Health Care Reform Memo: April 19, 2010
Deloitte Center for Health Solutions publication
The health care reform memos are issued on a weekly basis, highlighting news from the previous week's activities in the new administration and implications for the C-suite and various stakeholder groups.
As the dust settles from passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), it is prime time for reflection and punditry. Will the bill lower costs over the long term? Will the individual mandate reduce bad debt for providers and expand the insurance market? Will subsidies entice the uninsured to take the plunge into insurance or will some default to penalties? Will the myriad of demonstration and pilot programs produce results sooner rather than later to bend the curve? Will the cuts in Medicare in the bill be enough or will additional cuts follow? Will insurance companies survive? Will the system thrive in the new normal?
No one knows for sure. Current consensus is that the 14-month debate about health reform raised awareness of the system’s trifecta challenges – access, quality and costs. It likely sets the stage for debate again this fall as Campaign 2010 replaces health reform on the front page.
The summer legislative agenda will be full. Banking system reform is expected to surface the question “what is too big to fail?” Immigration reform will prompt consideration of rights, privileges and responsibilities for the 10.8 million who work in our midst. But attention to health reform will not dissipate and its mention will likely prompt deeper discussion of fundamental questions that are profound and answers complex:
- Is health care in the U.S. a right or privilege?
- Is access to affordable insurance the appropriate means to the end of ensuring better care cost effectively or is there a better path?
- Should employers play a role as middleman or would a direct-to-consumer model work better?
- How much profit is too much? And without profit, where is the capital for growth and innovation?
- Should two levels of care—one for those with insurance and another for those without—be accepted as norm?
- Is it possible to connect health services with human services programs in communities?
- Will the health care workforce—15.6 million strong—adapt to the new normal? Can it adapt to new incentives, team based care, technologies that enhance accuracy and coordination, and respect for its varied professions?
- Can the public’s lack of knowledge about the health care system be remedied?
- How can consumer be held accountable to live healthier lives and shun self-destructive behaviors?
- What is the right balance of resources between primary and preventive health and specialized services?
- Will incentives for performance and value replace volume, or will the piecework model prevail?
- Can evidence-based medicine become the national standard to reduce inappropriate variation and avoidable costs?
- Is 17 percent of the GDP a great value or excessive spending for the current system?
- Will PPACA reduce costs and increase access after all?
Two things are clear: the intended and unintended results of PPACA will not be known anytime soon. With the exception of early efforts to add 32 million to the ranks of the insured, most of its impact is TBD.
And the status quo—runaway costs, variable quality and uneven access—was not sustainable. Change was needed. Like all bills, PPACA is expected to have its challenges. Only time will tell its effects, and with certainty it will maintain its prominence as the single most important domestic agenda items of our day.
The health system looms as a public obligation of mammoth proportion. Ours is a unique system: at $7,681 per capita the world’s most expensive and arguably the best. Is a better course for its future the likely result of PPACA? Will it reduce cost and cover everyone? We hope so. We have much at stake.
Paul Keckley, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Center for Health Solutions
Deloitte Center for Health Solutions analysis: Medicaid long term care obligations in states a looming challenge
Medicaid is the primary payer for long-term care services and support to the elderly and disabled in the U.S., financing 34 percent of all home health care and 43 percent of the nation’s nursing home spending. The total long-term care (LTC) Medicaid expenditures for FY 2008 were $106.4 billion – 32.1 percent of total Medicaid spending of $331.8 billion.
In 2009, Medicaid spending increased 9.9 percent overall to $378.3 billion—the biggest single-year increase since 2002. It is expected to increase 7.5 percent in 2010 and at an annual rate of 8.6 percent annually for the next decade per the CMS official forecast. Long-term care services will serve one-fourth of all enrollees and consume one-third of its funding under the current forecast.
Looking ahead, Medicaid long term care costs will become an increasing challenge to state operating budgets. From ten representative states, the trend lines suggest LTC will be a focus for savings if addressed with innovative medical management and care coordination efforts. A likely scenario is:
Deloitte Center for Health Solutions analysis: assume 20 percent growth in Medicaid enrollment, linear progression of chronic and long-term population disease and conditions, and Office of the Actuary of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services assumptions re: health inflation costs.
Long-term care is included in PPACA with a variety of demonstration programs aimed at improved care coordination and avoidance of unnecessary hospital admissions. LTC in Medicaid represents an immediate opportunity for innovation by states to control costs and improve quality.
Note: Upcoming release from the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions: Long-Term Care in Medicaid: Burning Platform for States.
UnitedHealth Group study: $365 billion ten year savings achievable via Medicaid managed care
Thursday UnitedHealth’s Center for Health Reform and Modernization released its analysis of the savings potential for state Medicaid programs that will consume $439 billion in PPACA funding 2014-2019. It identified four major categories where ten year savings are substantial for states:
|Program||Federal Savings||State Savings||Total Savings|
|Coordination of care for new enrollees||$11B||$1B||$12B|
|Coordination of care for current enrollees||$46B||$35B||$81B|
|Administrative modernization of Medicaid||$80B||$53B||$133B|
|Coordination of care for LTC Medicaid enrollees||$80B||$60B||$140B|
State watch: Health reform aftermath
- Three states – Missouri, Tennessee and Louisiana – are already moving legislation to ban abortion coverage in the [health insurance marketplaces known as] exchanges. And that is even though the exchanges themselves are not required to be up and running before 2014.
- A Pennsylvania court has ordered the Commonwealth to transfer more than $800 million from its general fund into an account that helps physicians pay their malpractice premiums. Commonwealth Court panel on Thursday issued a 4-1 decision in favor of Pennsylvania’s hospitals and physicians, which had argued the commonwealth should not have been able to divert surplus money from a program known as MCare.
- Newly elected New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announced budget cuts last week including savings from excluding 12,000 immigrants from the state’s Family Care health insurance program.
Congress acted this week to approve another extension of the COBRA premium subsidy. The eligibility period was extended to include those who experience an involuntary termination of employment during the period April 1 through May 31. President Obama signed the bill late on April 15.
The eligibility period for the COBRA subsidy has been extended a few times, but expired on March 31. Recently proposed legislation would have extended the eligibility period through December 31, 2010 – as well as provided extended unemployment benefits – but the offsets to pay for those benefits were moved to help pay for the health reform bill. Some members of Congress are hopeful the mini-extension through May will provide enough time to formulate funding sources for longer-term relief.
Physician fix: Update
Thursday the Senate voted 59-38 to approve a legislative package that pushes back until June 1 a 21.2 percent Medicare physician pay cut. The legislative package is priced at about $18.1 billion over the next decade, with about $2.1 billion of the cost coming from the fix. Note: since 2004, the sustainable growth rate (SGR) model that triggers an automatic pay cut to physicians has been over-ridden by Congress. In all likelihood, the new Independent Medicare Payment Commission will face the daunting challenge of the fix as one of its early deliverables to Congress.
Quality slipping: New reports
- Rates of postoperative sepsis— or bloodstream infections—increased by 8 percent between 2008 and 2009. Other findings: post-operative catheter associated urinary tract infections increased by 3.6 percent and postoperative pneumonia declined by 12 percent. (Source: National Healthcare Quality Report, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality released Wednesday)
- Most American children do not routinely receive counseling from their physicians about exercise and healthy eating. (Source: National Healthcare Disparities Report, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality released Wednesday)
- In 2009, less than half of 1,244 hospitals voluntarily reporting to Leapfrog met Leapfrog's outcome, volume, and process standards for six high-risk procedures and conditions: aortic valve replacement (11.8 percent), abdominal aortic aneurism repair (36.1 percent), pancreatic resection (33.5 percent), esophageal resection (31.5 percent), weight loss (bariatric) surgery (36.6 percent), and high-risk deliveries (29.9 percent). Increased adherence to evidence-based guidelines for pneumonia treatment (59 percent in 2009 vs. 34 percent in 2008), heart bypass surgery (54 percent in 2009 vs. 43 percent in 2008) and heart angioplasty (44 percent in 2009 vs. 33 percent in 2008) were areas of most improvement. (Source: Leapfrog 2009 Quality Report released Tuesday)
Note: since hospitals report voluntarily, it is widely believed the extrapolation to the entire population of 5,800 non-federal hospitals would produce lower results.
- For three of five major types of serious hospital-related infections, the rate of illness increased in 2009. (Source: Department of Health and Human Services annual Quality Report)
Employer alert: Early retiree subsidy funding available in June, might run out
Wednesday, HHS announced reimbursement forms for federal subsidies to help pay employers for early retiree health care claims will be available June 23. PPACA authorized $5 billion to reimburse employers who cover health insurance for early retirees aged 55-64 paying 80 percent of the costs for claims between $15,000 and $90,000. The funding begins June 23 and runs through 2013 unless exhausted first.
Consumer spending on health care: Snapshot of out-of-pocket costs for average household
From 1984 to 2007, health spending increased at average rate of 4.4 percent annually, costs increased at 6.4 percent, and consumer after-tax income increased 4.7 percent. In 1984, health care represented 4.94 percent of after tax expenditures, and 4.69 percent in 2007. While health care costs appear to have sharply increased, the percent of our income we spend on health care actually decreased a fraction of a percent.
Key trends from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Dept of Commerce and U.S. Bureau of the Census data
Note: for 2008, overall consumer expenditures increased 1.7 percent vs. 2.6 percent in 2007. Spending increased most for entertainment (5.1 percent), insurance and pensions (5.0 percent) and health care (4.3 percent).
Medical loss ratio (MLR) requirements for plans start in 2011; specific measures to be known June 1
Under PPACA, health plans must spend at least 85 cents of every premium dollar on medical care for group coverage, and at least 80 cents for individual coverage. Costs associated with medical care such as call centers, patient education, disease management programs etc. may qualify as medical costs along with other services plans provide. Regulators in the Department of Health and Human Services are charged with oversight of the new regulation. Accordingly, it met with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners Tuesday to discuss specifics of what MLR will include and a timeline for release. "HHS is seeking to publish regulations as soon as possible to allow sufficient time for health insurance issuers to incorporate these changes," HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius noted after the meeting.
IRS role in individual mandate enforcement
Thursday, in testimony before the Senate Finance Committee, IRS Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement clarified the IRS role in implementing the individual mandate penalty provisions. The Internal Revenue Service will withhold tax refunds if individuals fail to comply with the individual mandate. Under PPACA, penalties for failure to purchase health insurance apply starting in 2014. By 2016, the penalty is the greater of $695 per year, or 2.5 percent of household income up to $2,085. Those who are not required to file a tax return because their income is below the filing threshold are not subject to penalties.
PPACA: Not for profit hospitals face new accountability requirements
PPACA imposes new accountability and disclosure requirements that nonprofit hospitals must satisfy to maintain their federal tax-exempt status. For a tax-exempt organization that operates more than one hospital facility, the new requirements apply separately to each hospital. Among major requirements for which tax exempt hospitals must be compliant :
- Hospitals must conduct a Community Health Needs Assessment every three years
- Hospitals must develop and make widely known a financial assistance policy that specifies ways uninsured and lower income individuals may access services and understand costs, and how the hospital collects on unpaid bills (disclosure of reasonable efforts to collect unpaid bills after the individual has been qualified for assistance)
- Hospitals must submit audited financial statements with IRS Form 990 disclosures
- Limits are placed on the use of gross charges (via the chargemaster) to individuals who qualify for financial assistance
Hospitals required to post charges
PPACA requirement: each hospital operating must establish and make public a list of the hospital’s standard charges for items and services provided by the hospital including for diagnosis-related groups (DRG specific data).
PPACA impact on employer plans
PPACA has far-reaching impact on employer-sponsored plans. Some examples:
- Waiting period for enrollment – Employers can impose waiting periods of no longer than 90 days before extending health care coverage to employees.
- Opt out instead of opt in – Employers are required to automatically enroll employees unless those employees opt out.
- Dependent coverage – Employees’ children are eligible up to age 26 regardless of student status or marital status.
- Elimination of annual and lifetime coverage limits – Qualified plans cannot impose limits under the PPACA.
- Preexisting conditions – Employers must accommodate pre-existing condition requirements of commercial plans; includes dependents.
- Preventive health and wellness – Employers may invest more in preventive health programs per PPACA and are allowed more leeway for employers to build incentives for improved health in their plans, provided employees have a “reasonable chance” of achieving health goals. Note: the provision cannot be used to discriminate against unhealthy employees.
Joint Committee on Taxation: Impact of PPACA on medical deduction change
PPACA raises $15.2 billion (2010-2019) by raising the medical expense deduction from 7.5 percent to 10.0 percent in 2013. Once the law is fully implemented in 2019, the JCT forecasts the deduction limitation will affect 14.8 million taxpayers--14.7 million of them will earn less than $200,000 a year.
HITECH update: CCHIT names Bell director
The Certification Commission for Health IT (CCHIT) has named Dr. Karen Bell, a former executive in the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC), as its chair, effective April 26. CCHIT is currently the only organization set up to verify and test the capabilities of electronic health record systems, though ONC indicates other certification agencies will be deemed to carry out its oversight requirements.
Q and A
Q: In Massachusetts, the newly insured created a long-jam to see primary care physicians? With the newly insured in the bill, won’t the same happen? How is the shortage of PCPs handled in the bill?
A: The shortage of primary care providers is addressed in a number of ways in PPACA: consider increased funding for community health centers, nurse managed clinics and federally qualified health centers (sec. 5601, 5316, 5503), expanded opportunities for nurses in primary roles (sec. 10501, 5302, 5308), expansion of patient centered medical home demonstration programs (sec. 10321), expansion of primary care residency programs (5503) and expansion of the patient navigator program (sec. 3510), and others. In addition, the HITECH stimulus bill puts primary care practices that see disproportionate numbers of uninsured at the front of the line to get stimulus funds for electronic health records. PPACA seems to address the workforce shortage in three major ways: (1) expansion of funding for workforce development—nurses and physicians, (2) increased investments in programs targeting populations dependent on primary care—geriatrics, pediatrics, public health programs, community health centers, nurse midwifery programs et al—and (3) mechanisms in the bill that encourage coordination of care via bundled payments et al. Will 32,000,000 newly insured inundate the system and create a resulting backlog for primary care services? Possibly.
Q: What will consumers notice first as a result of the reform bill?
A-It depends on where you work, your insurance status and income status. Consider:
If you work for company that provides health insurance benefits in which you are enrolled, it’s likely your company will be evaluating whether the plan is grandfathered or is subject to changes in what’s covered and how much you pay.
If you are not insured, there are no immediate changes BUT in 2014, you’ll have to choose to be insured or agree to pay a penalty. If your family income is below $88,000, you will be eligible for subsidies to help you buy insurance.
Effective 2013, if you earn employment income above $200,000 individually, or $250,000 on a joint return, your employee share of Medicare payroll taxes will be taxed an additional 0.9 percent above that amount. An additional 3.8 percent tax on unearned income also applies to taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income above the $200,000/$250,000 thresholds.
And for everyone, the costs of hospitals, physicians, drugs, devices and insurance premiums will likely go up in the short term as they absorb new fees and costs associated with compliance with the reform bill.
Q-Does the bill mean physicians can’t own hospitals any longer?
A-Physicians may continue to own hospitals, but they are not allowed as a group to increase their equity ownership as a group, and they will be subject to a number of new regulations that require increased transparency and compliance. PPACA does not eliminate physician-owned hospitals, but it may subject them to increased scrutiny from regulators.
“A lot of good policy fails to become reality because it can’t get through the political Stargate, and some pretty bad stuff gets baked into otherwise sound bills in order to win passage. The challenge is to get a policy through with your integrity unscathed, with your idea intact, and with a design that can be implemented.”
—William D Eggers & John O’Leary, If We Can Put a Man on the Moon: Getting Big Things Done in Government, Harvard Business Press, 2009 (Note: Must read to capture essence of reform bill-making process)
“To avoid large and unsustainable budget deficits, the nation will have to choose among higher taxes, modifications to entitlement programs and Medicare or some combination.”
—Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, Dallas Chamber of Commerce
“The personal health insurance coverage of Senators, representatives and their staff members are affected by the bill…It is unclear whether members of Congress and Congressional staff who are currently participating in FEHBP may be able to retain this coverage.”
—Congressional Research Service Memo to Congress
“Right now, the employees who are healthy and living a healthy lifestyle are paying for those who are not. They are overpaying almost twice as much for the unhealthy: the obese, the smokers, people like that. You, an employee who is healthy and doesn’t smoke, are subsidizing the medical claims, with your premiums going up every month, to pay for someone who smokes, for someone who is obese.”
—Helen Darling, President of the National Business Group on Health
“It took a year of the country's energy. It's now time to move on… If you look at the outcome, and our industry being vilified, that's a bad outcome.”
—David Cordani, Chief Executive Officer, Cigna (Forbes Interview April 14, 2010)
- Total unfunded Medicare liability: $38 trillion (U.S. Department of the Treasury based on actuarial model 2010-2085)
- Twitter unique users as the company enters its fourth year of operation: 106 million growing at a rate of 300,000 per day. 55 million posts per day; 180 million log on monthly. (Source: “Chirp”—the Twitter developer conference, Wednesday)
Note: CEO Evan Williams announced @anywhere—an expanded platform for geo-locations featuring expanded functionality in locating hospitals and health services among others while also expanding posting capacity beyond 140 characters. The company’s open source platform has produced 100,000 independent Twitter applications—75 percent of Twitter traffic comes through apps other than Twitter.com.
- The annual social security surplus will end in 2017 and become an annual deficit, and run dry by 2041. (Source: Industrial College of the Armed Forces Analysis)
- 28 states are considering changing rules to allow nurse practitioners to practice independently to offset the physician shortages and accommodate anticipated demand for primary care. (Source: AMA)
- Doctors were paid $95.43 by Medicare for a new-patient visit through March 31 but with the physician fix deadline missed, the reimbursement is down to $75.20. (Source: CMS)
- Pay disparity in health care workforce: across all industries, the typical woman working 40 hours per week earned 87 percent of what a man earned in 2008. However among all physicians, women earned 61 percent of the average for men due to disproportionate representation in lower income specialties internal medicine, pediatrics, family medicine, emergency medicine, etc. (Source: U.S. Census Bureau)
- Since 1970, the federal government has spent more than it raised in all but 4 years—1997-2000. (Source: White House Office of Management and Budget)
- CBO looks at Medicare savings: Rising the eligibility age for Medicare from 65 to 67 will save $86 billion over ten years. Raising the Part B premium for seniors from 25 percent to 35 percent would save $217 billion. (Source: Congressional Budget Office)
- 72 percent increase in Medicare enrollment by 2030 and ratio of workers paying Medicare tax per beneficiary will drop by 35 percent. (Source: CMS)
- Health costs for employers increased 7.3 percent more on heath care in 2009 vs. 2008 while overall health costs increased 4.8 percent. (Source: Thomson Reuters)
- Total retail sales increased 1.6 percent in March—the biggest increase since November. (Source: U.S. Department of Commerce)
- PPACA included an additional $3 billion for comparative effectiveness research in addition to stimulus (ARRA) funding of $1.1 billion. This funding facilitates the set-up for the new Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute that will oversee the program. (Source: HHS)
National health reform: What now?
National health reform is here. The health reform bills (HR3590 and HR4872) are now law and will trigger sweeping changes and disruptions – some rather quickly and some over many years. The industry is asking, “What now?” At Deloitte, we continue to explore and debate the key questions facing the industry, and we look forward to helping our clients find and implement the right answers for their organizations. To learn more, visit www.deloitte.com/us/healthreform/whatnow today.
Subscribe to the Health Care Reform Memo
- Step 1, confirm your sector(s) of interest.
- Step 2, select the Health Care Reform Memo as one of your subscriptions.


text:
Let the good times roll: the beginning of the end?
Stock market prices continued to grind higher as economic data releases surprised to the upside this week. Indeed, a host of indicators suggest to some that growth in the U.S. may in fact be improving after a softer showing in 2019 which has supported a rally in risk assets not just in the U.S. but globally this year. A key question for investors and savers now, however, is whether the good times are just getting started or the data mark the beginning of the end of good economic times.
We have argued that 2020 is likely to mark the beginning of the end for U.S. economic buoyancy and financial market resilience. Indeed, longer term indicators point to a rising risk of economic and market disappointment this year with recession related risks remaining elevated and not decreasing even as Fed policymakers would otherwise like people to believe.
What this means is that households should increasingly prepare for higher levels of economic and market volatility in 2020. This includes taking efforts to increase net positive cash flows, building up emergency reserves, rebalancing investment risk exposures and generating cash in investment portfolios to cover an extended period of retirement living expenses as market volatility increases.
Figure 1: Market momentum near 2-year high
Why so glum?
Key data releases hailed by the financial markets this week included seemingly robust retail sales and housing market data. The reports pointed to generally better than expected activity in December and capped a strong finish to an otherwise lackluster year for both sectors. Indeed, government data showed that December retail sales grew at its fastest year-over-year pace (+5.8%) since August 2018. This compares to a meager 1.6% rate in December 2018 and contrasts a period of general economic malaise in the fourth quarter of 2018.
Similarly, reports on building permits, housing starts, mortgage applications and builder confidence all trended higher in the month of December, pointing to a rebound in housing market activity. Building permits, for example, were up 11.4% year-over-year at the end of the fourth quarter of 2019 compared to a decline of -1.8% in 2018. What’s more, builder sentiment rose to its highest level in over 20 years as mortgage rates remained low all the while December UofM Michigan Consumer Sentiment rose to its highest level since May 2019. Taken together, these developments have given financial markets a reason to keep pushing higher this year.
To be sure, market participants have been heartened by the seemingly positive economic data and the S&P 500 is now up over 3% in January, making new all-time highs in 10 out of the first 12 trading days of the year. Year-to-date, riskier international equities are in some cases outpacing the U.S. with China up 5%, Mexico up 6% and Turkey up 7.3%. These developments come even after the threat of war between Iran and the U.S. and ongoing impeachment proceedings on Capitol Hill. So why are we so pessimistic on the market and economic outlook?
Figure 2: Stretched equity market valuations
No so fast…
While it is tempting to extrapolate positive near-term developments into the future, the truth is that cyclical factors that we track suggest that economic and market conditions may be more fragile than the recent historical data suggest. Take, for example, the latest labor market data. While December payrolls bested estimates, the trend in new job growth remains biased to the downside. This is evidenced in the latest nonfarm job openings data, an important leading indicator of labor market developments. To be sure, the rate of employers putting out ads to hire new workers declined -10.8% in November and is on track for their worst rolling 12-month pace of growth since 2017.
This is important because, if labor market conditions continue to deteriorate, and business sentiment weakens as our projections suggest, then growth in the U.S. economy is likely to remain weak in the first half of 2020. Such a development would put downward pressure on corporate revenues, leading to earnings disappointments in the year and giving market participants a reason to step back from their expensive positions in stocks. What’s more, a continued decline in labor market conditions, weaker economic sentiment and increased financial system instability could lead to a rising risk of a U.S. recession in 2020.
Figure 3: Labor market conditions waning
Juicing the markets
To be sure, equity prices have been on a tear since the Federal Reserve quietly restarted its asset purchase program, increasing the size of its balance sheet by 11% since August 2019 even as Chairman Powell asserts that the Fed has not restarted quantitative easing (QE). Better near-term economic data aside, this form of money printing has arguably boosted risk asset prices all the while corporate earnings growth has slowed and the economic outlook remains weak.
The effect of central bank supported rising prices and stagnant earnings growth has contributed to stretched valuations in the equity market. In other words, U.S. stocks, as measured by the S&P 500 are now more expensive than they have been in the past two years when measured by its trailing and forward-looking P/E ratio. And these stretched valuation measures have also been showing up in other parts of the equity market, particularly in the growth style of large, mid and small cap U.S. stocks as a whole.
Figure 4: Recession risks remain elevated
Preparing for economic and market uncertainties
The fact that risk asset prices continue to push higher even as geopolitical risks linger and economic fundamentals remain subdued has given us reason for pause. To be sure, we believe that the current rally in risk assets has more to do with the Fed’s unsustainable easy money policies which could set the stage for a pullback in prices this year. While central bank asset purchases have been supportive of lower borrowing rates and provided a near-term boost to housing market sentiment, we are hard pressed to find positive catalysts that would support a sharp economic rebound this year and hence underpin the financial market rally.
In fact, we believe that global easy money policies have contributed to systemic excesses, and are providing a lifeline to firms that otherwise should no longer be in business. History has shown that such excesses do not continue in perpetuity, and when combined with our latest business cycle work, suggest that risk of an economic downturn and heightened market volatility is likely to increase this year. Taken together, we believe that recent market exuberance could be marking the beginning of the end to this economic and market cycle.
With the economic outlook set to weaken this year and financial market volatility likely on the rise, we recommend households take some constructive steps to remain prepared for the unexpected. First, we recommend households take a step back and reevaluate the vision and purpose for their money as they look ahead into 2020 and beyond and determine whether their plans are in alignment with current economic and market conditions.
Next, we recommend preparing for rising uncertainties by increasing net cash flows by reducing discretionary spending and finding ways to refinance debts given today’s lower interest rate environment. We also suggest reevaluating big ticket spending decisions, topping off emergency savings and ensuring employer-matching contributions are maxed out. We believe that these steps will better prepare households for unexpected life events, particularly as labor market conditions show signs of weakening in the coming months.
For investors oriented towards asset growth, we recommend maintaining a diversified investment exposure and stepping back from riskier investments. Further, households would be best served by ensuring that aggregate portfolio holdings across all investment accounts are in alignment with their long-term goals. This includes rebalancing portfolios to target allocations and trimming winning positions to raise cash to keep as dry powder for when market volatility creates favorable buying opportunities.
Finally, for households taking distributions from investment, we recommend rebalancing accounts to long-term investment objectives and reduce unnecessary risk taking. Further, we recommend ensuring that cash positions are adequate to meet 6-12 months of living expenses. This is intended to avoid forced selling at depressed prices when market volatility increases.
Figure 5: Preparing for the unexpected
Read More Recent Posts
- Manage Your New Money Like Old Money
- How to Tackle Open Enrollment with Confidence
- Forget Roth, Here’s Your Single Best Investment
- Don’t Keep All Your Eggs in One Basket
- Markets are Primed for a Pullback
- How to Calculate Your Life Insurance Need with Confidence
- Plan Your Way into Tax-Free Income
- Risk Mastery: The Key to Sustaining Wealth
- Is a Trust Right for You?
- Fall in Love with the Journey

domain: news


text:
Muskingum River Navigation System
39 43 59.5 N
81 54 29.4 W
The Muskingum River Navigation System, one of the United States' first complete slackwater navigation systems for steam powered vessels, played a key role in economic development of the Greater Ohio River Valley. The project survives as the most intact system of large hand-operated locks in the United States.
Southeastern Ohio's Muskingum River and its navigation system of 10 hand-operated locks dates from 1837 when area pioneers recognized the potential of the river as a shipping route for steam-powered vessels. The system of locks and dams permitted navigation upriver as far as the Ohio and Erie Canal at Dresden.
This was one of the earliest slackwater navigation systems built for steamboats in the U.S. The system included a three-mile, side-cut canal linking the Ohio and Erie Canal to the Muskingum at Dresden, with canal-boat-sized locks, a dam, and a 120-by-22-foot lock at Symmes Creek.
Commercial shipping flourished on the river for 70 years, but was replaced by rail and motorized transportation after the turn of the century. Today, it is mostly recreational boaters and anglers who use the hand-operated locks to navigate the river from a point just north of Zanesville to Marietta.
- Ohio began surveys for its canals in 1822, but politics and topographical issues precluded most of the Muskingum Valley from the initial phase of the development of the Ohio Canal System.
- Most of the locks were 184 feet long and 36 feet wide, able to handle boats up to 160 feet long. The sandstone locks (along with wood miter gates, rock-filled timber-crib dams and bypass canals with guard gates) created a slackwater navigation system stretching over 90 miles.
- The River Navigation System was rebuilt from 1880 to 1911 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and has been operated by the state since 1958.
- Shank, William H., PE, Towpaths to Tugboats, American Canal and Transportation Center, 1982.

domain: geography


text:
Stamp Territories and Territorial Philately:
Postage stamp territories - Audhali
Article from the postage stamp territories area focused on the stamp designs (essays) for the Sultanate of Audhali
The Sultanate of Audhali is located in the south part of the Arabian Peninsula, the capital is Lawdar, also known as Zarah.
From 1890 to 1959 it was a member of the Aden Protectorate. On February 11, 1959, together with others, it created the Federation of the Southern Arab Emirates, which was transformed into the Southern Arab Federation after the annexation of the Aden Colony in 1963.
At present, its territory is integrated into the united Republic of Yemen.
The southern part of the peninsula on a map from 1962, the sultanate is marked in yellow.
In 1964, Muhammad al-Amri, a diplomatic representative of the Sultanate, ordered the issuance of postage stamps from Michel Stephan, the owner of the Baroody Stamp Company, based in Beirut, Lebanon.
He issued the first stamps of Dubai in 1963 and also had contracts for the issuance of stamps for Ajman, Fujaira and Umm al-Qiwain. Due to the large financial resources needed to implement the three contracts, he sold those three others and retained only the contract from Dubai.
Michel Stephan (in a pale jacket) at a meeting with Edmund Lorenzo (in a dark jacket), a representative of the Dubai Post. In the background, employees of Baroody Stamp Co.
The company prepared two different designs for Audhali, designed by M. M. Arthur, an employee of the National Cash Register in Beirut. The essays are usually two-colored on different types of paper, each sheet containing four stamps in a 2 x 2 arrangement and were not printed in a format other than the one indicated.
The name of the country is not in Arabic on any of the essays. The only Arabic is the face value displayed on the right side of each stamp, on the left in English. The rupee was the Indian currency and at that time was used in most areas of the Persian Gulf.
Due to unacceptable financial conditions, the agreement was never concluded.
The first of the designs has a horizontal design and shows a falcon sitting on a tree branch. In the upper left corner is an empty oval for a portrait, the face value is 3 rupees. Each sheet contains four stamps (2 x 2), each measuring 50 mm x 31 mm.
It is interesting that the same falcon motif was used in the prepared essays for Fujeira.
The second design has a vertical format and shows three palm trees, in the background with a palm grove. The stamp has a value of 5 rupees, dimensions 37 mm x 50 mm and, as in the previous case, there are four stamps (2 x 2) on each sheet.
Aden stamps with black AUDHALI overprints can also be found on the Internet. However, more detailed information is not to be found anywhere, so it is not possible to determine whether it is an official release or a forgery.
© Michel: Naher Osten, 2007/200
© Scott 2017


SANTA BARBARA, CA – Broadband access supplier Occam Networks announced three new optical network terminals (ONTs) for business and residential subscribers. These new ONTs provide intelligent, high-bandwidth transport, fiber line termination and high-quality voice performance.
The Occam ON 2501, ON 2534 and ON 2568 complement Occam’s suite of GPON and Gigabit Ethernet ONT products and are optimized to deliver services such as traditional telephone, high-speed data and entertainment services when deployed with the BLC 6322 GPON optical line terminal.
Product features include:
- Connectivity for business applications, such as MEF-8 compliant DS-1 circuit emulation services for business applications.
- Native support for RF Return to power interactive entertainment services.
- Carrier Ethernet service demarcation.
- Deployment flexibility: Occam’s new ONTs can be deployed in a wide range of environments including single family residences, small-to-medium businesses and multiple dwelling/multiple tenant units (MDU/MTUs). The ON 2501 is optimized for indoor deployment, while the ON 2534 and ON 2568 are hardened for challenging outdoor environments.
- Simple provisioning of predefined services such as Carrier Ethernet, voice, Internet, gaming and IPTV to accelerate time to revenue.


text:
Settled in. First full year back in Vancouver. New job, routines, interests. I
started hiking and hiked to the top of mountains. I got back into a habit of
reading. I became fascinated with astrology. I made strength and health a
priority and learned a lot in the process.

domain: hobby


find information about nbsp crusher nbsp find what you e searching for relevant,family safe search results at your fingertips.nbsp gravel,or rock dust wikipedia cone nbsp crusher,por le crusher nbsp nbsp crusher,jaw nbsp crusher for sale,jaw nbsp crusher nbsp manufacturer,jaw nbsp crusher nbsp great
por le rock crusher great for sampling gold bearing and other rocks in the field.por le .what other items do customers buy after viewing this item.
ez screen xl soil and gravel screener used for sale,soil screener with conveyor and shaker box screeners for sale ez screen xl specs this ez screen xl
fully mobile rock crushing plant for sale primary crusher trailer jaw crusher kang wong x model fs,
rebel crusher,compact crusher,concrete crusher,rock crusher,small rock.questions via email sales rrequipment or phone ext.
feb .contact us for help http wwa.stonecrushersolution solutions solutions.html cheapest balast crusher machines for sale in kenya ballast
small used rock crusher for sale,wholesale various high quality small used.low price small used jaw crusher hard rock mobile crushing plant for sale.
unused and used aggregate equipment equipment for sale.equipment items sold every week,including conveyors,screening equipment,crushers amp washing equipment cedarapids rc ii por le cone crushing plant.
location central california one torgerson por le horizontal shaft impact crushing and screening plant complete with model cbx b size crusher with
stone crusher mini stone crusher machine pricesmall stone crusher for sale buy small stone crusher for sale,small por le rock crusher,small stone
results we have crushers for sale canica jaques,vsi aggregate equipment crusher,por le vertical rock equipment website
equipment nbsp gravel crusher for nbsp saleenergyblogs aug,gravel nbsp crusher for sale,little nbsp por le gravel crusher gravel crusher nbsp available for
sourcing guide for crusher china manufacturing industries are full of strong and consistent exporters.
items of .from ball mill and cone crushers to impact crushers and por le jaw crushers you can be sure to find exactly what you need also check
ft tracked jaw crusher, for sale or rent.vanguard jaw.fully por le.lewis rock technologies ltd don.p pennerlewis.ca
rebel crusher, compact crusher, concrete crusher, rock crusher, small rock .questions via email sales rrequipment or phone ext.
find best nbsp por le nbsp coal belt conveyors nbsp for sale nbsp supplier on alibaba nbsp por le nbsp coal belt conveyors nbsp for sale nbsp supplier nbsp for sale nbsp sbm simple structure high eficiency low price nbsp por le nbsp belt conveyor country region china mainland main products stone nbsp crusher nbsp
designed for direct feed applications without pre screening on clean rock to.the new powerscreen® maxtrak is one of the largest mobile cone crushers nbsp
crushers jaw for sale new and used for sale or rent this is a komplet lem track super crusher made in italy komplet penner amp lewis rock technologies ltd don.p pennerlewis.ca request more info
gravel crusher is mainly used to crush.it can be divided into many types like small gravel crusher,gravel jaw.application range of gravel crusher for sale.
buy x, x,ami,ami thunderbird,ami thunderbird mobile impact crusher kobelco impact crusher size type rear rock systems inc.
por le jaw rock crusher for sale.and por le jaw rock crusher por le.for sale fae rock crusher for sale rock crusher gravel
por le crushing plants reuter equipment company has a team of skilled sales representatives,with a combined por le jaw crusher plant heavy duty rock box,and quot wide under crusher fold up side delivery conveyor.
frontline machinery distributes aggregate processing equipment sales and .frontline s fleet of high productivity mobile impact crushers are designed for easy
feb contact us for help http wwa.stonecrushersolution solutionssolutions.html cheapest balast crusher machines for sale in kenya ballast
small por le gravel crusher for sale xsm por le gravel crusher for sale zenith is a read more
Copyright © 2011-2015 SEAS Mining All rights reserved.


The KL series is a free shaft pump design with a choice of motor size to suit the particular operating conditions. This series features pumps designed for pressure and vacuum applications. Extreme vacuum applications are also catered for in this series.
Typical applications are the processing, fishing and food industries, waste management and smaller vacuum tanks.
- Performance from 400m3/h to 530m3/h
- Max vacuum 33 mbar
- Max pressure 1,0 bar gauge


text:
If you or somebody you know has minor hearing loss, it is crucial that you educate yourself about it as much as possible. Armed with accurate information, you can steer clear of making bad decisions and will be better able to cope with your condition. When you’re dealing with hearing loss, disregard the following myths.
Having mild hearing loss is not a big deal
While there are numerous measures you can take to overcome your hearing loss, it would be unwise to disregard the impact it can have. Even minor cases of hearing loss can impact the quality of your life. Your ability to communicate with other people can be seriously hindered when you can’t hear as well as you used to. This can result in numerous psychological effects, such as social isolation, frustration, and depression.
Only particular individuals are vulnerable to hearing loss
Many people assume that only the elderly can have hearing loss. However, this is not even close to the truth. Some people lose their hearing due to traumatic injury later in life and still others are born with loss of hearing. Age does not preclude anybody from experiencing hearing loss.
You can hear instantly with a hearing aid
You will probably need a bit of time to get used to your new hearing aids before you’re hearing at an optimal level. Your unique hearing scenario will mean you will need a particular model of hearing aid and will probably require several office visits for fine-tuning. It also takes time for your brain to readjust to hearing again.
Surgical treatment is the only option to deal with your hearing loss problem
For a small percentage of adults who have hearing loss, surgery will be the best strategy. The majority of moderate hearing loss cases are managed with the proper fitting of a hearing aid.
You only develop hearing loss in one ear
It is not abnormal for hearing loss to impact both ears. Your degree of hearing loss might be more extreme in one ear giving you the notion that you’re losing your hearing only in that ear. But the level of hearing loss is frequently the same in both ears. Most people who require hearing aids, in fact, require them on both sides.
Don’t let what you think is true about hearing loss stop you from getting proper treatment. Come in and get a consultation so we can fit you with the best hearing aid option for your personal hearing situation.

domain: medical


text:
Proposals for a new multi-million pound widening project on the A12 have gone on show.
Essex: Two Held In Drug Trafficking Probe
Two men from Essex have been arrested by investigators probing cross-Channel drug trafficking and money laundering.
The pair, aged 30 and 26, were held on suspicion of conspiracy to import cocaine and amphetamine, and money laundering.
The arrests follow the detention in the past 18 months of three British men for allegedly trying to import drugs into Britain from northern France in a light aircraft.
All three are currently awaiting trial in France.
The arrests in Essex today (Thursday 14 November) took place in Rollason Way, Brentwood, and The Green, South Ockenden, following the execution of warrants by detectives and financial investigators.
The operation involved officers from the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit, helped by the National Crime Agency (NCA), Essex Police and the French Judicial Police
Dave White, from the NCA's Border Policing Command, said: "This investigation has already led to the seizure of around 70 kilos of Class A drugs which were destined for the UK.
"Working closely with law enforcement colleagues here and in France, the NCA is determined to tackle those responsible for trafficking illegal drugs into the UK.''
Two men have been jailed for a total of 40 years after an aggravated burglary in Essex, where a man was shot.
Anyone with information about an assault on a man in Chelmsford a month ago, which left him with serious head injuries, is being asked to come forward.
Essex's PCC is proposing a 3.25% increase in the Essex Police part of Council Tax.
Recently Played Tracks
Deposit £10 to get a £40 Welcome Bonus - That's £50 to play bingo, slots and more!*
Over 50 tracks to make you feel-good. New album out now...
Find your local four day weather report here.
What's happening on the roads where you are?
Make Heart the soundtrack to your day and you could be a winner with great prizes up for grabs throughout the day.
Find out more about some of the companies advertising on Heart.
Get some great ideas on how to advertise your business on radio, online and on mobile.


text:
If you are trying to decide which acoustic guitar pickup to buy, consider this - CF Martin, Breedlove, Guild, Gretsch, Cordoba, Rainsong are among the many prominent guitar manufacturers who use Fishman electronics in their instruments. Around the world and night after night, you'll see and hear Fishman products on stages big and small. Fishman is proud to work with a diverse roster of talented and influential artists in practically every genre of music.
The Fishman product line centers around acoustic instrument amplification. Their line of acoustic guitar pickups has become the industry standard. Sound hole pickups such as the Rare Earth Humbucking pickup offer a warm, more naturally acoustic tone, along with exceptional accuracy and increased musicality. The award-winning Loudbox series of acoustic guitar amplifiers featuring Fishman's legendary tone and feedback-fighting controls, are the ultimate portable acoustic instrument amplifier for the seriously active musician.
Turning their attention to the electric guitar, Fishman introduced their lineup of Fluence pickups. Original and totally re-imagined, Fishman Fluence electric guitar pickups are free from the hum, noise and frustrating inductance issues that plague even the most coveted wire-wound pickups — revealing pure, uncorrupted and musical tone. The Fishman TriplePlay MIDI Guitar Controller is the composing, performing and recording system that puts an unlimited palette of instruments and sounds at your fingertips – all with the freedom of wireless control. Compose music with unparalleled tonal options. Easily share arrangements with your band. Switch between instruments, or play up to four instruments at the same time. Teach or learn faster with accurate notation. Create video soundtracks. Mix your own samples, beats, loops and tracks.
Expert Advice and The Guaranteed Lowest Price!
With over 90 years of serving musicians, Sam Ash is proud to be part of your musical journey! If you have any questions about the products we sell, our staff of professional musicians have the answers. Just give them a call at 800-472-6274 and they will be glad to help you select the right piece of gear to suit your needs and budget. Speaking of budgets, be sure to ask about our special financing and leasing options.

domain: artistic


text:
The sidelines for the Philadelphia 76ers will look very different heading into the 2023-24 season. The headline news was obviously Doc Rivers and the team parting ways, with former Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse brought in as his replacement. Then, with any head coach change, there’s bound to be some new faces coming and going in the assistant ranks, and that’s what we’re already seeing.
First, Sam Cassell went turncoat and joined the Boston Celtics’ staff under Joe Mazzulla. Now, per Yahoo! Sports senior NBA reporter Jake Fischer, Dan Burke is reportedly also heading out the door. The following line came while Fischer was describing the current situation in Phoenix:
“Several assistant coaches, such as Mark Bryant, are expected to follow Monty Williams to Detroit, where former Houston head coach Stephen Silas will serve as the Pistons’ associate head coach, and former 76ers assistant Dan Burke, sources said, is also expected to join the front of Williams’ bench.”
Both Burke and new Detroit Pistons head coach Monty Williams are former Sixers assistants, although their time did not overlap. Williams was on Brett Brown’s staff for the 2018-19 season, whereas the 2020-21 season was Burke’s first in Philadelphia after a long tenure with the Pacers.
Burke is well-known around the league for his acumen in teaching defensive principles and was known as the team’s ‘defensive coordinator’ while in Philadelphia. While it’s hard to differentiate personnel and scheme when determining a team’s success, the Sixers did rank second, twelfth, and eighth in the league in regular season defensive rating during Burke’s three seasons. Burke also went 2-0 as head coach, filling in for Rivers when Doc was out a pair of games due to health and safety protocols at the end of 2021, beginning of 2022.
The Pistons finished 27th in defensive rating last season, so Burke will have his hands full with that young squad. We’ll await word on the official announcement of his departure, as well as any news as to who Nick Nurse might be bringing on board for his new staff.

domain: sports


text:
The Petrucci Project
1:00 PM Thursday, June 5
ST. MARY MAGDALEN CHURCH – 2005 Berryman Street
A shuttle will be provided to St. Mary Magdalen from Trinity Chapel, departing at 12:15pm and 12:45pm.
Tickets available at the door. Prices: $20 General Admission; $15 students, seniors, and SFEMS members.
In 1501, Venetian printer Ottaviano Petrucci published the first volume of commercially printed music, The Odhecaton A, a collection of instrumental arrangements of popular songs from late 1400s by the leading composers of the Franco-Flemish School. Petrucci’s first volume coincided with a resurgence of Italian popular music, which had been dormant for more than half a century, and was followed by 56 more, including 11-books of the exciting new popular Italian song form, the Frottole. San Francisco Pro Musica Antiqua is pleased to celebrate this delightful music performed by some of the Bay Area’s most engaging and respected musicians. Come join us for an afternoon of lovely chansons, lively dances, and lusty, tuneful Frottola, all drawn from Signor Petrucci’s oeuvre,and penned by such Renaissance ‘rock stars’ as van Weerbeke, Ghizeghem, Tromboncino, Cara, Josquin and others.
Back to Fringe Concert Calendar.
About the Artists
Rita Lilly, soprano
Kindra Scharich, mezzo-soprano
Corey Head, tenor
Donald Ziff, bass
Adam Cockerham, lute
Andy Canepa, positiv
Joyce Johnson-Hamilton, cornetto
Hallie Pridham, viols
Andy Canepa, Music Director
Michael O’Rourke, Artistic Director
An aficionado of both new and early music, classical guitarist and lutenist, Adam Cockerham received his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees, with Secondary Emphasis in Historical Plucked Strings, from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in 2013. While at the conservatory, he studied guitar with Sérgio Assad, David Tanenbaum, and Lawrence Ferrara, and theorbo, lute, and baroque guitar with Richard Savino. As a finalist in the 2011 Carmel Music Society Instrumental Competition, his performance was extolled by Peninsula (Monterey) Reviews as being “beautifully and effortlessly executed” In 2013, Mr. Cockerham won the San Francisco Conservatory Baroque Ensemble Concerto Competition, performing Vivaldi’s D Major Lute Concerto with the Conservatory Baroque Orchestra. Furthering his explorations in early music, Adam has performed in master classes with well-known early music plucked string masters Nigel North, Hopkinson Smith, and Pascal Valois, and in 2012, he became the first lutenist to attend the prestigious American Bach Soloist Academy for historically informed performance practice, and was re-invited to attend in again in 2013. In 2011, he and mezzo soprano Danielle Reutter-Harrah formed the voice, lute and guitar duo, Jarring Sounds, which is enjoying increasing popularity and acclaim throughout the Bay Area and Northern California. We are pleased to have him on our boards.
Bay Area trained early musician Andrew Canepa works within an exciting early music community in the Bay Area, performing music from the medieval to the classical period as a conductor, harpsichordist, organist, percussionist and pianist. Graduating at at the top of his class from the University of Colorado in Boulder with Bachelor of Music and Master of Music Degrees in piano performance, Maestro Canepa soon after moved to San Francisco to further his studies in keyboard technique, and to begin studies in conducting with Charlene Archibeque at San Jose State, and Marika Kuzma at University of California, Berkeley; at the same time, he began studying vocal technique with Susan Gundunas. It was in the Bay Area that he discovered the fascinating world of early music and began acquiring knowledge of the period with medieval and renaissance percussionist Peter Maund. Ever eager to expand his store of knowledge, he continues to explore the intricacies of the period, especially early keyboard techniques, under the tutelage of harpsichord and organ Maestra, Hanneke Van Proosdij, and is becoming an expert in the Taubman keyboard technique, studying with both Marc Steiner and John Bloomfield.
Keen to utilize this vast body of accumulated knowledge, M. Canepa enthusiastically conducts a wide variety of talented Bay Area musicians, and performs harpsichord and organ continuo in a number of early music ensembles. In addition to his peripatetic performing schedule, Msto. Canepa holds a full time position as Director of Music Ministry at St Mary Magdalen Church, where over the last ten years he has built a vibrant and exciting sacred early music program to the delight of congregates and staff alike. In addition to performing, Msto. Canepa continues his vocal studies with vocal teacher Amisano, is building an exciting studio of piano students, and coaches singers and chamber ensembles from throughout Bay Area. SFPMA is delighted and grateful to have Andy as our music director.
Since coming to San Francisco, Corey Head has built a successful teaching and performing career appearing with many of the Bay Area’s most prestigious organizations, including San Francisco Symphony, American Bach Soloists, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, the Marin Symphony, and the Stanford University Chorus, and enjoys an ongoing association with these and other groups as featured soloist. In addition to his local performances, he has appeared nationally in a wide variety of oratorio and opera roles. An alumnus of the University of Colorado School of Music, Mr. Head specializes in Early Music with a special affinity for J.S. Bach. His solo concert performances have included Bach’s Magnificat, the Christmas Oratorio, the Mass in B-Minor and numerous cantatas. Other oratorio roles include Ahasuereus in Handel’s Esther, “The Evening” in Telemann’s Die Tageszeiten, and tenor soloist in Handel’s Messiah. Mr. Head especially enjoys working with newly discovered and neglected works. In May 2011, he debuted the virtuoso aria Dominus a Dextris Tuis from the recently discovered Dixit Dominus by Vivaldi with Viva la Musica, and most recently re-imagined the role of Mordechai in Cristiano Lidarti’s long neglected oratorio Esther —in Hebrew— with SF Renaissance Voices. A teacher with nearly 20 years experience, Mr. Head maintains a private studio in downtown San Francisco, teaching and coaching singers from the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, S.F. Opera Chorus, and many other choral, musical theater and performing groups. We are very glad that he has lent his prodigious talents to our cause.
Hailing from from Sparks, Nevada, Hallie Pridham began playing the cello at the age of ten under the auspices of her public school’s string program. She spent her high school years at Idyllwild Arts Academy in Southern California, where she was principal cellist and winner of the Interlochen Academy of the Arts Concerto Competition. Ms. Pridham attended the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she studied modern cello with Jean-Michel Fonteneau and baroque cello and viola da gamba with Elisabeth Reed, graduating with a Bachelor of Music Degree in 2010. During her tenure at SFCM, Hallie was chosen to play a Vivaldi Cello Sonata for a broadcast concert at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. as part of a Conservatory Concert Series, and in 2010 was declared the winner of the Conservatory’s Baroque Concerto Competition. Hallie has performed at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and regularly performs with American Bach Soloists, San Francisco Bach Choir, the Vinaccesi Ensemble, and is a founding member of the early music ensemble Liaison. We are very pleased that she has joined us for this debut concert.
Well known virtuoso trumpet player Joyce Johnson Hamilton is a an accomplished specialist in Renaissance and Baroque brass instruments as well as recorders. In 2011, after a tenure of 30 years, she stepped down from the podium at the Diablo Symphony where she held the title of both Conductor and Music Director, one of 41 women out of the thousand strong League of American Orchestras to hold the dual post. During her tenure at the Symphony, Ms. Johnson Hamilton continued to teach and perform nationally and internationally, and served as assistant conductor of the Oakland Symphony, San Jose State University Symphony Orchestra, the Seoul (Korea) Philharmonic, the Nebraska Chamber Orchestra, and the Napa Symphony, among others. Retirement notwithstanding, Ms. Johnson-Hamilton continues to be active as a performer, concert organizer, teacher, composer and arranger, and serves on the the faculty at Stanford University. We are honored to have her with us today.
Since coming to the Bay Area in 2000, soprano Rita Lilly has become familiar to Bay Area audiences as a champion of baroque and early music. Lauded by the New York Times as “possessing a voice of strength, clarity, and virtuosity” she has delighted audiences in performances with the Albany Consort, American Bach Soloists, AVE, Bay Choral Guild, Berkeley Early Music Festival, California Bach Society, Chora Nova, Les Graces, Magnificat Baroque Ensemble, Music Sources, New Music Works in Santa Cruz, Pacific Bach Project, S.F. Concert Chorale, S.F. Renaissance Voices, and Sacramento Baroque. Ms. Lilly is an alumna of the well known early music group the Waverly Consort, with which she toured throughout the U.S. and abroad. Her recordings include three with the Consort on EMI; Handel and Vivaldi’s Dixit Dominus with the American Boychoir on Musical Heritage; Scarlatti’s St. Cecilia Mass on Newport Classic; Sowerby’s Medieval Poem on Naxos; a German Baroque Christmas with American Classical Orchestra on Musicmasters; and Orff’s Carmina Burana with the S.F. Concert Chorale. Recently appointed Music director of the Lafayette Christian Church in Lafayette, Ca., Ms. Lilly also serves on the faculty of the SFEMS Baroque Summer Workshop at Sonoma State, and maintains an active vocal studio in the Bay Area. SFPMA is pleased to welcome her for our debut pesentation.
After an unhappy adventure with the violin during his small years, Michael O’Rourke was introduced to the recorder by his high school english teacher. Moving to Berkeley shortly after graduating high school, he met, studied, and performed with the generous and inspiring Laurette Goldberg, who would later found Music Sources and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. During this time he discovered the lute and it’s music and became fascinated with the instrument. A brief flirtation with Flamenco led him to Las Cuevas de Los Flamencos (The flamenco Show) at the Old Spaghetti Factory in San Francisco’s North Beach, where he met the supremely talented autodidact Ron Chinn who was also exploring the lute. In 1966 he and Chinn formed ‘The Renaissance Fun and Games Show’ playing lutes and recorders during the intermissions at the show. The duet also toured with the Flamencos on the Lyceum circuit, played private parties, and any coffee house or bar that would let them through the door. The act was successful, but it was an act. Wanting to pursue a deeper understanding of the instrument and its music, Mr. O’Rourke went east in 1968 to an early music seminar where he met his teacher, Paul Gerrits, head of the guitar department at L’Universite Laval, Ecole de Musique in Quebec P.Q. He invited Mr. O’Rourke to Quebec to study, and offered him a position as a teaching assistant. Whilst at the University, he taught guitar to lower division students, at local grammar and high schools, produced and directed early music concerts, participated in university sponsored faculty/student concerts, and recorded for broadcast over Radio Canada (CBC).He also developed the lower division lute curriculum for the school. After three years at Laval, Mr. O’Rourke suffered something of a ‘crise d’esprit’, abandoned music and went to work on the railroad. Go figure. After an hiatus of 35-years, he took up the lute once again, and somehow made it to the church this morning.
Mezzo-soprano Kindra Scharich has been praised by the San Francisco Chronicle critic Joshua Kosman for her “noble, vocally assured singing, stately grace and deep rooted pathos” in her role as Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. Having sung over 25 roles in the lyric mezzo repertoire, including Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, Cherobino in Le Nozze de Figaro, Mercedes in Carmen, Dorabella in Cosi Fan Tutte, and Isabella in Italiana in Algieri, she most recently reprised the role of Zerlina with a bravura performance in San Jose Opera’s production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni. A versatile musician at home on both the opera and concert stage, Ms. Scharich has presented recitals for the American Composer’s Forum in Los Angeles, Lieder Alive, the Northern California Chapter of the Wagner Society, and the Yehudi Menuhin Seminar in San Francisco. A devotee of German Lieder, she collaborates frequently with San Diego pianist George Fee, having developed numerous programs under the banner Life in Lieder, designed to bring to audiences throughout Northern and Southern California a greater awareness of this magnificent under-represented and oft neglected genre. An avid supporter of new music by living composers, in the spring of 2014 she presented a new trio by Bay Area composer Kurt Erikson, and is currently collaborating with composer Janis Mattox on her Spanish Chamber opera Suenos de Midianoche (Midnight Dreams). Ms. Scharich studied voice and piano at Eastman School of Music, earned her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in vocal performance at the University of Michigan, and completed her post-graduate studies at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. We are delighted that she has graced our stage with her wonderful talent, and are grateful for her support.
Donald Ziff’s elegant baritone has enriched many Bay Area choirs and choruses, including the Grace Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys, the San Francisco Symphony Chorus,Volti, AVE and the Pacific Collegium. He has performed solo work with numerous church choirs, including St. Mary Magdalen’s Schola Cantorum. His turns on the opera stage include , Darius the Mede in the 12th century Play of Daniel, L’Ours in Darius Milhaud’s 1926 opera, Les Malheurs d’Orphée, as well as choruses chorus work with SF Lamplighters and West Bay Opera. We are very glad he has joined us for this concert.
Back to Fringe Concert Calendar.


text:
Everyone loves a rags to riches story, you know the one that follows a handsome gentleman’s journey to securing a future, and a love to last him a lifetime. Leith Bayard, once a kitchen servant for the king and his court, did the unimaginable. He set his sights on a woman— but not just any woman, one who was vastly out of his league. This woman not only captured his heart but turned out to be one of Mary, Queen of Scots (Adelaide Kane) Ladies in Waiting. Jonathan Keltz, who plays the lovestruck gent on the 16th century series Reign, has does a brilliant job of bringing to life an extremely relatable and lovable character on the hit CW series.
Keltz, whose character overcame many obstacles and ultimately found himself on the receiving end of King Francis’ (Toby Regbo) gratitude after saving his life in battle, has quickly become a fan favorite on the history themed show. And although he has yet to land his one true love, Leith is dedicated to living a long, prosperous life– with or without Greer (Celina Sinden). Who can we mention has denied two, count ‘em two marriage proposals from the handsome soldier. Hey Leith, I volunteer as tribute– I’ll marry you and your mad cooking skills.
Keltz not only spoke with me about the future of Greer and Leith, but also about the arrival of his talented friend Rachel Skarsten, who plays Queen Elizabeth I, aka Mary’s untimely rival. We even got to chat about potential guest stars, and all of the amazing projects he has coming up.
Now kitchen boy, don’t you ever forget that you’re our first choice!
MCKENZIE MORRELL: Reign recently returned and this break seemed extra long. Can you give us a run down about your character, Leith and what sparked your interest in this show in the beginning.
JK: I’m a history fan and I was really excited that the CW was making a show like this. I had met with them for the pilot and once they got picked up, they asked me to come on board and play Leith. It’s been a great ride. It’s been a lot of fun just getting to ride Leith throughout the class climbing journey he’s been on and obviously Mary Queen of Scots and now Queen Elizabeth, they’re such prominent, strong women in history so it’s exciting to be a part of a show that showcases that.
MM: Your character went from being a kitchen boy to a respectable member of court and the king’s friend. What was your reaction playing that shift or evolution? It’s definitely a take on the rags to riches story.
JK: I’ve been very fortunate with the arch I’ve gotten on the show. It’s crazy. We’re on our third year so it’s three years now that I’ve been able to live this live. It’s brought a lot of shifts in terms of his lifestyle, even down to the everyday functions of court. He used to have to serve all of these events that I’m not attending. It’s I sort of hopped around and got the job and now I’m bodyguard to the Prince which is a job I wouldn’t have even been considered for before. It’s great that my friendship with Francis has been able to do so much and gain me so much respect at court. It’s fun getting to see and explore the different avenues around that.
MM: It’s awesome to see that character grow and step up the ladder. Obviously, the show is a period drama and your character has an accent. Initially, how did you get prepared for a role like this and did you find any words to be particularly challenging to say?
JK: I’m lucky that I’d sort of been working the accent already so that sort of was good practice. Then, once we got into it, we have had dialect coaches and stuff helping on the show, and being around the cast, staying in it for so long is hugely beneficial. I did as much research as I could into the time and these women and the functions of court, the behaviors of court, what would be the operating factors. Obviously we have our own modernized take on this story and on these people but we try to take as much of the broad strokes and functions of court as we can even though we take our creative liberties. We got to establish this world. Leith was there from the beginning and we were there figuring out what it was we wanted to be the boundaries of this sort of make believe take on history we have. It’s been fun to test the boundaries on that and play with it.
MM: It’s a really great show. I personally love it. So now, let’s talk Leith and Greer. What’s on the horizon for these two love birds? They definitely had a rocky start but is there hope for happiness? There’s so much happening and things changing.
JK: Things do change. The thing I’ll say is Greer has now turned Leith down from marriage twice. That’s a pretty hard thing to come back from. I think that we have potentially seen the last of these two love bird’s foray into romance. Greer is very committed to her career path and her business and being the independent woman she now is. Leith is, although in a very new stage in his life, still committed to wanting a traditional and conventional family that he imagines for himself. I don’t know if I see the two of them compromising on those two visions and dreams any time soon. We may have seen the end of Greith.
MM: I’m going to throw a wrench in this interview and ask if you were asked to choose between love and wealth which would you go with and do you think you’d react more like Leith or Greer?
JK: I would choose love, for sure. God, I think that Leith — I don’t think that Greer is choosing wealth. I don’t think that’s — in the reinventing of herself, she has tapped into a strong independence and that’s what she’s really attached to. It’s not the money. It’s being in control of one’s own life and destiny and having to rely only on herself. I think that’s made her stubborn and proud in terms of not being willing to accept a man as a partner in all of that and Leith Is having his own pride issues in terms of wanting to be the provider and protector and the one who can solve all of her problems and wants her to depend on him. It isn’t the battle of love vs. wealth for the two of them but not being able to get past their pride and their visions of what their lives are in the 1500’s. I would choose love, personally.
MM: And we’re finally bringing in Queen Elizabeth this season which should be an awesome storyline. Were you able to work with Rachel Skarsten at all or will that give something for the new season away?
JK: We’re only about half way through the season so anything that hasn’t happened in what we’ve shot yet, I have no idea what’s to come. I know barely more than you. I actually have known Rachel for years. We did the American Pie movie back in 2007. So I was thrilled that she was the one coming on to play Queen Elizabeth. Such a wonderful dynamic to the show and I think it adds an interesting dynamic to have the two, simultaneous courts and to have these two women at odds with each other. I think it’s pretty safe to say that Leith probably will stay in France. I can’t confirm or deny anything but I am a member of the royal guard so I would be surprised if I get there. I’d have to screw up pretty bad, I think.
MM: Or who knows, maybe Queen Elizabeth will show up in France.
JK: Who knows. I’d say Leith, right now is trying as hard as he can not to get in trouble. That’s what I’m trying not to do is get myself in trouble with the girl, the job, anything.
MM: Which probably means you’re going to get into some trouble. If Greer was no longer in the picture, what other character on the show would you set him up with?
JK: Oh that’s a pretty tough question. There’s probably some old storyline somewhere about Leith and Clarissa — no I’m kidding. I’m not sure. I don’t want to spoil anything so I’ll say that Leith would be lucky to be with any of the wonderful, beautiful, talented and strong women at French court or english court.
MM: That is a very vague answer. But we’ll take it. Obviously the show has had its hiccups in terms of graphic content but despite some fan outrage about where the show is headed, people are still watching and loving the show. What do you think sets this show apart from others in the same category?
JK: I think we’ve got our own category. We are a period drama but we are taking that in a different direction than others. Our show is really meant to be fun to watch. It’s not a history lesson. Although, there are historical elements to be taken from the show, we are really trying to look at these women as people and see them through the lens of 2015 humanity. That’s what the show does well is trying to relate these times and adapt it to a bit of a modernized feel. This season, I’m very excited about. I think the first season began in a light and fun place about these girls trying to be regular girls in a challenging place. We had a lot of dark, political and religious intrigue last year and I think this season is a nice blending of the two. There are some wonderful, light moments. There are some heartbreaking moments. There is some tense, political drama but it’s brought a little more fun back to the show and added some exciting stuff. I mean, we have a tiger in the premiere on Friday.It’s awesome. I can only say that because it’s in the trailer.
MM: Right, or else they would sic that tiger on you. You know, the costumes are pretty awesome on the show but not something you’d see in the US in 2015. How would you describe your sense of style in real life?
JK: Oh, my sense of style, I’m generally in a tee shirt and jeans or a three piece suit. That’s the options. I’m a big fan of suits. There’s a Toronto company that I’m a big fan of their suits. I love them. They’re great. A lot of nice, modernized, vintage, retro suits.
MM: Who would you say pulls the most pranks while filming?
JK: It’s so funny. People are convinced actors are just these perpetual pranksters. I think the person who has me laughing the most is Torrance [Coombs]. He’s absolutely hysterical. I’d say he’s definitely the one making me laugh but we’re not pantsing each other or throwing pies in each other’s faces or anything like that. A lot of the time when actors are on a set or anyone is on a set, the only real focus is making the day. I feel like Oceans 11 made it seem like all actors are trying to constantly pull one over on each other. I don’t know. Maybe I should be causing more pranks.
MM: I had the pleasure of speaking with him not too long ago and he seemed like he’d be fun to be around.
JK: Oh yeah, Torrance is awesome.
MM: Is there anyone you’d like to see guest star on Reign? Sky’s the limit. You can pick anyone.
JK: That’s– oh man — I would love to have Mark Pedowitz guest star on Reign. That would be awesome. He should definitely come play my father. Like the father I didn’t know I had who is a secret royal. That’s what should happen for sure. I’m going to call Laurie [McCarthy] right now.
MM: Do you have any hidden or unusual talents that the fans might not know about?
JK: I think this one is out there but I’ll say it again, I’m actually quite hilariously good at origami and I actually used to teach it when I was in fifth and sixth grade.
MM: Do you have a favorite thing you can make?
JK: Cranes are generally the thing. I had an hour and a half bus ride to and from school so you picked up lots of strange little hobbies. Origami was my thing.
MM: That is so cool I can’t do Origami so one day you will have to teach me. Now we’ll enter our rapid fire round so I’ll ask you some questions and whatever pops into your head, you have to go with it.
JK: You got it.
MM: Queen Elizabeth or Queen Mary?
JK: Queen Mary.
MM: Winter or summer?
MM: Night in with Netflix or night out with friends?
JK: Depends on the day of the week.
MM: Donuts or Muffins?
MM: Zombies or Aliens?
MM: Giants or Jets?
JK: Giants. Oh yeah. I was wearing my jersey during the game.
MM: Lastly can you talk about any projects you have coming up. You seem to be a very busy guy which is awesome.
JK: Yeah. I actually just did an episode of Man Seeking Woman, the FX show. I got to work with Jay Baruchel which was great and Simon [Rich], the writer producer, creator of the show is just a genius. I enjoyed working on that. I have a Canadian indie I just did called White Knight which takes place at a Street Art festival that happens here in town. We were shooting with four, simultaneous shooting units throughout the festival. It was hectic and crazy. There’s also a movie called Acquainted that I’m producing that’ll be shooting next year. That will be with my producing partner, Giacomo Giannotti who was on Reign the first season and is now on Grey’s Anatomy.
MM: Wow, that’s awesome. You have some great things coming up and we can not wait for everything. I wanted to thank you for chatting with me, I know you’re busy but this has been wonderful.
JK: My pleasure, of course.


|Material||Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene|
|Fit Type||Universal Fit|
|Vehicle Service Type||Passenger Car, SUV, Truck, Motorbike|
About this item
- Fluorescent Tire Valve Stem: Made of high-quality ABS material. Our tire valve stem cover features illuminated plastic inserts and clear housing protection to prevent valve stem corrosion. strong and durable, and perfectly fits the original car tire valve.
- Easy to Install: Easy installation without tools. The inner protection tire valve stem cover is designed with a swivel thread for easy hand tightening during installation. It’s also easy to remove when you want to check air pressure.
- Luminous Valve Stem Caps: The light-storing material of this valve cap allows it to absorb light during the day and emit light at night.give your car a unique luxury look, with beautiful dazzling.
- Warm Note: Since the fluorescent material needs to absorb the light source, it glows at night. When installing for the first time, please illuminate the tire valve with light or sunlight for 10-15 seconds, the Aoto-glow effect will be brighter at night.
- Perfect Service: Small items have a great effect. If any dissatisfaction occurred on our car accessories – Illuminated auto wheel valve stem cap,you are always welcomed to contact us. We will reply to your Email within 24 Hours.


text:
- Technical Specs
- Dimensions: 9.50 H x 1.25 D x 6.50 W inches
- Format: Hardcover
- Number of Pages: 308 Pages
For four consecutive years Shirley Temple was the world’s box-office champion, a record never equaled. By early 1935 her mail was reported as four thousand letters a week, and hers was the second-most popular girl’s name in the country.
What distinguished Shirley Temple from every other Hollywood star of the period—and everyone since—was how brilliantly she shone. Amid the deprivation and despair of the Great Depression, Shirley Temple radiated optimism and plucky good cheer that lifted the spirits of millions and shaped their collective character for generations to come. Distinguished cultural historian John F. Kasson shows how the most famous, adored, imitated, and commodified child in the world astonished movie goers, created a new international culture of celebrity, and revolutionized the role of children as consumers.
Tap-dancing across racial boundaries with Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, foiling villains, and mending the hearts and troubles of the deserving, Shirley Temple personified the hopes and dreams of Americans. To do so, she worked virtually every day of her childhood, transforming her own family as well as the lives of her fans.
- Author: John F. Kasson
- Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc.
- ISBN: 9780393240795


text:
open vacancies for Head of Communications in Manchester
Unfortunately we have no vacancies for Head of Communications in Manchester at the moment.
Working as Head of Communications in Manchester
A Head of Communications role in Manchester is a highly-coveted position, thanks to the exciting and vibrant digital and tech scene in the Northern hub that is Manchester. You would be reporting to a Director of Communications and would be the beneficiary of a normally generous salary of £61,000 on average and company benefits package which could also include the opportunity to travel abroad, as well as unbeatable chances to develop your professional skills and grow your career.


text:
GET THE APP
Institute of Materials Science and Engineering, Henan Polytechnic University, China
Received Date: October 16, 2013; Accepted Date: October 17, 2013; Published Date: October 18, 2013
Citation: Yang Z, (2013) A Novel Room-Temperature-Cured Waterglass/Polyurethane Composite. J Powder Metall Min 2:e123. doi: 10.4172/2168-9806.1000e123
Copyright: © 2013 Yang Z. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Visit for more related articles at Journal of Powder Metallurgy & Mining
The collapsed zone in coal mine after mining refers to an underground structure, which is a pile size composed of broken matrix and voids among them. The broken coal and rock in underground coal mines have caused thousands of fatalities and threatened mining safety, social stability, and sustainable development. In order to control the mining subsidence, roof collapse, water inrush, ignition, chemical grouting for reinforcing broken matrix is usually necessary in the collapsed zone. Generally, the grouting material require to possess good stability, low viscosity, good grout ability, inflaming retarding, innocuity, low cost and easy accessibility. In the past years, the epoxy resin, polyurethane, acrylate, urea-formaldehyde resin, acrylamide and sodium silicate have been developed as injection materials for improvement and reinforcement of the broken matrix. Among them, the silicate and polyurethane grouting was the most frequent technique applied to mining engineering. The chemical grouting application of sodium silicate was firstly performed by Jeziorsky in 1886, and used widely in the following years. In 1971, polyurethane-based grouting was introduced in Germany in hard coal mining. In 1978, Mobay Chemical Corporation introduced the first commercial in mine trial of polyurethane grouting in the United States. Since its introduction in the United States, polyurethane grouting has become the most popular non-silicate chemical grouting in the mining industry. Two major applications of polyurethane in mining are rock mass stabilization and strata sealing to deter gas or water migration. With the injection of polyurethane into broken strata, cracks and fissures are bound together; the chemical adheres to the rock and forms a matrix within the broken strata. Although polyurethane is a successful grouting material for many situations where binding or sealing of strata are needed, in practical applications, polyurethane exhibited also some drawbacks such as high cost, poor barrier property and thermal stability, which limited its applications. In view of excellent binding properties and high deformability of polyurethane and low cost and high thermal stability of silicate, it is expected that the combination of polyurethane with silicate into the composite will be a more effective composite for reinforcement of coal mine. Currently, a novel waterglss/polyurethane composite with high properties and low cost has been prepared in our study, and the obtained grouting material shows an excellent performance for the reinforcement of coal mine.
Make the best use of Scientific Research and information from our 700 + peer reviewed, Open Access Journals

domain: literature


text:
Since the summer break, Ferrari have took the most wins, and the plaudits, after claiming victories in Belgium, Italy, and Singapore. Mercedes bounced back with a win in Russia through Lewis Hamilton, and Wolff wants to use that to catalyse a run of form which will take them to the constructors’ championship.
“We delivered a strong race in Russia, made the most of our opportunities and both Lewis and Valtteri drove flawlessly.
“We brought home 44 points, built the gap in both championships and are highly motivated to keep our foot on the throttle for the remaining five races.
“The win in Sochi doesn’t change the fact that Ferrari had a stronger start to the second part of the season than we did.
“We’ll bring some minor upgrades to the car in Japan which will hopefully help us take a step in the right direction.
In the V6 hybrid engine era, Mercedes have won every single race at Suzuka, but Wolff doesn’t believe any victory this weekend will be as routine as it has been in previous seasons.
“We have a strong track record there, having won every Japanese Grand Prix in the hybrid era, but we expect this year to be challenging given the strength of our opponents,” the Austrian admitted.
“It will be a very close battle on track – and one that we very much look forward to. Our targets for the final quarter of the season is clear and it’s up to us to make sure we achieve them.”


SACRAMENTO (AP) - A series of scandals that has tarnished the integrity of the state Legislature has prompted a wave of proposals aimed at strengthening political ethics and reforming laws governing campaign contributions.
SACRAMENTO (AP) - Prosecutors say a suspect wanted in the fatal shooting of an Iraqi man in a Home Depot parking lot in Northern California has confessed to the crime.
MILL VALLEY (AP) - Authorities are searching on rugged Mount Tamalpais for a 33-year-old Menlo Park woman who has been missing for a week.
SACRAMENTO (AP) - A state senator indicted on federal charges used campaign money to pay for flights to the Philippines and events at a San Francisco restaurant, activities that have possible links to gun-running and bribery allegations, a newspaper reported Friday.
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Two drug-smuggling tunnels with rail systems stretching hundreds of yards across the U.S.-Mexico border were discovered by law enforcement officials, and a 73-year-old woman was charged with helping run one operation, federal authorities said Friday.
SAN JOSE (AP) - The resignation of Mozilla's CEO amid outrage that he supported an anti-gay marriage campaign is prompting concerns about how Silicon Valley's strongly liberal culture might quash the very openness that is at the region's foundation.
SACRAMENTO (AP) - A Republican candidate for California attorney general said Friday that state lawmakers who are found guilty of crimes that endanger the lives of others should face the death penalty.
LODI (AP) - The family of a Gulf War veteran who was fatally shot by police filed a federal civil rights lawsuit claiming the officers used excessive force.
CONCORD (AP) - A Concord police officer has been placed on paid leave after being accused of taking pain medication from senior citizens.
SACRAMENTO (AP) - San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed said Thursday that he is pressing ahead with a proposed ballot initiative that would give local governments more leeway to cut public employees' future pension benefits, saying he will target the 2016 ballot after losing a court challenge this year.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Two dozen U.S. lawmakers from California, Washington and Oregon are calling for funding of an earthquake warning system designed to give residents a few seconds of notice of imminent shaking after a quake occurs.
YOUNTVILLE (AP) - Geologists are reporting a 3.7-magnitude earthquake in Northern California.
MOUNTAIN VIEW (AP) - Mozilla co-founder Brendan Eich is stepping down as CEO and leaving the company following protests over his support of a gay marriage ban in California.
SACRAMENTO (AP) - California's health exchange announced Thursday that enrollment in private insurance plans had exceeded 1.2 million by an initial deadline earlier this week, although officials acknowledged they have more work ahead to reduce the number of people who remain uninsured.
• CHP PLANE HELPS IN ARREST OF OAKLAND MOTORCYCLIST: OAKLAND (AP) - A motorcyclist doing wheelies and other stunts at high speeds on a Bay Area freeway was arrested after a California Highway Patrol airplane caught him on video.
SACRAMENTO . (AP) - The California Democratic Party and labor unions vowed not to back down any time soon after their candidate lost a costly state Senate race in the San Francisco Bay Area this week.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A state agency has shut down a luxury commuter bus service that some say spotlighted the gap between wealthy tech workers in San Francisco and everyone else.
A large biomass fire near Tracy has prompted local air officials to issue a health cautionary statement for the northern counties of San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Merced, particularly the communities of Lathrop, Manteca and Modesto. The caution is in place until the fire is extinguished.
OAKLAND (AP) - Members of a commission led by California's lieutenant governor said Tuesday that legalizing the recreational use of marijuana could generate enough tax revenue to fund drug education and counseling centers at every high school in the state, a potential upside that should be seriously considered as activists work to put a pot-legalization initiative before voters next year.
SACRAMENTO (AP) - A new study says California continues to see a spike in auto thefts since a change in prison policy four years ago forced many local jails to release more inmates early.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Los Angeles City Council gave initial approval Tuesday to raising minimum pay in the nation's second-largest city to $15 an hour by 2020, a key step as wages in America have stagnated.
SONOMA (AP) - Sonoma is a step closer to keeping new businesses from selling cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco and certain other tobacco products under a proposed law that unanimously passed the first of two city council votes.
TEMECULA (AP) - Dreams of a water park in Temecula city have again been tabled after developers failed to complete a purchase of land for the property.
PACIFICA (AP) - A dead whale was found on a beach south of San Francisco on Tuesday, the same day two other dead whales that washed up weeks apart were being buried nearby after neighbors complained of their rotting smell.
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK (AP) - A camera on the helmet of cliff jumper Dean Potter, who died in Yosemite National Park, shows that he may have tried to avoid his friend who slammed into a ridge and then hit the rocks himself a split second later, a park official said.
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Scientists have figured out all the steps to make morphine and similar painkillers without using opium poppies, opening the door for home-brewed drugs and even wider abuse.
SACRAMENTO (AP) - California communities must hold public hearings before their police departments accept military equipment such as tanks and grenade launchers under a bill approved Monday in the state Assembly.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A federal appeals court panel should not have forced YouTube to take down an anti-Muslim film that sparked violence in the Middle East and death threats to actors, a larger group of judges ruled Monday in a victory for free speech advocates.
BERKELEY (AP) - A man drove about 25 miles in the wrong direction on San Francisco Bay Area freeways and city streets and then crashed into another car.
LAGUNITAS (AP) - What do you do when you have 30 million young salmon ready for their big journeys downstream, but drought and development have dried your riverbeds to sauna rocks? In California this year, you give the fish a ride.


text:
Akoff Music Composer Coupons
We have the biggest Akoff Music Composer coupon codes, Discounts & Promo Codes. Sound Labs provides only the largest Coupon Codes so that we can supply the best variety of Akoff Music Composer Coupons. Please be sure to evaluate our Akoff Music Composer coupon codes listed here. Secure the biggest variety of Sound Labs deals & coupons.
In depth Akoff Music Composer Description
Let’s assume you have a melody in your head and you want to create a beautiful music arrangement of this melody on your home computer. Professional arranger can complete this task within 2 or 3 hours. In order to be able to make a full song arrangement a musician must have the following musical skills: knowledge about the theory of harmonization and chord progression, capable to play MIDI keyboard well, knowledge about MIDI programming, familiar with sequencer software such as Cubase, Logic Audio, Pro Tools, Cakewalk Sonar etc.
But what to do if you do not have these abilities? Akoff Music Composer is a song making software that assists in music creation. Hum your melody into the microphone and Composer captures the audio, transcribes it into the MIDI sequence, makes chords and arranges the song. Neither a MIDI keyboard nor any musical experience is required to create music.


text:
True and unique sailing experience in Athens, Greece!
Sail away on this Nautitech 441 Cruising Catamaran with your family and friends for an unforgettable experience. Book this beautiful Cruising Catamaran for up to 10 people. Rate as low as €543 per day and a preferred minimum rental of 7 days. We are a charter company based in Athens operating our fleet out of Athens area, Ionian, and Dodecanese. Our goals is to organize the best sailing holidays in Greece. We focus only on sailing boats and we offer spacious and easy to handle yachts as well as high performance boats equipped in a way that can satisfy the most demanding of sailors. If you have any questions, we can answer those through GetMyBoat’s messaging platform before you pay. Just hit, “Request to Book” and send us an inquiry for a custom offer.
- Captain is included.
- A captain is provided by the listing owner to host and operate the trip.
- 10 guests
- Cruising Catamaran
I am excited to be a part of the GetMyBoat movement in making boats more accessible and affordable to others. I hope to get out on the water more and help boating grow.
Features & Details
- Life jackets/required safety gear
You’ll get directions for the exact departure location when you make a booking inquiry.
Full refund up to 5 days prior.

domain: travel


text:
Experience the peerless artistry of CMS with newly curated full-length HD concerts featuring archival video recordings woven together into never-before-heard concert pairings. Intermission will feature a Q&A with the artists. Free admission.
Video will begin here at 7:30 PM ET and remain on demand for one week.
- Brahms Trio in B major for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Op. 8 (1854, rev. 1889) Original performance May 7, 2017
- Beethoven Trio in E-flat major for Piano, Violin, and Cello, Op. 70, No. 2 (1808) Original performance July 15, 2015
This event will stream online for free. Find FAQs for streaming online events here.
Approximately 1 hour, 20 minutes with intermission