Environmental Inspection Section
The Department of Neighborhood Services (DNS) Environmental Section deals with situations related to the use of land or a building that may impact the health of neighbors and the community. They deal with inspectional services from asbestos removal to zoologicals in pool water. Among the primary services they deal with are asbestos removal, noise & light pollution, masonary sand blasting, hotel & motel sanitary inspections and swimming pool inspections.Specific information relative to the following programs can be obtained by calling 286-3280. If you want to make a service request or a complaint, call the DNS Complaint Intake line at (414) 286-2268. A Department of Neighborhood Services Employee will take the information and keep the complainants name confidential. Here is a summary of what the Environmental Section handles and what is needed to make a proper complaint. The direct number is listed where possible.
For all complaints, please include the name, address, and phone number of the complainant along with a description of the violation and address of the location where the violation is occurring.


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Behavior and Cognition
The focus of this study program is on the foundations and the evolution of nonhuman and human primate behavior. Research projects are undertaken in the fields of psychology, anthropology and evolutionary biology, with an emphasis on comparative approaches. Core areas are the evolution of social behavior, group behavior and group coordination, developmental psychology, as well as the cognitive and physiological foundations of behavior. The program is run by the Faculty of Biology and Psychology of the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen and the German Primate Center. Interdisciplinary collaboration and exchange are an important element of this study program.
Doctoral students are affiliated with one (or sometimes two) of the research groups of this program. Each project is supervised by a three-member thesis committee. A regular research colloquium provides a platform for progress reports and discussions. Participation in scientific meetings and workshops is encouraged. In addition to the core research, a moderate amount of course work and teaching is required (total number of credits: 20).
To be accepted into BeCog, students must provide a letter confirming supervision, signed by a scientific member of BeCog. Thus, students interested in this program should contact in time the heads of the labs affiliated with this program to check for open positions and funding possibilities. Unfortunately, BeCog cannot provide funding or scholarships
Degree: Dr. rer.nat. or Ph.D.
Regular duration: three years
Application Deadline: January 31st for the following summer term, July 31st for the following winter term
Selection criteria: good Master degree in a relevant subject, proficiency in English, confirmation of supervision
Funding: no funding provided by BeCog

domain: biology


MEET ANDREAS WALTHER
MEET THE TEAM
This page lists most of our publications starting from 2014.
Total: ca. 150 Publications
Please refer to Google Scholar for a complete list.
Building block design
controlled radical polymerization
materials meet life
April 15, 2020
Jie Deng, Dominik Bezold, Henning Jessen, Andreas Walther
Read the full article here: Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. DOI:10.1002/anie.202003102 (2020).
Fuel‐driven self‐assemblies are gaining ground for creating autonomous systems and materials, whose temporal behavior is preprogrammed by a reaction network. However, up to now there is...
Jie Deng, Andreas Walther
Read the full article here: J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 142, 2, 685
We introduce pathway complexity on a multicomponent systems level in chemically fueled transient DNA polymerization systems, achieving autonomous evolution over multiple structural dynamic steady states fro...
November 28, 2019
Read the full articles here:
Adv. Mater. DOI:10.1002/adma.201905111 (2019)
Soft matter systems and materials are moving toward adaptive and interactive behavior, which holds outstanding promise to make the next generation of intelligent soft materials systems inspi...
March 27, 2019
Maximilian Hörner, Katrin Raute, Barbara Hummel, Josef Madl, Guido Creusen, Oliver S. Thomas, Erik H. Christen, Natascha Hotz, Raphael J. Gübeli, Raphael Engesser, Balder Rebmann, Jasmin Lauer, Bernd Rolauffs, Jens Timmer, Wolfgang W. A. Schamel, Jan Pruszak, Winfried Römer, Matias D. Zurbriggen, Christian Friedrich, Andreas Walther, Susana Minguet, Ritwick Sawarkar, Wilfried Weber
Read the full article here: Advanced Materials, 2019, DOI:10.1002/adma.201806727
Interrogation and control of cellular fate and function using optogenetics is providing revolutionary insights into biology. Optogenetic control of cells is achieved by coupling geneticall...
April 2020 (9)
November 2019 (3)
September 2019 (2)


text:
LNu9 was our first upgrade in potency to our flagship formula LNu1.
It can be used as a powerful all-in-one daily supplement or as part of your rebuilding program.
Non-Alcoholic Liquid for a nutrient-rich, quick-absorbing product.
- Vegan Friendly
- Quality Tested
- No GMO, Wheat, Corn or Soy Ingredients
- Diabetic Safe (Any sweetness is due to vegetable glycerin, which doesn’t affect blood sugar)
Contains no sugar, salt, starch, yeast, wheat, gluten, corn, soy, milk, egg, shellfish, or preservatives.
Serving Size: 1 tablespoon (14.79 mL)
Amount Per Serving %DV
Vitamin C 193mg 150%
Thiamin B1 4.3 mg 251%
Riboflavin B2 4.0 mg 248%
Pantothenic Acid B5 17 mg 252%
(as d-Calcium Pantothenate)
Vitamin B6 6 mg 248%
(as Pyridoxine HCL)
Niacin B3 43 mg 188%
Folic Acid 240 mcg 50%
Biotin (as d-Biotin) 21 mcg 49%
Vitamin B12 8.6 mcg 251%
Proprietary Blend 191 mg †
Alfalfa Leaf Powder
Pau d’Arco Bark Powder
Barley Grass Powder
Garlic Bulb Powder
Hawthorn Berry Powder
†Daily Value not established
Other Ingredients: Natural Vegetable Glycerin
8 FL OZ (236 mL) blue cobalt plastic bottle
16 FL OZ (473 mL) blue cobalt plastic bottle
8 FL OZ (236 mL) violet glass bottle
16 FL OZ (473 mL) violet glass bottle
You'll notice the price increases with the Violet glass options due to the increased weight, related shipping costs, and the process of hand filling these bottles separately from the rest of the batch.
- Liquid is the ideal delivery method to get the best results from a dietary supplement.
- The vegetable glycerin keeps the enzymes in our raw ingredients alive.
- Liquid is easier for children and those with weaker digestive systems to absorb
Manufactured in the U.S.A. with ingredients sourced from around the world.
Store in a cool, dry place. Please recycle.
This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

domain: health


text:
Rhodes island, a beautiful piece of land, that emerged from the crystal waters of the Aegean. It was given as a gift from Zeus to god Helios (sun), who used it as a residence of him and his beloved wife, the Nymph "Rhodes".
"Panorama Gennadi Guest House & Bistrot", welcomes you to the picturesque Gennadi village. Here you can enjoy our upgraded services in a cozy and artistic, yet traditional and family orientated environment. The management and the staff of the "Panorama Gennadi" will do our best in order to offer you a memorable vacation.

domain: artistic


text:
(Bloomberg) — In her two-bedroom apartment on the outskirts of Chinese tech hub Shenzhen, Wang woke to a deluge of messages. One read: “SPC5744PFK1AMLQ9, 300 pc, 21+. Any need?”
Most Read from Bloomberg
Within minutes, the 32-year-old was at her computer in the living room, hurriedly clearing away empty packets of instant noodles and pulling up a spreadsheet. The code referred to a chip produced by NXP Semiconductors Inc. and used in a car’s microcontroller unit. The sender of the message was trying to find a taker for the 300, made no earlier than 2021, that had come into his possession.
Neither Wang, nor any of her six-member team, are legitimate chip dealers. Freelance brokers like her used to be bit players in China’s semiconductor market, but they became increasingly important in late 2020 when a worldwide shortage of chips began to disrupt supplies of everything from smartphones to vehicles. Now, they’ve formed a massive gray market — an opaque forum populated by hundreds of middlemen and riddled with second-hand or out-of-date chips where the cost of acquiring just one can run to 500 times its original price. The situation is most acute with chips destined for cars, which are becoming more like computers on wheels as the industry is revolutionized. The US’s recent chip technology export curbs will only make the shortages worse, encouraging underground activity, the head of China’s major car association said.
“Recent US sanctions have introduced another round of panic to the market and disturbed the supply of both entry level and more advanced chips,” China Passenger Car Association Secretary General Cui Dongshu said last week. “Distribution channels and the prices of chips are messed up.”
Opportunists the world over have seized on the chips shortfall, jacking up the price companies pay for the crucial circuital components. But a lack of regulation and soaring demand — China is by far the biggest global market for cars and is in the throes of a new wave of electric vehicles — mean under-the-table deals are more widespread here.
In scores of interviews with more than a dozen people involved in this world, all of whom declined to be identified because of the sensitive nature of what they’re doing, Bloomberg News pieced together how the complicated network operates. Substandard chips have so infiltrated the supply chain, many brokers say, that car quality, and worse — safety — is at risk. Should a fraudulent chip fail in the ABS brake module of a vehicle, for example, the consequences could be life threatening.
Leading German auto-parts supplier Robert Bosch GmbH received several requests from Chinese carmakers to process vehicle components using chips that had been sourced on the gray market by the companies themselves, people familiar with the matter said. Bosch ultimately turned down the requests, believing the chips could risk the integrity of its own parts. One automaker requested Bosch work with gray-market semiconductors whose price had soared during a Covid outbreak because Bosch’s Malaysian supplier had to cease production of the chips, used in Bosch’s ESP (Electronic Stability Program) product. (Electronic stability programs work with a car’s antilock braking system to detect skidding movements and counteract them.) Bosch refused, one of the people said. A representative for Bosch referred to an interview that Xu Daquan, its executive vice president of China, did in September, in which he said the chip shortage “is not expected to be solved in the next year.” The company declined to comment further.
While operations like Wang’s are legal in that they’re registered companies and pay taxes, the provenance of chips bought and sold on the gray market can be difficult to assess. Chips can come from questionable channels — backdoor sales from authorized agents, who may have, intentionally or otherwise, placed surplus orders with a manufacturer, or legitimate companies that are selling excess chips for a profit, violating agreements with the original chipmakers. Some of the brokers also try to juice profits by hoarding and price gouging, behavior that violates Chinese regulations and that local authorities have sought to crack down on.
According to Wang, who asked to only be identified by her last name, the “conventional system whereby auto suppliers place an order through an authorized agent and wait for distribution from an original chipmaker no longer works.”
Semiconductors required for microcontroller units have been among the hardest to source and command the most eye-watering prices, reporting by Bloomberg found. That’s because they’re used in so many parts of a car, from electronic braking systems to air conditioning and window control units. In a world where chips are becoming smarter and smaller, they require much less advanced technology to manufacture and therefore command smaller margins. As demand surged during the pandemic, chipmakers switched production to more profitable semiconductors for use in consumer electronics or medical devices, greatly reducing the supply of microcontroller unit chips.
Carmakers responded in different ways. Toyota Motor Corp. and Volkswagen AG largely just pulled back on production and deliveries, while Tesla Inc. found workarounds, developing new software that allowed the pioneering electric vehicle maker to use alternative semiconductors. In China, the cutthroat nature of the local market — there were some 200 registered EV makers, alone, last year — saw domestic players in particular embrace the chip gray market.
All three of China’s main, US-listed EV upstarts — Nio Inc., Xpeng Inc. and Li Auto Inc. — have tried to buy chips via these unauthorized agents, middlemen who are classified as such because they don’t have permission from the original chipmakers to distribute their products, according to people familiar with their activities. In fact, almost every Chinese carmaker except the country’s biggest EV manufacturer BYD Co., which makes its own chips, has attempted to source semiconductors this way, the people said.
Beijing-based Li Auto, known for its flagship Li One sports utility vehicle, paid the equivalent of over $500 to one broker for a single brake chip that cost about $1 before the pandemic, people familiar with the matter said.
In an interview with Bloomberg in July, Li Auto President Kevin Shen said the company was still struggling with some key chip supplies and expected to continue to face problems given the number of semiconductors required by tech-laden EVs. A representative for Li Auto denied the company paid 500 times the original price for a chip, but declined to comment further for this story. Spokespeople for Nio and Xpeng declined to comment.
The gray-market trade mainly takes place online, in WeChat groups and over email, but trades also sometimes happen at physical marketplaces like the Saige (SEG) Electronics Market Plaza Huaqiangbei in Shenzhen, where brokers have been known to bring chip samples in knapsacks to secure orders. And it hasn’t escaped regulators’ notice. In August last year, the government launched a probe into possible price manipulation, fining three brokers a total of 2.5 million yuan ($350,000) for selling car chips “with a substantial markup.” But in a market where automakers are so desperate for supply they’re willing to pay multiple times what a chip is worth, that sort of penalty isn’t much of a deterrent.
China’s secondary chip market didn’t spring up overnight. It existed before the semiconductor crunch, but with so many people sensing an opportunity to profit, it’s ballooned. “Everyone’s a speculator,” one of the unauthorized brokers interviewed by Bloomberg said.
While in most cases, brokers get sales commissions, the most profitable, albeit risky, way to make money is to try to predict demand and hoard chips, offloading them later for huge markups. It requires good luck, plenty of cash and lots of guanxi, the Chinese system of social networks and influential relationships that facilitates business dealings. If a bet goes wrong, it could mean bankruptcy. Reports of overnight millionaires, and suicides, aren’t unheard of.
Relatively low barriers to entry mean that “anyone with sources can be a broker,” according to a manager at a Shenzhen-based semiconductor trading company. “Companies like us may have some advantage in terms of product reliability but the opportunists have muddled the market. We had no choice but to join it.”
Brokers with better guanxi are always the first to get information and enjoy priority when it comes to securing orders at an advantageous price. Bribery isn’t commonplace, but it’s also not unheard of. Chip supplier employees are sometimes paid to steal chips that have been allocated to an automaker, people familiar with the matter said. Aware of such misconduct, one Chinese car company has begun dispatching staff to oversee delivery of their semiconductors. An employee then sits alongside the parts maker’s production line to make sure that the chips are used in their products and any left over are properly locked away, according to a person familiar with the arrangement.
A sale typically goes to the party willing to pay the highest price but sometimes, having better guanxi trumps that. Instead of paying by installments — the conventional way of automotive chip supply — all transactions in the gray market are paid in cash.
To prevent others from tracing where chips have come from, intermediaries often scrub labels or information on packaging. Though completely fake chips aren’t commonly seen because of the technical expertise and machines required to make them, several automakers have fallen into the trap of unwittingly buying second-hand chips that have been removed from discarded auto parts and sold as new, people familiar with the matter said.
“Reused chips can cause problems because they might have been built for too small a temperature range, for example,” said Phil Koopman, an associate professor of electronic and computer engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. He’s been involved with automotive chip design and safety for around 30 years. “Just as important is that chips wear out over time, so reused chips might fail much sooner than expected. I’m not aware of any practical way to detect this problem other than re-doing factory qualifications for temperature ranges and reverse engineering to check for signs of repackaging.” These chips can easily slip into vehicles unnoticed, he said.
The risk of that happening has spawned another grass roots industry: chip quality inspectors. Typically former employees of chip companies or authorized agents, they claim to have the ability to verify labels and packaging and even to be able to X-ray the interiors of the chips. Business consultants are also joining the fray, vetting brokers for carmakers and running business credibility checks.
In a bid to accelerate the procurement process considering how volatile prices are, several Chinese automakers have appointed people internally to oversee the direct purchase of chips from brokers. In some cases, chip prices may change overnight, every other hour, or even after a purchase inquiry is made. If carmakers have well-oiled systems in place, the time from quotation to delivery can be as fast as 24 hours. “Chinese automakers are more flexible in finding the solutions to ease the chip supply,” Wang Bin, an automotive analyst at Credit Suisse Group AG, said at a briefing in May.
However faced with such immediate demand for chips, almost all car companies have chosen to compromise, at a minimum by accepting chips with older production dates. Before Covid, automakers typically only used chips produced in the past 12 months; now many are using semiconductors made four or five years ago, so long as they’re the right type.
Older chips that have never been used but that have been well stored “can be acceptable depending on the circumstances,” said Koopman at Carnegie Mellon. One hitch is that older chips might have design defects — ‘errata’ that have subsequently been corrected in newer versions. “Newer vehicles might not ever have been tested to see if they can survive the defects in the older chips,” he said.
The PCA’s Cui said it’s impossible to detect what used or refurbished chips may be circulating inside cars and as such, regulators have a difficult time supervising gray market transactions. Whether it will lead to safety issues is hard to say but “at the very least it’s not fair to consumers because they’re not informed about it,” he said.
China’s State Administration for Market Regulation has said hoarding chips violates several articles under national price law. “Brokers are taking advantage of the imbalance between the supply and demand of auto chips in China,” it said, adding that such behavior could lead to “panic stocking and worsen the imbalance.” China’s Ministry of Information and Technology and its Ministry of Transport, each of which has a safety regulation unit, didn’t respond to requests for comment. There haven’t been any accidents publicly known to have been caused by faulty chips purchased on the gray market.
While global automakers like Toyota and General Motors Co. say the chip shortfall is showing signs of easing, Fitch Ratings Inc. doesn’t see a full recovery until 2023, due to the combination of semiconductor shortages, shipping delays and Covid Zero lockdowns, especially in China. That means automakers are increasingly being pushed to switch up their long-held strategy of only holding enough inventory for the immediate future and building in buffers, according to Kenny Yao, a director at Shanghai-based auto industry consultancy AlixPartners.
“An automaker has to think about three questions,” Yao said. “In the short term, can it find a good replacement for certain types of chips? In the mid-term, can it alter its design to allow for more flexibility in semiconductor parts? And in the long term, can levels of integration be raised to combine the functions controlled by several basic chips into one advanced one?”
Until that point, business should remain brisk for Wang.
While her company has a small office about 30 minutes’ subway ride away, she’s so busy that she rarely goes in, spending most of her waking hours hunched over her laptop at the dining room table or answering WeChat messages from her bedroom. When things get really crazy, she has to stockpile food. “We’ve become the go-to guys for urgent supplies,” she said. “It keeps our clients’ production lines running.”
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

domain: news


The Guillotine Gun was a specialized ranged weapon which combined a mortar grenade launcher with an axehead on the end of the barrel. The end result was an extremely lethal weapon capable of annihilating entire groups of enemies from long range whilst also offering some form of melee weapon.
The weapon was utilized by raiders under the command of Philippe Rose in Saint-Denis during their attempt to recover an artifact known as the Head of Saint Denis from the catacombs beneath the Basilica of Saint-Denis, on the orders of Napoleon Bonaparte. However, the weapon was stolen by a young orphan named Léon, and given to the French Assassin Arno Dorian during his exploration of the catacombs. Throughout his stay in Saint-Denis, Arno found and claimed for his own many other models of the gun.
|The Guillotine Gun||◆◆◆◆||4||4||1||6||N/A||+25% Damage||Dead Kings – The Book Thief|
|The Surgeon||◆◆◆◆◆||7||4||1||6||150,000₣||+25% Damage||N/A|
|The Artillery||◆◆◆◆◆||6||4||1||6||150,000₣||+25% Mortar Damage||N/A|
|The Dancer||◆◆◆◆◆||6||6||1||6||150,000₣||+25% Damage||N/A|
|The Eagle||◆◆◆◆◆||8||6||1||6||N/A||+25% Damage
+25% Mortar Damage
|Collect all artifacts in Franciade|


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In terms of corruption, violence, risk of doing business, high disease rates, and in many other ways, Russia is very much like Africa. Scan the global maps for different rankings, and note the many similarities between Africa and Russia.
In many ways Russia is like a third world country. Worse, it is like an African third world country.
In former centuries, Russians were a greater people than they are under Putin’s mafia rule. They were able to achieve control over large areas of land — and were able to produce enough strong and hardy people to manage the land. In the new era of mafia control, ethnic Russians are fading and being replaced by Central Asians of the Muslim persuasian.
That is one way at least that Russia does not resemble African nations: African nations are likely to double in population over the next several decades, whereas ethnic Russian populations are likely to halve in size.
Perhaps that is why some Russians want to import large numbers of males from India in an attempt to rejuvenate the Russian spirit with some foreign stock. Soon, those same Russians may decide to import large numbers of African males to assist in this re-birth of a newer, more procreative Russia.
If so, some things would change in Russia, but many things would stay the same. Time will tell.
On a related topic, I wonder if the birth rates of Whites and East Asians could probably be raised if it was legal to produce children for sale to childless or child wanting couples who could provide loving homes. Many see this as “immoral” but it seems like the free market provides so much that is desirable so perhaps the ability to bare and sell desirable children could greatly improve numbers.
Woops, I meant to leave the above comment in the section on black criminality and not the peace on Russia Vs. Africa.
As a Finnish American I find the religion of latter-day Russophilia very difficult to take in the quotidian round. So I am especially grateful for this posting.
I am one of the people who believes that the extended world war of the 20th century (lasting from 1914 to 1945) did terrible harm to the “white” race or races. While in Europe and the US the flower of youth (as they called it) was selected for military service, and so many millions dead or injured, in Russia the hemoclysm was much wider and deeper in both IQ and numbers. I have no idea how to parse all this, it’s more like a hunch. But the vision of Putin’s Russia as a nationalist paradise where “Caucasians” can get away from corruption, racial conflict, disease, crime, and social control seems widespread these days.
Whether this all has to do with the Hajnal Line or whatnot, I cannot begin to say. But on every one of these maps, it’s very easy to find where the eastern border of Finland was redrawn, dumping more of Finland into USSR hands. My family has its roots there.

domain: geography


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Senior Associate Interior Designer
About this role
Working directly with clients and managing the Interiors Team you will need exceptional communications skills and confidence dealing with clients, leading conceptual presentation and setting direction for the team. An unique opportunity to deliver some truly outstanding projects supported by a talented team.
Delivering projects across a range of sectors including large scale public works, commercial workplace, education and multi-residential they have a diverse portfolio of work and a great office culture.
- Senior role responsible for leading projects and the interiors team
- Work on exciting projects
- Lead teams through all stages
- A client facing role
Award winning National practice with an integrated team of architects, interior designers, landscape architects and urban designers working on large, city-shaping projects.This studio offers a range of benefits to support development and well-being:
- Creative studio working environment
- Inter studio transfer opportunities
- Flexible hours
Skills and Experience
This is a senior role for a talented interior designer who is already at an associate level
- 10 +years professional experience
- Strong portfolio of projects
- Exceptional Revit Skills
- Strong communication and presentation skills are essential
- A passion for Architecture and Design
- Client facing skills
- Team leadership skills leading large projects through all stages
- Past experience on high quality projects in design focused studios
- Outstanding communication skills (both written and verbal)
Interior Architect - Live & Work in Paris
Join an AD100 studio in PARIS and work on projects that designers’ dreams are made of. Expansive budgets, discerning design and unique projects... get your EU passport ready for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
Senior Interior Designer - Multi Disciplinary
Iconic Melbourne-based studio seeks a nice person to create spaces that enrich the human experience. (Must ALSO be a design-focused, commercially aware and exceptionally-talented Senior Interior Designer). A 4 day week may be considered. RARE opportunity!
Interior Designer - Hospitality and Residential
Highly innovative, award winning interior design firm founded in New York seeks a free spirited, prolific and versatile designer to work closely with a team of designers and architects on multiple projects in their fast paced, rigorous creative studio.
Interior Designers – Technical
Imaginative and unconventional this New York City authority in contemporary residential and hospitality design is a firm who successfully inverts conventions to create spectacular new build and re-purposed existing structure projects all over the city and increasingly all over the world.
Interior Designer - High End Workplace & Mixed Use
Looking for longevity with a studio committed to designing for positive future impact? Join an established practice and lead a team of designers on high-end projects. Beautiful studio, city fringe location.


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When people think of women slaves, landowner isn’t one of the terms that comes to mind. When Bridget “Biddy” Mason was born into the harsh reality of slavery in 1818, nothing about the future indicated there was a life beyond slavery.
Most accounts say she was born in Mississippi, and sold to slave owners in Georgia and South Carolina before being given as a wedding gift to Robert M. Smith as his bride and returning to Mississippi. There was no way to know that the “gift” of Biddy Mason would create generations of wealthy black Americans who would help build Los Angeles.
Bridget Mason spent most of her time caring for Smith’s chronically ill wife and became a highly skilled nurse and midwife. By the time Smith converted to Mormonism and decided to make a religious pilgrimage to the Utah territory, Biddy Mason was 30 years old and the mother of three girls, ages ten, four and an infant.
The trek to Utah began in 1848 and took nearly two years and 2000 miles. In between walking thousands of miles and taking care of her own children, Mason served as nurse maid, midwife and livestock herder (some reports say cattle, others say sheep). In 1851, Smith decided to move his family to California to establish another Mormon community, arriving in San Bernardino with Mason and the rest of his slaves later that year – a move that would put Mason on a path unimaginable for a woman in her circumstance.
San Bernardino had a large black population due to the migration of freed slaves to the area. California had banned slavery in its 1849 constitution and had joined the union in 1850 as a free state. It was also around this time that the Mormon Church took on an anti-slavery stance, with church leader Brigham Young urging members to free their slaves.
Through other former slaves in the community, Mason, who could not read or write, learned that slavery was illegal in the state and asked Smith to free her, which he refused. Fearing that the laws of the state and the Civil War would mean having to free his slaves, in December 1855 Smith decided to move to Texas which was still a slave state.
Mason was desperate and feared never being able to escape life as a slave. She confided in friends in the community about Smith’s plans. One contacted a wealthy and powerful black businessman in Los Angeles. He alerted the Los Angeles County Sheriff who, along with a group of other men, found Smith’s caravan that had set up an encampment in the Santa Monica Mountains on their way out of the state. They prevented Smith from leaving the state.
In January 1856, Mason challenged Smith for her freedom, as well as on behalf of 13 other adults and children that were enslaved by him. During the trial, Robert Smith claimed that his slaves knew they were free and had remained of their own free will. The judge ruled that none of them could read or write and Smith had complete control, dismissing the idea that they lived or acted as free persons. Smith was accused of illegally detaining free persons and trying to return them to slavery. The judge granted their freedom and ordered Smith to pay all the related costs for the court proceedings.
Gainful employment and frugality allowed her to save up enough money to buy a plot of land on Spring Street (in what is now downtown Los Angeles) for $250 dollars in 1866, the first black woman to purchase land in the city. She would not live on the land for another several years, choosing to save funds to build on what would be the family homestead. In 1875, she sold a portion of the lot for $1,500 and built a commercial building and rental spaces on the remaining land that would become part of a booming area of black business.
Her real estate dealings helped her amass a fortune of more than $300,000, the majority of which she used for philanthropic efforts in the Los Angeles community, as well as supporting the First African Methodist Episcopal Church, which she co-founded. First AME, which continues today, was L.A.’s first black church and began in Biddy’s home on the Spring Street property. Today a memorial of her achievements can be found near the first plot of land she bought, now the center of downtown Los Angeles’ commercial district.
Biddy Mason never learned to read or write, signing all of her transactions with an “x.” However, she knew to ask for receipts and the deed for each property she owned. By the time of her death in 1891, she reportedly owned several valuable properties all over downtown Los Angeles. Her influence did not end with her death, however. Her legacy would continue through generations, including to a man who would be named the most influential black man in California.
Photo Credit: African-American Registry

domain: history


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We love this recipe – it’s perfect for when you have just one steak left and need to make a quick summer lunch or dinner for two – three people. It’s light and filling all at the same time.
We used organic grape tomatoes and a mix of arugula and spinach for our salad base. Greenling.com and Johnston’s Backyard Garden are both excellent sources of produce and we just adore using their local boxes for our recipes.
- 2 Grass Fed Sirloin Steaks
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- mixed greens
- kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- Maytag blue cheese
- handful of grape or cherry tomatoes
We used grass fed sirloin, so we trimmed the excess fat from the sides and seasoned the steaks with salt on both sides. We then took our pepper grinder (filled with both white and black peppercorns) and ground a heavy dose of fresh pepper on only one side of the steak. Don’t be shy about the pepper, the more the merrier! Make sure not to use powdered pepper, as it will burn once on the grill. Brush with olive oil. Place your steaks on the grill and cook to desired temperature. As always, grass-fed beef cooks much quicker than corn fed, so we recommend cooking it to medium rare, a couple minutes on each side. Once the beef is read, remove from heat and let rest.
Combine the olive oil and balsamic vinegar and set aside. Slice the grape tomatoes in half and toss in the bowl of oil and vinegar. Tomatoes love balsamic and balsamic loves tomatoes, they were practically made for each other. The tomatoes will soak up the dressing and once you take a bite you’ll see just how flavorful they become.
Now that your tomatoes have soaked in the dressing for a couple minutes, pour the oil and the tomatoes into your salad greens and toss. Dressing your salad should be done before you add the garnish. In this recipe, the blue cheese plays that role.
Next up: slicing your sirloin. We want this to be an effortless salad for you and your guests, so make sure to slice the sirloin into bite size pieces. Arrange the meat on top of your greens and crumble your blue cheese all over the salad. We used Maytag blue cheese, but if you have an affinity for something stronger and more pungent, we recommend Roquefort blue cheese.
Pair your salad with a glass of red wine to compliment the blue cheese and here you have it! A simple yet decadent salad for you and your loved ones to enjoy.

domain: food


In industrial production, due to the vibration of machine tools and cutting tools, as well as some other factors, the surface of parts can’t be completely smooth. Surface roughness measurement is a technical standard to evaluate the surface quality of parts.
What is Surface Roughness
Surface roughness refers to the micro geometric form error composed of small spacing and small peaks and valleys on the machined surface. The smaller the micro geometric error of the machined surface is, the higher the surface accuracy is.
The surface of a part formed by cutting or other methods always has geometric shape errors due to plastic deformation of materials, mechanical vibration, friction and other reasons. Due to different processing methods and workpiece materials, the depth, density, shape and texture of the traces left on the machined surface are different.
Surface Roughness Inspection & Measurement Instrument
According to the different methods of surface roughness measurement, the inspection instruments can be divided into contact roughness measuring instruments and non-contact roughness measuring instruments. In contact measuring instruments, the main methods are the comparison method, impression method, stylus method, etc In the non-contact measuring instrument, the optical cutting method, real-time holography, speckle method, astigmatism method, optical heterodyne method, AFM, optical sensor method and other methods are commonly used.
What are the surface roughness testers? The surface roughness meter has different sizes, specifications of different materials, and can also measure different roughness of different workpieces. According to national standards and international standards, the stylus surface roughness measuring instrument is the most commonly used, convenient and reliable surface roughness measuring instrument. According to the different principles of the sensor, the stylus roughness meter can be divided into inductive, piezoelectric, photoelectric, laser and grating types, and can also be divided into the type with and without a guide.
Surface Roughness Measurement Method
1) Comparative method
It is commonly used for field measurement in workshops and measurement of a medium or rough surface. The method is to compare the measured surface with the roughness sample plate marked with a certain value to determine the roughness value of the measured surface. Methods for comparison: Ra>1.6 μm, visual inspection, Ra1.6~Ra0.4 μm, use Magnifier, Ra<0.4 μm, use a comparison microscope. During the comparison, the processing method, texture, direction, and material of the sample plate shall be the same as the surface of the part to be tested.
2) Stylus method
The diamond stylus with a tip curvature radius of about 2 microns is used to slide slowly along the measured surface. The up and down displacement of the diamond stylus is converted into an electrical signal by an electrical length sensor. After amplification, filtering and calculation, the surface roughness value is indicated by the display instrument, and the measured profile curve can also be recorded by a recorder. Generally, measuring tools that can only display surface roughness values are called surface roughness measuring instruments, and those that can record surface profile curves are called surface roughness profilers. These two measuring tools have electronic computing circuits or computers, which can automatically calculate the arithmetic mean deviation Ra of the profile, the ten point height Rz of the micro unevenness, the maximum height Ry of the profile and other various evaluation parameters. They have high measuring efficiency and are suitable for measuring the surface roughness with Ra of 0.025-6.3μm.
3) Light sectioning
Double tube microscope can be used to measure the surface roughness, which can be used for the evaluation of Ry and Rz parameters, and the measurement range is 0.5~50.
The shape error of the surface to be measured is displayed in the form of interference fringes using the principle of light wave interference, and the microscopic part of these interference fringes is magnified by a microscope with high magnification (up to 500 times) for measurement to obtain the roughness of the surface to be measured. The surface roughness measuring tool using this method is called an interference microscope. This method is suitable for measuring surface roughness with Rz and Ry of 0.025-0.8μm.


text:
Certain statements in this release relating to, among other things, our future performance, constitute forward-looking statements. Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "goal," "intend," "may," "plan," "project," "seek," "should," "will," and similar expressions are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements reflect management's current expectations, are inherently uncertain and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from the future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied in those forward-looking statements. Examples of these risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to the following: the impact of the economic environment on the demand for cruises, the impact of the economic environment on our ability to generate cash flows from operations or obtain new borrowings from the credit or capital markets in amounts sufficient to satisfy our capital expenditures, debt repayments and other financing needs, the uncertainties of conducting business internationally and expanding into new markets, changes in operating and financing costs, vacation industry competition and changes in industry capacity and overcapacity, emergency ship repairs, including the related lost revenue, the impact of ship delivery delays, ship cancellations or ship construction price increases, financial difficulties encountered by shipyards or their subcontractors and incidents or adverse publicity concerning the cruise vacation industry such as the Costa Concordia casualty and the unavailability or cost of air service.SOURCE Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
Royal Caribbean Announces Pricing Of $650 Million Senior Unsecured Notes Offering
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text:
Subliminal Verbal Messages in Advertising and Marketing – Effective or Not?
We’ve all heard about the alleged power of subliminal messages in advertising. And many of us, no doubt, have found the idea of subliminal messages intriguing, if not scary. Whether they are single frames in a film, ads with hidden images or visual suggestions, the topic is worth a look.
Here are some prominent examples or cases of subliminal verbal advertising.
Case 1 – Eat Popcorn!
James Vicary is seen as the father of subliminal messages in advertising. In 1957 he claimed to have conducted a study with hidden messages in movie theaters. The idea was to repeatedly show a single frame in a film telling people to “Eat Popcorn” or “Drink Coca-Cola.” Allegedly this technique spiked sales of popcorn and Coke at the tested theater. After failed attempts to re-create his study, Vicary admitted that the results were fabricated to draw attention to his marketing business.
The paranoia stoked by his claims is believed to be responsible for the United States and the United Kingdom banning ads that attempt to control consumers subliminally. Even today, many people believe Vicary’s fabricated tale to be an actual study that proved that people are susceptible to devious, mind-controlling, profit-driven marketeers.
Case 2 – Teatime
Inspired by Vicary’s hoax, Johan C. Karremans, Wolfgang Stroebe and Jasper Claus conducted a study on a test group of 61 volunteers. They used Lipton Ice Tea versus mineral water to determine if subliminal advertising (otherwise known as “subliminal priming”) had any impact on the viewer. When exposed to flashing frames in videos with the message of “Lipton Ice,” the results of the test were interesting. The viewers chose Lipton Ice slightly more than mineral water, but only if they were thirsty. The subliminal message did not have any effect upon those who were not thirsty.
Case 3 – Remembering the Negative
The Process of Brand-Building
The process of brand-building can be a very confusing and intimidating process to some. But, it doesn't need to be. Companies, products and services a...Read more
Researchers at the University College London conducted a study similar to the previous examples. They flashed words that were positive, negative and neutral. The words were shown quickly enough to be noticed, but not long enough to be fully perceived. Viewers were asked to identify the emotional value of the words. Negative emotional words were identified 77 percent correctly, whereas only 59 percent of positive words were identified.
These results may derive from our instinctive tendency to identify threats out of self-preservation. In advertising, this would appear to be a good technique for political smear campaigns. Flashing negative words about your opponent would resonate more than positive flashes about yourself.
In 2000, the George W. Bush presidential campaign used this technique against Al Gore by flashing “RATS” in a campaign ad that slighted Democratic health care policy. The Bush team did not admit to this technique, but nonetheless pulled the ad from circulation.
So, is subliminal advertising effective? Maybe. Maybe not. The prevailing research evidence so far suggests it is not (Moore, 1992).
Sensory Cues in Advertising and Marketing – Effective or Not?
Unlike subliminal verbal messaging, a plethora of research exists demonstrating the efficacy of sensory cues to influence brand purchase behavior. Here’s a short list:
- Soft and natural lighting increases shoppers’ sense of well-being and the time they spend at point of sale (Rieunier, 2002).
- Product-appropriate scent leads to a more favorable evaluation of the product (Spangenberg, Crowley & Henderson, 1996).
- Consumers adopt the tempo of ambient music in their behaviors (Smith & Curnow, 1966).
- Different colors drive certain perceptions (Hultén, Broweus, & Van Dijk, 2009) and messages viewed in color are better remembered than those seen in black and white (Pantone Institute, 2000).
But beyond these more basic effects of sensory cues lies the much richer world of communicating what you want your brand to say without saying it verbally – that is, by managing the right sensory cues.
Another problem with verbal messages, besides not working effectively in subliminal presentation, is that words are imprecise. If you wanted a brand to communicate “contemporary sophistication,” how would you express that through sensory cues?
At Six Degrees, we do that by conducting sensory research with a brand’s target audience. We expose them to galleries of stimuli (e.g., visual images, sounds, scents) and have them select those that best represent “contemporary sophistication” to them. On the basis of their selections, we can build a sensory model of how to communicate “contemporary sophistication” (or whatever the brand is trying to communicate) through the appropriate senses. This is one of the key pillars of our psycho-sensory approach to branding, marketing and advertising.
Only 7 percent of human communication is based on words and the rest is based on sensory information (Mehrabian, 1981). Most marketers are spending far too much of their efforts on verbal messages and not enough on sensory messages. And unlike subliminal verbal messages, sensory cues communicate effectively.
Hultén, B., Broweus, N., & Van Dijk, M. (2009). Sensory Marketing. Palgrave Macmillan.
Mehrabian, A. (1981). Silent Messages: Implicit Communication of Emotions and Attitudes. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Moore, T.E. (1992). Subliminal Perception: Facts and Fallacies. Skeptical Inquirer, 16 (3).
Rieunier, S. (2002). Le Marketing Sensoriel du Point de Vente.
Smith, P.C. & Curnow, R. (1966). ‘Arousal Hypothesis’ and the Effects of Music on Purchasing Behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 50 (3), pp. 255-256.
Spangenberg, E.R., Crowley, A.E. & Henderson, P. (1996). Améliorer l’Environnement du Magasin: Les Signaux Olfactifs Affectent-ils les Évaluations et les Comportements? Recherche et Applications en Marketing, 11 (4) pp. 71-92.

domain: psychology


text:
The Basics of Cat Socialisation
BEHAVIOUR & TRAVEL
20 May, 2019
READ 4 minutes
Have you ever wondered why one cat may seem utterly comfortable in its surroundings while another seems unreasonably skittish? Many people chalk that up to the cat’s personality, but the answer may really lie in the way a cat has been socialised.
Socialisation is the process of preparing a cat for life so that it bonds with other animals and people. A well-socialised cat is confident, animated, friendly and trusting; a poorly socialised cat may be shy, fearful, or even aggressive.
A social cat is a happy cat. Socialising your cat is essential not only for you and your cat but also for anyone else your cat may encounter. Luckily, cat socialisation is not a mystery.
FOR BEST RESULTS, START EARLY
It is important to start socialising cats as early as possible. Kittens begin to learn how an adult cat behaves by observing their mother. They learn how to control biting and clawing by playing with their littermates. Neither their mother nor their littermates can teach a cat how to be handled by a human or how to acclimate to sounds, smells and sights—that’s your job.
Cat socialisation should start as early as possible. Kittens between 3 and 9 weeks of age are very receptive to new experiences—they don’t mind being handled and are open to new sounds and scents. This so-called “sensitive period” often extends up to 16 weeks but it is possible to socialise older cats, too.
Kittens usually start to be weaned from 4 weeks of age, and this is generally completed at 8-10 weeks old. At this point, they are ready to leave the litter and start taking cues from their new pet parent. Kittens aged from 3 to 16 weeks are in a prime period for learning life skills. This is the time to let your new kitten learn about everything from spending time in a carrier, to meeting different people.
HANDLE WITH CARE
Introduce your kitten to touch early so that it learns it has nothing to fear when in your arms. Keep your voice low and calm and your touch gentle and soft. It’s best to start just by petting your kitten on the head and back. When your cat is comfortable being touched in that way, pick it up gently and support it. It’s a good idea to touch your cat several times a day. Offer a treat each time as a reward for good behavior. If your cat becomes aggressive stop and leave it some space and time before trying again.
Gradually increase the length of contact, as well as the level of your interaction. Your cat will need to get used to being handled by a vet and to being groomed so make a point of making your cat comfortable being handled including touching its head, ears, and feet.
SLOWLY INTRODUCE A CARRIER
It is essential to help your new kitten become comfortable with a cat carrier. This will make trips, including trips to the veterinarian, much more manageable. To make travel easier for your new kitten, line the inside of the carrier with a thick towel. A few treats or a favorite toy at the far end can help. Bring your kitten to the carrier entrance and make sure it feels comfortable and can see and smell the treats.
Don’t close the carrier door; just let your kitten explore. Repeat this daily. When your kitten becomes comfortable in the carrier, close the door for a short time and give a reward when you open the door again. Repeat. Later, take your cat for a short ride in the carrier— perhaps on the bus, train, or car. It is imperative that you do not open the carrier when outside or during transport.
REMAIN POSITIVE AND PATIENT
Some cats need more time than others so stay positive as your cat begins to trust you. Continue to let your cat experience different sights, sounds, smells, and people, and reward your cat with praise and treats. Never yell or reprimand your cat for anti-social behavior, merely say, “NO,” and walk away.
The good news is that it’s not hard to do cat socialisation, you just need to make the commitment to interact daily. All little patience goes a very long way!
Read our article about cat facts to learn more about your cat.

domain: pet


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Especially designed for photography aficionados, Capture NX is a professional tool designed to help you easily process and edit Nikon digital images.
The interface is user-friendly, allowing you to access all the instruments from the available toolbar. Furthermore, the program features an in-built explorer that allows you to easily find your photos. It supports formats such as JPEG, NEF, NRW or TIFF and enables you to open and process more than one photo at the same time.
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Capture NX combines the ease of use with basic image processing tools that can help you obtain professional-looking digital pictures.

domain: hobby


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With more snow forecast to fall throughout much of the week, adding to what has already accumulated on the ground, the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) is urging people to stay off the roads if at all possible in the coming days.
The National Weather Service is forecasting more snow to fall Sunday night and into Monday morning with as much as 3 inches falling. Temperatures are expected to hover in the upper teens.
The ice and snow are causing hazardous driving conditions throughout the Lower Columbia Basin. The city of Hermiston had its snowplows out throughout the weekend clearing snow off the roads. ODOT officials are encouraging motorists who have to travel to take the following precautions:
- Travel smart. Consider waiting until a storm passes to get on your bike or in your car. Or work from home if you can.
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In severe weather, ODOT deploys all available tools in its winter arsenal, including plows, sanders, deicer and salt, as appropriate. Crews and equipment are being pre-positioned to respond. ODOT crews are working 12-hour, round the clock shifts.


Discussion in 'Sunfish Talk' started by Phillster, Jul 13, 2014.
what's the best place to cut a hole for an inspection port to dry out a soaked hull. THANKS
if soaked, I'd probably cut 2 of them to help with air flowing through the boat. I like to put one right up near the back of the splashguard. will the Sunfish need a rudder upgrade? if so, place the second port back on the deck near the transom. if not, I like to put the 2nd port in the wall of the cockpit.
if you haven't already, read the .pdf files from the Sunfish Knowledge Base - lots of good information there!
How to dry out a wet hull
I then rigged up an old computer fan for some airflow. some like a heat source as well, like a low wattage light bulb.
Drill 3/8" dia hole then sabre saw. Place tape over lines to be cut to keep glass fibre dust to a minimum.
well I do appreciate your input and I do have a 12v fan. That said, how long on average should it take to dry a soaked interior. I realize there are variables, but I really have no perspective on this. THANKS
The first 50% of weight reduction and drying can take 1-2 months. The other 50% can take 6 months or more; all depending on how wet it actually is and how aggressive the drying method is.
Here is a picture of what I do to help dry my hull. The black plastic helps to retain heat and the chimney stack helps draw air/moisture up and out. Notice the small fan on the rear inspection port - I don't always use this, but have notice it does aid in faster drying times. I hope people find this helpful!
I picked up an 86 sunfish last winter very cheap. It was on a working trailer where it had sat for 10 years. Found out it was full of water and after draining it still was a good 200 lbs. I installed two 4" ports and let it bake in the sun for 6 weeks with no results. I've been using a hair dryer for a week for around 3 hrs a day when I'm around and she's drying out very fast! I haven't weight it yet but I can pick it up now. I'll go another week and try weighing it again. I think this is the best way to dry one fast.
Save the cut-out piece for any future repairs.
If using black plastic to heat the hull (or deck) up to help dry it, try this experiment. Tape a section of the black plastic flat and flush to the surface, and another with some space as in the picture above. After a while in the sun, put your hand on the deck and check the tempurature of each, as well as an uncovered section.
You will probably find that the deck or hull area where the plastic is flush is quite a bit hotter than where there is air between. When using this method to heat the hull side, even avoiding the small gap caused by the raised center and keeping the plastic flush everywhere makes a big difference.
Also as L&V noted the cutout will always come in useful. Whenever I install a hiking strap or similar I use maybe half the cutout as a backing plate to reinforce inside behind the fitting and spread the stress area. Just glue it in place inside with some 3M 5500 or similar.
I have used the following method with good results. Install a 6" dia. inspection port on the deck halfway between the inner "V" of the splashrail and the forward end of the daggerboard trunk. This location also give you access to the daggerboard trunk, the
mast tube and the forward wall of the cockpit tub if you ever need to make repairs or modifications there. Then install a second 4" port centered on the after deck about 2" forward of the aluminum hull/deck trim. Next, go to Lowes or Home Depot and spring $17 for a 6" duct fan (intended purpose to improve heating or AC flow at the end of a long duct work run.) The fan runs on regular household current and fits snugly in the 6" dia, plastic port. Turn the hull upside down on saw horses, insert a 40 watt lightbulb inside the hull, cover the 4" port with 1/4" wire mesh (to keep critters out if the hull), turn on the fan, and let it run....for a few months. If you life in Flagstaff, AZ (read: hot and dry) it will not take long to see good results. But if you live in a colder, more humid climate, it will take longer. I had one mid-1970s hull go from about 200 lbs to about 145 after a Thanksgiving to Easter dry-out.
Added: Make sure the boat does not leak or you will need to do this all over again in a year or so. See "leak test" on this site's FAQ.
As noted above, drying out a Sunfish can be a first-class pain in the neck. I live on the Gulf Coast where it's humid and raining most of the time. Oddly, I somehow managed to get as much water in my boat while it was sitting on it's trailer as I did while sailing. The only thing I can think of is that water left in the cockpit leaked into the hull around the edges of the bailer..... but that's a guess only. All I know for sure is that it was dry in April, and in July it had 30 lbs of water in it.
BUT, I just spent a few days (ok.... more like a few weeks) drying it out through a port the previous owner installed between the Daggerboard Trunk and Coaming. I can say from experience that is not the best place for an opening. While great for access to the DB trunk and mast step, it is useless for drying out the aft half of the boat. I really wish that I had put a small port somewhere aft to get a good circulation going. Oh well.... maybe next time.
Now that I've got mine dry, I got smart and put a nice deck-cover on my boat to keep the deck / cockpit dry while it's resting on its trailer. If it gets wet inside again, I'm going to paint the entire boat (inside and out) with that Flex-Seal stuff they sell on infomercials! (not really)
Must have lost 60 lbs this way.
I have dried out 2 hulls with following technique, Cut inspection holes at bow and stern, cover deck with black plastic, set in sun for several days with one end of hull several feet higher than the other to encourage air flow up and out as it heats. Deck under plastic gets too hot to touch. One hull dried from 190 to 120 (my scales) within a week. ( Scrap piece of deck from cutouts was soaked and water squeezed out like a sponge)
There are almost 40 holes and seams in a Sunfish. Seam may be split and water can seep in there, under the trim. Next candidates are mast step, bailer hole seam, coaming rivets and drain added drain plugs.
Also keep in mind there is a vent hole in the forward cockpit wall. If it rains, bailer is plugged and cockpit fills up, water will drain into the hull.
Separate names with a comma.


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Mezinárodní ratingová agentura Sandard & Poor´s potvrdila ratingy amerických investičních bank (180 USD, 7,89%) (AA-/A-1+) a (49 USD, 15,20%) (A+/A-1), nicméně snížila výhled ratingů obou společností na „negativní“ z dosavadního „stabilní“. Uvedla to agentura S&P v dnešní zprávě.
„Příznivé efekty bezprecedentní podpory těmto americkým brokerům ze strany Fedu zmírňuje obavy o likviditu tím, že vlévá na kapitálové trhy důvěru,“ uvedl analytik S&P Scott Sprinzen. „Nicméně se domníváme, že negativní výhledy ratingů pro nezávislé investiční společnosti jsou plně na místě, neboť odráží potenciál pro výraznější pokles zisků z aktivit na kapitálovém trhu,“ dodal.
Následují vybrané body zprávy S&P :
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today that it affirmed its ratings on Group Inc. (holding company; AA-/A-1+) and Holdings Inc. (holding company; A+/A-1). At the same time, Standard & Poor's revised its outlook on these companies to negative from stable. "The favorable effect of the Federal Reserve's unprecedented support for the U.S. broker-dealers mitigates liquidity concerns by instilling confidence in the capital markets," said Standard & Poor's credit analyst Scott Sprinzen.
"Nevertheless, we believe that negative rating outlooks are broadly appropriate for the independent securities firms, reflecting the potential for a more substantial decline in profitability from capital market activities," added Mr. Sprinzen. Our current expectation is that net revenues could decline 20%-30% year-on-year (adjusting for writedowns). Although this would erode companies' margin of safety, we believe it could still be accommodated within the current ratings, especially taking account of the recent supportive stance of the Federal Reserve. Nonetheless, we see some possibility, were there to be persisting capital markets turmoil and sharply weakening economic conditions, that financial performance could deteriorate significantly more than we now assume, which would call the current ratings into question.
Our ratings on Morgan (50 USD, 14,32%) (holding company; AA-/A-1+) remain on CreditWatch with negative implications, where they were placed on Dec. 19, 2007. Our ratings on (47 USD, 13,03%) & Co. Inc. (holding company; A+/Negative/A-1) remain unchanged. (Merrill Lynch was downgraded on Oct. 24, 2007.)
The virtual collapse of The (6 USD, 21,48%) Cos. Inc. (holding company; BBB/CW-Developing/A-3), as well as volatile and unpredictable conditions in the capital markets in recent days, highlights the extent to which securities firms are exposed to capital market sentiments and explain the Federal Reserve's actions to support the U.S. securities industry directly. For example, the Federal Reserve is facilitating (46 USD, 8,24%) Chase & Co.'s (holding company; AA-/Stable/A-1+) plan to acquire by taking the unprecedented step of extending a $30 billion nonrecourse lending facility to to finance Bear Stearns' most illiquid trading assets (primarily mortgage-related), while providing a guarantee against losses on those assets. Apart from the measures specific to , the Federal Reserve has also taken the unprecedented measure of offering credit directly to the broker-dealers through its just-announced Primary Dealer Credit Facility (PDCF) program, effectively becoming the lender of last resort to the broker-dealers.
is the smallest of the five U.S. broker-dealers and has the least business and geographic diversity, and the highest reliance on short-term funding sources. Some of its larger U.S.-based competitors--especially Merrill Lynch--have been proportionately more exposed to write-downs related to subprime loans, asset-backed collateralized debt obligations, leveraged finance commitments, and other problematic positions. Yet, near-term earnings prospects remain at least somewhat brighter. For example, Goldman Sachs', Morgan Stanley's, and Brothers' results have benefited from the strength of equities trading activity, which has been bolstered by market volatility and provided a partial offset to trading sectors hit hard by the market downturn. Wealth management businesses' results (especially significant in the cases of and Morgan Stanley) and asset-management businesses (a major factor in the cases of , Morgan , and Brothers), while not immune to the economic cycle, have also remained relatively strong. Moreover, the four other U.S. broker-dealers have consistently maintained longer term borrowing maturities and, while experiencing significant widening of credit spreads, have not seen broad shrinkage of credit availability similar to what experienced.
Although more diversified, Brothers' business mix is skewed toward the mortgage/fixed-income sector, making it prone to negative investor and media sentiments in the wake of the debacle. However, has maintained a very stable funding structure. Indeed, its excess liquidity position ($34 billion at Feb. 29, 2008) is among the largest proportionately of the U.S. broker-dealers, and its sources-to-uses ratio is the strongest of the five. Earnings have held up relatively well under current market conditions, with posting net revenues of $3.5 billion in first-quarter 2008, despite additional write-downs on troubled assets. Although Lehman's fixed-income business is pressured by the slowdown in this activity while also absorbing the large majority of write-downs, the business's underlying strength is such that it continues to turn a profit. Equities and investment banking fared well, posting increases in revenues, while investment management turned in record net revenues of nearly $1 billion in the quarter. Still, however strong Lehman's underlying fundamentals, we cannot ignore the possibility that the firm could suffer severely if there was an adverse change in market perceptions, however ill-founded. In this context, the potential Fed support is comforting.
has been the profit leader among the U.S. broker-dealers during the past several years. It has been particularly adept at exploiting trading opportunities and proactively managing its market and credit risk positions. Although remained solidly profitable in the quarter ended Feb. 29, 2008, its results were relatively weak, with net revenues off 35% year-to-year, and pretax earnings down 56%. The deterioration is partly attributable to net losses on residential mortgage loans and securities of approximately $1 billion, and to a loss of approximately $1 billion on noninvestment-grade credit origination activities. There was also broad weakness across Goldman Sachs' investment banking and trading and principal investments businesses, albeit within the latter, there were areas of strength (e.g., interest rate products, currencies and commodities, and equities commissions). We view Goldman Sachs' remaining mortgage- and leveraged finance-related commitments as manageable. Goldman Sachs' liquidity position is very strong, and the firm has not encountered significant funding difficulties in recent months. However, notwithstanding Goldman Sachs' highly successful track record, the firm's emphasis on trading activities and its aggressive risk appetite leave it open to the possibility that major missteps could occur, leading to a change in investor sentiment.
The ratings on Morgan remain on CreditWatch with negative implications, following the company's announcement in December that write-downs totaling a massive $9.4 billion during the quarter ended Nov. 30,
2007, reduced revenues. These write-downs stemmed from a decline in the value of Morgan Stanley's subprime and other mortgage-related exposures, which were principally related to a poorly executed proprietary trading position and raised significant concerns regarding the firm's risk management practices.
The company's results rebounded in the first quarter. As with its peers, we have doubts about the sustainability of Morgan Stanley's first-quarter performance, given weakening market conditions. We continue to assess management's current stance with respect to principal risk-taking, including proprietary trading; actions taken to enhance risk management capabilities; Morgan Stanley's remaining exposures to problematic or potentially problematic asset types and counterparty credit risks, including, for example, commercial real estate; and the outlook for Morgan Stanley's core businesses. We intend to resolve the CreditWatch within the next 30 days.
Across the global sector, the negative outlooks reflect the potential for a more substantial decline in profitability from capital market activities during the next few quarters. This could occur if weakening economic conditions and market turmoil weigh on business activity to a greater and longer extent than we now assume. As our base case, we expect a 20%-30% year-on-year decline in net revenues (adjusting for write-downs), but we see some risk indicating that results could be significantly weaker. (See "Global Investment Banks and Brokers Remain Challenged After Dismal Fiscal Year End," published Feb. 26, 2008, on RatingsDirect and "After the Credit Boom, Banks and Brokers Face A Sobering Year in 2008," published on Jan. 17, 2008, also on RatingsDirect.) Moreover, we cannot rule out the possibility that market sentiments will turn more severely against some firms, undermining the effectiveness of even the most extensive preparations against liquidity stresses. (We assign positive or negative rating outlooks to long-term issuer ratings when our analysts believe there is at least a one-in-three likelihood of a rating action during the intermediate term, generally up to two years.)

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