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The Blog

The Secret to Making an Impact on Society, the Environment and the Bottom Line: Employee Engagement

Opportunities for employee engagement do not live in a single department or within a single program. They can, and should be integrated throughout a company. Well-designed employee engagement initiatives are sound investments.
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Employee Engagement
Employee Engagement

More than three million people die each year from water-borne illnesses, according to The World Health Organization. About 1.6 million people live in substandard housing and around 850 million people suffer from under-nourishment.

These complex societal challenges may seem insurmountable, but as the pressure of a growing global population on the Earth's resources increases, so do opportunities to provide sustainable solutions.

At Dow, we are inspired to take on these challenges. The engine of our efforts is a global group of talented, passionate individuals who care about making the world a better place: our more than 53,000 employees. Harnessing the power of this "human element" is key to continuing down a path to greater sustainability -- and business profitability.

Why? Employees today are looking for purpose and meaning in their jobs. A Gallup survey found nearly 70 percent of American workers are not engaged in their workplace, meaning they are emotionally disconnected and not enthusiastic about their jobs. Gallup estimates actively disengaged employees cost the U.S. between $450 billion and $550 billion each year in lost productivity. This weighs on the bottom line of any business.

Companies across all industries have an opportunity to foster emotional connections that ultimately lead to a more productive and enthusiastic workforce -- today and tomorrow. What makes an employee "engaged?" A sense of purpose and connection to the company and the impact they have on the world through their work. According to a World Economic Forum's Global Shapers Community survey, when young adults are looking for a job, more than 65 percent rated the opportunity to make a difference in society as the top decision criteria when choosing an employer. Millennials, who are expected to form half the global workforce by 2020, also tend to value companies whose vision and mission lines up with theirs.

Opportunities for employee engagement do not live in a single department or within a single program. They can, and should be integrated throughout a company. Well-designed employee engagement initiatives are sound investments, reaping economic benefits in addition to increased individual productivity and decreased turnover.

This requires rethinking what employees can do for business and society outside of their job descriptions. As part of Dow's 2025 Sustainability Goals, we will collaborate with nonprofit organizations, government and academia to develop a blueprint for transitioning to a sustainable planet and society. Our employees worldwide will also directly apply their passion, skills and expertise to positively impact one billion people.

Dow employees influence people and the environment through all aspects of our business: what we do in our operations, what we make and how we leverage employees' skills in collaboration with others to redefine the role of business in society. We call this engaging all employees for sustainability across the "footprint" of our operations, the positive "handprint" of our more sustainable products and services, and the courageous collaborations that help us set the "blueprint" for a more sustainable future.

For example, employees make our operations footprint safer, help us use environmental resources more efficiently and, as a result, make a positive difference at Dow sites, in the surrounding community, and in our business. As a result of investing $1 billion toward our 2005 Environment, Health and Safety Goals, we saw $5 billion of safety, waste, water and energy savings. Since 2006, we reduced annual greenhouse gas emissions from 47 million to 35 million metric tons while revenue grew from $49 billion to $58 billion. We also had 1,300 fewer injuries and illnesses from 2005 to 2015 as we pursued our 2015 Sustainability Goals.

As a science and technology company, Dow's handprint of products and solutions is significant. According to the American Chemical Society, chemical processes are involved in the production of almost 96 percent of all manufactured goods. This makes our scientists and others involved in product development and application an important part of benefiting business and society. Dow people pursue breakthroughs to world challenges with solutions like Lifebuoy™ Soap Featuring POLYOX™ Water-Soluble Polymers, a health and hygiene collaboration with Unilever that helps save lives around the world. BETAMATE™ Structural Adhesives from Dow have saved more than 23 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and 10 billion liters of gasoline since 1999. Sustainable innovation leads to profit, too. In 2014 alone, we saw $13 billion in revenue from products highly advantaged by sustainable chemistry.

Even beyond their job descriptions, Dow employees help us create a more sustainable planet and society. Employees give back to society as individuals, acting as ambassadors who foster new collaborations, advance STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education and contribute to initiatives such as the Dow Sustainability Corps. Through this program, employees apply their expertise to help solve some of the world's most pressing problems in food and agriculture, water and sanitation, energy, housing, infrastructure and health. We match interested and capable employees with non-governmental organizations, social entrepreneurs and local government agencies to support sustainable development projects, especially in emerging countries.

For example, Kristi Galus, a supply chain manager at Dow, participated in the Corps to take on water sanitation. She traveled to the Dominican Republic to create a solid business plan to distribute water filters that provide up to 50 gallons of safe water for a family in an undeveloped country every day for 10 years. In support of our safe water team's work, Dow has committed to supplying two million pounds of resin for filters. By 2025, Dow will deliver 700 projects like this and achieve 8 percent employee participation. That's the equivalent of 400,000 volunteer hours.

By integrating sustainability-related employee engagement opportunities throughout our business' footprint, product handprint and as part of a greater global blueprint for sustainability, we will achieve greater change and reap greater business benefits than we possibly could through a single employee engagement initiative. Companies that give employees a platform to create meaningful societal impact as part of their jobs create a win-win-win for people, planet and long-term business success.

Purpose@Work is a new series of discussions designed to explore how we can infuse a deep sense of purpose into our work -- through our organizations, our people, and our impact in society.

How are you taking purpose to the next level in your workplace? Let us know at or by tweeting with #PurposeAtWork.

Before You Go


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OMEGA Speedmaster Moonwatch Two-Piece White NASA VELCRO strap

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OMEGA Speedmaster Moonwatch Two-Piece White NASA VELCRO strap

Customer reviews

To celebrate the shared history of the iconic global watchmaker and the famous American Space Agency, OMEGA and NASA have teamed up to create a range of VELCRO® straps with astronaut-friendly fixtures and bold branding; a perfect alternative to the classic steel bracelet. Highlights include the logo nicknamed the "meatball”, a design which incorporates references to different aspects of the mission of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA’s famous planet-shaped insignia complements the strap in red, white and blue hues, it was released in 1959 which stylishly captured the space-age optimism of the mid-20th century. The strap is complete with a polished stainless-steel oval-shaped loop for a secure and comfortable fit when wearing, and it connects to your Speedmaster Moonwatch in one simple move. Create different looks for your timepiece this season and choose the OMEGA Speedmaster Moonwatch VELCRO® strap in black or white. Please note; this OMEGA watch strap is sold separately to the watch.

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Omega Collection Speedmaster, 2021/22 New Watches
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12 Lessons I Learned From 1254 Conversations With Tauranga Residents

I recently announced the achievement of my goal of visiting 4291 homes in my run for Tauranga City Council.

I met with 1254 people face-to-face (and left a flyer behind for the remainder).

I’m a meticulous note keeper and recorded the ideas that residents shared with me.

I have analysed what they told me and distilled their thoughts into these 12 lessons.

1. We All Love Tauranga Deeply

  • This probably won’t surprise you because you probably love Tauranga too.
  • I knew I loved Tauranga, but I didn’t realise how deep this passion went with everyone I met
  • Would you get the same response if you sampled any city or town in New Zealand? Perhaps. But do they have the same depth of passion as we do in Tauranga? Perhaps not

2. We Are Engaged At All Levels: Local, National, International

  • We think about our neighbourhoods, we think about our city, we think about our country, we think about the world (Brexit and the USA presidential election were mentioned often)
  • Out of the 1254 people I met face-to-face, only 20 of those were not interested in talking to me about their city, NZ, and the world. That’s 1.6%. A tiny, tiny number.

3. Six Topics We Love To Talk About Most

  1. Why we love this city
  2. Our families
  3. Our ideas for the cities future
  4. How proud we are:
    • To be born and bred here
    • To have lived here for decades
    • To have lived in the same house for decades
    • Whether you’ve lived in your house for 1 hour, 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 1 year, 10 years, 20 years, 50 years. It’s home.
  5. Daily annoyances such as traffic congestion and parking and things that could be better in our neighbourhoods
  6. The performance of the current council

4. We Want A Council…

  1. That provides great value for money:
    • We talk about downward pressure on rates
    • We talk about how our debt levels make us feel uneasy
    • We talk about consultants getting paid thousands
    • We talk about projects being proposed but never going ahead
    • We hate the thought that our rates dollars are wasted with inefficiencies
  2. That is decisive and gets on with projects that benefit the city
  3. That listens and is willing to change direction based on our feedback
  4. That communicates effectively and keeps us up to date with what’s important
  5. That has diversity in the group and reflects the make-up of the public. Not a council made up entirely of “stale, pale, male’s”

5. We Are A Diverse Bunch

  • We are such a diverse city
    • So many nations are represented here
    • So many languages are spoken
    • So many different food smells!
  • Some people I visited can not speak a word of English but this is their home too
  • Many, many times, I’d turn a corner and see extreme poverty or extreme wealth just a few metres away from each other
  • The 2 biggest groups are our elders and our young families
    • Our elders get together a lot! There are so many groups that meet regularly.
    • Our families are busy

6. We Have Mixed Views On Building A Museum

  • We don’t want a dusty collection of relics sealed behind glass that we might visit only once in a decade
  • We don’t want to pay for it from our rates or by adding on debt to the city. Alternative funding must be sought
  • But we are envious of so many other cities that have a museum of their own
  • And we do like the idea of our unique local stories told via interactive exhibits
  • Perhaps an idea for the way forward is to provide 10 virtual examples of the experiences visitors might have? If we fall in love with those, maybe we could get more support for the construction. Or, we just give up on the idea.

7. We Treasure Our Natural Environment, But…

  • We care deeply about the natural environment. The beauty of nature is one of the big reasons we chose to live here so we don’t want it messed up
  • But many of us do not recycle paper, glass, plastic, metals, or compost because it hurts our pockets to pay extra

8. We Love Playing Sport

  • Young and old, we love playing sport. Indoor, outdoor, in teams or solo, so many of us get involved
  • Sometimes all we need is a patch of grass and a ball, sometimes we need an indoor court, sometimes we need ratepayers to invest a few million dollars into our facilities even though they might not set foot inside themselves

9. We Talk About Transportation. A Lot

  • We are frustrated when our car journey’s coincide with a rush hour
  • We prefer to drive our own cars around (and a lot of the time we are the only occupant)
  • We are not attracted to public transport / buses. They seem inconvenient, expensive, and not much fun
  • We think the roads are increasingly unsafe for cycling

10. Some Of Us Don’t Visit The CBD Much

  • For many of us, the suburban shopping centres serve all our needs
  • Others commute into the CBD every day and are frustrated by congestion and parking. For the heavy users, we don’t like seeing empty shops
  • For the rest of us, we can’t understand all the talk and attention there is about the CBD in the media when it’s just not important to our daily lives, and when the suburban shopping centres have so many advantages
  • The bottom line is, we don’t have a single CBD, we have 5 (and more on the way)

11. We Talk About Parking. A Lot

  • We know in our heads that we have it good compared to the big cities: Auckland and Wellington can be $8 per hour, but we remember the times when we fluked a park right outside the shop we wanted to get to, or those times we got away without feeding the meter. Like a gambler, we long for that high again, but the odds are against us.
  • Maybe it’s a good thing that our roads are getting more congested… The more often we see cyclists riding past whilst we are stuck in traffic, the more often we’ll think “I should have ridden my bike to work today”
  • Technology will help a little bit so get us closer to 100% utilisation. Imagine every car park has a sensor and the empty parks guide your car to them
  • Instead of swinging around the block again and again, try my strategy:
    • Pick a long line of parks
    • Pull over to the side to indicate to other users that you are staying put and that the parks in the line ahead of you are your territory
    • If there are 15 parks within reach from you, and the zone is 60 minutes, statistically you’ll need to wait just 4 minutes for someone to leave (60/15 = 4). Or you could swing around the block for another 8 minutes, your choice
  • Will the situation ever get better? Adding another parking building with 400 spaces will just encourage 400 more people to park there, it doesn’t really change much. How much pain will you put up with before you cycle or bus around instead?

12. We Rely Heavily On Our Gut

When forming our own reaction to a hot topic, we mostly just rely on our gut.

We rely heavily on the media for our information:

  • Sometimes just the sensationalised headline
  • Sometimes just the photo
  • Sometimes just the first paragraph
  • We are not conscious that 20% of what we read might be wrong

Most of us care very much about what is happening in this city, but we don’t have the time or energy to get deep into the source material information.

A precious few of us:

  • Read through the large volumes of council documentation, research and reports
  • Meet with the specialists with expert knowledge to ask their opinion
  • Get well organised and form groups and mobilise them to get involved/protest or voice their concerns en-masse
  • Write submissions to council
  • Propose an alternative course of action
  • Lobby our council representatives for what we believe in

Your Thoughts?

Do you see yourself in some of these statements? What have I missed? Have your say in the thoughts below.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


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Blackthorn Estates Overland Park,KS Home Sales Report 2013

Blackthorne Estates Overland Park Home Sales Report 2013

Blackthorne Estates Overland Park continues to be a very desirable neighborhood for southeast Johnson Countians.  Nine homes sold in Blackthorne Estates during 2013.  With continued low interest rates and even lower inventory, now is the time to sell your Blackthorne home!

Want to see all homes currently for sale in Blackthorne Estates?

Click here for all homes for sale in Blackthorne Estates, Overland Park

Contact your neighborhood experts, the Russell Home Team at 913.266-5828 or send email to [email protected] if interested in buying or selling in Blackthorne estates or other Johnson County neighborhoods.

 Michael Russell is a REALTOR with The Russell Home Team at Keller Williams Realty. Michael specializes in Johnson County Kansas Homes and Real Estate for sale. Michael is a tech savvy realtor with over 13 years experience. Did you enjoy Michael's Blog? Feel free to subscribe or join Michael on his Social Network to stay up to date on Overland Park, Olathe, Leawood, Lenexa, Shawnee and all of Johnson Counties real estate news and more...

Michael Russell and The Russell Home Team can be reached at 913-266-5828 or [email protected] or

                        facebook   Twitter Overland Park Realtor  Linked In Russell Home Team  You Tube Russell Home Team


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Press Release: 10 September 2015

ICC terminates proceedings against Okot Odhiambo following forensic confirmation of his passing

Situation: Uganda
Case: The Prosecutor v. Joseph Kony, Vincent Otti and Okot Odhiambo

Today, 10 September 2015, Pre-trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court (ICC) terminated proceedings against the alleged Deputy Army Commander of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) Okot Odhiambo following the forensic confirmation of his passing.

Pre-trial Chamber II's decision follows the reception of information and material provided by the Prosecutor, which establishes that a corpse exhumed by the Ugandan authorities in March 2015 was identified, through DNA testing, as that of Okot Odhiambo. The Chamber was informed that the Ugandan authorities have subsequently issued a death certificate, certifying that Okot Odhiambo died on 27 October 2013, 50 kilometres northeast of Djemah, Central African Republic.

Mr Odhiambo's case was joined to the case of other LRA commanders Joseph Kony and Vincent Otti who are still at large. While the case originally involved an additional suspect, Raska Lukwiya, proceedings against him were terminated due to his passing.

Background: The warrant of arrest against Okot Odhiambo was issued by Pre-Trial Chamber II under seal on 8 July 2005 and unsealed on 13 October 2005. As the alleged Brigade Commander of Trinkle and Stockree Brigades of the LRA, Mr Odhiambo was allegedly criminally responsible on the basis of his individual criminal responsibility for two counts of crimes against humanity (murder; and enslavement) and eight counts of war crimes (murder; intentionally directing an attack against a civilian population; pillaging; and forced enlisting of children). Mr Odhiambo's case was joined to the case of other LRA commanders Joseph Kony, Dominic Ongwen, and Vincent Otti. On 6 February 2015, Pre-Trial Chamber II severed the proceedings against Dominic Ongwen from the Kony et al. case following his surrender to the ICC custody on 16 January 2015.

Decision terminating proceedings against Okot Odhiambo

For further information, please contact Fadi El Abdallah, Spokesperson and Head of Public Affairs Unit, International Criminal Court, by telephone at: +31 (0)70 515-9152 or +31 (0)6 46448938 or by e-mail at: [email protected].

You can also follow the Court's activities on YouTube and Twitter


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Sailor Moon Gif

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Sailor Moon is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi. It was originally serialized in Kodansha’s shōjo manga magazine Nakayoshi from 1991 to 1997; the 60 individual chapters were published in 18 volumes.


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20.6 C

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NJC Launches New Judicial Policy

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SME Model 12A (Black)

Offered by: Basically Sound, Reymerston, Norwich - United Kingdom

SME Model 12A (Black)

This product is listed as Ex-demo

Price: £6850 Buy It Now!

Original retail price: £8550

Advert reference: 21611

Listed in: Turntables

This item comes with:

  • Original packing
  • Original manual
  • All original accessories
  • SME Model 12A Turntable Package
  • Superbly engineered by SME here in the UK
  • Fitted with SME 309 magnesium 9" tonearm
  • External motor power supply
  • 33, 45 & 78rpm speed control
  • Finished in SME Black
  • Supplied with original packaging and accessories
  • NB no cartridge is included with the turntable
  • 12 months RTB warranty included

Ask Basically Sound to contact you about this item

Offered by:

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Basically Sound

Calveley Court
Southburgh Road
Reymerston, Norwich
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Phone: 01362 820800

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XG3 Extreme-G Racing

XG3 Extreme G Racing

An old franchise is reborn and dramatically improved to become a worthy Wipeout competitor.

Nintendo 64 owners will remember Acclaim's Extreme G beginnings as something less than spectacular. The first two games appeared on last generation's cartridge-based console and while they were both admittedly ambitious -- filled with style, energy and powered by a unique take on the futuristic racer, they were scarred by sloppy execution.

But with the PS2 port of XG3 Extreme G Racing to GameCube, UK development studio Acclaim Cheltenham has created a racing beast that is anything but shoddy. Indeed, the game's unparalleled sense of speed, tight control, jaw-dropping track design and beautiful graphics combine for an end experience that easily rivals that of the Wipeout or F-Zero brands. Players everywhere, take notice.

The Facts

  • Extreme-style, futuristic racing takes place on magnetic bikes that can accelerate to mach speeds
  • Runs on new 3D engine built from the ground up for next-generation systems
  • Several modes of gameplay including arcade, championship, cooperative mode and more
  • All new GameCube multiplayer mode allows for three- and four-player split-screen action
  • Experience more than 12 bikes over 10 different circuits
  • Power-up with a huge assortment of explosive weapons and bike upgrades
  • Graphical extras such as real-time lighting, a huge draw distance, and a quick 60 frames per second for added sense of speed
  • Unpredictable courses complete with twisting tracks, loops and drop-offs
  • Turbo boosts send bikes zooming past the sound barrier
  • In-game techno soundtrack by the Ministry of Sound

Welcome to the 23rd century, where the sport of racing has taken on a whole new life. The Extreme G Racing League pits high-speed, magnetically powered bikes and their riders across spiraling, gigantic roads that stretch up and down. The bikes themselves can go fast enough to rip through the sound barrier with upgraded engines and turbo boosts and are protected from enemy weapons by energy shields. Nobody is safe from bullet fire, bombs or missiles, and if riders aren't careful they may find themselves zooming off a course edge to their deaths below. It's brutal. It's frantic. It's awesome.

XG3 delivers players a number of gameplay areas including the self-explanatory practice, arcade and time trials, but the meat and bones of the title is its Career Mode. Here gamers choose from one of six teams, select a rider and enter into a competitive league. The idea behind the leagues is to race through courses, win and earn cash, whereby the bikes can be upgraded in speed and weaponry to compete in the next set of events. Each league (except the last one) is constructed of three different tracks that become increasingly more unpredictable and consequently difficult as gamers advance.

Control is extremely tight, polished, and the standard setup works quite brilliantly with the GameCube pad. Bikes are manipulated with the analog stick, A accelerates, B offers a backward view, Y shoots projectiles and X functions as a turbo boost. Weapons are selected with the D-Pad, which takes a bit of getting used to, but it's never more than a minor bother. Meanwhile, the L and R shoulder buttons are used for controlled left and right braking, which is integral to making some sharp turns. The control configuration is made all the more intuitive on the GameCube controller. This just happens to be one of those games that feels much better on Nintendo's pad than it does Sony's.

There is a certain depth to the control scheme that isn't immediately recognizable to the novice player, but which should make itself evident to the experienced one. Gamers must learn to use the R and L buttons around certain corners so that their bike doesn't crash into the walls. They must learn to conserve turbo boosts for when they really need the extras pushes. They must know when it's proper to break the sound barrier -- usually on a straightaway or loop -- and when it's best to use caution. And there are other invisible intricacies too. For example, when going up a huge hill, if one presses back on the analog stick they will go faster. Similarly, when going downward, pressing forward on the analog stick results in increased speed. Those that invest enough time into the game will undoubtedly learn these enhancing extras, and those who don't will still have fun.

Interestingly, developer Acclaim Cheltenham has increased the weight of bikes for the GCN version of XG3 so that they feel heavier and handle more naturally, which comes as a welcome surprise and a plus as it bodes very well for the play experience.

Gamers have at their disposal a wide variety of bike weaponry that can be used to blast opponents out of a race. While there is everything from heat-seeking missiles to bombs and standard gunfire, in our experience the weapons are much more of an afterthought to the racing elements. It's entirely possible to beat the game without ever shooting a single bullet, but the arsenal is an option for those that wish it.

XG3 is all about speed. It is probably the fastest racer ever created, blowing by even F-Zero and Wipeout in this respect. There are several different classes of bikes that offer different degrees of speed from 250-G to 1000-G. The first time players race they will be impressed with the sense of speed achieved as amazingly, even the initial bike in the game blazes. It rips around corners, barrels down straightaways and has no trouble going up hills. But going back to the first course with a 1000-G vehicle can be simply awe-inspiring as what appeared to be fast before all of a sudden seems slow by comparison. At some points, in fact, the game moves almost too fast, which makes it very difficult to maneuver through corners without hitting walls. But practice makes perfect and skilled players will find that even the sharpest turn can be successfully manipulated with time and effort -- and frustration.

There are 10 tracks (counting the final) in the game and each is a huge, beautiful thing built around speed. Tracks twist, turn, loop, roll, rise forever into the sky and dip below the earth into caves and sea. There are also branching paths that crisscross with one another and unexpected drops and jumps that lead to ledges or death beyond. Each course, with the exception of the first, is like a different roller coaster. Brilliant design for sure and exceptionally varied in form with each track. The only problem is the first nine courses are easily zipped through in Career Mode, and the tenth -- less twisty and gravity-defying than some of the others -- is somewhat anti-climactic. The game's overall length falls a little short for our tastes, which is really what keeps it from earning a higher score.

An exclusive addition to the GameCube version of XG3 is an enhanced multiplayer mode that allows for competitive matches with up to four players. There is also a two-player Team Mode in which two people can race cooperatively against computer-controlled enemies in league environments. In either mode the control remains tight, AI competitive (if applicable) and the framerate solid. Players can customize which bikes, weapons and tracks they'd prefer and the action begins -- simple, effective, intuitive, and easily recommended.

Former members of the Wipeout teams have joined up with Acclaim's Cheltenham house, which explains why XG3 resembles the Sony racer at points. True enough, gamers race bikes and not hovercrafts, but the track layouts are similarly inspired, often dark and illuminated with neon, and totally futuristic. Course roads, wide and detailed, are often rimmed with yellow and black markers, and surrounded by stylized signage with intentionally vague drawings. Huge, sprawling architecture fills the backgrounds -- in some levels giant skyscrapers raise into the sky and in others ocean waves shimmer at the bottom of a drop-off. The scope is always immense to the point where players really feel like they're racing through a grand futuristic city or over a mountainous region.

One of our favorite tracks, Megalopis 7, seems right out of the movie Blade Runner. Players race through this dark, gigantic city with high-rise buildings and cars that fly by overhead. The skyscrapers in the background feature fairly crisp texture work, real-time lights above illuminate the roadway, and everything moves at an amazing pace. Another area, Atradaitoshi, boasts a similarly neon city look, but with a huge rainstorm above. As players progress the track, huge water droplets splatter the camera and it looks very realistic. Other courses still, like Siris Canyon, take gamers through a sprawling desert environment complete with drops into caves and Oceania, into the depths of a sea below. It's all beautifully varied.

The bikes themselves are well-modeled and full of detail, and brought to life with some decent animation that shows off their sharp turning abilities, not to mention front and rear hydraulics. Beyond everything else, there are some fairly impressive particle effects with weapons and explosions, some top map lighting too. The framerate runs at 60 through most of these levels, with the occasional drop to 30 in environments with rain and too many vehicles on-screen at once. Overall though, it's quite a beautiful racer. However, we were somewhat disappointed to learn that the game doesn't support progressive scan mode.

The audio portion of XG3 is fitting, whether one likes it or not. A techno soundtrack composed by the Ministry of Sound accompanies the futuristic game and it works very well. Some of the tunes are downright catchy and go perfectly with the intense, speedy pace of the title while others come off as somewhat generic compared to the more eclectic soundtracks on the market. It's a matter of taste here, of course, and surely this will differ drastically. Our own tastes had us loving some of the mixes and hoping for something a little more experimental -- Aphex Twin-like perhaps? -- with others. Regardless, though, it's still one of the better musical experiences to be had on any next-generation console so far.

Effects-wise, there really needn't be any debates as XG3 gets the job done beautifully. A healthy selection of engine sounds and turbo boost noises goes a long ways to adequately conveying the sense of speed the game dishes out. There are different effects for different weapons, from standard gunfire to missiles and more, all of which sound great. And the simple noise that goes hand-in-hand with breaking the sound barrier -- an echo and then silence -- is satisfying beyond description. Hook this baby up to a Dolby Pro Logic II-capable receiver and listen in awe as structures zoom by, gunfire echoes, and ships bust around corners in fully simulated 5.1 sound with front and rear separation. All in all, very impressive indeed.

XG3 for GameCube is quite honestly one of my favorite racing games of all time. It's got newly polished, tight vehicle control, wonderfully designed tracks that seem to go in every direction, and an unblemished sense of speed that surpasses everything else out there. Plus, it's a fairly beautiful game to boot -- one that runs mostly at 60 frames per second, and the techno soundtrack is fitting, if not a little repetitive.

My biggest gripe with the game is that it's a little too short for my liking. 10 tracks, nine of which are easily zipped through, will not be enough for some hardcore racing fans. There's no denying that. But to its credit, XG3 does feature a fun multiplayer mode -- a four-player one for GameCube, which does a lot to extend the replay value of the title. Everything else -- a career mode that lacks character depth and a weapons system that feels almost secondary, falls in the minor issues department.

Still -- short or not, this is one hell of a great racer while it lasts and one that I can wholeheartedly recommend as a must buy for any fan of high-intensity games, or of racing titles in general. In the past I have always felt that there was either F-Zero or Wipeout. Now I look forward to the next installment of the Extreme G franchise just as much. Nice job to Acclaim Cheltenham.

In This Article

XG3 Extreme-G Racing

XG3 Extreme-G Racing

Throw on that helmet and get ready to break the sound barrier in the fastest-paced motorcycle game ever created. Choose from more than a dozen cool bikes, and then set out on the path to fame and fortune. Armed with futuristic weapons of all sorts, you'll try to blow away and blow past the competition. Use turbo boosts to speed past fellow bikers at key race moments, and enjoy the unique handling, braking, and weapons systems that each bike has to offer. Three modes of play provide endless excitement.
ESRB: Everyone
Mild Animated Violence
Initial Release
Aug 21, 2001
XG3 Extreme G Racing
XG3 Extreme G Racing
PlayStation 2GameCube


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Comic-Con: Lois and Clark Return for New Superman Comic - With Their Son!

The last son and daughter of Krypton and Earth are back.

Today on IGN's Comic-Con live stream show, DC Comics co-publishers Jim Lee an Dan Didio revealed three new comics spinning out of Convergence.

Superman: Lois and Clark

At the end of DC's Convergence event, an alternate universe Superman, joined by Lois Lane and their newborn son, went back in time to help save the day. Their mini-series was one of the highlights of the entire Convergence event, so it's nice to see this thread picked up on again. Nine years after Convergence, we'll pick back up with the family trio and learn about how their lives have changed. That black Superman costume certainly looks ominous...

Here's the official synopsis:

Written by Dan Jurgens | Art by Lee Weeks | On-sale October 14

Following the epic events of CONVERGENCE, here are the adventures of the last son and daughter of Krypton and Earth as they try to survive in a world not their own. But can they keep this world from suffering the same fate as their own? Can this Superman stop the villains he once fought before they are created on this world? What is Intergang, and why does Lois’s discovery of it place everyone she loves in jeopardy? And what will happen when their nine-year-old son learns the true identity of his parents?

The initial villain of Convergence was Telos, only for him to have a change of heart by the end of the story. He'll be getting his own series by Convergence writer Jeff King. We saw that he had a much different life once, so now we'll get a chance to learn more about it. Admittedly, the lack of substance for Telos' character was a sticking point for Convergence readers, which now makes this a second chance to do right.

Written by Jeff King | Art by Carlo Pagulayan and Jason Paz | On-sale October 7

The villain of the world-shattering CONVERGENCE event stars in his own new series! Set loose from his planetary tether at the end of the best-selling CONVERGENCE, Telos finds himself free and able to traverse space and time via a sliver of Brainiac’s powers. As this epic begins, he embarks on an odyssey, journeying across time and space in search of his past.

Titans Hunt

Another look at alternate universe characters, this time the Teen Titans. Dan Abnett on anything is good news, so keep an eye out for this one.

Written by Dan Abnett | Art by Paulo Siqueira | On-sale October 21

CONVERGENCE is over, but the ripples are still being felt, especially by a young precog named Lilith. What are these visions she’s having of a Teen Titans team the world never knew? And why does she feel compelled to seek out Dick Grayson, Roy Harper, Donna Troy and an Atlantean named Garth and warn them that something dark and sinister is coming after them? Who are Mal, Gnarrk, Hank Hall and Dawn Granger, and what is their connection to the others—and to the fate of every soul on Earth? This is the Secret History of the TEEN TITANS!

Joshua is IGN’s Comics Editor. If Game of Thrones, Green Lantern, or Super Smash Bros. are frequently used words in your vocabulary, you’ll want to follow him on Twitter and IGN.


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iKraal | Jelena for Tesco (UK)

Jelena for Tesco (UK)

Jelena from iKraal on Vimeo.

Jelena for Tesco (UK) – We spent a week shooting summer fashion inserts for London based chain store Tesco. Making the most of the Cape Town summer to shoot their still catalogue for the up and coming queens jubilee we where asked to cover the story for a behind the scenes video for the Tesco magazine website.

While we were at it we shot some general fashion videos with a few of the models which is always a bit of fun.

All shot on Canon 5D MarkII.

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Take a Hike Beanie

The Take a Hike Beanie is the perfect accessory for a weekend of hiking, sitting around a campfire and relaxing in a cabin. Complete with a leather tag, this faux knit hat is modern, rustic and just what you need this season.

Skill Level: Easy

Size: 28” circumference x 9.25” length

Gauge: 14 sts and 10 rows = 4” [10 cm] in hdc

Medium weight yarnYarn: Lion Brand Touch of Alpaca (90% Acrylic, 10% Alpaca; 207 yards [190 meters]/100 grams): 158 Golden Rod (1 skein)

Hook: US size I/9 (5.5 mm)

Notions: Tapestry needle, sewing needle and thread, small scrap of leather (1” x 2”), leather punch

Special Stitches

Camel Half Double Crochet (chdc)

Yo, insert hook into the 3rd lp (this is directly below the top lp), yo, pull back through st, yo, pull through all 3 lps.

Pattern Notes

This pattern is worked in rows and seamed together.

The ch 1 at the beginning of each row does not count as a st.

Ch 37

Row 1: Hdc in 2nd ch from hook and in every ch across, ch 1, turn. (36 sts)

Row 2: Hdc in first 26 sts, chdc in the last 10 sts, ch 1, turn. (36 sts)

Row 3: Hdc in first 10 sts, hdc in the last 26 sts, ch 1, turn. (36 sts)

Rows 455: Rep Rows 2-3.

Fasten off, leaving a long tail.

Seam the two sides together to form a tube and cinch the top closed.

Weave in loose ends.

Punch 4 holes on the shortest sides of the leather. Fold it over the brim so half is on the outside and half is on the inside.

Sew the tag on.

Tags: , , , ,

  • Marie C.

    I think it’s hdc in blo for the part that’s not the camel stitch. The turned camel stitch will just be hdc…??? I’m working on one now…

  • Jacqueline M.

    I may be confused but, It appears this pattern is written with a few errors in it. The “ribbing” should possibly have a “back look only” stitch and, the other special stitch, CHDC is only used a few times. I love the picture of the finished one though.

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Stretched Canvas

Modern Lines

Contemporary White

Natural Clear Maple

Unframed print

Andrew DiGuiseppi, Brookfield
Member Since May 2009
Artist Statement I'm a traditional artist, that got his hands on a computer and said, hey this is just like the real thing, but wayyyy cleaner. I work with a Wacom tablet to create just about anything I want.

I have a passion for art in all forms. I've worked in just about every medium I could get my hands on. Keep an eye out for more of my paintings coming soon.

Product No 2082637
Subjects Asian, Buddhism, Spiritual & Religious, World Culture
Style Portraits
Tags Andrew, DiGuiseppi, ancient, antique, asian, buddha, buddhist, chinese, oriental


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LEGO® Friends Horse Training and Trailer 41441

SKU: 41441

R 424.15 R 499.00 Save R 74.85

Tax included

Available Now!

  Pieces: 148

  Ages: 4+ Years

  Model Number: 41441

Let youngsters learn building skills while exploring their love of animals with the LEGO® Friends Horse Training and Trailer (41441). This colorful ranch construction toy comes with a car, horse trailer, stables, wheelbarrow, 2 mini-dolls, and a horse toy and a foal figure.

A flying start
This 4+ set is packed with details to ensure youngsters have a great play experience. Each bag of bricks contains a model and character so kids can play as they build! This creative gift also comes with 2 Starter Bricks that give youngsters a partly constructed base for the car and stables.

Top fun for families
4+ sets are a great way for adults to share the building fun with kids. The simple picture instructions are perfect for kids who are only just learning to read, and they can also access digital Instructions PLUS. Available on the LEGO Building Instructions app, it includes zoom, ghost and rotate tools to help the building process. It also lets kids save their progress so they can jump back in anytime.

  • Great-value Horse Training and Trailer set (41441) for kids aged 4 and up teaches youngsters to build while having fun caring for animals. Includes a car and stables so there’s lots of ways to play.
  • Features LEGO® Friends Stephanie and Emma mini-dolls, a horse toy with a movable head and a foal toy. Each brick bag contains a character, so role-play fun can begin as soon as the first bag’s opened!
  • Playset includes a car for the LEGO® Friends to drive, a trailer for the horse, a stable with grooming kit, jumps and a training rein kids can use to teach the horse to walk around the ground.
  • Know a youngster aged 4 and up with a sticker chart full of stars? Reward them with a creative gift that entertains for hours and teaches building skills. Makes a great birthday or Christmas gift too!
  • The car and trailer measure over 1 in. (5 cm) high and 7 in. (20 cm) long, and the LEGO® Friends ranch building is over 4 in. (11 cm) high and 5 in. (15cm) wide – an ideal size to keep out on display.
  • LEGO® 4+ sets come with Starter Bricks to get the construction off to a flying start. Simple picture instructions mean there’s no barrier to building, even for kids who are just learning to read.
  • Want to give kids a construction experience that’s even more fun? Now you can with digital Instructions PLUS! Zoom, rotate, ghost and save modes help make building a breeze.
  • 4+ toy playsets provide a fun way for children to learn to build, while growing their confidence with easy building steps. They let kids and grown-ups discover together the joy of build-and-play fun.
  • All new LEGO® toys meet strict industry quality standards to ensure they are easy for little fingers to pick up and build with – it’s been that way since 1958.
  • LEGO® toy playsets are tested in almost every way imaginable to make sure they meet stringent safety standards.

      Shop LEGO® By Theme

      Explore all LEGO® themes to find the perfect building toy or playset for you and your loved ones


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melissa headshot.jpg

Melissa Azizi

For a decade, Melissa worked closely with critically acclaimed US Producer, Gail Mutrux to help produce Academy-Award winning THE DANISH GIRL, the Golden Globe winning SHOW ME A HERO mini-series (for HBO), iBOY (UK’s first Netflix Original) and most recently, NEWS OF THE WORLD, starring Tom Hanks She has a knack for finding great IP, having sourced the Mick Herron SLOW HORSES crime book-series which is being produced for Apple TV+, as well as LIFE IN A FISHBOWL by Len Vlahos which is being developed for Amazon.

Before this, Melissa produced short films in Australia through Screen NSW’s Young Filmmakers Fund, Metro Screen and the Australian Cultural Fund, and which have screened in over 100 film festivals worldwide.

Melissa earned a Bachelor of Arts Hons I (Performance Studies and Art History & Theory) at The University of Sydney followed by a Masters in Media Arts and Production at The University of Technology, Sydney. At both universities, she was presented awards for her directing work. She also graduated from UCLA’s Professional Producing Program.

Photo by Elise Holowicki

Carmen Knox

CK Artists

Carmen Knox has a decade of international experience as a producer and former scripted development executive.  Currently a Melbourne-based screen consultant, Carmen specialises in scripted series development.

Carmen was based in Los Angeles until 2019, where she helped launch and build independent digital television studio Insurrection Media. As employee No. 2, Carmen drove the growth and success of the studio’s scripted video programming by managing all aspects of development while serving eventually as Chief of Staff. Through the company’s strategic partnership with HarperCollins Publishers, Carmen sourced, assisted development and helped package book adaptation TINY PRETTY THINGS, an hour-long drama series that achieved a 10-episode order from Netflix. She also identified the book IP and managed development for the studio’s first commission: murder mystery soap THE DEAD GIRLS DETECTIVE AGENCY for Snapchat (via NBC/Indigo as a flagship series) which garnered 14.1 million unique views in its first month premiere. Carmen first made her foray into the realm of U.S. production as a freelance producer in New York, assisting global talent such as renowned Indian-Canadian-British director and photographer Indrani Pal Chaudhuri on short film projects.


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Can High Tech Conservation Save Brilliant Coral Reefs?

By: | July 25th, 2016

Coral Reefs

Coral Reefs (Image Courtesy

IndustryTap has written about how sunscreen kills coral reefs and about how underwater robots are helping coral reefs recover. New atmospheric temperature data suggests the conditions that are hurting reefs are only getting worse. In fact, 2015 brought the worst coral bleaching event in history.

Damaged Coral Reefs Might Be an Ominous Bellwether

Scientists now believe bleaching of coral reefs around the world is being caused by global warming and the Pacific Ocean’s El Niños. Coral reefs tend to thrive in cooler waters and today’s abnormally hot temperatures are creating “ghost towns” beneath the waves.

Changing weather patterns worldwide are affecting coral reefs, but not all reefs systems are in peril. Some reefs, known as “bright spots,” are doing well and are being studied to help determine ways that unhealthy reef systems might be rehabilitated. An important thing to keep in mind is that coral reefs are just one part of the world’s oceans that are being adversely affected by climate change. According to experts, damaged reefs might be just the tip of the iceberg.

Resilient vs. Vulnerable Coral Reefs

One organization helping in the monitoring of coral reef ecosystems is the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its Coral Reef Conservation Program. Recent work by NOAA scientists suggests that new deep learning computer software is getting better at identifying the best and worst places for healthy reefs. This is done by training computers to “see” and identify healthy and vulnerable coral reefs from satellite images and then to analyze previously recorded databases of ocean surface imagery to map all the world’s coral reefs.

The following image shows how 2016 is “off the charts” with respect to heat in the atmosphere, which also makes the oceans warmer.

Global Temperatures Affecting Coral Reefs

Global Temperatures Affecting Coral Reefs (Image Courtesy

The following video explains why 2015 was the worst year on record for coral reefs.

David Russell Schilling

David enjoys writing about high technology and its potential to make life better for all who inhabit planet earth.

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From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature
95 Theses Against the Rule of the Financial Markets
The financial markets have made themselves independent of the real economy. As the selling of indulgences led to Martin Luther's 95 Theses in 1517, the dominance of speculative financial markets has led to revenue shortfalls of US cities and states. Tax havens hide between $22 trillion and $33 trillion according to the Tax Justice Network.

[These 95 theses are translated by Marc Batko, marc1seed [at], from the German on the Internet,]

What began in Luther’s time has now reached a new high point: the monopoly of money. Democracy is in danger. Internal and external peace is threatened. Social cohesion is disturbed. The predominance of a neo-liberal mainstream has allowed politics worldwide to be guided by the dictates of the financial markets and the interests of the upper, rich one percent of the population. The 8 richest men on earth own as much as the 3.6 billion of the poor half of humanity. A conversion, a reformation is necessary.

While 500 years ago it was the venality of the salvation of souls of the faithful through the sale of indulgences that was the expression of a great crisis, today it is the subordination of politics to the dictates of the financial markets. God or Mammon – you cannot serve both, was said at the time of Jesus and 500 years ago. Democracy or financial market capitalism – this is the question of our time.

Continuing underdevelopment, 800 million people suffering from hunger, hundreds of thousands dead in wars, millions of refugees and internally displaced persons, and the dramatic climate change have become fatally linked. Their flipside is exorbitant wealth and luxury. The fact that the EU Commission has instead changed Parliament’s financial market directive of all things, which was intended to stop excessive speculation in food, in such a way that it has become practically ineffective, can only be outrageous. The austerity policy implemented by the ECB, the IMF, Angela Merkel and Wolfgang Schäuble has also led to youth unemployment and poverty in the south of the European Union taking on dramatic dimensions.

Whereas the trade in indulgences financed the global empires of Charles V and Pope Leo X and the usurious system of the Peruzzi and Bardi, the Fugger and Welser and their system of colonialism, genocide and slave trade, today it is global financial market capitalism and its accumulation of wealth claims that must be financed from the production of the global gross national product.

The US economist Michael Hudson rightly summarizes that one percent of the population with its financial assets and other wealth “keeps the remaining 99 percent, but also companies and entire states, in permanent debt”. This makes a democratic policy of solidarity, conservation of nature and peace impossible.

500 years ago the system of global capitalism was born. Today we must finally rein it in. Last but not least, the crisis since 2008 is another warning shot.

It is a society-destroying and nature-destroying system. Pope Francis puts it in a nutshell: “Just as the commandment ‘Thou shalt not kill’ sets a clear limit to the value of human life, so today we must say ‘No to an economy and the disparity of income’. This economy kills.”

The financial system is out of control. Its crash has caused devastating damage not only in the financial sector itself. It is also tearing down the real economy, ecology, development of the South and peace.

The mountains of debt continue to grow unabated. In 2015, they reached a global record of 152 trillion US dollars. That is 225 percent of the global gross national product. One third of this is public debt. Solidarity-based development is sacrificed to debt service.

It is not only the crisis countries in the euro zone that are particularly threatened, but above all the developing countries. Between 2009 and 2014, the annual issue of government bonds in low-income countries rose from USD 2 billion to USD 18 billion.

Many countries of the South are threatened by debt traps and national bankruptcy.

The poor pay for the enrichment of the rich. The crisis has exacerbated social problems.

Growing inequality has several causes, but the dynamics on the financial markets became the strongest driver of social polarization – long before the crisis.

The privatization of services of general interest – pensions and health – offers financial capital new and highly attractive opportunities for exploitation – at the expense of the security of these systems and the people who depend on them.

There is no end of the tunnel in sight. More and more economists are warning of the consequences of a neo-liberal financial and economic policy that will promote the emergence of further crises.

Financial capitalism takes over
Theses 16-49

In the beginning there were political decisions of governments. They handed over control of the most important economic decisions to the financial markets.

The financial sector grew to absurd proportions. Between 1980 and 2007, foreign exchange turnover increased 30 times. In the crisis year of 2008, the volume of credit derivatives alone was ten times greater than the gross national product (GDP) of all the countries of the world. In 2016, Deutsche Bank’s portfolio of derivatives still amounted to 46 trillion euros – more than fifteen times Germany’s GDP.

The dynamics of the financial markets became the motor of globalization, in which the weighting was shifted massively to the market, to the detriment of democracy.

The financial markets withdrew from the regulatory grip of the nation states. From the role of service provider for the real economy and society, they swung up to become their masters.

The profit interests of finance capital were transfigured into constraints without alternative.

The social and democratic capitalism of the post-war era was sacrificed on the altar of the financial markets.

The globalization of the financial markets has led to the erosion of democracy. “Investors no longer have to act according to the investment opportunities their governments grant them, but governments have to act according to the wishes of investors,” wrote Rolf-Ernst Breuer, then head of Deutsche Bank, proudly in 2000.

This is market-based democracy as it lives and breathes – long before the Chancellor committed herself to it.

A monster has grown up over three decades. Some talk about financialization, others about casinos and others about financial capitalism. Whatever you call it, we are faced with a new, extremely dangerous type of financial system.

The history of crisis management has been a history of half measures, dead ends and ineffectiveness from the outset.

At the beginning, it looked as if politics had understood something under the shock of the crisis. “An excessive capitalism, as we have experienced it here with all its greed, eats itself up in the end,” said Peer Steinbrück, then Minister of Finance. The G20 summits in London and Pittsburgh in 2009 seemed to be on the right track when they announced that they wanted to take the unleashed financial markets back under control.

Then the governments rescued the banks with gigantic sums of tax money. The rich were protected.

As a result, the financial market crisis turned into a national debt crisis. Public debt skyrocketed. It was a socialization of private losses on a dramatic scale.

On the other hand, the population of Europe’s crisis countries had to pay the price in the form of the austerity policies of conservative governments.

Democracy was undermined in the course of crisis management and European nationalism was promoted. Far-reaching decisions were whipped through by the executive at a pace that sometimes did not even allow elected representatives time to read the bills.

For years, the driving force behind the socially and economically destructive austerity policy has been the conservative governments in Europe – and not least the German Chancellor and her Finance Minister Schäuble, who carry the dictates of austerity like a mantra before them.

If there hasn’t been a big bang nevertheless, it’s only because of the zero interest rate policy of the European Central Bank (ECB) and the aid packages of the International Monetary Fund.

But the ECB cannot buy more than time. The longer this takes, the more it is put in the position of a fire brigade that is running out of water.

It is therefore more important than ever to strengthen the savings and cooperative banks. These too have come under pressure in the current situation.

The privatization of services of general interest, which has been preached for years, is now also taking its revenge. Under zero interest rate conditions, private old-age, life and health insurance policies can no longer generate the necessary minimum returns. This is where it is taking revenge that the old-age security systems have in some cases been transferred to funded systems.

The ECB prints cheap money, but without the European Union having a sensible investment strategy for it. And so the cheap interest rates trickle away, without any economic sense.

Yes, there have been reforms.

Capital requirements have been tightened. In the USA, steps have also been taken to separate traditional business from investment banking. The business with non-exchange-traded derivatives, so-called over-the-counter trading, is to be made more transparent through clearing houses. Short selling, i.e. speculation on falling prices, was restricted.

Minor corrections were made in the supervision of banks, rating agencies, hedge funds, investor protection and particularly risky products such as credit default insurance.

In the meantime, the momentum for reform has slackened. Moreover, a roll-back has begun in the EU under the Juncker Commission. With the project of the Capital Market Union, the entry into deregulation is being sought again. And in the USA, President Trump is now rolling back the banking reforms.

The drying up of off-shore centers and tax swamps has made little progress, as Luxembourg Leaks and Panama Papers show us.

Concentration has also increased. The big banks are now moving even larger sums of money than before the crisis. In the shadow banking sector, individual players, such as the Blackrock pension fund, are becoming bigger and more powerful.

The reforms have at best made the casino a little safer – especially for the players. But: “Nothing except the closure of the big casino will lead to a permanent solution,” as UNCTAD states.

The problem-solving capacity of the politicians also seems to be overstretched. On the contrary, site egoism, nationalism, competitive behavior and isolation are on the rise. Multilateralism is in crisis. Global governance no longer seems to work. Everyone acts on their own account.

Unfortunately, the chances of making global trade fair have declined in times of Trump. This president puts national interests at the center of his actions.

The financial sector, once the vanguard of globalization, is increasingly showing signs of selective de-globalization. The chances of shaping the financial system as a global public good are dwindling.

In the European Union (EU), the problem-solving deficits are even more evident. What sounds so beautifully realpolitik and down-to-earth, Angela Merkel’s “Driving for Sight” boils down to not addressing the problems.

The EU heads of government and the Commission in their current constitution no longer seem capable of a liberating blow. Huddling through is the only strategy. As long as the ECB, with its bilge pump of zero interest and quantitative easing, prevents the leaking barge from sinking completely, people live in the illusion that nothing will happen. But the situation continues to deteriorate from year to year.

The financial markets continue to fuel global warming. Hundreds of billions of euros are still flowing every year into fossil fuels instead of renewable energies and the ecological modernization of our economy.

Bring the financial system under democratic control.
Principles of the reorganization
Theses 50-72

A central component for the defense of democratic shaping of society as well as for a different economic policy today is a substantial reform of the financial system. However, such a project will only have a lasting effect if it gets to the root of the problems.

Stable and functioning financial markets are a public good. Almost 500 years ago, Luther demanded: “One would have to put a bridle in the mouth of the Fugger and similar societies.” This has lost nothing of its validity for the Ackermanns and similar society and must be renewed.

The financial system should serve the real economy and society.

Financial markets must be enabled to finance ecological reconstruction, a development policy based on solidarity, a social perspective for the European Union and the social modernization of society.

Democratic politics will regain control over markets and actors.

The economically useless casino business is to be discontinued.

The financial markets must shrink back to a level that is useful for the real economy.

The entire system must be decelerated.

The complexity of the system must be reduced.

The public banking sector must be strengthened and expanded, including by privileging it over the private sector. This takes precedence over EU competition law.

Instead of geopolitically motivated trade wars, we need a culture of cooperation and consideration in shaping the global economy.

In addition, the following key reforms are crucial:

Much stricter rules are needed for shadow banks.

We want to make large and complex banks easier to wind up during the crisis. At the very least, banks should separate their deposit business and their trading business and manage them independently under one roof and provide them with capital.

We set effective limits for hedge funds, private equity funds and other speculators.

Derivatives generally require a safety assessment by the financial supervisory authority. The burden of proof lies with the issuers of the products.

We introduce electronic central bank money for payment transactions. This would act as a firewall for this central element of the financial system, should financial crises occur after all. In the digital age, such a system is largely automated and can be implemented with little effort.

Offshore centers and tax havens are drying up. As long as this is not possible in an internationally coordinated manner, unilateral measures are also possible, such as the levying of penalty taxes.

High-speed trade will be slowed down. This eliminates the systemic risks of high-speed trade and removes the distortions of competition it creates.

For banks, we are imposing a simple and tough debt brake.

Capital controls are legitimate instruments of capital market regulation. Their application in the event of a crisis takes precedence over the free movement of capital.

Pensions, health and other services of general interest are organized as public tasks.

Rating agencies receive performance-related bonuses, also from public sources. Up to now, the rated party has paid for the rating regardless of how accurate the rating was. In particular, the pro-cyclical effect of ratings must be prevented. Social and ecological criteria must be integrated into the rating.

Supervision will be given greater resources – financial, personnel, legal and technical.

A new reformation and a different world are possible
Theses 73-95

The financial markets and the accumulated, productively idle, even counterproductive for society and its cohesion, wealth must be able to be drawn on by these changes to solve the major global, European and social challenges.

The aim is sustainable prosperity and quality of life through, for example, the expansion of the infrastructure for education, health care, nursing care and public transport as basic goods for a good life for everyone, for everyone and everyone.

The treasure of the Church is the poor, Luther quotes St. Lawrence in his theses. Thus the treasure of a good society today is the degree of justice it offers to all.

A just policy is measured by the fact that it works to ensure access to the goods of a free life for everyone, including the most vulnerable among us.

After decades, it is time to reverse the redistribution from bottom to top, from production and nature to financial markets, from women to men and from south to north.

The extensive privatization of social wealth must give way to socialization in favor of investment in social cohesion, basic insurance for the poorest people and ecological restructuring through fair taxation of large property, high income and wealth. Weaker countries must be supported in this by cancelling their debts.

A fair, socially and economically productive inheritance and wealth tax is still outstanding in Germany.

An economy based on solidarity and a life based on solidarity must be promoted.

The enforcement of the ban on arms exports to crisis regions and dictatorships as well as global disarmament will not only contribute to greater security and the limitation of threatening wars, but will also release financial and political resources for the people in the South in particular.

If we want people to stop having to flee, then the only way to do so is to reduce the causes of flight, to overcome wars, misery, poverty and ecological decline. This includes resistance to anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobia.

What is needed is a global Marshall Plan with development-friendly changes in world economic structures in favor of fair trade, investment in poverty reduction and ecological transformation both here and in the South, which is already dramatically affected by climate change.

The austerity policy in the EU whipped through by Angela Merkel and Wolfgang Schäuble must be brought to an end.

Instead, the EU needs a comprehensive investment initiative for the transition to renewable energies, sustainable inclusive systems of housing, transport, education and culture, health and care.

The German export surplus, which is destructive for many other European states and for European integration, can be diverted through stronger domestic investment. At the same time, German budget surpluses could be used once only to set up a European investment fund.

Critics had long pointed out that economic and social upheavals could sooner or later lead to political catastrophes, Alain Badious warned against “democratic fascism”. Already the world economic crisis in 1929 was one of the causes for the rise of fascism.

The spirit of neo-liberalism, which came along as a practical constraint of a globalized economic order, produced economic insecurity and generated fear of decline. The effect of the austerity policy then came on top.

Deprived, degraded, embittered and angry, some people are now turning to a right that promises them security, respect and participation. In doing so, they succumb to the illusion that nationalism and xenophobia can solve their problems.

The further rise of the populist right can also be stopped by a different economic, social and peace policy.

Just as Luther encouraged believers in his Theses 94 and 95, people in Germany, Europe and the world need their own realistic confidence that the concentrated and difficult challenges to their social situation, as well as wars, hardship and climate change, can be solved.

Without hope, Solomon said, people will become desperate and wild. But people who merely wait for solutions from above or from outside will not get them.

There they will only find the domination of the financial markets and their interests.

What is at stake is nothing less than the supremacy of democracy and human rights, the inviolability of the dignity of every human being by acting in solidarity even against the financial markets.

This reformation of society cannot be attained without a self-confident and personally responsible people.

The reform blockade in the political and social system can only be broken through pressure from society and civic commitment.

Here we stand. We cannot help it. For another world.

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Home Technology Nokia reportedly preparing a 6-inch Lumia phablet device

Nokia reportedly preparing a 6-inch Lumia phablet device

The first image of what is reportedly the Nokia Lumia phablet device has surfaced on a Chinese website weibo.com. The leaked image by the Chinese website shows off the front bezel of 6-inch Nokia Lumia device. It has Windows Phone logo on it so it will be certainly joining Lumia family sometime in the near future.

The image gives a substance to previous rumor based on more or less reliable sources that Nokia is hard at work, and preparing to compete with the Android phablets that have already been dominating the large screen’s market from the very beginning.

6-inch Nokia Lumia device

As we already know, Samsung is also working on Galaxy Note 3 to boost its Galaxy Note lineup. Presumably the Korean manufacturer might introduce the Galaxy Note 3 at the IFA 2013 in Berlin Germany, but the company is still mum on the details. Meanwhile, HTC may bring a new member to the “One” family by adding HTC One Max. Therefore, Nokia could answer tentatively by the end of the year with a 6-inch Lumia, following a design similar to similar to the company’s flagship Windows Phone devices.

We have almost no details on hardware and its specs, but it’s possible that it might be rejigged a quad-core chip to compete with rivals. So Nokia has opened the doors for larger displays at the very moment in which they have just embraced the resolution 1080p with Nokia Lumia 1020. However, Nokia Lumia 625 features the largest screen so far — 4.7-inches, which is all set to land on the market by September.

Previous articleSymantec found Apps exploiting “Master Key” bug on Android
Next articleWill Intel’s new Haswell chips beat ARM chips?
The youngest in team, he is responsible for reporting all the rumors and leaks related to gadgets and software. Other than spreading rumors, Bill also likes to write about social networking and cyber security.


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European Court of Human Rights
14 November 2002

The applicant, Mr. Mouisel, was diagnosed with leukemia during his imprisonment. He had to undergo several chemotherapies in this regard. He asserted that during the chemotherapy sessions his feet had been chained up and one of his wrists had been attached to his hospital bed.

Mr. Mouisel alleged that the handcuffing during the chemotherapy violated Article 3 of the Convention.

Court's ruling

The Court reiterated that handcuffing does not normally give rise to an issue under Article 3 of the Convention where the measure has been imposed in connection with a lawful detention and does not entail use of force, or public exposure, exceeding what is reasonably considered necessary. In this regard, it is important to consider, for instance, whether there is a danger that the person concerned might abscond or cause injury or damage.

In the instant case, having regard to Mr. Mouisel's health, to the fact that he was being taken to hospital, to the discomfort of undergoing a chemotherapy session and to his physical weakness, the Court considered that the use of handcuffs was disproportionate to the needs of security. The Court also noted that notwithstanding the applicant’s criminal record, there was no previous conduct or other evidence giving serious grounds to fear that there was a significant danger of absconding or resorting to violence. The Court also took into account the continued detention of the applicant regardless of his medical condition and concluded that there had been a violation of Article 3 of the Convention.

Human Rights Guide

A European platform for human rights education


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Ankle Tattoos

If you don’t want a tattoo that can be seen day to day, especially if your job prohibits visible tattoos then an ankle tattoo makes a great choice. You can hide it under socks or pants but easily show it off when you’re out by wearing sandals and shorts or a dress. Ankle tattoos are very popular, especially among girls and women. Many people choose to get their first tattoo on their ankle because it is small and can be easily hidden. However the ankle is usually a painful location for a tattoo since the skin is very close to the bone.

Some common ankle tattoo designs include vines, flowers and butterflies. Usually ankle tattoos wrap around the ankle which lead to tribal ankle tattoos or even Celtic ankle tattoos. But anything small enough can be tattooed on the ankle including dragons, crosses, flowers or fairies. Even though ankle tattoos are popular with women, that doesn’t mean they always have to be feminine. Some ankle tattoos can be dark and sinister like a snake or barbed wire wrapped around the ankle.

If you’re having trouble deciding what kind of ankle tattoo design is right for you why not get ideas from celebrity ankle tattoos? Celebrities like getting ankle tattoos for the same reason most people do; they don’t interfere with their work but they can show them off whenever they want to.


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The growing demand for good corporate citizenship

The growing demand for good corporate citizenship | Insurance Business Australia

The growing demand for good corporate citizenship

Directors and officers of publicly held companies are increasingly concerned with environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, as these are becoming a large part of their jobs in recent years. While the main focus of every company’s leadership is profitability and delivering value to the shareholders, directors and officers are now realizing that ESG is fast catching up.

While ESG has been around for many years now, its importance is now at an all-time high. According to a recent white paper released by Zurich North America and RIMS, today’s businesses are expected to balance their emphasis on profit with “important and worthy non-financial considerations” that impact the environment and its people. Put more simply, businesses are under increasing pressure to be good corporate citizens.

“Among the driving trends challenging public boards this year (and beyond) are more assertive, demanding investors; higher standards for attention to climate change and sustainability; and a new urgency regarding diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) within workforces and executive boards,” said paper author Steven Boughal, chief underwriting officer, US financial lines at Zurich North America. “This has been reflected in the 2021 proxy year: social and environmental proposals increased to 37% and 13%, respectively, from 2020, while governance proposals held steady at 37%. In addition, the always-evolving umbrella of general governance today includes such hot-button topics as cybersecurity and data privacy, which have also been a focal point for both investors and governmental bodies, including sweeping new regulations and enforcement mechanisms.”

What comprises ESG?

Each ESG category includes universal topics such as sustainability and diversity, as well as topics that are industry-specific or company-specific, Boughal said.

Environmental criteria evaluate a company’s role as a steward of natural resources. This includes its energy use, waste management, contribution towards pollution, impact on biodiversity, and raw material sourcing. With science revealing that the climate crisis is worse than previously believed, stakeholder pressure for companies to adhere to environmental standards is rising. More businesses are now releasing sustainability reports, with 92% of S&P 500 companies doing so in 2020.

Social criteria assess the company’s internal and external relationships, with diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) principles as the most common. These include, but aren’t limited to, racial and gender equality in the workplace, employee safety and engagement, and support for human rights and social justice issues.

According to Zurich, the governance in ESG is somewhat of a catch-all category. These are typically understood to involve the organization’s leadership, executive pay, audits, internal controls and shareholder rights. Other important components are cybersecurity, product safety, accident prevention, and regulatory compliance.

“Certain hot-button topics within each of the ESG categories demand the attention of directors and officers and directors and officers (D&O) insurance providers because they represent perils that may increase the frequency or severity of existing D&O claim exposures — namely, securities class actions, shareholder derivative actions and regulatory matters,” Boughal said.

According to the paper, there are two main ways in which ESG is involved in a D&O lawsuit. The first is through event-driven litigation following an ESG-related event, while the second is through disclosure-related litigation concerning an ESG topic.

Event-driven litigation usually involves a report in the media that purportedly reveals adverse facts or allegations about a company’s business practices or products. According to Zurich, these types of cases are growing in prominence, leading to heavy litigation and settlement costs. On the other hand, disclosure-related litigation occurs when a business runs afoul of securities laws that require public companies to “regularly provide reliable, timely and accessible information about significant corporate matters.”

“All public companies are operating within an evolving ESG landscape,” Boughal said. “Challenges will undoubtedly arise as directors and officers identify, develop and strive to meet their respective ESG goals, and positively respond to a changing societal mindset.

“The litigation trend demonstrates that ESG decisions and disclosures will be challenged in court and that law firms representing shareholders will seek to compel substantial concessions, reforms and monetary commitments. These and future ESG lawsuits could potentially put the personal assets of a company’s directors and officers at risk. In addition to monetary compensation from the targeted corporations, recent lawsuits have sought to replace board members, recover their compensation and revise incentive plans.”


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Implement High-Performance DSP Designs

The latest version of DSP Builder features the advanced blockset capability that allows timing-driven Simulink synthesis. This technology lets you achieve high-performance design implementations, running at near-peak FPGA performance in a matter of minutes—compare that to the hours, if not days, required to hand-optimize HDL code.

With the DSP Builder Advanced Blockset, building high-performance complex digital signal processing (DSP) signal chains becomes as simple as 1-2-3:

  1. Set the required system level constraints—in this case the clock rate for a 6-channel, 128-tap FIR filter is specified at 403 MHz within Simulink.
  2. Choose the target FPGA family—because different device families might have different DSP block architecture, this information has to be incorporated by the synthesis tool.
  3. Click RUN.

Figure 1. Build a High-Performance Filter in Three Easy Steps

DSP Builder Advanced Blockset synthesizes the Simulink description of the signal chain—taking into account the system level timing constraints specified; in this case 403.2 MHz. Using the built-in timing models for each FPGA and the performance of the IP blocks, the tool adds pipeline registers and control logic as necessary to achieve the clock rate provided.

The result (shown in Figure 2) is a six-channel FIR filter with realized system performance of 408 MHz without touching the HDL code.

Figure 2. Automatically Generated Timing-Optimized HDL Code

This new capability is critical for designing multichannel signal processing data paths in applications, such as multi-carrier, multi-antenna RF processing in wireless applications.

It automatically adds pipelined stages and registers, and implements time division multiplexing to generate highly optimized designs for functions, such as digital upconverter (DUC), digital downconverter (DDC), crest-factor reduction (CFR), and digital predistortion (DPD). DSP Builder version 12.0 includes design examples for multi-antenna, multi-carrier WiMAX, and WCDMA DUC and DDC designs.


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Serbians turn against EU accession, pick Putin as favourite world leader

Serbians turn against EU accession, pick Putin as favourite world leader
Serbians polled by Demostat backed their president, Aleksandar Vucic, and picked Russia's Vladimir Putin as their favourite world leader.
By bne IntelliNews June 30, 2022

The latest poll from Demostat shows strong sentiment in Serbia against joining the European Union, with 51% of respondents saying they would vote against in a referendum on joining the bloc. At the same time, there is overwhelming support for Russia and opposition to joining Western sanctions.

The poll was carried out between June 13 and 22 — immediately before the June 23-24 EU summit at which member states gave little hope to Serbia and other candidate countries of a speedier accession process.

According to the poll, just 34% of respondents would vote for Serbia's entry into the EU, while 11% would not vote and a further 4% were undecided.

Moreover, the head of the Demostat research team, Srecko Mihailovic, said on presenting the research that it was not certain that the 34% who backed EU accession would actually vote in favour if they fully understood the concessions Belgrade would need to make in order to join.

The poll included a question on whether respondents would accept Serbia’s recognition of Kosovo as a condition for joining the EU, which had a strongly negative response.

“Considering that two thirds of the respondents think that Serbia should refuse to recognise Kosovo, and that only 17% of the respondents accept that recognition, it can be considered that the number of supporters of Serbia's entry into the European Union is actually 17%, said Mihailović.

Demostat programme director Zoran Panovic added that only 17% of respondents were aware of the political concessions that Serbia would need to make in order to enter the EU, including compromises on Kosovo.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Belgrade has never recognised it as an independent state.

Mihailović argued that attitudes towards the EU were influenced by the government and government-controlled media. “The confusion in that relationship with the EU, he says, was created with the intention and belief that it can be cleared up, if necessary,” he said.

This is despite Serbians recognising the EU as the largest donor and investor to their country.

“The citizens of Serbia see the European Union as the biggest investor and donor, but they are emotionally more attached to Russia,” Demostat’s presentation said.

No Russia sanctions

The poll also reveals very strong sympathy towards Russia despite the invasion of Ukraine in February.

80% of respondents oppose sanctions on Russia, while only 9% are in favour. 81% believe that Serbia should preserve its neutrality at all costs.

56% of respondents believe that Serbia should not harmonise its foreign policy with EU policy, a third believe that Serbia should do so. As a candidate country, Serbia has been under pressure to fall into line with EU sanctions.

66% of respondents said Nato was responsible for the war in Ukraine, and only 11% blamed Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was the most popular world leader, picked by 45% of respondents, with 12% choosing Chinese President Xi Jinping and 11% Emanuel Macron.

Within Serbia’s own region, respondents favoured Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (37%) and Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik (28%).

President Aleksandar Vucic remains the most trusted politician within Serbia.

"We need to understand the connection because Vucic built his cult of personality by constantly calling on Putin," Panovic commented.


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A glance at the evolution of the pharmaceutical clawback in Greece

Sponsored by

Russia has introduced a range of significant international and domestic tax policies since March.

Julia Pournara of EY Law Greece explores the growth of the concept of pharmaceutical clawbacks and considers its impact on the economy.

At the onset of the economic crisis in Greece during 2009, total health expenditure was among the highest in the EU in terms of the gross domestic product (GDP) share (i.e. around 9.5%), of which, 68.5% was mainly financed through public schemes. Under the enormous pressure to achieve significant cost-cutting and reforms in 2012, Greece introduced closed healthcare budgets and a clawback mechanism, with the aim of reducing pharmaceutical expenditure. Essentially, when public spending on medicines exceeds the thresholds of the respective closed budgets, any surplus is ‘repaid’ by all pharmaceutical companies, on the basis of a specific formula.

Clawbacks are calculated every six months, per the marketing authorisation holder (MAH), taking into account the market share and growth rate, a drug’s ex-factory price and other data, and may be offset with the state’s debts towards insurance institutions. This mechanism has resulted in a decrease in public spending, a significant increase in private spending and, arguably, a decline in pharmaceutical companies’ growth rates.

The mechanism was fiercely challenged before the Council of the State, which, however, validated its legality on the ground that it was a temporary measure, both necessary and proportionate, in order to defend the financial challenges that the country was facing during the economic crisis. However, clawback enforcement was not limited to the initial three-year period but was instead extended by subsequent laws, until 2022.

In Greece, the pharmaceutical industry’s clawback equalled 27.3% of public pharmaceutical expenditure in 2019, although the European average was only 8.6%. In tandem, the rate of the private sector’s contributions to the public pharmaceutical spending is ever-increasing, transforming clawback into a ‘slow-burning time-bomb’ for pharmaceutical companies.

Despite several reforms and streamlining of public health spending during the crisis, clawback and rebates value increased by approximately 420%, between 2012 and 2019. The private sector’s contributions (clawback and rebates), which amounted to 7% of the pharmaceutical industry’s annual turnover in 2012 (about €79 million), rose up to 32.5% by 2017, and 45% in 2019, while clawback exceeds €1.2 billion; the corresponding EU average is 15%. As a result of the COVID-19-related increases in health spending, the clawback of the first trimester of 2020 is estimated to exceed 46% of last year’s corresponding amounts.

Due to the industry’s continuous efforts to rationalise clawback figures, a rectifying measure was implemented by the government in 2020, whereby pharmaceutical companies are able to offset part of their outstanding clawback, with amounts they invest in research and development (R&D) and business development plans. For the second half of the financial year of 2019 (FY19), such offset may reach the amount of €50 million in total, at maximum, for all interested pharmaceutical companies. For the entirety of 2020, it is expected to be set at the maximum amount of €100 million.

Though this was indeed a first, relieving step for the industry, it was, in fact, just a small drop in the ocean, as it reduces the €1.2 billion clawback of 2019 by €50 million (i.e. by 5%), and was sought and used by a very limited number of pharmaceutical companies.

With the deadline for submissions by pharmaceutical companies wishing to benefit from the above measure having being short, 36 applications to a total of €100 million worth of investments in R&D and business development plans for FY19, were ultimately submitted to the relevant authority. According to relevant data, 80% of these submissions were filed by Greek pharmaceutical companies. The above shows that, if the clawback ‘over-taxation’ problem is rectified, a surge of investments by both Greek and foreign pharmaceutical companies is likely to follow. Based on the review of those submissions, the €25 million available to offset clawback amounts with R&D expenditure were fully ‘utilised’, whereas only half of the remaining €25 million available to offset clawback with amounts invested in development plans was ‘utilised’.

A positive turn towards clawback rationalisation can also be seen in the Council of State’s September 2019 decision, which annulled the imposition of clawback on orphan drugs. This was decided on the ground that the enforcement of this mechanism on products treating a small, unchanging number of strictly identified patients suffering from rare diseases, is against the constitutional principles of equality and proportionality.

As clawback has inevitably become the industry’s top concern, the associations of both multinational (SFEE) and national pharmaceutical companies (PEF) are putting forward specific elaborated proposals to rationalise the whole mechanism, such as the exemption of vaccines-related expenditure and spending for uninsured patients, from the related closed budgets. So far, there are positive indications that the Ministry of Health will consider not imposing clawback on vaccines-related spending in the future, yet nothing can be definite until applied. One thing is certain though; the industry’s initial objective for the abolition of the clawback mechanism will probably never be achieved, but a number of small wins are most likely on the way.

Julia Pournara

T: +30 210 2886 915

more across site & bottom lb ros

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This week Switzerland opens consultation on draft legislation to implement the OECD’s global minimum tax rate, while Germany cuts VAT amid the highest inflation rate in decades.
ITR looks into the biggest transfer pricing cases in 2022 including multinational companies McDonald’s, BlackRock, and Rio Tinto.
TP technical leader at ‘big four’ firm KPMG Philip Roper talks to senior reporter Leanna Reeves about how businesses can mitigate the transfer pricing impact of higher interest rates in the UK.
Vikas Garg talks to reporter Siqalane Taho about how regulation, technology and the goods and services tax has affected the manufacturing company.
A major shift is underway in tax as the profession transitions from a mostly accounting and finance sector to a hybrid industry that requires significant IT skills, say tax experts.
The Biden administration is about to give $80 billion to the Internal Revenue Service to enhance the tax authority’s enforcement processes and IT systems.
Audi, Porsche, and Kia say their US clients will face higher prices under the Inflation Reduction Act after the legislation axes an important tax credit for electric vehicle production.
This week Brazil’s former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva came out in support of uniting Brazil’s consumption taxes into one VAT regime, while the US Senate approved a corporate minimum tax rate.
The Dutch TP decree marks a turn in the Netherlands as the country aligns its tax policies with OECD standards over claims it is a tax haven.
Gorka Echevarria talks to reporter Siqalane Taho about how inflation, e-invoicing and technology are affecting the laser printing firm in a post-COVID world.
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Home > Marked Cards for Sale > Modiano Cheating Playing Cards

Modiano Cheating Marked Cards

Originated from Italian, Modiano playing cards never disappoint its clients from all over the world by showing its superior quality, long durability and perfect flexibility. On the basis of Modiano playing cards, manufacturers can give it a magic power via machining its back with invisible ink. Suits and numbers that can be only detected by infrared contact lenses and perspective sunglasses will be marked one specific cards. In general, there are two kinds of marking pattern including a big font in the middle of the poker back and four small fonts on the four corners. Of course, poker players can customize their special marks as well. Here we can provide our customers with satisfactory customized-service. Besides, the more decks of Modiano cheating playing cards you buy, the more discounts you will get. Your reasonable requirements can be fully satisfied in here. Taking advantage of invisible ink Modiano marked cards, your edge at poker will be greatly increased.

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