text
stringlengths 2
255k
|
|---|
descent 3 is the first project developed by outrage entertainment the company was founded when parallax software creators of previous descent games decided to split in two outrage entertainment and volition volition would focus on creating the combat space simulator freespace games while outrage would continue with the descent series development on descent 3 began in november 1996 with a team of eight people according to programmer jason leighton one of the major problems during the game s development cycle was a lack of direction and control he explained that the team had no code reviews no art reviews no way of saying this is bad and we should be going in a different direction this anarchistic development environment worked for descent and descent ii because they were developed by small groups that worked closely together and often in the same room however as outrage started to grow from eight people to almost 20 by the end of the project the developers did not introduce enough management to control the process as leighton recalls we literally had to build the team and company at the same time we started production on the game |
originally descent 3 was intended to support both a software and a hardware renderer implying that the rendering process of the game could take place either in the cpu or dedicated hardware like a video card but about six months after starting development the team decided to go with a hardware only renderer because it allowed them to create visually stunning graphics and maintain a solid frame rate without worrying about the limitations imposed by the software renderer this was a difficult decision since the team had to scrap many tools and software rendering technology that were already developed in addition computers with hardware acceleration were not common at the time the decision was made as the developers noted we knew just by looking at our progress on the game under acceleration that we had a beautiful looking game with all the latest technologies but would anyone actually be able to play it fortunately as development progressed hardware acceleration became more popular with each passing year the game natively supports the direct3d glide and opengl rendering apis for graphics and the a3d and directsound3d technologies for sound |
the new technology also allowed the developers to create both indoor and outdoor environments one of the biggest complaints of descent ii was the fact that it was considered too tunnely to this end the developers created a new technology which featured an indoor portal rendering engine hooked to a flight sim like terrain engine collectively called the fusion engine the portal engine permitted designers to create small rooms with complex geometry these rooms would later be linked together via shared dividing polygons called portals to create a portalized world for the player to fly through in contrast the terrain engine which was initially planned for another game and whose function is to create more polygonal detail as players get closer to the ground and decrease polygons when they are farther away gave designers the ability to create expansive outdoor terrains transitions between both engines were achieved using an external room with its normal vectors inverted that could be placed anywhere on the terrain map with this technique developers could create hybrid levels where the player could transit from indoor to outdoor areas in real time and without loading screens leighton commented that whenever one of these transitions occurs the game code collision detection rendering and so on to use the terrain engine |
the company had no standardization of level design tools leighton said some people used 3d studio max some used lightwave and one designer even wrote his own custom modeler from scratch this practice led to an inconsistent quality across the game s levels for example one designer would create structures with great geometry but bad texturing while another would create the opposite once the structures were modeled individually they were all imported into a custom editor called d3edit so that the designers could glue everything together the d3edit editor received constant updates because it initially did not feature an intuitive interface for designers it was not until the last third of the development period that the editor improved significantly as leighton notes even in the shipped game you can tell which levels were made early on and which were made near the end of the production cycle the later levels are much better looking have better frame rates and generally have better scripts developers also considered the idea of shipping the game with a level editor based on the one they used to create the game s levels due to the constant changes the developers made to their own editor it was hard for them to design a more user friendly one |
in addition to the changes in the game s engine the developers decided to improve the artificial intelligence to give each enemy a distinct behavior according to matt toschlog president of outrage entertainment and lead programmer of descent 3 it s very rewarding for the player to meet a new enemy get to know him learn his quirks and figure out the best way to kill him it s great when a game requires both thinking and quick reactions originally the developers planned to add weather effects that would disorient the player s ship during gameplay but this feature was ultimately not implemented due to time and technology constraints multiplayer games were heavily tested to ensure their network stability and support ipx tcp and directplay the actual development of the game took 31 months to complete with the developers describing it as both a joyful and painful process due to in part of the almost nonexistent management and the rapidly evolving technology at the time |
descent 3 received positive reviews from video game critics the most praised aspects were its graphics artificial intelligence of enemies and outdoor environments erik wolpaw of gamespot felt that the game improves in almost every conceivable way on its predecessors and reestablishes the series as the premier example of the play style it single handedly pioneered while next generation praised both its originality and faithfulness to its predecessors ign lauded the game s new engine noting that the transition between indoor and outdoor environments is seamless gamerevolution remarked that the addition of outdoor environments allows greater use of the maneuvering capabilities adds variety to the levels and ensures that the game never gets dull or boring the reviewer also acknowledged that the game s six degrees of freedom movement scheme may be difficult to master for some players stating that the game can be confusing dizzying and even nauseating this is a game for the pro s |
the music and sound effects received similar praise gamespot pointed out that explosions erupt with lots of satisfying floor rattling bass lasers ping nicely flamethrowers emit appropriate rumbling whooshes and there s plenty of ambient beeping hissing and mechanical humming game revolution praised the graphics for their modeling colored lighting incredible special effects wonderful animation sheer overall feel victor lucas of electric playground stated similar pros but also admitted that the game s hardware requirements were relatively high criticism was leveled at the game s story gamespot considered it not compelling while jason cross writing for computer games magazine felt that it really doesn t have much to do with actual gameplay pc gamer reviewer stephen poole also criticized the guide bot s efficiency remarking that sometimes it can get lost or trapped while leading the player to a destination |
the gameplay was praised for its variety of weapons and enemies game revolution said that each enemy is unique both in ability structure and behavior so that each requires a specific combat approach maximum pc reviewer josh norem praised the levels for their interesting objectives stating that the missions vary widely ranging from finding lost colleagues to defending strategic structures against enemy assaults computer games magazine praised the fact that the developers replaced the wire frame automaps of previous descent games with flat shaded polygons because they provide more detail and make it easier to recognize where you are and how to get where you want to go the multiplayer was highlighted positively due to its replay value and variety of game types computer games magazine also credited its rock solid performance on standard dialup modems and easy connectivity while gamespot praised it for being fun and stable the game was a runner up for gamespy s action game of the year and a nominee for gamespot s pc action game of the year |
during 2009 12 new memberships retention rates and time spent on the site decreased in july 2012 neil clark warren came out of retirement to become chief executive officer warren closed unprofitable international operations switched advertisers made changes to the board and bought back stock from sequoia capital and technology crossover ventures eharmony featured in the 2013 film the secret life of walter mitty where the namesake protagonist speaks to a personal counselor at the company in 2017 it was reported that eharmony had about 750 000 paid subscribers and 10 million active users which was about the same as it had been in 2012 warren left the company again in july 2016 |
when it began eharmony did not offer same sex matches it now offers them through a separate service compatible partners warren said that he had done extensive research on heterosexual marriage but did not know enough about homosexual relationships to do same sex match making which he said calls for some very careful thinking very careful research he also said that eharmony promotes heterosexual marriage adding that at the time same sex marriage was illegal in most places saying we don t really want to participate in something that s illegal in another interview warren went into more detail on his own views noting that cities like san francisco chicago or new york they could shut down so fast we don t want to make enemies out of them but at the same time i take a real strong stand against same sex marriage anywhere that i can comment on it |
eharmony s lack of same sex matching options prompted lawsuits claiming that eharmony violated laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation as part of the settlement of a new jersey case eharmony launched a partner website called compatible partners providing match making for men and women looking for a serious same sex relationship theodore b olson an attorney for eharmony said that even though the company believed the complaint was an unfair characterization of our business it chose to settle because of the unpredictable nature of litigation in 2010 eharmony settled a separate class action lawsuit filed in california that alleged illegal discrimination based on sexual orientation the company which did not admit wrongdoing agreed to allow access to both its gay and straight dating sites with a single subscription to display its gay dating services more prominently and to establish a settlement fund to pay people who can show they were harmed by the company s policies |
in 2018 the advertising standards authority stated that an eharmony ad which included the lines it s time science had a go at love and imagine being able to stack the odds of finding lasting love entirely in your favor was misleading when the asa asked for evidence supporting eharmony s claims that their scientifically proven matching system increases the odds of finding love eharmony was not able to provide any the asa subsequently banned advertisements that claimed the use of a scientifically proven matching system eharmony publicly disagreed with the asa but said it would work with them to clarify its advertising |
following the development of the market whereby norwegian air shuttle has grown since its launch in 2002 to become equal in size to sas on most major domestic routes the norwegian competition authority begun yet another evaluation of the ban on domestic frequent flyer points in december 2010 the government lifted the ban on 16 may 2013 noting that the competition in the norwegian airline market had improved the european free trade association surveillance authority had previously considered the ban illegal |
gregory was born in clermont in the auvergne region of central gaul he was born into the upper stratum of gallo roman society as the son of florentius senator of clermont by his wife armentaria ii niece of bishop nicetius of lyon and granddaughter of both florentinus senator of geneva and saint gregory of langres gregory had several noted bishops and saints as close relatives his family effectively monopolised the bishoprics of tours lyon and langres at the time of his birth and according to gregory he was connected to thirteen of the eighteen bishops of tours preceding him by ties of kinship gregory s paternal grandmother leocadia descended from vettius epagatus the illustrious martyr of lyon |
his father evidently died while gregory was young and his widowed mother moved to burgundy where she had property gregory went to live with his paternal uncle st gallus bishop of clermont under whom and his successor st avitus gregory had his education gregory also received the clerical tonsure from gallus having contracted a serious illness he made a visit of devotion to the tomb of st martin at tours upon his recovery he began to pursue a clerical career and was ordained deacon by avitus upon the death of st euphronius he was chosen as bishop by the clergy and people who had been charmed with his piety learning and humility their deputies overtook him at the court of king sigebert of austrasia and being compelled to acquiesce though much against his will gregory was consecrated by giles bishop of rheims on 22 august 573 at the age of thirty four |
at tours gregory could not have been better placed to hear everything and meet everyone of influence in merovingian culture tours lay on the watery highway of the navigable loire five roman roads radiated from tours which lay on the main thoroughfare between the frankish north and aquitania with spain beyond at tours the frankish influences of the north and the gallo roman influences of the south had their chief contact see map as the center for the popular cult of st martin tours was a pilgrimage site hospital and a political sanctuary to which important leaders fled during periods of violence and turmoil in merovingian politics |
book i begins with the a pronouncement by the author the bishop of tours of gregory s faith that he is a frankish catholic clergyman who follows the nicene creed and abhors heresy like those of the wicked arian sect among other heresies the narrative history begins with a brief epitome of the biblical old testament and new testament and the subsequent spread of the christian religion into gaul next gregory covers the history of christianity in gaul and some of the major events in roman gallo relations book one ends with the death of saint martin of tours in ad 397 |
book 3 ad 511 548 follows the four male inheritors of king clovis who equally divide his realms at his death in ad 511 these four kings theodoric i lothar i childebert and chlodomer quarrel and fight for supremacy of the frankish realm despite their disputes the four brothers can occasionally work together against an outside threat such as successful cooperation against the burgundians in 523 eventually clothar becomes the most powerful king in the frankish realm book three ends with the death of king theudebert i in 548 he is a grandson of clovis and son to king theodoric i who died in 534 bequesting his kingdom to theudebert the kingdom after 548 falls to theudobald i until 555 |
book 4 ad 548 575 the two remaining sons of clovis die king childebert in 558 and king clothar in 561 the last years of his life see the entire realm of the franks ruled by clothar at the time of his demise in ad 561 like clovis before him the kingdom is divided equally between four sons of clothar and again the kingly sons quarrel for control of the entire kingdom a truce between the brothers is maintained until after the death of king charibert i son of clothar in 567 clothar s remaining sons kings sigibert guntram and chilperic fight for the supremacy of the kingdom with king sigibert showing the strongest military force book four ends with the killing of king sigbert in ad 575 gregory of tours blames fredegund the wife of king chilperic for this assassination the death leaves king chilperic as the dominant king fredegund has long held a grudge against king sigibert and his wife brunhilda |
book 5 ad 575 581 this book begins the part of the narrative where the author bishop gregory of tours has much personal knowledge about the events in the frankish kingdom this book and the ones hereafter are considerably longer and more detailed than previous whilst covering a smaller amount of time this book also contains gregory s impressions of ecclesiastical issues he saw in person and had some bearing on this book describes a possible debate that gregory had with a rival arian church leader moreover book 5 also introduces childebert ii the son of recently slain king sigibert and of the still living brunhilda childebert is taken along with brunhilda under the protection of king gunthram brother |
book 7 ad 584 fredegund assumes regency for her young son clothar ii in the future clothar will be king of all franks until his death in 619 but that is beyond gregory s narrative which end in roughly ad 593 fredegund and her son are under the protection of king gunthram she remains in power until her death in ad 597 also in this book is the rebellion of gundovald and its failure gundovald claimed to be a lost illegitimate son of dead king chlothar i many of the frankish nobles and the byzantine emperor maurice gave some support to this rebellion however it is swiftly crushed by king guntram |
the historia francorum is made up of ten books books i to iv initially recount the world s history from the creation as was traditional but move quickly on to the christianization of gaul the life and times of saint martin of tours the conversion of the franks and the conquest of gaul under clovis and the more detailed history of the frankish kings down to the death of sigebert i in 575 at this date gregory had been bishop of tours for two years |
with his fifth book gregory embarks with some relief on contemporary history opening here i am glad to say begins book v this the second part of his history books v and vi closes with chilperic i s death in 584 during the years that chilperic held tours relations between him and gregory were tense after hearing rumours that the bishop of tours had slandered his wife fredegund chilperic had gregory arrested and tried for treason a charge which threatened both gregory s bishopric and his life the most eloquent passage in the historia is the closing chapter of book vi in which chilperic s character is summed up unsympathetically through the use of an invective herod and nero are among the comparisons employed |
readers of the historia francorum must decide whether this is a royal history and whether gregory was writing to please his patrons it is likely that one royal frankish house is more generously treated than others gregory was also a catholic bishop and his writing reveals views typical of someone in his position his views on perceived dangers of arianism still strong among the visigoths led him to preface the historia with a detailed expression of his orthodoxy on the nature of christ in addition his ridiculing of pagans and jews reflected how his works were used to spread the christian faith for example in book 2 chapters 28 31 he describes the pagans as incestuous and weak and then describes the process by which newly converted king clovis leads a much better life than that of a pagan and is healed of all the conundrums he experienced as a pagan |
gregory s education was the standard latin one of late antiquity focusing on virgil s aeneid and martianus capella s liber de nuptiis mercurii et philologiae but also other key texts such as orosius s chronicles which his historia continues and sallust he refers to all these works in his own his education as was typical for the time did not extend to a broad acquaintance with the pagan classics but rather progressed to mastery of the vulgate bible it is said that he constantly complained about his use of grammar he did not understand how to correctly write masculine and feminine phrases reflecting either a lack of ability or changes in the latin language though he had read virgil considered the greatest latin stylist he cautions that we ought not to relate their lying fables lest we fall under sentence of eternal death by contrast he seems to have thoroughly studied the lengthy and complex vulgate bible as well as numerous religious works and historical treatises which he frequently quotes particularly in the earlier books of the historia |
the main impression that historians once retained from the historia focused on gregory s anecdotes about violence until recently historians tended to conclude that merovingian gaul was a chaotic brutal mess recent scholarship has refuted that view through more careful readings scholars have concluded that gregory s underlying purpose was to highlight the vanity of secular life and contrast it with the miracles of the saints though gregory conveys political and other messages through the historia and these are studied very closely historians now generally agree that this contrast is the central and ever present narrative device |
his life of the fathers comprises twenty hagiographies of the most prominent men of the preceding generation taking in a wide range the spiritual community of early medieval gaul including lives of bishops clerics monks abbots holy men and hermits st illidius is praised for his purity of heart st brachio the abbot for his discipline and determination in study of the scriptures st patroclus for his unwavering faith in the face of weakness and st nicetius bishop of lyon for his justice it is the life of st nicetius of trier though which dominates this book his great authority and sense of episcopal responsibility which is the focus of gregory s account as his figure predestined to be great bestrides the lives of the others it is told that he felt a weight on his head but he was unable to see what it was when turning around though upon smelling its sweet scent he realised that it was the weight of episcopal responsibility life of the fathers xvii 1 he surmounts the others in the glory of his miracles and was chosen by god to have the entire succession of past and future frankish kings revealed to him |
a further aspect of this work to note is the appearance of gregory himself in certain sections notably in the life of st leobardus this is for two reasons firstly it creates a distinct link between the temporal and the spiritual worlds firmly placing the accounts of the lives in a world which is understandable and recognisable or seen from the other angle confirming the presence of miracles in the temporal world secondly the intercession of gregory serves to set leobardus straight after he had been tempted by the devil life of the fathers xx 3 and so this act further enhances the authority of bishops as a whole |
in july 2010 the band released three very long pieces the third of which gained them notoriety online mainly in communities and discussion boards focused around finding the longest piece of music ever made 208 as you etch on the inner window of your eye is nine hundred sixteen hours long 209 blurred with tears and suffering beyond hope four thousand seven hundred twenty three hours long but both are beaten by 210 like a wall in which an insect lives and gnaws a piece lasting exactly fifty thousand hours |
the band took a long hiatus until july 2013 at which time they released several hours of psychedelic rock it was announced via their facebook page that more new music would be made available within the year in september they released a number of drone and post rock tracks and in november 299 self traitor i do bring the spider love an hour and twenty minute long jazz fusion arrangement by the end of 2013 the band had uploaded most of their music to a public domain internet archive collection where all of their newer works reside as they continue to rebuild a new website |
madhubani painting mithila painting was traditionally created by the women of various communities in the mithila region of the indian subcontinent it originated from madhubani district of the mithila region of bihar madhubani is also a major export center of these paintings this painting as a form of wall art was practiced widely throughout the region the more recent development of painting on paper and canvas mainly originated among the villages around madhubani and it is these latter developments that led to the term madhubani art being used alongside mithila painting |
the paintings were traditionally done on freshly plastered mud walls and floors of huts but now they are also done on cloth handmade paper and canvas madhubani paintings are made from the paste of powdered rice madhubani painting has remained confined to a compact geographical area and the skills have been passed on through centuries the content and the style have largely remained the same thus madhubani painting has received gi geographical indication status madhubani paintings use two dimensional imagery and the colors used are derived from plants ochre lampblack and red are used for reddish brown and black respectively |
madhubani paintings mostly depict people and their association with nature and scenes and deities from the ancient epics natural objects like the sun the moon and religious plants like tulsi are also widely painted along with scenes from the royal court and social events like weddings generally no space is left empty the gaps are filled by paintings of flowers animals birds and even geometric designs traditionally painting was one of the skills that was passed down from generation to generation in the families of the mithila region mainly by women it is still practiced and kept alive in institutions spread across the mithila region kalakriti in darbhanga vaidehi in madhubani benipatti in madhubani district and gram vikas parishad in ranti are some of the major centres of madhubani painting which have kept this ancient art form alive |
an argentine international since 1995 gonz lez made his debut on 8 november in a 0 1 home defeat to brazil he was selected by manager marcelo bielsa for his 1999 copa am rica squad scoring one of his nine goals in the nation s 2 0 group stage win against uruguay as the former went on to reach the quarter finals only to be eliminated by eventual champions brazil he went on to become a regular member of the starting eleven under that coach and also participated in the 2002 fifa world cup in japan and south korea starting against england and being replaced and also appearing against nigeria and sweden in an eventual group stage exit |
in this process substances such as free fatty acids derived from triacylglycerols remove purine adp gdp and others inhibition of thermogenin which causes an influx of h into the matrix of the mitochondrion and bypasses the atp synthase channel this uncouples oxidative phosphorylation and the energy from the proton motive force is dissipated as heat rather than producing atp from adp which would store chemical energy for the body s use thermogenesis can also be produced by leakage of the sodium potassium pump and the ca2 pump thermogenesis is contributed to by futile cycles such as the simultaneous occurrence of lipogenesis and lipolysis or glycolysis and gluconeogenesis in a broader context futile cycles can be influenced by activity rest cycles such as the summermatter cycle |
these elections took place six years after republicans had won a net gain of eight seats in senate class 1 despite george w bush s victory in the presidential election the gop lost 4 senate seats the most a winning president s party has lost since the passage of the 17th amendment democrats defeated incumbent republicans in delaware michigan minnesota missouri and washington and they won an open seat in florida in missouri the winner was elected posthumously the republicans defeated a democratic incumbent in virginia and won an open seat in nevada |
these elections resulted in an equal 50 50 split between republicans and democrats so the vice president would cast the tie breaking votes in organizing the senate democrats thereby held senate control briefly for only 17 days since al gore was still vice president and president of the senate at the beginning of the new term on january 3 2001 the republicans regained control of the chamber when the new vice president dick cheney was inaugurated january 20 the republican majority would last until june 6 2001 when republican senator jim jeffords of vermont became an independent and caucused with the democrats |
roth 79 was in the u s senate for 30 years he was the chairman of the finance committee carper 53 was a popular governor and former u s congressman of delaware s at large congressional district who announced his major candidacy against roth back in september 1999 both candidates were moderates roth was one of the few republicans to vote for the brady bill although roth started the campaign with a 2 to 1 spending advantage carper went into the final month with more than 1 million on hand in a contest between two popular and respected politicians the issue seemed to be roth s age versus carper s relative youth |
this election was in conjunction to the presidential election where bush narrowly defeated gore after an intense recount the senate election was evenly matched with two u s congressmen named bill in their mid 50s both parties heavily targeted this senate seat the election became very nasty as nelson called his opponent an extremist who would sacrifice the elderly the poor and the working class to coddle the rich mccollum called the democrat a liberal who would tax everything that moves and some things that don t the election advertisements were very negative as both candidates talked more about each other than themselves |
incumbent democrat zell miller who was appointed by governor roy barnes to replace the late paul coverdell won re election to serve the remainder of the term beating republican mack mattingly former ambassador to seychelles and former u s senator until 2020 when raphael warnock won this seat and jon ossoff won the other senate seat this is the last senate election in georgia won by a democrat and also until 2020 this is the last time the democrats have won the class iii senate seat from georgia |
one of the biggest campaign issues was social security miller attacked mattingly for supporting a raise in the retirement age the republican fought back by connecting him to liberal democrat ted kennedy of massachusetts and on his vote to block legislation aimed at protecting social security mattingly said he would vote for texas governor george w bush for president who was very popular in the state and led vice president al gore in many georgia polls mattingly then asked miller who he was supporting in the presidential election miller conceded he would vote for gore because he helped him when he was governor including drought relief welfare reform and the atlanta olympics that does not mean i agree with all of his policies he concluded in early october a poll showed miller leading with 59 of the vote despite the fact that bush was leading gore by a double digit margin |
the election was very close with stabenow prevailing by just over 67 000 votes stabenow was also likely helped by the fact that al gore won michigan on the presidential level ultimately stabenow pulled out huge numbers out of the democratic stronghold of wayne county which covers the detroit metropolitan area stabenow also performed well in other heavily populated areas such as ingham county home to the state s capital of lansing and the college town of ann arbor abraham did not concede right after major news networks declared stabenow the winner he held out hope that the few outstanding precincts could push him over the edge at 4 00am abraham conceded defeat senator abraham called stabenow and congratulated her on her victory a historic election stabenow became the first woman to represent michigan in the united states senate |
the voters of missouri by a margin of approximately fifty thousand votes chose for the u s senate mel carnahan their governor who had died two weeks before the election no one had ever posthumously won election to the senate though voters on at least three other occasions had until then chosen deceased candidates for the house of representatives clement woodnutt miller d in california in 1962 nick begich d in alaska 1972 and hale boggs d in louisiana 1972 hence john ashcroft became the first u s senate candidate to be defeated by a dead opponent |
burns faced brian schweitzer a rancher from whitefish montana while burns attempted to link schweitzer with presidential candidate al gore whom schweitzer never met schweitzer effectively portrayed himself as nonpolitical schweitzer primarily challenged burns on the issue of prescription drugs organizing busloads of senior citizens to take trips to canada and mexico for cheaper medicine burns charged that schweitzer favored canadian style government controls and claimed that senior citizens went to doctors to have somebody to visit with there s nothing wrong with them burns also faced trouble regarding deaths from asbestos in libby montana while he initially supported a bill to limit compensation in such cases he withdrew his support for the bill under public criticism and added 11 5 million for the town to an appropriations bill |
senator lautenberg first elected to the senate in 1982 in an upset victory over rep millicent fenwick r bergen had always been an underdog in all three bids for senate he beat pete dawkins in 1988 by a 54 46 margin and held back a challenge from chuck haytaian by a smaller margin of 50 47 however popular governor christine todd whitman was expected to challenge lautenberg and opinion polls showed lautenberg losing by a large margin he retired but later regretted his decision because gov whitman and former governor tom kean both declined to run for the senate lautenberg would be elected to the state s other senate seat in 2002 |
during corzine s campaign for the united states senate he made some controversial off color statements when introduced to a man with an italian name who said he was in the construction business corzine quipped oh you make cement shoes according to emanuel alfano chairman of the italian american one voice committee alfano also reported that when introduced to a lawyer named david stein corzine said he s not italian is he oh i guess he s your jewish lawyer who is here to get the rest of you out of jail corzine denied mentioning religion but did not deny the quip about italians claiming that some of his own ancestors were probably italian or maybe french |
the race began in november 1998 when four term incumbent daniel patrick moynihan d announced his retirement both the democratic party and republican party sought high profile candidates to compete for the open seat by early 1999 clinton and mayor of new york city rudolph giuliani were the likely respective nominees clinton and her husband president bill clinton purchased a house in chappaqua new york in september 1999 she thereby became eligible for the election although she faced characterizations of carpetbagging since she had never resided in the state before the lead in statewide polls swung from clinton to giuliani and back to clinton as the campaigns featured both successful strategies and mistakes as well as dealing with current events in late april and may 2000 giuliani s medical romantic marital and political lives all collided in a tumultuous four week period culminating in his withdrawing from the race on may 19 |
the contest drew considerable national attention and both candidates were well funded by the end of the race democrat clinton and republicans lazio and giuliani had spent a combined 90 million the most of any u s senate race in history lazio outspent clinton 40 million to 29 million with clinton also getting several million dollars in soft money from democratic organizations among clinton antagonists circles direct mail based fundraising groups such as the emergency committee to stop hillary rodham clinton sprung up sending out solicitations regarding the carpetbagging issue just as one clinton leaves office another one runs |
while clinton had a solid base of support in new york city candidates and observers expected the race to be decided in upstate new york where 45 percent of the state s voters live during the campaign clinton vowed to improve the economic picture in upstate new york promising that her plan would deliver 200 000 new york jobs over six years her plan included specific tax credits with the purpose of rewarding job creation and encouraging business investment especially in the high tech sector she called for targeted personal tax cuts for college tuition and long term care |
opponents continued to make the carpetbagging issue a focal point throughout the race and during debates talk radio hammered on this with new york based sean hannity issuing a daily mantra name me three things hillary clinton has ever done for the people of new york clinton s supporters pointed out that the state was receptive to national leaders such as robert f kennedy who was elected to the senate in 1964 despite similar accusations in the end according to exit polls conducted in the race a majority of the voters dismissed the carpetbagging issue as unimportant |
during the campaign independent counsel robert ray filed his final reports regarding the long running whitewater travelgate and filegate investigations of the white house each of which included specific investigations of hillary clinton actions the reports exonerated her on the files matter said there was insufficient evidence regarding her role in whitewater and said that she had made factually false statements regarding the travel office firings but there was insufficient evidence to prosecute her although the new york times editorialized that the release of the reports seemed possibly timed to coincide with the senate election in practice the findings were not seen as likely to sway many voters opinions |
in comparison with other results this 12 percentage point margin was smaller than gore s 25 point margin over bush in the state presidential contest was slightly larger than the 10 point margin by which fellow new york senator charles schumer defeated incumbent republican al d amato in the hotly contested 1998 race but was considerably smaller than the 47 point margin by which senator schumer won re election in 2004 against little known republican challenger howard mills the victory of a democrat in the senate election was not assured because in recent decades the republicans had won about half the elections for governor and senator |
in 2000 stevens made 43 receptions for 600 yards and 3 touchdowns and won the 2001 rose bowl with washington on september 9 in washington s 34 29 upset over fourth ranked miami florida stevens made 7 receptions for 89 yards including a 23 yard touchdown pass from marques tuiasosopo in a drive that put washington up 21 3 at the half the following game on september 16 against colorado stevens made 7 receptions again but this time for 103 yards in the rose bowl game stevens led washington in receiving with 5 catches for 51 yards |
stevens played 12 games with one start in his rookie season in 2002 and debuted in the season opener against the oakland raiders on september 8 forced by raiders cornerback charles woodson stevens fumbled his first reception a four yard pass from matt hasselbeck but made two other receptions that game on november 24 in a 39 32 win over the kansas city chiefs stevens made his first touchdown catch as a professional the 6 yard touchdown pass from hasselbeck marked a turning point in the game as seattle took a 21 17 lead on that touchdown drive and never looked back as a rookie stevens made 21 receptions for 252 yards and 3 touchdowns |
before super bowl xl stevens said in a february 2 2006 interview the story of jerome bettis returning to his hometown detroit is heartwarming but it s going be a sad day when he doesn t walk away with that trophy this drew the ire of pittsburgh steelers linebacker joey porter on february 5 2006 stevens caught 3 passes for 25 yards in super bowl xl among his catches was seattle s first ever super bowl touchdown however he also dropped three key passes in the seahawks 21 10 loss to the steelers |
on april 29 2007 he signed with the tampa bay buccaneers he caught his first touchdown pass as a buccaneer on december 2 week 13 against the new orleans saints a four yard reception from luke mccown with 14 seconds left in the game in a drive that clinched a 27 23 victory for the buccaneers and the team s fourth straight win however the nfl suspended stevens for one game without pay on december 11 for a violation of league substance abuse policy |
on 4 june 2008 butt signed a two year contract with reigning champions fc bayern munich and was expected to act as backup to oliver kahn s heir highly rated young michael rensing he made his official debut for the club in the champions league round of 16 second leg against sporting lisbon in a 7 1 home drubbing on 10 march 2009 with rensing dropped to the bench following a 5 1 loss at vfl wolfsburg he also started the remaining games of the season as the initial first choice was also nursing a hand injury |
on 30 january 2010 butt missed out on the opportunity to score his first league goal for bayern as his penalty was saved by 1 fsv mainz 05 s heinz m ller but it proved to be of no detriment to the club as it won 3 0 on 16 february he was rewarded for an outstanding season with a contract extension until 2011 he was also in goal for the champions league final where his team was denied an historic treble after losing 0 2 to inter milan |
midway through the 2010 11 season 36 year old butt lost his starting place to another club youth graduate thomas kraft however a series of unconvincing displays by the youngster including a 2 3 home loss against inter milan in the champions league quarterfinals on 15 march 2011 and a 1 1 away draw with 1 fc n rnberg on 9 april paved the way for the veteran to return to the starting line up which happened on 17 april in a 5 1 home victory over former club bayer leverkusen and he still appeared in 30 official games during the campaign 23 in the league as his team finished in third position |
by sea the isles of scilly steamship company provides a passenger and cargo service from penzance which is currently operated by the scillonian iii passenger ferry supported by the gry maritha cargo vessel the other islands are linked to st mary s by a network of inter island launches the main harbour of st mary s and the isles of scilly is at hugh town and is called st mary s harbour further slipways and small quays exist around the island at natural harbour sites such as at old town pendrathen watermill cove and porthloo |
star castle is at the centre of a fortification system around the west side of st mary s known as the garrison the walls of the castle take the shape of an eight pointed star it comprises an outer wall around the outcrop of hew hill protecting the town and the castle with strategically placed gun batteries at regular intervals around the outer wall allowing covering fire at all angles a redundant windmill was converted after 1831 into garrison tower as a lookout tower for hm coastguard |
boutwell an abolitionist is primarily known for his leadership in the formation of the republican party and his championship of african american citizenship and suffrage rights during reconstruction as u s representative he was instrumental in the construction and passage of the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the united states constitution as secretary of treasury he made needed reforms in the treasury department after the chaos of the american civil war and the impeachment trial of president andrew johnson he controversially reduced the national debt by selling treasury gold and using greenbacks to buy up treasury bonds a process that created a cash shortage boutwell and president grant thwarted an attempt to corner the gold market in september 1869 by releasing 4 000 000 of gold into the economy as u s senator boutwell sponsored the civil rights act of 1875 |
george s boutwell was born on january 28 1818 in brookline massachusetts according to his autobiographical memoir boutwell was raised on his family s farm in lunenburg and attended public schools until the age of seventeen during the summer months he worked barefooted tending oxen and picking chestnuts boutwell was educated in arithmetic algebra geometry and latin grammar from 1830 to 1835 boutwell worked as an apprentice and clerk for simeon heywood who owned a palm leaf hat store while completing his education boutwell worked briefly as a teacher in pound hill boutwell finished his primary school education in february 1835 |
from 1835 to 1838 boutwell worked as a clerk and shopkeeper in groton massachusetts in 1836 he began to study law under attorney bradford russell whose office was above the store where he clerked boutwell did not take the bar exam or enter into active practice until many years later in 1838 the shop owner offered boutwell a partnership in the shop while boutwell ran the store he began a personal regimen of reading and writing in an effort to make up for having chosen not to attend college |
throughout the 1840s the issue of the abolition of slavery grew to become a significant force in massachusetts politics outrage over the extension of slavery into territories acquired in the mexican american war increased the popularity of the free soil party but they and the democrats were unable to unite to unseat the whigs who dominated state politics until 1850 in 1849 boutwell won the democratic nomination for governor because no candidate won a majority the whig controlled legislature decided the election choosing the incumbent briggs the campaign brought boutwell into close contact with charles sumner and henry wilson leaders of the state free soil party the parties flirted with the idea of a coalition with the democrats adopting an antislavery platform |
in 1850 passage of the compromise of 1850 in particular the fugitive slave act sparked further outrage and the democrats and free soilers were able to agree to a coalition on the democratic side boutwell and nathaniel prentice banks agreed with free soilers sumner and wilson on a division of offices should the coalition win the key to their success was control of the state legislature which would decide the election if no gubernatorial candidate won a majority of the popular vote |
both parties worked to bring out the vote in rural areas sympathetic to their cause although governor briggs won a plurality of the popular vote 57 000 out of 120 000 votes cast he did not win a majority and the legislature was controlled by the coalition pursuant to the terms of the deal boutwell was elected governor banks was made speaker of the house and wilson was elected senate president sumner s election to the u s senate also part of the bargain was contested by conservative democrats but the coalition eventually prevailed in choosing him boutwell was criticized by free soilers for taking a hands off approach to the contentious election of sumner neither supporting nor opposing him during the balloting in the state senate sumner later accused boutwell of preventing a more permanent fusion of the two parties |
in boutwell s first term both houses of the legislature were controlled by the coalition and a substantial reform agenda was passed election by secret ballot was enacted although the terms did not satisfy all of the secrecy rules of an australian ballot as was plurality voting under some conditions the state legislature s seats were changed from town based allocations to legislative districts that were not based on town boundaries laws governing the issuance of bank charters were streamlined and the harvard board of overseers was reorganized boutwell also engaged in a wholesale reassignment of patronage jobs in the state which had all been filled with whigs in his second term whigs controlled the house of representatives and were thus able to thwart most of the reform agenda boutwell s call to increase taxes for spending on education prisons and mental hospitals went unheeded but the legislature was able to pass a call for a constitutional convention to discuss long standing demands for changes to the state constitution a maine law temperance reform bill was also approved but boutwell was criticized by the whigs for vetoing the first version of it and then signing the second allegedly under pressure from free soilers |
after the convention boutwell took up the study of law in the office of joel giles a patent lawyer from groton he was retained by middlesex county to oppose the formation of a new county out of parts of western middlesex and northern worcester counties he helped found the groton public library and continued to be active on the groton school committee in 1855 he was appointed secretary of the state board of education a post he would hold for five years boutwell s law studies concluded when he was admitted to the massachusetts bar in 1862 |
in the aftermath of the coalition breakup in 1852 and the failure of the 1853 convention massachusetts political parties broke down into factional interests in august 1855 four major factions were holding meetings in a boston hotel attempting to find common ground for the upcoming state election boutwell convinced the groups to attend a grand meeting at which he argued that they should form a union against slavery out of this and related activity the state s republican party was born despite his role in its early formation boutwell remained somewhat apart from the organization because of his job at the board of education he did however continue to speak out against slavery noting that the nation was embarking on a period of intense trial and that people will make war over slavery in 1860 he chaired the republican state convention and openly supported republican candidates for office |
in june and july 1862 boutwell served on a military commission in the department of war investigating irregularities in the quartermaster s department of general john c fr mont who commanded the union army s department of the west assistant quartermaster reuben hatch whose brother was a political supporter of president abraham lincoln had been defrauding the department and the commission was established on lincoln s order to forestall a court martial boutwell spent two months in the army camp at cairo illinois under conditions he described as disagreeable to an extent that cannot be realized easily because of flooding and unsanitary conditions the commission cleared hatch |
in july 1862 during a period when northern antipathy toward the prospect of northward migration of freed slaves was at its height boutwell gave a speech on the capitol grounds in which he advocated freedom for african american slaves because it would keep them out of the north he even urged lincoln to dedicate the states of south carolina and florida for american blacks i have heard that in the city of brooklyn there was a riot between the free white laborers and colored men what is the solution to this difficulty freedom to the blacks then will they go from the north to the free territories of the south to which by nature they belong should have made south carolina and florida free i would praise god if to night i could hear by the president s proclamation that south carolina and florida were free and dedicated to the black population of the country the competition with the white laborers of the north would cease |
boutwell served on the joint committee on reconstruction which framed the fourteenth amendment that gave african american freedmen citizenship and established the inviolability of the united states public debt he advocated the fifteenth amendment that gave full suffrage rights to male african americans mr boutwell is the last survivor of the puritans of a bygone age the french reporter georges clemenceau informed his readers a man after the heart of john bunyan too much of a fanatic to command the attention of the senate but too honest and sincere for his opinions to be ignored by his party |
in 1873 when massachusetts senator henry wilson was elected to the vice presidency boutwell announced his intention to resign as treasury secretary and made himself a candidate for the senate vacancy with support from benjamin butler and federal appointees working for butler s machine boutwell defeated the candidate from the western end of the state moderate congressman henry laurens dawes a major campaign issues between boutwell and dawes was the credit mobilier scandal in which both boutwell and dawes were accused of receiving undervalued stock from congressman and financier oakes ames both men had received shares but dawes returned his along with most of the realized profits the support of boutwell by butler was also disliked by the massachusetts republican establishment which had come to despise butler s tactics and politics |
butler who was hoping to run for governor in the fall of 1873 assumed that he could count on boutwell s support however the senator refused to involve himself in the governor s race and butler was beaten for the republican nomination after a bitter campaign the following winter the president nominated butler s ally william simmons for the collectorship of the port of boston the most powerful federal patronage position in massachusetts boutwell at first promised to fight it and then caved in under pressure from the grant administration permitting confirmation this deal guaranteed that massachusetts republicans most opposed to butler and what they called butlerism would keep boutwell from being re elected in 1877 |
in the senate boutwell served as chairman of the committee on the revision of the laws in the 44th congress he took a strong stand for honest money a currency not re flated with paper money and voted against the so called inflation bill of 1874 he also remained a strong supporter of federal protection for black voters in the south backing the 1875 civil rights law which banned discrimination by common carriers and in public accommodations he also favored high tariffs a position of mixed favor in massachusetts which had some dependence on imports but also exported manufactured goods |
boutwell during the 1880s and 1890s practiced international and patent law from offices in boston and washington d c his business included working for the united states and other national governments as counsel to several bilateral diplomatic commissions in the first running from 1880 to 1884 he represented the us in regard to claims involving france which mostly emanated from the civil war he next served as counsel for haiti 1885 and then again for the us on a commission with chile 1893 94 which addressed claims against both governments most of whose origins were in either the war of the pacific or the chilean civil war of 1891 in 1881 boutwell turned down the appointment of secretary of the treasury from president chester a arthur he served for a time as a legal representative for the kingdom of hawaii whose acquisition by the us he opposed |
although historically peaking power plants were frequently used in conjunction with coal baseload plants peaking plants are now used less commonly combined cycle gas turbine plants have two or more cycles the first of which is very similar to a peaking plant with the second running on the waste heat of the first that type of plant is often capable of rapidly starting up albeit at reduced efficiency and then over some hours transitioning to a more efficient baseload generation mode combined cycle plants have similar capital cost per watt to peaking plants but run for much longer periods and use less fuel overall and hence give cheaper electricity |
peaker plants are generally gas turbines or gas engines that burn natural gas a few burn biogas or petroleum derived liquids such as diesel oil and jet fuel but they are generally more expensive than natural gas so their use is limited to areas not supplied with natural gas however many peaker plants are able to use petroleum as a backup fuel as storing oil in tanks is easy the thermodynamic efficiency of simple cycle gas turbine power plants ranges from 20 to 42 with between 30 and 42 being average for a new plant |
hydroelectric dams are intentionally variable they can generate less during off peak and quickly respond to peak demands consequently hydroelectricity may function as load following or a peaking plant and with sufficient water a base load plant natural gas turbines or pumped storage are often used where there is not enough hydroelectricity to respond to daily and weekly variations in generation and consumption it is not unusual for a dam to be built with more capacity than can be sustained by the water supply allowing for a higher peak output upgrading equipment at existing dams can be one of the least expensive ways of increasing peak generation the ability to vary the amount of electricity generated is often limited by the requirement that minimum or maximum flows downstream are satisfied |
pumped storage hydroelectricity is the largest capacity form of grid energy storage available used for averaging off peak and peak electrical demands the site stores energy using the gravitational potential of water stored in a reservoir low cost off peak electric power from base load or intermittent sources is used to pump water at a low elevation to storage in a high elevation reservoir during periods of high electrical demand the stored water is released through turbines to produce electric power start up times are only a few minutes and some can start in a few tens of seconds |
solar thermal peaker plants were proposed in 2017 under a us department of energy technology 2 market award to hank price of solardynamics whose paper dispatchable solar power plant proposed utilizing the thermal energy storage inherent in a solar thermal energy power plant that enables this heat based form of solar to generate like a gas peaker to supply power on demand day or night and in return be controlled by the utility and paid in capacity payments to be available when needed like a traditional peaker plant a solar thermal power plant makes electricity in a steam cycle power plant like a traditional power plant but the heat for steam is supplied by solar energy heating a material such as molten salts and storing the heat until needed to make steam for power generation |
these are the most prominent and common form of underground storage of natural gas they are the reservoir formations of natural gas fields that have produced all or part of their economically recoverable gas the depleted reservoir formation should be readily capable of holding sufficient volumes of injected natural gas in the pore space between grains via high porosity of storing and delivering natural gas at sufficient economic rates via high permeability and be contained so that natural gas cannot migrate into other formations and be lost in addition the rock both the reservoir and the seal should be capable of withstanding the repeated cycle of an increase in pressure when natural gas is injected into the reservoir and in reverse the drop in pressure when natural gas is produced |
using such a facility that meets the above criteria is economically attractive because it allows the re use with suitable modification of the extraction and distribution infrastructure remaining from the productive life of the gas field which reduces the start up costs depleted reservoirs are also attractive because their geological and physical characteristics have already been studied by geologists and petroleum engineers and are usually well known consequently depleted reservoirs are generally the cheapest and easiest to develop operate and maintain of the three types of underground storage |
in order to maintain working pressures in depleted reservoirs about 50 percent of the natural gas in the formation must be kept as cushion gas however since depleted reservoirs were previously filled with natural gas and hydrocarbons they do not require the injection of gas that will become physically unrecoverable as this is already present in the formation this provides a further economic boost for this type of facility particularly when the cost of gas is high typically these facilities are operated on a single annual cycle gas is injected during the off peak summer months and withdrawn during the winter months of peak demand |
if the aquifer is suitable all of the associated infrastructure must be developed from scratch increasing the development costs compared to depleted reservoirs this includes installation of wells extraction equipment pipelines dehydration facilities and possibly compression equipment since the aquifer initially contains water there is little or no naturally occurring gas in the formation and of the gas injected some will be physically unrecoverable as a result aquifer storage typically requires significantly more cushion gas than depleted reservoirs up to 80 of the total gas volume most aquifer storage facilities were developed when the price of natural gas was low meaning this cushion gas was inexpensive to sacrifice with rising gas prices aquifer storage becomes more expensive to develop |
once a salt feature is discovered and found to be suitable for the development of a gas storage facility a cavern is created within the salt feature this is done by the process of solution mining fresh water is pumped down a borehole into the salt some of the salt is dissolved leaving a void and the water now saline is pumped back to the surface the process continues until the cavern is the desired size once created a salt cavern offers an underground natural gas storage vessel with very high deliverability cushion gas requirements are low typically about 33 percent of total gas capacity |
salt caverns are usually much smaller than depleted gas reservoir and aquifer storage facilities a salt cavern facility may occupy only one one hundredth of the area taken up by a depleted gas reservoir facility consequently salt caverns cannot hold the large volumes of gas necessary to meet base load storage requirements deliverability from salt caverns is however much higher than for either aquifers or depleted reservoirs this allows the gas stored in a salt cavern to be withdrawn and replenished more readily and quickly this quick cycle time is useful in emergency situations or during short periods of unexpected demand surges |
lng facilities provide delivery capacity during peak periods when market demand exceeds pipeline deliverability lng storage tanks possess a number of advantages over underground storage as a liquid at approximately 163 c 260 f it occupies about 600 times less space than gas stored underground and it provides high deliverability at very short notice because lng storage facilities are generally located close to market and can be trucked to some customers avoiding pipeline tolls there is no requirement for cushion gas and it allows access to a global supply lng facilities are however more expensive to build and maintain than developing new underground storage facilities |
gas can be temporarily stored in the pipeline system through a process called line packing this is done by packing more gas into the pipeline by increasing the pressure during periods of high demand greater quantities of gas can be withdrawn from the pipeline in the market area than is injected at the production area this process is usually performed during off peak times to meet the next day s peaking demands this method provides a temporary short term substitute for traditional underground storage |
the consuming east region particularly the states in the northern part heavily rely on stored gas to meet the peak demand during the cold winter months due to the prevailing cold winters large population centers and developed infrastructure it is not surprising that this region has the highest level of working gas storage capacity of the other regions and the largest number of storage sites mainly in depleted reservoirs in addition to underground storage lng is increasingly playing a crucial role in providing supplemental backup and or peaking supply to ldcs on a short term basis although the total capacity for these lng facilities does not match those of underground storage in scale the short term high deliverability makes up for that |
the consuming west region has the smallest share of gas storage both in terms of the number of sites as well as gas capacity deliverability storage in this area is mostly used to allow domestic and albertan gas coming from canada to flow at a rather constant rate in northern california pacific gas and electric pg e has underground storage capacity for about 100 bcf of gas across three storage facilities pg e uses the storage to store gas when it is inexpensive in summer to use in winter when purchased gas is expensive |
interstate pipeline companies in the us are subject to the jurisdiction of the federal energy regulatory commission ferc prior to 1992 these companies owned all the gas that flowed through their systems this also included gas in their storage facility over which they had complete control then ferc order 636 was implemented this required the companies to operate their facilities including gas storage on an open access basis for gas storage this meant that these companies could only reserve the capacity needed to maintain system integrity the rest of the capacity would be available for leasing to third parties on a nondiscriminatory basis open access has opened a wide variety of application for gas storage particularly for marketers which can now exploit price arbitrage opportunities any storage capacity would be priced at cost based pricing unless the provider can demonstrate to ferc that it lacks market power in which case it may be allowed to price at market based rates to gain market share ferc defines market power as the ability of a seller profitably to maintain prices above competitive levels for a significant period of time the underlying pricing structure for storage has discouraged development in the gas storage sector which has not seen many new storage facilities constructed besides current ones being expanded in 2005 ferc announced a new order 678 targeted particularly to gas storage this rule is intended to stimulate the development of new gas storage facility in the ultimate goal of reducing natural gas price volatility commission chairman joseph t kelliher observed since 1988 natural gas demand in the united states has risen 24 percent over the same period gas storage capacity has increased only 1 4 percent while construction of storage capacity has lagged behind the demand for natural gas we have seen record levels of price volatility this suggests that current storage capacity is inadequate further this year what storage capacity exists may be full far earlier than in any previous year according to some analysts that raises the prospect that some domestic gas production may be shut in our final rule should help reduce price volatility and expand storage capacity |
this ruling aims at opening up two approaches for developers of natural gas storage to be able to charge market based rates the first one is the redefinition of the relevant product market for storage that includes alternatives for storage such as available pipeline capacity local gas production and lng terminals the second approach aims at implementing section 312 of the energy policy act it would allow an applicant to request authority to charge market based rates even if a lack of market power has not been demonstrated in circumstances where market based rates are in the public interest and necessary to encourage the construction of storage capacity in the area needing storage service and that customers are adequately protected the |
as with all infrastructural investments in the energy sector developing storage facilities is capital intensive investors usually use the return on investment as a financial measure for the viability of such projects it has been estimated that investors require a rate or return between 12 percent to 15 percent for regulated projects and close to 20 percent for unregulated projects the higher expected return from unregulated projects is due to the higher perceived market risk in addition significant expenses are accumulated during the planning and location of potential storage sites to determine its suitability which further increases the risk |
the capital expenditure to build the facility mostly depends on the physical characteristics of the reservoir first of all the development cost of a storage facility largely depends on the type of the storage field as a general rule of thumb salt caverns are the most expensive to develop on a volume of working gas capacity basis however one should keep in mind that because the gas in such facilities can be cycled repeatedly on a deliverability basis they may be less costly a salt cavern facility might cost anywhere from 10 million to 25 million per billion cubic feet of working gas capacity the wide price range is because of region difference which dictates the geological requirements these factors include the amount of compressive horsepower required the type of surface and the quality of the geologic structure to name a few a depleted reservoir costs between 5 million to 6 million per billion cubic feet of working gas capacity finally another major cost incurred when building new storage facilities is that of base gas the amount of base gas in a reservoir could be as high as 80 for aquifers making them very unattractive to develop when gas prices are high on the other hand salt caverns require the least amount of base gas the high cost of base gas is what drives the expansion of current sites vs the development of new ones this is because expansions require little addition to base gas |
the expected cash flows from such projects depend on a number of factors these include the services the facility provides as well as the regulatory regime under which it operates facilities that operate primarily to take advantage of commodity arbitrage opportunities are expected to have different cash flow benefits than ones primarily used to ensure seasonal supply reliability rules set by regulators can on one hand restrict the profit made by storage facility owners or on the other hand guarantee profit depending on the market model |
this valuation mode is typically used to value regulated storage for instance storage operated by interstate pipeline companies these companies are regulated by ferc this pricing method allows the developers to recover their cost and an agreed upon return on investment the regulatory body requires that the rates and tariffs are maintained and publicly published the services provided by these companies include firm and interruptible storage as well as no notice storage services usually cost of service pricing is used for depleted reservoir facilities if it is used to price say salt cavern formations the cost would be very high due to the high cost of development of such facilities |
in addition to possessing an intrinsic value storage may also have extrinsic value intrinsic valuation of storage does not take the cycling ability of high deliverability storage the extrinsic valuation reflects the fact that in such facilities say salt cavern formations a proportion of the space can be used more than once thus increasing value such high deliverability storage facility allows its user to respond to variations in demand price within a season or during a given day rather than just seasonal variations as was the case with single cycle facilities |
nes open tournament golf known in japan as is a sports video game developed and published by nintendo for the nintendo entertainment system nes open tournament golf is the second nintendo published golf based video game released for the nes the first game being golf in addition to the famicom version of golf there were two other nintendo published golf based video games released in japan these games were released in disk format on the family computer disk system in 1987 these two games were family computer golf japan course and family computer golf u s course |