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Goldman's Alec Phillips has a great note out about the coming decline in government spending.
It turns out, we're about to see a period of spending declines that is historically very rare. It's all about the sequester and the decline in war spending.
In addition to sequestration, two other factors are likely to reduce real federal consumption and investment (i.e., the components of federal spending that is counted toward GDP in the national accounts) over the next few years:
Spending caps enacted in 2011. In addition to establishing the sequester, the Budget Control Act of 2011 also established spending caps that have already taken effect. These are expected to reduce real yoy spending growth by $20bn in 2013 and by another $10bn in 2014. Unless Congress designates spending as "emergency," spending above the caps results in across-the-board cuts similar to but separate from the across the board cuts set to take effect March 1.
Reduced war spending. Congress appropriated roughly $160bn in 2010 and 2011 for overseas military operations; this has been reduced to around $100bn for 2013. The President's most recent budget proposed to cap war spending going forward, which it estimated would reduce war-related spending by around $30bn in 2013, and by $50bn to $60bn in 2014. Although some war spending ends up being accounted for as transfer payments to the rest of the world--for example, when the US government reimburses foreign powers for joint military operations--the majority of it shows up as federal consumption and gross investment.
Sequestration, spending caps, and reduced war spending will together reduce real federal consumption and gross investment by 11% over the next two years. This is a large decline in historical context, but it is not without precedent. This would mark the third decline in the last 50 years; the first occurred around 1970, after Vietnam War spending had peaked, followed by another around 1990 as military spending declined following the end of the Cold War and multiple rounds of spending caps were enacted.


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Obviously, most of what you've been reading, hearing and seeing in the media lately has been about politics. But that doesn't mean that nothing new has been going on in the world of sex. All the pesky presidential press has just buried the sex news. So in case you've missed these developments in the area that can get just as hot as a debate about banking regulations, I'm here to fill you in.
Obviously, most of what you've been reading, hearing and seeing in the media lately has been about politics. But that doesn't mean that nothing new has been going on in the world of sex. All the pesky presidential press has just buried the sex news. So in case you've missed these developments in the area that can get just as hot as a debate about banking regulations, I'm here to fill you in.
Perhaps making the biggest waves in bedroom science is a recent study that discloses that women have definitely made some progress towards sexual equality, at least in one area. The area is infidelity. Yes, in this dubious race for equality, the number of women committing adultery is catching up to the number of men. So not only are some women breaking through the proverbial glass ceiling, but I guess they are also breaking through the motel's cottage cheese-plaster ceiling with the water stains on it.
Of course, some wives aren't the only ones fooling around. According to studies reported in the New York Times and elsewhere, infidelity in general has been on the increase. I wonder if cheating is going to continue to go up in this bad economy. Affairs are not for cheapskates, so fewer and fewer people will be able to afford a double life. But maybe all the tension people feel because of money problems will push them away from their marriages, regardless of the cost. Or the opposite could happen. Sometimes in times of trouble, stress can bring a couple closer together. For years, there has been a theory that when women's hemlines drop, so does the stock market. Only time and future studies will tell how the stock market will be affected by underwear dropping on a motel room floor.
Marriage experts often point to poor communication as a cause for infidelity. There is a new invention that's supposed to help with this. It's called the SweetieDo. It's a "silent whistle," much like a dog whistle. I'm not kidding. The theory, supported by something called the NeuroImage Journal, is that it's a lot of work for a man to understand what a woman is saying, because the man first interprets the female voice as music. I wonder what music the researchers feel men are hearing instead of their wives' voices? The theme song for ESPN'S "SportsCenter"?
Anyway, they say that it's often difficult for men to understand what women are saying, because a woman's voice contains complex frequencies, like music. So it's hard for a woman to get a man's attention.
As much as I'd love to use this as a rationalization, I'm not buying – either the theory or the device. If a wife has to blow a whistle to get her husband's attention, the problem's the guy, not the wife. The music that will probably be playing in that marriage is "Taps."
In another ring in the circus of sex, there will soon be a musical, actually a "rock opera," about "Deep Throat's" Linda Lovelace. For those too young to remember, Ms. Lovelace starred in the most famous porn movie in history in which she, well, you know the title. Those involved in the new musical production say they aren't interested in the salacious aspects of the late actress' life. Instead, they see her as a tragic, exploited figure. They maintain, "This isn't about a porn movie. This is the story of a woman's life."
All of that may be true, and I'm sure this could be handled in a way to make it a play that's not about sex. I'm just not sure I'll be able to sit in the theater while the play about Linda Lovelace is going on without thinking about how she became famous. It would be like going to a musical about Sarah Palin without having a song about mooseburgers. However, I just noticed that there are 43 songs in the Linda Lovelace play. Maybe they'll have to call it "Sore Throat."
In a strange event, Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens was scandalized recently when he was found guilty of seven felonies. What's so strange about it is that none of the felonies has to do with sex. What kind of senator has a scandal without sex?
Finally, it was announced that it's Viagra's 10th anniversary. I don't remember any other medication having an anniversary or birthday, do you? And what do they expect us to do because of it? Are we supposed to buy Viagra a present? I have no idea what to get a blue pill that has revolutionized sex for many people. Although I guess I do know how we're supposed to celebrate.
Lloyd can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com. Check out Lloyd's new Bob Newhart video, "The Challenge" at YouTube or at Striketv.

subset: commoncrawl


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[Verse 1: Raekwon]
Ayo, ayo, ayo, high potency Thai, smoke a bag of black
And feel the vibe, born to be wise, we form on a rise
The corner mean five, horns in disguise, throw on your slides
Young niggas racist, smokers is basing
We seen the eyes laying up, playing the cut, what?
Stay in the truck, something told me duck, folded me up
My shoulders struck out of luck, fucked the Pradas up
Fell in a daze like a Golotta snuff, niggas tried to body me up
I'm in the lobby bleeding, niggas in the waiting office probably eating
And sprinting and beefing when they heard the shots called the precinct
And seen barber nieces beast, some niggas shot Shallah features
And shot through his Ellesses, bent the spinal cordless creatures
I'm gagging and flagging a cab down
Guess who in the Benz wagon, dragging my sound down macking
It was Dale Breedy the greedy, conniving-ass snake genie
Cop with a bikini who murdered Tosh and Benini
I'm feeling wheezy and I'm drained from the cheeba grieving
Ain't even looking decent, seeing police niggas reaching
That splash against my hollow bones
That rocks my...
[Verse 2: Inspectah Deck]
Fleeing the crime scene speeding
Beefing leaving behind cream, not even peeping that I was leaking
Won't see the precinct just got a recent case beaten
Still jakes are creeping, don't blow your spot, stay the weekend
Keep the Ruger peeling who's squealing few knew the dealings
Keep the steel concealed in cause we got no time for feelings
Eyes on the building guards are on the corners illing
Million dollar block villain plotting on a killing
Feel like, a superhero talking like a true Deniro
They boost his ego found him broke down, reduced to zero
Cops fill reports hoping I'll reveal my source, source
That splash against my hollow bones
That rocks my soul
[Verse 3: Ghostface Killah]
Outside the check cashing, flashing, dipped in fashion
Five cherry-faced faggots tried to cash in
They keep laughing – Ghost, you'll get your face bashed in
Who gave you these privileges son? Why you maxing?
And we... fiending to take those
Move slow, I'm hearing how you broke Rob's nose
And I heard you keep a banging hammer, golden brass
Diamonds embroideries that was stolen that you haven't reported, G
Make very little noise, my shit hiccup
Don't make this big stick up bigger, me and the boys
I thought for a second, then chose rather than froze
Had the Gem Star in my hand... yo, what the fuck?
Yo, that's when I ripped Timothy, snatched and dipped
Jumped right in back of him, had the mini axe tool, faxed him
Shots rang off, bing-boggle-de-dum
[That splash against my hollow bones]
[Sample: 3 Evil Masters]
The sword it's the best weapon of all
Two sharp edges, and a long spine
The blade is very thin and it's easily damaged
You remember that: the vital thing is the point
Pay special attention to it, your life could depend on it


text:
The virtual medium offers special tools that allow you to carry out all kinds of online meetings. This course will offer you various recommendations and important tips to help make all of your virtual gatherings great, from training sessions to fun group get together.
Characteristics of successful online meetings:
- Fun atmosphere
- Quality and Trust
- Interaction and participation
- Time management
- Critical thinking
- Guide material for directing the session
You will also be able to identify the most relevant aspects of a online meetings, and how to get organized depending on the specific objective. The following aspects are explored in depth:
- Types of virtual gatherings
- Duration
- Frequency
- Objectives
- Participants
- Pre-gathering
- Introduction and presentation (breaking the ice)
- Virtual media
- Virtual participation dynamic
- Guiding questions
- Closing and conclusions of the session
- Evaluation and feedback on the session
- Post-gathering and follow up with the team


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Michelle Obama: Consistently high ratings
David Jackson
When it comes to polls, the most consistent aspect of the Obama administration is first lady Michelle Obama.
Mrs. Obama's favorable ratings have never fallen below 62%, and -- like most first ladies -- she has consistently been more popular than her presidential husband, according to an analysis by the Pew Research Center.
The first lady enjoys popularity among different groups, with one notable exception: Conservative Republicans.
"Conservative Republicans see her unfavorably by a roughly two-to-one margin. But even there, she fares better than the president, whom conservative Republicans see unfavorably by 88% to 8%.
"She is also less of a lightning rod among them than Hillary Clinton was at the same point in her time at the White House."


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2009 Jun 15
Juan Ramos Rodríguez-Consolación Florido Yap House
232 Jose Rizal St.
Erected: 1905 Builders: Salustiano (Gonzalo?) Abellana, architect; Andres Cui, chief carpenter Renovated 1936: Mariano Mercado, designer; Ceferino Bargamento, chief carpenter (present owners: Heirs of Porfirio C. Yap, son of Consolacion)
A much-storied house. A scaled-down version, and minus the azotea, represented the Visayan house in the old Nayong Pilipino in Parañaque.
Visayan House Nayong Pilipino (Photo 1975 by Alfredo Yap)
The mestizo Juan Rodriguez married Consolación Florido Yap, a mestiza Sangley from Cebu City in Carcar in 1892. Prior to their marriage, Nyora Asyon already had three children by other men, the second having died in Carcar in 1889 and the third, born and baptized in Carcar in 1890. Nyor Jantoy's grandparents were residents of Sibonga, and his father had wedded a Ramos woman from Carcar. The Rodriguez grandfather was a pure Spaniard from Madrid.
The house was built during their marriage, presumably coinciding with the Upland School (1905), but while the house has lived to this day, the marriage was already beginning to crumble. Per writeups in a Cebu newspaper about the court case, Consolacion reportedly left for Manila where her eldest child Porfirio was studying pharmacy, but came back. The couple still failed to work out their marriage and Consolacion reportedly left again. Juan also left for Manila, whether to follow Consolacion or not cannot be determined anymore. Anyway, Consolacion came back to Carcar and when Juan died in Manila on March 24, 1915 (per his church crypt), she was the one living in the house. The couple had no children.
Since Consolacion had possession, a legal battle ensued as a brother of Juan laid claim to the house and the lot, its camarin, an Australian horse, its carriage, and Thirteen Thousand Pesos. It must have been bitter as family cases go, but the court of first instance ruled in favor of the widow. It was also her contention that she had financed the construction of the house. But Juan's collateral descendants presumably would dispute this also to this day, even as the Rodriguez family had been allowed to take out items of furniture from the house by Consolacion's son during his possession of the property. Consolacion died at fiesta time, on November 24, 1928.
Consolacion Florido Yap (8-Dec-1865 Cebu City - 24-Nov-1928 Carcar) ___
crypt of Juan Ramos Rodriguez (Carcar church, photo by Vip Aleonar)
Meanwhile, Porfirio, having decided to stop his pharmacy studies, with two of his Sandiego cousins had sat for the 1911 examinations for judge-ship and the three passed. He was assigned as juez de paz of next town San Fernando, at the latest by 1914. His cousin Antonio Sandiego was assigned to Barili.
He married an only child of another juez from San Fernando assigned in Carrascal, Surigao (now del Sur) and they had 13 children, 11 of whom reached adulthood and married. After Porfirio and his wife Mercedes Gerasta Tapia died in 1971 and 1980 respectively, administrators were eldest Jose Yap, daughter-in-law Visitacion Alfafara-Yap, daughter Trinidad Yap-Aleonar until her death in 2008 when youngest son Claro was tasked to take over.
An adjoining lot was bought by Porfirio in 1918 from a prominent Carcaranon and the latter, then living on the parcel, even vacated it. As new owner, Porfirio tried to have the lot titled, but was surprised to find it was actually registered only half to the seller and the other half to two minors related to and then living with the person. By 1918, the two minors had been taken to Mindanao by their parents and nothing came of titling it anymore. Porfirio had the lot rented to a number of tenants for some time before he then fenced the entire property. There was a second surprise when 40 years later, in 1958, a daughter of the seller claimed the lot, not by right of inheritance to her father but allegedly after buying the half of the lot from one of the two children, by this time well into her adult years living in Mindanao. The lower court decided in favor of the new claimant but the appellate ruled it back to Porfirio. The decision included Porfirio's right to have the property now titled to him.
Prior to that, the house had felt the effects of World War II more than other houses still standing in Carcar. With the spacious azotea having a commanding view of the South highway, the location proved inviting to Japanese officers and they made it a command house. Ever Japanese, the officers felt no need, nor affection, for the furniture, especially the chairs and tables in the sala and threw them over the window and in fact were using the discarded pieces for firewood. Save for the long dining table which probably served them as the map table. A six-foot mirror in the sala has a bullet hole, its scar and the same time Purple Heart from the war.
Per Records: The earliest record indicating the year the house was built is found in document "Part III. Buildings, Supplement to the Claim of Porfirio C. Yap" (of damages sustained during WWII—Total Damages: P800). The supplementary document attested that 1) house was built in 1905 (original cost P11,000) and 2) improved in 1936 (P1,500).
In the same claim, the original contractors in 1905 were identified as Salustiano Abellana (architect, deceased, from Carcar, Cebu. [Gonzalo Abellana?-ed.]) and Andres Cui (chief carpenter, deceased, from Carcar, Cebu).
For the 1936 improvements, the claim named Mr. Mariano Mercado (designed improvements, deceased) and Ceferino Bargamento (chief carpenter, still living in Carcar, Cebu) with the latter's affidavit attached.
In his affidavit (16 February 1948), Mr. Bargamento attested that there were four other carpenters and five laborers working with him in said repair. The improvements were: construction of a concrete azotea (3.5m. x 8.5 m.), repair of gutter on west side of house, extension of roof on the east side, construction of kitchen and toilet, flush system, and the repainting of the entire house. He also declared that he worked under the supervision of Mr. Mariano Mercado.
Incidentally, it appears that at the time of the improvements, Mariano Mercado, who was living across the street, and to whose house Porfirio was often called for dinner, was the mayor of Carcar.
The azotea had eroded by the 50's and what's standing now is just a fourth of the said 8.5 meters once stretching alongside of the highway. Some pictures of family members taken on it suggest that the roof over it now was not there before, and so was technically an azotea, uncovered. It had slowly crumbled until Porfirio Yap decided the bigger portion was unsafe and had the azotea truncated and reworked. Bad 1936 work? Nobody can say now, yet this 50's edition was only some years ago considering, and already, the masons and craftsmen who worked on it, replicating the 1936 balustrade and balusters (if they did not just transfer the old), are now forgotten. It was also roofed and thus, technically, is not an azotea anymore.
(photo taken and retouched 2002 by Guy Aleonar)
Porfirio C. Yap-Mercedes G. Tapia Family (girl sitting center bottom is Bienvenida Villariasa, a cousin)
(Photo taken 1941 by Eutiquio Tapia for Tapia Studio, San Fernando)


text:
Aurelien Navarre
Aurelien started working at the Daily Newspaper France Soir and then worked for United Business Media (UBM) as a system, network and security engineer where he deployed and managed an ambitious VMware virtualization program.
Previously he was a Drupal web developer at WebZen and participated in building one of the very first Drupal 7 websites with Gold accessibility standards. When he is not helping in the issue queue, he is involved with the competitive intelligence communities, such as Jive and Confluence and also teaches french Drupalists how to master Drupal through weekly screencasts on www.drupalfacile.org.


text:
Sermon on the First Sunday of Lent
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
It falls on me to begin our sermon series on Christianity and the modern world. In this series we'll be looking at how our faith relates to the world around us. We're hoping as a clergy team to sketch out a bright, appealing view of Jesus Christ and his world. We want to show how the faith can be attractive and engaged with the world around us, rather than threatened by it. Our sermons will be about big topics, but they're designed to be relevant; to relate to each of us, and to our concerns about how the world affects us, and what our faith says in response. The first of these is Christianity and secularism. It's a big topic, but here goes:
That time of year thou mayst in me behold,
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.
Is our faith dying? In Sonnet 73, which I've just quoted, Shakespeare speaks about seeing decline in everything: in the autumn leaves, in the setting sun, in the coming of death and so on. These things, he says, should cause us to love what we "must leave ere long." But one phrase catches the eye, where he speaks about autumn boughs "which shake against the cold,Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang." 'Bare ruined choirs' refer, of course, to the churches destroyed or desecrated at the reformation, where all the sacred furnishings had been torn out, and all that was left was a bare preaching box. It's part of a wider pattern of late 16th century nostalgia for the church before Henry VIII. Seeing the ruins of a bygone Christian era, Shakespeare is saying we will lose all things, even the faith which we cherish. And it looks, once again, as though the faith which we received from the saints is dying. All around us we see the ruins of past Christian ages, whether that's in closed churches or the decline of Sunday schools or the loss of regular worshippers. For most British people, our faith is irrelevant to their lives, and a growing number believe it is dangerous. One recent survey found that more people today in Britain believe religion to do more harm than good than those who believed it to do more good than harm. Another found that Britain was the most hostile country towards religion in Europe outside of Russia.
What are we to make of this? Well, first of all, our faith is not dying: from a global perspective it's healthier than ever. More Christians are alive today than ever before, and the church's new faithful in Asia, Africa and South America have more than made up for Europe's secularisation. This past month the Pope celebrated the largest ever Eucharist in the Philippines with more than 6 million people taking communion. Christianity isn't going anywhere. It's also important to distinguish what we mean by secularism. Barry Kosmin, of Trinity College in Connecticut, suggests that secularism comes in two varieties. 'Soft' secularism argues that as religious truth isn't something that everyone holds in common it should not have a place in public decision-making in a democracy. 'Hard' secularism argues that as religious beliefs do not make sense and can't be proved by reason or experience, so are downright dangerous if they have any role in society beyond private life. While there is a core of hard secularists in Britain who believe religious belief is dangerous, many more people are soft secularists who simply believe it doesn't belong in the public sphere. We should not make the mistake of assuming that just because someone is not a person of faith they are hostile to us.
Instead, we should take the growth of secularism and irreligion in our society as an opportunity to explore what our faith really means to us, to show why being a Christian makes a difference, and to show why our faith is not dangerous or simple-minded, but something which can transform human lives for the better. We can, of course, challenge head-on some of the assumptions that 'hard secularists' make. For instance, atheists and agnostics tend to consider human beings primarily in terms of our reason – you can't prove God using logical deduction, so he doesn't exist. But Christianity takes the whole human person seriously: for instance, baptism, by which we are made members of the church, engages our emotions, our sense, and our ethical sense, as well as our reason. And, of course, God, as Christians understand him, is still something which is necessary to make sense of the universe. Even if we can now pinpoint the moment when matter comes into being, we cannot see what causes it to appear. A creator God who exists outside of time and space is still a reasonable answer to the question of how time and everything we can see came into being. Likewise, when a 'soft secularists' say religion should have no place in politics because it causes divisions, we can respond that the scientific community has just as many divisions. Just ask a room full of theoretical physicists about black holes… or don't, if you want an answer you can understand! Religious belief, like anything which is at the core of human identities, has a place in forming the kind of society that enables people to flourish, so it has a natural place in politics.
But these are academic answers in a battle which, culturally, the secular side is winning. Explaining how God fits into our view of the world may be worthwhile, but it tends to be a bit abstract. It gives no answer to the person who says "This is what religion looks like" when they see pictures of people being beheaded in the Middle East.
There is nothing we can do to answer that sort of criticism. To respond, we need to go back to the desert. Jesus in our reading today does just that: "… [T]he Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him." The spirit of our own age has pushed us into the desert. We are bewildered and appalled at how quickly the church has gone from being at the centre of society to being at the margins. We feel isolated and threatened, just as we would be in the desert, with little food and water and the danger of wild beasts all around.
But the desert in scripture is also a place of renewal. The first covenant between God and his people was made, broken and made again in the wilderness of Sinai. In the book of Hosea, God says he will persuade Israel and bring her into the wilderness to renew her to what she was like in her youth. And now Jesus goes into the wilderness to renew our humanity. Having made the waters of baptism of baptism holy to cleanse us from sin, he now goes into the desert to face temptation on our behalf, to overcome our old adversary the devil, and to renew all creation. And so when we see our church pushed towards the desert in our own day, perhaps we should look for what God is doing to remind us of what our faith is really about.
For Christianity is fundamentally about a relationship with the living God, which we can only have through Jesus Christ. The church has no other purpose than knowing and loving God through Jesus Christ; it is not a charity, an institution or a social club, and when it becomes those things, God leads us into the desert until we are renewed. A recent article I read spoke about how the church can't ever stop being 'churchy'. That's not because the church is quaint, but because its sole purpose is to know Jesus Christ and make him known by renewing human lives through prayer and the sacraments. Often people, especially church people, will tell me that the church needs to become more relevant and modern if it is to attract young people. Well, I am a young person, and one thing I can tell you is that people my age can't stand it is people and institutions pretending they are something that they are not. If there is one thing that puts them off about the church more than anything else it is the church pretending to be just another part of the modern world when it isn't. The church is the church and it cannot be any different. We are Christians, who have been made a new creation by water and the spirit. To play that down, and pretend our faith is just a trendy accessory or that the church is an exciting place with modern music, guitars and so on, is to ask to stay in the desert forever. Instead we should renew our bare ruined choirs with the furnishings of authentic faith and fervent prayer.
Now, that's not to say that guitars have no place in church, or that the renewal of the church will be solely through a return to tradition. But we need to take the fact we are in the desert seriously. Many of those who have turned away from the church over the last few decades have done so because they felt they found pride and hypocrisy there. We need to take a long hard long in the mirror, and ask whether we as a church in this country really do reflect the face of authentic, living Christianity. Do we speak honestly about our relationship with God? If we have received such benefits from regularly attending church and receiving holy communion, do we share this with others and invite them to come too? Do we let our work with the community get in the way of our task to make disciples of all nations? In a country where most people are even more disenchanted with politics than they are with religion, does our relationship with the state get in the way of the church's mission? My own view is that the church is seen as privileged because it is established, and that this gets in the way of our offering an attractive, appealing faith to a hurting society, but that is a topic for another sermon!
The desert is the place of where God gives us renewal and new life. And from our time in the desert God will bring new life to our church and to our nation. We see the green shoots of renewal already in a return to authentic Christian tradition among young clergy and ordinands. We have reason to hope when our bishops tell us that the church's one priority for the coming decades is to grow. And from these things will come the transformation of lives and communities. We already are beginning to see that in the work of food banks, Christian educational charities and in the church's engagement with the political system. This week the House of Bishops called for a new kind of politics where people are no longer demeaned and where the common good of all is sought. Lively faith in Christ cannot stay within the church's walls for long, but will always seek to change people and society. If being in the desert forces us to return to the heart of our faith, then God will not let us stay there forever. He will send us out into the world to proclaim the gospel, to repent of our sins and to bring the kingdom of God come near to others. Amen.
Reverend Jonathan Bish, Curate, Halifax Minster


text:
2012 has been full of learning experiences for me, both personally and professionally. Usually when someone uses the phrase "learning experience," they actually mean "painful experience."
It's so true, right?
Any time I learn a powerful lesson, there's almost always some sort of discomfort that comes along with it. Take mixing, for example. I love to mix, but there are days where I would rather swim with hungry alligators than work on a mix.
Sometimes mixing comes easy. Sometimes it's painful.
But if you can persevere, there's always something to learn, something that will make your future mixes better.
Here are some of the things I learned:
Give Your Mix a "Time Out"
No matter how awesome you think your mix is, resist the urge to share it with the world until you've given it a time out.
Time-outs work like gangbusters in the Gilder house. Our two-year-old Owen can completely lose it some days. Sticking him in a "time-out" in the corner for two minutes usually does the trick.
When it comes to mixing, one of the best things you can do for your mix is to simply step away. After a couple hours of mixing, your ears have accustomed themselves to what they're hearing. If your mix has some blatantly huge issues, you might not even notice them.
THAT'S why you need to give your mix a time-out. It's misbehaving, and you don't even know it, because you're too close to the situation.
Come back to it the next day, or maybe take a lunch break. When you come back with fresh ears, you'll instantly hear those two or three issues in the mix that need to be addressed.
Now you can address them before you send the mix off to be heard by others.
Trust me on this one. Your ears are tricky little creatures. Make 'em be honest with you before you do your final bounce.
Level vs EQ
This one's so easy I regularly forget about it.
If you're fighting with a particular track in a mix, and you just can't seem to make it sound right, what's your first instinct?
I can tell you what mine is. I instantly reach for an EQ knob and start twisting. If it's too harsh or too boomy, then I obviously need to cut some frequencies in the low mids or upper mids, right?
But what I've found is that when I find myself using very aggressive EQ, chances are there's another more obvious problem at hand.
What problem?
The track is simply at the wrong volume.
Almost every time I find myself really wrestling with a particular track, using crazy EQ cuts, sooner or later I realize that the track is simply too loud or too quiet.
I'll remove all the EQ crazyness and move the fader up or down a few dB.
The result? It sounds instantly better.
Don't forget how powerful a simple fader move can be.
The Great and Powerful Crap Speaker
This is one of those tips the music stores don't want you to think about. 🙂
Yes, it's important to have good, accurate studio monitors and/or headphones.
However, I've found (especially this past year) that my crappy little 3" speakers are insanely helpful mixing tools.
People always ask me, "What crappy speakers do you recommend?"
That's a hilarious question. Just use something crappy. Something with a small speaker on it. I've got some old Roland speakers with a 3-inch woofer. They're not full range, and they're not good for making really detailed decisions.
However, they INSTANTLY show me major flaws in my mix. Like if the vocal is too loud, or if the bass it too muddy. Or maybe the guitars are too aggressive or the snare drum disappears.
As an added bonus, I only use one of these speakers, and I send a mono signal to it. So now it's my crap speaker AND my mono speaker.
I've found that if I can get the mix to sound killer on this speaker, it will sound killer in my car, and it will still sound great on my nice monitors, too.
It's not always fun to hear your mix on a crap speaker, but it can be insanely useful.
Dare to Compare
Comparisons can be painful.
You might think your mix is amazing, but then you hear it next to a professional mix, and you're instantly sad. The pro mix sounds so much better than yours.
Yes, it hurts (and yes, I've been there many a time). But it's good for you to take these long honest "looks" at your mixes. If your mix doesn't stand up to a professional mix, then you probably have some more work to do.
It's difficult and frustrating, but it makes you better.
Compare your mixes to professional ones, and slowly but surely your mixes will start sounding more and more professional.
The Mix is Slave to the Recording
This is probably the most important thing you could learn. (And it's been something I've run into over and over again this year.)
Your mix is slave to the recording.
If the recording sounds horrible, your mix will sound horrible.
It's so easy to have the "I'll just fix it in the mix" mentality, but you simply CAN'T do it. You can enhance a recording. You can even make it sound better. But your mixes won't be amazing if you're not putting as much focus and effort on the recording side as you do the mixing side.
You must…you simply MUST…put in huge amounts of effort to capture great-sounding performances. This means rescheduling a session for another day if the performer isn't "feeling it." It means re-recording tracks that simply don't sound good. It means spending lots of time working out the arrangement before you lay down a bunch of tracks. It means taking the time to audition a few mic placements before you start recording.
The better your recordings sound, the better your mixes will sound.
Your Turn!
Okay, now I want to hear from you. What have you learned in 2012? Let's make the comments below a huge list of recording and mixing tips.
Ready? Go!


text:
The Rutgers Philosophy Dept. — the university's best department by a wide margin — scored big in this New York Times write-up about how it is rapidly growing in popularity with students. The number of majors has doubled in the past six years and the article explores the "why" of this thirst for knowledge.
To the reasons cited by the Times reporter we suggest adding a few. Such as:
o An escape from bozo. Classes in many departments are littered with disruptive, loud bozos (the "students" attracted by football that AD Mulcahy and McCormick like to brag about?). More professors in other departments are complaining about how too many of their students are just taking up space — devoid of curiosity and intellect alike. Philosophy classes remain an intellectual sanctuary even on a campus increasingly overrun by obstreperous Philistines. Good students at Rutgers have fewer places to escape to, and Philosophy just may be the brainiest place on campus.
o Quality attracts quality. Rutgers may have acted on the cheap with most departments but it has not scrimped with Philosophy, which has a faculty composed of world-class scholars such as Tim Maudlin, recently announced winner of a 2008 Guggenheim. It is a pity that so many other departments have to pass the beggar's cup. Imagine if the many millions that had been poured into a football program that is charitably called mediocre had been spent on scholarship. Just imagine.
The pity is that of course Rutgers could — should — have many more top-tier departments but under Dick McCormick really only four (Philosophy, English, History, and Criminology in Newark) rank among the nation's best. And all had that prestige long before McCormick arrived on the Banks as president.
Exactly what has Dick McCormick done during his six years? Ah…perhaps Rutgers' philosophers ought to debate that. Does doing nothing count as doing? Can McCormick be busy doing nothing?


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It's a busy time in our attempts to study our species' pre-modern history. Just two weeks ago, researchers reported the sequence of the oldest bones to yield human DNA. Now, the same research group is back with an entire genome, obtained from a bone found in Siberia's Denisova cave. This genome comes from a Neanderthal, but all the data reveals a lot about all the interconnections among the pre-modern human groups that were wandering around Eurasia tens of thousands of years ago. The analysis came with a tantalizing hint that one of those groups had interbred with a species separated from modern humans by over a million years—perhaps Homo erectus.
The Denisova cave is famous for having yielded the bones that helped us identify the Denisovans, a group of archaic humans that inhabited Asia at the same time as the Neanderthals. Although we haven't found enough bones to know much about what the Denisovans looked like, DNA analysis has revealed that they are most closely related to Neanderthals and that they interbred with modern humans that went on to populate East Asia, the Americas, and the Pacific.
The new results spring from a toe bone found in the same cave, this one from a layer that is estimated to be tens of thousands of years earlier. DNA sequencing revealed the bone to be from a Neanderthal, a different group of pre-modern humans that is most closely related to the Denisovans. The DNA was in excellent condition and had a minimal (about one percent) contamination with sequences from modern humans. The team generated a high-quality genome using samples from this bone.
The sequence that resulted tells us a lot about Neanderthals. For one, it shows that other populations we've obtained DNA from (samples found in the Caucasus and Croatia) were closely related but distinct, indicating that the Neanderthals were already well established by the time this individual died. Those populations were apparently quite small, however, since there's not a lot of genetic diversity among them. In the case of the specific individual in the Denisovan cave, the lack of diversity was quite severe. Rather than carrying two distinct sets of chromosomes, large stretches of the two chromosomes were identical, indicating that they were inherited from a single individual in the recent past.
The extent of this identity suggests that the parents of this individual were half-siblings, although other combinations (uncle-niece, aunt-nephew) would also produce a similar pattern.
But the more significant results come from what this new sequence tells us about the other groups of humans present at the time, including modern humans. To begin with, it confirms the rough timing of the split between the ancestors of modern humans and the ancestors of Neanderthals and Denisovans, which took place about 550,000-600,000 years ago. The Neanderthals and Denisovans became a distinct population about 400,000 years ago.
The sequence also provides a clearer estimate of the amount of Neanderthal DNA that shows up in modern human populations: 1.5 to 2.1 percent. And it confirms that it got there via interbreeding, since the Neanderthal sequence looks most similar to the sample obtained from the Caucasus remains. Had it been inherited through a structured ancestral population in Africa, it should look like it was equally distant from all three of the Neanderthal genomes. The other thing that's apparent is that modern Asian and American populations have a bit more Neanderthal DNA than others, suggesting that a low amount of interbreeding continued as our ancestors moved east.
Our ancestors weren't the only ones who couldn't resist getting a piece of the Neanderthals. At least a half percent of the Denisovan genome also came from them as well.
But perhaps the most unexpected finding comes from a comparison with the Denisovan genome. Modern humans in Africa never overlapped geographically with Neanderthals or Denisovans and thus contain none of their DNA. Therefore, any shared DNA they have should be inherited from a common ancestor, and the African's should be equally distant from the Neanderthals and Denisovans. Yet they're not. The Denisovans have some sequences that are much more distant than you'd expect.
After considering and rejecting a couple of alternative explanations for this, the paper settles on a rather radical explanation: Denisovans themselves interbred with a population that had been separated from their common ancestor with modern humans for about a million years. This, as the authors note, suggests that the DNA's source was Homo erectus. In fact, they suggest that the Denisovan's entire mitochondrial genome might have come from this interbreeding event, since it's much more distant from the Neanderthals' than the rest of the genome is.
Of course, that explanation is even harder to square with the findings from the ancient bones in Spain, which had a similar sequence but came from skeletons that looked somewhat like Neanderthals. Unless, of course, the Spanish population also interbred with Homo erectus (or whatever this is) at some point.
In any case, the results add yet another layer onto the increasingly complicated Out-of-Africa model of the origin of modern humans. We still arose in Africa and migrated out into Eurasia. But once we got there, we interbred with a previous wave of African expatriates and incorporated a small bit of their genetic legacy into our own. And one part of that previous wave may have even incorporated a tiny piece of a species that hadn't seen Africa for a very long time.
Nature, 2013. DOI: 10.1038/nature12886 (About DOIs).


text:
Thank you so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day. :)
49th Tablescape Thursday ~ July 30, 2009
Thank you so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day. :)
38 comments:
enjoyed your lovely east/west tablescape...your foo dogs are lovely. i have a pair i bought in china in the 80s and still enjoy them to this day.ReplyDelete
have a lovely rest of the week.
What a fun setting. I'm with you right now in Western Washington and I was happy to have a post in my archives I could use because it's sooooo hot here I couldn't create anything new today :0)ReplyDelete
Happy Tablescaping to you. Keep cool...
This is really pretty - umm - makes me crave some Chinese take out!ReplyDelete
What an interesting table! The photo of the flower is exquisite!!!ReplyDelete
This was great! So very different and your photographs are fantastic!ReplyDelete
Loved it all!
All the best,
This is absolutely lovely!ReplyDelete
Lovely tablescape! Your Foo Dogs are fabulous! I love them! I've been searching for a pair for some time; I'v never came across any as detailed and pretty as yours! The ones that I have liked are always many $$$$.ReplyDelete
I love the detail and the colors on your east/west tablescape! Beautiful!
Wowe...that is such a beautiful tablescape. Loved it.ReplyDelete
I love your table, but those Foo dogs are gorgeous! I am envious of your lily. I can't seem to grow them! Beautiful post!ReplyDelete
I just love your table, I have Oriental things all over my home! I am coveting those foo dogs! Beautiful table! Please stop by to see mine if you can! Pinky:)ReplyDelete
Those lilies are stunning.. beautiful table.
Great tablescape! I love the bamboo steamers and the foo dogs.ReplyDelete
What a pretty table. I love your colors and special memories.ReplyDelete
Your photographs are unbelievable! They are so clear with every detail noted.
Great job!
Beautiful, unusual and inspirational tablesetting but I am not surprised. You have a knack for the unique and beautiful things. Your photographs are to be admired as always. I am envious of your photographic eye.ReplyDelete
Oh how wonderful!!! Your photos are stunning!!! This talescape is so unique and beautiful!!! I love the Foo Dogs...gorgeous!!!ReplyDelete
Happy TT!!!
I really like this! It is very different! Great job!ReplyDelete
That looks like fun...what a great idea! Love everything!ReplyDelete
Stay Cozy, Carrie
Gorgeous! I love it!ReplyDelete
What a wonderful table and how nice to remember a shopping trip with your mom. Enjoy your day.ReplyDelete
Having worked in Asia for sometime I really am grateful to see this, very enlightened!ReplyDelete
I absolutely love the lily photos. One of my favorite flowers.ReplyDelete
I love the meaning of The Foo Dogs for you~ReplyDelete
Very pretty ideas Mary..I like my Bamboo Baskets..The meal always tastes so good:)
Your table is beautiful! Such lovely accesories and the white lily is a simple elegant touch.ReplyDelete
~ ~Ahrisha~ ~
Such a clever idea Mari! Your table and your photos are beautiful.ReplyDelete
Hello Mari...ReplyDelete
What a lovely table you've set...I love the east-west theme!!! Love your place settings with the stackable bamboo servers...simple yet stunning! The fresh lily is gorgeous and just the right touch for your pretty table! All of your photos are soooo beautiful! You're a talented lady, my friend! Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful table with us today!
Have a wonderfully sweet day!
How very very nice...I love this theme...those little steamers are adorable.ReplyDelete
I love your Asian-inspired tablescape! The foo dogs are gorgeous. I've been looking for a set for years but all the ones I find are crazy expensive. It's so nice you have them to remind you of a fun day out with your mom.ReplyDelete
I really enjoyed looking at your Asian tablescape. Now all we need are pot stickers and shumai....ChristineReplyDelete
Terrific tablescape!ReplyDelete
The Foo dogs look ferocious! Maybe because food is about to be put out! I like your east/west tablescape. And that glass set for the sauces is really neat!ReplyDelete
Your table is very, very special. Love all the elements you've brought together so adeptly, and your photographs are fantastic!ReplyDelete
Bye for now,
Love your tablescape! The memories you shared about the Foo Dogs is priceless. Thanks for giving us a glimpse...ReplyDelete
Jane (Artfully Graced)
I LOVE this tablescape...all of your details. The quality of your photos is also exuisite!ReplyDelete
I love the east and west theme. The foo dogs are what caught my eye first. Such a cute idea with the steamers and the porcelain spoons. This table has a simply elegance in your presentation. Lovely!!!ReplyDelete
Well done, this is a fabulous table scape, the yingyang soy/vinegar bottle is a fantastic accessory.ReplyDelete
Thanks for sharing the inspiration.
Awesome! You did such a great job! Your photos look great to!ReplyDelete
Great tablescape. Fabulous photos.ReplyDelete
This tablescape is so unique. Your Foo dogs are wonderful, and I love your porcelain soup spoon. What a gorgeous Lily, and how perfectly beautiful to just lay it on the table. laurieReplyDelete


text:
"Little" Jacob Hughes is a 26-year old Jamaican arms and drug dealer who lives in Schottler, Broker. He is a good friend to the Bellic cousins, the main characters of the game. Jacob is second-in-command and a good friend of Real Badman, and is part of the Hillside Posse. He operates from his home, and out of a pool hall called the Homebrew Cafe.
Jacob plays an important role in the game, and many missions, tasks Niko has to do are almost impossible without his assistance. He also becomes a friend and, if the relationship level is high enough, sells weapons to Niko at a convenience and discount. He helps Niko gain revenge on the final mission of the game, where he tracks down Niko's targets for him.
Little Jacob meets Niko Bellic through Roman, whom he apparently befriended after being a regular fare for Roman's taxi company. Jacob and Niko work together temporarily for Real Badman, delivering drugs and eliminating rival dealers. Little Jacob eventually becomes close friends with Niko and aids him in many situations -- along with selling him discounted firearms, he warns Niko of a suspected ambush by Dimitri Rascalov, going with him as backup. Little Jacob is also associates with Elizabeta Torres, who he says is way too dangerous (even in Badman's opinion). On Elizabeta's last drug transaction, they get in an extremely heated argument. Jacob joins Niko to oversee a cocaine deal for her, and they are eventually caught by Michelle.
Little Jacob later aids Niko during the murder of a supposed Russian terrorist, manning the rockets during a helicopter chase. The bond between Jacob and the Bellics is so tight that both Little Jacob and Real Badman attend Roman Bellic's wedding; following an attack on the wedding, Little Jacob aids Niko in hunting down and murdering Jimmy Pegorino or Dimitri Rascalov (depending on how the story has unfolded) as revenge. It could be said that Jacob is Niko's truest friend in Liberty City, as he unconditionally and unhesitatingly came to Niko's aid both in this situation, and the earlier ambush by Dimitri.
Little Jacob reveals considerably less about his personal life than other friendship characters. Instead, he and Niko often insightfully discuss philosophy and concerns for other people they know. According to Badman during his random encounter, Jacob has a girlfriend that he loves very much and often treats to gifts (which Jacob mentions once himself). Jacob and Badman once had a third friend nicknamed Grandad who could keep Badman calm, but he has since then moved to Jamaica. One of Jacob's best traits is loyalty, as he always stands by Niko and goes out of his way to help him.
Jacob is a typical Rastafarian who speaks in Iyaric (terms like "I and I"), discusses Jah, Rasta and Zionist ideals with Niko, and finds most non-Ital food and weed distasteful (ironically, his first appearance in the game is a brief cutscene outside a Burger Shot and he also likes the food in Cluckin Bell). His accent is difficult to understand, but much easier in comparison to Badman's near-impenetrable Jamaican patois, so Jacob often acts as translator. He loves reggae music, particularly the stations Tuff Gong Radio (an all-Bob Marley station) and Massive B Soundsystem 96.9. He mentions being a huge fan of reggae artist Sonny Bradshaw, calling him his "uncle" spiritually. Niko agrees that "he plays good music" but sadly he is not featured on the game's soundtrack. Jacob and Niko also both like Bobby Konders. Jacob constantly smokes marijuana (even during the helicopter chase), seeing it as "enlightenment", although other times he says he is trying to quit. He often speaks of his concern for Badman smoking too much marijuana and becoming highly paranoid (an effect that Jacob does not experience). Jacob confesses that he thinks Badman could try to kill him out of paranoia.
Special ability
When the player unlocks Little Jacob's special ability as a friend, Niko can call him and purchase several weapons at a discounted price from his car in a secluded location. The best times to call for activities are between 1pm - 4am. Jacob owns a red Virgo, and inside its trunk contains the weapons for the player to purchase. He doesn't sell Rocket Launchers, Baseball Bats, or Desert Eagles, and only sells the Combat Sniper Rifle, not the conventional model.
Mission appearances
- First Date (Cameo, is seen eating at Burger Shot)
- Jamaican Heat (Proper introduction)
- Concrete Jungle (Boss)
- Shadow (Boss)
- Russian Revolution
- The Snow Storm
- Paper Trail
- I'll Take Her... (Voice only)
- Mr. and Mrs. Bellic (Deal & Revenge)
- A Revenger's Tragedy (Deal) OR Out of Commission (Revenge) (Boss)
LCPD Database record
Surname: Hughes
First Name: "Little" Jacob
Age: 26
Place of Birth: Jamaica
Affiliations: Linked to West Indian criminal gangs in East Liberty City.
Criminal Record:
- 2001 - Armed Robbery (Age 19)
- 2002 - Burglary: Illegal Entry with Criminal Intent (Age 20)
- 2006 - Possession Controlled Substance: Marijuana (Age 24)
- AKA Little Jacob
- Jamaican criminal based in East Liberty City
- Believed to be part of a Marijuana and Cocaine distribution network run by Teafore Maxwell-Davies, street name - Real Badman.
- Suspect in several armed robberies and hijackings.
- In the Mafiya Work multiplayer mode of GTA IV, Kenny Petrovic calls him 'Small Jacob' instead of 'Little Jacob'.
- In the early pre-release artworks, a character that can only be presumed to be Little Jacob (due to being Jamaican, smoking and being mentioned) has short hair. His hair was probably changed to fit more within the Jamaican stereotype.
External link
gta4onlineguide.com - contains details on how to raise Little Jacob's like percentage


text:
In more ways than one. The whole effort was…
"Bad…monstrously bad."
Why, if it isn't Leonard Pinth-Garnel, erstwhile theater critic of "Saturday Night Live" fame…
"Yes, Peerless, and wasn't that an atrociously bad play in four acts last night."
Do tell.
"Well, in our first act, we have the red-clad Capitals spinning and twirling in such form as to make the visitors from Long Island look especially, gigglingly bad in trying to keep up. But all was for naught as their shots were triflingly bad, failing to make the Islander goaltender, the stiflingly bad Rick DiPietro, do much more than stay in the way of those unerringly bad shots. It was comically bad…a Capital would shoot, and one would hear a thud cascade through the arena (where attendance was excruciatingly bad) as the puck would thud against Mr. DiPietro's leg pads.
"The first act came to a mercifully bad end with less than five minutes in the first period as the Islanders threw – in an aimlessly bad fashion by Miroslav Satan (is that a frighteningly bad name for a hockey player?) – the puck at the net. Fortunately for the visitors, Sean Bergenheim wriggled free from the indifferently bad defense of Tomas Fleischmann to swat the puck into the Capitals' net. And so, the curtain came down on Act I.
"Act II began thereafter, as the Islanders dominated the play for the rest of the period and for all of the second period. It was as if the Capitals had had some bad…uh, tapas…at a local eating establishment. Or perhaps some bad sushi. Whatever the cause of the malady, the Capitals looked distressingly bad throughout the middle stages of the play…uh, game. The veteran Bill Guerin scored for the visitors on a power play after the Capitals goaltender – Olaf Kolzig – was guilty of a bad-bad-bad decision to swat an Islander in the face with his glove after the Islander decided to make use of Kolzig as a Barcalounger. And so, Act II came to an end.
"As we began Act III, the ferociously bad-ass Alexander Ovechkin announced his presence not two minutes into the Act…uh, period…by slamming the puck past DiPietro on a nice feed from the unfortunately badly named, Joe Motzko. Not five minutes later, Nicklas Backstrom executed an exquisitely un-bad pass to Fleischmann, who was waiting in the midst of the statuesquely bad Islander defense to tie the game. And so, we came to the triumphant end of Act III.
"Act IV completed the tragedy for the surprisingly bad home team. The Capitals managed to record the only shots on goal after the Fleischmann goal until the Capitals' captain – Chris Clark – took what looked to be a very, very bad penalty for tripping, whistled by Chris Lee, who was enormously bad in his role as referee in this contest. It took the Islanders only 54 seconds to untie the game, as Bryan Berard slipped the puck from long range through the pads of Olaf Kolzig. From there, the game degenerated into a cacophony of badness as Bill Guerin registered his second and third goals of the evening to complete the scoring. Despite his having achieved what hockey people refer to as a "hat trick," there were no hats flung to the ice, Capitals fans preferring to throw themselves from the balconies to register their displeasure over such a bad display. The horn echoed through the arena at the end of the period to send the dejected crowd, if such a small clot of attendees could be called a "crowd," to the exits. It was a wretchingly bad night, all around, for the home team.
That's, uh…quite a review, Leonard.
"Well, at least it wasn't a 'bad' review, eh?"
Any comments on individual players?
"What would be the point? One might say that from among the 20 players with a sweater tonight, the best of them was Brent Johnson."
That's pretty hard, there, Leonard?
"Well, I suppose one might say that for some, they were less bad than others."
But none of them played well?
"Well, there was Donald Brashear…"
He only had 1:46 in ice time!
"Precisely…he wasn't out there long enough to be bad."
Anything else to add?
"Well, if the Capitals play at that immensely bad level on Saturday, you're new scoreboard is going to need another digit."
Bad news…


text:
We celebrate all the winter holidays in my Pre-K class. I believe it's a great time to promote multiculturalism. Be sure to hop on over to Pre-K and K Sharing for more on what we do for other holidays and to read my post: "Using Holiday Celebrations to Promote Multiculturalism in Early Childhood Settings."
Christmas is such a magical time, and I definitely take advantage of it! We had so much fun making giant gingerbread people, that we made a few giant candy cane decorations for the classroom.
We made a couple of ornaments for presents for the parents. We made cute snowflakes from foam die cuts and added a picture of each child on one side and let the kids decorate with winter foam stickers, glitter and sequins on the other side. They turned out beautifully, but somehow managed to miss getting photographed before being wrapped.(Had the kids not wrapped the gifts themselves, I would have definitely unwrapped for a few shots and rewrapped! ) We also made these cute snowman handprint ornaments for the tree in our preschool lobby. On the last day of school, parents were invited to take their ornament with them to use at home.
I put seasonal items in our centers to make things fun.
And added a few props to change our scenery.
I saw this CUTE snowball toss game on Teaching Heart Blog in the post: Winter Party Planning Printables. It took me about 15 minutes to make and about $2 in supplies. I simply cut a few simple shapes from construction paper and stuck them onto clear contact paper and applied the whole thing to the front of the pop-up hamper. I ended up stapling the contact paper to the front of my hamper, as it didn't stick well to the fabric for long. We played this all week and will probably use it in January for our winter/snow and polar pal units, as well!
We made Santa Claus decorations from paper plates, cotton and a little red construction paper.
And these reindeer handprint puppets from paper bags and brown paper:
We did a lot of singing and dancing. Our favorite songs were The Tractors': "Santa Claus Is Coming On a Boogie Woogie Choo Choo Train" and Raffi's: "Must Be Santa".
The morning of our party, we made these reindeer cupcakes from chocolate frosted cupcakes, pretzels and a few candies. We saved them for our party later that day.
My absolute FAVORITE holiday idea this year came from The SEEDS Network. I found these adorable (and very yummy) melted snowman s'mores over there and immediately knew they would be perfect to include in my gifts to my students this year. I have shared this idea with every teacher I know! I am also making a batch to take to all of my nieces and nephews on Christmas Eve.
I never know exactly what to get my little friends. I usually try to get them a coloring book, because we don't do any coloring "inside the lines" in Pre-K (to find out why, read here). These are the goodies I finally decided upon.
Our final day before the holiday was celebrated in true Pre-K style! We wore our jammies and had a Polar Express movie party while drinking very cool hot cocoa. A nice way to end a very hectic season!
My holiday wish for you, whatever holiday you celebrate, is that your days are Merry and Bright!


text:
Senate Republicans Rig System, Trigger 'Nuclear Option' to Push Through Gorsuch
Senate Republicans rushed through a confirmation vote Thursday on President Donald Trump's nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court. Judge Neil Gorsuch has been met with widespread criticism both across the country and from the Senate before, during and after his confirmation process.
For more than 200 years, the Senate has honored a 60 vote margin for Supreme Court nominees to be confirmed. Gorsuch only received 55. According to existing Senate procedure, Gorsuch's nomination would be defeated and the Senate would move forward without confirming him to the court. Instead, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell changed the rules and triggered the so-called "nuclear option" for what had been deemed the "greatest deliberative body" to force Gorsuch's nomination through.
The Senate rightfully rejected Judge Neil Gorsuch's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. It is their duty to advise and consent on judicial nominees and with this vote, they refused their consent and advised President Donald Trump that Gorsuch is not fit to be granted a lifetime appointment to America's highest court.
We live in a representative democracy, where the people are to be the ones in charge. Yet, Senate Republicans have rigged the system to appease their leader, President Donald Trump, in order to put a man on the Supreme Court that has been backed by $10 million in shadowy money from big corporations. This is not how democracy works and Mitch McConnell and the Senate Republicans should be ashamed of themselves.
Senate Republicans have made their choice to serve President Donald Trump instead of serving the American people.
EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
Chance of 40 Degree Celsius Days in UK 'Rapidly Increasing' Due to Climate Crisis
The chance that UK summer days could hit the 40 degree Celsius mark on the thermometer is on the rise, a new study from the country's Met Office Hadley Centre has found.
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The U.S. Isn't in a Second Wave of Coronavirus – The First Wave Never Ended
By Melissa Hawkins
After sustained declines in the number of COVID-19 cases over recent months, restrictions are starting to ease across the United States. Numbers of new cases are falling or stable at low numbers in some states, but they are surging in many others. Overall, the U.S. is experiencing a sharp increase in the number of new cases a day, and by late June, had surpassed the peak rate of spread in early April.
Seven day rolling average of number of people confirmed to have COVID-19, per day (not including today). This chart gets updated once per day with data by Johns Hopkins. Johns Hopkins university doesn't provide reliable data for March 12 and March 13. Johns Hopkins CSSE Get the data
To Have a Second Wave, the First Wave Needs to End.
A wave of an infection describes a large rise and fall in the number of cases. There isn't a precise epidemiological definition of when a wave begins or ends.

But with talk of a second wave in the news, as an epidemiologist and public health researcher, I think there are two necessary factors that must be met before we can colloquially declare a second wave.

First, the virus would have to be controlled and transmission brought down to a very low level. That would be the end of the first wave. Then, the virus would need to reappear and result in a large increase in cases and hospitalizations.

Many countries in Europe and Asia have successfully ended the first wave. New Zealand and Iceland have also made it through their first waves and are now essentially coronavirus-free, with very low levels of community transmission and only a handful of active cases currently.

Different States, Different Trends
Looking at U.S. numbers as a whole hides what is really going on. Different states are in vastly different situations right now and when you look at states individually, four major categories emerge.

Places where the first wave is ending: States in the Northeast and a few scattered elsewhere experienced large initial spikes but were able to mostly contain the virus and substantially brought down new infections. New York is a good example of this.

Places still in the first wave: Several states in the South and West – see Texas and California – had some cases early on, but are now seeing massive surges with no sign of slowing down.

Places in between: Many states were hit early in the first wave, managed to slow it down, but are either at a plateau – like North Dakota – or are now seeing steep increases – like Oklahoma.

Places experiencing local second waves: Looking only at a state level, Hawaii, Montana and Alaska could be said to be experiencing second waves. Each state experienced relatively small initial outbreaks and was able to reduce spread to single digits of daily new confirmed cases, but are now all seeing spikes again.

The trends aren't surprising based on how states have been dealing with reopening. The virus will go wherever there are susceptible people and until the U.S. stops community spread across the entire country, the first wave isn't over.

What Could a Second Wave Look Like?
It is possible – though at this point it seems unlikely – that the U.S. could control the virus before a vaccine is developed. If that happens, it would be time to start thinking about a second wave. The question of what it might look like depends in large part on everyone's actions.

The 1918 flu pandemic was characterized by a mild first wave in the winter of 1917-1918 that went away in summer. After restrictions were lifted, people very quickly went back to pre-pandemic life. But a second, deadlier strain came back in fall of 1918 and third in spring of 1919. In total, more than 500 million people were infected worldwide and upwards of 50 million died over the course of three waves.

It was the combination of a quick return to normal life and a mutation in the flu's genome that made it more deadly that led to the horrific second and third waves.

Thankfully, the coronavirus appears to be much more genetically stable than the influenza virus, and thus less likely to mutate into a more deadly variant. That leaves human behavior as the main risk factor.

Until a vaccine or effective treatment is developed, the tried-and-true public health measures of the last months – social distancing, universal mask wearing, frequent hand-washing and avoiding crowded indoor spaces – are the ways to stop the first wave and thwart a second one. And when there are surges like what is happening now in the U.S., further reopening plans need to be put on hold.

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Climate advocates pointed to news Sunday that fracking giant Chesapeake Energy was filing for bankruptcy as further evidence that the fossil fuel industry's collapse is being hastened by the coronavirus pandemic and called for the government to stop propping up businesses in the field.
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Coronavirus and Climate Change: Collective Action Is the Only Way Forward
By Neil King and Gabriel Borrud
Human beings all over the world agreed to strict limitations to their rights when governments made the decision to enter lockdown during the COVID-19 crisis. Many have done it willingly on behalf of the collective. So why can't this same attitude be seen when tackling climate change?
- The Crunch Question on Climate: How Can I Help? - EcoWatch ›
- The Power of Collective Action Gangnam Style - EcoWatch ›
- Scientist Finds Remarkable Way to Connect People Emotionally ... ›
No Social Distancing or Mask Requirement at Trump's Mt. Rushmore Fireworks Event
Fire experts have already criticized President Trump's planned fireworks event for this Friday at Mt. Rushmore National Memorial as a dangerous idea. Now, it turns out the event may be socially irresponsible too as distancing guidelines and mask wearing will not be enforced at the event, according to CNN.
- Trump's Fireworks Show at Mt. Rushmore Is a Dangerous Idea, Fire ... ›
- Attendees at Trump's First Rally Since March Can't Sue if They Get ... ›
How COVID-19 Creates Food Waste Mountains That Threaten the Environment
By Emma Charlton
Gluts of food left to rot as a consequence of coronavirus aren't just wasteful – they're also likely to damage the environment.
Methane on the Rise
Not only is this a tragic waste of food at a time when many are going hungry, it is also an environmental hazard and could contribute to global warming. Landfill gas – roughly half methane and half carbon dioxide (CO2) – is a natural byproduct of the decomposition of organic material.

Food decay leads to production of greenhouse gases, methane and carbon dioxide. EPA
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, 28 to 36 times more effective than CO2 at trapping heat in the atmosphere over a 100-year period, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

"Many export-oriented producers produce volumes far too large for output to be absorbed in local markets, and thus organic waste levels have mounted substantially," says Robert Hamwey, Economic Affairs Officer at UN agency UNCTAD. "Because this waste is left to decay, levels of methane emissions, a greenhouse gas, from decaying produce are expected to rise sharply in the crisis and immediate post-crisis months."

Food supply chains are easily disrupted. UN FAO
Dumping food was already a problem before the crisis. In America alone, $218 billion is spent growing, processing, transporting and disposing of food that is never eaten, estimates ReFED, a collection of business, non-profit and government leaders committed to reducing food waste. That's equivalent to around 1.3% of GDP.

Since the pandemic took hold, farmers are dumping 14 million liters of milk each day because of disrupted supply routes, estimates Dairy Farmers of America. A chicken processor was forced to destroy 750,000 unhatched eggs a week, according to the New York Times, which also cited an onion farmer letting most of his harvest decompose because he couldn't distribute or store them.

Food Prices Collapsing
The excess has also seen prices collapse. The FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) averaged 162.5 points in May 2020, down 3.1 points from April and reaching the lowest monthly average since December 2018. The gauge has dropped for four consecutive months, and the latest decline reflects falling values of all the food commodities – dairy, meat, cereal, vegetable – except sugar, which rose for the first time in three months.

All this while the pandemic is exacerbating other global food trends.

"This year, some 49 million extra people may fall into extreme poverty due to the COVID-19 crisis," said António Guterres, Secretary-General of the UN. "The number of people who are acutely food or nutrition insecure will rapidly expand. Even in countries with abundant food, we see risks of disruptions in the food supply chain."

- Food Waste Set to Increase by 33 Percent Within 10 Years - EcoWatch ›
- Reducing Food Waste Is Good for Economy and Climate, Report Says ›
- 23 Organizations Eliminating Food Waste During COVID-19 ... ›
Puerto Rico's governor declared a state of emergency on Monday after a severe drought on the island left 140,000 people without access to running water, despite the necessary role that hand washing and hygiene plays in stopping the novel coronavirus, as The Independent reported.
- When the Government Failed Puerto Rico, Local Communities ... ›
- Latino Voters Worried About Climate Change Could Swing 2020 ... ›


text:
Michael Koziarski
Software Consultant, Koziarski Software Limited
Michael "Koz" Koziarski is a software consultant specialising in Ruby on Rails, database architecture, web based businesses and object oriented design. He's been a contributor to Rails since 2004, a Rails Core Team member since 2005 and helps other programmers improve their code on The Rails Way, a popular Rails architecture weblog.
Location: Ballroom II Level: Novice


text:
Award-winning author Robert J. Sawyer's new novel, Triggers, is a little different to what readers might be used to from this science fiction writer, as the genre he's used to writing in some ways becomes secondary to the main story, which is more about the relationships and interactions between a great cast of characters. The science fiction is still very much there as part of the plot, but by the end you're caring more about the people than the science.
In a time not too distant from our own, there is a world ravaged by terrorism and fear. The United States is one of its most vulnerable victims, the events of September 11, 2011 merely a precursor to more devastating attacks on other cities such as San Francisco, Chicago and Philadelphia. With the development of a new kind of bomb that remains undetected, its destruction is unmatched, and yet it isn't nuclear; its fallout emits an electromagnetic pulse, and by then it's too late.
President Seth Jerrison begins a very important speech at the Lincoln Memorial, as he mentally prepares for the ultimate attack aimed at those who have caused the most harm; a devastating message equal to that made during World War II that brought it to its abrupt end. Barely into the speech, an assassination attempt is made and Jerrison is shot. He is rushed to the hospital and immediately treated, barely surviving a traumatic injury. At the same hospital is Dr. Ranjip Singh who is performing a unique experiment on a patient to see if he can halt the man's post-traumatic stress dreams and episodes; the device is supposed to erase these memories.
But then another terrorist attack takes place, destroying most of the White House, just as Singh begins his experiment. The EM pulse hits and something very strange happens to all the people located within a certain distance of this device. They begin having memories; only not their own, but other people's memories all within this specific area. It begins a chain of events that will eventually affect every person on the entire planet.
In Triggers, Robert J. Sawyer should first be applauded for a wonderfully diverse cast, as readers are immediately introduced to a powerful female secret service agent, an impressive African-American female doctor who is the president's primary physician, and the interesting Dr. Singh, who is actually Canadian, which is Sawyer's own nationality. The book juggles an impressive cast of characters, which Sawyer does excellent job of keeping both straight and complex. The weak point of the book to some will be the ending, nevertheless, it is a powerful novel that plays around with some great science fiction, but ultimately explores the lives of a number of interesting people and how they would react in a given situation, if they started sharing each other's memories and thoughts.
Originally written on March 17, 2012 ©Alex C. Telander.
To purchase a copy of Triggers from Amazon, and help support BookBanter, click HERE.
You might also like . . .
For an exclusive audio interview with Robert J. Sawyer, click HERE.
For an exclusive written interview with Robert J. Sawyer, click HERE.


text:
A piece of classic cinema:
Dedicated to anyone who would dare to make fun of the Dark Count.
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A Saturday OT: Bela Lugosi plays Dracula
A piece of classic cinema:
The Friday OT: Paco de Lucia; Buleria alla Paco!
One of the standard Spanish guitar templates is the "buleria", a fast tempo rhythm that's preferred by many (your author included) because it gives the guitarist opportunity to riff and improvise, showing off their talent. And no talent was greater than Paco de Lucia's.
Something very special happens in this video; As usual I urge you to watch it all, the build-up is not only necessary for the full experience but marvellous in itself and the music is beautiful start to finish but in the last couple of minutes something clicks between Paco de Lucia and his cajón (the percussion instrument) player. Suddenly they lift off together, there's a fusion and the music goes interstellar. Watch how Paco can't take his eyes off him and then, with the crowd going nuts, there's a "wow, even for me that was good" moment that flashes across Paco's face.
Minera IRL (MIRL.L) (IRL.to), today and Sunday
We had a NR from the usurping scumbags today, which you can read right here. Two things to note in it:
- For a company apparently controlled by a Peruvian lawyer, they have a very poor understanding of Peruvian law. Either that or they're deliberately trying to hoodwink the world into believing things about Peru law procedure that are simply not true.
- Did you notice that nobody has the guts to sign off on that NR? Yup, not one "executive" on Team Hodges puts their name to today's message (you just get contact mails for the CFO and COO). That's very significant.
But the interesting stuff comes Sunday. Your humble scribe has got to the nub of the whole shebang and will explain all in IKN 333 due out Sunday evening. What I will say here is that Team Hodges doesn't have a leg to stand on and they now find themselves (rather than the company) in serious personal trouble, legally speaking. Close pals Daryl Hodges and Chuck Higgins may have got away with their nefarious asset-stripping game in other places and other years, but this time they've bitten off way way waaaaay more than they can chew. The only way they're not in Toronto crapping themselves right now is if they're very, very stupid people. It's a 50/50 call.
Or as reader BM put it to me a few hours ago in a mail:
I assume Diego Benavides is a member of THE Benavides family. The people at IRL must be living in some sort of alternate universe to think they can win a fight with him (them).
Quite right BM. Hodges and his gang of thieves are on the way out.
Barrick (ABX) Veladero, the future of mining transparency and investor relations
Did ABX give us a NR on the cyanide spill at Veladero? No.
Did ABX tell us of the results of the preliminary inquiry five days later that said the spill was 224,000 litres of cyanide solution, not the 15,000 litres first mentioned by the company? No.
Did ABX tell us that two days ago, the amount of solution spilled turned out to be 1.15m litres, not 224,000? No.
Did ABX tell us about the
six nine employees* who yesterday had formal criminal charges for environmental damage brought against them by a local judge? No.
But suddenly, out the blue, this morning...
Ah, the example for all of Canada to follow.
And they do.
*due to make their first appearance in court on October 6th
*due to make their first appearance in court on October 6th
The Glencore disposal sale continues
On Monday Glencore will announce that it's selling its Araguaia nickel property to Horizonte Minerals PLC (HZM.to) (HZM.L), owners of their own nickel project just next door. The price will be around $8m. You heard it here first.
Anyone who owns Trevali (TV.to) will know how keen Glencore suddenly is to get its hands on all the cash it can. Then again, anyone who owns Trevali is too dumb to have listened to all the warnings. Because karma.
Update: Source A now tells me the announcement might come on Tuesday rather than Monday. All the rest is solid. TY again, A.
Update: Source A now tells me the announcement might come on Tuesday rather than Monday. All the rest is solid. TY again, A.
It's so bullish for gold stocks today...
...that even Continental Gold (CNL.to) managed to rally back up to $2. For a few minutes anyway.
Humanity's capacity to prefer hope over cruel reality never ceases to impress me.
Chart of the day is...
...gold hourlies, plus a line taken from The IKN Weekly edition 332 from last Sunday September 20th:
"I said it two weeks ago, said it last week, saying it again today. I'm more bullish on gold stocks than I've been for a very long time."
"I never said most of the things I said"
Yogi Berra
As for Berra quotes, there are of course a ton to choose from but perhaps this one, from the time he joined an anti-homophobia/anti-transphobia association, is the one that we should remember first and foremost:
"Respect the game, respect others – that's what I always learned in sports. Whatever background or whatever you are, it doesn't matter. Treat everybody the same, that's how it should be."
IKN salutes Yogi Berra. The world is a better place thanks to his stay. Rest in peace, sir.
Shock news from IAMGOLD (IAG) (IMG.to) this morning
Shockingly, Steve Letwin is still CEO and still runs this company:
And if that doesn't shock you, you've been watching the Canadian capital markets for way too long a time. We normal people can't get over it.
Dear Jaime Pinto
Cofide just made you look stupid in front of the whole business community of Lima, via their commentary in this report in El Comercio today. And what's more, you knew that was true before this post existed.
The latest from Minera IRL (IRL.to) (MIRL.L)
Read it yourself, no extra IKN commentary necessary on this one:
Directors and Ex Executive President of Minera IRL Ltd Denounced for Fraudulent Administration, Slander and False Accusation
· Charges have been lodged against Daryl Hodges, Jaime Pinto, Robin Fryer, Douglas Jones and Carlos Yrigoyen
· The individuals named above are currently being investigated by order of the Criminal Prosecutor of Lima
Lima, 22 September 2015, Minera IRL SA and Compañia Minera Kuri Kullu SA, both Companies represented by General Manager Diego Benavides Norlander, have formally denounced Daryl Hodges, Jaime Pinto, Robin Fryer, Douglas Jones and Carlos Cesar Yrigoyen Elejalde.
These individuals are being investigated by the Criminal Prosecutor´s office of Lima (under signed order No. 479-2015), on formal charges of diverse fraudulent administrative acts, planned outside of Peru then executed in Peru against both Peruvian companies.
The investigations will demonstrate that the accused have violated Peruvian law, assuming titles and attributing faculties to third parties in order to administrate the companies, without following proper procedure or legal requirements. The accused must present themselves in the Public Ministry of Peru, in order to testify in regard to the illegal acts, which may be extended in the wake of ongoing investigations. Their presence will be required before Peruvian justice through established mechanisms within international law and Interpol.
Daryl Hodges was Executive President of Minera IRL Ltd between the 6 March and the 27 August 2015, until he was retired by a vote of more than 91% against his position by the shareholders of the company. Jaime Pinto, Douglas Jones and Robin Fryer are the current board, while Carlos Yrigoyen was initially named Vice President of Administration and Finance of Minera IRL SA, then more recently Controller of Minera IRL Ltd.
Minera IRL SA operates the Corihuarmi Gold Mine and is the owner of Compañia Minera Kuri Kullu SA, through which the gold project Ollachea will be developed. Ollachea is located in Puno, where the Campesino Community of Ollachea named Diego Benavides a Comunero Honorario (Honorary Community Member).
The charges were presented to the Criminal Prosecutor of Lima on 8 September, thereby opening investigations for 30 days.
For further information contact:
The Panoro (PML.v) updated Cotabambas PEA
Panoro Minerals (PML.v) today gave us a prime example of the morally bankrupt state of the Canadian junior mining industry, via the NR on its updated PEA as linked here (with the word "updated" defined as "re-jigging the same numbers to try to make it look less worse than it is...and failing"). Thing is, you can update all you want but if you're forced to assume $3/lb copper to get to a 16.7% IRR when the metal sells for 20% less than that on the open market, it's a total waste of time.
Seriously, if I had $1.5Bn to spend on a copper investment and I sincerely believed copper was going back to $3/lb, why the merry hell should I spend it on this project? What you'd do is just buy a whole whack of finished article copper at $2.40/lb and make yourself an easy and clean 25% when it reaches your target price. Finish.
But I digress, this post was started to laugh hard at that snake oil salesman Luquman Shaheen and Panoro (PML.v), Fact is, five years ago Cotabambas was a small high grade mineralized core surrounded by a weak porphyry halo with a provincial town sitting on top of the pit zone. Today, Cotabambas is a small high grade mineralized core surrounded by the same weak halo with the same provincial town sitting on top of the pit zone. And this is what's wrong with the Canadian junior scene. For years and years with umpteen millions of dollars spent, you've had whole bunch of people working in a company who know, who flat out know and have known for years that their project will never be a mine. The engineers have known this forever, so have the geols, so have the management and I'd hazard a fair guess that the camp kitchen staff would have heard enough to have worked it out for themselves too. But even though nobody has ever bothered to come clean and admit the obvious, that Cotabambas will never, ever, ever, ever be a mine they've kept ploughing on and lipsticking a pig of titanic proportions all the same. And the reason: there's a paycheque at the end of every month.
And then suddenly the money runs out.
And then Panoro moves to the NEX
And then it dies.
Checking in on Capstone Mining (CS.to)
Back when we were all younger on August 18th 2015 (copied from an IKN Weekly piece dated August 15th), this is part of a longer piece your humble scribe wrote about the future of Capstone Mining (CS.to):
"It's my contention that things have to get worse in the copper space before they get any better and that probably means a few headline-making corporate casualties before the market turns around. One of the prime candidates for bankruptcy protection is the highly leveraged CS.to so you may think this weekend's 76c price is wildly cheap. I think the cheap is going to get a lot cheaper."
Whole thing here. And how are we doing today, five weeks later?
So, 35% lost from the share price since that article. And it's been a while, but let's see what our old pal Owly has to say about that chart:
Thanks Owly
Chart of the day is...
...copper, that's failed to rally again:
At least we're not seeing sub-$2/lb prices. But these prices also mean we're going to see mines closed and companies going out of business, of that there is no doubt.
The cure for low prices is low prices, they say. They're right.
What there is and what there isn't in tonight's NR from Minera IRL
What there is:
News that the scumbag Hodges has trumped-up charges against Diego Benavides (that won't stick, mark these words).
That conveniently, he'll be able to keep sucking his $15,000/month consultancy fee from the company for months while the case goes on. Yes indeed folks, the person who was voted down to the tune of 91.7% by the shareholders of the company is still drawing $15,000 per month from Minera IRL.
That despite the low gold prices mentioned, Corihuarmi is still profitable for the company and the real reason Hodges and his band of crooks want to close the mine down is to cover their tracks on their own criminal behaviour, i.e. destroying all drill core from the mine recently by dumping it in a landfill without getting a single permits to do so. Yes Virginia, that's very illegal. That and Corihuarmi is controlled by the local subsidiaries mentioned in the NR, which they can't usurp as easily as they did the corporate entity.
What there isn't:
That Daryl Hodges and Carlos Yrigoyen (the company controller, word used very loosely) also have criminal charges against their names in Peru and the moment Hodges steps onto Peruvian soil he's going to be arrested (which is going to make it fun when he has to appear in a Peruvian courtroom in order to press his claims against Benavides).
No wonder he wants to gag free speech, what with it interfering with his criminal activities and shining the light on the truth of the matter. Anyway, here's the NR:
LIMA, PERU--(Marketwired - Sep 21, 2015) - Minera IRL Limited ("Minera IRL" or the "Company") (IRL.TO)(MIRL.L)(MIRL.L) announces that the Company has advanced the independent investigation as described in the 24 August 2015 Press Release and, as a result, has started the process of dismissing Mr. Diego Benavides, the former interim CEO of the Company, from his role as President and General Manager of the Company's two Peruvian operating subsidiaries, Minera IRL S.A. and Compañía Minera Kuri Kullu S.A. Further, on the advice of Peruvian counsel, criminal proceedings against Mr. Benavides have commenced. Under Peruvian corporate law, the process of removing Mr. Benavides from his controlling position with the Peruvian subsidiaries may take several months; however, in the interim, to the extent possible, the Company is taking steps to safeguard its assets in Peru.
Following this temporary compromise of control within the Peruvian subsidiaries the Company requested a precautionary suspension from trading on AIM. The suspension will remain in place until such time the Board is satisfied that appropriate control has been re-established. The Company will provide updates on the management of the two Peruvian subsidiaries as they become available.
Corihuarmi Update
The lower gold price in 2015 has adversely affected the profitability of the Company's low-grade Corihuarmi mine, which has been in operation since 2008, but is nearing the end of its mine life and has imposed further stress on the Company's financial situation, particularly its working capital position. The board is currently evaluating alternative scenarios for the mine in advance of discussions with its lenders. The Company expects to make a further announcement in the near future.
About Minera IRL Limited
UPDATE: Or in the words of one unsolicited Canada-dwelling mailer this evening:
What this says to me is, "don't ever invest any money with anyone even vaguely associated with these people ever again, because they will hold your money hostage while they sack the company and try to jail its respected local manager."
Quite right.
Today's the first day of spring (primavera) down this neck of the woods, which is a decent excuse to stick some Manu Chao on the blog. In concert of course (2008 in France to be exact) because there's no better live act on the planet.
Nos engañaron con la primavera
Daryl Hodges is now trying to gag IKN, therefore a message to Canadian readers
If all of a sudden you can't access posts via incakolanews "dot ca", that's because the cowards at Minera IRL in Canada, led by the arch-scumball Daryl Hodges (even though he was kicked out of the company by its shareholders in a 91.7% contra vote) don't want you to read the truth about their nefarious ways, their pathetic track record and their enormous and ethically disgusting conflicts of interest with Fasken Martineau.
But the good news is that they won't be able to do a thing about access via incakolanews "dot com", so just change the URL and it'll all be there for you. Either that or sign up to the 100% free daily digest e-mail service in which you get all the day's posts sent to your inbox in a mail the next morning, because the cockroaches won't be able to touch that either.
Imagine being scared of a blogger. Pathetic excuses for human beings.
What the Minera IRL (IRL.to) (MIRL.L) NR today means
I could do the good old Ottotrans but it's best to speak plainly on this one. What the band of usurpers around Daryl Hodges are saying with this NR today is simple: The board of directors that Hodges hand-picked to steal the company has no control over the real day-to-day workings of IRL so instead of doing the decent thing (something scumbags will never do), they're going to make shareholders suffer.
This is all they have left, it's last dice desperation stakes and when (not if, but when) this board comes up against a vote you can be in no doubt what's going to happen to them. They've signed their own arrest warrant and today's move marks the beginning of the end of the sordid involvement of Hodges and his assorted crooks. The sooner it's over, the better.
UPDATE: Keep coming over guys, all welcomed.
UPDATE: Keep coming over guys, all welcomed.
Chart of the day is...
The IKN Weekly, out now
IKN332 has just been sent to subscribers. Selling a position, cutting the price target on another and fishing for a potential new near-term trade as long as the price is right. Plus news and views and politics and another giggle at CNL. And the latest around the IRL saga, just to keep that scumbag of scumbags Hodges on his toes.
Labels: otto, the IKN weekly
FP: "How smaller Canadian gold miners are thriving despite today's gloomy price environment"
Reader MP (ty sir) sends along this report in Canada's Financial Post and it's worth your eyetime. For one thing it's written by Peter Koven, so just the byline means it's going to be quality. For another it's a genuinely interesting look at the way a bunch of Canadian located junior gold producers are bucking the trend and making money in the current environment.
The report centres on Kirkland Lake (KGI.to), but there are other companies mentioned too. Here's a snippet to whet your appetite:
But Kirkland Lake Gold righted itself and is now thriving amid a much weaker gold price. And it isn't alone. Other small and medium-sized Canadian gold producers in the region, such as Detour Gold Corp., Lake Shore Gold Corp., Claude Resources Inc. and Richmont Mines Inc., have staged impressive turnarounds after being left for dead by many investors two years ago
The top three most visited IKN posts this week are...
...in reverse order:
Third Place: "Lake Shore (LSG.to) 144 Gap". This was a short post that made positive noises about the Lake Shore Gold drill results, out that morning. As it happened LSG managed to put in a decent rally last week, helped along by these numbers. So all is not lost out there.
Second Place: "Dalradian (DNA.to) bites the bullet and get the necessary cash raise done early". There wasn't much cutting insight in this post (I've saved my considered thoughts on DNA for The IKN Weekly issue 332 out later today) but I think it got popular because I stuck a paste of the term sheet on the post as well. People like seeing the nitty-gritty-
First Place: "Oh wow Janet we're all rich...". This was a silly one line post which isn't worth clicking over and seeing. But it got the top spot because it was the only thing I posted that day so attracted more hits. Sometimes I just don't feel like posting things.
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