The Single-Question Trap

Pingitore, G., Morgan, N. A., Rego, L. L., Gigliotti, A., & Meyers, J. (2007)

Morgan and Rego are back in Pingatore et al. in 2007.

The authors acknowledged that asking Likelihood to Recommend has merits, its just that businesses may mistakenly think it is the ONLY measure that predicts financial performance (no citation for this concern). In examining the JD Power proprietary data, the authors claimed that “net metrics of any kind are usually not the strongest voice-of-the-customer metrics.”

The authors examined JD Power data from 2005–2006 in multiple industries, each with at least nine companies: auto insurance (24 companies), full-service investment (21 firms), airline (10 carriers), and rental car (9 brands).

They looked at several different measures scored using the standard mean or “net” scoring, including: ten-point net “delighted” (anchored with outstanding to displeased), net satisfaction (top-two box minus bottom-five box), a four-item net committed scale, and a four-point version of the NPS.

We’ve tested five- and ten-point versions of the NPS and found that they provide relatively similar scores; however, a three-point will-recommend item performed noticeably worse. It’s unclear how well a four-point version would perform. The authors noted this weakness but included a full 11-point version for the full-service investment firms.

The authors collected financial metrics for each industry using historical data (2002–2005). They used a mix of sources and metrics: For auto insurance companies they used retention rates and customer acquisition costs. For airlines they used three-year change in revenue. For full-service investment firms they used self-reported metrics, including “Share of Wallet” data and self-reported amount/frequency of investing.

The correlation between NPS 4 and NPS 11 in the full-service investment industry was high (r = .94—calculated by me); however, the differences in scores were quite large. The mean differences across the two scores was 22%, with the 11-point NPS always scoring lower, ranging between 10% and 44%. This is more than five times as large as the difference we observed when comparing 5 to 11 points and 10 to 11 points where the average difference was 4%, with a high of 10%. It is, however, similar to our analysis of three-point recommend scales, which had an average difference of 22% in two large sample studies. This suggests the four-point, like the three-point, is not a good substitute for the 11-point version.

For full-service investment, the standard 11-point NPS performed comparably or, in some cases, better than several other measures, including multi-item satisfaction measures. In many cases, using the mean of the 11-point LTR performed slightly better. The mean absolute difference in correlations was a modest .07 (not using the fisher transformation). The NPS also performed slightly better than a multi-item satisfaction index, also with a modest mean absolute difference of .06.

In the rental car industry, the authors concluded that the best predictor of revenue growth was Net Satisfaction, and in the airline industry a multi-item satisfaction index performed best. However, an examination of their correlations in Exhibit 3 shows the mean of the four-point Likelihood-to-Recommend item had the highest correlation (r = .773) compared to Net Satisfaction (r = .691). The airline data seems to match the prose, with a correlation of r = .875 with the Sat Index compared to r = .824 for the four-point NPS. They did not collect the 11-point LTR for these two industries.

For the auto insurance industry, the raw LTR (r = -.52) was the best predictor, followed by the NPS 4 (r = -.43), compared to overall satisfaction or the satisfaction index (r = -.43). For actual retention rates, both LTR 4 (r = .6) and NPS 4 (r = .59) were the worst relative predictors, but underperformed the best satisfaction measure (r = .77) by .17 points.

The authors point out the much larger sample sizes needed to have the equivalent margins of error (something we discussed earlier too). However, it could be that what is lost in not using the mean is worth shedding.

While one reading of this article is that the NPS isn’t universally the best metric to always predict all growth metrics, another interpretation is that many metrics, both using the mean form and “net” scoring, will predict future metrics. There is variation in which ones will be the best, but rarely is one so different from another that it’s worth switching measures.

Note Gina Pingitore at the time of writing was the chief research officer at JD Power and Associates, a competitor to Satmetrix, who would have a strong interest in promoting their own satisfaction metrics.

Takeaways: Their 4-point and 11-point versions of the NPS correlated with historical business metrics, but it wasn’t always the best. In some cases, the NPS was the best it was; in some cases, it was the worst, and in some cases, it performed better than a multi-item measure. Using only four points for their NPS item may have confounded their findings.

Pingitore, G., Morgan, N. A., Rego, L. L., Gigliotti, A., & Meyers, J. (2007). The single-question trap. Marketing Research, 19(2), 9–13. External File Link


Up to the 1790s, the term ‘re-volution’ normally signified a movement backwards, or a continuous rotation, in a circular or cyclical direction. The entry in the Encyclopédie, the collective summa of the French Enlightenment, refers to astronomy, watch-making, and cog-wheels. It does also mention a political usage in the ‘modern history of England’, viz. the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688. But upheavals that we consider revolutions today, like the English or American, were in pre-modern times typically conceived as rebellions to restore ‘ancient rights and liberties’—or ‘the knowne lawes and statutes and freedome of the Realm’, as the 1689 Declaration of Rights put it—violated by a tyrant. More loosely, the word could by the mid-18th century, as in Voltaire, refer to changes in a general sense. What the term definitely did not denote was a break with a traditional political system, opening the gate to a novel future. Thomas Paine’s words in early 1791 marked a turning-point: ‘It is an age of Revolutions, in which everything may be looked for’.

From the 19th century onwards, revolutions—as extraordinary events, the object of intense passions, vast mobilizations and dramatic social conflicts—have always been popular topics for research and debate. In the 1960s and 1970s, the apparent actuality of revolution multiplied the number of such studies and widened their analytic and geographical range. Two influential new approaches were Theda Skocpol’s focus on the role of the state—its crisis and post-revolutionary re-strengthening—in social revolutions, and Jack Goldstone’s model of demographic pressures on the fiscal and the institutional base of Eurasian agrarian polities. Subsequently the bi-centenary of the French Revolution and the implosion of the Soviet Union triggered new rounds of literature, much of it politically correct denunciation of the objects to hand.

The result is today an enormous corpus of scholarship on revolution(s), at once creating space for introductory text-books, and raising the stakes for original reflections. Noel Parker’s Revolutions and History falls somewhere between these stools. Attractively written, well read and circumspect in judgement, it offers an essay rather than a systematic guide to the literature on revolution. Parker’s framework is a combination of modernization theory and world system analysis, approaches that sit together here without much mediation. His general argument is that ‘revolutions occur where states are conduits of the pressures from the expanding, modern global system’—the English revolution being a ‘borderline case’, at the late end of the ‘pre-revolutions’ of the Reformation era, before popular overthrows of government proper. But his main interest lies in the meanings that revolutions have held for contemporaries and posterity. His key concept here is what he calls ‘the revolutionary narrative’, or the ‘form within which the events and actions that constitute one revolution or another are interpreted and acted upon’. Even as actual revolutions occurred at ever greater distances from the core of the modern world, revolutionary narratives relayed the impact of these outliers within it.

This is potentially a very fruitful idea. But the genre Parker has chosen does not allow him to elaborate it. Taking ‘willed change towards a better future’ as the central motif of modern revolutions, he overlooks the fact that modernity has generated at least three master narratives—emancipation/liberation, progress/development, and victorious survival (in a darwinist sense). Parker pays no attention to emancipation, arguably the most important revolutionary narrative, or to evolutionary stories of progress, that allow collective efforts for a better future to be conceived as reform rather than revolution. In effect, his subject is ill-fitted to the interpretive essay, a Latin (American-cum-European) speciality often characterized by a reckless drive to originality, rush to judgement, and preoccupation with style. Even a more balanced Anglophone variant is not best suited to tackle a subject where so much detailed scholarship has accumulated.

Fred Halliday’s Revolution and World Politics focuses on the complex set of relations between revolutions and the inter-state system, over the short and long run—relations of causation, conditioning, constraint, amplification, support, or confinement. This is a major original work, by a scholar with extensive first-hand experience as a sympathetic observer of Third World revolutions. Social and political revolutions have normally been studied as processes bounded by state borders—that is, as local chains of events with local outcomes. Halliday turns the lens around, and starts from the explicitly internationalist orientation of revolutionary leaders and ideologues. For instance, from Robespierre: ‘Men of all countries are brothers’ and the various nations must assist each other ‘like citizens of the same State’. Halliday, emphasizing that they meant what they said, traces the record of revolutionary internationalism all the way up to Iranian support of the Lebanese Hizbollah and the Cuban apparatus for outfitting guerrillas across Latin America run by the late Manuel Pinheiro. The thrust of his book is a forceful correction of what he calls a ‘double exclusion’ in the prevailing approaches to revolution, ‘exclusion of the international from the analysis of society, and of ideology from the study of revolution’.

Revolution and World Politics is divided into three parts. The first starts with an overview of concepts of revolution, and then moves to questions of revolutionary internationalism and export of revolution. Halliday is a good guide to this terrain, which he knows well. It ends with a perceptive chapter on six antinomies of revolutionary foreign policy. The second part focuses on the systemic repercussions of revolutions—how they affect inter-state relations, and are affected by them. This is the core of the book, written with verve and clarity, if not always with even success. A somewhat impressionistic chapter highlights international factors in the causation of revolutions; another asserts, without much argument, that ‘the whole history of modern international relations is one of wars and revolution’. We get wide and sharp-eyed insights into the ‘incoherence of counter-revolution’ and of the varieties of interaction between war and revolution. A chapter on economic constraints and failed attempts at autarky or ‘delinking’ poses crucial questions, and answers them rather abruptly. Finally, the third part of the book discusses theories of international relations and interpretations of the century that has just ended. Here Halliday sketches a framework for analyzing international relations in general and revolutions in particular.


European Commission transport chief: 2021 will see airline closures ({{contentCtrl.commentsTotal}})

Henrik Hololei.
Henrik Hololei. Source: Priit Mürk/ERR

The first months of 2021 will remain extremely difficult for airlines, with some closures likely and reduced travel opportunities as a result, Henrik Hololei, Director-General of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, told ERR Sunday.

Speaking to ERR's Toomas Sildam, Holohei said: "This year will be particularly quiet, but there is some hope that things will get better in the second quarter as the [coronavirus] vaccine reaches the mass of populations more widely. I believe this will bring a more positive turnaround. But it will definitely be an extremely difficult year."

Some airlines will be forced to wind up, meaning there will be fewer travel options and choices than we have become accustomed to, he noted.

"The main point is that this trend will start to reverse, and more people will be able to move about and fly again. This will be related to how fast the vaccine reaches the public and how effective it is. The more people vaccinated, the faster normal life will also be restored," he added.

Editor: Andrew Whyte


Difficulties in the Measurement of National Income:

The correct estimation of national income is by no means an easy task. Difficulties of various kinds are generally faced in the measurement of national income. These difficulties may be classified into two categories:

Conceptual difficulties or Theoretical difficulties
Practical difficulties

A. Conceptual Difficulties: These difficulties relate to the various concepts of national income. Some of the important conceptual difficulties are as follows:

Determination of intermediate and final goods: The national income of a country consists of only final goods and services. Final goods refer to those goods which are readily available for consumption. Final goods are required for their
own sake. While estimating the national income, it is always not possible to make a clear distinction between intermediate goods and final goods.

For example, cotton used at a surgical Clinic is the final product for a doctor, but if the same cotton is used by the cotton milt to manufacture cloth, it will be treated as inter-mediate product. To stretch this example further, if this cloth manufactured by Delhi Cloth Mills is used by Wings or Liberty Company to manufacture ready- made garments, this cloth will be regarded as an intermediate product.

Services without Remuneration: In our daily life we observe a father teaching his son, a mother taking care of her child, a housewife looking after the household affairs, and so on. No factor payment is made for these services, and therefore, they do not form part of the national income. But if the same services are provided by a tutor, a baby-keeper and a house maid, respectively, factor payments shall have to be made. So, in the changed circumstance the same
services will be included in the national income.

Transfer payments: Transfer payments refer to those payments for which e receive has not to perform any economic’ activity. Pocket allowance given to a son, by his father or the pension paid by the government to the retired employees,
are a few examples of transfer payments. Transfer payments are the sources of income for the households and the business firms, but these do not form part of the national income.

Pricing of Products: Valuation of the final products for the purposes of national income estimation is a difficult task. We know that the prices change every month, every week, and in certain cases from day to day; therefore, which price should be chosen to ascertain the money value of the products, is really a tough
choice. Besides, we find different typed of prices existing in the market, e.g. wholesale price, retail price, etc. Which of these prices should be used to valuate the money value of products is a, difficult task.

Income of the foreign companies: It is again a matter of controversy, whether the income of the foreign firms should be included in the national income or not. It is suggested that the income which the foreign firms retain in the country must form part the national income while the income which they send abroad should not be included in the national income.

B. Practical Difficulties: Different types of practical difficulties arise in the estimation of national, income. More important difficulties are as follows:

Non-monetized sector. A large part of the underdeveloped countries consists of non-monetized sector, Nan-monetized sector refers to that part of the economy where the exchange transactions are not performed in money or in order words, barter system of exchange prevails in the non-monetized sector. Goods which do not enter into the monetary sector are thus excluded from the national income.

Lack of Occupational Specialization: It means that a person performs a number
of economic activities at one and the same time. Consequently, an individual has different sources of earnings at one and the same time. Far example, a teacher teaches in the school and also takes private tuitions in extra time or a farm-laborer
works on the farm and also works in a factory in the off season, and so on. It becomes impossible to trace out, the main source of earning of an individual in such cases. In the absence of adequate, information about the source of income, a
large part of income remains excluded from the national income.

Non-Availability of Reliable Data: This difficulty arises mainly in the
underdeveloped countries where majority of people are living in the world of dark letters. Illiterate people neither understand the importance of the income-data, nor can they maintain proper records in this respect. Sometimes, the producers, in
order to evade income tax, deliberately distort information relating to their incomes. Sometimes, the enumerators do not possess requisite knowledge of collecting, classifying and analyzing the data. Enumerators and investigators vitiate investigations by suing their personal bias and prejudices. National income estimation based upon inadequate and inaccurate statistics need not be dependable.

Goods for Self-Consumption: Producers of final goods retain a part of their produce for self-consumption. Far example, a farmer retains a part of the total crap far personal consumption, or a weaver retains a part of the produced cloth far
self-consumption, and the like. Goods which, are retained by the producer for personal consumption do not fetch, money price, and are therefore excluded from the national income.

Double Counting:

Many goods and services appear mare than once in the national income estimation. It is not always possible to make a clear distinction between intermediate goods and final goads. Likewise, whether the durable goods like building, furniture, machines, etc. should form part of a year’s national income or should be continuously included in the national income till these are finally consumed. We ‘can further take the example of goods and services which satisfy communal wants The government constructs roads, parks, hospitals, bridges, etc. far the welfare of the masses, but different people derive different utilities from these services. How to make allowance for such services in the national income is again a difficult problem.

Thus we find that almost all the countries of the world, irrespective of then economic and social structure, face innumerable difficulties in the estimation of national income. Though it is impossible to remove all these difficulties completely, countries, however, mal-workhard to develop a well-knit system of income expenditure data to make the
national income estimates more dependable.


id: 98784 accession number: 1918.461 share license status: CC0 url: updated: 2020-12-03 10:00:22.212000 Miniature Jar, 1100s. Korea, Goryeo period (918-1392). Celadon; overall: 11.4 cm (4 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of John L. Severance 1918.461 title: Miniature Jar title in original language: 청자호 (靑磁壺) series: series in original language: creation date: 1100s creation date earliest: 1100 creation date latest: 1199 current location: creditline: Gift of John L. Severance copyright: --- culture: Korea, Goryeo period (918-1392) technique: celadon department: Korean Art collection: Korean Art type: Ceramic find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Overall: 11.4 cm (4 1/2 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE --- fun fact: This miniature celadon jar was part of the gifts donated by John L. Severance (1863–1936). He and his father Louis H. Severance (1838–1913) collected Korean ceramics of the Goryeo dynasty (918–1392) from a number of pioneering medical missionaries as a way to foster their activities in Korea, and later donated them to the Cleveland Museum of Art. digital description: Celadons, spoons, seals, and bronze mirrors were the most common burial objects in tombs during the Goryeo period (918-1392). Furnishing tombs with an elaborate assemblage of objects was believed to honor and comfort the newly dead. This miniature jar was not used during the lifetime of the tomb owner, but rather was specially commissioned as part of the burial goods. wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Goryeo Dynasty: Korea's Age of Enlightenment, 918-1392. San Francisco: Asian Art Museum, 2003. page number: url: Goryeo: The Glory of Korea [대고려, 그 찬란한 도전]. Seoul: National Museum of Korea, 2018. page number: url: --- IMAGES web: print: full:


Report: Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs working on significant trade

Reports have emerged on social media that suggest the Ottawa Senators could be in talks over a significant trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

With the Ottawa Senators hiring former Leafs assistant coach D.J. Smith, there were bound to be players the former NHL defenceman would be interested in acquiring.

Now it appears that one such player could make his way north along the 401 to the Canadian capital.

According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Sens and Leafs are involved in trade talks for right-handed defenceman Nikita Zaitsev.

Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston added that it is possible that the return could include restricted free agent Cody Ceci heading down to the Southern Ontario club.

Trade talks involving Zaitsev are somewhat surprising after it was believed that the Senators were on the Russian’s ‘no-trade’ list, which is set to kick in on July 1st.

Any trade involving Zaitsev would likely take place after free agency begins as he is owed a $3 million signing bonus and the Senators, while needing his $4.5 million cap hit, would prefer to not pay such a significant sum of money.

A trade involving Ceci and Zaitsev switching clubs could be good for both players, who could both do with fresh starts after facing heavy criticism from fans.

A move to Ottawa would see Zaitsev play a prominent role on a young Senators blueline, likely satisfying his need for a larger role with more opportunities for power-play minutes.

For Ceci, it would give him a new opportunity to regain his position as a top-four defenceman and play a significant role on a Leafs team that is hoping to contend for the Stanley Cup.

As he is still an unsigned RFA, there is the matter of what kind of contract Ceci could command – especially if he is sent to the Leafs without a new deal.

With D.J. Smith at the helm, Zaitsev may find himself regaining the form he had in his rookie season – where he registered 36 points (four goals, 32 assists) in 82 regular season games.

For the Senators, Zaitsev’s cap hit would help to address their cap shortfall and he would provide them with a defensive piece that is locked up for the next five seasons.

With the 27-year-old’s performances slumping over the past two seasons, there is a significant risk for the Ottawa Senators, but it may be one the organisation is willing to make if Ceci is demanding in excess of $5 million.

Free agency kicks off on Monday and the truth behind these trade rumours will be revealed at the very least in the days following.

What do you think of this potential trade Sens fans? Would you be happy to see Zaitsev join the team? What are your thoughts in Ceci possibly leaving? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!


Marine biology

Marine biology is the study of any living plant or animal in the sea. Marine biologists are the people who study it. Like other scientists, marine biologists must know a lot about the creatures they are studying. They also must understand how the sea works. The study of how the sea works is oceanography.

Marine animals include squids, corals, whales and fish. Marine plants include sea grasses and algae. The Census of Marine Life was a ten-year project of marine biology.

During the Age of Discovery many more ships sailed far from home. Captain James Cook. He went around the would twice while finding new discoveries. Another person who helped is Charles Darwin, known for the Theory of Evolution. He helped a lot in marine biology. His expeditions aboard the HMS Beagle from 1831-1836 to collect marine organisms.

One marine animal that is regularly seen in this position is called the lion fish also known as the zebra fish, fire fish, turkey fish, or butterfly cod. It has a pattern of red, white, cream, or black stripes. This fish is an invasive species. This means that it should not be in as many waters as it is. Another animal is the clownfish is usually orange, or yellow, and black and white stripes. They are part of the Amphiprioninae family. Both of these animals are examples of the life in the ocean or sea.

One of the many habitats in the vast ocean is the coral reef. Coral reefs are very colorful.

Marine biologistEdit

Previous education is a bachelor's degree in biology, followed by at least an MSc in marine biology.

The ocean is large and marine biologists work in many subfields like zoology, invertebrate, ichthyology, and physiology. Other subfields study physical traits like scales, scales, or eyes. Biologists also study animal behavior.

Related pagesEdit

Other websitesEdit


Heavy Duty

(170 TO 1323 LB.)

Heavy Duty

Built to withstand the toughest environments, our heavy-duty drawer slides have load ratings ranging from 170 lbs. - 1,323 lbs.

(140 TO 169 LB.)

Known around the world for their versatility, our medium-duty drawer slides bear loads from 140 lbs. - 169 lbs.

(139 LB. OR LESS)

For lighter applications, our light-duty sliding solutions bring better performance and reliability to any application with a maximum load rating of 139 lbs.

Specialty Slides

Specialty Slides

For more unique applications, we bolster our engineering know-how to create solutions that transcend traditional drawer slides and workstations.

Drawer Slides In Detail

For optimal performance, we reccomend you mount slides only as indicated in the provided technical sheet. Although most slides are side mounted, some can be flat mounted under the drawer or moving component, causing a 50 percent loss in load rating

Side Space

It is the amount of space needed between the pullout and the case or cabinet to ensure optimal movement. Drawer width and expected load should always be considered to determine if a higher rated slide is required for the project.

The total weight of the unit assembly and its contents that needs to be accounted for in determining what drawer slide will be needed for your application.

Drawer Width

Whether used for a drawer, door, component, or chassis, the width of the pullout has a significant impact on performance. If a slide does not have the capacity to support the width, side-to-side movement or racking will occur. Excessive racking will cause instability and drawer failure.

A general rule when designing with Accuride is to use the maximum length slide allowable in the application to ensure full access to contents. While most slides are full extension, we offer slides with under- and over-travel.

Special Features

Just a slight push inward and the slide latch releases, propelling the drawer open 2".

3832TR, 3832HDTR

Easy Close

Bring drawers to a smooth, gentle close every time with our patented Easy-Close feature.

3832EC, 3160EC, 3135EC, and 115RC

Self Closing

Accuride Self-Close ensures your application returns to the closed position and remains there until its next use.

3832SC and 3832EHDSC

The feature holds drawers and pull-out surfaces in an extended position, making it the ideal solution for pull-out work surfaces in residential or commercial environments.

3832DO, 2109, Keyboard Tray Systems

Lock-In / Lock-Out

Equipped with a front latch release, the lock-in/lock-out is ideal for securing drawers, trays, and panels that in an extended position.

Keeps drawers and pull-outs secured in the extended position until released by a lever.

2907WB, 340, 3307, 9307E

Let's Get Started

How do I remove my drawer?

How do I find the right slide for my project?

How do I find and purchase an Accuride product?

How do I get replacement parts to repair a slide?


Law and Order

by Errington C. Thompson, MD –

Tens of thousands of Americans recently descended onto Washington, DC to reenact the March on Washington in which Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

The purpose of this march was to rekindle the feeling and the momentum that were present back in 1963. George Floyd’s May 25th death while being detained by the Minneapolis police may have been the catalyst that started the protests around the country, but he has been far from the only person of color to die in police custody. Jacob Blake is the latest in a long line of men of color who get detained by the police for some minor reason (or none) and somehow end up getting shot.

In Blake’s case, like Floyd’s, we have an infamous video. The circumstances leading up to the video are unclear. Mr. Blake was trying to break up a domestic dispute between two women; the police were called; Jacob Blake, unarmed, is seen walking to the driver-side door of a family-type van. He opens the door to get in—where his sons are waiting for him—and then gets shot seven times in the back. Thankfully, Jacob Blake is alive. Unfortunately, he is paralyzed.

We Need Action

Since the public reaction to George Floyd’s death began early this summer, we have had plenty of protests. We have protested in large cities and small communities. We have had moments of silence. We have also had thought-provoking, emotionally and mentally stimulating speeches. It seems to me that the time for speeches is over. Now we need a plan to move forward.

Every city needs to establish an Office of Neighborhood Safety—a civilian-led office that works closely with the police department on decreasing violence and increasing safety and well-being in our communities.

Police departments need to be refocused on the core mission which is to promote safety in the community. (This is not DE-funding, but RE-allocating budgets.) Some police funding should be diverted to social services. Police officers should not respond to situations in which someone with mental illness is exhibiting erratic behavior. Let highly trained social workers attempt to defuse the situation before calling in the police.

All police shootings should be investigated by independent federal agencies and NOT local officials. (This will also require that our federal agencies, especially those under a partisan Attorney General, be thoroughly depoliticized and returned to independence from the White House.) Our goal must be to keep everyone safe and have zero unarmed Americans shot by the police.

David Cornelius Smith

David Cornelius Smith was a 28-year-old gentleman who suffered from some mental issues. The police were called because he was acting erratically. A struggle ensued as the police tried to subdue him, including by tasing him five times—but were still unable to control him. The police finally wrestled Mr. Smith to the ground and pinned him face down. One police officer is on his legs. Another has his knee on Mr. Smith’s neck. After over four minutes, Mr. Smith is not moving. He is also not breathing. The Minneapolis police officers call for an ambulance and David Cornelius Smith dies in the hospital several days later.

This event occurred in September 2010. It involved the same Minneapolis police department that held down George Floyd ten years later. Back then, there were promises of reform. There was also a multimillion-dollar civil lawsuit paid out to Mr. Smith’s family. But still the behavior persists. Still nothing has changed. This is truly depressing.

Yet it is important for us to remember that change is hard. Police departments have been allowed to police our communities as they see fit for decades. We are asking for major reform. This will not come easy. This is a fight that we need to continue on the local, state, and federal levels.

Law and Order

In 1968, Richard Nixon ran a campaign based on “restoring Law and Order.” The country had just completed eight years of Democratic rule under John F. Kennedy (1961-63) and Lyndon Johnson (1963-68). Martin Luther King had been assassinated in April 1968. Bobby Kennedy—running against Johnson—was assassinated in June. Protests and riots broke out throughout the nation. This was against a backdrop of national introspection over the Vietnam War.

But things are vastly different in 2020. Donald Trump is trying to run his reelection campaign based on “law and order.” The idea that Trump—who has ignored the Constitution, bent and broken scores of laws, and run roughshod over Congress and even ignored Supreme Court rulings—can rebrand himself as someone who supports the military and the police, is somewhat ironic. It would almost be amusing if it weren’t so appalling.

Richard Nixon was the challenger in 1968. Donald Trump is the incumbent. Therefore, whatever disorder and lawlessness that exists sprang up under his presidency.

Trump has proven time and time again that he does not believe that laws apply to him. Donald Trump obstructed justice. The Mueller report clearly outlined multiple times in which Donald Trump tried to influence the outcome of the investigation; he and his Attorney General, William Barr, told us that there was no collusion, but we also know that Paul Manafort gave campaign information to a Russian citizen (the US intelligence community believes that the Russian citizen is also a Russian spy). This simple act is in fact collusion.

We also know that Donald Trump solicited the president of Ukraine to help Trump win reelection. This is also against the law. Donald Trump got impeached for this action. Donald Trump just accepted the Republican nomination for president and held a campaign rally on the White House lawn. This is a clear violation of the Hatch act. This is against the law.

Many of the people that have surrounded Trump for the past four years have been arrested and thrown in jail for different violations of … the law. It seems a little far-fetched to say that you are the law and order president when you and your cronies are constantly breaking the law.

A friend of mine just rejoined the Facebook community. He had taken some time away from Facebook because he found the whole thing to be overwhelming or ridiculous or both. He posted a long rant in which he stated that we all needed to get along, that the country should have never shut down for the coronavirus, and that systemic racism doesn’t exist in the United States.

This is a man who is highly educated. We went to high school together. How could he have gotten it so wrong?

When you think about it, he has no choice but to get it wrong. He is a phenomenally successful White man. If he were to admit that there was systemic racism, he would be pointing the finger at America—but also at himself. He is in a position of power. He is rich. He is successful. His whole worldview would begin to crumble if he thought there was something to the notion of White privilege.

Because he is a businessman, he sees the world through the lens of business. In his world, the coronavirus was a huge inconvenience. The coronavirus put a huge dent in the business environment. Some businesses could not stay open during the lockdown and closed their doors for good. Other businesses had to lay off workers. And still others took a huge financial hit.

Although I can see his point of view, I do not agree with it. Americans must be more than numbers on a profit-and-loss sheet. We are human beings. Over 6 million of us have contracted the coronavirus. There have been over 370,000 hospitalizations secondary to this virus. There have been more than 190,000 deaths.

We must look at the coronavirus is a huge failure of our government, our society. As for my friend, he is lost. He has to find a way to come to terms with America as it is—not America as he wishes it to be.

The good news is that laws that mandate wearing masks have helped flatten the curve again in Texas, Florida, and Arizona. Sadly, all this death and misery could have been avoided. We needed bold, evidence-based action early in December 2019 or January 2020. We needed a complete travel ban under which everyone coming into the US is screened and quarantined for two weeks. We needed to rapidly build facilities to house those who are quarantined. Allow Americans to quarantine at their homes. Test everyone who entered the US.

This approach would have saved lives. It would have stopped the coronavirus at the border, but Trump decided that such measures were nuts. And, according to a new book by famed investigative reporter Robert Woodward (exposer of Watergate under Nixon), Trump knew all this back in January!

Is anyone surprised that Trump was informed and decided against doing the hard work of protecting American lives? But he chose to lie about the coronavirus for six months, putting on “a happy face,” so as not to hurt the economy or cause “panic.” He deliberately sacrificed tens of thousands, maybe even 100,000 or more, American lives to get reelected.

We need a president who understands the challenges that we face. Coronavirus. Systemic racism and sexism. Natural disasters. Climate change. Wage inequality. We need Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Are they perfect? No! But are they good human beings who fight hard for all Americans, yes! It is that simple. Vote!!!

19th Amendment

Can you imagine there was a time in the United States in which women were expected to be seen and not heard? Susan B. Anthony is the woman everyone thinks of when we think of women’s suffrage (what a weird word, “suffrage”). Ms. Anthony was an activist. She traveled the country and gave speeches to motivate Americans on a woman’s right to vote. She registered to vote and cast a ballot in the 1872 election—and she was arrested for this “crime.”

During her trial, the judge would not allow Ms. Anthony to speak on her own behalf. She did give speeches around Monroe County, New York during her trial. She said, “I stand before you tonight a convicted criminal… convicted by a Supreme Court Judge… and sentenced to pay $100 fine and costs. For what? For asserting my right to representation in a government, based upon the one idea of the right of every person governed to participate in that government. This is the result at the close of 100 years of this government, that I, a native born American citizen, am found guilty of neither lunacy nor idiocy, but of a crime—simply because I exercised our right to vote.” The 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920, 14 years after her death.

We need more Susan B Anthonys. We need more Americans who want to make the United States a more equal and just society. We need to VOTE.

NOTE: The views and opinions expressed here, as well as assertions of facts, are those of the author. They do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of The Urban News.

Partly Cloudy
7:33am5:52pm EST
Feels like: 52°F
Wind: 2mph N
Humidity: 55%
Pressure: 29.97"Hg
UV index: 0


Soul (2020)

Soul is a movie starring Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, and Graham Norton. A musician who has lost his passion for music is transported out of his body and must find his way back with the help of an infant soul learning about herself.

Runtime: 100 min

Quality: HD

Release: 2020

IMDb: 8.3/10


Inquiries from citizens

The Danish Immigration Service collects and processes personal data in order to answer enquiries from citizens, including written enquriries, enquiries by telephone and enquiries in person at our Citizen Service.

Purpose and legal basis

The purpose of the processing of personal data is to answer citizen's enquiry.

Categories of data

We process the contact information of the person contacting us. In practice, this is done by registering the enquiry with a view to prepare an answer to the citizen, and the enquiry and other information about you may also be disclosed, see below.

Other personal data may also be processed with a view to responding to the enquiry, typically if such information is mentioned in the enquiry. The information in question will typically be general personal data, but depending on the type of enquiry, sensitive personal data may also be involved.

Recipients or categories of recipients

We may disclose personal data about you to other public authorities if the enquiry is relevant to those authorities' ability to handle their tasks. This may include the following authorities:

Storage of your data

Sidst opdateret 21.11.2019


Home page

There is beauty in what has been discarded if you only take a moment to see it for what it is rather than what it can be.  These homes and treasures are visually enticing because they have been left just as they were to wither away naturally.  Please help me to continue sharing the past with others and leave homes stand as you find them.


Alice is a Creative who has studied photography for 7 years. Has gained a degree in photography from the University of Hertfordshire. Has enjoyed the experience in exhibiting and curating for the degree show. Also has taken that experience to local art fairs. They have developed their creative skills and continued to learn. Expanding skills to use a cutting machine and a press which expands the materials and techniques.  Allowing to create endless possibilities.

Email: alice.gilhooly@outlook.com

Social: @alice_gilhooly


Student Orientation Form

Please provide the following information:

Due to COVID-19 restrictions on group sizes, we must limit the number of guests a student brings with them to the Bedford Campus sessions to no more than one other person.

You have reached the limit
Search for a program or interest


Your Basket is currently empty

Your Bookshelf is empty!

Your Basket is currently empty

Constitutional Foundings in South Asia

Editor(s): Kevin YL Tan, Ridwanul Hoque
Media of Constitutional Foundings in South Asia
See larger image
Published: 28-01-2021
Format: Hardback
Edition: 1st
Extent: 280
ISBN: 9781509930258
Imprint: Hart Publishing
Series: Constitutionalism in Asia
Dimensions: 234 x 156 mm
RRP: £65.00
Online price : £58.50
Save £6.50 (10%)

This book is also available in other formats: View formats

Delivery & Returns

Tell others about this product

Loren Epson

About Constitutional Foundings in South Asia

This volume addresses the idea of origins, how things are formed, and how they relate to their present and future in terms of 'constitution-making' which is a continuous process in South Asian states. It examines the drafting, nature, core values and roles of the first modern constitutions during the founding of the eight modern nation-states in South Asia.

The book looks at the constitutions of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It provides an explanatory description of the process and substantive inputs in the making of the first constitutions of these nations; it sets out to analyse the internal and external (including intra-regional) forces surrounding the making of these constitutions; and it sets out theoretical constructions of models to conceptualise the nature and role of the first constitutions (including constituent documents) in the founding of the modern nation-states and their subsequent impact on state-building in the region.

Table Of Contents

1. South Asian Constitutional Foundings: Beyond History
Kevin YL Tan, National University of Singapore and Ridwanul Hoque, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
I. Why this Book?
II. Constitutional History Matters
A. Constitutional Foundings
B. Conditions and Functions of Constitutional Foundings
III. Factors Impacting Constitutional Foundings
A. Internal Factors
B. Local Politics
C. Socio-Economic Conditions
D. External Factors
IV. The Legacies of Constitutional Foundings
V. A Note of Acknowledgement

2. India's Constitutional Founding: An Enduring but Mixed Legacy
Arun K Thiruvengadam, Azim Premji University, Bangalore, India
I. Constitutional Developments in Pre-Modern India and During the Colonial Period (1550–1947)
A. The Mughals and the East India Company (1550–1857)
B. The British Raj and Colonial Forms of Constitutional Government (1858–1947): A Bird's Eye View
C. The Nationalist Movement and the Build-up of Attempts at Constitution-Making (1885–1947): A Worm's Eye View
II. Crafting a Constitution for Independent India: The Work of the Constituent Assembly (1946–1949)
A. Background and Origin of the Constituent Assembly
B. The Ambient Atmosphere of Constitution-Making
C. Processes, Modes of Functioning, and Stages of Constitution-Making in the Constituent Assembly
D. A Survey of Important Provisions and Themes in the Text
III. Brief Analysis of Evolution of the Post-Independence Constitutional Order (1947–2019)

3. From Nation to State: Constitutional Founding in Pakistan
Sadaf Aziz, Shaikh Ahmad Hassan School of Law, Pakistan and Moeen Cheema, ANU College of Law, Australia
I. Constituent Assemblies as the Site of Constitutional Drafting
II. Inchoate Visions of Nationhood
III. Competing Visions of Statehood
IV. Compromise(d) Constitutionalism
V. Conclusion

4. The Founding and Making of Bangladesh's Constitution
Ridwanul Hoque, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
I. The Emergence of Bangladesh
A. Bangladesh and the 1947 Partition of British India
B. Bangladesh as Part of Pakistan (1947 to 1971): The Pre-independence Years of Constitution-making
II. The Proclamation of Independence and the Provisional Constitution: The First Foundings
A. The Proclamation of Independence: The First Interim Constitution
B. The Provisional Constitution Order: The Second Interim Constitution
III. The Making of Bangladesh's Founding Constitution: The Drafting Process
A. The Constituent Assembly and the Wider Political Policy for Foundings
B. The Constitution Drafting Committee
C. Adopting the Founding Constitution
IV. The Constitution's Four Identity Principles and the Political Founding
A. Nationalism
B. Socialism
C. Democracy
D. Secularism
V. The Foundings and the Problem of Inclusive Constitutionalism
VI. External Influences on the Founding Constitution
VII. Post-1972 Developments and the Impact of Constitutional Foundings
VIII. Conclusion

5. Dominion Status and Compromised Foundations: The Soulbury Constitution and Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Responses to the Founding of the Ceylonese State, 1931–1956
Roshan de Silva-Wijeyeratne, Griffith University, Australia
I. The Colebrooke-Cameron Commission
II. The Donoughmore Reforms
III. The Soulbury Commission and the Dominion Constitution
IV. Wither Elitism
V. Conclusion

6. Constitutional Foundings in Nepal: Experience with Changing Parameters
Bipin Adhikari, Kathmandu University, Nepal
I. The 1950–1951 Revolution and the Founding Constitution of 1951
II. The 1951 Interim Constitution and Constitutional Foundings: The Point of Departure
III. Promulgation of the Foundational 1959 Constitution
IV. The Panchayat Constitution of 1962: Undoing the Founding?
V. The 1990 Constitution: Restoring the 1959 Foundings?
VI. The Maoist Armed Rebellion
VII. Constitution-Making By the People At Last?
A. The Interim Constitution 2007
B. Constituent Assembly I
C. Constituent Assembly II
VIII. The 2015 Constitution
IX. Conclusion

7. Making Bhutan's Constitution: Institutionalising a 'Traditional' Monarchy
Winnie Bothe is an independent scholar
I. Historical Trajectories of the Bhutanese Constitution
II. The Constitutional Committee
III. Consulting the People
A. Distributing the First Draft: Ceremony and Symbolism
B. The Construction of Citizens as 'Participants'
IV. The Constitutional Debates
V. Discussions between the King and the People
VI. Adoption and Content of the Constitution
VII. The Traditionalisation of the Constitution
VIII. Conclusion

8. Towards a Maldivian Nation-State: The Constitutions of 1932 and 1968
Shamsul Falaah is an Advocate of the Supreme Court of the Maldives
I. Historical Backdrop
A. Maldives: Origins and a Brief History
B. An Historical Overview of the Legal System
II. The First Maldives Constitution (1932)
A. The Quest for a Written Constitution and Driving Forces
B. The Constitution Drafting Process
C. Ratification of the First Constitution
III. Main Features of the First Constitution
A. Structure of the State and Separation of Powers
B. The Life and Death of the First Constitution
C. A Founding Constitution?
IV. Constitutional Developments 1934–1968
A. From Monarchy to Republic
B. Main Features of the 1953 Constitution
V. The Second Republican Constitution: 1968–1998
A. Resurgence of Republicanism
B. Main Features of the Constitution of 1968
VI. Legacy of the Constitutions of 1932 and 1968
VII. Conclusion

9. Afghanistan: An Aborted Beginning
Ebrahim Afsah, University of Vienna, Austria
I. A Contextual Prolegomenon
II. Introduction: Where to Begin?
III. Constitutionalism and Nation-Building
IV. Locating the 1964 Constitution
V. Tortuous Transplants and Religious Resistance
VI. Constitutions as Tools for Consolidation and Coordination
VII. Contestation and Constitutional Compromise
VIII. Process and Substance
IX. Conclusion

Bookmark and Share


WTI Houston (HCL) Dock Allocation FAQ

  • 24 Sep 2020
  • By CME Group
  • Topics: Energy

1. What is the WTI Houston Futures (Code HCL) Dock Allocation Run process?

The WTI Houston Futures (HCL) Dock Allocation Run process allows participants to load a full cargo of light sweet crude oil (650,000 to 850,000 barrels) purchased under a WTI Houston (HCL) futures contract onto a cargo ship at the Enterprise Houston Ship Channel. The dock delivery is an optional and off Exchange transaction that is governed by Enterprise’s Terminal Services Agreement (“TSA”).  On a monthly basis, Enterprise Product Partners may provide loading windows, which the Exchange will randomly allocate (in accordance with expressed preferences) at a known and fixed terminal services fee to some Allocation Run participants.

2. Is the allocation process completely random?

The allocation process is not completely random. This is because participants may express interest for one or more windows for any or all of the available 10-day loading periods, termed “decades.”

3. Does participation in an allocation run guarantee a loading window allocation?

No. Some participants may not receive an allocation. This could occur, for example, because the number of participants is greater than the number of offered windows.

4. How will allocations be documented?

Participants that receive an allocated window will receive a Certificate, giving them the right to use the loading window as a redelivery option at a known and fixed terminal services fee. Participants allocated a window may also sell the Certificate off-exchange and transfer ownership of the loading window.

5. Who is eligible to participate in the Dock Allocation process?

Participants must be onboarded by NYMEX through their clearing member for participation in an Allocation Run. The onboarding process requires participants to be familiar with the applicable NYMEX rules and the Certificate terms and conditions. Participants must also have the capacity for arranging redelivery of crude oil by vessel at Enterprise Houston Ship Channel.

6. How are “decades” defined?

A decade will generally be a ten (10) consecutive day period comprised of (a) the 11th through the 20th calendar days of the delivery month (2nd Decade); (b) all remaining calendar days after the 20th calendar day of the delivery month (3rd Decade); or (c) the 1st through the 10th calendar days of the calendar month following the delivery month (1st Decade).

7. How are loading window Certificate’s allocated?

Participants who have a strong preference for one decade over another should classify the higher priority decade as the “first-priority.” Note that Certificates will be allocated in chronological order. Participants may choose both a first-priority and second-priority decade(s), while limiting the number of windows allocated to a maximum quantity.

Example –

Participant A wants to fill no more than one loading window for a January 2020 HCL futures contract. The participant prefers a 2nd Decade window but will accept a 3rd Decade window.

Participant A informs the Exchange through their clearing member that their first-priority is for one 2nd Decade window and their second-priority is for one 3rd Decade window.  In this example, Firm A wants only one window.

If Participant A is not awarded a Certificate in the first-priority run, they are eligible for a 3rd Decade window in the second-priority run.

If Participant A is awarded a Certificate in the first-priority run, they will not be included in the second-priority run for a 3rd Decade window.

Participant A will not be allocated more than one window in any scenario and has no chance of receiving a 1st Decade window. There is no guarantee that Participant A will receive any window in the Allocation.

8. Where do I find the Onboarding Package for the Dock Allocation process?

9. When will allocations be run?

An allocation run will be scheduled for, and conducted at, 12 p.m. Eastern Time (“ET”) on the 15th day of the second month preceding the delivery month or the preceding business day if such day is not a business day.

10. How do participants express interest in a loading window?

Participants are required to express interest to the Exchange no later than 11:30 a.m. ET on the day of a scheduled Allocation Run through their clearing member.

11. When will a participant know the cost per barrel of a loading window?

The loading cost per barrel will be fixed and posted along with the number of available windows in each Decade approximately two business days prior to the Allocation Run.

12. How many futures do participants need to deliver against their cargo?

The process is designed for participants to redeliver and load crude oil delivered under the futures contract at ECHO for the complete cargo of 650,000 to 850,000 barrels. However, the Exchange may elect to allow participants to use off exchange/physical supply to fill part of the cargo. If permitted, a participant must secure non-futures crude oil at ECHO and ensure that the crude oil meets the quality specifications outlined in the HCL contract.

13. When do participants need to hold a futures position to use for delivery via a dock window?

Participants are required to hold futures contracts only on the futures contract’s expiration date in order to use the allocated dock window(s) for redelivery.

14. What else do participants have to do to use the Certificate for loading a full cargo during an allocated Decade?

Prior to loading participants must enter into a Terminal Services Agreement with Enterprise and register with Enterprise through its EStream registration system.

15. How can a participant trade WTI Houston futures (HCL)?

Participants may execute HCL Futures contracts electronically on CME Globex or, if eligible, as a block trade pursuant to the requirements of NYMEX Rule 526 (“Block Trades”).  Block trades must be submitted to the Exchange via CME ClearPort.

16. What are a participant’s options if allocated a Certificate for a loading window?

Participants that are allocated a loading window have three options:

  1. Use the Certificate for loading a full cargo of light sweet crude oil in the specified Decade  (such crude will be initially delivered at ECHO against expired HCL futures contracts) with further delivery off exchange at the dock in delivered quantities as required for dock deliveries of futures versus off exchange barrels.
  2. Sell the Certificate off-exchange and transfer the loading window through an assignment of rights
  3. Allow the unused Certificate to expire. Note that participants that allow an unused Certificate to expire must pay the loading fee multiplied by the minimum number of barrels in the offered range.

17. What happens if participants buy a loading window off-exchange (“OTC”)?

Only participants that have completed the onboarding process for Dock Allocation are eligible to purchase a Certificate OTC from a Certificate holder. Please contact NYMEX at clearinghousedelivteam@cmegroup.com to request a copy of the Allocation onboarding package.

18. How does a participant submit the number of barrels within the acceptable range (650K-850K)?

Each Certificate will include an expiration date that is approximately 2 business days prior to the 15th of the month prior to delivery. In order to redeem the Certificate, the holder must notify its clearing member in writing of the size of the cargo within the prescribed range.

About CME Group

Follow us for global economic and financial news.

CME Group on Twitter

CME Group on Facebook

CME Group on LinkedIn


Monday, 21 March 2016

Data Warehouse Glossary #2

A variable, perspective or general category of information that is used to organize and analyze information in a multi-dimensional data cube.

Drill Down:
The ability of a data-mining tool to move down into increasing levels of detail in a data mart, data warehouse or multi-dimensional data cube.

Drill Up:
The ability of a data-mining tool to move back up into higher levels of data in a data mart, data warehouse or multi-dimensional data cube.

Executive Information Management System (EIS):
A type of decision support system designed for executive management that reports summary level information as opposed to greater detail derived in a decision support system.

Extraction, Transformation and Loading (ETL) Tool:
Software that is used to extract data from a data source like a operational system or data warehouse, modify the data and then load it into a data mart, data warehouse or multi-dimensional data cube.

The level of detail in a data store or report.

The organization of data, e.g. a dimension, into a outline or logical tree structure.  The strata of a hierarchy are referred to as levels.  The individual elements within a level are referred to as categories.  The next lower level in a hierarchy is the child; the next higher level containing the children is their parent.

Legacy System:
Older systems developed on platforms that tend to be one or more generations behind the current state-of-the-art applications.  Data marts and warehouses were developed in large part due to the difficulty in extracting data from these system and the inconsistencies and incompatibilities among them.

A tier or strata in a dimensional hierarchy. Each lower level represents an increasing degree of detail.  Levels in a location dimension might include country, region, state, county, city, zip code, etc.

A quantifiable variable or value stored in a multi-dimensional OLAP cube.  It is a value in the cell at the intersection of two or more dimensions.

One of the data points for a level of a dimension.

Meta Data:
Information in a data mart or warehouse that describes the tables, fields, data types, attributes and other objects in the data warehouse and how they map to their data sources.  Meta data is contained in database catalogs and data dictionaries.

Multi-Dimensional Online Processing (MOLAP):
Software that creates and analyzes multi-dimensional cubes to store its information.

Non-Volatile Data:

Online Analytical Processing (OLAP):
The process employed by multi-dimensional analysis software to analyze the data resident in data cubes.  There are different types of OLAP systems named for the type of database employed to create them and the data structures produced.

Open Database Connectivity (ODBC):
A database standard developed by Microsoft and the SQL Access Group Consortium that defines the “rules” for accessing or retrieving data from a database.

Relational Database Management System:
Database management systems that have the ability to link tables of data through a common or key field.  Most databases today use relational technologies and support a standard programming language called Structured Query Language (SQL).

Relational Online Analytical Processing (ROLAP):
OLAP software that employs a relational strategy to organize and store the data in its database.

The process of copying data from one database table to another.

The attribute or capability of a database to significantly expand the number of records that it can manage.  It also refers to hardware systems and their ability to be expanded or upgraded to increase their processing speed and handle larger volumes of data.

Structured Query Language (SQL):
A standard programming language used by contemporary relational database management systems.

The process by which the data in two or more separate database are synchronized so that the records contain the same information.  If the fields and records are updated in one database the same fields and records are updated in the other.

Dimensional Model:

Dimensional Table:

Drill Across:
Data analysis across dimensions.

No comments:

Post a comment


Verstappen surprises Mercedes to take Abu Dhabi pole position

By on
F1 Grand Prix, GP Abu Dhabi, Yas Marina Circuitae

Max Verstappen didn't record a single best sector, but put together the best overall lap to beat both Mercedes for the first time this year. Just a few hundredths slower was Valtteri Bottas while Lewis Hamilton qualified in third.

After an anonymous third free practice session, Mercedes were out to prove something, and they soon did, as Bottas went fastest halfway into Q1. Lewis Hamilton was close, but his first lap was cancelled due to not respecting the limits of the track at Turn 20. In the event, Hamilton seemingly damaged the car's floor somewhat as he skated over the sausage kerbs, throwing sparks all over the place.

Hamilton sorted the situation a few minutes later by setting the 7th best time, enough to make it through to Q2.

Verstappen, Perez, Albon and Stroll were second to 6th, though for Perez, times didn't really matter at all, as a penalty meant he would have the start the race from the back of the grid anyway.

The closing stages saw more improvements across the field with Hamilton actually jumping up into first with a last minute attempt. Leclerc improved to third. Raikkonen got eliminated while his teammate Giovinazzi progressed into Q2, for the second time in a row.

Both Haas cars were out as well, along with the Williams drivers. Russell explained "the tyre were just nowhere" while Latifi spun when starting his final lap. He was going slowly to get some space ahead, but the aggressive acceleration out of Turn 21 made him spin, obviously removing any chance for improvement on his last effort.

The second part of qualifying kicked off with both Mercedes taking the track, Hamilton leading Bottas out of the pitlane. Just like both Red Bulls, the Ferraris, Renaults and Sainz, they opted for the medium compound tyres.

Hamilton emerged fastest, with Bottas within a tenth. Behind them, the fastest driver was Norris on soft edging out his own team mate on mediums by 4 tenths. Verstappen ended up 5th after those first laps, with the Dutchman complained that the tyres were bad at the end of his lap - despite being on mediums. Albon was even worse off, as his laptime was deleted for going too wide at Turn 20.

Similarly, Ricciardo's time was deleted for going off track on the exit of Turn 21.

While the track was quiet, Perez went out for a final qualifying outing for Racing Point. Though he returned to the pits at the end of his out-lap, Perez was applauded by his crew, and encouraged for the race ahead after returning back to the pitbox.

At the end, both Mercedes returned to the track on soft, without setting a better time. Verstappen and Albon got through; Verstappen on medium, Albon on soft.

In the fight for third place, Stroll and both McLarens are on the top 10 while both Renaults just missed out.

The first laps in Q3 saw everybody out on soft tyres, and obviously with the engines turned up to the maximum. It resulting in a very close top 4, both Bottas, Verstappen, Hamilton and Albon less than two tents from one another. Bottas ended up fastest thanks to a purple S2 and S3, but that was just 0.156s faster than Albon in 4th.

Both McLarens were next up. Sainz was closest, exactly 4 tenths slower than Bottas.

The small differences continued in the second attempts, with Hamilton first improving to take provisional pole, then Bottas returning the favour, and eventually Verstappen beating both Mercedes with a few hundredths.

Lando Norris also pulled off an amazing lap to go 4th fastest, topping Albon and Sainz who both didn't manage to improve on their first attempts.

133Max VerstappenRed Bull Racing Honda1:35.9931:35.6411:35.24619
277Valtteri BottasMercedes AMG1:35.6991:35.5271:35.27118
344Lewis HamiltonMercedes AMG1:35.5281:35.4661:35.33220
44Lando NorrisMcLaren Renault1:36.0161:35.8491:35.49717
523Alexander AlbonRed Bull Racing Honda1:36.1061:35.6541:35.57115
655Carlos SainzMcLaren Renault1:36.5171:36.1921:35.81514
726Daniil KvyatAlphaTauri Honda1:36.4591:36.2141:35.96320
818Lance StrollRacing Point BWT Mercedes1:36.5021:36.1431:36.04615
916Charles LeclercFerrari1:35.8811:35.9321:36.06520
1010Pierre GaslyAlphaTauri Honda1:36.5451:36.2821:36.24220
1131Esteban OconRenault1:36.7831:36.359-12
123Daniel RicciardoRenault1:36.7041:36.406-9
135Sebastian VettelFerrari1:36.6551:36.631-12
1499Antonio GiovinazziAlfa Romeo Racing Ferrari1:37.0751:38.248-12
1511Sergio PerezRacing Point BWT Mercedes1:36.034--4
167Kimi RäikkönenAlfa Romeo Racing Ferrari1:37.555--6
1720Kevin MagnussenHaas Ferrari1:37.863--9
1863George RussellWilliams Mercedes1:38.045--8
1951Pietro FittipaldiHaas Ferrari1:38.173--9
206Nicholas LatifiWilliams Mercedes1:38.443--7

Note - Leclerc penalised three grid places for causing a collision at the previous round.
Perez and Magnussen required to start race from back of grid for use of additional power unit elements.


LOS ANGELES | Parents spend more than nine hours a day with TVs, computers and other screen devices while also giving themselves high marks as role models for their children’s media use, according to a survey released Tuesday.

The study also found they were enthusiastic about technology’s role in their kids’ lives but wary of the risks it may hold, including loss of sleep and online oversharing. Researchers from the nonprofit Common Sense Media group and Northwestern University’s Center on Media and Human Development conducted the project.

Two-thirds of those surveyed, 67 percent, said monitoring their children’s devices and social media accounts is more important than allowing them privacy.

Another finding: Latino and black parents expressed more concern about their kids’ media use (66 and 65 percent, respectively) than white ones (51 percent). Latinos are more diligent in managing it than other parents, checking devices and social media accounts more often.

It was the gap between how much adults use media and what that might mean for their offspring that was particularly striking to James P. Steyer, founder and CEO of Common Sense Media , which helps families and educators assess and use media and technology effectively. The group’s first-ever deep dive on parents’ tech habits mirrors its ongoing analysis of those of children and teenagers.

"I found the numbers astounding, the sheer volume of technology used by parents," Steyer said. "There’s really a big disconnect between their own behavior and their self-perception, as well as their perception of their kids."

Personal media usage by educational level ranges from about nine hours for parents with a high school degree or less to about six hours for those with a bachelor’s degree or higher.

But nearly all parents, 94 percent, believe technology is helpful for children’s schoolwork and education, with 89 percent agreeing it will prepare youngsters for 21st-century jobs. About three-quarters of those surveyed said technology increases exposures to other culture and supports kids’ expression of their personal beliefs.

For parents seeking guidance on their family’s media use, Steyer offers these tips:


However, this song changes Cléo. articles Combining cutting-edge design, illustration and journalism, we’ve been described as being “at the vanguard of the independent publishing movement.” Our reviews feature a unique tripartite ranking system that captures the different aspects of the movie-going experience. She understands that the ordinary has its own draws and wonders, even allowing for a cursed woman to briefly forget her upcoming ordeal with illness. I saw her as a real human and artist rather than a person to be thrown around by men and society. Cleo from 5 to 7 is one of the first films by Agnès Varda, a Nouvelle Vague director. The first frame of the scene is black and white to show contrast between the piano, the background, and the characters. Once Cléo is signaled to sing, the songwriter and pianist stare expectantly at her. Cléo becomes less of an object to be watched and studied but rather a person with real emotions. At the beginning of the film, Cléo is suffering with the news that she might have cancer. Les fiancés du pont Mac Donald ou (Méfiez-vous des lunettes noires), 100 great movies by female directors – part 1, Discover one of the hidden gems of the Czech New Wave, How Bonnie and Clyde brought the French New Wave to Hollywood. She puts on a simpler dress and removes her wig. She is overwhelmed by her surroundings and the music because of its close relationship with what she is dealing with on a personal level. Cléo, as flâneuse, consumes the spectacle of late capitalist modernity as manifest within the social and material fibre of 1960s Paris. Little White Lies was established in 2005 as a bi-monthly print magazine committed to championing great movies and the talented people who make them. Female characters in the film embody different possibilities for womanhood, but Cléo, our protagonist and guide through Paris, is no feminist heroine. Why list these events? A curiosity in the everyday powers Agnès Varda’s masterful second feature. At first, the scene shows Cléo, pianist, and songwriter. The audience feels her emotions as there is nothing else to look at but her face. In Cleo from 5 to 7, Cleo meets her friend Dorothee's boyfriend Raoul. With a few exceptions, Cléo and those around her benefit, or are somehow invested in her beauty. She rehearses the song and becomes visibly more emotional. Whilst viewing Paris through Cléo’s female gaze, a patriarchal male gaze is ever present, with beauty, looking, being looked at, and women’s place in society operating core themes around which the film pivots. She is not aware of the world around her but only cares about being beautiful and being perceived as beautiful. Fate and luck are themes that we observe Cléo contending with at a tempo, which in the wider context of the film immerses viewers in the visual and sonic textures of Parisian street life. The diegetic music adds layers for the audience that Cléo herself is not experiencing. Throughout the film, pieces of songs, often Cléo’s own songs, are added diegetically to show that Cléo’s music is always present. Through the film we see Cléo grappling with the implications of seeing herself, and being seen by others through a lens of feminine beauty, which situates her as frivolous, passive and vulnerable. The audience is forced to see her inner struggle and emotions as shown through her facial expressions and tears down her cheek. It depicts two hours in the life of a woman wandering throughout Paris on June 22, 1961. D) She gives it to her friend Dorothee. The music comes from the piano and Cléo’s impressive voice, but Varda also added other instruments to the song such as violins, flutes, and brass. Her eyes connect with the viewer as she stares into the screen, having broken the fourth wall. Cléo breaks the fourth wall and faces the camera directly while singing. In Agnes Varda's Cléo from 5 to 7, the realization of identity and self-fulfillment is undertaken through perception and perspective. Even the tiniest of things can relate to the character’s worries and concerns. Varda locates Cléo and Paris with a wider national and international website of relations and context, including through references to the Algerian War of Independence. Beauty is fundamental to Cleo’s sense of self, she enjoys and finds validation in embodying femininity as an object, enacting practices and consuming products that signify femininity. As an urban geographer my research and teaching is oriented around relationships between gender, sexualities and cities. She fears death, and it controls her thoughts. In addition, after this scene, the camera no longer focuses so much on her face, but instead, it focuses more on the beauty of Paris and her surroundings such as the park and city streets (Powrie, 116). She will meet with her friends, wander through the park, and meet an Algerian soldier. She no longer wants to be regarded as an object to be tossed around by her lover, maid, and writers, but she wants to rediscover herself as a strong woman. Cléo from 5 to 7, a film concerned above all with appearances, makes good use of its subject matter, as illustrated by scenes such as these.Mirrors and clothes, the washed-out symbols of shallow artifice, carry the weight of the film’s storytelling. Centring women in narrative and documentary films is a common thread in Varda work. But what did she see on her journey? The film centers on the two hours that a young singer, Cleo, must wait to hear from her doctor to find out if she has cancer. We see this through Cleo’s interactions; particularly with men, but also through Varda’s use of mirrors as a device that signifies Cléo’s relationship to beauty and process of self reflection. Trying to earnestly avoid what this could mean for her, she wanders almost aimlessly from place to place; talking to strangers, meeting friends and getting taxis to nowhere. The film is in fact by Varda, her short ode to silent comedy, Les fiancés du pont Mac Donald ou (Méfiez-vous des lunettes noires). However, the camera will pan to Cléo to show her emotions towards the song, changing back to first person like the majority of the film. Cléo, portrayed by Corinne Marchand, starts the film at 5… Varda is less interested in viewers identifying with or sympathising with her protagonist, than engaging with the contradictions Cléo encounters through the social, spatial and political context in which she lives her life. The audience can hear what the final cut of the song might sound like when it is released. Throughout the film, pieces of songs, often Cléo’s own songs, are added diegetically to show that Cléo’s music is always present. Her worry drove her frantic steps but she knows herself better now. She is in search of headspace as much as physical space. The song is almost directly in the middle of the 90 minute film. Neroni observes that Cléo’s beauty simultaneously defines and obliterates her, erasing her subjectivity through objectification. “Everything suits me,” says Cléo with sheer delight as she exhausts a hatter’s stock. Scene Analysis Music is obviously important to Cléo as she is a famous pop-artist. The contrast between her face and the background make it impossible to ignore the sadness in her eyes. Viewers follow the self-absorbed and pampered Cléo, a well-known singer, as she moves through Paris.


Select Page

Wisconsin Retaliation Attorneys – Filing a Retaliation Charge or Complaint

What is Workplace Retaliation?

Retaliation can come in subtle forms, including negative or unflattering performance reviews, a combative or generally unpleasant working environment, removing some or all of an employee’s duties, cutting an employee’s pay or commissions, moving an employee’s office or workspace to a less desirable location, or restricting an employee’s ability to do his or her job properly or effectively.

Employees in Wisconsin are protected from employment discrimination and retaliation in the workplace by both state and federal laws.  In Wisconsin, the state law is the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act (WFEA).  Under federal law, employees are protected under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended.  Generally this federal law is simply referred to as Title VII or the Civil Rights Act.

Retaliation Under WFEA & Title VII

When it comes to retaliation, the protections of the WFEA and Title VII are virtually identical.

There are 2 forms of retaliation prohibited by the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act and Title VII:

1. Retaliation based on participation – filing a charge or complaint or participating in a hearing or investigation

2.  Retaliation for opposing discrimination or harassment

Retaliation based on participation protects an employee from being retaliated against for “participating” in the legal process in any way.  More specifically, it is usually seen in the context of retaliation for filing a formal complaint, such as a complaint with the Equal Rights Division (ERD) or Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

However, it also protects witnesses from being retaliated against for supporting another individual’s charge.  So, if a former coworker asks an employee to testify on his or her behalf against a current employer, you are protected from retaliation from the employer under the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act (WFEA).

Retaliation for opposing discrimination or harassment occurs when an employer engages in some form of retaliation in response to a complaint about discrimination, for example a verbal complaint to a manager or an internal complaint to the company.  The complaint can be about the individual complaining, or it can be about a coworker.

The Walcheske & Luzi Difference

Call Now Button


The Final Frontier

Want to know about space – the final frontier?! Then check out these (simple but fun) 10 top facts about our solar system… and beyond!

2. A black hole is created when big stars explode. Its gravitational force is so strong that nothing can escape from it – luckily the closest black hole is about 10,000 light-years from Earth.

3. When venturing into space, astronauts wear spacesuits which have to be warmed, cooled, pressurised and supplied with fresh air. This takes six hours for them to put on!

4. The universe has no centre and is constantly expanding (getting bigger) every second – making it impossible to reach the edge.

5. The Earth is about 4.5 billion years old – but that’s only a third of the age of the universe – which is 13.5 billion years old!

6. The Earth is tiny in comparison with the rest of the universe – it could fit into the sun 1.3 million times. How small does that make you feel?

7. In 840AD Emperor Louis of Bavaria died of fright when experiencing an eclipse of the sun – this is when the moon moves between the Earth and the sun and a shadow falls over parts of the Earth.

8. The moon is the reason why we have tides and waves on Earth. Along with the sun, it moves billions of tonnes of water each day.

9. A day on Mercury lasts longer than its year! Mercury moves around the sun faster than any other planet – making its year the equivalent of 88 Earth days. While a day on Mercury – the interval between one sunrise and the next – lasts 176 Earth days!

10. In 2006, Pluto was reclassified as a ‘dwarf planet’ after 76 years classified as the outermost planet in our solar system since its discovery in 1930.


Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes.
Design is knowing which ones to keep.

Design Thinking

Design Strategy

User experience & Design strategy lies at the intersection of design and business strategy. It’s a plan-of-action on how to find out if the user experience of a product is aligned with the business objectives. It is used to create an understanding between designers and the goals of the business/ product/ feature. More specifically, it’s a document of guidelines and rules that outline how the design team aims to achieve the organisation/product objectives. Every part of the strategy should be researched, vetted and approved by relevant stakeholders.

Design Execution

The execution is where the rubber meets the ground. It is an essential part of the design process and has been traditionally given more preference over the other design disciplines. Despite the recent increase in popularity of design thinking and strategy, one should not ignore the execution part.