Name: Claudet Location: Florian?polis, Santa Catarina, Brazil
Florian?polis, an awesome city in the south of Brazil, has some lovely places and houses, but as other growing cities, the big trees and even the small plants are suppressed by the urban environment. In this home, I decided to create a comfortable, warm and silent small outdoor space, creating a special haven, a true oasis in Lagoa da Concei??o, at Santa Catarina Island.
This enchanted dome, where the mix of colors, fabrics, flowers, plants, teas, family antiques and recycled objects predominate, is perfect for a nice breakfast, lunch and especially afternoon tea in the shadow of the majestic Flamboyant tree, that also houses a family of fruit bats in autumn months, and an owl in the spring months. Also in the spring, hummingbirds nest in the Ficus trees of the corridor. In our garden we have an old Bougainvillea tree along with salvaged furniture and plenty of welcoming "stuff". Our house mascot Moppinho especially enjoys the old armchair. It's a tiny space, but we don't mind - we love the fresh air and the tranquility we feel while spending time here.
It's a place of reflection, used the whole year round, where we realize we do not need vast spaces to look within ourselves. We tend to relax the body, revitalize the mind, and invigorating the energy spent in the rush of everyday life. On the hammock, we can read a good book or simply do nothing and just relax! It is in this small garden, surrounded by green, that we do the real therapy of relaxation without leaving home. The simplicity, harmony and sense of well-being are the keynotes of this space.
Thanks, Claudet!
(Images: Claudet Gerhard and Fernanda Cortez)
? SUBMIT YOUR OUTDOOR SPACE OR PROJECT ? MY GREAT OUTDOORS ARCHIVE
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Washington, D.C., Mayor Vincent Gray was elected to office on a platform of anti-corruption. But just two years into his term, a federal investigation has left two former aides pleading guilty to misdeeds during the 2010 election. Gray has denied any wrongdoing. Host Guy Raz talks about D.C. politics with Washington Post reporter Nikita Stewart.
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Ex-Mayoral Candidate Alleges Corruption During D.C. Primary And now, a story about corruption, cronyism, pay-for-play politics, high...
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New Mayor Brings Political Scandal Back To D.C. The Nation?s capital is no stranger to scandal. Three decades...
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Timeline: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger?s Administration View a retrospective of Arnold Schwarzenegger?s seven years as the...
We all know that the food and nutrition that we eat has a huge impact on our overall health. However, it can be difficult to get in the habit of eating healthier. Junk food and snacks are so tasty and convenient and it can difficult to break our ingrained habits of stopping for a burger on the way home from work or reaching for the salty snacks while we are watching television.
If you want to improve your food and nutrition habits, here are some tips for changing your lifestyle so that eating healthy will become second nature:
Start slow and work your way towards your goal. Changing your food and nutrition habits completely overnight will be hard to stick to and unrealistic. Make small steps such as adding a salad to your lunch and having fruit instead of chocolate for dessert.
Use smaller plates and bowls so that you will get in the habit of eating smaller portions.
The food will still fill the bowl so psychologically you will feel like you are eating the same amount.
Take the time to chew your food slowly and savour each bite. This means that you will fill up on less food and you will be more mindful of when you are overeating.
Try to eat a full rainbow of different fruits and vegetables. The more different colours you eat the more vitamins, minerals and antioxidants you will be obtaining, so enjoy green spinach, blueberries, red strawberries, yellow squash and purple plums!
Here?s a super easy food and nutrition trick: drink a glass of water before every meal. Not only will this improve your digestion, skin and hair, it will also make you less hungry so that you will not overeat.
Replace your unhealthy snacks with healthy ones. For example, if you like to have crisps in the afternoon, exchange those for baby carrots with a light ranch dip. They are still crunchy and savoury but are much better for you.
These are just a few little tips that will help you change your food and nutrition for the better and lead a healthier lifestyle.
?Yahoo!? I said,screaming,skiing down the steep mountain, gaining enough speed to jump over the ramp like cliff to reach the other side of the Mt.Everest.ZOOM! I glide over the mountain gracefully.I Am just inches away from the cliff on the other side?i skid smoothly in between the crowd that was waiting for me.Every one was cheering and shouting my name.It all felt good until?
?Jake! Wake up.Your dreaming again Jake? I forced my eyes open expecting to picture the crowd?only to see my mom hurrying me to school.
?MOM!? I screamed.?You ruined the moment of truth, you know??
?Oh did I?Well stop watching movies late at night and get up already, or you will be late for your first day at school?.
?But its just 7:00?I say
?Summer vacation is over,remember??She yells.
My name is Jake and I Am not used to getting up early.I Am just the average guy next door and the type of person who is more interested in video games than outdoor sports because I Am NOT the social type.
So, I hurry out of my bed and go to the bathroom.Then I go downstairs for some breakfast.I see my dad sitting lazily at the table peering through the news paper.
?Hey dad? I say
?Good morning Jake,geared up for school??
?Nope? I say,grabbing my cereal bowl.
?Hey chicken?said my big brother barging in.?Ready to get bullied in middle school??
?Good morning to you too Zack? I sighed.
I poured some milk into the bowl and started gulping down the cereal.
?Get in the car both of you, I?m taking you to school today?,said my mom handing me my lunch pack.
Me and Zack exchanged glances because the last time we went to school with her, it was bad.Real bad!
Last Time
We got in the car and reached our school.The area was clear so I stepped of the car and trudged a few steps.It was going well, until?
?Hey sugar bean , you forgot your lunch pack?.
Well,that certainly did it.All the annoying boys and girls suddenly showed up and started hollering with laughter.
And it had some pretty bad after effects too.Like our class bully Billy saying ?Hey sugar bean don?t forget your lunch pack? and splattered me with my lunch just to get his cronies snicker.
And that?s not the way i wanted to start my very first day at school.Not this year.So we pestered dad to drive us to school.Which he DID NOT! He mysteriously had an urgent appointment at his office and drove away leaving us to our doom.
So we could do nothing, but to get in the antique station wagon and let mom take us.And on the awful journey to school, I thought about what Zack said, about getting bullied and all.This year i wanted to change all that.
And before we knew it we reached the the creaking old sign saying ?SCHOOL AHEAD?to warn us students that school was just a few meters away and we needed to brace our self for the worst because for us,it was more of a DANGER DO NOT ENTER kinda? sign.
And to avoid the aforementioned embarrassment,I told mom to stop a few feet away from the school gate and luckily,there were no screw ups this time around. I know I misspelled the title.I Am Sorry.I ran out of space to write
There are a couple of places where the grammar needs to be tightened. The most obvious is that, after a character has finished speaking, you should put a punctuation mark BEFORE the end of the speech marks.
e.g.
"Hey, Dad," said Jake "But it?s just 7.00!" I complained "Hello," I began. "What?s your name?"
You also need a space after the punctuation, e.g. "Good morning Jake, geared up for school?"
Other than that, and a couple of other small grammatical mistakes, your work looks good! Tighten them up and it will make it so much easier to read; you will find it flows better too!
'Isaac's Live Lip-Dub Proposal' is the talk of the web after being posted online yesterday
Oh brother! Isaac's sibling starts the show off by banging a saucepan after giving Amy some headphones to wear
YOUTUBE
It's the romantic marriage proposal that's set to melt even the coldest hearts - and become a YouTube viral hit.
Two days after asking his girlfriend to marry him, 'Isaac's Live Lip-Dub Proposal' is the talk of the web after he posted it online yesterday.
After racking up several thousand views in just a few hours it was a global hot topic on Twitter today with many calling it "the best proposal ever".
The 5minutes 53seconds long video starts with the message: "On Wednesday, May 23, 2012, I told my girlfriend, Amy, to meet me at my parent's house. When she arrived I had stationed my brother to sit her on the back of a Honda CRV with some headphones on. He 'wanted to play her a song'.
"What she got, instead, was the world's first Live Lip-Dub proposal."
To the sound of Bruno Mars' 'Marry You', Amy is then serenaded by her and boyfriend Isaac's friends and family as her car moves slowly along the street.
Surprise! Another couple jump out and start dancing before handing Amy some flowers
YOUTUBE
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Family affair: Relatives and friends jump into view to take part in the dance
YOUTUBE
Dancing in the street: The proposal begins
YOUTUBE
Watching online: More friends and family take part via webcams
YOUTUBE
??????????????????????????????????
As the song finishes, Isaac, from Portland, Oregon, emerges through a tunnel of people and asks Amy for her hand in marriage.
Man in black: Here comes the boyfriend
YOUTUBE
Down on one knee: Isaac gets ready to pop the question
YOUTUBE
?
She says yes! The happy couple embrace to applause
YOUTUBE
Tender moment: Isaac and Amy are set to be husband and wife
YOUTUBE
She says yes and the happy couple embrace to great applause.
The video ends with the following message from Isaac: "To the 60+ friends and family who helped me put this together: Thank you. You'll never know the extent of my gratitude.
IDG News Service - A Japanese robotics lab has developed a new emergency response prototype that will soon be put to work at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in northern Japan.
(See footage of the robot in action and other projects on YouTube.)
The robot, called "Rosemary," is about the size of a lawn mower and has four extended treaded feet that swivel up and down to help it climb over obstacles. It can ascend at angles over 60 degrees and can carry instruments and other payload weighing up to 60 kilograms (132 pounds).
"We tested the robot's various electronic components using an exposure test," said Takeshi Nishimura, a researcher at the Future Robotics Technology Center. "It can be used without any additional shielding or protection."
The robot will be sent to Fukushima in the next few months, he added. It is the successor to a robot from the center that was originally developed for disasters in subways, but was put to use at the nuclear plant.
The Future Robotics Technology Center is giving demonstrations of the robot along with several other projects at its new campus in the complex at the base of the newly opened Tokyo Skytree broadcasting tower in Tokyo. The center is affiliated with the Chiba Institute of Technology and is a recipient of government funding for robot development.
In Japan, where cutting-edge robots are a point of national pride and receive huge development grants from the government, there was dismay when foreign PackBots from U.S. maker iRobot were among the first to explore the damaged nuclear facility after it was ravaged by an earthquake and tsunami last year. Japanese researchers have responded with an armada of projects to develop robots for use there and in the high-radiation zones nearby.
The center is also showing a table that responds to and projects images on to punch cards laid on its surface, as well as a Mars explorer simulator.
Reprinted with permission from IDG.net. Story copyright 2012 International Data Group. All rights reserved.
Given that Weber State University went from the ninth football coach in school history to the tenth without so much as a single snap in an official game, Jody Sears faces one of the most intriguing coaching challenges in the country.
The Wildcats? interim coach since John L. Smith departed unexpectedly after spring practices to become the coach at Arkansas, Sears didn?t come into the role on the traditional career trajectory, but his journey to the head coaching job at Weber State is as interesting as the road in front of him.
Sears, 44, a Pullman, Wash., native who played wide receiver at his hometown school of Washington State and was the co-defensive coordinator there the past three seasons, never seems to be far from the initials W-S-U.
Growing up, Sears? father ran the quarterhorse breeding program in the animal science department at Washington State. His mother forbade her young cowboys from riding bucking horses, so Sears? first love was roping steers; he dreamed of competing at the National Finals Rodeo.
Sears also had a love of football, which he followed by walking on at Washington State, where he became a two-year letter winner, playing for Jim Walden, Dennis Erickson and Mike Price, who had been the coach at Weber State from 1981 to 1988.
No matter what challenges the coaching business may present Sears, he can take comfort in knowing that anything?s better than laying asphalt on an August afternoon in Arizona.
That?s what Sears was doing after graduating from Washington State in 1991.
Driving down the road with the asphalt crew in a dump truck with no air conditioning on a stifling Arizona afternoon, ?I was riding in the middle and we went past this little high school out in the country, Queen Creek High School. The guy sitting next to me said, ?Coach so-and-so at that high school just resigned ? they need a football coach,? Sears said. ?I?ve got my asphalt clothes on, and I said, ?What did you just say??
?Right then, something told me, ?Jode, you need to get in your car and you need to drive directly to that high school.? ?
He did. Without a teaching certificate, Sears couldn?t be the head coach, but he was quickly hired as the offensive coordinator for the football team, the head JV basketball coach and the head track coach.
A year later, he knew he had found his profession, so he sent his resume to all of his former coaches and teammates ? including Smith, who had been an assistant to Erickson at Washington State and was the head coach at Idaho at the time.
He got an answer back from Iowa State, where he became a graduate assistant in 1994 under Walden, who had coached him at Washington State.
Walden was fired that year after an 0-10-1 season, but Sears managed to stick around for two more years as a G.A. under new coach Dan McCarney.
On McCarney?s staff, Sears found a mentor in Larry Coyer, whose long career in the NFL and college football now spans stints as a defensive coordinator for the Steelers, Broncos and Colts.
After learning from Coyer, Sears was ready to put his new knowledge to the test. He did so as the defensive coordinator at NAIA school St. Ambrose in Davenport, Iowa.
From there, Sears went on to coach cornerbacks and the defensive line at a unique place to coach college football, Army, from 2000 to ?02. He then got his first taste of the Big Sky Conference as the defensive coordinator at Eastern Washington from 2003 to ?07 under former Wazzu teammate Paul Wulff.
Sears followed Wulff again to Washington State, a homecoming for him, but Wulff was let go last November, so Sears again got in contact with Smith.
Sears brought his wife, Molly, and their five children to Ogden to become the defensive coordinator at Weber State, never expecting to step into the head coaching role just a few months later.
His days are the same as before, he joked Thursday, just another 15 things on the to-do list and another 15 phone calls to make per day.
Sears says his biggest challenges at Weber State for the upcoming season are ?not to reinvent the wheel, and teach our kids how to lead.?
To reinvent the wheel would be to overcomplicate things and ignore the blueprint Smith and his staff had laid out for the summer, fall camp and upcoming season, Sears said.
?The foundation of the thing, the blueprint, the infrastructure, has got to stay the same. That?s what I mean by ?don?t reinvent the wheel? ? keep the plan moving forward, surround these kids with good people, surround these kids with other kids that have a shared vision, that want to win a championship.
?To me, that?s where the leadership comes in.?
As he prepared to make more recruiting rounds at in-state high schools Thursday, Sears said he can?t worry about his long-term goal of having the ?interim head coach? label become something more permanent.
?If I?m focused on being the head coach (in the future), if that?s all I?m focused on, it won?t happen,? he said.
?To me, that?s an outcome-based thought process. I?ve got to think about the process ? I?ve got to be at a high school in 45 minutes. That, to me, is where my focus is. I?ve got to focus on my day-to-day operations and focus on the process. The outcome will take care of itself. You?ve got to win the day.?
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French President Francois Hollande prepares to deliver his speech after visiting troops at Forward Operating Base (FOB) in Nijrab, Kapisa region of Afghanistan Friday, May 25, 2012, where most of French troops are stationed in Afghanistan. France's new President Francois Hollande arrived early Friday in Afghanistan to meet with troops and the country's president and discuss plans for an early pullout. (AP Photo/Joel Saget, Pool)
French President Francois Hollande prepares to deliver his speech after visiting troops at Forward Operating Base (FOB) in Nijrab, Kapisa region of Afghanistan Friday, May 25, 2012, where most of French troops are stationed in Afghanistan. France's new President Francois Hollande arrived early Friday in Afghanistan to meet with troops and the country's president and discuss plans for an early pullout. (AP Photo/Joel Saget, Pool)
French President Francois Hollande followed by his Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, center, and his Defense Minister Jean Yves Le Drian, left, arrive at Kabul airport, Friday, May 25, 2012, before visiting troops in the Kapisa region of Afghanistan. France's new President Francois Hollande arrived early Friday in Afghanistan to meet with troops and the country's president and discuss plans for an early pullout.(AP Photo/Joel Saget, Pool)
French President Francois Hollande arrives at Forward Operating Base (FOB) in Nijrab, Kapisa region of Afghanistan Friday, May 25, 2012, where most of French troops are stationed in Afghanistan. France's new President Francois Hollande arrived early Friday in Afghanistan to meet with troops and the country's president and discuss plans for an early pullout.(AP Photo/Joel Saget, Pool)
French President Francois Hollande review troops at Forward Operating Base (FOB) in Nijrab, Kapisa region, Afghanistan Friday, May 25, 2012, where most of French troops are stationed in Afghanistan. France's new President Francois Hollande arrived early Friday in Afghanistan to meet with troops and the country's president and discuss plans for an early pullout.(AP Photo/Joel Saget, Pool)
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? France's president defended his decision to pull the country's 2,000 combat troops out of Afghanistan two years early, telling French soldiers stationed in the east on Friday that "the time for Afghan sovereignty has come."
While Paris will still support Kabul and keep some trainers behind, France's decision to leave ahead of other NATO allies has spawned fears that more nations in the U.S.-led coalition will withdraw early as well. A speedy withdrawal by others nations would destabilize the plan for Afghan forces to gradually take charge of the country's security over the next 2 1/2 years.
French President Francois Hollande told world leaders at a NATO summit this week in Chicago that he would not renege on his campaign promise to pull French troops out by the end of the year ? well ahead of the end of the alliance's combat mission at the close of 2014.
The French president said that while Paris will withdraw its 2,000 combat troops ? out of a total of 3,400 troops plus 150 gendarmes ? by Dec. 31, it was not renouncing all support for Afghanistan. France so far has not pledged to help bankroll the Afghan security forces beyond 2014, but Hollande said some French forces would stay behind and help train Afghan soldiers and police.
"Is this an abandonment?" Hollande asked rhetorically during a function at the French Embassy in Kabul. "No. This is a continuation, and will be a further engagement, but in a different form."
France, which has lost more than 80 soldiers in the war, is the fifth largest contributor of troops after the United States, Britain, Germany and Italy.
The United States is pulling out 23,000 troops by the end of September, on top of the 10,000 it withdrew last year.
Gen. John Allen, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, said this week that on Sept. 30 there will be 68,000 American and about 40,000 other coalition forces in Afghanistan ? compared to more than 130,000 last year.
Many European countries face disillusionment and fatigue from the decade-long war and are wrestling with their own economic crises.
In an appeal to war-weary voters in a difficult re-election campaign, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy pledged to withdraw all French troops by the end of next year. Sarkozy announced the accelerated withdrawal after four French troops were killed by a rogue Afghan soldier in January.
Hollande, who defeated Sarkozy and took office this month, made this year's pullout a pillar of his election campaign.
French military spokesman Col. Thierry Burkhard said the 2,000 troops leaving this year "conduct operations" and that those who will remain include "hundreds" of trainers, troops handling logistics for the pullout and others who help protect the French hospital, air bases and support staff. He added that defense officials were currently deciding how many would remain in each capacity.
French troops are deployed in the Surobi district of Kabul province, Kapisa province to the north of the capital and at Kandahar Air Field in the south where France has three fighter jets. Burkhard said most of the French troops will be withdrawn from Kapisa and Surobi. The French military equipment would leave Afghanistan along ground routes.
"You have carried out your mission," Hollande told French soldiers stationed in Nijrab district of Kapisa. "The terrorist threat that targeted our territory ? while it hasn't totally disappeared ? is in part lessened."
Hollande told Afghan President Hamid Karzai during a lunch meeting that trainers will continue to work with the Afghan security forces, but he did not say how long they would stay.
"Between now and the end of the year, the Afghan army will take control of the zones protected by our forces," Hollande said. The transition will be carried out "intelligently and with complete and friendly cooperation with the Afghan authorities."
The Afghan army and police have started taking charge of security in areas that are home to 75 percent of the population. The goal is for Afghan forces to be in the lead across the country by mid-2013. NATO and other foreign forces would then assume a support role for the 352,000-strong Afghan security forces until the end of 2014.
Ashraf Ghani, head of a commission overseeing the transition, said earlier this month that "the risks in Kapisa are containable and within our capability."
Mohammad Hussain Khan Sanjani, chief of provincial council in Kapisa, said the French troops were active in reconstruction, worked with the Afghan army and police and conducted patrols in Alasay and Tagab districts, the two most restive areas of the province.
"Let's wait and see," Sanjani said about the effect of the French exit. "I hope the French government will continue to pay attention to training and equipping the Afghan police and army. If they do not help us, our forces will face difficulties."
___
Associated Press writers Amir Shah in Kabul, Mirwais Khan in Kandahar and Angela Charlton and Sarah DiLorenzo in Paris, contributed to this report.
Steve Pavlina's "Law of Attraction" might seem to be like one thing that was sprouted by mystics during the age of peace and love, but it does have its reason for being included inside the approaches of thinking for a lot of top leaders in the on the web company sector. It will help you as well should you employ it's principles into your company as well.
Steve's beginnings were really humble, he wasn't raised inside a rich household so in no way did he develop up privileged. In reality Steve's look for private growth and development came when he hit the all-time low, sitting inside a cell serving time for felony theft in his early years.
Why Do Individuals Need a Private Development Plan?
With Steve's methods you can uncover a quantity of subconscious explanations as to why some individuals are profitable why several other people are not.
A lot more frequently than not, it merely comes down towards the numerous methods profitable people appear at issues. While one particular that runs into obstacles that halters their progress will quit, other people will find out a way around the problem and learn and grow from the encounter.
Steve shows numerous individuals to perform and feel within a way so they are going to have the ability to overcome the stumbling blocks which are stopping them from achieving what they must in their organization good results and individual life.
He realized early that what holds several individuals back is how they were brought up. Many youngsters encounter a lot of unfavorable feedback developing up, and this is the kind of programming that they may be subjected to in their early years.
If you are consistently failing at every little thing you do - particularly with regards to your company, go to StevePavlina.com - you may join thousands of other people that pay a visit to his website on a daily basis searching for answers.
Make the work to read some of the a lot of articles he has on his site - most of them are extremely useful for generating you aware of how items may be so a lot better for you and your enterprise, in the event you basically feel differently.
As an example, why do you hold oneself back from carrying out certain jobs? Why do you hate undertaking certain issues, is it simply because you might be not profitable at undertaking them? This could consist of factors like meeting people to writing letters. Steve shows how positive thinking can get you past these barriers.
Individual Growth Signifies a Greater Organization
Steve also states that you can attract something you need, so in business it is possible to attract that which you genuinely desire. The law of attraction will help you attain your ambitions and aid you overcome difficulties a lot more effortlessly.
By having the power to remain positive and understanding the most effective approach to by-pass these obstacles it'll be element of your personal self-improvement. You progress or you give up, but together with your personal enterprise and understanding the Law of Attraction that is not going to occur.
The Law of Attraction will straighten out Your Attitude!
Have you got objectives, or have you been just going thru the motions every day carrying out what you have got to perform with no program beneath consideration?
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That is how entrepreneurs believe every day, and with Steve Pavlina's law of attraction you'll have the ability to condition your intellect to eventually believe like they do.
MADRID (AP) ? Spain's market regulator has suspended trading of shares in bailed-out lender Bankia ahead of a board meeting of the bank that is expected to decide on the amount of money it needs from the government.
A market commission statement said Friday trading was being halted because "a concurrence of issues could affect the normal exchange of the bank's shares."
The bank's share prices have plunged since it was nationalized earlier this month.
Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said Wednesday the government would pump at least ?9 billion ($11 billion) into Bankia but added that more would be available if needed.
Spanish lenders are heavily exposed to Spain's burst real estate bubble. Bankia, Spain's fourth largest bank, has been the worst-hit with ?32 billion ($40 billion) in toxic assets.
There's nothing quite like an ice cold beer after the end of a long day. But what's even more rewarding is breaking out a bottle of booze you made yourself. More »
The below Reuters report is largely correct, aside from Ssangyong?s placement as a high end brand. Ssangyong to Chinese consumers was never really a high end brand, it was a quirky SUV maker with noisy diesel engines and expensive spare parts. The best selling Ssangyong was the Kyron and the later Actyon, but once the novelty of having an SUV that looked like a shark crossed with a sports coupe wore off, Ssangyong?s Chinese sales shrivelled, and then came the SAIC pull out, followed by a lack of new models. In fact, the Actyon sells for just 160,000RMB to 230,000RMB ? hardly high end considering the most basic Jeep Compass sells for 220,000RMB and rising.
Mahindra & Mahindra is finding it tough to exorcise the ghosts of failed Chinese ownership at its South Korean car unit Ssangyong as it looks to push the brand into China?s auto market, the world?s largest.
At the same time, the Indian car, tractor and truck maker, the core part of the $14.4 billion diversified Mahindra Group, will take its own rugged sport utility vehicles (SUVs) elsewhere, to emerging markets such as Brazil and South Africa ? though it is developing engines to be used across both brands.
Mahindra?s muscular jeeps have for decades been a favourite in India?s rural hinterland, and its tractors work fields from Arizona to Zimbabwe. Cracking the Chinese market with Ssangyong would mark the next frontier for a company that has used booming domestic growth to fuel its global ambitions.
?China is a high priority for Ssangyong, but not for Mahindra,? said Pawan Goenka, president of Mahindra?s automotive and farm equipment sectors and chairman of Ssangyong, which the Indian company bought for $460 million in March last year.
Ssangyong Motor Co, which trails far behind Korean rivals Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors but is popular in Russia, was close to bankruptcy under its Chinese owners SAIC Motor Corp when Mahindra stepped in to buy a 70 percent stake.
The Indian firm started importing Ssangyong cars into China late last year, but has had ?limited success? in a market that is slowing and which regards Ssangyong as a premium brand, Goenka said in an interview at Mahindra?s headquarters in central Mumbai.
?An important hurdle we faced was the ?ghost of the past? at Ssangyong. They were clearly badly bitten by SAIC.?
?It?s said that SAIC did not do justice to Ssangyong. And there?s an apprehension, a feeling, a concern that we may be a repeat of the same. To remove that concern has taken time. And I can?t say it?s gone 100 percent,? he added. ?That has been a little harder than we thought.
Goenka declined to say how many cars Ssangyong sold in China, but said the total lagged expectations. ?The ramp-up has not been as we?d expected,? he said. ?If Ssangyong was a very strong brand in China, then clearly the market slowdown would not have affected us as it has.?
?There is an action plan that includes brand building and pricing and what kind of product tinkering we do; whether there is a specific requirement of product the Chinese customer would want,? he said.
The Ssangyong project is a career-defining initiative for Goenka, who spent 14 years at General Motors before joining Mahindra almost two decades ago.
Ssangyong, which makes the Korando and Rexton SUVs and the Chairman luxury marque, sold 114,000 vehicles in the year to end-March, exporting two-thirds of its production. Goenka expects sales to increase to 125,000 cars this year, and has set a target of 160,000 for 2013.
He said plant capacity could probably be increased to 180,000-200,000 vehicles at minimal extra cost. ?It will take us to 2014 until we sweat the assets fully. That?s very important,? he said, noting depreciation as a part of Ssangyong?s revenue was above the industry norm as the assets are under-utilised.
Ssangyong made a loss of around $80 million in 2011, three times bigger than its 2010 loss, but it was offset by unlocking working capital tied up in the company.
?As of now we have no plans (to take Mahindra to China),? said Goenka. ?We are entering China through Ssangyong. Once that is successful, then we will evaluate whether it makes sense to bring Mahindra products there.
?Once the volume picks up, and we reach a certain economic level, then we will look at manufacturing in China,? he said, adding that all new vehicle platforms will be shared by Ssangyong and Mahindra cars. ?Together we are developing next-generation transmissions, which is a fairly expensive program that neither Mahindra nor Ssangyong could justify doing on their own.?
This week, we received a very kind letter on Smitten and how it reminded one reader to invest more in her friend relationships. ?I think that's a lesson everyone needs here and again. ?Friendships take work at first. ?When Colleen and I met, our connection online was instant, but we edited back and forth for each other for years. ?We invested in each other. ?We made a commitment that YOUR publishing is as important as MY publishing.
As I got more kids, I became less reliable. ? (We met when I had two -- now I have four and my youngest is 11.) ?Colleen got busier publishing a bajillion books a year. ?LOL ?But the friendship stands because of its solid foundation in God. ?I know her heart. ?She knows mine. ?Even though we are totally different animals.?I used to say Colleen is a Golden Retriever and I am a Siamese Cat (and I don't even LIKE cats, so that tells you something!)
The investment and foundation of friendship is so important. ?A relationship is a living, breathing thing. It takes time, commitment and love.
Friends always seem to have something in them that you don't possess and you honor this part of them. ?For me, in Colleen it's her endurance and her ability to go on when I would have long since given up. ?
?In Denise, it's her organization and the way her mind works. ?It's so linear and beautiful and I wish for one day I could run my life like she runs hers. ?She'd be a Beagle.
With Diann, it's her strength of character. ?There are so many days I want to wimp out and give up on success. ?Then, I look to Diann who is always happy even when she's complaining about chemo, she's funny. ?If she were an animal, she'd be a Labradoodle.
In Cheryl, it's her compassion. ?She has so much compassion on those who are in dire straights. ?She has walked some tough roads and because of it, she can empathize and help people through really dark times. ?She'd be a St. Bernard in a rescue.
So what do your friends possess in spades that you'd like more of in yourself? ?What have you dont to invest in your relationships lately?
Factors behind past lemur species extinctions put surviving species in 'ecological retreat'Public release date: 23-May-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: M.B. Reilly reillymb@ucmail.uc.edu 513-556-1824 University of Cincinnati
New research out today on the long-term impact of species extinctions suggests that the disappearance of one species does not necessarily allow remaining competitor species to thrive by filling now-empty niches.
Instead, in University of Cincinnati-led research on lemur extinctions over the past 2,000 years, findings suggest that one likely result of changes that lead to species' extinctions is that remaining species go into "ecological retreat." And that retreat can result in new selective and ecological pressures that then increase the extinction risk of surviving species, potentially creating an "extinction cascade."
These conclusions are found in today's online Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the British Royal Society's flagship biological research journal, in an article titled "Extinction and Ecological Retreat in a Community of Primates" by lead author Brooke Crowley, assistant professor of anthropology and geology at UC.
Co-authors are Laurie Godfrey, professor of anthropology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst; Thomas Guilderson, research scientist, and Paula Zermeno, scientific associate, both of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; Paul Koch, professor of earth & planetary sciences at the University of California at Santa Cruz, and Nathaniel Dominy, associate professor of anthropology at Dartmouth College.
Using radiocarbon and isotope analysis from fossils of eight large-bodied lemur species that have died out in Madagascar since the arrival of humans to the island 2,000 years ago, the research team was able to determine the type of habitat in which lemurs in the past lived, their diets, when they died out and whether other still-extant species filled vacated environmental niches.
Findings show that prior to extensive human disturbance, lemurs were very common in open habitats of wooded savannah and spiny thicket on Madagascar, which constitutes the majority of southwestern Madagascar today.
But after the larger-sized lemurs that once inhabited those regions went extinct, related species that existed then and are still extant today could not fill the empty niches. Instead, still-extant lemur species have shown, over time, an increasing reliance on habitats with dense forest cover.
Said UC's Crowley, "The reasons behind the increased reliance on densely forested habitats are uncertain, but it's likely that low hunting and logging pressures in forest reserves are contributing factors."
She added that while forested areas have experienced human disturbance, even greater disturbance has been documented in the unprotected open, drier areas where lemur species once flourished but have gone extinct.
According to UMass' Godfrey, it's not that lemur species of the past two millennia did not live in forested areas at all nor that today's species live only in forested areas. Rather, lemur species were once very common in other, drier and more open habitats in Madagascar and so, species were not so heavily reliant on forest habitat as they are today.
Added UC's Crowley, "It's been assumed that lemurs were in the forests because that's where the resources that best suited them were. Our fossil analysis shows that lemur species once preferred a much wider, more distinctive habitat range, which may mean that modern lemurs prefer the densely forested areas simply because these areas offer greater protection. The forest is more of a refuge."
If so, this could help explain other researchers' previously reported findings regarding "mismatches" between lemur anatomy and observed behavior of modern lemurs in the dense forest environments.
And such mismatches could be indications that today's lemurs are in ecological retreat and at risk if conservation and environmental management efforts don't take into account what were once, and may likely still be, their preferred habitats.
"In other words," explained Crowley, "We now have long-term historical data, a broadened historical perspective indicating that what lemurs are doing today preferring densely forested areas is not representative of their ecological niche over past millennia. That's an indication that we need to rethink our assumptions on their current habitat choices and on our own conservation efforts. And this form of historically informed research can also be applied to other locales and animals to benefit threatened species."
###
This research was funded by the David and Lucille Packard Foundation and the University of California Laboratory Fee Research Programme, with additional support from D.A. Burney, University of California. Significant laboratory work for this research was conducted at the University of California-Santa Cruz and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
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Factors behind past lemur species extinctions put surviving species in 'ecological retreat'Public release date: 23-May-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: M.B. Reilly reillymb@ucmail.uc.edu 513-556-1824 University of Cincinnati
New research out today on the long-term impact of species extinctions suggests that the disappearance of one species does not necessarily allow remaining competitor species to thrive by filling now-empty niches.
Instead, in University of Cincinnati-led research on lemur extinctions over the past 2,000 years, findings suggest that one likely result of changes that lead to species' extinctions is that remaining species go into "ecological retreat." And that retreat can result in new selective and ecological pressures that then increase the extinction risk of surviving species, potentially creating an "extinction cascade."
These conclusions are found in today's online Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the British Royal Society's flagship biological research journal, in an article titled "Extinction and Ecological Retreat in a Community of Primates" by lead author Brooke Crowley, assistant professor of anthropology and geology at UC.
Co-authors are Laurie Godfrey, professor of anthropology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst; Thomas Guilderson, research scientist, and Paula Zermeno, scientific associate, both of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; Paul Koch, professor of earth & planetary sciences at the University of California at Santa Cruz, and Nathaniel Dominy, associate professor of anthropology at Dartmouth College.
Using radiocarbon and isotope analysis from fossils of eight large-bodied lemur species that have died out in Madagascar since the arrival of humans to the island 2,000 years ago, the research team was able to determine the type of habitat in which lemurs in the past lived, their diets, when they died out and whether other still-extant species filled vacated environmental niches.
Findings show that prior to extensive human disturbance, lemurs were very common in open habitats of wooded savannah and spiny thicket on Madagascar, which constitutes the majority of southwestern Madagascar today.
But after the larger-sized lemurs that once inhabited those regions went extinct, related species that existed then and are still extant today could not fill the empty niches. Instead, still-extant lemur species have shown, over time, an increasing reliance on habitats with dense forest cover.
Said UC's Crowley, "The reasons behind the increased reliance on densely forested habitats are uncertain, but it's likely that low hunting and logging pressures in forest reserves are contributing factors."
She added that while forested areas have experienced human disturbance, even greater disturbance has been documented in the unprotected open, drier areas where lemur species once flourished but have gone extinct.
According to UMass' Godfrey, it's not that lemur species of the past two millennia did not live in forested areas at all nor that today's species live only in forested areas. Rather, lemur species were once very common in other, drier and more open habitats in Madagascar and so, species were not so heavily reliant on forest habitat as they are today.
Added UC's Crowley, "It's been assumed that lemurs were in the forests because that's where the resources that best suited them were. Our fossil analysis shows that lemur species once preferred a much wider, more distinctive habitat range, which may mean that modern lemurs prefer the densely forested areas simply because these areas offer greater protection. The forest is more of a refuge."
If so, this could help explain other researchers' previously reported findings regarding "mismatches" between lemur anatomy and observed behavior of modern lemurs in the dense forest environments.
And such mismatches could be indications that today's lemurs are in ecological retreat and at risk if conservation and environmental management efforts don't take into account what were once, and may likely still be, their preferred habitats.
"In other words," explained Crowley, "We now have long-term historical data, a broadened historical perspective indicating that what lemurs are doing today preferring densely forested areas is not representative of their ecological niche over past millennia. That's an indication that we need to rethink our assumptions on their current habitat choices and on our own conservation efforts. And this form of historically informed research can also be applied to other locales and animals to benefit threatened species."
###
This research was funded by the David and Lucille Packard Foundation and the University of California Laboratory Fee Research Programme, with additional support from D.A. Burney, University of California. Significant laboratory work for this research was conducted at the University of California-Santa Cruz and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
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Public release date: 23-May-2012
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