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Depending upon the complexity of the problem, it can even be a challenge for a seasoned programmer. Subscribe to our newsletter and stay updated. The objective is to filter those aspects that are important for the purpose and ignore those that are unimportant. Also, we can better handle any changes made to the property's implementation. Principles Of Software Design : Should not suffer from “Tunnel Vision” – While designing the process, it should not suffer from “tunnel vision” which means that is should not only focus on completing or achieving the aim but on other effects also. The query methods can be used anywhere and in any order since they do not mutate the state. This especially happens in pressure situations like interviews. A class hierarchy in the inheritance should be drawn based upon their natural relationship and never imposed. In this article, you will learn about these principles, their meaning, and how to use them. A class represents a template for a future object (blueprint) and provides the initial state (member variables or attributes) and the initial behavior (member functions or methods) This is called tightly coupled. The programming paradigm where everything is represented as an object is known as a truly object-oriented programming language. Still, they do represent because we insist. One represents an ordered collection of elements, another a GUI component that holds a scrolling list of text items. The article explains some of the key areas of class design with respect to object-oriented languages in general, and Java class design in particular. Association simply means the act of establishing a relationship between two unrelated classes. Other principles are more or less aimed at this goal, such as the best and right inheritance level with the Liskov substitution principle, which guarantees that the open closure principle will not be violated. Reply. LO1: Understand the principles of programming in Java 1.1 Discuss the principles, characteristics and features of programming in java. Classes should be the least dependent as possible. Operations defined in the class should be such that they operate on the data defined on the class. Choose your option and view given correct answer. The more interconnection between classes, the more dependent they are, because more knowledge about the class is required to understand and deal with other classes. Aggregation is a special form of association, while composition is a special form of aggregation. Strong cohesion is a desirable phenomenon where all the elements are together to support a well-defined abstraction. Encapsulation. Instead, the visibility of the attributes should be restricted by declaring them as private or protected and creating a set of accessors and mutator methods, called getters and setters. If you are coding in Java then follow the principle of making variable and methods private by default and increasing access step by step e.g. Two classes are considered independent if they can act separately. The Object-Oriented Design Principles are the core of OOP programming, but I have seen most of the Java programmers chasing design patterns like Singleton pattern, Decorator pattern, or Observer pattern, and not putting enough attention on learning Object-oriented analysis and design.It's essential to learn the basics of Object-oriented programming like Abstraction, Encapsulation, … The name itself becomes the documentation by providing an excellent introduction to its meaning and utility. Association 4. An abstraction can never express the cobweb of reality. In this article, we will discuss what are SOLID principles in Java with examples. Java compile output into Bytecode instead of Machine code. from private to protected and not public. Then, we'll outline each principle alongside some example code to emphasize the point. This is the core power of the inheritance mechanism. They must interact to produce the desired external behavior. Object-Oriented Programming is a paradigm that provides many concepts, such as inheritance, data binding, polymorphism, etc.. Simula is considered the first object-oriented programming language. Here are a few of them, just as an example: AbstractQueuedLongSynchronizer, AdapterNonExistentHelper, AlgorithmParameterGeneratorSpi, AnnotationTypeMismatchException, AtomicMoveNotSupportedException. Something like the spoken languages, however sophisticated, rich it may seem, can relay only a partial aspect of our thought. Another issue is that abstractions are always incomplete and inaccurate. Encapsulation — private instance variable and public accessor methods. 1. These concepts were later built upon by Michael Feathers, who introduced us to the SOLID acronym. Buy Java Elements: Principles of Programming in Java by Bailey, Duane (ISBN: 9780071163538) from Amazon's Book Store. Core Java objective questions and answers for examinations set with five mcqs from chapter Principles of Java. The unboxer Tecno says: July 27, 2020 at 12:16 am Bro what should i do about 2 week please help bro me in 2 week answer is different for every one . Therefore, by learning SOLID, you gain universal, time-proven tools to build high-quality software. Like many Python/Ruby programmers, my opinion of Java at the time was shaped by various blog posts and HackerNews comments bashing Java’s verbosity and heaviness. Geben Sie Ihre Bewertung. The first of the four core principles in object-oriented programming is encapsulation. Object means a real-world entity such as a pen, chair, table, computer, watch, etc. Don’t do all stuff by yourself, delegate it to respective class. Interface allows multiple and hybrid inheritances. Hence questions regarding the object oriented principles of Java programming language are commonly asked in interviews - for beginner as well as for senior level positions; and for all job roles including Java … 3. Java is an object-oriented programming language. Encapsulation. Inheritance 4. In this article, we will learn the Object-Oriented Design Principles/Guidelines which can be applied in our day to day project work. Reply. The Object-Oriented Design Principles are the core of OOP programming, but I have seen most of the Java programmers chasing design patterns like Singleton pattern, Decorator pattern, or Observer pattern, and not putting enough attention on learning Object-oriented analysis and design. For example, the class java.util.List (it is an interface, same as a class from the perspective of abstraction) is quite different from java.awt.List even though they have the same name. Read more ＞ 1. Don't miss an article. Developer on Alibaba Coud: Build your first app with APIs, SDKs, and tutorials on the Alibaba Cloud. … Its simplicity lies greatly in its consistency. A language is known as high level language if it provides human readable syntaxes for programming where as low level languages provides machine instructions which are not user friendly. The public interface of a class should contain only operations defined on the class. There are couple of ways to achieve this in Java, so that interactivity is not marred by loose coupling. This also means that trying to create an absolutely correct design is an Utopian dream. The number of arguments passed to a method and its size should be small. Object oriented design principle 9 - Programming for Interface not implementation. And this paradigm entails using objects and classes in your programs. The Java language is (mostly) object-oriented. Java is understood to be a complex and powerful software platform, individual editions of which are available in a wide variety of operating systems and hardware platforms. Another benefit of this desing principle in Java is, interface has disadvantage to implement all method before any class can use it so having single functionality means less method to implement. Only the operations that are needed by the user of the class should be made public. The Object-Oriented Design Principles are the core of OOP programming, but I have seen most of the Java programmers chasing design patterns like Singleton pattern, Decorator pattern, or Observer pattern, and not putting enough attention on learning Object-oriented analysis and design. It must be remembered that good quality classes are always reusable or extensible. ” asad khan says: July 27, 2020 at 12:16 am Bro Q.6 and Q.8 in week 2 is incorrect, that's why the quiz is not clear. 2. A class with limited functionality is not only manageable but also conducive to strong cohesion. Java is Simple, Object Oriented and developer friendly. Go To Download Page Close. Although Unix users and C/C++ programmers would disagree, there is a point in adhering to such verbosity. I began my software development career writing Python. The SOLID principles were first conceptualized by Robert C. Martin in his 2000 paper, Design Principles, and Design Patterns. Welcome to “Java Programming: Principles of Software Design”! An object cannot exist without a class. Solution: Java language . As a new method, the essence of object-oriented programming is the abstract thinking process and object-oriented method embodied by the establishment of model. There are five types of inheritance in Java. The public/private boundary enforces the object-oriented principle of encapsulation. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. 6 thoughts on “ Java Programming: Principles of Software Design,week (1-4) All Quiz with Answers. It must reflect the purpose and meaning of its existence. Principles Of Islam Java-App Mukaashifatul Quluub' - The Remembrance of Death by Hujjat ul-Islaam Abu Hamid al-Ghazzali 2. SOLID is an acronym that stands for five different principles: Single Responsibility Principle. These principles are encapsulation, inheritance, polymorphism and abstraction. S: In practice, classes rarely behave in an independent manner. The basic three principles of JAVA are inheritance, polymorphism and encapsulation.All the concepts of JAVA are based on classes and its objects. The Command Query Separation principle states that each method should be either a command that performs an action or a query that returns data to the caller but not both. Welcome to “Java Programming: Principles of Software Design”! SOLID principles can be used to design and develop extensible and easy to maintain software. Only the operations that are needed by the user of the class should be made public. The Object-Oriented Design Principles are the core of OOP programming, but I have seen most of the Java programmers chasing design patterns like Singleton pattern, Decorator pattern, or Observer pattern, and not putting enough attention on learning Object-oriented analysis and design.It's essential to learn the basics of Object-oriented programming like Abstraction, Encapsulation, … 5 Principles of Java programming language:. The topmost class should be an abstract class or an interface. They are single, multilevel, hierarchical, multiple, and hybrid. In the following sections, we'll take a deep dive into what each of these principles means, along with a quick Java example to illustrate each one. LO1: Understand the principles of programming in Java 1.1 Discuss the principles, characteristics and features of programming in java. Higher-level modules do not depend on lower-level modules. But, that does not mean they are providence. They're a similar concept to design patterns [/design-patterns-in-java], the main difference being that design principles are more abstract and generalized. Because it leverages the field access control, it is easy to make the class thread-safe if we want to later. In such a case, the purpose or objective should be the basic ingredient of design decision. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. An object is a real world entity that has some attributes or properties. First, we'll start by exploring the reasons they came about and why we should consider themwhen designing software. BEWERTUNG. Mikalai Zaikin. The idea of encapsulation is that implementation details should not be visible to end users. Object-Oriented Programmingis a methodology or paradigm to design a program using classes and objects. For example, a class and its attributes declared as: Java allows accessing attributes with object names if they are declared as public. JRE combines the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) and standard class libraries (API). Building an robust application requires adherence to many principles, such as general design principles, programming idioms, thumb rule, tricks of the trade, cautionary measure, and so forth. On the Java platform, you can vary the strength of that boundary on an object-by-object basis. Instance variables are kept private and accessor methods are made public to achieve this. But, such a situation may arise once in a blue moon. The principles of class design, however preliminary it may seem, are decisive of the foundation of an application. Java has followed some clearly stated principles. It is our responsibility to create a design that pushes it into right track. But, their purposes are utterly different. Java is understood to be a complex and powerful software platform, individual editions of which are available in a wide variety of operating systems and hardware platforms. 5. Next, let’s look at some real-world Java examples about the single responsibility principle. Sei der Erste, der diese App überprüft . Why use RxDart and how to use with BLoC Pattern in Flutter? Thanks for your registration, follow us on our social networks to keep up-to-date. the interface segregation principle (isp) says that you should favor many, smaller, client-specific interfaces over one larger, more monolithic interface. Their relationship is named as parent-child or super-subclass relationship. Besides the four main principles of OOP, Java also works with three further concepts (association, aggregation, composition) you can make use of when designing your programs. Let's try using examples to understand what classes and objects are, and how to apply basic OOP principles (abstraction, inheritance, polymorphism and encapsulation) in practice. One should often prefer composition over inheritance when designing their systems. The acronym was meant to help us remember these principles easily. . Java is an Interpreted Programming Language. Let's kick things off with the single responsibility principle. Also, depending upon the purpose to be served, a variety of abstractions of the same thing is possible. Java Runtime Environment (JRE) is used to implement Java technology. Four Principles of Object-Oriented Programming with Examples in Java. Loose coupling is another aspect to be taken very seriously when designing a class and its relationships with other classes in the family. There are several advantages of using getters and setters. These concepts were later built upon by Michael Feathers, who introduced us to the SOLID acronym. Lab 4 CSE 110: Principles of JAVA Programming Arizona State University Topics: The placing of one loop inside the body of another loop is called nesting. The name itself gives a clue to its capability. Java Development Kit follows many design principles like Factory Pattern in BorderFactory class, Singleton pattern in java.lang.Runtime class, Decorator pattern on various java.io classes. The public interface of a class should contain only operations defined on the class. In Java, this SOLID principle is described as follows: dependencies within the system are built based on abstractions. In this page, we will learn about the basics of OOPs. The Principles of Lean Java. Details should depend on abstractions. Last modified: May 19, 2020. by baeldung. For example, a Media class construct may be designed differently depending upon the type of media it targets, such as print media or screen. A Java class uses variables to define data fields and methods to define actions. As stated above, S.O.L.I.D represents five principles of Java which are: 1. Operations defined in the class should be such that they operate on the data defined on the class. In this introductory module, you will hear an overview of this course and be introduced to the supporting resources available. Check out this introduction to SOLID design principles, for Java developers. Real-World Examples of the Single Responsibility Principle. So, the parameters of distinction among classes includes the name along with its attributes and behavior pattern. OOP principles (in Java) Object Oriented Programming is one of the most common programming paradigms and is based on concepts like classes and objects. There are many more guidelines, but these few are often found to be quite helpful to begin with. Interaction occurs through the use of some shared data. Previous Next In this post, we will see 5 SOLID Principles in Java. the single responsibility principle (srp) asserts that a class or module should do one thing only. 1 In Java Inheritance A all fields of a class are private. 3. Class 3. Firebase Auth Email login using provider 4 flutter. Single Responsibility. But, at the same time, it's equally important to know object-oriented design principles, to create the clean and modular design. Each quiz multiple choice question has 4 options as possible answers. History of SOLID Principles in Java Robert C. Martin gave five object-oriented design principles, and the acronym “S.O.L.I.D” is used for it. Additionally,a class provides methods of a special type, known as constructors, which are invoked to create a new object. I understand the concepts, but I’ve found that when asked to define or show an example of the basic principles my brain blanks. In this tutorial, we'll discuss the Open/Closed Principle (OCP) as one of the SOLID principles of object-oriented programming. What Frankenstein one is going to make is purely at the discretion of the developer. To put it in a simple manner, if the functions of a class co-operate with each other to attain a single objective, the class design is said to be cohesive; otherwise, if they are too varied, like a conflicting interest among family members, the class design is invariably poor. Class design has a major impact on the overall quality of the software design. It wasn’t until a couple of years later that I began to write Java in earnest. Overview. This is a bad idea under normal circumstances and violates the principle of information hiding. OOP helps to keep the Java code DRY "Don't Repeat Yourself", and makes the code easier to maintain, modify and debug ; OOP makes it possible to create full reusable applications with less code and shorter development time; Tip: The "Don't Repeat Yourself" (DRY) principle is about reducing the repetition of code. Info Info Bewertungen & Bewertungen (0) Zusammenfassung. The Java programming language has been developed over the years following very strict principles. We are excited that you are starting our course to learn how to write programs in Java, one of the most popular programming languages in the world. When you "nest" two loops, the outer loop takes control of the number of complete repetitions of the inner loop. B all fields of a class are protected. In this introductory module, you will hear an overview of this course and be introduced to the supporting resources available. Class design that follows established principles is usually correct, reusable, extensible, and easy to maintain. … Once you learn how to do one thing in Java, … you can do it the same way everywhere, … because it never deviates from its architecture. What, at best, we can do is create what is adequate, right for the purpose, using the tools at hand. The class definition makes up the most of object-oriented design. Jan 13, 2018. During his career, he has helped Oracle with development of Java certification exams, and he has been a technical reviewer of several Java certification books, including three editions of the famous Sun Certified Programmer for Java study guides by Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates. Basic principles of java: Java is purely object oriented programming language and it follows majorly four principles inheritance, polymorphism, encapsulation etc. 4. In this tutorial, we'll be discussing the SOLID principles of Object-Oriented Design. Encapsulation is the mechanism of hiding of data implementation by restricting access to public methods. Inheritance. Java + I just announced the new Learn Spring course, focused on the fundamentals of Spring 5 and Spring Boot 2: >> CHECK OUT THE COURSE. Seven principles of design pattern (Java) Time：2020-1-11. For example, Employee, Window, Vehicle, Shape, Account, Book, Transaction, Process and so forth are appropriate candidates to be designed as classes. In order to compare two object for equality we ask class itself to do comparison instead of Client class doing that check. Experienced programmers follow principles to design classes that live beyond their immediate need. The function calls between two classes involve passing large chunks of shared data. It's not going to happen. ; High Performance. Last Update:2018-07-07 Source: Internet Author: User . from private to protected and not public. S.O.L.I.D. Buy Java Principles of Object Oriented Programming Pap/Cdr by Jeffry A. Borror (ISBN: 9780879305833) from Amazon's Book Store. Bob Martin and Micah Martin introduced these concepts in their book ‘Agile Principles, Patterns, and Practices ’. Encapsulation is the idea that the attributes of an entity are enclosed in that entity. 14 minutes to complete. Encapsulation Apart from these concepts, there are some other terms which are used in Object-Oriented design: 1. We are excited that you are starting our course to learn how to write programs in Java, one of the most popular programming languages in the world. Principles of Programming: Java Level 1 | Frank, Jonathan | ISBN: 9781514430392 | Kostenloser Versand für alle Bücher mit Versand und Verkauf duch Amazon. This gives context to attributes. Class allows single, multilevel and hierarchical inheritances. SOLID principles in Java SOLID is an acronym formed from the capital letters of the first five principles of OOP and class design. Lab 4-Nested Lonn 1. A good style of programming is essential for practical reasons, but it is even more important in object-oriented programming because much of the benefit of the object-oriented approach is predicated on producing reusable, extensible, and understandable programs. An instance of a class should not send messages directly to components of another class. Open Closed Principle. Despite being tricky to think about and tending to violate The Liskov Substitution Principle, this way of thinking is extremely problematic when i… Aggregation 5. What is an object? It is always a good idea to begin with a proper design guidelines rather than grope in the dark and become sorry in the later phases of development. Sometimes, given a problem, one may find it difficult to identify aspects that are the right candidate to be classified. Cohesion gets spoiled if too much functionality is added. Naming a class is the first step to designing a class. Classes should be the least dependent as possi… This section is an introduction to object-oriented programming (OOP) language concepts, using structured programming as a point of contrast. After all, abstraction in computing is a poor representation of reality; even establishing a simple relationship can be quite complex. With this principle applied the programmer can code with much more confidence. The main principles are discussed below: Encapsulation: Encapsulation is the principle of object oriented programming that enables binding of data with methods.
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3. Coping strategies
What are coping strategies?
It is almost impossible to predict how one person will respond to stress and trauma at any particular time. Some people are capable of dealing with tremendous pressure and can even thrive on it. Others, however, will find themselves overwhelmed by apparently trivial developments.
Our reaction to stressful events is determined by a host of different factors, including the scale of the events themselves (e.g. were they life threatening) and the circumstances of our life when they occurred (e.g. were you already stressed by other factors).
But perhaps the most crucial indicator of how we deal with stress and trauma is the quality of our coping strategies. The more effectively we are able to respond to stress, and minimise the anxiety that comes along with it, the more resilient we will become in the long term.
Both cumulative and acute stress have the capacity to undermine our ability to function. Trauma can put a stop to everything. The ways we find to cope, however, will have a critical impact on our ability to recover and return to a productive, functioning life.
There are essentially two types of coping strategy:
These involve activities or mental states, such as alcohol use or emotional withdrawal, that are aimed at distancing ourselves from the stress that we might be experiencing. While they might alleviate anxiety in the short-term, they tend to compound the stress in the long-term by leaving the underlying causes unaddressed. They are also known as defence mechanisms. See the What Not To Do section for more information
These essentially give us the opportunity to take responsibility for our situation, either by changing the nature of the stress that we are experiencing (e.g. taking a break, reorganising our work schedule), or by addressing the way we are responding to the stress (e.g. talking it over with friends, staying fit and healthy). See the Practical Self-Care section for more information
Keeping physically fit will ensure thatyou are able to cope with stressful and traumatic events. True or False?
Sorry, wrong answer! Try again
Right answer! While physical exercise certainly helps address the build-up of stress, people's capacity to cope is also determined by a host of other factors, including pre-existing vulnerabilities, family circumstances and the scale of the stressful event.
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domain: health


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Laurus Nobilis (Bay Trees) can generally grow to 3-5m, and the highest Laurus Nobilis can grow to 18m, and the bark is grayish brown. The shape of the leaves is oval or oblong, and the leaves have small serrations. The flowers are scented, and the corolla is yellowish white, yellow or light yellow. The fruit is purple-black and oval in shape. It has good resistance to heat and cold, and has high temperature requirements.
How to Grow Laurus Nobilis (Bay Trees)
Laurus Nobilis Propagation with SeedsLaurus nobilis seeds
are stratified before planting. Stratification is the process whereby the dormancy of seeds is broken so that they are able to germinate. Placing the seeds in a plastic bag with peat moss and refrigerating for two months is sufficient to break the dormancy. The seeds are planted with a thin covering of soil and kept moist but not wet as they will rot easily. Germination can be erratic with bay laurel seeds
,and they may take three to four months to sprout.
Laurus Nobilis Propagation with Semi-ripe Cuttings
Also laurus nobilis
can be propagated by taking semi-ripe cuttings in late summer. Wood that is just beginning to harden makes the best cuttings, but even these take up to three months to root under the best conditions. Cut 10-12cm (4-4.5 inch) of mature side shoot with heel. Pinch off the leaves from the bottom of the cutting. Dip the cut end of the cutting into water and then into the rooting hormone until the bottom 3cm (1 inch) of the cutting is coated in the powder. Pot the cutting into a 8cm (3 inch) pot size filled with moistened equal parts mixture of peat moss and sand or perlite. Make a hole in the middle of the pot and insert the cutting 3cm (1 inch) below the leaves, then press the potting mixture around the cutting. Seal the pot into a plastic bag or propagating case and place it in indirect sunlight. New growth indicate that the rooting has occurred. At this moment remove the bag and water the cuttings enough to keep the potting mixture just moist.
When the new plant is well established – in about six months – move it into one pot size larger containing the same potting mixture used for adult plant. Thereafter treat it in same way as a mature Laurus nobilis.
Laurus Nobilis Propagation with Layering
The technique of layering involves bending the stem of an existing plant to the ground and nicking it with a knife to expose the stem where it meets the soil. The exposed area is then covered with soil and held in place with stones or tied to a stake. Layering works very well with Laurus nobilis,
although it can take six to 12 months to produce shoots.
Laurus Nobilis Propagation with Division
Bay laurel can also be propagated by root division according to Texas A&M University horticulturist Dr; William Welch. Root division is suitable for container plants and is best done when they need transplanting. Once removed from the pot, the plant is carefully separated into several sections.
How to Care for Laurus Nobilis (Bay Trees)
Laurus Nobilis LightingBay laurels
do well in full-sun locations, or with some partial shade. Native to Mediterranean regions, this plant is accustomed to living in bright sunlight, so try to replicate this as much as you can at home. If your bay laurel is planted in the ground, you should place it in a spot that receives plenty of sun, but which also offers some protection against winds, such as near to a fence or wall.
Although laurus nobilis trees
enjoy light, they also like to be sheltered against strong winds. Container-grown bay laurels are less of a concern, as these can be positioned in full light during warm weather, and then moved to a sheltered spot in the event of a storm or strong winds. It is possible to grow bay laurels indoors, and these will need to be kept in a bright window to ensure they get their requirement of light
Laurus Nobilis Soil CareLaurus Nobilis
is not too particular about soil type, but it must be well-draining. It will do equally well in acidic and alkaline soils. Container plants can be grown in an ordinary commercial potting mix. Plant your bay tree at the same depth as it was planted in its original pot.
Laurus Nobilis Watering
Water Laurus Nobilis regularly but sparingly during growing season. Do not overwater. Water less during winter, only to make sure the root ball does not dry out. Mature plants will tolerate some degree of negligence, but do not let it sit for long periods without water.
Laurus Nobilis Temperature & Humidity Care
Bay is only hardy in USDA hardiness zones 8 through 10. In cooler areas, bring it indoors for the winter and give it relatively cool conditions. However, you may have trouble keeping your indoor laurus nobilis tree
from drying out in the low humidity of your home. When it signals trouble by dropping a few leaves, use the leaves in cooking and begin misting the tree regularly with water.
Laurus Nobilis Fertilizer
Apply a balanced organic fertilizer (compost tea or fish emulsion works well) once to Laurus Nobilis
during the spring and then once again later in the summer. Do not fertilize when the plant is dormant during the colder months.
Laurus Nobilis Pruning
Laurus Nobilis pruning requirements depend on whether your bay has been trained as a topiary, grown as a shrub, or allowed to mature into a full-sized tree. For all sizes, prune out any dead and damaged leaves or branches in the spring. Mature, full-grown trees can be pruned hard, but re-growth is slow – carry out hard pruning over two or three years to maintain some greenery while the new growth forms.
For those you'd like to maintain as more manageable shrubs, cut back to lower leaves or buds as desired, and trim away any low-trunk branches and suckers. Topiary-trained specimens are trimmed in the summer to promote dense growth. Prune the current year’s growth back to leaf nodes that face in the direction of desired growth, maintaining balance and a harmonious shape.
With regular clipping and training when the Laurus Nobilis tree is young, the dark green foliage and stems can be sculpted into a variety of formal shapes to make an excellent patio or garden accent.
Laurus Nobilis Pests & Diseases
Hardy and easy to care for, Laurus Nobilis
is largely disease and pest-free, with only a few easily remedied problems.
Leaf spot is most often caused by overwatering and allowing the roots to sit in water. Ensure containers have a thick layer of drainage material at the bottom of the pot, and enough drainage holes for excess water to easily flow through. In the ground, improve drainage by amending the soil with sand or extra-fine crushed rock. If spots persist despite good drainage, chances are the soil has become depleted of nutrients. Repot in the spring using plenty of rich, organic compost. Yellow leaves occur in small numbers each year as new growth occurs, and are shed naturally.
Yellowing can also occur in containers,and the problem is usually caused by a nutrient deficiency, root damage caused by soggy soil, or cold weather damage. Apply a general-purpose fertilizer to containers every two weeks until August to improve nutrient content of the soil, always ensure they have adequate drainage, and prune damaged wood in spring.
Varieties of Laurus Nobilis (Bay Trees)
There are also a few ornamental cultivars of Laurus nobilis that may not have quite the same taste as the pure species plant.
Laurus nobilis 'Angustifolia': Also known as willow-leaf laurel, the narrow leaves of this cultivar are prized for their attractive texture when the tree is pruned.
Laurus nobilis 'Aurea': This variety exhibits new leaves that are bright yellow and aromatic.
Laurus nobilis 'Undulata': With this cultivar, the leaf edges are rippled or wavy, making it a particularly ornamental tree.
Laurus nobilis 'Saratoga': This is a smaller tree when planted in the landscape, growing to a maximum of 30 feet. The leaves are more rounded and lighter in color. It makes a good variety for food seasoning leaves.
Laurus Nobilis Care FAQ
Are bay laurels toxic to animals?
While humans frequently use bay leaves in cooking, the herb can be toxic to animals when consumed in large quantities. Animals affected by bay leaf toxicity include dogs, cats, and horses. Symptoms of poisoning from bay leaves include diarrhea and vomiting. Bay leaves are not toxic to humans, but they are typically removed from dishes before serving because they do not break down while cooking, and can be a choking hazard.
How large do bay laurel trees grow?
Left unpruned, bay laurels can grow quite large, around 50 to 60 feet high, although on average they reach a mature height of 20 to 25 feet. Retaining the central leader will encourage height. However, this is a very malleable tree and can be kept much smaller, particularly if you want to use it as a border or screen in your garden. Container-bound bay laurels will typically reach a mature size of five to six feet. Bay laurels grow slowly, usually at a rate of a few inches per year.
Are bay laurel roots invasive?
Yes, bay laurel trees
have extensive root systems that can be invasive. If you are planting a bay laurel in the ground, be sure you plant it a reasonable distance from your home or any other structures. Do not plant bay laurel trees near a swimming pool or sewer lines, or on top of a septic tank. If you are concerned about invasive roots in your yard, it may be best to keep your bay laurel in a container.

domain: agronomy


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The details were revealed (via Gamespot.com) for the final DLC release for Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. Shadow of Mordor was one of the breakout games of 2014. Monolith Productions clearly showed that the company was not going to put out a half-baked, execrable licensed video game title. Shadow of Mordor was quite possibly the greatest video game based on The Lord of the Rings franchise. It allowed players an open-world sandbox around Mordor, and it offered an interesting new combat/enemy AI feature called the Nemesis System. The Nemesis System worked out very well and offered players a way to uniquely approach the taking down of Sauron’s armor each time. Over the course of the game’s release, Monolith Productions offered players a hefty amount of free DLC content for the game. The Bright Lord DLC will be the final DLC release for the game. It looks like Monolith is pulling out all the stops for The Bright Lord DLC release. Shadow of Mordor will go out with a bang for its last piece of new DLC content. After the details Monolith Productions revealed, the final DLC will be a great swan song for the game.
The Bright Lord DLC will offer something new and different from the actual game. It allows players to fully take control of Celebrimbor. Celebrimbor was the once great Elven lord and blacksmith. He was the person who forged the great Rings of Power. The game took a bit of creative license with the lore of author JRR Tolkien. Sauron forced Celebrimbor to forge the One Ring. However, at one point, Celebrimbor was able to flee from Sauron. He attempted one last stand against the Dark Lord, utilizing the actual One Ring. This means the DLC will not only allow players to use Celebrimbor, but they will be able to wield the One Ring. This will provide players stronger domination powers for the DLC campaign.
In addition, the DLC campaign is supposed to pit Celebrimbor against the actual Dark Lord Sauron. Hopefully, players will get a more satisfying payoff and boss battle that the original game denied fans. While Shadow of Mordor was a great game, the final boss battles were a bit of a letdown. Hopefully, The Bright Lord DLC can make up for that with a more satisfying fight against Sauron.
The Bright Lord DLC will be released later this year. It does not yet have an official release date. The DLC content will be a part of the Season Pass for the game, or it can be purchased individually.

domain: game


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Beneath the churning blue waters of the sea exist brilliant red corals and lush green plants. Brightly colored clownfish snuggle amongst anemones, while crabs and starfish creep below them.
Bring some of this rich underwater nature into your own environment with a saltwater reef aquarium. Due to advances in technology and equipment, it has now become easier than ever to set up a reef aquarium.
At Aquarium Adventure, we have put together a very simple and highly successful procedure for establishing a saltwater reef. Our method consists of an aquarium, strong lighting, water pumps, protein skimmer, mechanical filter, saltwater, and our key ingredient—live rock.
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Once the aquarium is in place (keep away from bright sunlight), you must prepare the saltwater. Mix dry synthetic sea salts with tap water and add a water conditioner. There are many brands on the market and most are fine to use. Adjust the salt level of the water (how much salt is in the water) by using an instrument called a hydrometer, which will measure the specific gravity or density of salt in the water. It should read approximately 1.023 at about 76° F.
Now add several water pumps to the aquarium in order to circulate and mix the water and provide the reef with currents. Place in the bottom of the aquarium, the substrate, rinsed to be free of dust. The substrate should be made of calcium carbonate so that it will help with buffering the water, maintaining an alkaline pH.
Install and begin operating the protein skimmer, mechanical filter, and/or sump, heater and lights to the reef system. The skimmer, filter and heater should run constantly, however the lights should be plugged into a timer. By using a timer and a predetermined program, daylight and nighttime can be recreated, automatically.
Allow the aquarium to run for 24 hours so that water can mix and clear, substrate can settle and filters, heaters and lights operate consistently. At this stage, the filters, pumps and skimmer can be turned off, so the key ingredients, the live rock may be added.
The live rock is the most important element of the marine reef aquarium. Live rock is actual rubble rock from the ocean’s reefs that have tumbled to the bottom of the reef or washed up on shore due to wave action. It is very beneficial and essential for maintaining the aquarium water quality. It is loaded with good bacteria, zoo plankton and phytho plankton all necessary for the filtration process of the reef aquarium. The rock should be stacked to create a reef appearance and to provide lots of nooks and crannies for fish and invertebrates to call home.
After the environment is created by placing all the live rock, the pumps, filters and skimmer can be restarted. The water pumps may need to be re-positioned within the live rock in order to get good water circulation throughout the reef that has been designed.
48 hours later, this “beginning” reef aquarium will stabilize. Test the water in the aquarium for ammonia and nitrites during the next 4-6 days. When test readings are safe then fish and invertebrates can be added slowly to the aquarium. Over a period of time, this reef will begin to flourish. It’s easy and simple!
As with any aquarium set-up, options are available for different looks and sizes from beginner to hard-core hobbyist. Added equipment components can increase the quantity and diversity of animals, as well as effect animal reproduction and growth rate. There is also a wide selection of colors and types of “live ocean rock” to create different types of reefs.
Ask you Aquarium Adventure Fish Specialist to review with you, all of the options.
Live Rock - 1.5 #’s per gallon
Scavenger Hermit Crabs - 1 per 2 gallons
Algae Cleaning Snails - 1 per 2 gallons
| Water Conditioner
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domain: hobby


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I hung up the phone with my brother feeling emotionally exhausted, but better than I had when I had called him almost two hours prior. Ben and I are pretty different, and once again our fundamentally different ways of operating had caused tension, hurt feelings, and some of the trademark passive-agressive behavior that has been a family legacy for what I can only assume is generations. That, at least, is something my brother and I share.
Because we are so different the stories that our families tell about us are different stories - Ben is like our parents: quiet and calm, conservative, introverted with his feelings and protective of his personal time and space. I am, well, not like anyone in my immediate family. I am like my "crazy" aunts (I have one on each side): outgoing and dramatic, a risk-taker, a liberal with her heart on her sleeve, overcommitted and sort of into everybody's business. Our stories depend on each other - they define each other to a certain degree. There are things that I like about them and of course things that are painful to me. The story I tell about myself isn't quite the same as my family's story about me. This is the nature of the stories families tell - good or bad we use them to measure change in ourselves and in our family members and to have some idea of what to expect from each other. My family's story about me is one of the biggest sources of pride and of pain in my life. I'm sure yours is the same. I have a suspicion it just works this way for most of us.
So my sibling and I have been trying, for most of our adult lives, to do a better job of caring for each other. It's hard work, but incredibly rewarding. We've become allies and friends in addition to the sibling dynamics good and less-good we still have, may always have, as a result of sharing a childhood. As a second born child I was literally unable to imagine a life without my big brother. Now as adults we get to choose to spend time together, involve each other in decisions and big questions, and do what all siblings ultimately must do together - deal with our (beloved!) parents together.
About this time last year I became taken with the idea that maybe we would have one child, just our J. This wasn't something I'd ever considered before. Given my place in the birth order the idea bordered on blasphemy for me. If my parents had considered it I wouldn't exist! But I was putting some time into thinking about living small, and conserving energy. I started to wonder what else might be better, smaller. I floated the idea by Andrew, who felt pretty positive about it, typical first born that he is. So I tried it on for a while.
There was a lot behind my love affair with only-child-dom. I resist the idea that any child should be part of a checklist, or that any big decision involving family building should be. You know the checklist: husband (check!), house(check!), kid #1(check!), kid #2 (pending...),etc. I have this sneaking suspicion born of my six years in child welfare research that there are a few too many people who become spouses or parents more because there is pressure to make and achieve a list like this, and less because they feel truly and specially called to the big work that is marriage or the big work that is parenting. And given my place in the birth order I resisted the idea that a second child come into a family simply to provide a sibling for the first born child, or with any less deliberation, care, and loving thoughtfulness than the first. Finally, I felt the only way to truly choose a second child would be to fully imagine and embrace the idea of an only child. Just as Andrew and I were not less-than as a family unit before J, neither was our cozy threesome deficient or incomplete pending the arrival of one more child.
This went on until fall, when two things happened. First, I found baby M's name. Let me explain. J's name is a name that Andrew and I have had since before we were married. It came to us, oh I don't know when, but sometime when we were still in giddy-in-love-dreamland almost all of the time we were together. Before we even decided we wanted kids we knew that IF we had them our first daughter would have this name. It was the only name we ever both felt 100% confident of, though of course we eventually had a boy name picked out as well. So despite us both being reasonable people on some level when she showed up and was herself and our J it felt like fate. In early November last year I found the name M. I told Andrew and for the first time ever he seemed interested in a second baby. It was the right name. Despite us both being reasonable people it felt like fate.
The second thing that happened was that we went on vacation with Ben and his family. I watched his kids with each other. They're a little over two years apart. And I watched us, Ben and me, with each other. And I watched my mother, who was with us, watching it all. I think it was then that I decided. I want that for J. And I want it for M. We are complete without another child but we'll be even more complete, have even more opportunities to love and learn and grow and tell stories with two.
I'm not sure that the vacation had quite the same effect on Andrew as it did on me. But that's not my story to tell. Suffice to say that was late November and by the end of 2010 we had submitted our second adoption application. We knew our little M(or whoever s/he turns out to be) was out there.

domain: literature


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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Apple Computer's announced $600 million revenue shortfall in the December quarter should be a good indication of what to expect in the PC market next year, a Wall Street analyst said Wednesday.
Dan Niles, technology analyst at Lehman Brothers, said factors like a slowing economy and struggling market will also have an effect on PC makers like Apple.
"There could be a bloodbath in pricing in the first part of next year if they don't move inventories over the holidays," Niles said. "The magnitude of the miss gives you an idea of what's going to happen with the PC market next year."
In Focus airs daily on CNNfn's network at 12:10 p.m. The following includes comments made both during the show and in the pre-show interview.
CNNfn: Late yesterday Apple announced a $600 million shortfall for the December quarter - did that surprise you?
Dan Niles: The fact they missed didn't surprise me - the amount of the miss surprised me. We thought that Apple's product line is less attractive relative to other PC offerings - the speed of their processors is slower relative to Intel's and they don't have re-writeable drives which many PCs are carrying now.
They have a lot of issues related to their product lineup and their newest operating system is delayed - those are Apple-specific issues. In addition to that, everybody's dealing with the macro economic environment slowing. Consumers have less disposable income due to higher oil prices and the stock market has sold off, reducing the wealth effect. This will make this retailing Christmas season one of the poorest we've seen in some time.
So Apple's warning is due to a combination of things - half of them company specific and half driven by the macro economic environment. The key is that the hit is almost a 40 percent miss and that's alot. That's what people should look at. The magnitude of the miss gives you an idea of what's going to happen with the PC market next year.
If there's a lot of excess inventory there will have to be price cuts next year. There could be a bloodbath in pricing in the first part of next year if they don't move inventories over the holidays.
CNNfn: Apple is the second major PC maker to warn holiday sales were slow - Gateway warned last week - should investors be concerned?
Dan Niles: Obviously. The economy is slowing in the US and it's not doing all that well in Europe either. And there's some potential for Asian economies slowing down. That removes the ability to move excess inventory. Yesterday the Nasdaq rallied but if fundamentals are deteriorating and growth rates are slowing down, it will make earnings worse, not better, and it will be tough for stocks to perform in that environment.
People are expecting (Fed Chairman Alan) Greenspan to cut rates but the earliest that will happen is March, and then after that it will take a few quarters to speed up the economy.
CNNfn: This is Apple's first non-profitable quarter in three years, and Steve Jobs says he plans to return to sustained profitability next quarter - what would they need to do to achieve that?
Dan Niles: We'll have to wait and see. They've pre announced twice within a couple of months. I have some doubts that profitability can be achieved next quarter. Jobs can't control the macro environment, he can only control the product line, but that will take time. I remain cautious on Apple. The stock is close to trading at cash value so the downside risk is low but there's no catalyst to go out and buy the stock.
CNNfn: Apple will be rolling out new products and programs in 2001 - could that be what saves them?
Dan Niles: It'll take more than cool colors - you need hardware and software and features that consumers want. Dell (DELL: Research, Estimates) overtook Apple in the educational sector and that was Apple's strong point. It's hard for Apple to compete in the PC market. Losing their stranglehold in the educational market is not a good sign. Apple's always been known for innovation and they'll have to innovate their way out of this.
CNNfn: PC sales are Apple's core business, while competitors like Dell, Compaq and HP are also in the storage and server business - should Apple change its strategy?
Dan Niles: Few companies will buy a server from Apple, but diversifying the business model gives them a few different ways to win. Other companies are doing a little better because they have less reliance on the consumer and more on corporate America. Apple diversifying would be welcome because now they're at the whim of consumer, which is fickle.
CNNfn: Apple (AAPL: Research, Estimates) is down over 13% today, and at $14 1/2, it's way below the 52-week high of $75 1/8 - what's your outlook for the stock?
Dan Niles: We remain cautious on the stock. There's not alot more downside but we're not sure there are alot of reasons to rush out and buy the stock, other than the fact that it's close to cash value.
CNNfn: Some believe that the PC makers will get a shot in the arm as Internet access from handheld and other wireless devices improves, because the PC will become a central server for those devices - do you agree? what's your outlook for the group?
Dan Niles: Yes, I've said that alot, but it will take a while to develop. That's a positive but there's also a slowdown in economic growth, which is a huge negative. The bigger driver for growth will be Windows 2000, but that's taking longer than anticipated to roll out.
CNNfn: What are your favorite names in the PC group?
Dan Niles: I don't have any. We don't have "buy" ratings on PC related companies. It's too early to return to the group until the second half of next year. Hand held devices in terms of alternative computing platforms are our favorites: Handspring (HAND: Research, Estimates), Palm Computing (PALM: Research, Estimates), and Research in Motion (RIMM: Research, Estimates). They will do well in the 4th quarter because consumers are more willing to spend $300-400 as opposed to $1200 for PCs.
--reported by Carmina Perez

domain: news


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Friday, July 17, 2009
Finally, summer: Wiawaka
Anyone who lives in the Northeastern U.S. can tell you that we've been waiting for summer to start. The Fourth of July came and went, the corn has grown from knee-high to over your head, and it's rained incessantly. Yesterday, I took the afternoon off to go to Wiawaka on Lake George, and I am SO glad I did.
Wiawaka was founded in 1903 by philanthropists Katrina Trask and Mary Fuller as a place of refuge and retreat for the women who worked in the collar factories in Troy. Just minutes away from Million dollar beach and the bustle of downtown, Wiawaka's cluster of Victorian cottages and lodges sits upon a hill overlooking the southeastern curve of Lake George. Little has changed to the property since that time, and for a modest fee anyone can go there today for an afternoon or a week, or longer, as a modern-day escape from everyday life. There are cultural programs and creative seminars, but I go, mainly, to spend some time in the sun with friends, have a picnic lunch on the dock, and swim. On this afternoon, I participated in an inspirational sculpting session with Catherine's sister Pam, and Pam's best friend Liz. We were handed lumps of clay and each of us fashioned a unique mini-sculpture all our own. After that, we headed for the dock to enjoy the late-afternoon sun. One afternoon at Wiawaka soothes the soul and suddenly it feels so much like summer! Big boats like the Horicon and Minnehaha pass by in very close proximity as their passengers wave to those of us on the dock.
My friend Catherine treated me to dinner, all offerings home made. Last nights choices were meatloaf (or quiche), mashed potatoes, mushrooms sauteed in white wine, peas and herbs from their garden, and a salad, and three pies--blueberry, banana cream, or chocolate cream. Catherine, Pam, Liz, and Alice joined me on the porch of the main house for dinner, all of us in our own wicker rocking chairs sharing a meal and enjoying our summer evening together.
It was a lovely day.

domain: artistic


Adding to the SeagullTM Unmanned Surface Vessels' (USV) capability to mount and launch light weight torpedoes, Elbit Systems ISTAR division has teamed with Leonardo to develop and demonstrate Leonardo's lightweight and mini torpedoes launching capabilities from the USV.
Leonardo's Falco EVO Remotely-Piloted Air System (RPAS), in a maritime patrol configuration, has been deployed from Lampedusa airport (Lampedusa Island) as part of the Frontex surveillance research programme to test its ability to monitor the European Union's external borders
During a ceremony in Mina Salman at Royal Bahrain Navy Head Quarter, Leonardo delivered the second of six upgraded naval vessels, Al Muharraq ship, following a deal signed in 2015 with the Royal Bahrain Naval Force
Leonardo signed a contract with the Bundesamt für Ausrüstung, Informationstechnik und Nutzung der Bundeswehr, the German Federal Office in charge of defence acquisitions, to provide seven OTO 76/62 Super Rapid systems that will equip the new K130 corvettes of the German Navy
Leonardo has completed series of successful test flights of its Falco EVO Remotely-Piloted Air System (RPAS) in Bulgaria. The flight campaign was to validate a package of upgrades that extends the endurance and operational range of the platform for overland and maritime missions.
Leonardo, as a member of the NATO Modelling and Simulation Group (MSG-136) has been awarded the NATO Science and Technology Organization's (STO) Scientific Achievement Award for its contributions to the development of a new promising approach to Modelling & Simulation and Training
Leonardo is attending Euronaval (Paris Le Bourget, 23-26 October; Hall 2, stand K128) showcasing its newly enhanced capabilities and technologies in the maritime domain, an increasingly important strategic market and an interconnecting domain featuring huge geopolitical, commercial and economic interests, where naval forces play a major role in making the sea a safer place.
Leonardo and Thales have announced that their end-to-end missile warning and protection system has been proven highly effective in live-fire scenarios, demonstrating the system's ability to very quickly defend against incoming missiles. The integrated system was demonstrated as part of the SALT (Surface-to-Air Launch Trial) hosted by the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) in Sweden.
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(WECT) - Varicose veins can lead to health problems if not treated.
They are caused by faulty valves and weakened walls within the veins. When the valves fail to function properly, pressure builds up and the veins become enlarged and twisted.
For Myrtle Plybon, the varicose veins on her leg will soon be gone just in time for her favorite hobby.
"I do a lot of outdoor work," said Plybon. "I am a garden person and so that is the main reason I am trying to have something done to help me."
A radio-frequency closure procedure closes the veins, causing a bulge that is expected to provide relief.
"They found a way to do the closure part of it quicker than the technology we were using three years ago," said surgeon Dr. Robert Ripley.
A new catheter is threaded through the vein and cuts the procedure time by a half hour.
"This is a lot more complicated than I thought it would be," said Plybon.
But Dr. Ripley says the procedure is worth it because varicose veins can lead to health problems if not treated.
"Well in kind of a minor form, there's symptoms like heaviness in the legs, that would typically come on as your arms and legs longer during the day, you can get swelling around the ankles," said Dr. Ripley.
The closure procedure takes 45 minutes, and Plybon said she'll be back to close the veins in her other leg if the results are as good as she expects.
Patients should notice a difference in the heaviness and aching feeling in the legs within about a week of the procedure, but it takes about 4-6 weeks to notice a change in appearance.
Health insurance will often cover this type of procedure.


Samsung is set to drop its game-changing Galaxy Ring in late July, and it’s not just your average wearable. Unveiled unexpectedly during the Galaxy S24 series launch, this sleek ring promises to redefine health tracking and convenience.
- Official Specs of Samsung Galaxy S24, S24 Plus, and S24 Ultra
- Galaxy S24, S24 Plus, S24 Ultra Prices in the Philippines
Scheduled to share the spotlight with the Galaxy Z Fold6 and Galaxy Z Flip6 at the same event, the Galaxy Ring boasts futuristic features like blood flow measurement, an electrocardiogram, smart home control, and contactless payments.
What sets the Galaxy Ring apart? Well, for starters, it comes in eight different sizes, ensuring a snug fit for everyone. Currently in the prototype stage, mass production kicks off in the second quarter. Samsung is banking on the ring’s comfort and long-wearability to shake up the healthcare wearables scene.
So, are you ready to trade your smartwatch for a smart ring?


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JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU-TV) — A home is destroyed after an early morning fire in Lackawanna County.
Crews responded to Cortez Road in Jefferson Township just after 2:00 a.m. Tuesday. When they arrived, they say the home was fully engulfed in flames.
Officials tell Eyewitness News that it appears the fire started in the back of the home. All three residents made it out safely, but the home is considered a loss.
A state police fire marshal investigating the cause of the blaze says they believe the fire started from a heat lamp in a chicken coop on the back porch.


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Michael Latt is an award winning strategist, producer and founder of Lead With Love who has developed and led nationwide campaigns, impact initiatives and creative projects alongside influential artists, brands and organizations like Common, Ryan Coogler, Netflix, Emerson Collective, Sundance Film Festival, DGA, Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY, Frieze, UCLA, Barry Jenkins and more. His purpose-driven and innovative work has been recognized by press and institutions like his alma mater Chapman University where he was awarded Chapman’s annual Distinguished Alumni Award. Aligning his purpose and passion, Michael continues to dedicate his career to being of service, supporting influential women and artists of color and utilizing storytelling, art and more to spark lasting change and bring hope, love and inspiration to communities.
Michael Latt and Lead With Love have worked on an array of events, initiatives and campaigns including MLK Now, A Celebration of Art, Love + Radical Imagination, #JusticeForFlint, Sundance Film Festival, #MalcolmX Day, The Hope & Redemption Prison Tour, Blackout Black Friday, Just Mercy Now, Directors Guild Of America Awards, Pass The Baton, #WeMatterToo, Vote To Live and more. Topline details of case studies and examples for past projects that Michael Latt and Lead With Love have produced, led and/or supported in recent years are featured HERE. The curated list of books listed HERE were selected by Lead With Love Founder Michael Latt as some of the most influential and inspiring titles he's read to date that have shaped his view of the world and helped him on his journey of healing and growth.


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In Callum and Sephy’s society, Noughts, the white citizens, are ruled by Crosses, the black citizens. Callum, a Nought, and Sephy, a Cross, who have been friends since childhood, soon learn that Noughts and Crosses simply don’t mix when Callum goes to a mainly Crosses school for the first time. As they get closer, they find it harder and harder to be together. Then, everything changes when the bomb goes off…
This is the most thought-provoking book I’ve read in a while — it touches on some tough topics like terrorism and racism. The book is written from the points of view of Callum and Sephy, alternating between the two. This worked really well, especially as the story is told over a number of years. While the pair’s feelings and emotions changed as time went by, the writing style didn’t change as they matured.
However, Callum and Sephy are two very different characters which made it an interesting read. I really enjoyed this book, and I am looking forward to reading her latest book, Chasing the Stars, especially as I saw her at the Hay Festival earlier this month.
One thought on “Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman – Book Review”

domain: library


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Brendan Gleeson, Sam Elliott & 11 Year-Old ‘America’s Got Talent’ Finalist Jackie Evancho Round Out Cast
The way it probably works with Robert Redford is that he calls you up, says he wants you for his movie and then you just ask when and where to show up. Quickly following up his musty Abe Lincoln assassination legal drama “The Conspirator,” Redford is going behind the camera for the thriller “The Company You Keep.” It will also mark his first onscreen appearance since 2007’s “Lions For Lambs,” and yes, this one has a political backbone to it as well.
Penned by the excellent Lem Dobbs (”Kafka,” “The Limey,” “Haywire”) the story follows a former Weather Underground militant Jim Grant (Redford, naturally) wanted by the FBI for 30 years for a Bank Of Michigan robbery, who must go on the run when his true identity is exposed by a young, ambitious reporter hell-bent on making a name for himself (Shia LaBeouf, surprisingly). The cast thus far has mostly been stacked with older faces like Nick Nolte, Susan Sarandon, Julie Christie, Richard Jenkins, Stephen Root, Stanley Tucci and Chris Cooper with rising star Brit Marling along for the ride as well, but with filming now underway, the final pieces of the casting puzzle have been put into place.
In what is a pretty random mix of folks, Variety reports that Anna Kendrick, Terrence Howard, Brendan Gleeson, Sam Elliott and 11-year-old “America’s Got Talent” finalist Jackie Evancho will round out the credits. Either Evancho has a good agent, or Redford watches “America’s Got Talent.”
Anyway, Kendrick will play an FBI agent who dishes intel to her ex-lover played by LaBeouf, while Howard is also a fed who has been tracking Grant across the country and is eager to bring him down. Gleeson plays retired Michigan Chief of Police Henry Osborne who first investigated the robbery back in the day. Apparently Christie works in “the marijuana trade” under Elliot who she used to have a relationship with as well, while newbie Evancho is Redford’s daughter, who isn’t aware of his past.
This flick in now in front of cameras up in Vancouver, so you might as well pencil everybody in for a TIFF or Venice premiere next fall. It has a been a long time since Redford truly delivered something of note from the director’s seat (that would be 1994’s great “Quiz Show“) but we hope that Dobbs’ script brings the life sorely missing in the Sundance Kid’s work of late. Redford’s project is certainly not lacking in talent, but the same was also true of the turgid “The Conspirator.” Maybe this time around the mix of ingredients will cook up into something special.


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HMV administrators Deloitte to close up to 100 stores - report
HMV's administrator Deloitte is said to be closing 100 UK stores amid a phase of restructuring the business. If true, the move would result in the loss of some 1,500 jobs.
The Telegraph reports that brand - which has served as a retailer of music, films and games for many years - may lose between 60-100 stores amid restructuring efforts carried out by administrators Deloitte.
The claim comes from a source close to the administrators, and added that both Hilco and Deloitte - the companies that bought a portion of HMV's debt - plan to keep some 120-160 HMV stores open for the time being.
It comes as administrators axed 190 jobs at HMV's head office last week, a move that sparked a Twitter revolt and saw disgruntled ex-employees live-tweeting updates of the sacking via a hijacked HMV feed.
The source adds that one of HMV's flagship London stores will close, although they could not confirm is this would be the Oxford Street or Piccadilly Circus site.
We'll have more as it happens.

domain: economics


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HIS NAME is not a household word, but Norman Augustine is one of those rare Washington power brokers for whom a Cabinet-level position would be a demotion. Augustine is the chief executive officer of Lockheed Martin Corp., the world's largest defense conglomerate, and a key player in the network of quasi-official military-industrial interest groups. He will probably have as much to say about how much money the United States spends on weapons through the end of this decade as any secretary of defense.
Consider Augustine's domain: Lockheed Martin has 50 percent more Pentagon contracts than its closest rival. In an unprecedented government contracting trifecta, the Bethesda-based firm is now the number one contractor for the Pentagon, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Energy Department. And the company has the largest political action committee of any weapons manufacturer.
On the softer side of his resume, Augustine is president of the Boy Scouts of America and chairman of the board of the American Red Cross. The Red Cross's executive director is would-be first lady Elizabeth Dole. She is on leave to campaign for her husband but has said she will return to the job if he is elected president.
While long a leading figure in the defense industry, Augustine has come into his own as an unofficial policymaker in the Clinton years. In recent years, he has secured the creation of two new arms-export subsidy programs: a government-backed, $15 billion arms export loan guarantee fund and a $200-million-a-year tax break for foreign arms purchasers. And the Republican-controlled Congress has approved substantial funding increases in programs of direct interest to Augustine's company, including the new F-22 stealth fighter plane and the "Star Wars" strategic missile defense program.
He was also instrumental in securing a new Pentagon policy in 1993 that for the first time authorized spending taxpayer funds to implement major defense industry mergers. When Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) offered an amendment earlier this month to freeze Pentagon payments for these "restructuring" costs, Lockheed Martin lobbyists prevailed upon the Senate to table it.
Augustine's power extends far beyond his CEO position. Since 1987, Augustine has served as chairman of the Defense Policy Advisory Committee on Trade, which provides confidential guidance to the secretary of defense on arms export policies. He is also chairman of the Defense Science Board, a Pentagon advisory panel that has the power to approve or reject multibillion-dollar weapons projects. In addition, Augustine is president of the Association of the United States Army, a politically potent interest group made up of retired Army personnel and major Army contractors. An engineer by training and a policy wonk by inclination, he is conversant with all of the major technical and policy issues affecting Lockheed Martin, and he feels perfectly comfortable making the case for the company's priorities himself.
By his own account, Augustine fell into the defense business by accident and would have been just as happy pursuing his original career goal as a forest ranger. He grew up in Denver and attended Princeton in the mid-1950s, majoring in geological engineering. But after being "shocked" by the Soviet Union's successful launch of the Sputnik satellite, he took a job with the Douglas Aircraft Co. (the predecessor of McDonnell Douglas). He has been in the aerospace field ever since.
Over the next three decades Augustine spun through the revolving door from industry to government and back again. From 1965 to 1970, he served as assistant secretary of defense for research and engineering. He then moved over to the private sector as vice president for advanced programs at LTV Missiles and Space. After three years he returned to government as assistant secretary and then undersecretary of the Army in the Nixon and Ford administrations. In 1977 he joined Martin Marietta. Within a decade, he was chairman and CEO.
The heady -- and lucrative -- days of the Reagan military buildup were over. Augustine had to decide whether to keep the firm in the defense sector and fight over a shrinking pie or sell off the company's defense assets and seek out new commercial markets. It was not a close call. Augustine chose not merely to compete in the defense sector but to dominate it. His strategy has been to buy up parts of other defense firms.
"I want to build a super company," he said in a 1994 interview. In March 1995, he and Daniel Tellep, the CEO of Lockheed, agreed to merge, forming Lockheed Martin Corp. With $23 billion in revenues last year, the new corporation dwarfs its competition. And it's getting bigger: In January, Augustine arranged to buy Loral Corp., a deal worth $9.1 billion.
Augustine was among the first to propose that the public should pay for the restructuring of the defense industry. He and three other top defense executives proposed the idea in a June 1993 letter to William Perry, then the deputy secretary of defense. (Besides Augustine the other signers were Tellep of Lockheed, C. Michael Armstrong of GM-Hughes and Bernard Schwartz of Loral.)
The next month, Undersecretary of Defense John Deutch sent a one-page memo to the Pentagon's Defense Contract Management Command adopting the suggestion. Deutch's decision overruled the Pentagon's auditors, who had questioned the merger subsidies. His directive made contractors eligible for federal money to close plants, relocate equipment, pay severance to laid-off workers and pay bonuses to affected executives and board members. "Restructuring costs are the price that we must pay today to realize cost savings tomorrow," the Pentagon has said.
Lockheed Martin then sought reimbursement for $330 million in connection with its acquisitions of General Dynamics' space division and General Electric's defense unit. As of last October, at least $38.5 million had been paid out by the Pentagon.
Augustine defends the arrangement as beneficial to the government, saying Lockheed Martin is being "very generous."
"When you merge, you pay the costs of consolidation and you take all the profits -- I'd take that deal in a minute," he explained in a recent interview. "But the government wanted us to pay the costs and take all the profits themselves in the form of reduced prices" on the systems that it buys from Lockheed Martin. "That was a non-starter."
Instead, Augustine says, "we have in every one of our plants government auditors who watch every nickel of our costs," so they can assess savings that he says are "very measurable." He cites closing a headquarters building and having one CEO instead of two as examples of how mergers result in savings.
"The government is never out of pocket on this; it puts in zero money," he said. The Pentagon's $38.5 million payment, in Augustine's view, does not come out of the government's pocket. It is simply the government repaying Lockheed Martin for officially certified -- though still-unspecified -- savings already reaped by the Pentagon.
Behind these complex accounting procedures is a network of old business associates. In July 1994 Newsday reporter Patrick Sloyan raised questions about the past business relationships among Perry, Deutch and Augustine. Sloyan reported that Perry's firm, Technology Strategies & Alliances, had a contract with Martin Marietta through 1992; Deutch, he noted, had been a consultant to Augustine's firm for nine years, collecting a total of $42,500.
The Pentagon's office for government ethics previously had issued a ruling prohibiting Deutch and Perry from dealing with issues relating to Martin Marietta for at least a year. This ethical lapse was officially excused. According to the Pentagon, then-secretary of defense Les Aspin "made written determinations for both Dr. Perry and Mr. Deutch that the interest of the government outweighed the concern that a reasonable person would question their impartiality."
In September 1994 the House Armed Services Committee took a look at the issue of reimbursing major defense contractors for "restructuring costs" associated with industry mergers. Lawrence Korb, a top Pentagon official in the Reagan administration now at the Brookings Institution, testified that "taxpayer subsidization is not necessary to promote acquisitions and mergers." Augustine also testified, stating that the long-term savings to the Pentagon from encouraging mergers "could be in the tens of billions of dollars in the next five years alone."
Lockheed and Martin Marietta merged three months later. The combined company immediately indicated that it might apply for up to $1.8 billion to cover plant closings, relocation of equipment, executive bonuses, severance packages and other costs involved in combining the two companies. Augustine stood to earn a merger-related windfall of $8.2 million in performance incentives, stock options and deferred compensation. He agreed to donate $2.9 million -- the portion eligible for federal reimbursement -- to a charitable foundation to "avoid the appearance of personal enrichment," according to Lockheed Martin spokesperson Chip Manor.
While Harkin's amendment to freeze the merger reimbursement program failed, an unusual left-right coalition has emerged in the House with the same goal. In June, Rep. Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.), the only socialist in Congress, denounced what he calls "payoffs for layoffs" and joined forces with conservative Republican Christopher Smith (N.J.) to win unanimous support for an amendment that would ban Pentagon reimbursements for merger-related costs.
The company already has received a favorable ruling from the Defense Contract Audit Agency that will allow them to charge at least half of the original $31 million in taxpayer funding they sought for executive bonuses to federal contracts in effect prior to 1996. If the Sanders-Smith legislation does eventually pass, Lockheed Martin officials are prepared to argue that the firm should be exempted because the merger of Lockheed and Martin Marietta was completed before the legislation passed.
Augustine also has been a central figure in the defense industry's effort to get the U.S. government to provide additional taxpayer support for arms exports. With fighter planes costing between $25 million and $50 million and potential foreign clients facing major budgetary crises, the number of cash-paying foreign weapons customers has been shrinking. New subsidies for arms exports have been on the industry's agenda since 1988, when the Defense Policy Advisory Committee on Trade (DPACT) recommended them to the incoming Bush administration. DPACT's chairman, then and now, is Norman Augustine.
The Bush administration rejected the idea, but Augustine found the Clinton administration more receptive. When Les Aspin took the helm as President Clinton's first secretary of defense in February 1993, the Aerospace Industries Association sent him a letter promoting the idea of "a financing facility for defense exports" beginning with "an initial program of $5 billion in guarantees for arms sales loans." Augustine followed up with personal letters to the members of the House Armed Services Committee, urging them to dip into the funds that had been set aside for helping defense firms convert to civilian production to fund arms export subsidies instead. At the same time, Lockheed Martin's constituent companies, Lockheed and Martin Marietta, were doling out $1.1 million to congressional candidates.
Augustine's campaign finally succeeded when the Republicans gained a majority in the House of Representatives in November 1994. In 1995, the new Congress approved a government-backed, $15 billion arms export loan-guarantee fund and a $200-million-a-year tax break for foreign arms purchasers. Clinton signed the measures last December.
The result will be the sale of more U.S. weaponry overseas, with a greater proportion of those sales subsidized by U.S. taxpayers. The irony is that Lockheed Martin will then turn around and point to these foreign sales as a reason for the Pentagon to buy more advanced weaponry for U.S. forces.
A brochure for Lockheed Martin's new F-22 stealth fighter plane, subtitled "Peace Through Conventional Deterrence," does just that: The pamphlet displays a map of the world showing the countries that now possess top-of-the-line fighters. Of the 48 countries listed, 24 of them received their advanced fighters, including more than 1,300 Lockheed F-16s, from the United States.
Lockheed Martin's solution for the perils of arms proliferation: Buy more planes from Lockheed Martin. Augustine is a formidable opponent of post-Cold War proposals to cut defense spending. He argues that past efforts to convert defense contractors to civilian work have a record "unblemished by success" because "it has proven very difficult to produce pigs by running the sausage machine backward." In his 1990 book "The Defense Revolution" (co-authored with Kenneth Adelman), Augustine advocated increased spending for a potent array of new weapons, from B-2 bombers to strategic missile defenses to "smart" munitions. In a speech last December, he referred to the defense industrial base as "the fifth armed force" and argued for stepped-up spending on weapons modernization to maintain a "dominant military force."
The issue raised by Augustine is ultimately one of power, not personality. He is a talented executive, and his company has brought together an impressive group of skilled people to build some of the most sophisticated high-tech products of the modern era. But as fewer weapons manufacturers wield more and more political and market power, the executive branch and Congress have to make sure that companies such as Lockheed Martin are not also allowed to subsidize themselves. So far, in his winning battles to get everything from federal subsidies for defense mergers to taxpayer-backed loans to sell weapons overseas, Norman Augustine has been shaping the rules to his advantage, with far too little government oversight. William Hartung, a senior fellow at the World Policy Institute at the New School for Social Research in New York, is the author of "And Weapons for All" (HarperCollins). This article has been adapted from a longer piece that appeared in the summer 1996 issue of the World Policy Journal.

domain: politics


Guest Contributor | Jan 17, 2023 | 0
International energy conference slated for next year
The Namibia International Energy Conference (NIEC) will take place from 25 to 27 April 2023 under the theme, ‘Shaping the future of energy towards value creation’, a statement released on Wednesday said.
The energy industry thought leadership gathering takes place as the nation embarks on the road to becoming an oil-producing economy and positioning itself as a renewable energy hub and will feature a ministerial panel comprising energy ministers from six countries.
NIEC convener and Managing Director of RichAfrica Consultancy, Ndapwilapo Selma Shimutwikeni, in a statement, said the move to make the NIEC annual is timely, with the progress in developments in Namibia’s energy sector fast taking shape.
“Namibia is now on the precipice of realizing the potentially transformative economic value of the energy developments and discoveries in the country. We must keep the momentum on energy and related infrastructure conversations with all the role players front and center of our evolving energy landscape,” she said.
According to Shimutwikeni pre-conference workshops will also take place in anticipation of the conference’s plenary discussions and presentations.
Namibia is already entering the fold of African oil-producing countries with its recent membership of the African Petroleum Producers Organisation.
The southwestern African nation also joined 18 other African oil-producing countries at the Council of Ministers Ordinary Session in Luanda, Angola, earlier this month and it is anticipated that once Namibia begins oil production, it will join OPEC.
Meanwhile, the government has been focusing efforts on achieving large-scale and low-cost renewable energy development and local development in renewable energy investments and green ammonia production, with the country’s world-class wind and solar resources giving it a long-term competitive advantage in producing green hydrogen.
Under the Patronage of Namibia’s Ministry of Mines and Energy, the NIEC 2023 is convened in strategic partnership with the Africa Energy Chamber, with the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia as the national sponsor.


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via Revise Gender Commission Bill: ZLHR – NewsDay Zimbabwe 9 October 2014 by Veneranda Langa
THE Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) has expressed disappointment with the gazetted draft Zimbabwe Gender Commission Bill, saying it needed revision before going through the stages of Bills in Parliament before being enacted into law.
In their analysis of the Bill, the advocacy group said the draft Bill fell short of universal human rights standards (Paris principles) because of serious gaps.
“It is essential that the Zimbabwe Gender Commission Bill fully complies and is in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution in every respect. But regrettably, in several important respects this is not the case with the Zimbabwe Gender Commission Bill; it in fact falls far short of the standards set in the constitution,” ZLHR said.
“Unless the Zimbabwe Gender Commission Bill is extensively revised and improved before it is enacted into law, the commission will receive little, if any United Nations recognition.”
ZLHR said failure to get UN recognition would also make it extremely difficult for the commission to attract suitable financial and moral support to make it fully operational and effective.
Some of the Paris principles expected to be followed included independence guaranteed by the state or constitution, autonomy from government, pluralism, including in its membership, a broad mandate based on universal human rights standards, adequate powers of investigation, and adequate resources.
“The Zimbabwe Gender Commission should be protected from challenges that continue to affect the performance of other constitutional commissions, including lack of independence, lack of adequate resources, skewed accountability mechanisms, a weak mandate and lack of public support and confidence in their effectiveness,” the lawyer grouping said.
Some of the clauses they said needed panel beating included section 3 (1) of the draft Bill which stipulated the Minister of Gender and Women’s affairs would re-appoint commissioners for more than one term, which they said was unconstitutional.
“The Constitution (section 237) makes no provision for such extension and therefore the section is ultra vires the constitution,” the ZLHR said.
Section 16 of the ZGC Bill which states that the Minister can give policy direction to the commission in relation to issues of national interest was also said to be unconstitutional.
“The Bill in paragraph 4 of the first schedule provides that commissioners are permitted to resign by giving notice to the minister. The Constitution provides that commissioners are independent and there is therefore no basis for them to resign to the minister,” they said.

domain: law


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由澳大利亚阿德雷德大学刘华健博士为英文期刊“AgriEngineering”组织的主题专刊"Remote Sensing Applications for Pest Detection in Agriculture"正在征稿中，欢迎研究遥感技术检测害虫和杂草的朋友投稿，详细内容见下文。
Special Issue Editor
The Plant Accelerator, Australian Plant Phenomics Facility, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, University of Adelaide, 5005 Adelaide, Australia
Interests: hyperspectral- and 3D-based plant phenotyping; computer vision; machine learning and deep learning in agriculture applications; optical sensing system design; pest detection
Special Issue Information
Pests, including weeds and invertebrate pests, are the major source of crop yield loss worldwide. Weeds compete with crops for nutrients and water. Invertebrate pests, such as locusts, aphids and snails, consume corps and spread disease. Effective control of pest is critical for maximising crop yields and meeting quality standards at harvest. However, currently, the agricultural industry is highly reliant on “broad-spectrum” pesticides to control pests. As a result, the overuse of pesticides has resulted in pests developing resistance to pesticides. It also pollutes our environment and threatens food safety. In precision agriculture, if the location, time, species and populations of pests in the fields were available, instead of heavily relying upon pesticide, site specific weed management (SSWM) or integrated pest management (IPM) would use the optimized combination of mechanical, chemical, biological and genetic tools to control pests. Therefore, pest detection is a prerequisite of SSWM and IPM.
This Special Issue aims to provide researchers with a platform to share the state-of-art remote sensing applications for pest detection in agriculture. With this special issue, we invite you to share your high-quality research results and put new insights into pest detection technologies. Original research papers or review papers are welcome. Contributions are expected to deal with, but are not limited to the following areas:
- Sensors and Instrumentation
- Hyperspectral or multispectral sensing
- Machine vision or computer vision
- Artificial intelligence
- Satellite imaging
- Unmanned aerial vehicle applications
- Ground-base platform
- Greenhouse applications
Dr. Huajian Liu
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authorspage. AgriEngineering is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
invertebrate pest detection
site specific weed management
integrated pest management
This special issue is now open for submission.
A special issue of AgriEngineering (ISSN 2624-7402).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 March 2022.

domain: biology


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Interesting bit from Asymco on how Android penetration as a percentage of US smartphones seems to have peaked. On a net basis, the small remaining market share has been slowly going toward Apple, although aggregate smartphone use continues to increase:
- US Jobless Claims increased to 333k last week vs 335k exp and 328k prev
- China Trade Balance declined to 17.8bn vs 26.9 exp. Both Exports and Imports increased more than expected, but the imports growth jumped to 10.9% YoY vs 1.0% exp and -0.7% prev.
- Australia Employment dropped -10.2K vs +5k exp and +10.3k prev. The Unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.7% vs 5.8% exp as a result of a surprising drop in the participation rate to 65.1% vs 65.3% exp and prev.
- Japan Eco Watchers Outlook Survey was stable at 53.6 vs 54.1 exp
- “What might be surprising is that even after cutting the amount of mortgage securities it purchases, the Fed could still find itself buying a greater proportion of those that come on the market each month”. “The Fed may in fact still be adding extra stimulus even as it looks and sounds as if it is doing the opposite”. MBS issuance could fall by $35-50B per month meaning the Fed’s MBS purchases will fall “less quickly than the market is shrinking”. FT
- Thu: JapanMoney Supply, China CPI
- Fri: China IP, Retail Sales, Canada Employment
- Mon: Japan 2Q GDP, US WASDE reports, US RICS House Price Balance, Japan Machine Orders, Australia NAB Business Confidence
- Tue: UK Inflation, German Zew, US Retail Sales, Australia Consumer Confidence

domain: finance


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Some publications save up their awards for special once a year blowout packages—but not us! We’re giving out awards whenever we want to, in whatever categories we want to.
Maybe you’re just sampling one tap room’s beer selection. Maybe you’re bouncing from tap room to tap room and sampling several different selections of beer. Either way, you should get some food in you. And if you happen to be at a tap room where the new Bark and the Bite BBQ food truck is parked (likely Fair State Brewing or Bauhaus Brewing), you have to get some of their Honey Spiced Hush Puppies. They little pieces of deep fried deliciousness go perfectly with a variety of beer and they’re sticky fried corn meal, which will help soak up some of the alcohol. The only thing that would make them better would be spicy BBQ sauce, which B&B has plenty of. And to make things even better, the half dozen times we’ve ordered from this truck, the two dudes running the truck—Chef Noah and Chris—have been enthusiastic, good natured, and patient when we maybe had too much to drink. (Be sure to see our pick for best non-truck tap room snack, too.)

domain: food


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AMERICAN SHRIMP PROCESSORS ASSOCIATION CONDEMNS SENATE VOTE FAVORING FOREIGN SEAFOOD IMPORTS OVER CONSUMER SAFETY
BILOXI, MS (May 25, 2016). The United States Senate voted 55-43 today in support of Senate Resolution 28, which provides Congressional disapproval of a health and safety rule aimed to ensure the safety of American consumers. The Resolution seeks to prevent the Department of Agriculture (USDA) from continued implementation of a robust catfish inspection program that ensures imported catfish entering the US complies with all US food and safety rules, including rules outlawing the use of carcinogenic chemicals.
The American Shrimp Processors Association (ASPA) has closely watched the rulemaking that transfers catfish inspection from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to USDA. Like catfish before the transfer to USDA, domestic and imported shrimp is subject to FDA inspection. FDA does not have adequate resources to provide vigorous inspection of imported seafood. In fact, FDA currently inspects only 1-2% of imported seafood. FDA’s low inspection rates and widespread use of illegal chemicals in foreign raised seafood provided the impetus to move catfish inspection to USDA.
Senators opposing the USDA health and safety regime cite the increased cost of compliance by importers of foreign catfish as the main reason for their opposition. Opponents of the USDA program apparently reject evidence showing that shifting the program to USDA would actually prevent cancers in the American public. ASPA Executive Director Dr. David Veal expressed serious reservations about today’s vote. “I can’t understand how a US Senator can vote to support the special interests of the catfish importing community over the health and safety of the American people. USDA estimates the cost of the catfish inspection program at approximately $1.1 million per year. That is a drop in the bucket, and worth every cent if it prevents even one single cancer. The Senators voting for this resolution have placed the economic interests of the catfish import community above the health and safety of the American consumer.” The vote is even more confounding in light of USDA reports over the last two weeks that it rejected several shipments of imported catfish due to the presence of illegal drugs.
ASPA thanks all of the Senators who opposed the resolution, especially Gulf Coast Senators Cochran and Wicker (MS), Vitter and Cassidy (LA), and Sessions and Shelby (AL). ASPA counsel Edward Hayes urged the Gulf Coast delegation to continue fighting for the safety of our food supply. “The domestic shrimp industry stands with these Senators who measure the health and safety of American citizens above special interest dollars and cents. This resolution further empowers the domestic seafood industry to ensure that the economic interests of the importing community are not placed ahead of American health and safety.” ASPA urges anyone who cares about the safety of our food supply to contact their local congressional office to oppose this action in the House of Representatives.


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Located in the lovely area of South Thonburi, The Choice Residence enjoys a commanding position in the restaurants, shopping, sightseeing hub of Bangkok. The hotel lies 9.5 km from the city center and provides accessibility to important town facilities. This property is 7.4 km from China town, 7.4 km from Sampeng and 9 km to King Mongkut University of Technology Thonburi. Suvarnabhumi International Airport is located 30 km away.
The Choice Residence also offers many facilities to enrich your stay in Bangkok. For the comfort and convenience of guests, the hotel offers free Wi-Fi in all rooms, taxi service, luggage storage, Wi-Fi in public areas, car park.
Moreover, the ambiance of The Choice Residence is reflected in every guestroom. television LCD/plasma screen, internet access – wireless, internet access – wireless (complimentary), non smoking rooms, air conditioning are just some of the facilities that can be found throughout the property. The hotel offers an excellent variety of recreational facilities, including garden. Whatever your reason for visiting Bangkok, the The Choice Residence is the perfect venue for an exhilarating and exciting break away.

domain: travel