Kitting is a crucial factor in the efficiency and organization of manufacturing assembly lines
Kitting is a common process in discrete manufacturing. Kitting is the process of packaging all the items needed to ship a product to customers. For many product lines, this step is in many cases the last opportunity to make sure the products leaving the factory are high quality, are not missing parts, and have all the correct components, including labels, stickers, and parts. Kitting is prone to human error. Common issues include the wrong stickers on the product, missing parts in the product packaging, and misuse of similar parts.
In this article, we discuss the benefits of using LandingLens, a cloud-based computer vision platform developed by Landing AI, with Tulip, a no-code platform that enables frontline workers to create apps to improve manufacturing processes. Landing AI’s technology, partnered with Tulip’s democratized solution-building platform, adds simplicity and efficiency into kitting solutions.
Current approaches and challenges in the kitting process
For many manufacturers, kitting is a time-consuming and error-prone operation. For tool manufacturers, kitting can be vital for shipping pre-packaged tool boxes. These tool boxes can include anywhere between 10 to 150 different components. Components can be a variety of items, some of which are similar in look and size, including different wrenches and different-sized drill bits. It’s important to verify that the correct quantity and types of materials are included with the tool box.
Though kitting is usually a manual process, adopting a machine learning (ML) solution can improve efficiency and reduce errors. But, it can be both expensive and complex to implement. Training the computer vision models often requires a dedicated ML team, and deploying open-source models can present its own set of complexities. Customers may encounter challenges when integrating ML into their broader operations workflows.
Tulip and Landing AI provide the tools needed to build highly customized and highly effective solutions with quick time to value (TTV) and a simple deployment processes. Both platforms provide democratized software and AI access to make building solutions easy and quick.
Use Tulip’s platform with LandingLens for a streamlined approach
With Tulip’s platform and LandingLens, a manufacturer can develop an end-to-end vision solution to help workers with processes like kitting, shipping and packaging. Building solutions with LandingLens and Tulip is simple.
One of the world’s leading tool manufacturers recently tackled these challenges by using Tulip’s platform and LandingLens. In the manufacturer’s workflow, cameras are seamlessly integrated with Tulip, and a dedicated image collection app efficiently captures and stores images in a Tulip table. The image dataset is then exported from Tulip and imported into LandingLens, where users can upload image data, annotate the data for training, and train computer vision models quickly and easily, even with small data sets.
Once models are trained, models can then be used in production via a Tulip app. Using the Landing AI Widget, images of kitted tool boxes can be captured via Tulip, sent to the user’s trained model via the LandingLens API and returned to Tulip with feedback for the operator.
Feedback can include whether all objects were detected, whether there were quality issues (including damage or positioning), and whether there were correct quantities of each component. Captured images can also be collected for further analysis. Additionally, images can provide users with a visual confirmation that tool boxes were kitted correctly, and can be used for regulatory and quality purposes. These images can also be used as data points for quality and inventory dashboards within Tulip.
Inventory Management And Traceability Application Example
Key benefits and results
Tulip and Landing AI’s combined solution brings the power of computer vision models to your frontline operations. Kitting processes within your manufacturing lines can be simplified with error-checking from the Tulip platform and LandingLens.
With the modeling capabilities provided by Tulip’s platform and LandingLen, users can decrease the total cost of ownership. Due to Tulip’s open ecosystem and connectivity, you are not limited to proprietary cameras or hardware. Both platforms provide a democratized approach to app building, making the development process simple and quick.
You can expect to see return on investment within weeks. Integrating LandingLen into Tulip applications can be developed and deployed swiftly to start improving your processes as soon as possible. Once deployed, LandingLens and the Tulip platform can empower your operators to become more efficient and less error-prone with kitting processes.
Quality will not only be improved, but tracked and managed by Tulip. Images of completed products can be captured for further analysis and quality metrics. These images can provide proof of completion for regulatory purposes.
Integrating machine vision into your frontline operations reduces errors and increases efficiency in kitting solutions. This solution mitigates the risk of missing a component or including the wrong one. Using Tulip’s platform with LandingLens not only improves quality, but also allows it to be tracked. Quality data can be captured seamlessly during operation.
With Tulip and Landing AI, manufacturers gain all the essential components for building highly customized and incredibly effective solutions with a streamlined deployment process and rapid value realization.


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Aurora Sentinel by RAMSEY SCOTT
AURORA | Homeless people don’t usually know where they’re going to sleep, and some Aurora high school students are exploring a way to address that issue.
One of the biggest issues facing Aurora and other cities in the metro area is how to provide housing for its homeless population especially as winter temperatures begin to creep in. A lack of space in shelters and a growing population means those who seek shelter when the weather gets colder could have nowhere to turn.
A group of students at William Smith High School are engineering what they hope may be a solution.
The students are working to build portable shelters to provide people with a temporary solution when a brick and mortar shelter isn’t available. The project is a continuation of an idea started last year by middle and high school students at Downtown Aurora Visual Arts.
While the class is working on two designs for the shelters, the idea behind both are similar. The shelter is made out of polycarbonate and sits on an aluminum bicycle trailer. When the shelter is fully extended, it is about 6 feet by 3 feet and when it’s not in use it can be folded up and only takes up about 3 feet by 3 feet.
“It’s a temporary solution for people to be able to have shelter overnight, and then be able to be moved out in the morning,” said Rudi Monterroso, program leader at DAVA who is also helping lead the class in the project.
Monterroso, who himself has been homeless, said the goal of the project is to find a place in Aurora that can store the shelters when not in use and then allow for enough space for them to be deployed at night when they need to be used. When the project was first conceived last year, the idea was to give out the shelters to the homeless population. But Monterroso said because the group feared the shelters could be stolen and the aluminum sold for money, the plan shifted to the current idea of a nightly distribution model.
While Monterroso is leading the class, the students are leading the project. The class lead the design process, raised funds for needed supplies and are in the process of building the two shelters. Students cut, sand, weld and solder every piece for the shelters.
“There’s definitely been some difficulties and struggles. We had some design issues, and so we had to modify the original idea. And we had to fund raise as well,” said junior Vanessa Bedolla, 16, who’s one of the project leaders. “But it’s been great to learn how to use the tools and how to use the skills we’ve learned and to work with what we have and persevere through the struggles and get things done. We’re doing this for a good cause.”
The project fits right in with William Smith’s expeditionary learning model, said David Roll, principal of William Smith.
“The idea behind all of this is kids learning real-life skills and being able to apply them to issues they see in their everyday life,” Roll said. “This allows them to have a positive impact on their community.”
They’re also working on a presentation to be given to the city of Aurora as part of their search for a partner, but Monterroso said that is on hold as they try and find the right group in the city to ask for a partnership.
“Writing the proposal has been more stressful than the building,” said senior Lexi Pershey, 17, who’s been working on the presentation. “It’s something I’ve never done before. There’s no guidelines on how to write the presentation.”
The students are working on an eight-week time line, when the class is set to end, for the project to be finished. When the shelters are built, Monterroso said he would be taking them up to the mountains to test them overnight to make sure they’re fit for being used as a shelter.
Monterroso said he’s been reaching out to groups that might help manufacture the shelters but there’s still a lot of unknowns about what will happen to the project if they can’t find a permanent home for the shelters.
While the future of the project after this stage isn’t known, Monterroso said he wants to keep pursuing it because he sees these shelters as being able to play a vital part in helping provide shelter for those in need.
James Gillespie with the Comitis Crisis Center said he couldn’t speak to the viability of the shelters but the mere fact that the students were working on the shelters would bring awareness to the issue facing the metro area.
“What I will say is it takes innovation to make a real difference and if what we have always done in the past was working, then we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now,” Gillespie said. “The fact that our local students are making real attempts at finding an innovative approach to this issue is really inspiring.”

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I started out with a bang with freezer meals. I was making freezer meals for my family during my high school years and loved the convenience of it. When I got married, I was so committed to freezer meals that I actually made and froze most of our dinners for our honeymoon and brought them with me! Now that’s commitment. (For the record, yes, my husband and I were total penny-pinchers when we got married, thus the yummy freezer meals on the honeymoon. But we also really loved good food, and so instead of eating out every meal, we made a lot of our own food, and then spent some of the money we saved to go out to a really nice restaurant for a couple of dinners.)
But in the freezer meal department, things have gone really down hill lately. Okay, more like down hill for the last five years! I can directly correlate this downhill spiral to when I started trying not to use freezer bags anymore, and switched to using mason jars. Like many, I had way too many jars break or burst for no reason at all (even when following “best practices”). There is nothing like throwing away good food to cool your enthusiasm.
And the trouble is, plastic really is a problem! I have let it creep back into my kitchen and life lately, but re-reading some of the research on the troubling effects it can have made me remember yet again how important it is to avoid.
Thankfully, there are now better solutions to freezing without plastic that I am so eager to try! And the real reason I got back on this topic again, was because I was so inspired by two of the books in The Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle on the topic. I realized how much it would serve me, and my family, if I got back into the habit.
I’ll be honest. We really need freezer meals right now, and I am going to make this a priority.
So with that in mind, I am gathering my tips learned in the past and new ones just learned, and also sharing some of the research I’ve been doing on plastic-free freezing! I’m excited.
1. The short on time freezing method
The first thing that really intrigued and inspired me from the freezer meal eBooks in the bundle was using a different method from what I used to use (which was the achingly long, all-day cooking project that left your feet aching like crazy). Instead of that, there are other ways to build up a freezer full of meals!
One of the eBooks I read was Crystal’s (from Money Saving Mom) Guide to Freezer Cooking. In it she talks about how she also used to do full day freezer cooking, and how exhausting that was! Instead she recommends shorter times, more often. She gives a few other options, such as a 4-6 hour block (enough to get serious work done, but not be so tiring), and even doing (her current preference) one hour, and even 15-minute blocks of time! I may now find it hard to set aside a whole day for freezer meals, but I can definitely set aside an hour or two.
2. The Time Block Method
The other method that was totally new to me was the one outlined in Cara’s wonderful
Grain-Free Freezer Meal eBook. (You can get both of these books as part of the bundle for the next few days, which I highly recommend for the price and all that you get for it, but you can also buy Cara’s book anytime here).
She also doesn’t recommend the “whole day” freezer meal concept. Instead she recommends using “time blocks” working with certain categories. Her method probably makes even more sense for those on a whole food, nutrient dense diet. She says,
“The ‘cooking blocks’ are designed to be easier to fit into busy schedules. I have done freezer cooking in the past, but I would normally spend 8-10 hours straight cooking. Many of us have young families, special needs children, homeschool, work outside the home, or any combination of the above- and separating the cooking into 2-3 hour blocks is much more doable.
To stay the most efficient, these blocks should be planned to be together (i.e. you use meat cooked on meat days to put together Shepard’s pies after you cut/cook the veggies on veggie day), but they can span several days and still fill up your freezer with nourishing foods.”
Her blocks are set up with different categories, such as “meats” “vegetables” and “grain-free baking”. I feel this concept makes so much sense!
3. Start small
Regardless of what method you use, I think the idea of starting small, and taking on bite size jobs is a much more doable task that we can all do! It can be as simple as doubling up the muffin recipe you are making, and freezing half of it. If you are like me, sometimes having too high of standards for yourself and what you’d like to accomplish can actually derail your efforts and enthusiasm. This busy mommy needs doable goals!
4. Double up
With that in mind, use the double up method. Basically, any recipe that would freeze well and you already know you (and your family like), double-up on when you are making it next. It will most likely only take a few more minutes of your time, and you end up with double the food for your effort. I used to do this a lot, and I need to get back into it as it just makes sense to do.
5. Make a growing recipe list
The other thing that ended up derailing my freezer meal project was my changing dietary needs (we found out that one of my daughters and I have multiple food sensitivities). What this meant was that my list of freezer meals no longer worked well for us as I worked on learning new recipes. I now have plenty of meals worked out that would be easy to freeze, I just need to keep a running list of our favorite freezer friendly meals as a reference! Overtime, you can continue to add to your list, so that you have a wide range of meals that you can easily freeze.
6. Freeze components
But don’t feel that you need to freeze whole meals. Freeze components as well! Meats with marinades, homemade broths, sauces, unbaked doughs, chopped vegetables for starting soups, cooked beans, and more are some of the simple components you can freeze for an easier meal start-up in the future. Some methods aim for not having to cook a single dish in the near future. But it can be really simple to start a pot of rice, and reheat a frozen chicken curry. So don’t feel that you have to have every single component of the meal frozen. In fact, I’d encourage you to get out of that mindset as so many fresh vegetables don’t freeze well, and need a little prep work. This type of method can also help when working with small freezer spaces. Just freeze the things that take the most time to make (such as the chicken curry, instead of the rice).
7. Plastic-free freezing
I do have friends that use all sorts of jars to successfully freeze meals. They just make sure to leave plenty of headroom, and defrost slowly, and they have no trouble. I am not one of those lucky souls. However, I didn’t realize that there are specific mason jars that are made to especially withstand freezing. (I certainly was never using them when I attempted to freeze before). I first noticed this at a local store, when I noted that some of the mason jars were marked for freezing and some weren’t.
If you go to the Ball website, you find this chart of jars to select from. Notice that some of the jars are marked as freezer safe and some aren’t.
I am pretty excited to try freezing mason jars again. I have some Amazon credit to use from a gift card, so I was looking there for options. From what I’ve read, wide mouth is the way to go for freezing, so
these jars would be an example of what you could use.
Even with these, I’d make sure you left plenty of headroom, and defrosted in the refrigerator for less temperature shock. Just to make sure.
There are some other, much more expensive items too. If you wanted to still use baggies, you could use these silicone baggies, for example, and there are a wide range of stainless steel and glass containers that are also freezer safe.
Finally, certain items can be frozen with the wax paper and foil method. You can see how that works here with these homemade freezer burritos.
If you do decide to use plastic freezer bags for freezing food, just make sure that you thoroughly chill food before placing it in the plastic, as heat releases more of the chemicals from the plastic.
I’d love to hear your tips, and what recipes work for you. Plus, have you tried freezing in mason jars? I’d love to hear about your experience!
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Market Report – January 12, 2017
There is no feeling in the trade that tomorrow’s USDA reports will move prices one way or the other. Besides monthly supply-demand, USDA will report quarterly grain stocks and winter wheat seeded area.
The barrel is at $52.11 this week. The Canadian Dollar is trading at 75.87.
North Gower Grains bid for corn delivered at harvest is bid at $187/te. 2017 harvest corn are at $194/te delivered to North Gower.
Palmerston Grain is bidding for crop Hard Red Spring Wheat 2017 crop delivered at harvest is at $224/te.
Soybeans delivered to North Gower Grains are bid in at $461/tonne at harvest. 2017 harvest soybeans are at $459/te delivered to North Gower.
Current bid for canola delivered to Hamilton for January bid is $522/te. For harvest 2017 Canola delivered to Hamilton bid is $506/te
We need your help! We have recently have been nominated for the ADAMA #ThankARetailer Contest which means we can win $15000 to give back to the community! Check out www.thankaretailer.ca for more information. Contest closes February 28, 2017.
Mark your calendars for February 16, 2017 for our second annual Dairy and Beef Producer meetings which will be held at the Cobden Legion and for February 22, 2017 as we host our annual Crop Producers meeting at the Galbraith Room in Renfrew. Call the office for more information
Thanks, Emily Bromley
Barclay Dick & Son Farm Supply


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(Alliance News) - Altus Strategies PLC said Tuesday it has come to an agreement with Elemental Royalties Corp over an all-share merger.
Vancouver, Canada-headquartered Elemental Royalties will issue Altus shareholders 0.5940 new shares in the enlarged group. As a result, Elemental shareholders will own about 52.9% of the new firm, with Altus shareholders holding 47.1%.
Shares in Altus were down 5.7% in London just after midday at 43.85 pence each, giving it a market cap of about GBP51.4 million.
"The boards of Elemental and Altus believe that the merger has compelling strategic logic and represents an attractive opportunity for both companies to create a global gold royalty company," the pair said in a statement on Tuesday.
Altus noted the exchange ratio offer "fair value" for both sets of shareholders.
Steven Poulton, current chief executive of Altus, will be appointed as executive chair of the new group, while Frederick Bell, current CEO of Elemental, will be appointed as CEO.
The new firm will be called Elemental Altus Royalties Corp.
Elemental noted it has received irrevocable undertakings from 57.9% of Altus shares, while 50.7% of Elemental shareholders have already backed the deal.
Poulton said: "Combining Altus and Elemental will create a new, strong and dynamic income-generating champion in the mining royalty sector. The transaction will bring significant benefits to all current shareholders and establish a compelling investment proposition to potential new institutional and other investors.
"Our enlarged scale and combined revenues will not only enhance our access to further high-quality royalties, but will also potentially reduce our cost of capital going forward. Shareholders of the enlarged group will also benefit from its differentiated strategy of low-cost and potential high-return royalty generation. As we succeed, we look forward to targeting medium-term capital distributions, as well as participating in further accretive consolidation opportunities in the royalty sector."
By Paul McGowan; email@example.com
Copyright 2022 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.

domain: news


As a professional engineer in the state of Minnesota, you are responsible for ensuring that all your work meets the requirements set forth by the Minnesota Professional Engineer Stamp Rules and Regulations. In this article, we will take a closer look at what these requirements are and how to make sure your work complies with them.
State of Minnesota Professional Engineer Laws
To become a professional engineer in the state of Minnesota, you must meet certain requirements as set forth by the Minnesota State Board. One of these requirements is that you must be certified by the board with the appropriate language. This language must be stamped by the board on all of your engineering documents, including design plans and reports.
Obtaining the Seal
Additionally, you will also need to obtain a professional engineer’s seal from the Minnesota Board of Professional Engineers. This seal is affixed to all documents that are submitted or kept under your custody about any engineering work completed in the state of Minnesota. The seal is also used to authenticate your professional engineering qualifications when filing documents with the board.
To be a professional engineer in the state of Minnesota, you must adhere to certain laws set forth by the State of Minnesota Board of Professional Engineers. These laws are designed to protect public safety and welfare.
State of Minnesota Engineer Seal Requirements
The Minnesota State Board required certification language can be found in MN Statute 326.12 Subd. 2-3 and MN Rule 1800.4200. This certification language and your signature on plans, specifications, plats, reports, etc., is required.
Why is my Minnesota Engineer Stamp not Round?
The Minnesota engineer seal is a plan stamp design instead of the traditional round stamp that you see for most states. It can be strange to receive this type of stamp if you are used to purchasing seal stamps for other states. Rest assured, the rectangular stamp is the correct setup for the Minnesota engineer seal.
Minnesota Professional Engineer Stamps
Available stamp Options are listed below.
Pre-Inked Stamp / Self-Inking Stamp
Looking for a high-quality, state-board-approved engineering stamp? Look no further than the Minnesota Engineering Stamp! This premium pre-inked stamp comes with a free electronic seal and 6 file types included, so you can be sure it will meet your specifications. Plus, it's easy to use - simply press it in to print - and comes in 5 ink colors. No more replacing ink pads, either - the die plate absorbs the ink, making for a quiet and clean stamping experience. So why wait? Get your Minnesota Engineering Stamp today!
Wood Handle Stamp
The State of Minnesota Professional Engineer Seal Stamp is a Minnesota state board-approved stamp that comes with a free electronic seal. It includes six file types: DXF, DWG, TIF, JPG, PDF, and PNG. This professional Minnesota engineers stamp is guaranteed to meet your Minnesota state board specifications and is the most economical form of stamping available. The separate ink pad allows you to use industrial inks, such as quick-drying ink, to stamp on mylar. The regular wooden handle stamps feature a separate stamp pad that can be switched for different color combinations. This is the most economical version of the Minnesota Professional Engineer Seal Stamp.
Not a Minnesota engineer? We make stamps and seals for every profession throughout the country. We also make custom stamps, notary products, date stamps, stamps for the office and so much more.
As the professional engineer community in Minnesota, we are responsible for ensuring that all our work meets the requirements set forth by the Minnesota Professional Engineer Stamp Rules and Regulations. In this article, we took a closer look at what these requirements are and how to make sure your work complies with them; as well as changes that have been made to state implemented changes and regulation changes. We hope you found this information helpful!
We work hard to make sure that the seal language directly matches what the board shows as an example. Still, need to contact us? Our phone e-mail contact us button can be found on our website and you will receive a response quickly. Order your Minnesota Engineer seal stamp and know that it will be made fast and to all state standards.


Implementing certain weather-related measures in marketing campaigns could increase product valuation for some consumers and businesses, a new study found. The study, initiated by researchers at the University of British Columbia, was published in the peer-reviewed Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science.
The findings were determined based on the analysis of sales data from an online website and the weather conditions of the timeframe and location where the sales were made. Online surveys were also given to the participants to rate the value of indoor or outdoor products and subsequent weather patterns, such as sunshine, snowfall, and rain.
From their examination of the respondents, researchers found that sunny and snowy weather conditions resulted in mental visualizations by the consumers, which subsequently generated increased value on the product. Such rise in value was evident among outdoor products only, researchers noted.
“The current research investigates the effect of weather, a ubiquitous environmental cue, on consumers’ valuation of products. A large-scale field study and four experiments demonstrate that weather affects product valuation but only under particular conditions,” the findings read.
“We test three weather states—sunshine, snowfall, and rain—and find that our effects emerge for sunshine and snowfall but not for rain, as the latter does not enhance mental simulation.”
“The findings advance literature on the effects of environmental cues and mental simulation and guide firms on how to increase consumers’ valuation of products by weather-related measures,” researchers concluded.
All in all, the findings give assurance to the use of sunshine or snowfall for mental simulation in consumerism, which could be beneficial for the marketing of products associated with outside activities. However, researchers caution such increase in product valuation could be unattainable if a product is not of glamorization to consumers.


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Barnier (pictured) will outline ways in which the European Commission will overhaul the existing rules to make national systems more business-friendly, by reducing both the cost of registering a trademark and the system’s complexity.
The proposal, envisaged in the Commission’s intellectual property rights strategy published in 2011, will aim to make trademark registration systems “more streamlined, effective and consistent” and to better equip the registration process for the online age.
National trademark registration has been harmonised across the EU for 20 years and a unitary European trademark, administered by the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM), has been in existence since 1996. But the Commission believes that more can be done to join up and streamline national procedures to promote growth and innovation.
Barnier will also seek to increase “legal certainty” for companies by redefining what constitutes a trademark and to encourage more co-operation between the OHIM and national trademark offices. His proposals are the culmination of a review launched in 2009. A year later the Commission announced that it would modernise the rules.
You may like
European community trademarks represent about a quarter of all those filed in the EU each year. Almost one million have been registered since they system came into existence. Currently, nine million national trademarks are registered in EU member states.
? On Monday (25 March), Barnier launched a three-month consultation on financing the European economy. One of the questions it asks is whether Europe’s traditional reliance on banks to finance long-term investment should be replaced by a more varied system with the greater use of institutional investors, such as pension funds, and bond finance.
“Europe’s economy is facing massive challenges, including large-scale long-term investment needs,” Barnier said. “These needs require long-term financing. Ensuring our economy and our financial sector, including banks and institutional
investors such as insurers and pension funds, are capable of funding long-term investments is an important but complex task.”

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For decades, foreign national drug cartel marijuana growing operations in Siskiyou County have corrupted and controlled segments of our community and ravaged our public land. The Pioneer Press and it’s reporters were publicly mocked by drug dealers and corrupt law enforcement when these operations were first exposed in print, with a map identifying specific large growing locations. These illegal actors identified their involvement in the illegal operations through their mockery. One prominent Salmon River drug dealer claims to this day that Sheriff Jon Lopey and his law enforcement can’t touch him. Some of the mocking law enforcement officers are still on the force wearing a badge.
Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.facebook.com


Catale to run for city council
RELATED: Councilwoman Righetti officially resigns
Youngstown City School Board president Anthony Catale
By Denise Dick
The president of the city school board plans to make a run for another political office.
Anthony Catale, who is in his first term on the school board and his second year as president, announced during his president’s report at a board meeting Wednesday his plans to run for the city’s 5th Ward council seat. That seat is held by Paul Drennen, whose mother, June, is a school-board member.
Catale’s board term expires at the end of 2011, and he doesn’t plan to seek re-election. The term for the council seat begins in January 2012.
He said there hasn’t been much of a working relationship between the city and the school district, and he hopes to rectify that if he’s elected to the city-council post.
Catale said that the district has accomplished a lot in the last three years, pointing to $35 million in cuts and changes in instruction that are being implemented.
A new superintendent is taking over at the beginning of 2011, and the district is emerging from fiscal emergency, he said.
“I think the foundation is laid to help rebuild the city school system,” Catale said.
Research indicates that social problems all begin with the school system, he said.
“If the schools are not performing, there will be higher unemployment,” Catale said. “If there’s high unemployment, there will be a higher poverty rate, and with a higher poverty rate, you have a higher crime rate. It all starts with the schools.”
He said he was prompted by phone calls from residents to seek the council seat.
The board president also used his report to take issue with some of the comments made by Gov.-elect John Kasich, who takes over Jan. 1.
Kasich has reportedly used the city schools as an example of public-education money that’s spent outside the classroom.
Before the election, Kasich said that the district spends $13,000 per student, but only $7,000 per pupil of that makes it into the classroom.
But Catale said the district spends about $9,219 per pupil. Kasich’s figures don’t take into account how much money the district distributes to charter and community schools.
When a city-school student opts to attend a charter or community school, the state funding follows.
In fiscal year 2010, more than $28 million went to charter and community schools with an additional $2 million spent on transportation to those schools.
“I would invite Gov.-Elect Kasich to come to Youngstown, to tour our buildings, to meet our teachers and staff and to talk about ways of improving public education instead of creating more charter and community schools,” Catale said.


The L.C. Smith Collectors Association
[ Post a Response | The L.C. Smith Collectors Association ]
Re: LC Smith Double rifle conversions
Yes I did buy them many years ago, I was not impressed when I got them so I did not do anything with them other then strip the plating off.


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"I love enjoying the beautiful downtown area. It is always one of my best shows of the year."
Krista Hammond, Santa Cruz Sea Glass
Los Altos, California (PRWEB) July 10, 2012
Santa Cruz Sea Glass is set to show for their third year in a row at the Los Altos Art & Wine festival, marking its 33rd year in 2012. The highly-rated Arts & Wine Festival showcases the distinctive works of artists and craftspeople from over a dozen states.
Krista Hammond, owner of Santa Cruz Sea Glass is in fact a 1989 Los Altos High School graduate. "I love coming back to the area where I spent most of my youth. Seeing old friends and enjoying the beautiful downtown area. It is always one of my best shows of the year."
Besides showing at numerous art festivals throughout the year, Krista also created her own show, the Santa Cruz Sea Glass & Ocean Art Festival. In its 4th year, held the first week in November at the Cocoanut Grove on the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz. The festival features over 40 artists and was started by Krista as a way to celebrate art while raising awareness and donations for ocean conservation. Krista states, "The show has been such a success that I joined forces with Relish Inc. in Lake Erie to create the 1st annual Lake Erie Beach Glass & Coastal Arts festival to be held Memorial Day 2013!"
Many artists specially create new and unusual items just for the Festival. Like Kerry Manning of Cruise Hats who makes hand-sewn sun hats in stylish fabrics. Each one is reversible and it's like having 2 hats in one. Kerry sews every hat herself and she always creates a special new design for the Los Altos show.
Krista of Santa Cruz Sea Glass also creates special pieces just for the Los Altos festival. "I have a great clientele that loves the rare and unusual sea glass colors. We just finished a batch of 13 new rings for the show and each one is amazing!" Krista also loves Cruise hats and often wears one while attending a show. "They are beautifully made and help keep me from getting sun-burned, which is a real threat when you are an artist showing for over 8 hours a day outside."
The Festival also features select vintages by the glass from local wineries as well as a wide variety of foods including Thai, Chinese, Mexican, All American favorites like sausages, hot links and roasted corn, sweets of all kinds, and more.
Enjoy the day long free concerts on three stages, offering a variety of music and entertainment for all ages. The Festival is a great event for the whole family with a large selection of rides, activities and entertainment for children all weekend in the new, bigger Family FunZone!

domain: artistic


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Traditional asset services need intermediaries. For example, a trusted third party is needed to complete the asset owner’s verification, authentication and notarization. Asset circulation can only be completed with the intervention of asset issuer, asset recipient and circulation platform. There are several pain points in the current tripartite model: (1) Even the piece of asset has been circulated, it still relies on the issuer’s system to complete the usage and transfer, which limits the circulation only among the user group and within the issuer’s system. (2) Channels are monopolized by major players who could charge high prices and therefore increase the circulation costs significantly. It is difficult for the small channels and individuals to play a role in the circulation.
Blockchain can be used in asset registration, trade confirmation, account keeping, reconciliation and clearing. Groups along the transaction value chain, including upstream and downstream agents like issuer, trading counterparties, exchanges and circulation channels can all conduct businesses by themselves.

domain: finance


text:
condition: excellent make / manufacturer: CHERI BLUM model name / number: BURGUNDY ROSE size / dimensions: 17" x 17"
QR Code Link to This Post
$30. or best offer!
13.5" x 13.5"
Professionally framed, matted and under glass.
This framed print under glass by Cheri Blum is called Burgundy Rose. The print shows a sprig of wild roses from tiny bud to full blown. There is no vase or other item in the picture. The print is signed in block letters, BLUM.
The visible part of the print is 13.5 x 13.5 inches.
The frame is wood with carved embellishment and rubbed with gold. It is 17 x 17 inches and the glass is perfectly intact.
Cheri Blum painted the originals on cracked linen which gave her work a centuries old mien. Cheri passed away in 2003 at age 34 but in her short life she had gained tremendous success for her feminine and fragile style of painting flowers. At the time of her death she had licensee agreements with over 40 companies to reproduce her flowers on everything from wallpaper to salt shakers.
Her prints are published by Wild Apple Graphics. This was true when I first discovered these prints but they currently do not stock any of her prints.
Primary Material: Paper
Size: 17 x 17 inches
Pattern: Wild roses
do NOT contact me with unsolicited services or offers


JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.– Missouri will draw its first “MO VIP” on Friday. However, the public will have to wait a little longer to find out who the winners are.
Winners will have their vaccination statuses verified and will be announced on August 25.
The state said more than 375,000 people have entered the drawing for a chance to win $10,000.
There will be 180 winners selected today in three categories:
- Red Category: $10,000 for 80 winners 18 years of age or older and received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine on or after July 21, 2021.
- White: $10,000 for 80 winners 18 years of age or older and received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine before July 21, 2021
- Blue: $10,000 college savings account for 20 winners ages of 12 to 17
New entries for the next drawing will be accepted until 11:59 p.m. on August 25. You can register on the state’s COVID Vaccine Navigator site. The second drawing will be Aug. 27 with winners announced on Sept. 8.


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When one thinks of cooking oatmeal, it's often either on the stovetop or in a microwave. Add water to your oats, and cook until they've softened. I've been doing it this way all my life, never giving the process much thought, because it always worked. And to be honest, when you're just cooking for one or two, and you want it fast, stovetop or microwave is ideal.
But there's another, lesser known way to make oatmeal, and though it takes a little longer, it's super easy and great for entertaining: baked oatmeal. If you never thought oatmeal could be "hands off," let alone considered fit for guests, then you're in luck, because we've got not one, but three great ways to do it.
Over the years I've created more than my fair share of oatmeal volcanoes in the microwave. And standing over the stove stirring the pot is not really what I want to be doing first thing in the morning. With baked oatmeal, all you have to do is toss it all in a baking dish and slide it into the oven. In about 30 minutes, you've got a dish of steaming, tender oats. To enrich it, I use milk instead of water, and just one egg lightens the texture. It's the perfect stress-free hot breakfast to serve to guests. Why? There's no à la minute cooking: the oven does all the work.
Because oats on their own are rather plain, oatmeal benefits tremendously from a few add-ins to dress it up. A juicy strawberries-and-almond baked oatmeal is bursting with fresh sweet-tart flavor. In my maple-banana baked oatmeal with walnuts, sugar is swapped out for delicious maple syrup. And, for the last recipe, cinnamon-apple baked oatmeal, tart Granny Smith apples provide contrast to the sweet oatmeal. Pre-cooking the apples first in the baking dish gives the apples a head start on softening before baking with the oats. For optimum texture, be sure to serve immediately, piping hot, as any oatmeal will continue to thicken as it cools.


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2019 Demand for Rescale-managed Cloud HPC Exceeds All Previous Years Combined
Cloud HPC market hits mainstream with offerings from every major cloud provider, new FedRAMP security compliance, and availability of 370+ simulation applications
Rescale also announced the addition of 170 new customers, including major Fortune 500 customers across a range of verticals including automotive, aerospace, healthcare, defense, energy and IT services. Key additions include
In 2019, Rescale made significant strides to advance multi-cloud HPC orchestration, security & compliance, enterprise-wide HPC operations, and improved end-user simulation workflows. Highlights include:
New hardware integrations with the latest Cloud Service Providers, including AWS (NASDAQ: AMZN),
MicrosoftAzure HB-series (NASDAQ: MSFT), IBM Cloud (NYSE: IBM)--and early availability of Google Cloud Platform (NASDAQ: GOOGL) and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (NYSE: ORCL). Latest benchmarks show linear scale at levels equivalent to or beating on-premises hardware performance, eliminating the final obstacle to cloud adoption. Multi-cloud HPC ensures that customers can easily adopt the latest hardware technology architectures for running software applications without changing their software or workflow in any way.
- Significant improvements in security and compliance. Rescale introduced Scalex Government, the first and only managed HPC service listed in the FedRAMP marketplace today. ScaleX Government is built to address diverse compliance requirements for the public sector, including ITAR and/or FedRAMP Moderate impact levels.
- Comprehensive HPC cost transparency and control, including economics dashboard of spend across project teams, with option to set recommended or enforced budgets. Hierarchical accounts simplify administration for companies with multiple business units. For improved service quality, Rescale distributes jobs across multiple regions and availability zones to work around cloud provider capacity limitations.
- Improved end-user simulation workflow and software catalog, including dozens of versions of popular engineering titles. In 2019, Rescale expanded support to over 370 HPC applications, including a strategic partnership with Siemens Simcenter PLM. Additional platform enhancements across cloud providers include data storage for workflows, collaboration, job control, and results visualization.
“As CIOs realize adopting the cloud is crucial to stay competitive, large capital intensive workloads like HPC are natural places to start,” said Rescale CEO
Rescale is exhibiting at Supercomputing 2019, and can be found at booth #1781.
Rescale is the leader in enterprise big compute in the cloud. Rescale empowers the world’s transformative executives, IT leaders, engineers, and scientists to securely manage product innovation to be first to market. Rescale’s ScaleX® multi-cloud platform, built on the most powerful high-performance computing infrastructure, seamlessly matches software applications with the best cloud or on-premise architecture to run complex data processing and simulations. For more information on Rescale, visit www.rescale.com.
Press inquiries and interview requests for Rescale can be sent to firstname.lastname@example.org


Your Pontiac dealership isn't the only place to locate genuine or original equipment quality repair parts to fix your Strato-Chief. Auto enthusiasts appreciate the good looks built into each Pontiac, and know that only the best replacement Strato-Chief parts will suffice when your car or truck needs fixing. Make no mistake, you didn't buy your Strato-Chief unless you knew that you wanted horsepower and great value both impeccably combined into one car, truck, or SUV. Anyone who owns a Pontiac knows that when it comes to fixing their vehicle only the most superior replacement parts will do.
Your car or truck has a water-cooled motor, and its thermostat keeps the coolant flowing in the right direction so that your engine can maintain a constant and ideal operating temperature. On start-up, the thermostat remains closed; bypassing the flow of coolant through your radiator. This cycles the coolant through the engine block and gets it hot. Once it reaches the right temperature, your Pontiac Strato-Chief thermostat responds by directing coolant to the radiator. Now your coolant gets cooled as it recirculates through your Pontiac Strato-Chief engine; keeping it at a steady and controlled temperature determined for the engine to achieve the best balance between power, fuel efficiency, and emissions... all thanks to the thermostat.
Don't let a broken Thermostats spell the end of your car, truck, or SUV, and don't gamble with its condition by installing anything but the best replacement parts. Buying new Pontiac parts from www.carpartsdiscount.com means you are taking advantage of the highest quality original and aftermarket replacement Strato-Chief parts on the internet. Trust in the value of the parts you get from carpartsdiscount.com and realize incredible savings on all your upcoming repairs. All the Pontiac Strato-Chief Thermostats parts on this page will fit vehicles made in 1970, 1969, 1968, 1967, 1966, 1965, 1964, 1963, 1962, 1961, 1960, 1959, 1958. Choose your year below to refine your search.


text:
‘I’m unstoppable’, Edo deputy Gov joins 2024 guber race
Philip Shaibu, Edo State Deputy governor, has declared his intention to contest the 2024 governorship election under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The deputy governor made his declaration at the Biohop Kelly Centre, Benin City, on Monday morning. Shaibu said asa home boy, who had feel the pains of the people, he is poised to […]
Philip Shaibu, Edo State Deputy governor, has declared his intention to contest the 2024 governorship election under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The deputy governor made his declaration at the Biohop Kelly Centre, Benin City, on Monday morning.
Shaibu said asa home boy, who had feel the pains of the people, he is poised to develop the state.
He said he is unstoppable in the forthcoming election.
He said he had worked with Governor Godwin Obaseki in the last seven years to lay the foundation for the development of Edo state.
Shaibu said he was aware of the need of the greater Edo people for a more inclusive government which is “the government of the Edo people, by the Edo people, and for the Edo people”.
He said his government would be predicated on five pillars of infrastructure and economic diversification, education sport and skill development, healthcare and social welfare system, agriculture and rural development and environmental sustainability.
“I have fought the good fight for you my people, along the way, suffered humiliations and enjoyed many moments of victory but I am thankful in all things.”
“I have been pressed but not crushed, persecuted but not abandoned, badly hurt but not destroyed. I resonate with the tireless and irrepressible Spirit of the Edo People”.
“By the grace of God, nothing and no one can stop us. After all, I am original Edo son, 100 percent home boy” shaibu said.
He said he was standing before Edo people with great conviction and resolve to declare his “intention to run for the office of the governor of Edo State under the platform of the PDP in the upcoming 2024 election”
Shaibu said: “I am confident that with your support, we can take Edo State to a greater height. I have worked with governor Godwin Obaseki in the last seven years to lay the foundation for the development of Edo state.”
Shaibu said under his supervision as the Deputy Governor, the state Internally generated revenue has grown impressively with the introduction of digital and cutting-edge ideas as well returning the Bendel Insurance to the national league.
“In my time as a legislator, I delivered 49 constituency projects at the state level and 13 solid constituency projects within my short stint at the federal level”.
He said since his foray into politics three decades ago, he has lived with the people assuring that with the greater Edo people they will reignite the Edo Spirit and transform the state.
He assured that under his watch, traditional rulers and religion leaders as well as ancestral heritage would be respected.
Shaibu called on the people to support him in actualizing his ambition of becoming the next governor of the state.
The deputy governor was billed to declare his governorship bid at the Eterno Hotel but the hotel cancelled the event at the last minute, saying Governor Obaseki had a programme at the venue at same time.
Obaseki and Shaibu had fallen out over his governorship bid.


text:
156 of 156 people found the following review helpful
Yoga for Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond,
This review is from: Yoga for Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond (Paperback)
All Francoise Freedman's books are excellent and this latest is no exception. What is great about this book is that it is suitable for those who have practiced little or no yoga before and also for experienced yoginis. The book takes you safely through the three trimesters with mini sequences, explaining what muscles you are strengthening and stretching. Common complaints like sciatica and symphysis pubis disorder are also addressed. The beautifully shot photos make everything clear and easy to follow.
The book also takes you through the postpartum period. Unlike most books, this isn't just a small add on at the end of the book. Freedman gives several progressive mini routines to help realign the body and promote strength and vitality.
I can't recommend this book enough!

domain: literature


text:
Canadian loving Samoa’s summer time
Waiting to check into her room at the Tanoa Tusitala Hotel was Jody from Vancouver, Canada, and what better way to kill time than to lie by the pool and work on her tan.
“It’s pretty strange to have a tan in January where I’m from in Canada so it’s going to be nice going back home with a tan and look all refreshed. Although it probably won’t last long,” Jody Young said to Dear Tourist.
Jody has been spending the last couple of weeks travelling through Australia and New Zealand for the Christmas and New Year season.
“I’ve just come from spending time in New Zealand, travelling around there and then was in Australia visiting with some family and now I’m here in Samoa for a week. I’m meeting a friend of mine from Canada who is also doing some travelling.”
“We’re spending two days in Apia and then we will head to Saletoga sands and we have plans to do some sightseeing at all the other villages, I can’t remember their names but the goal was to have a ‘beach-y’ relaxed kind of holiday.”
When choosing her last destination before heading back to Canada, Jody did some research to decide which of the islands she would visit and it looked like “up and coming” Samoa was the pick for the Canadian traveller.
“Well I was doing some research and originally was looking at Fiji first, but then I heard that Samoa was the more untouched, not so tourist-y island. I looked at some photos and I really wanted to visit the To Sua trench that I saw online. From what I read, Samoa seemed like an up and coming tourist destination and it’s a place that is just so far away, but it really caught my eye and so here we are.”
“It’s humid, but it’s nice. It’s negative 5 degrees where I’m from, so I’m not complaining. It’s great. If weather permits, I’d like to do a snorkeling boat trip, there’s a company that I researched before coming here and they do trips around the different islands so fingers crossed that will work out.”
According to Jody, the best part about her trip is meeting her work colleague in the middle of the Pacific far from their North American home.
“My friend that I’m meeting here pretty soon is spending her 35th birthday here in Samoa. She quit her job and has been travelling for the past six months. I just told her I was going to be here in Samoa and she decided to come meet me.”
“She’s on the last leg of her trip and I’m on the last leg of my trip so what better way to end our travels than to meet up here. And we’ll get to fly home together so that’s going to be fun.”

domain: geography


Ted Snider returns to the show to discuss his recent article “Accusing Russia – Listening to History” about the recent history of US-Russian relations. Snider makes the case that most of the US’s accusations against Russia, such as expansionary foreign policy and election meddling, accurately describe the US’s own policy toward Russia since the end of the Cold War.
This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Kesslyn Runs, by Charles Featherstone; NoDev NoOps NoIT, by Hussein Badakhchani; The War State, by Mike Swanson; WallStreetWindow.com; Roberts and Roberts Brokerage Inc.; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; and LibertyStickers.com.
Donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal, or Bitcoin: 1KGye7S3pk7XXJT6TzrbFephGDbdhYznTa.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download


TYPE DX SERIES
The BIPOLAR AIR PURIFICATION SYSTEMS can be immediately installed in the current air-conditioning system, no matter the latter exists since quite a long time or it has just been installed, and it is very easy to install and operate it.
The BIPOLAR AIR PURIFICATION SYSTEMS can find extensive applications in every field and situation, such as Hospital, restaurant, bank, offices, daily life at home, animal center, bar, school, cram school, laboratory, clinic, retirement home, daycare center, library, hotel, health club, printing facility, garbage , and food processing area with high temperature and high humidity ..etc…
BIPOLAR AIR PURIFICATION SYSTEMS can improve the indoor air quality by lowering the level of the germs in the air by 70-80%, by decreasing the VOC level in the air, and also by reducing unpleasant smells.
BIPOLAR AIR PURIFICATION SYSTEMS can complement the air-conditioning system by improving the incoming fresh air quality; it also allows the air-conditioning system to reduce the intake of outside fresh air , therefore reducing the power consumption and lowering the operation charge.


text:
The Truth About HIV Symptoms in Women
HIV symptoms are broad, general, and can be mistaken for lots of other health conditions. The body only has so many ways to signal that it’s under attack; fever, sore throat, muscle aches, rashes…is it the flu? Is it HIV? It’s hard to know.
And doing a quick google search for HIV symptoms can be scary, misleading, or overly clinical. Plus, a lot of the information available online doesn’t acknowledge that there may be symptoms women experience that men can’t. The focus of the media when it comes to HIV/AIDS has been mostly male-centric since the early days of the disease. And unfortunately, a lot of the information available online continues this assumption and uses male symptoms as the standard, ignoring information specifically for women. Crazy, right?
The truth is, women can and do become infected with HIV/AIDS every day. HIV is the leading cause of death worldwide among women of reproductive age and half of adults living with HIV worldwide are women (UNAIDS).
Even so, the symptoms of HIV are mostly the same for men and women and can vary from person to person. So, if you think you may have been exposed to the disease or if you’re experiencing troubling symptoms, go see your healthcare provider right away.
General HIV symptoms include:
- Mouth sores
- Muscle Aches
- Night Sweats
- Sore Throat
- Swollen Lymph Nodes
Chances are if you are a human person, you’ve experienced one if not many of the above symptoms. Experiencing one or more of these symptoms does not mean you have HIV, but if you think you might be experiencing HIV related symptoms, you should get an HIV test to know for sure.
Even though symptoms vary from person to person, there are a few symptoms that can only effect women.
For instance, changes in your period can be an HIV related symptom. You may have lighter or heavier bleeding, skip periods, or have really bad PMS. This can be caused by the stress your body is under or by the virus’s effects on your immune system, which can affect your hormones.
Women may also have lower belly pain as a result of HIV related complications. It’s one of the signs of an infected uterus, ovaries, and fallopian tubes called pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). For some women, it’s one of the first red flags they have HIV.
Vaginal yeast infections are also common in the early stages of the virus. Along with PID, yeast infections can also be one of the first signs that you have HIV because your body’s immune system is weakened and can’t fight off infections on its own.
But again, many of these symptoms are common and can signal other health issues. So, if you’re experiencing any of the above symptoms, go see your healthcare provider and make sure to get an HIV test so that you can get the care you need.
Women deserve access to the most up to date information when it comes to HIV/AIDS prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. There are still heavy biases and harmful assumptions about women and sexuality in the US and around the globe that can keep women from accessing the information they need to stay safe and remain healthy. Don’t let stigma stand in the way of your healthcare. If you think you’re experiencing HIV related symptoms, get tested today.
About: AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is a global nonprofit organization providing cutting-edge medicine and advocacy to over 1,000,000 people in 43 countries. We are currently the largest provider of HIV/AIDS medical care in the world.

domain: medical


text: I am a blogger from Nigeria living in Kenilworth, Cape Town. I love Africa for its natural spaces, culture, and music. I work remotely which lets me explore and travel twice a year. I have always loved animals since I was a child and have been facinated by birds from a young age. My favourite bird is the peacock which I first saw while walking the canopy walkway in the Lekki Convervation Centre.

domain: hobby


text:
A work specially written for String Sextet, Wind Sextet or Chamber Orchestra (Strings) with beautiful deep harmony inspired by 'From above the Prophets' by Balakirev.
This version is for 3 violins, 1 viola and 2 cellos, and is suitable for any group that has reached grade V standard ARCM (or equivalent). This is a digital performance - by computer. The score and parts are available.
This is a computer generated performance


Looking North-Northwest from Vaile Avenue April 2009
Bridge is in foreground, background shows Sycamore Street overpass. Winamac Southern Railway/US Rail switches Mervis Steel(OmniSource) at next road crossing and occasionally parks gondola cars on North approach to bridge, but nothing has went over bridge for at least 5 years.
Photo taken by James Norwood
BH Photo #139040


text:
Alessi, known as the Italian design factory, has manufactured household products since 1921. The stylish and fun items offered are the result of contemporary partnerships with some of the world's best designers of unique and modern home accessories.
The Dressed Salad Set is available with the following:
- Made of 18/10 stainless steel
- Mirror Polished finish
- Relief decoration
- Designed by Marcel Wanders
- Item: Length 11"
Ratings: Based on 1 reviews, this product is rated 5.0 out of 5.
Manufacturer IDs: view
Need help with some of our terminology? Check out Lumens' Lighting & Design Glossary.
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The simple elegance of the Alessi All-Time Salad Serving Bowl makes it ideal for dining occasions both formal and casual. This sleek and smooth vessel is made out of gleaming White bone china. Designed by Guido Venturini as part of ...
Complete your modern dining toolbox with the Iittala Collective Tools Serving Spoon. The curve of the solid stainless steel handle matches the bowl, giving the spoon a pleasingly hefty feel when scooping and serving rice, potatoes or other sides. Designed ...


text:
After spending some time with a few Minke whales this morning we made our way to Jeffreys Ledge and found a familiar whale circling the area. Fjord was back on the Ledge. Prior to today's sighting Fjord's last sighting had been on May 26. That's 3 weeks to the day!
Before heading home we went searching and saw a spout from another animal out in the distance. It didn't take long before we knew we had come across another species. It was a Humpback whale, specifically Halfmoon the Humpback whale.
|With a quick swish of its tail Halfmoon creates quite a bit of white water (1/2 of its tail is seen above the surface)|
|Fjord surfacing for a breath while getting a bit of rest this afternoon|
|Fjord deciding to showcase some of it's baleen to all of us|
|The head of a Fin whale as it surfaced just in front of us!|
|Our Fin whale going down for a dive|
Keep in touch! Become a Fan on Facebook || Follow Us On Twitter


Waka Flocka held a private a listening session for his latest mixtape Salute Me or Shoot Me V4 with DJ Holiday.Â All of Atlanta came out to Patchwerk Studios to preview the mixtape and celebrate it’s release.Â Peep the photos below. Â Everybody was there!
Waka pops open some Red Berry Ciroc during the “Salute Me or Shoot Me V4” listening session.
The drinks were flowing throughout Patchwerk Studio.
Ms. Rivercity held down the guest list and made sure the best of the best where in attendance.Â Trae the Truth and Bambino Gold came out to support.Â Hoodrich/MMG DJ Scream, Aphiliates DJ Sense, and Mixtape Monopoly’s DJ IcebergÂ showed love too. Â Jarvis (photo above) came through to support Waka Flocka’s new mixtape as well.
All of Brick Squad was there as well.Â “Salute Me or Shoot Me V4” is out now and available for download on Hot New Hip Hop.Â It featuresÂ Gucci Mane, Wale, Roscoe Dash,Â Yo Gotti, Chief Keef, and more.


text:
If a teacher asks a student to do something, most will comply. That’s the nature of a trusting and compliant relationship, where students believe that those in positions of authority wouldn’t tell them to do something wrong. But if the teacher is Kelly Racca at Clovis North High School in California, there could be a problem, according to a lawsuit.
From the Fresno Bee:
Two Clovis North High School students have sued the Clovis Unified School District, saying a school employee asked them to participate in a drug sting on campus without the consent of their parents or police.
The plan allegedly hatched by Kelly Racca last March went horribly wrong: after the drug buy, the two students were unlawfully interrogated by police and threatened with arrest, the Fresno County Superior Court lawsuit says.
It began when Racca convinced a female student to go undercover for her to buy marijuana from another student. She was running a sting, all by her lonesome. There were no cops involved. Apparently, there was no one else in the school district involved as well. It was just Racca. Drug Warrior Racca, to save the school from demon weed. Using students as her weapons in the war against drugs.
Of course, when it all went public, Racca got suddenly shy.
Racca and another school official then encouraged one of the students to lie to protect Racca from being disciplined, the lawsuit says.
According to the suit, the scheme wasn’t particularly sophisticated. The female student was told to make a buy with money provided by Racca. She was uncomfortable, so the female student co-opted a male student as well, and it was agreed that they would do it if Racca would help get an expelled student reinstated. So the deal was done, with Racca and then to buy the pot.
The next day, however, school administrators called Mary out of her class for a meeting with two Clovis police officers. Without notifying her parents, police interrogated Mary and she was told to write her account of the drug buy.
After police threatened to arrest her, Mary waited in the Student Services office for many hours without any explanation of what would happen to her and without her parents being contacted. She was finally allowed to leave without being arrested.
School officials and police officers called John into a conference room and advised him of his Miranda rights. John asked to call his father, but his request was denied. School officials and police then questioned him at length, ignoring his pleas to contact his father. “John was not allowed to leave the conference room during this interrogation,” the lawsuit says.
Compounding Racca’s drug warrior scheme, the police denied her two undercover operatives of their rights. But then Racca raced to their defense, explaining how it was all at her behest, under her control, and certainly not any wrongdoing on the part of the students, right? Well, not exactly:
Sometime later, Student Services counselor Wesley Flowers brought Mary to his office, where Racca pleaded with Mary to retract her statements about Racca orchestrating the sting operation, the lawsuit says.
After Racca left the office, Flowers also encouraged Mary “to essentially lie about the event so that Racca would not be subject to criticism by her superiors,” the lawsuit says.
[The student’s attorney, Stephen] Cornwell said Monday neither Mary nor John were advised by Racca that her plan was illegal and a violation of the school district’s zero-tolerance drug policy. The two students assumed Racca was authorized to conduct her plan, he said.
This bizarre scenario, fortunately, didn’t result in either of the students being arrested and prosecuted. They were, of course, subject to interrogation, and their role in Racca’s scheme became known in school, subjecting them to ridicule and ostracism as snitches, together with the “potential physical harm by drug-related gang actions.”
It’s astounding that someone like Racca, in a position of responsibility over students, would take it upon herself to engage in such a scheme on her own. Had this been run by the police, it would have been outrageous, without the parents of the students made fully aware and approving of their children’s involvement. And any parent who agreed to such a thing needs to have their head examined.
Racca’s scheme reflects the fragile relationship that exists between adults and students in schools, and the potential for risk to students at the hands of those entrusted with their well-being. But the demon marijuana must be stopped, and if someone else doesn’t do it, then Racca must be the drug warrior to save the day.
Had a few things gone awry, there could be a student dead or injured. There could be two students prosecuted and convicted. And Racca would walk away, because the students shouldn’t reveal her involvement because she might be disciplined.
Of course, the story makes no mention of what the Clovis Unified School District did to Racca as a result of all this, though she still works “part-time in a sub capacity” for the school district, because she is certainly the type of person who should be around high school students.
H/T Rick Horowitz

domain: sociology


text:
More than $ 600 million have disappeared from the crippled FTX exchange, which announced a possible bankruptcy a few days ago, after an anomalous withdrawal that turned out to be a cyber attack that led to the hacking of a large amount of cryptocurrencies in the market. virtual.
According to information published by CoinDesk and Investing, the cryptocurrency exchange (FTX) was the subject of an electronic hack on Friday 11 November, the team support team working on this exchange.
Reports seen by “Al Arabiya Net” state that in this penetration more than 600 million dollars were lost, and in just one day.
In a tweet on Twitter, “FTX” General Counsel Ryan Miller asked the company’s customers and users to uninstall any updates and delete all applications related to his company and Internet exchanges, for fear of lose more money.
In a subsequent statement released Saturday, the company said data on the network shows that many token Ethereum, as well as many other currencies, left the official FTX wallets and moved elsewhere.
Miller confirmed that it is currently in An investigation was carried out on anomalous movements in the FTX exchange’s wallets, to discover the circumstances of the massive hack that led to the disappearance of cryptocurrencies worth over 600 million dollars.
Miller in He later tweeted it on Twitter, confirming that FTX had initiated precautionary measures to move all digital assets in cold rooms to mitigate damage while monitoring unauthorized transactions.
Currently, wallet holders (FTX) are noticing that their balances have become zero dollars and, consequently, traders and customers of cryptocurrency holders suspect that the outflows are caused by someone in the inner circle of the company’s founder, and not by an external hacking operation, according to the website “Investing”, specialized in news, business and money.
Read More About: Technology News


text:
"A lot of people have asked me what I get from writing, besides residuals," Neil Young cracks wise in the early minutes of Sugar Mountain – Live at Canterbury House 1968 CD/DVD, currently streaming on NPR ahead of its December 2 release. "I didn't know what [a residual] meant until I got it. But I remembered from then on."
And on, judging by this niche effort, which should make Young fans feel right at home but leave the rest looking for a better entry point into his seminal work. Recorded shortly after the implosion of Buffalo Springfield and in front of a packed crowd awaiting his next move, Sugar Mountain is an early glimpse at a legend cleared for takeoff.
It's also yet another product from Young's considerable vault, and – since he has confessed to being a pack rat – probably one of many releases he plans on repurposing for a nice payday. Check it out now for free on NPR to see if it's worth your hard-earned currency.
Currency, residuals, whatever. Young ponders this intriguing economic arrangement on Sugar Mountain, right before strumming an acoustic "Mr. Soul," which he admits "took only five minutes" to write. "I only wrote it once," he adds, reminding us all how easy hard but lucrative work comes to him. "All [I am] is a radio station, a microphone."


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On Wednesday, October 23, the Rev. Dr Arnold Thomas will deliver a presentation entitled, “The Browning of America: Reconciliation or Retribution”. This will be an evening event and will include a discussion period. The event will be hosted in Randolph, VT at a venue and time to be announced soon.
The Rev. Thomas is pastor of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Jericho, VT. Notable among his many accomplishments is his extensive ministry experience and involvement in numerous organizations concerned with social justice, human rights and racial justice having. He has served as…
President of the Vermont Ecumenical Council
Conference Minister of the Vermont Conference UCC (the first African American UCC denominational leader in Vermont)
Minister of Education, Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations at Riverside Church in New York City
Adjunct Professor of Religion at New York Theological Seminary
At his church in Jericho, the Rev. Thomas recently produced a seminar series entitled, “Racism in America”, which consisted of nine monthly forums featuring an excellent selection of presenters and discussion leaders.
The October 23 event will be co-sponsored by FORE (Focus on Racial Equality) and the Rutland Area Branch NAACP. Mark your calendar, and stay tuned to The Mountain for further details.


MINISTERS and advisors connected to 10 Downing Street have been accused of trying to blackmail Conservative MPs into backing Boris Johnson.
Conservative MP William Wragg, the Chair of the House of Commons Public Administration Committee made the allegations this morning ahead of a Committee meeting in the House of Commons.
Mr Wragg, a firm Brexiter who supported Mr Johnson for the party leadership in 2019, accused whips, ministers, and others of threatening to withdraw public funding from members’ constituencies and plant stories in the press against them unless they played ball.
The Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee Mr Wragg heads is the principal select committee to which Cabinet Office ministers are accountable.
Mr Wragg called on MPs the PM’s backers try to blackmail to report the incidents to the Speaker of the House of Commons or the Metropolitan Police.
While the Met Police is unlikely to take any interest in attempts to strongarm MPs by party whips in Westminster, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons Speaker, is likely to take a hard line and ask for details of the allegations and explanations for them very soon.
The revelations add to the stench of moral rot at the heart of Boris Johnson’s government.
If anyone was in any doubt about the government’s character before the latest allegations were made, they are in no doubt now.


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Uncorking Logistical BottlenecksMon, 09/01/2014 - 13:13
Few are better positioned to comment on the state of the automotive industry than Eduardo Solís, Executive President of AMIA. For Solís, continued exponential growth of the industry is inevitable, evidenced by the steady rise in manufacturing and export figures. However, Solís’ optimism is somewhat quelled due to potential logistical bottlenecks caused by booming automotive production. “There are no bottlenecks today, but I certainly see bottlenecks arising if the right actions are not taken over the next five years at Veracruz, Lazaro Cardenas, and Laredo. We must do our homework because the indicators show a growth of exports in the next five years of about 1 million vehicles. Mexico must have the right ports, railroads, and infrastructure in order to keep up with this growth,” says Solís.
Today, 19 major global car companies already have plants on the ground in Mexico, with many planning to expand operations or enter the market. Nissan has recently opened its second Mexican plant in Aguascalientes, at an investment of US$2 billion, Audi is approaching the same level of investment with a US$1.3 billion assembly plant in Puebla to start making the Q5 model there, and BMW recently announced a US$1 billion investment in San Luis Potosi. Projections have stating that production will grow to reach 3.7 million units by 2015 and 4 million in 2016. Investments by major OEMs have in turn attracted droves of international Tier 1 and 2 suppliers to Mexico, providing more suppliers to assist OEMs in the quest for the most optimized supply chain. In the last five years alone, Ford has gone from sourcing US$500,000 locally produced materials to US$14 billion. This allows the company to fuel operations worldwide with high-quality, low-cost materials sourced directly from Mexico. Today, Ford does not produce a single product that does not contain at least one Mexican component. This puts an operational link between Ford Mexico and each of the company’s 32 global plants, links that also exist within Mexico. Ford’s plant in Hermosillo produces cockpits while its sister plant in Cuautitlan produces individual components.
Access to optimal logistical solutions within Mexico is therefore essential in the race to reduce procurement and distribution lead times in an industry driven by cost. Indeed, according to Solís, logistical costs are one of the three most important areas that automotive makers analyze when considering where to build a plant, along with labor costs and government incentives. Therefore as plans for new production centers and increased production capacities abound, concerns have been growing about the ability of Mexico’s infrastructural development to sustain this growth. Mexico’s automotive industry investment is often concentrated in urban clusters, but these clusters do not always have easy access to the railroads. Industry analysts have also pointed to the fact that capital expenditure on new construction equipment has not increased adequately in line with industrial manufacturing growth in Mexico. Ford’s Purchasing Manager, Leo Torres, believes that logistics is the area in which Mexico can improve the most, after engineering. “In Germany, trains move inside the plants. Although Mexico has trains, they are not reliable and they are not on time. It is not just about putting the infrastructure in place; you have to build a culture of logistics. Mexico needs a national automotive development plan that engages the government, private, and education sectors,” says Torres. However, Mexico’s largest railroad operator, Ferromex, is hoping to provide light at the end of the tunnel in the country’s quest for a sophisticated logistical network. The company manages over 8,500km of track nationwide, and its specialized division Automotriz is attempting to address specific challenges faced within the automotive sector. While capital expenditure in Mexico on new equipment may have lagged in general, Ferromex itself budgeted US$450 million in this respect in 2013, with US$57 million of this going to the automotive division, according to Ferromex Automotriz’s Assistant Vice President, Alberto Sánchez Varela. “This investment is specifically targeted at the impact the automotive plants will have on our network. These funds will be allocated to cover that growth segment, aside the natural expansion our business is undergoing,” he explains. For Ferromex, the announcement of the creation of a new OEM plant in Mexico is rarely news since much of the firm’s collaboration with car makers begins ahead of time. As Sánchez Varela explains, developing relationships with new investors a couple of years early allows the company not just to be competitive, but also to anticipate how much time is needed to prepare for the extra volume of cargo and fit this seamlessly into its natural growth. Ferromex has sought to provide targeted logistical solutions for each major plant established in the country. The company analyzes each site, its transportation needs for inbound goods, and how best to answer those needs. An estimated volume for each vehicle line is also established to understand how best to deliver tailor-made logistic solutions for each OEM, each plant, and each type of vehicle.
Given the export-dominant nature of Mexican automotive production, the key for transport providers is how swiftly they can get the cars to the country’s key ports or across the border. Ferromex’s business model therefore looks at every means of export for vehicles, not only for cross-border trade but also the entire global network. It is here that intermodal transportation solutions are really helping to improve efficiency and competitiveness within the automotive supply chain. Ferromex controls a vital point for exporting vehicles in the port of Veracruz, enabling it to combine logistical services. However, media reports have stated that despite currently undergoing a decade long revamp, the port is not far off operating at full capacity, meaning that Ferromex will need to diversify its access to sea lanes. Furthermore, the port is also not the most optimal location to service the automotive industry’s booming cluster in Guanajuato. Closer hubs include the ports of Manzanillo and Lazaro Cardenas. Collaboration between the port and Kansas City Southern de Mexico (KCSM), Ferromex’s closest rival, has already seen the Lazaro Cardenas-Kansas City rail corridor being well utilized for around 15 years. KCSM has been reporting double-digit growth in car loads transported for the last few years. It enjoys the same alliances with US railroad companies such as Union Pacific. Ferromex recognizes the pressure to continuously diversify its logistical portfolio, and Sánchez Varela says the company is already talking to customers about their business needs for the Pacific and is actively considering how best to integrate that avenue into their logistics efforts. With so much investment and competition between major providers like Ferromex and KCSM, there is hope yet for Mexico’s logistical network.


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This twist on still life is full of life with its tempting bright vibrant red apples with a back drop in shades of grey. This canvas makes a great addition to any kitchen or dinning area.
|Canvas Art Subject||Food & Beverage|
|Number of Pieces||1|
|Mfr Part #|
|Category||Canvas Art - 724|


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Halstead Town 1-1 March Town: Goalkeeper Beeny nets long-range strike as Hares hold Halstead
- Credit: Archant
March Town secured an impressive point on the road on Saturday - through an unlikely goal-scoring source.
Hares stopper Dave Beeny notched their only goal as they grabbed a point away at seventh-placed Halstead Town in the Thurlow Nunn Division One.
Beeny gave his side the lead early in the second half when his free kick from inside his own half sailed into the Humbugs’ net.
Halstead, who had only dropped points at home once prior to Saturday’s meeting, then levelled through Cameron Storie.
March, who are now two games unbeaten, will hope for a third when they host Braintree Town Reserves on Saturday (3pm).


Bauhinia purpurea (Fabaceae)
Despite the extreme drought in Noordhoek, South Africa, our magnificent purple butterfly orchid tree rewarded us for the tender loving care it receives with a first stunning flower in 2018 today!
I guess . . . she actually opened her blossom yesterday for International Women’s Day 🙂
The tree is well over 6 metres high and can grow up to 10 metres. The thick leaves are divided into two lobes, about 10 cm long, which gives them the ‘butterfly look’. These trees are beautiful specimen in any garden and I’m extremely grateful that it survived so far. As our really burning hot days are over and we hopefully get our winter rains rather sooner than later (normally in June/July), I hope the worst of our 50 litres a day per person ordeal is over. It can only get better – but what really saved this tree is a thick, fat, natural mulch.


Faridabad News: A seven day camp on Life Skills Education got concluded at Brahmkumaris’ Om Shanti Retreat Center in Gurgaon. This camp was attended by children of various ages and several adults shared with them the life experiences. The children, mostly from Bahadurgarh and Gurgaon, also learnt tips and tricks to think positively. Bhrata Mohan, Joint Secretary in union ministry of youth affairs also addressed the children.
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Dublin-born Hugh Leonard the Irish playwright, dramatist, television writer and essayist has died. His career spanned more than 50 years and he wrote more than 18 plays, two volumes of essays, two autobiographies, one novel and several screenplays. He was also a regular newspaper columnist.
Leonard’s born name was John Joseph Byrne, later changed to John Keyes Byrne, and he was known to close friends as Jack.
Full report from the Irish Times:
“That’s a million quid’s worth of land,” remarks Stormy, a builder himself. “Someone got his palm well greased.”
When his wife hints that Stormy might not have been above a bit of palm-greasing himself and mentions “the houses in Churchtown”, he replies indignantly: “That was a favour. I didn’t pay . . . Back-scratching is one thing. Paying money is corruption.”
The remarkable thing about this scene is that it is set not at the height of the Celtic Tiger, but in 1974, the year the play was first produced. That it could be cutting-edge contemporary theatre reminds us of the neat dramatic timing of Hugh Leonard’s final exit. He leaves the stage at precisely the time when his great themes – the rise and fall of new money and the terror of a return to the past – are again deeply resonant.
Hugh Leonard’s adoptive father, whose memory haunts his most famous play, Da , worked for 54 years as a gardener in a grand Dalkey house on Dublin Bay. During that time it changed its name from Enderley to Sancta Maria, as the old Protestant owners were replaced by members of the rising Catholic bourgeoisie. Dalkey – half small town, half affluent Dublin suburb – was a perfect microcosm of social change in Ireland. As a lower-class kid growing up there, and as a relatively well-to-do returned exile when he went back after a decade of exile in England, Leonard was at once sufficiently rooted in the place to know all its details and sufficiently distant to observe them with a sharply satiric eye.
It was both his curse and his blessing to be the laureate of the nouveau riche. It was a curse because the anguish of newly minted millionaires is not the stuff of grand tragedy. Leonard’s hinterland was more brittle, less open to being mythologised, than those of contemporaries such as Tom Murphy, Brian Friel and John B Keane.
The classic bourgeois forms of farce and boulevard comedy were appropriate to the task in hand, but they do not necessarily lend themselves to high critical approval. (Leonard was excluded, for example, from the massive Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing .) While more sensitive or high-minded artists held their noses and looked the other way, it was Leonard’s fate to be the great reflector of the vanities and vulgarities, the lusts and terrors, of an unheroic class.
Yet this was also his blessing. He was, after all, himself a member of that rising Catholic middle class. He was a moderniser who embraced popular culture and became the first major Irish writer to establish a reputation in television. (His superb technical facility made him the Andrew Davies of the 1960s, turning out everything from classy Dickens adaptations for the BBC to RTÉ’s big dramatisation of the 1916 Rising on its 50th anniversary, Insurrection.) He embraced new modes and new money, with all the hunger of a poor boy making up for lost time, becoming the only Irish writer one was likely to see in the seat of his Rolls Royce with a big cigar in his mouth.
BUT THAT COINCIDENCE of his own trajectory with that of the country in the 1960s and 1970s was more than just a matter of biographical detail. It deepened his engagement with middle-class life in three important ways.
It gave him, firstly, the swagger of success, deriving from the knowledge that he was up there with the people he was writing about. This mattered because it gave him an audacity that at times hardened into real courage. It took guts in 1971, as Irish nationalism was resurgent, to write a bedroom farce called The Patrick Pearse Motel , in which all the rooms are called after dead patriots and the restaurant is The Famine Room . It took even more guts to write a thinly disguised attack on Charles Haughey, who was then in power, revealing both corruption and a mistress, as Leonard did with Kill in 1982.
Secondly, Leonard’s psychological intimacy with middle-class life allowed him to move beyond farce and satire and to diagnose its neuroses with forensic toughness. He once wrote of how, even as Dalkey’s most famous resident, he was still subject to “the faintly mocking glance that reminds you of how you once lived in the alley lane with the behind out of your trousers”. The fear of that glance may have lain behind his infamous waspishness and intolerance of criticism. (In one of his last Sunday Independent columns, he called for my own assassination, as “justifiable homicide by a posse of theatre-lovers”.) But he was able to transmute it into a genuine fear that haunts his characters, the anxiety that what has been so newly won may simply disappear again, returning the new rich to the old poverty. It is that terror that, above all, makes Leonard’s plays so relevant to our current situation.
Beyond that primal dread, Leonard captured the fierce loneliness that was the price of the new individualism of a culture obsessed with money. In Summer, one of the main characters, Richard, sums up this terror: “Your whole life there is you and there are strangers and there is no one else. There’s a clock in the room, and you invite people in for drinks, and hope the chat and the laughing will drown out the noise of it. Well, it doesn’t, and after a while you realise they’re listening to it, too. You wish they’d go home.”
Thirdly, Leonard’s closeness to the world he was writing about allowed him to bring autobiography and social commentary into a particularly fruitful relationship. His great subject was his own life – in his plays Da and A Life , and in his two superb volumes of memoir, Home Before Night and Out After Dark.
All four are haunted by two father figures: his own Da and the civil servant, Desmond Drumm, who functions both as a mentor and, in his asperity and frustration, as a version of what Leonard himself might have become if he had stayed in the Land Commission rather than becoming a writer. Both men represent, in a more personal form, the inescapable nature of the past that troubles his characters. As Leonard’s alter ago in Da, Charlie, asks: “When did I ever get a chance to pay it back, to get out from under, to be quit of you?”
The answer, in Leonard’s Ireland, was obvious. However many barriers you built with sex and money, you could never be quit of the past.
IT IS PIQUANT that this Ireland seemed to have died in Leonard’s later years. We seemed to have escaped at last, and the neuroses of his people seemed to recede into another time. He had less to write about and the plays dried up. It must have amused him in his latter days to know that we had not escaped after all.
If he were still around, he would find comedy and satire and a melancholy poignancy in our current predicament. His consolation might be in knowing that this predicament is so precisely foreshadowed in his work.”


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Long-serving MetroFibre Networx CEO Steve Booysen will step down from the fibre-to-the-home operator at the end of May.
Browsing: Metrofibre Networx
The price war between fibre network operators is intensifying, with MetroFibre Networx the latest to offer significantly improved value to home broadband users.
African Rainbow Capital Investments plans to offload its remaining stake in fibre network operator MetroFibre Networks.
Creative new investment solutions are required to fund ICT infrastructure that can accelerate the roll-out of fast, unlimited Internet to poorer households.
Frogfoot Networks, the open-access fibre provider, has acquired the fibre-to-the-home assets of Link Africa Western Cape for an undisclosed sum.
MetroFibre, the fibre telecommunications company that recently concluded a R2.5-billion debt funding round, is buying Link Africa’s fibre-to-the-home network in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
South African fibre telecommunications infrastructure company MetroFibre Networx has raised R2.5-billion in new debt financing, led by Investec, adding to the R1.5-billion recently raised from shareholders.
Old Mutual’s private equity unit has acquired a stake in a second data centre in sub-Saharan Africa as it expands to take advantage of a shortfall in cloud storage capacity on the continent.
South African fibre broadband provider MetroFibre Networx has raised R1.5-billion in a new funding round led by infrastructure-focused private equity fund manager African Infrastructure Investment Managers.
Fibre infrastructure provider Metrofibre Networx has received an equity investment from Stoa Infra & Energy. Stoa has acquired 23.1% of the South African open-access fibre network operator.