February 2011 Horoscope Scorpio, free Monthly Horoscope for February 2011 and Scorpio Astrology Forecast for the month ahead.
Scorpio (the Scorpion) certainly will be a favourite of the year of White Metal Rabbit 2011, but it doesn't mean that he/she will get favourable opportunities and have prosperous moments only. It goes without saying that Scorpio will need self-possession, abilities of prompt response to unexpected situations and of taking strong stand against the partners and colleagues. From the very beginning of the month there will be the situations which will demand drastic solutions, and Scorpio must be ready for active choice which may turn out an important event for his/her future.
Most of February time Scorpio will spend on contact making with partners, he/she will make the acquaintance and communicate with other people actively. Scorpio-office worker will be engaged in the work connected with agitation, advertising campaigns, social events organization on the direct boss' task. Communication will become Scorpio's base for many things and actions, that's why conflicts and confrontations are possible in such infirm and changeable sphere as colleagues and partners relations. They will have been resolved only by the end of February, but it will be possible only with active Scorpio's involvement in peacemaking process. The February financial sphere will be stable more or less, but the planetary unit just wants to warn about the necessity to do business rationally, without spending money on the luxuries and entertainments, because difficult business, which will require financial injections, is waiting ahead. If Scorpio is busy with activities intended for real estate operations or investment business, the end of February will bring the stable inflows of sizable profit into Scorpio's budget. But in the third February decade Scorpio should mind the hasty investments to avoid risks of considerable part of savings loss.
The Scorpio's ambitions may become a source of domestic altercations, and by an unlucky train of events these altercations may lead to the complete break-off with a beloved person. Scorpio will have to manage his/her haughty manners and to think more of partner's feelings and wishes, than of his/her own. Energy and activeness should be put on the domestic cares, which are waiting for it. In February Scorpio may start redecoration works or help to solve relatives' money problems.
On the 2nd of November you shouldn't rely completely on help from those around you. These people can only help you in the little things, and you will have to deal with the majority of your problems on your own.
In the evening you risk being extremely tired, and you will need to find an effective way to relax. .
On this day Arians will have to deal with minor organizational issues. An important development will take place in the life of one of your colleagues, and so you and your coworkers will scheme together to make a big surprise for him.
On this day Taureans are not advised to show their true emotions. Hide them deep inside, so that others will not be able to guess what is going on in your thoughts. You will need this in order to come closer to your career success, which explosive emotions will not facilitate.
On the 2nd of November Geminis will have to strengthen their authority in the workplace. A new person will show up and immediately announce their claim to leadership status. You will act immediately to show this person who the most respected, professional and responsible person is.
On this day Cancers will communicate with foreigners. You will overcome the language barrier easily, but you will not be able to resolve the difference in mentality, and in the end your conversation will be completely unproductive.
Today Leos will succeed in making a very useful purchase. You will order it online, and it will be delivered to you in no time. In the evening another pleasant surprise awaits you - a meeting with a friend from your distant childhood.
On the 2nd of November Virgos will be characterized by increased ambition. You will take offense when your boss gives a difficult but very promising project not to you but to another colleague. In response you will complain to your boss directly, but he will ask you to demonstrate your professionalism before you make claims.
On this day Libras will receive selfless help from an unfamiliar person. You will find yourself in a difficult situation, and you will cope with it only thanks to this person's protection. They will refuse the money you offer them in compensation, having acted out of pure motives. Thus you will find a new friend you can rely on.
On the 2nd of November financial matters will work out particularly well for Scorpios. It is quite likely that you will make a smart move, after which your income will grow rapidly. You won't have any special victories on the romantic front, but there won't be causes for concern either.
On this day Sagittarians' expectations will grow significantly. You will decide to enlarge your income as quickly as possible, and with this as your goal you will agree to take part in one of your close friends' projects, even investing a large sum of money in it.
On this day Capricorns are advised to act only in tried and tested ways. Those around you won't understand if you are creative in the work process or in the way you communicate with others. On the personal front, however, an original approach will serve you well.
On this day Aquarians will overcome the effects of a seasonal cold. It is not impossible that your heart, joints or head might be affected. You will decide to step into the role of doctor, taking a lot of expensive medication. Later you will realize that more than half of them are out of bounds to you, and that you have wasted your money.
On this day Pisces will find a compromise with a very difficult, uncooperative person. You will call on all your oratory talent for help, and it will help your dialogue to become a success. You will attempt to restore order in your personal relationships, but unfortunately success will evade you in this regard.
A new analysis by Josh Rauh at Stanford University's Hoover Institution says state and local governments’ collective unfunded pension liabilities are actually about three times the amount they claim. Rauh, a finance professor who has long been a critic of public pension accounting, arrived at his figure by assigning pension plans a much lower assumed investment rate of return.
Pension plans in 2015 collectively reported about $1.3 trillion in unfunded liabilities. In other words, they have about 72 percent of the assets they need to meet their estimated total liabilities. That figure assumes plans will earn an average of 7.4 percent each year on their investments.
Rauh, pointing to the wild swings of the stock market and the fact that pensions are putting more of their assets into volatile, alternative investments, says that assumption is too risky. He argues it's more responsible to consider a rate of return closer to what long-term bonds earn: slightly less than 3 percent. Under those assumptions, Rauh says unfunded U.S. public pension liabilities would roughly triple to $3.8 trillion, or less than half-funded.
The Takeaway: Rauh is arguing for accounting responsibility. And to be sure, the underwhelming returns of pension plans over the last two years bolster his case. Several pension plans have already acknowledged that their investment return assumptions likely won’t hold up in the long term and have lowered their assumed rates of return to 7 or 6.5 percent. But to drastically lower return assumptions would be devastating for governments and impair their ability to provide services to constituents.
Rauh even cites those consequences in his research. In the worst example, Illinois in 2015 put a whopping 11 percent of its own revenue into its pension plan. Even though that's a far higher share than other states, Illinois' payment was still short -- it actually needed to contribute more than 16 percent. Under Rauh’s approach, Illinois would have to contribute more than 23 percent of its revenue to avoid a rise in liabilities. That would dwarf education spending and make pensions second only to Medicaid as the state’s highest single expense.
On the heels of Connecticut’s multiple downgrades, its capital city also took a credit hit this week. S&P Global Ratings flagged Hartford's reliance on state aid as a major concern when it downgraded the city's credit rating to one notch above junk status. Half of Hartford's $612 million budget for the next fiscal year relies on state funding.
The downgrade was based on “the heightened uncertainty” as to whether the state could boost financial aid or otherwise lend the necessary support to prevent Hartford from further fiscal deterioration. Connecticut has suffered under chronic budget shortfalls and is facing a more than $2 billion deficit for the next two years.
Adding to rating agencies' concerns was Mayor Luke Bronin’s open acknowledgment this month that his office is seeking advice from municipal bankruptcy lawyers. “While a bankruptcy filing remains distant, in our opinion, by raising the possibility, we believe that elected officials are seeking to better understand the legal qualifications, process and consequences associated with this action if there is no budgetary support at the state level,” wrote S&P's Victor Medeiros and Geoffrey Buswick.
The Takeaway: Connecticut’s budget crisis will likely be solved, in part, on the backs of local governments. In his proposed budget, Gov. Dannel Malloy would make local governments pick up a third of teacher retirement contributions (a collective $400 million alone for the upcoming fiscal year). For already dire places like Hartford, such an action would push local officials into new territory: Officials are already less gun shy about publicly discussing the “B” word.
While bankruptcy is still everybody’s last choice, the experience in places such as Detroit; Central Falls, R.I.; multiple cities in California; and most recently Puerto Rico; have seemingly made the process less taboo.
State officials know that maintaining their rainy day funds aren’t just important for the next fiscal downturn, but also for their credit rating. But new research by the Pew Charitable Trusts says that correlation has long confused policymakers. After all, if the reserves are not to be used in times of fiscal stress, what are they for?
The research found that even in states with the agencies’ highest rating (triple-A), policymakers often are unsure about how best to manage their rainy day funds to earn or keep high credit ratings. “As a result,” the report says, “some state officials are reluctant to tap reserves even during recessions for fear of a ratings downgrade.”
But the report also found that ratings agencies don’t automatically punish a government for drawing upon its reserves. If the action fits within what credit ratings agencies consider prudent fiscal policy, the report says, it won't factor into a downgrade.
The Takeaway: So what is prudent fiscal policy where rainy day funds are concerned? According to Pew, it's:
Defining rainy day funds savings goals and codifying them so they aren’t subject to the whims of changing administrating and legislatures; Considering a state’s revenue volatility and the business cycle when designing a fund’s deposits, withdrawals and savings targets, and; Basing the decision to tap rainy day funds on a state’s fiscal situation, “withdrawing money as appropriate during budget crises but resuming deposits when economic and fiscal conditions improve.” Indeed, establishing prudent fiscal policy for rainy day reserves can help boost a credit rating and ultimately save taxpayer money. For example, in early 2015, Fitch Ratings upgraded California to A+ in part because of the state’s newly institutionalized savings policy and bolstered reserves. Following the upgrade, the state refinanced $1 billion in bonds, saving taxpayers nearly $200 million in debt service costs.
Hurricane Maria brought unprecedented devastation to Puerto Rico, and the majority of residents are still without power. Nevertheless, with new federal aid and some of the world’s top technology leaders getting involved, the hope for a better tomorrow is now returning.
In a hurricane season filled with unprecedented damage, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands continue to have the greatest amount of ongoing struggles and widespread impacts. Puerto Rico is now the largest blackout in U.S. history, with 75 percent of the island still without power, 36 days after Hurricane Maria struck the island.
Never before has our country faced three back-to-back hurricanes that so severely impacted both people and also crippled critical infrastructure in the way that Harvey, Irma and Maria hammered Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico along with the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Despite plenty of criticism for unequal hurricane relief efforts, much has been done by FEMA and hundreds of other public- and private-sector groups to help Puerto Rico regain their footing. Still, Puerto Rican officials say it could take up to six months before its power grid is fully repaired and restored.
As aid groups continue to struggle to get supplies to help residents in need, many groups continue to focus on restoring power and cell service, especially in remote areas.
The New York Times focused on a perfect storm of failures and weeks without lights. “Thirty days after the storm, I see very little progress,” said Eduardo Bhatia, an opposition senator who in 2014 wrote an energy reform law. He added, “I don’t see the boots on the field doing the work, and that is a tragedy.”
What’s the causing these delays? The NY Times article continues: “After major storms, power companies typically rely on mutual aid agreements to get electricity restored. Outside companies send thousands of workers, and electric companies pay for the service with funds from FEMA.
Such agreements are “absolutely critical,” said Devon Streit, the deputy assistant secretary for infrastructure security at the Department of Energy, which is helping to coordinate the restoration of power. But in this instance, some companies were concerned about getting paid, she said, because the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, known as PREPA, had filed for bankruptcy protection in July after defaulting on $9 billion in debt.”
This article from The Washington Post illustrates the ongoing challenges faced by Puerto Rico as the pictures tell a remarkable story that continues.
“Workers and tools must be flown to the island. Any heavy equipment, such as bucket trucks, transformers and wires, must be transported on ships.
When the workers and equipment arrive, the next challenge is repairing downed lines among the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA)’s 2,478 miles of transmission lines, clearing debris from roads, and providing food and water to residents. …
On Oct. 19, Whitefish Energy, a Whitefish, Mont.-based energy company, announced it signed a $300 million contract with PREPA to repair and reconstruct large portions of the electrical infrastructure.
One of the huge challenges facing the recovery is that underfunding and poor state of the Prep-owned power plants prior to Hurricane Maria. Reports last year described the electrical grid to be “running on fumes,” in a state of disrepair and needing about $4 billion to bring systems up to the proper state.
Of course, without power, almost every other aspect of improving critical infrastructure is negatively impacted.
But despite all of this bad news, is there finally light at the end of the long tunnel for Puerto Rico?
The big news this week is that more money is finally on the way. “President Donald Trump signed a $36.5 billion emergency aid measure on Thursday to refill disaster accounts, provide a cash infusion to Puerto Rico and bail out the federal flood insurance program. …
The current measure would permit FEMA to allocate up to $5 billion to assist Puerto Rico's central government and various municipalities dealing with a cash crisis.”
This Brookings Institute blog also brings hope by pointing to the reality that disasters can lead to unexpected and rapid technology innovation.
Excerpt: “We know that many diesel generators — the current technology of choice for backup power in many critical facilities — failed in Puerto Rico, as they have in all modern disasters, from the New York City blackout, to Katrina, Sandy, Harvey, Irma, and now Maria. They flood, or simply stop, when the fuel is gone.
Into this dangerous power breach comes Elon Musk, the peripatetic disruptor of multiple industries, from autos to space travel, and now the electric power sector. He has already started sending Tesla batteries to Puerto Rico, to be installed with solar as an emergency measure to provide power to critical facilities. He’s not the only one.
Sonnen, a German company with manufacturing facilities in the United States, is installing solar and storage systems in Puerto Rico at emergency shelters. Their systems can provide critical power for cell phones, lights and refrigeration. …”
TheVerge.com describes how a casual comment on Twitter by Tesla CEO Elon Musk about rebuilding Puerto Rico’s power grid using solar technology was quickly responded to by the island’s governor with the comment: “Let’s talk.”
Related articles on rebuilding using the latest smart grid technology were written by Fastcompany.com, Technologyreview.com and Barrons.com. Indeed, many Silicon Valley companies want to help rebuild Puerto Rico.
Summing up the opportunity very well, Barrons.com proclaims: “It’s time to transform Puerto Rico’s power grid. Hurricane Maria's damage affords the U.S. government an opportunity to upgrade the island’s power supply with a focus on renewables. …”
However, all of this costs money and time, and it is not clear where that long-term investment will come from. In the short term,Tesla has delivered solar power to Puerto Rico children's hospital and other similar examples of critical need following Hurricane Maria.
As the hurricane restoration and rebuilding process continues to unfold in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, there are many excellent resources to take advantage of from The Council of State Governments (COSG) Knowledge Center.
COSG gives a longer-term perspective on government issues and solutions than found most in IT literature and reference policy areas, such as elections under critical infrastructure and potential disruptions and disasters. Here is a sample of some of the excellent research that can provide information actions on these topics:
"Critical Infrastructure ... and Still Critically Underfunded: What Comes Next for Securing U.S. Elections?"
Other excellent resources come from Brookings on how Puerto Rico’s recovery requires a sustained federal commitment, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on how Puerto Rico’s utility contracting has sparked new probes and how the Jones Act has delayed delivery of much-needed supplies.
There are also quite a few articles covering how bond funds are selling Puerto Rico bonds and investors were exiting Puerto Rico in the wake of recent hurricanes.
“Since both U.S. territories had such a low financial capacity to deal with a major disaster in the first place, it will take them much longer to rebuild than Houston and the Florida Keys, which were also hit by major hurricanes this year. ‘It's going to easily be a decade,’ says Deserai Crow, a disaster recovery expert at the University of Colorado Denver.
That's in part due to the level of devastation brought by the hurricanes. Puerto Rico's entire electric grid was severely damaged following Hurricane Maria in September, leaving the whole island without power and, in most cases, a working water and sewer system. Federal officials say it could take months before power is restored there.
Maria also ravaged St. Croix, the largest of the U.S. Virgin Islands, while St. John and St. Thomas were pummeled by Hurricane Irma just 14 days earlier. All three islands are facing widespread power outages as well. Although, running water is expected to return this weekend.”
Finally, Route Fifty offered some interesting insights on how the Trump administration holds all the cards on Puerto Rico’s recovery efforts. Here’s an excerpt: In terms of relief, Puerto Rico still remains in the “response phase” ensuring public safety and the meeting of critical needs like water, sewer, power, communication, mobility, and trade….
Once the short-term response phase is finished, the long-term “recovery phase” led by FEMA will begin bringing action plans and the prioritization of projects. …
Intergovernmental cooperation, as well as communication with the private sector and NGOs, is improving in Puerto Rico, and that could make or break resilient recovery. Disaster politics could stymie it.
There are several opportunities to participate in free briefings that offer helpful insights on hurricane disaster response in the coming weeks, and one of those is offered by Deloitte experts on Oct. 31, 2017 — which will likely be recorded for later use.
Participants will learn how tested strategies and effective practices can speed recovery from natural disasters and reinforce business continuity for the long term.
I plan to come back to this wider topic with another blog on the 2017 hurricanes and natural disaster response later this year, but I want to end this piece on a positive note.
Despite numerous ongoing challenges and many serious issues that remain in Puerto Rico, I am encouraged overall that the worst is behind Puerto Rico regarding Hurricane Maria response. There is light at the end of this dark tunnel.
My hope is that all of America can come together to make this very horrible situation that is facing our fellow citizens the impetus for a bipartisan rebuilding effort that truly helps Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to move forward for a better tomorrow.
Building effective virtual government requires new ideas, innovative thinking and hard work. From cybersecurity to cloud computing to mobile devices, Dan discusses what’s hot and what works in the world of gov tech.
On August 28th, the grand award ceremony on the theme of “Night of China Dream” and “Salute to Steadfast Dreamers in 2018” was held in Jinmao Tower of Shanghai. This event unveil the “Finest Artist” devised by massive encouraging talk show Haiyang Fangtan together with media from Jiangsu, Shanghai, Beijing, Guangdong and other places across China.
In addition to interviewing celebrities, Haiyang Fangtan, which has put down roots in Wuxi and connects itself with the whole country, pays more attention to ordinary people about their virtues, especially those folk artists and inheritors of intangible cultural heritage. After the success of “Brilliant Yixing People” held by Haiyang Fangtan, it is busy in preparing for the broadcast of “Brilliant Wuxi People” now.
They are Zhang Zhengzhong, Hua Jian and Qiao Jinhong. Zhang Zhengzhong, highlevel craftsman and researcher at the research institute of Yixing Zisha Craft Factory, his sentimental works, honored as masterpieces of realism plus tradition, stand out in the rational Zisha world. Hua Jian, representative inheritor of Yixing intangible cultural heritage, he has received strict training in molding techniques from outstanding craftsman Gu Shaopei, so that he is proficient in molding clay by hand, especially good at dealing with square works. Qiao Jinhong, bamboo carving artist, the thirdgeneration inheritor of “Bamboo Carving of the Zhangs” (Zhang, a surname) and “Shuangqi Xuan”, researcher, and highlevel craftsman, he is skilled in adopting relief and hollowout carving to make creations, which come with the quaint and poetic style of ancient carvings in the Ming and Qing Dynasties and his mother’s works in her later years. Zhang Yingyuan, his wife who is good at exquisite bamboo carving, endeavors to present flowers, birds, insects and fish as elaborate bamboo reliefs. Because of their diligence, Wuxi Bamboo Carving revives from the brink of extinction.
This time, award winners also include Han Tongsheng, renowned performing artist, Wu Lan, national firstclass actress, Chen Yongtang, enthusiast of public welfare and initiator of “Vintage Puerh”. Meanwhile, Wang Hongxiang, who is committed to promoting Beijing Opera, the quintessence of Chinese culture, is awarded “Finest Rising Star”.