those questioned in a Pew Research Center poll said they favor the move. Both surveys indicated a partisan divide, with around nine in ten Democrats and seven in ten independents in support of raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, and Republicans divided.
CNN's Jim Acosta, Brianna Keilar, Dana Bash and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
A typical Obama con job. Does anyone think for a second that someone working under a Federal contract is making less than $15 an hour let alone $10.10 ? This was all for show which is all Obama ever does!!
75% of Americans favor President Obama increasing the minimum wage.
In a country where the top 1% have 90% of the wealth, I'm surprised 25% oppose it, but those are likely the same 25% that had Republicans in Congress Shut Down America.
Thank you Mr. President.
Now ... if the Republicans in Congress hadn't quit their jobs, we could've gotten the identical results going through Congress.
Of course, the Republicans are in Shut Down America mode, so President Obama invoked Executive Priviledge, just like all Presidents do. (We all know Obama has invoked it far LESS than previous Presidents).
Obama is extremely generous with everyone else's money!
If you want to create jobs and raise incomes, IMPEACH OBAMA AND REMOVE HIM FROM OFFICE!
Malory Archer
100% agreed, this President needs to learn compromise and stop the me me me attidude. You know Congress might be more will to work with him if he wasn't so unwilling to compromise.
john bohner said he got "98%" of what he wanted from "this President", so it kinda sounds like he's been overly acquiescent in the compromise department. In fact, I'd say boehner's statements make the President look like the Compromiser in Chief. But don't let facts cloud your little mind!
Name one thing Obama has compromised on, ONE?? I could care less what Bohner said show one shred of evidence.
The GOP got their (well and the Heritage Foundation's) "Individual Mandate" into the ACA.
@rs-Where`s those numbers coming from? Did you just think that one up? Sources? If you have one.
Can't swear to it- last week either CNN or Washington Post in print- it played on the network evening news too.
January 8 WaPo
"An administration official confirmed the action will only apply to new contracts, and the White House believes contractors will have time to factor the new wage requirements into future bids."
So... basically we're now giving more govt money to govt workers and the companies that make profit off supplying minimum wage workers to govt facilities? Awesome plan.
Doesn't anyone realize that we the tax payers will be paying for this. Since the government is paying for these services the costs will be passed onto the taxpayers.
"An administration official confirmed the action will only apply to new contracts, and the White House believes contractors will have time to factor the new wage requirements into future bids."
So we're now just going to spend more tax payer money on govt contracts that provide minimum wage workers to govt facilities? Sure, those workers will benefit, but so will the companies that run them, since they make more overhead and more profit on the new rates they'll be charging the govt. Awesome plan.
There are three glaring examples of lack of understanding in several posts. One, the current pension amounts of Vets are not being reduced but the rate of % increase in those pensions is being reduced. So, Vets will not see less pension dollars, but the value of the pension over time will increase at a slower pace.
Two, working for the government at the local, state and federal level does not immediately mean lazy workers. That is anecdotal at best, and can be used in both public and private sectors. It is a useless statement.
Three, there is nothing that needs to be figured out by the SCOTUS, President's have limited rights to use executive orders. This is nothing new. JB knows this and is just grand standing in the article.
Well, Obama just spent a whole lot of money no tax payers asked him to spend. . .
Thank you President Obama for taking steps to help Americans.
The richest 1% owns 99% of America's income. They are all Rich White Male billionaires. None pay US taxes.
That is just a flat out lie, they pay more in taxes in one year then you will make in 10 life times. They may not pay an extremely high tax PERCENT but bet they pay a TON in dollar figures, 100s of millions if not billions a YEAR. If you are going to make that outrageous claim you better be able to support it with concrete evidence otherwise you will be called out on it.
@ oldsarg Every poll i've seen shows strong, well above a simple majority support, for increasing the minimum wage. Apparently a lot of tax payers are telling Obama to move forward on.
Haha obama is a clown workers will still get nothing.
Well, Obama just spent a whole lot of money no tax payers asked him to spend. . .
Yeah oldfart ... only 75% of Americans asked our President to raise the minimum wage to $10.
Oh wait, as a Confederate Republican, you haven't mastered reading the article yet.
No wonder y'all lose on every issue – it takes intelligence to read a CNN article before commenting.
"You should be embarrassed to post that comment....but you and Fair have a lot in common as I have gleaned from your posts"
You certainly are an interesting woman. Like I said last week, it would be great if we could have a dialogue so I will continue to attempt that. I shouldn't have started out that way with my 2-0 comment because it just makes you defensive, which turns you into an offensive posture and therefore we cannot have any constructive dialogue. I think it would be great if you would understand better where conservatives are coming from with regards to this. Fair is making a very strong point that is being missed, in my humble opinion. There are several unions who have negotiated into their contract that if there is a raise in minimum wage there is an automatic raise in their wages, as well. This particular raise probably doesn't have that effect (although if very well might have that effect) and truly is pretty much an insignificant, only-for-show gesture by President Obama and affects very few. The president has gotten you so excited but what is the real effect and how many will this really affect? Plus this then is just another added expense since taxpayers pay for this raise. The more important discussion should be about minimum wage as a whole and how little that does yet sounds so wonderful.
I believe that only about 3 million people make minimum wage and the majority of those 3 million are less than 25 years old. There is an argument out there that when you raise minimum wage you suppress employment. I believe that is correct. If I'm a business owner and I allocate $100 towards my workforce that number is not going to raise and even if...IF (which doesn't happen) that increase corresponded to increases in economic activity, it would not have any measurable impact to the average business owner. In fact, in the short run it would have the exact opposite effect. They will still continue to allocate $100 towards their workforce as that is how they have worked out their business plan. What happens? That employer can not hire more people, but less since they have a higher cost per employee. I would hope that an individual has the talent and ability to take a minimum wage job and through hard work and commitment get a raise and not make minimum wage in a reasonable amount of time. I would hope that earning a bigger paycheck corresponded with greater value to the company and greater need to pay the individual more. It's a hollow gesture. The few it affects pales in comparison to how many it impacts in a negative way (rs joked earlier about a Big Mac costing five cents more but that is a clear acknowledgement that it does indeed raise prices) I know you believe different but I hope that you have taken the time to read what I wrote and understand where I am coming from and why I believe what I do. Please feel free to respond and I hope to find out why you believe so strongly in this move.
You fat GOP's suck the blood of the Middle class by giving peanut as wage and get fattened. Enough is enough. I am good with raising the minimum wage.
When wages go up, product prices, in the case of product producing private firms, go up. Where else will they get the money to pay for higher wages. Simple economics.
Yet another abuse of power by this lawless President. Obama has made it obvious he doesn't care about working with anyone. He has become so arrogant that no one will work with him so desperation is now occurring through executive powers! Down South this is nothing new to see because blacks let power go to their heads and they become sloppy at their jobs. Obama reminds me of a fast food worker at Mickey D's who does what they want when they want to when the manger is out.
Just a reminder...the GOP is watching all this abuse take place and will remind the voters this year do they want anyone from the Democratic party who is telling the American public...snub you, even though its your govt., we will use executive powers to get our way because we know that Obamacare was a flop.
Dont forget to watch the State of the Union speech to see which lies Obama will carry out this year. Liar in Chief.
Thanks for the tax hike Barry. Not coming out of your wallet. You and Mooshelle can continue high azzing on the back of the tax payers.
Malory Archer
@Malory- Those people aren`t being sent as much as they would if the min, wage jumps 3-4$ an hour.
If more people have more money they're able to buy more things/pay for more services, and everyone's standard of living improves. Simple economics.
wow you no nothing about economics, that money you pay someone has to come from somewhere in the first place and that will be consumers when prices of good rise. Therefore you will have a net 0 effect because the price of goods will cost more! Do you really think money just appears out of thin air?
Malory Archer
@Malory- Those people aren`t being sent as much as they would if the min, wage jumps 3-4$ an hour.
If more people have more money they're able to buy more things/pay for more services, and everyone's standard of living improves. Simple economics.
wow you no nothing about economics, that money you pay someone has to come from somewhere in the first place and that will be consumers when prices of good rise. Therefore you will have a net 0 effect because the price of goods will cost more! Do you really think money just appears out of thin air?
There's also one other important factor that isn't being considered which is the cost for this wage increase comes from the taxpayers as we would be employing them through these federal contracts. Mallory probably has no problem with that but I certainly believe that's an important factor in this, as well.
Oh federal workers get $10 yet all the other ppl that don't work for the gov get 8?!? WTF. How is that fair?
For all of you scoffing at what federal contractors make, know what you are talking about before you open your traps. As a former contractor for the government, depending what state you are working in, determines your wage, or minimum wage as a federal contractor. And when you are under contract, you get sent to different states. I will tell you that Oklahoma and South Dakota are the poorest states to work in as a federal contractor, with a wage around $8 minimum wage per hour. Sometimes you get lucky, like Washington state, there's was around $18. Just because its federal, doesn't mean everyone gets the same wage across the country. He is at least trying to do something. And for your information, $10.10 per hour is jack for what a lot of contractors do.
So it's ok for us to keep workin at 7.25 an hours for 8 hours 5 or 6 days out the week and still not have enough money so lets just keep depending on our goverment who is trying to take and not willing to give by the way. Smh tell thtat to a single mother or or father or even a family tryin to do the best to provide the American dream for there children. Thats right mr obama raise the minimum wage.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Thank you for visiting my BLOG today! It's so cool that all the projects are being highlighted internationally by Kylie Bertucci in Australia. I need you to vote for my project…PLEASE VOTE for MY PROJECT!!! WHY? The top ten winners will get to be part of an international BLOG HOP so PLEASE VOTE for ME!!! You can vote by clicking the link HERE and it takes you to Kylie's page to vote…for me please!
Our theme for this highlight is encouragement as we all need a kind word said to us to build us up. I used my right brain tonight and came up with this card. I thought this adorable new stamp set called Yummy in My Tummy set the stage for a shaker card love note to let a friend know that I'm here for her. It's a cute shaker card and my sweet horned monster with a bow in her horns is holding a string of hearts plus her tummy is full of hearts. I think her smiling face could warm the heart of anyone who receives this card. Don't you? I'm living in California, just outside of San Francisco.
The picture is cute but the card is cuter. Please make sure to head over to Kylie's BLOG http://www.craftykylie.com/2016/12/kylies-international-blog-highlights.html to vote for my project…please 🙂 I would really love to be chosen to do this International BLOG HOP!!! I would be sooooo excited.
If you'd like to CASE (Copy And Share Everything or Selectively Edit) here is how I made this cutie of a card and ALL of the products will be listed at the end. If you are in the United States, I would love to be your Demonstrator! Email me at email@example.com and I'll get back to you straight away.
- Take a piece of the Falling in Love Designer Series Paper pictured above and cut 4 x 5-1/4″ for the top mat. Use the die from the Love Notes Framelits and die cut the edge. Pull the heart towards itself so that it will stand out on the card.
- Score a piece of 8-1/2″ piece of Blushing Bride Cardstock at 4-1/4″ (on the 8-1/2″ side) then cut in half at 5-1/2″. You'll now have two scored cards!
- Cut a piece of Very Vanilla Cardstock 4 x 5-1/4″
- Stamp the monster using Blushing Bride on the falling hearts piece from the Falling in Love DSP. Color in the horns with the Blushing Bride Marker. Add a few dots to the paws.
- Fussy cut around the outside as well as the tummy.
- I cut a strange shaped octagon sort of shape to cover the circle.
- Attach the window sheet to the back of the monster with Multi Purpose Liquid Glue.
- Attach Foam Adhesive Strips to the back of the monster, circle around the center, add pieces to the horns, arms, feet and wherever else you want to securely pop up.
- Punch a 2″ circle of Very Vanilla Cardstock.
- Punch a piece of Blushing Bride Cardstock and a piece of Blushing Bride Glimmer Paper using the Confetti Hearts Border Punch.
- With the Fine Tip Glue Pen attach a few glimmer hearts, Blushing Bride hearts and sequins to the Very Vanilla circle. (From the Cupcakes and Carousels Embellishment Kit).
- Let the circle dry, place Blushing Bride hearts and sequins in the middle of the circle. Then peel off the foam adhesive backing of the circle and attach the monster to the circle.
- Attach a glimmer heart to the bow with a Glue Dot from the cupcakes and Carousels Embellishment kit.
- Stamp (2) of the four hearts with the pattern on it from the Sealed with Love Stamp Set using Soft Sky. Cut out with the Love Notes Framelits Dies.
- Cut a piece of Very Vanilla Thick Baker's Twine to fit between the monster's arms and knot both ends.
- Attach the hearts to the twine using Multi Purpose Glue. Then attach to the monster using rolled up Glue Dots at each paw.
- For backing, I used a piece of a white foam sheet, 3-3/4 x a smudge less than 5″. I find this nifty product an easy way to back a larger area that I want popped up on a card.
- Attach to the Very Vanilla Cardstock with Multi Purpose Glue.
- The sentiment I'm Here For You is stamped in Island Indigo and it's from the Sending Thoughts Stamp Set. I quickly dipped it in Clear Embossing Powder and used a Heat Tool to set.
- I cut this piece out with the Stitched Shaped Framelit Dies…love it!!!
- Attach the monster to the card by taking off the backing from the Foam Adhesive Strips—love those!
- Attach the bow to the monster with a Glue Dot. I love Wink of Stella so I've put a little of that everywhere and even attached a few Rhinestones…love those too!
- Attach the sentiment to the card with Dimensionals.
- Stamp Hugs. Prayers. Love. on the inside piece of Very Vanilla Cardstock.
- Stamp the same hearts that were used on the front to the bottom of the Very Vanilla Cardstock piece using Blushing Bride.
Thanks so much for reading through the instructions and visiting my BLOG today. Please make sure to head over to Kylie's BLOG http://www.craftykylie.com/2016/12/kylies-international-blog-highlights.html and vote for my project…please 🙂 I would really love to be chosen to do this International BLOG HOP!!! Please email me any questions and leave a comment below. Contact me at email@example.com
Products Used:
One other stamp set is Sending Thoughts #142965 — $20.00 This set has the I'm here for you and Hugs.Prayers.Love.
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April 30, 2012
Rawls College of Business students took on a major challenge for a class project: Create a movie that advertises Texas Tech as an outstanding university, in which diversity is praised.
Professor Francisco Delgadillo, instructor of the Introduction to Information Systems in Business course, required the students to produce a movie complete with a title, credits, photos, transition effects and background music.
The assignment was sponsored by Edward Jones and the Texas Tech Division of Institutional Diversity, Equity & Community Engagement. Creators of the winning movie were awarded $500, second place $300, third place $300, fourth place $200 and fifth place $200.
1st Place: Nathan Toti
2nd Place: Cedric Kudowor
3rd Place: Hayden Turner
To view the top seven videos, click here.
The Rawls College of Business accounts for about 25 percent of Texas Tech graduates.
The college has a full-time teaching staff of roughly 100 in seven academic areas: accounting; energy, economics and law; finance; health organization management; information systems and quantitative sciences; management; and marketing.
The college offers an accredited weekend MBA for Working Professionals program.
Dedicated to connecting students, alumni and employers, the Career Management Center assists Rawls College students with their transition to the world-of-work, and supplies prospective employers with top-notch candidates, ready to make an immediate contribution.Twitter
Student Honored as Youth Volunteer of the Year
Apparel Students Take Garments From Trashy to Classy


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text:
If you already have Jayatana in your system, jump to: Remove: Picked up JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS Message
To enable the global menu support, install the Jayatana using following commands in your terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T to start terminal).
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:danjaredg/jayatana
sudo apt-get update
Once you have successfully installed the software, logout and login to the system again. Now open any Java swing application, you will see the difference.
sudo apt-get install jayatana
Remove: Picked up JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS MessageNow open your terminal and enter the following command to check the version of Java.
java -version
Step 1:
Now logout and login to the system and execute the same command to print the version of Java.
sudo rm /usr/share/upstart/sessions/jayatana.conf
java -version
Step 2:
To enable the global menu support for IntelliJ IDEA, enter the following command in terminal. This command is given for IntelliJ IDEA 2016.1. Change the directory name according to the your version (IntelliJ IDEA 15 does not support Jayatana).
For Ubuntu 32bit:
For Ubuntu 64bit:
gedit ~/.IntelliJIdea2016.1/idea.vmoptions
At the end of the opened file, add the following line and save the file.
gedit ~/.IntelliJIdea2016.1/idea64.vmoptions
After the modification, the file should look like this:
For Ubuntu 32bit:
For Ubuntu 64bit:
gedit ~/.AndroidStudio1.4/studio.vmoptions
Add the following line in the opened file and save the file.
gedit ~/.AndroidStudio1.4/studio64.vmoptions
After the modification, the file should look like this:
Search for netbeans_default_options in the opened file, and add the following statement at the end of the existing value. (Notice that the options are separated by space)
sudo gedit /usr/local/netbeans-8.0.2/etc/netbeans.conf
After the modification, the file should look like this:
Step 3:
Close the file and open your IDE (Android Studio/IntelliJ IDEA or NetBeans), you will see the magic.
For any Java swing applications, use the following command to enable the global menu integration.
java -jar -javaagent:/usr/share/java/jayatanaag.jar <file-name>


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Tun Mahathir stopped all new FELDA settlers in 1990 and stopped yearly govt allocations to FELDA in 1996 - ordering FELDA to source for its own funds.
Mahathir was more concerned about Proton, Sepang airport, KLCC, industrialization, KLCC etc.. Agriculture and FELDA was not important to him.
As a result, FELDA was deprived of replanting funds and the trees got old. Yields started falling in 2008 and 2009.
If urgent action was not taken then there may be no more FELDA in 10 years or 20 years time as all the trees would be too old to bear fruit.
As FELDA no longer enjoys govt allocations, a decision was then taken to list FGV as a separate unit to take advantage of high palm oil prices and high palm stock valuations at that time.
Hence the second largest listing in the world then raised RM6 billion and allowed FELDA to realize a big profit at that time - providing much needed funds for not only big-scale replanting but for settlers welfare as well as to expand Felda's land bank in Malaysia.
Unfortunately after that, palm oil prices had dropped while the El-Nino caused production to fall which badly affected the FGV share price.
Felda itself remained strong and have been providing bonuses, funds for replanting and funds for housing and welfare for settlers. Felda FC and their stadium is one example of it.
Settlers were one of the biggest beneficiary of the listing of Felda Global Ventures (FGV). Not only was there a big RM15k bonus per household upon listing but billions in free shares were given to the koperasi. Regular payments were also made.
Soft loans were also provided to settlers to buy FGV shares and when FGV shares dropped in price, FELDA also made sure that the cost of FGV shares are halved to limit any possible losses to the settlers.
FGV itself has never once experienced a loss in any financial year since listing and have continued to pay dividends. This year, with the new management and recovery in production as well as better prices, FGV's profit is much stronger.
FELDA is a govt agency and its job is to take care of settlers. Much of the profits gained by FELDA when FGV was listed has been used back on the settlers - causing FELDA to experience losses in the years after the listing. FELDA made bumper profits during the listing. There is nothing wrong in spending most of these profits on settlers.
FELDA has assets of RM27 billion and FGV has sales that now approach RM20 billion per year. FELDA is still very strong and will enjoy solid govt support. There is nothing to worry about FELDA.
The Opposition will spread all sorts of false news and falsehoods against FELDA as if FELDA is in big trouble because they know that FELDA vote bank is important to them.
For example, they claim the RM270mil Semarak land is missing. It is not missing. The land is there and efforts are being made to transfer the ownership back to FELDA.
And how can a Rm270mil land cause FELDA to bankrupt when FELDA's assets are more than RM27 billion - not even 1%.
Also, the share price of FGV has been made an issue by the opposition to suggest that the settlers have lost money. This is a lie. As explained above, settlers are a net beneficiary of the FGV listing and has not lost money. They have benefited.
Yes, there were some impropriety found in FIC but this is now being corrected while any losses will be recovered. Those responsible will face the law.
The aggressive and expensive replanting of trees made possible by the funds raised from the listing of FGV is now bearing fruit as reported by The Star based on RHB Research's findings.
HAVING a high percentage of old oil palm trees has long been a challenge for diversified planter Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV).
When FGV was listed in 2012, almost 50% of its palm trees were 21 years old and above – an alarming figure which analysts often highlight to be a big drag on the yield performance of the group's estates.
However, fast forward to 2018, this long-standing issue is about to change for the better.
Thanks to the aggressive replanting between 13,000 ha and 15,000 ha annually by the group in the past six years, the rejuvenation process of FGV's old age palm trees is starting to bear fruit.
FGV is expected to slash the percentage of old trees (21 years and above) to 33% this year and is set to reduce it further to about 25% by 2020.
More importantly, the percentage of young and prime age trees will increase to about 47% this year from 30% in 2012.
By 2020, it is expected to rise to 54%.
The average tree age in FGV's estates will also come down to 14 years in 2018 from 17.5 years back in 2012. It will moderate further to 12.8 years in 2020 and down to 12 years by 2022.
FGV is now bouncing back strongly and have tripled their profits for the year 2017.. FGV's net profit for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2017, was RM208.04 million up 213 percent from the RM66.45 million recorded the previous year.
RHB Research calls FGV a turnaround story and has forecast even stronger growth for FGV in the years ahead.
Turnaround story
RHB Research in its latest report says: "We believe FGV's earnings are set to turn around more solidly from financial year ending Dec 31, 2018 onwards.
"Investor sentiment on the stock may change once FGV shows its improved age profile from land bank rejuvenation, which would lead to improved earnings; as well as starts to pull through with its promises of non-core asset disposals and cost-saving initiatives.
"We believe these benefits outweigh the risks, as the market is still unconvinced of FGV's turnaround story."
Hence, RHB Research is raising its FGV earnings estimates by 6% to 9% for FY2017-2019, to take into account the impact of the sale of palm kernel shells and other waste products, as well as to impute slightly higher losses at its downstream division.
"We note that our forecasts currently assume a 55% year-on-year (y-o-y) growth in earnings in FY2018, followed by a 22% y-o-y growth in FY2019.
FGV has gone through a period of bad times since listing but the continued focus of improving its operational efficiency and the expensive but very necessary investment in aggressive replanting is showing results.
Gven the situation of the 2007-2009 years when yields started to drop due to old trees, Felda and FGV had not done what it did then after Najib became Prime Minister, FELDA could have ceased to exist in less than a decade.
Gven the situation of the 2007-2009 years when yields started to drop due to old trees, Felda and FGV had not done what it did then after Najib became Prime Minister, FELDA could have ceased to exist in less than a decade.
An except from my blog post from 1 year ago follows:
A legacy problem that needed urgent correction
Historical statistics released by the USA indicate that Malaysian palm oil yields have typically appreciated over time, with the strongest period of growth occurring between 1998-2008 when yields increased by approximately 4%annually.
|Malaysian Palm Oil yield started to drop
As you see in the graph, in 2009 an unexpected break in the long-term national growth pattern occurred where palm oil yields started dropping.
Oil palm is a perennial crop, with trees potentially producing economically viable volumes of fresh fruit bunches (FFB) over a lifespan of 30 years or so. Peak crop yields are achieved from the age of 9-18, and gradually decline thereafter.
In 2009, it was estimated that 65% of Malaysia's total oil palm area was between the ages of 9-28+, while 26% was at least 20-28+ years old.
Due to neglect from a past prime minister more interested in monolith monuments and building cars, FELDA's problem was worse than the industry - with more than 50% of their palm oil trees then older than 21 years old.
|Age profile of FGV's palm oil trees.
This means that more than 50% of trees would no longer be economically viable 9 years later by the year 2018 - potentially affecting the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people.
So, if you were a responsible Prime Minister and the price of palm oil was high then, what would you do?
You would raise as much money as you can - by listing a part of the company to raise funds or borrow when the price of palm oil is highest.
This would be used to fund a massive and costly re-planting exercise and also acquire younger plantations for Felda in order to reduce the overall age profile of your plantations.
You will also use new high yielding planting materials to boost oil yields which are capable of doubling oil yields.
Just like harm was done due to neglect of replanting by a previous Prime Minister that will be known a decade later when the trees die, good that is done by a current Prime Minister will only be known later when the new plants start producing fruit bunches in year 9.
You suffer a bit now so your future is secure rather than have no future if the previous trend persisted.
Facts , figures and history don't lie.


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I'm posting something different from my usual images for this week's WordPress photo challenge. This is called The Thinker…or maybe it should be The Introvert. No, no…it's a young ZZ Top! Anyway, hope you can get a chuckle out of this. (I just couldn't bring myself to write a haiku for this one.)
Related link:
- Daily Photo Challenge – dailypost.wordpress.com


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Saturday 9: Fast Car
1. What's the furthest trip you've taken by automobile?
Now that is a tough one....I would say from Kansas to California, to Las Vegas, to Colorado and back to Kansas
2. What's the worst pick up line you've ever received?
I don't know that I have ever received a bad pick up line.
3. What's the best pick up line you've gotten?
Will you marry me?
4. What was the last gift that you received?
Two sugar cookies with icing from someone trying to suck up to me.
It worked!
5. What was the last gift that you gave someone?
Baby monitors...girl at work
6. Tell us about the last time you cried.
Watching an episode of 'Intervention' this past week.
7. Tell us about the last time you laughed uncontrollably.
Tonight while playing in the pool with my 11 year old grandson.
He is a hoot!
8. Do you suffer road rage? What are your thoughts on it?
At times I do...especially when someone is driving 45 mph in a 65 mph and I can't pass. I think that road rage can get people killed.
9. What's one of your favorite movie quotes?
My favorite is "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn" and I have
never seen the movie. But how can you not love that quote?


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The most major component I find in my spiritual life is the discipline of Bible Study. While I do this both professionally and academically, there is a need for it to be done for a personal purpose. No matter how you study the Bible, as Christians we must remember that our goal is ultimately to learn more of God. After all, we claim to have a relationship with God, how can we say that if we are not paying attention to the actual words we have of Him. Because of this, I believe it is foundational here at the HMB that we have fairly regular Bible studies. Starting today we will begin our study of the Gospel of John. This week will be an overview of the Gospel and some general ideas. Starting next week we will be working through the book a chapter at a time, week-by-week.
"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." — 2 Timothy 3:16-17
Traditionally, the Gospel of John was understood to be written by the Apostle/Disciple of the same name. This comes from the writing style being fairly similar to that of other books we know to have been written by John (1, 2, 3 John and Revelation). The Gospel was written sometime in the later part of the first century AD to the early part of the second. This would put it at the end of the Apostle's life who died at the turn of the century.
"In the beginning was the Word…" — John1:1
As with all of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark & Luke), the Gospel of John tells the life of Christ, however, John has some major differences in the way Jesus' life is told. For instance, the Synoptics start with Jesus' human life and John starts with Jesus' divinity. I believe that this difference sets up the way that this Gospel is very different from the others. They Synoptics all start with Either Jesus' family or the beginning of his ministry, where he begins the work of "proving" himself. However, John takes a different approach. John begins with testimonies over who Jesus is. It really is not until you get to chapter 4 that we find the narrative go away from testimonies and focus on Jesus' miraculous ministry. First, we hear of John the Baptist's testimony about /the baptism of Jesus/. There are a few stories of Jesus beginning his ministry in Galilee, but ultimately this beginning section sets up how the Gospel will function as a testimony of who Jesus was.
"If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." — John 8:31-32
In John's Gospel, he has Jesus make three distinct trips to Jerusalem. I personally like to notice this point. In the Synoptics, Jesus only goes to Jerusalem to be crucified yet he is still shown to be a good, Law abiding Jew. If this last point is true about Jesus, he would have had to go to Jerusalem at least three times during his three-year ministry as it was required of Jews to make annual pilgrimages to the Temple to participate in festivals. In this way, John is making the same claim of Jesus following the Law but is more subtle about it than his counterparts.
Quite a bit of John's Gospel takes place during Holy Week, beginning with chapter 12 and ending in 19, but his final trip to Jerusalem actually begins in chapter 7 (making this the vast majority of his Gospel). If what someone spends the most time with shows their priorities, clearly, John believed this was the most important point of Jesus' life. Ultimately, John seeks to show that Jesus is in fact divine through many testimonies, which culminates in the events of Holy Week.
"Therefore many other sign Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name." — John 20:30-31
Going Forward
Next Thursday we will be taking a look at the first chapter of John. Over the next week, consider at least reading that chapter if not the entire Gospel. Good Bible study uses lots of resources. So sit down with your Bible, commentary, concordance, or a cup of coffee and join me as go through the Gospel of John.
Questions, Comments, Concerns? Leave a comment or send me a message.


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Valparaiso beats Davidson 27-13
VALPARAISO, Ind. (AP) Ben Lehman threw for 284 yards and two touchdowns as Valparaiso beat Davidson 27-13 on Saturday.
Lehman finished with 26-of-33 passing for the Crusaders (4-8, 2-6 Pioneer League). His favorite target was Tanner Kuramata who had 10 receptions for 122 yards. Brandon Hall ran for 83 yards on 19 carries and Jacob Newman kicked two field goals.
Grayson Bastin ran for a Crusaders score late in the first quarter and a Newman field goal in the final seconds of the first half had Valparaiso up 10-7 at the break.
Lehman found Andrew Cassara in the third quarter for a 20-yard score and again in the fourth from 8 yards to give the Crusaders a 24-13 advantage with 9:07 to play. A second Newman field goal with 3:06 left sealed the win for Valparaiso.
Taylor Mitchell threw for 222 yards for the Wildcats (1-11, 0-8).


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Trail length: 3.7 km | Ascent: 58 m | Descent: 58 m | Country: Sweden
Important: The trail is suitable for children and families, but is strongly recommended for everyone. Can be extended, for example by doing a circuit of Dammsjön lake, or the Bäverslingan trail. Start at the Kalaskocken (railway carriages) in Pershyttan The trail passes several deep mine shafts and the high "Gråbergstippen" where the remains from the mines were piled up into a tall hill.


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Graduation Year
Date of Submission
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Reader 1
Kenneth P. Miller
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2016 Marissa C. Mirbach
Silicon Valley has increased its political engagement over the past decade, and is becoming an increasingly powerful force in government. It defies traditional affiliation labels, and behaves differently than other industries. It embodies a blend of altruism and self-interest, which guides its interactions with government and its intentions in affecting policy changes. In order to better understand Silicon Valley's political life, this thesis outlines a brief history of its development, and then delves into three policy issues: education reform, immigration reform and encryption and security. This focus allows for an up-close, detailed look at the multi-faceted relationship between Silicon Valley and the government.
Recommended Citation
Mirbach, Marissa C., "Forces of Change: Silicon Valley's Developing Relationship with American Government" (2016). CMC Senior Theses. 1341.


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Continent of the Ninth Seal Launches its 5th Expansion, Lord of Baltic
WEBZEN, a global developer and publisher of free-to-play games, has announced that the dungeon-based MORPG, CONTINENT OF THE NINTH SEAL (C9) released Lord of Baltic, its fifth expansion today.
After the scheduled maintenance on Tuesday, June 23rd, 2015 (UTC), fans of C9 are able to jump into Lord of Baltic and enjoy a new playable class, 'Viking', a fishing mode system, and even more features.
This new expansion brings the ferocious Viking fighters from the icy north to unleash their frozen wrath in their fight against evil. The class primarily uses Dual Battle Axes to attack enemies. Unlike other fighters, the Vikings have a special 'Frost' ability to mark enemies with the skill 'Frost Stigma', and then freeze them afterwards.
Players will also be able to fish in the game using just a rod and some bait which can be gathered from dungeons. Not only will you be able to catch a variety of beautiful fish in Waterford, you will be able to have a chance to get useful buffs and precious items such as Potions, Auspices or Skill books. In addition, C9 players can participate in a celebration event to go along with this new fishing mode system. The more fishing points a player gets, the higher the reward, such as Medic Gear, Soul: Prelude of Storm Set and more.
Along with these new features, the expansion introduces an adjustment of the PvP balance of the Battle Maiden class.
To celebrate the launch of this new expansion, a level-up event is taking place which offers special rewards to players who advance their Viking to level 57 during the event period.
From tomorrow through to July 31st, 2015, players will be able to visit any of C9's media partners to obtain a code for the Lord of Baltic Celebration Package. Each code provides: Extreme Potion Package x3, PC Cafe Premium item [7 days] x1, Gold Nethergem, Dimensional Fissure Ticket x2, Bang Turmoil Ticket x2.
Full details on Lord of Baltic are now available on the official C9 website.
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Grand Hotel Huis Ter Duin, Noordwijk Aan Zee
Grand Hotel Huis Ter DuinKoningin Astrid Blvd 5 Postbus
Grand Hotel Huis Ter Duin is a privately owned 5-star Deluxe Hotel at Noordwijk. It has been setting the tone for over a hundred years with superb hospitality and every modern comfort. The complex comprises 19 multifunctional conference rooms - all with daylight - furthermore 228 luxurious bedrooms, 22 atmospheric suites and 4 stylish penthouses, 2 restaurants with seaview, 3 bars and beautifully situated terraces. For conferences and festive evenings we can accommodate up to 1000 people.**Please note** All rooms allow no more than one child aged between 0-3 years and there is a 7 EURO charge for a child cot.


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Adjustable Rate Mortgage
Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Medical, Acronyms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
Adjustable Rate Mortgage
Adjustable rate mortgage (ARM).
An adjustable rate mortgage is a long-term loan you use to finance a real estate purchase, typically a home.
Unlike a fixed-rate mortgage, where the interest rate remains the same for the term of the loan, the interest rate on an ARM is adjusted, or changed, during its term.
The initial rate on an ARM is usually lower than the rate on a fixed-rate mortgage for the same term, which means it may be easier to qualify for an ARM. You take the risk, however, that interest rates may rise, increasing the cost of your mortgage. Of course, it's also possible that the rates may drop, decreasing your payments.
The rate adjustments, which are based on changes in one of the publicly reported indexes that reflect market rates, occur at preset times, usually once a year but sometimes less often. Typically, rate changes on ARMs are capped both annually and over the term of the loan, which helps protect you in the case of a rapid or sustained increase in market rates.
However, certain ARMs allow negative amortization, which means additional interest could accumulate on the outstanding balance if market rates rise higher than the cap. That interest would be due when the loan matured or if you want to prepay.
Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM)
A mortgage on which the interest rate can be changed by the lender.
While ARM contracts in many countries abroad allow rate changes at the lender's discretion (Discretionary ARMs), in the U.S. rate changes on ARMs are mechanical. They are based on changes in an interest rate index over which the lender has no control. Henceforth, all references are to such Indexed ARMs.
Reasons for Selecting an ARM: Borrowers may select an ARM in preference to a fixed rate mortgage (FRM) for three reasons:
• To qualify: they need an ARM to qualify for the loan they want.
• To take advantage of low initial rates on ARMs and their own short time horizon: they expect to be out of their house before
the initial rate period ends.
• To gamble on future interest rates: they expect that they will pay less on the ARM over the life of the loan and are prepared to take the risk that rising interest rates will cause them to pay more.
I will return to these reasons later.
How the Interest Rate on an ARM Is Determined: There are two phases in the life of an ARM. During the first phase, the interest rate is fixed, just as it is on an FRM. The difference is that on an FRM the rate is fixed for the term of the loan, whereas on an ARM it is fixed for a shorter period. The period ranges from one month to 10 years.
At the end of the initial rate period, the ARM rate is adjusted. The adjustment rule is that the new rate will equal the most recent value of a specified interest rate index, plus a margin. For example, if the index is 5% when the initial rate period ends, and the margin is 2.75%, the new rate will be 7.75%. The rule, however, is subject to two conditions.
The first condition is that the increase from the previous rate cannot exceed any rate adjustment cap specified in the ARM contract. An adjustment cap, usually 1% or 2% but ranging in some cases up to 5%, limits the size of any interest rate change.
The second condition is that the new rate cannot exceed the contractual maximum rate. Maximum rates are usually five or six percentage points above the initial rate.
During the second phase of an ARM's life, the interest rate is adjusted periodically. This period may or may not be the same as the initial rate period. For example, an ARM with an initial rate period of five years might adjust annually or monthly after the five-year period ends.
The Quoted Interest Rate: The rate that is quoted on an ARM, by the media and by loan providers, is the initial rate—regardless of how long that rate lasts. When the initial rate period is short, the quoted rate is a poor indication of interest cost to the borrower. The only significance of the initial rate on a monthly ARM, for example, is that this rate may be used to calculate the initial payment. See How the Monthly Payment on an ARM Is Determined.
The Fully Indexed Rate: The index plus margin is called the "fully indexed rate," or FIR. The FIR based on the most recent value of the index at the time the loan is taken out indicates where the ARM rate may go when the initial rate period ends. If the index rate does not change, the FIR will become the ARM rate.
For example, assume the initial rate is 4% for one year, the fully indexed rate is 7%, and the rate adjusts every year subject to a 1% rate increase cap. If the index value remains the same, the 7% FIR will be reached at the end of the third year.
The FIR is thus an important piece of information, the more so the shorter the initial rate period. Nevertheless, it is not a mandated disclosure and loan officers may not have it. They will know the margin and the specific index, however, and the most recent value of the index can be found on the Internet, as explained below.
ARM Rate Indexes: Every ARM is tied to an interest rate index. An index has three relevant features:
• Availability
• Level
• Volatility
All the common ARM indexes are readily available from a published source, with the exception of one called the Cost of Savings Index, or COSI. I would avoid it.
In principle, a lower index is better for a borrower than a higher one. However, lenders take account of different index levels in setting the margin. A3% index with a 2% margin provides the same FIR as a 2% index with a 3% margin. Assuming volatility is the same, there is nothing to choose between them.
An index that is relatively stable is better for the borrower than one that is volatile. The stable index will increase less in a rising rate environment. While it will also decline less in a declining rate environment, borrowers can take advantage of declining rates by refinancing.
The most stable of the more widely-used rate indexes is the 11th District Cost of Funds Index, referred to as COFI (not "coffee"). Most of the others are significantly more volatile. These include the Treasury series of constant (one-, two-, or three-year) maturity, one-month and six-month Libor, six-month CDs and the Prime Rate.
Another series known as MTA is a 12-month moving average of the one-year Treasury constant maturity series. MTA is a little more volatile than COFI but less volatile than the other series.
An ARM should never be selected based on the index alone. That would be like buying a car based on the tires. But if an overall evaluation (see below) indicates that two ARMs are very close, preference could be given to the one with the more stable index.
Current and historical values of major ARM indexes can be found on the following Web sites: mortgage-x.com, bankrate.com, nfsn.com, and hsh.com.
How the Monthly Payment on an ARM Is Determined: ARMs fall into two major groups that differ in the way in which the monthly payment of principal and interest is determined: fully amortizing ARMs and negative amortization ARMs.
Fully Amortizing ARMs adjust the monthly payment to be fully amortizing whenever the interest rate changes. The new payment will pay off the loan over the period remaining to term if the interest rate stays the same.
For example, a $100,000 30-year ARM has an initial rate of 5%, which holds for five years, after which the rate is adjusted every
year. (This is referred to as a "5/1 ARM.") The payment of $536.83 for the first five years would pay off the loan if the rate stayed at 5%. In month 61, the rate might increase to, say, 7%. A new payment of $649.03 is then calculated, at 7% and 25 years, which would pay off the loan if the rate stayed at 7%. As the rate changes each year thereafter, a new payment is calculated that would pay off the loan over the remaining period if that rate continued.
Negative Amortization ARMs allow payments that don't fully cover the interest. They have one or more of the following features:
• Payment Rate Below the Interest Rate: The payment rate, which is the interest rate used to calculate the payment, may be below the actual interest rate. If the payment rate is so low that the initial payment does not cover the interest, the result will be negative amortization.
• More Frequent Rate Adjustments than Payment Adjustments: If, e.g., the rate adjusts every month but the payment adjusts every year, a large rate increase within the year will lead to negative amortization.
• Payment Adjustment Caps: If a rate change is large and a payment adjustment cap limits the size of a change in pay-
ment, the result will be negative amortization.
Virtually all ARMs are designed to fully amortize over their term. This means that negative amortization can only be temporary and at some point or points in the ARM's life history the monthly payment must become fully amortizing.
Two contract provisions are used to assure that negative amortization ARMs pay off at term.
• Arecast clause requires that periodically, usually every five years, the payment must be adjusted to the fully amortizing
• Anegative amortization cap is a maximum ratio of loan balance to original loan amount, for example, 110%. If that maximum is reached, the payment is immediately adjusted to the fully amortizing level, overriding any payment adjustment cap. In a worse case scenario, the required payment increase may be very large.
Identifying ARMs: There are no industry standards for identifying ARMs and practices vary across lenders. Some identify their ARMs by the index used, e.g., "COFI ARM" or "six-month Libor ARM."
Some identify their ARMs by the rate adjustment periods, e.g., "5/1" or "3/3."
None of these shorthand descriptions are of much use to borrowers because there are so many differences within each. Indeed, even if the features of each were standardized, to compare one type of ARM with another, one needs to know exactly what those features are.
Selecting an ARM to Qualify: It is easier to qualify with an ARM than with an FRM. In deciding whether an applicant has enough income to meet the monthly payment obligation, lenders usually use the initial interest rate on an ARM to calculate the payment, even though the rate may rise at the end of the initial rate period.
That's why, when market interest rates increase, ARMs become more common and FRMs less common. Some borrowers who could have qualified with an FRM at the lower rates, now require an ARM to qualify.
However, many borrowers who appear to require an ARM to qualify in fact could qualify with an FRM. It just takes a little more work. See Qualification/Meeting Income Requirements/Is an ARM Need to Qualify?
Taking Advantage of Low Initial Rates: Borrowers with short time horizons can take advantage of the initial interest rates that are lower on ARMs than on FRMs. For example, at a time when a borrower is quoted 6.5% on a 30-year FRM, the quoted initial rates on 3/1, 5/1, 7/1, and 10/1 ARMs might be 6%, 6.125%, 6.25%, and 6.375%, respectively.
The correct choice depends on how long the borrower expects to have the loan and on the borrower's attitude to risk. For example, a borrower who expects to hold the mortgage for six years might play it safe by selecting a 7/1. Or, he might take the 5/1 on the grounds that the savings over five years justifies taking the risk of having to pay a higher rate in year six.
Borrowers who take this risk, whether deliberately as in the example above, or inadvertently because they aren't sure how long they will hold the loan, should consider what can happen at the end of the initial rate period. Suppose the borrower deciding between the 5/1 and 7/1, for example, finds that the indexes, margins, and maximum rates are the same, but the rate adjustment caps are 2% on the 5/1 and 5% on the 7/1. This could tilt the decision toward the 5/1.
If the ARMs being compared differ in a number of ways, however, comparing one with another (or with an FRM) can be very confusing. In this situation, borrowers with short time horizons seeking to take advantage of low initial rates on ARMs are no different than borrowers with longer horizons who seek to pay less on the ARM over the life of the loan and are prepared to take the risk that they will pay more. Both should analyze the potential benefits and risks with calculators, as explained below.
Gambling on Future Interest Rates:Taking an ARM (when an FRM is an option) is a gamble, and the question is whether it is a good gamble in any particular case. A good gamble is one where the borrower can reasonably expect that the Interest Cost (IC) will be lower on the ARM than on a comparable FRM over the period the mortgage is held; and where the borrower won't face extreme hardship if interest rates explode.
There are four calculators on my Web site designed to deal with these issues. Two of them, 9a) and 9b), show IC over periods speciied by the user. Two others, 7c) and 7d), show mortgage payments month by month. For both IC and payments, one calculator is for ARMs that allow negative amortization and one is for ARMs that don't.
Information Needed: All the calculators require the following information about each ARM:
Basic Loan Information
• New loan amount or existing loan balance (e.g., 100,000)
• Initial interest rate on new loan or current rate on existing loan (e.g., 7.50)
• New loan term or remaining term on existing loan, in months (e.g., 360)
Interest Rate Index
• Selected index, e.g., 11th district cost of funds or "COFI"
• Margin that is added to interest rate index (e.g., 2.75)
First Rate Adjustment
• Number of months to first rate adjustment (e.g,. 36)
• Maximum interest rate change on first rate adjustment (e.g., 5.0)
Subsequent Rate Adjustments
• Duration, in months, between subsequent rate adjustments (e.g., 12)
• Maximum interest rate change on subsequent rate adjustments (e.g., 2.0)
Maximum/Minimum Rates
• Maximum interest rate over life of mortgage (e.g., 12.5)
• Minimum interest rate over life of mortgage (e.g., 4.5)
On negative amortization ARMs, the following is also needed:
Payment Information
• Initial monthly payment of principal and interest (e.g., 753.45)
• Payment adjustment period, in months (e.g., 12)
• Payment adjustment cap, in percent (e.g., 7.5)
• Payment recast period, in years (e.g., 5)
• Negative amortization cap, in percent (e.g., 110)
The calculators directed to IC will ask for additional information needed to calculate IC. This includes the user's tax bracket, down payment, points, and other upfront fees.
Assumptions About Future Interest Rates
• Stable index: interest rate index stays unchanged for the life of the mortgage
• Worst case: ARM rate rises to the maximum extent permitted by the loan contract
of years
per year
|• Rising trend: interest rate
index rises:
|• Declining trend: interest rate
index falls:
|Years between
direction changes
per year
|• Volatile: interest rate index
|• Volatile: interest rate index
Note: the above numbers are illustrative.
The stable index or "no-change" scenario provides the closest approximation to an "expected" result and is an excellent benchmark. The worst case is exactly that—the ARM rate rises as far and as fast as the loan contract permits. The worst case is so improbable that borrowers may want to design something less extreme, such as the rising trend scenario used below where the index rises by 1% a year for five years.
An illustration: On July 25, 2002, I used the calculators to compare the six-month fully amortizing ARM and the FRM shown below.
|Mortgage Features
|30 Years
|30 Years
|Initial Interest Rate
|Index Value
|Rate Adjustment Period
|6 months
|Rate Adjustment Cap
|Maximum Rate
Using the interest cost calculator for fully amortizing ARMs (9a), I developed the following table.
|6-Month Libor ARM
|Stable Rates
|Rising Trend
|Worst Case
|3 Years
|5 Years
|7 Years
|12 Years
|30 Years
The appeal of the ARM at that time is evident. In a stable rate environment, the borrower would save more than 2.5% relative to the FRM. In a rising trend environment, the ARM would cost less than the FRM if the borrower is out in five years, and even in a worst case the ARM is better if the borrower is out in three years.
For many consumers, the bottom line is what might happen to the payment. Using the payment calculator for fully amortizing ARMs (7b), I developed the table below. The scenarios are the same and the loan is assumed to be $300,000.
|6-Month Libor ARM
|Stable Rates
|Rising Trend
|Worst Case
The payment increases on the six-month Libor ARM under a worst-case scenario are substantial but spread out over four years.
None of the increases exceed 13%. There are other ARMs in which the payment under a worst case can jump 50% or more at one adjustment. This is sometimes referred to as "payment shock."
Mandatory Disclosures: The theory underlying the Federal Reserve's disclosure rules for ARMs is that consumers should first receive a general education on ARMs and then should receive specific information about any ARM program in which they might be interested. This is a reasonable approach.
The general education is provided by a Consumer Handbook on Adjustable Rate Mortgages, sometimes referred to as the "Charm Booklet." The booklet is a passable effort, but it is too long so few people read it.
The second part of ARM disclosure is a list of ARM features that must be disclosed and an explanation of, "each variable-rate program in which the consumer expresses an interest." This is where the process breaks down. The list of ARM features is too long and includes all kinds of pap.
Overwhelming borrowers with more information than they can handle is counter-productive. Disclosing everything is much the same as disclosing nothing, it just takes longer.
Government agencies with responsibility for disclosure are extremely reluctant to recognize this. If they did, they would be
obliged to determine what was truly important. They could no longer compromise divergent views about what to include by
including everything. Even worse, they could no longer ignore mandated disclosures from other agencies that hit the borrower at about the same time.
Lenders don't make this mistake. They know they can't sell an ARM (or anything else) by overwhelming the customer. They tend to focus on a single theme or hook—an easy to understand ARM feature that is appealing. For example, in 2003 they sold COFI ARMs based on the stability of the COFI index and Libor ARMs based on a very low initial rate index.
ARM disclosures would be a useful counterweight to lender sales pitches if they were limited to critically important information and
presented clearly. The most critical information for most borrowers is 1) What would happen to the interest cost on the loan and the monthly payment per $100,000 of loan amount, if the interest rate index doesn't change; and 2) What would happen if the loan rate rises to the maximum permitted by the loan contract? Simple and easy to understand tables for displaying this information were shown above.
Instead, borrowers are presented with a list of ARM features, including those needed to derive useful tables, provided that the
borrower knows a) which items are relevant and b) how to derive the tables from them. But such borrowers don't need mandatory disclosure; they can get the information they want by asking for it. Mandatory disclosure is for borrowers who don't know what they need and, therefore, don't know what to look for in voluminous disclosures.
In addition to the list of ARM features, lenders are required to describe each program, but there is no requirement for clarity. So long as the mandated items are included, it seemingly doesn't matter whether the descriptions are comprehensible. I have seen a few that are pretty good, but most are unreadable.
Convertible ARMs: Some ARMs have an option to convert to an FRM after some period, at a market rate. The advantage, relative to a refinance, is that the conversion avoids settlement costs. The disadvantage is that the borrower loses the flexibility to shop the market.
The conversion interest rate on the FRM is usually defined in terms of the value of a rate index at the time of conversion, plus a margin. To determine whether the conversion option has value, assume you can convert immediately. Find the current index value, add the margin and compare it to the best FRM rate you can obtain in the market. If the second rate is lower, which is likely to be the case, the conversion option has little value.
Market conditions do change and it is possible that the option could have value in the years ahead. But don't give up anything important for it.
Also see: Points/Paying Points on an ARM, Partial Prepayments/Effect of Early Payment on Monthly Payments/ARMs, Qualification/Meeting Income Requirements/Is an ARM Needed to Qualify?, Interest-Only Mortgage/Interest-Only ARMs, Second Mortgages/Negative Amortization ARM May Prevent a Second Mortgage.


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As if there was any doubt, Jon Cryer is truly a standup guy.
During a visit to CBS' Late Show with David Letterman on Wednesday, the remaining Two and a Half Men man took some time to discuss his erstwhile co-star, Charlie Sheen. And while jokes were made about the embattled actor's current plight — mainly on Letterman's end — Cryer took the high road when it came to Sheen, someone he still calls a "great friend."
After spending the past six months riding out a public storm that included near-cancellation for CBS' Men and Sheen's public berating of his co-stars, Cryer surprised Late Show viewers with his unwavering support of the actor.
Emmy Shocker: Two and a Half Men Won't Compete for Best Comedy Series
"We want nothing but the best for him," Cryer said. "I want him to get healthy, I want him to stay sober, I want him to be reunited with his family — that would be the best thing. I love him. He's a great friend."
Letterman was quick to point out that Sheen wasn't as forthcoming with his compliments and well wishes, referencing the recent time he called Cryer a troll. "As friends do!" Cryer retorted with a laugh.
As for how everything ultimately went down with the Men shakeup, Cryer still seems to be in the dark.
"We didn't see where [Sheen's breakdown] was going. This has never happened before [on a TV show]," he explained. "It wasn't like back in 1963 everyone remembers when Fred McMurray went bats–t and started talking about free mason ninjas and stuff. It was crazy! [Laughs.] And Vivian Vance started urinating on the set of Here's Lucy. Nobody was prepared for this."
Ashton Kutcher Calls Men Gig 'The Best Job In Show Business
But unfortunately, Cryer added, "Nobody in show business can possibly get away with making fun of their boss. It just doesn't happen."
See what else Cryer had to say about Men, Sheen, and incoming replacement Ashton Kutcher in the video below:


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If you're having trouble cancelling on your own, you can also try this online cancellation service:
Gnomicfun is a British based online subscription service for games on demand.
Users pay a monthly fee to have access to games, music, books, and movies. The games are supported on mobile, desktop, or tablet platforms.
This Cancel Your Membership tutorial will show you how to end a subscription that you've purchased from Gnomicfun.
Information You Will Need to Cancel a Subscription with Gnomicfun
- Your Name
- Your Email
- Your Password
Steps to Cancel
How to Cancel a Gnomicfun Subscription
Via Phone
- Dial 1-888-982-9686 or 1-302-486-7701 to contact Gnomicfun's Consumer Support Center. (Hours are 24 hours a day, 7 days a week).
- Choose option 1, followed by option 4.
- Ask a representative to cancel your account.
Via Online
- Go to the Gnomicfun home page.
- Click the "support" link in the upper right-hand corner of the page.
- Click the green "cancel membership" button.
- Complete the form that comes up and then submit.
Pro Tip: Gnomicfun will sometimes offer free trial memberships. They are given once per household or once per payment method. This payment will be charged at the end of your free trial if you do not cancel your membership within the trial period.
Pro Tip #2: You should receive a confirmation email after you have canceled your account. If you have not received an email, contact customer service.
Pro Tip #3: If you choose to cancel online, you will be charged for an express cancellation. Your request will be expedited so your request will move to the top of the queue and make your cancellation effective immediately. The fee will be $1.00 during the trial period or $0.99 during any other time.
Company Information:
Website: https://www2.gnomicfun.com
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 1-888-982-9686 or 1-302-486-7701
Groove Clip LTD
4/4a Bloomsbury Square
United Kingdom
About Cancel Your Membership
Cancel Your Membership teaches users how to end online subscriptions and accounts.


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High blood protein
High blood protein (hyperproteinemia) is an increase in the concentration of protein in the bloodstream. High blood protein is not a specific disease or condition in itself, but it might indicate you have a disease.
High blood protein rarely causes signs or symptoms on its own. But sometimes it is uncovered while you're having blood tests done as part of an evaluation for some other problem or symptom.
Possible causes of high blood protein include:
- Amyloidosis (buildup of abnormal proteins in your organs)
- Dehydration
- Hepatitis B
- Hepatitis C
- Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS)
- Multiple myeloma
A high-protein diet doesn't cause high blood protein.
High blood protein is not a specific disease or condition in itself. It's usually a laboratory finding uncovered during the evaluation of a particular condition or symptom. For instance, although high blood protein is found in people who are dehydrated, the real problem is that the blood plasma is actually more concentrated.
Certain proteins in the blood may be elevated as your body fights an infection or some other inflammation. People with certain bone marrow diseases, such as multiple myeloma, may have high blood protein levels before they show any other symptoms.
The role of proteins
Proteins are large, complicated molecules that are vital to the function of all cells and tissues. They are made in many places throughout your body and circulate in the blood.
Proteins take a variety of forms — such as albumin, antibodies and enzymes — and have many different functions, including:
- Helping you fight disease
- Regulating body functions
- Building muscles
- Transporting drugs and other substances throughout the body
When to see a doctor
If your doctor discovers high blood protein during an evaluation, he or she may recommend additional tests to determine if there is an underlying problem.
A total protein test can determine whether you have high blood protein. Other more-specific tests, including serum protein electrophoresis (SPEP), can help determine the exact source, such as liver or bone marrow, as well as the specific protein type involved in your high blood protein levels. Your doctor may order an SPEP if he or she suspects you have a bone marrow disease.
Last Updated Nov 10, 2020
© 2022 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER). All rights reserved. Terms of Use


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OASIS is an AT&T Employee Resource Group and a 501c3 non-profit organization. The primary purpose of the Organization of Asian Indians at AT&T (OASIS) is to provide AT&T employees with opportunities for self-development, professional enhancement, networking and support of AT&T's business goals, while promoting greater understanding and appreciation of the cultural diversity among the AT&T workforce.
Mission Statement: At OASIS we provide a framework to help global members identify ways to better leverage their talent, connections and engagements within their organization, community and the erg initiatives to drive leadership and recognition opportunities.
AT&T is a big supporter of Diversity & Inclusion. You can read more about what we do as a company here: link.
Message from National President
Ami Shah
January 8, 2020
Dear OASIS Family,
I am honored to serve as the National President for the 2020-21 term.
I would like to start by thanking my predecessor, Aarthie Namasivayam, and the former OASIS National Board Members for their impressive leadership over the last two years. They helped OASIS achieve great heights and I hope to continue to raise the bar.
OASIS has made a remarkable impact on AT&T employees as well as our communities where we live, work and play. We have developed a brand showcasing our strong competence in STEM and technology, while sharing our rich heritage and vibrant traditions. The new board's goal is to continue to elevate the impact we are making today, while focusing on the current issues that the company and community face. Stay tuned for future communications on our new, upcoming initiatives!
I would also like to address the current situation in the US and around the world. This is a unique and trying time as we are dealing with an unprecedented pandemic, COVID-19 (Corona virus). First and foremost, we ask that you take necessary precautions to keep yourselves and your family healthy and safe. Please follow the official AT&T guidelines regarding suspension of travel, social and business events, and work location protocols. OASIS will follow the official AT&T guidelines to keep our members safe. For the time being, our events will be held virtually and we do not plan to have any large gatherings until told otherwise. The health and welfare of our members and their families is our utmost priority! Thank you, to all the members, for staying on this journey with us. We will get through these rough times together, and prevail to have a successful 2020!
Excellence in Action 2020
OASIS National Initiative:
Make Our World A Better Place
A Better You >> A Better Us >> A Better Community >> A Better Planet
Additionally, OASIS won two other awards
National Winner – Community Collaboration
Asian Heritage Month Celebration – Collaboration with InspirASIAN & FACES
Chapter/Region Level – Community Innovation
Culture WorX – OASIS Texas
OASIS wins again!
2019 EG (Employee Group) in Action winner (TX region)
Circle of Knowledge:
A platform of various learning opportunities, including financial literacy, career exploration, mobile app workshops, and experiential mentoring – to embrace innovation in technology and problem-solving.
OASIS Wins the AT&T ERG in Action for the 6th year in a row!
September 14, 2018
We won three awards this year in the following categories:
- ERG-in-Action – National Award for the Press – Pause – Rejuvenate Yourself Initiative
- ERG-in-Action – Chapter Level Award for the GEN XYZ – Stimulator Program
- Two Collaboration Awards split among the participated ERG's for OASIS NE collaborations for the "Power of Your" and "Paddle for Pink" Initiatives
Click here to know more about our Award winning initiatives!


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Dear Jeff,
My accountant claims we should track EVA. I do about $200,000 in sales a year. What do you think? —Name withheld by request
Short answer: Based on the size of your business I assume it's not capital intensive, so no, probably not.
Longer answer: Unless you're really into math, Economic Value Added (EVA, trademarked by Stern Stewart) can be complicated to calculate.
Don't believe me? Check out the formulas here.
Told you.
The goal of calculating EVA is to determine true economic profit after taking into account the opportunity cost of capital invested.
For example, say you made a $20,000 capital investment in your company. Your operating profit, after taxes, is $10,000.
The opportunity cost of that investment, meaning the money you could have earned if you invested the money elsewhere, is 10%.
Your capital charge is $20,000 times 10%, or $2,000.
$10,000 – $2,000 = $8,000. Your EVA, or economic profit, is roughly $8,000. (Granted that was an intentionally simple calculation that left out a few steps, so all you accountants can hold your fire.)
The goal of EVA is to take into account the cost of capital invested in the company. If you have $50,000 and you invest that money in your company, you should receive a return… but you might not, at least not right away.
But if you instead invest the $50,000 in a CD yielding 4% you could earn $2,000 a year in interest. So, in EVA terms $2,000 is the cost of capital and should be deducted from your operating profits to show your true profit. The goal of EVA is to determine whether the company has generated a greater return on a capital investment than it could have received by investing the money elsewhere.
Here's another example. Say you have $8,000 you plan to invest in website upgrades. You feel that investment will generate additional profits of $2,000 a year.
That sounds good, since you'll pay off the investment in four years, but let's factor in EVA.
You could invest the money in a CD yielding 4%. With a CD there's no risk. You know you'll receive that return.
There is risk investing the money in your website, though, because it's impossible to know whether the upgrades will actually pay off. As a result you decide you need to make at least 10% on your investment because of the risk you incur. (Think of the 10% as a quasi-IRR.)
So you make the investment and do generate the $2,000 in additional profits you anticipated.
But wait; your cost of capital is $8,000 X 10%, or $800. $2,000 – $800 = $1,200; that's your true economic profit. In those terms it will take six or seven years to pay back the investment after you factor in the opportunity cost. (Again, intentionally rough calculations. If you're an accountant and you want to share a comprehensive example, feel free to do so in the comments.)
The goal of EVA is to answer this question: If I make an investment, will it generate profits that outweigh the risk, and truly add value to the company?
Unless you're deciding whether to make significant capital investments in your company, that's a question you probably don't need to answer.
Have a question? Email email@example.com and it may appear in a future column. Please indicate if you would like your name and/or company name to appear.


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A week after Hurricane Harvey came ashore in Texas, rescuers kept up a marathon search for survivors on Friday as large pockets of land remained under water after one of the costliest natural disasters to hit the United States.
The storm has displaced more than 1 million people with 44 feared dead from flooding that paralyzed Houston, swelled river levels to record highs and knocked out the drinking water supply in Beaumont, Texas, a city of about 120,000 people.
Chemicals maker Arkema SA and public health officials warned of the risk of more explosions and fires at a plant owned by the company. On Thursday blasts rocked the facility, about 25 miles east of Houston and zoned off inside a 1.5-mile (2.4-km) exclusion zone, after it was engulfed by floodwater.
With the presence of water-borne contaminants a growing concern, the National Weather Service issued flood watches from Arkansas into Ohio on Friday as the remnants of the storm made their way through the US heartland.
The Neches River, which flows into Beaumont and nearby Port Arthur, was forecast for a record crest from Friday well above flood levels. The flooding and loss of drinking water forced the evacuation of a hospital on Thursday.
Two of the last people remaining in their flooded home near the river, Kent Kirk, 58, and Hersey Kirk, 59, were pulled to safety late Thursday.
"They were the last holdouts, the last house," said Dennis Landy, a neighbor who had spent the day in his airboat ferrying people from a small, remote group of houses near Rose City, Texas, close to the Neches' banks, to safety.
It took an hour of coaxing by a rescuer but Hersey Kirk finally let herself be carried from her wheelchair to the airboat and then to a Utah Air National Guard helicopter.
"I'm losing everything again," she said. "We got flooded in Ike, in Rita. My husband just got a new car – well it was new to him anyway. It's sitting in 5 feet of water."
Harvey roared ashore late last Friday as the most powerful hurricane to hit Texas in half a century. It dumped unprecedented quantities of rain and left devastation across more than 300 miles (482 km) in the southeast corner of the state.
Moody's Analytics estimated the economic cost from Harvey for southeastern Texas at $51 billion to $75 billion, ranking it among the costliest storms in US history. Much of the damage has been to Houston, the US energy hub.
At least 44 people were dead or feared dead in six counties including and around Houston, officials said. Another 19 remained missing.
Some 779,000 Texans have been told to leave their homes and another 980,000 fled voluntarily amid dangers of new flooding from swollen rivers and reservoirs, according to federal estimates.
Tens of thousands crowded in evacuation centers across the region.
A new hurricane, Irma, had strengthened into a Category 3 storm, the midpoint of the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, on Friday. It remained hundreds of miles from land but was forecast to possibly hit the US territory of Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and neighbouring Haiti by the middle of next week.
Seventy percent of Harris County, which encompasses Houston and has a population of about 4.6 million people, was covered with 18 inches (45 cm) or more of water, county officials said.
As signs of normal life returned to Houston, the nation's fourth most populous city, there were concerns about health risks from bacteria and pollutants in floodwater.
The Houston Astros baseball team, forced to play away from the city due to the floods, will return and play at its home field on Saturday. It has invited shelter residents to attend its double header against the New York Mets, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said on his Twitter feed.
Flooding has shut some of the nation's largest oil refineries and hit US energy infrastructure, which is centered along the Gulf Coast. It has sent gasoline prices climbing and disrupted global fuel supplies.
The national average for a regular gallon of gasoline rose to $2.519 as of Friday morning, the highest since August 2015, up 17 cents since before the storm hit, according to motorists advocacy group AAA.
The storm knocked out about a quarter of US oil refining capacity and the signs of restarts were tentative.
In major Texas cities including Dallas, there were long lines at gas stations, prompting state regulators to tell people they were sparking a panic and saying there were ample fuel supplies.
Power outages had decreased from peaks of over 300,000 to about 160,000 homes and business in Texas and Louisiana as of Friday morning, data from utilities showed.


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We launched this travel blog at the end of 2011, just before heading for a year on the road through Central and South America (thus the Spanish name). We enjoyed sharing our impressions and photos so much we have continued to post whenever we travel. But we don't have any travel plans for several months, so we're going to post some stories and images from past travels, starting with two days we spent in Iceland on our way home from a trip to Europe in May 2010. We hope you enjoy this blast from the past!
Turns out, we landed in Reykjavik just as a holiday long weekend was beginning, and most stores and some attractions were closed. We walked around the city but we were keen to see some of the countryside. Fortunately, Reykjavik Excursions was open for business and we were able to sign up for a day-long tour of the nearby Reykjanes peninsula. The brochure promised bubbling hot springs, dramatic lava fields, museum visits, and a chance to walk across the bridge between the Eurasian and North American continental tectonic plates. All that and more, in fact, quite a lot was carefully packed into one day.
The peninsula landscape is vast and rocky, the hills are barren, and everywhere you look there is steam rising through holes and cracks in the long-hardened lava. Walking on a lava field was like walking on the surface of a distant planet. Near the road there was a huge hole — our guide told us a large bulldozer working to widen the highway had crashed through the rock and into a lava tube. At another location we stopped to have a closer look at a vast array of racks loaded with fish drying in the cold wind, and later visited the Icelandic Saltfish Museum in Grindavik.
We did indeed walk across the "bridge between two continents" — it is a short bridge across what looks like a modest canyon, but far below the surface the tectonic plates are rubbing up against each other. We also stopped at the Vikingaheimar museum to see the replica Viking ship Islendingur, an exact copy of a ninth-century vessel known as the Gokstad ship. It actually sailed to North America in the summer of 2000 to mark the 1000th anniversary of Leifur Eiriksson's journey to the new world.
The weirdest moment of the day occured when we pulled up to a small non-descript roadside shack. Inside a stash of shark meat was waiting for us. Not just any shark meat, but hakari, fermented shark meat, supposedly a local delicacy. It tasted like something that had been marinated in ammonia. Yuck! Lucky for us our guide also had some Brennivin, a locally-made schnapps. That handily cleansed the unwelcome taste of eating a piece of rotting fish.
The tour ended with being dropped off at the famous Blue Lagoon Spa, fed by hot springs and full of minerals. In fact the rough surfaces below the waterline are coated in a white mud that people scoop and spread on their bodies and faces for it's healing properties. Bottles of it may be purchased on the way out. Part of the water area is contained within built walls and steps, the rest is just spread out across the rocky landscape. We couldn't take a camera into the spa, so the photos below show an area of the hot springs that are visible from the parking lot. Very, very blue.
Conveniently, the tour includes simply catching any bus home from the spa, so you can stay as long as you want. By the way, we checked and Reykjavik Excursions is still around and still offering this and many other day trips.


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Comedy pilot for BBC3 (stories by and editor)
"Do you like George Michael?" "I don't even know who that is mate. He sounds really old. Is he a country singer?"
Produced by My Pockets, it stars a cast of delinquent puppets voiced by real teenagers who navigate complex problems like whether they can sell their GCSE art coursework on ebay, if they should serenade girls with the Titanic theme tune and who would be the worst person to check your itchy balls at a clinic – a big boobied woman in a low cut top or Frank Lampard in his Chelsea kit?
'Fuzzbox comes from a very different place…. funny, honest and touching.' Evening Standard
Watch it here