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The Top Two Percent of America's Farm Subsidy Recipients, 1985-1994
The Cash Croppers: Farm Subsidies 1985-1994: New York
The Cash Croppers: New York
Over the past ten years American taxpayers funneled $648 million to 28,280 Federal farm subsidy recipients in New York. But 30.6 percent of those payments -- $198 million -- went to just two percent of those recipients. Among these 566 recipients in the top two percent, Federal farm subsidies averaged $40,174 per year of participation. By comparison, the average recipient in New York got $6,013 per year.
In addition to receiving more subsidies per year of participation, the top two percent of recipients also enrolled in the subsidy programs more frequently. While the average New York recipient was given Federal farm subsidies in 3.8 out of the last ten years, the average rate of participation for those among the top two percent was 8.7 years out of ten.
The combination of higher subsidy payments per year of participation, and the higher rate of participation, earned the top two percent of subsidy recipients in New York an average of $350,139 in Federal farm subsidies over the past ten years. That means that the top recipients in the New York received 15.2 times the amount of subsidy payments that went to the average New York recipient during the last decade.
Congress should take direct action in 1995 to eliminate such massive taxpayer subsidies to the relative handful of "cash croppers"-- the top 2 percent of America's heavily subsidized farm operators who have drawn huge Federal farm payments over the past decade.
In 1995, overall farm spending should be phased downward. Farm payments should be redirected to mid-size and smaller farmers. And instead of paying billions of dollars to a few thousand corporations, joint ventures and big-time farmers, Congress should invest in health care, education and environmental needs in rural New York and rural America generally.
Unfortunately, as the 1995 debate over Federal farm subsidies draws to an end it seems almost certain that Congress will guarantee the status quo, perpetuating extremely high payments to a relative few subsidy recipients in New York and in the nation as a whole. For example, the "Freedom to Farm Act," proposed by Rep. Pat Roberts of Kansas, will lock in big bucks subsidies for the largest recipients--the very corporations, joint ventures and industrial-scale operations that have made constant and maximum use of farm subsidy programs over the past decade. At the same time, the Freedom to Farm Act will lock out assistance in New York to new farmers and farmers who have relied on subsidy payments less often.
Congress is moving aggressively to slash assistance to poor people, education, and environmental protection. But the Federal farm "cash croppers" in New York and other states are likely to emerge from the 1995 budget wars virtually unscathed.


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Lihonessa wrote:none140 wrote:lappen wrote:but it still stands. a few gnomes do believe in the holy light and should therefor be able to become priests.
There aren't enough gnome priests to make it playable
Since when does logic like that count at WoW? There aren't supposed to be a lot of Dwarven Paladins or Gnome Rogues either, yet I see plenty of those.
You obviously dont know what WoW based one part of their game off of. D&D. Gnomes = Halflings, which are KNOWN for being the best rogues, and Dwarves are known for being the best paladins xD The basis of classes/races are from D&D, anything past is Warcraft lore.

subset: commoncrawl


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Three popular brands of baby mattresses that were marketed in recent months to families and day care centers contained toxic flame retardants linked to increased cancer risk, according to laboratory tests conducted for the Chicago Tribune.
One member of that family of chemicals was removed from children's pajamas over cancer concerns a generation ago. Yet that same flame retardant turned up in significant amounts in 11 baby mattresses sold recently by national and local retailers under the Babies R Us, Foundations and Angeles brands.
While furniture-makers often add flame retardants to the polyurethane foam cushioning in sofas and upholstered chairs, the test results on infant mattresses surprised and alarmed some scientists who have studied the chemicals.
The response to the test results from manufacturers, importers and retailers varied. Wayfair, the retailer that fulfilled the Tribune's Wal-Mart order through the retail giant's online marketplace program, halted sales of the Angeles crib mattress, which fits cribs that are popular at child care centers.
One importer, however, vigorously defended its product. Summer Infant Inc., the importer of the Babies R Us branded crib and bassinet mattresses that contained the flame retardant chemical, noted that the mattresses "are in a sealed impermeable plastic covering," which "ensures no exposure of the inner mattress foam to the child."
For all the test results, go to the graphic.
Read the full story, "Chemicals in the crib," as a digitalPLUS member. For a look at the rest of the series, visit chicagotribune.com/flames.


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Trinidad Travel Guide
One of the most visited towns in Cuba, Trinidad maintains a charming colonial atmosphere with its uneven cobbled streets, quiet plazas, churches, red-tiled roofs, wooden shutters and wrought-iron frames. Bicycles and horse-drawn carts bump along streets lined with somewhat dilapidated pastel-coloured houses, where open doors afford brief views of folk on rocking chairs and wooden birdcages, and the strains of salsa music drift out from cool courtyards where the intricate steps of the dance are practiced.
Trinidad © Judith Duk
Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988, Trinidad has largely escaped the modern tourist infrastructure and large hotels usually accorded to a popular destination, and retains its welcoming and tranquil atmosphere.
Surrounded by sugarcane plantations, and situated between the Topes de Collantes Mountains and the Caribbean Sea, Trinidad's location also provides easy access to the beach, the mountains, and the beautiful surrounding countryside, where vestiges from the 18th and 19th centuries in the Valle de los Ingenios (Valley of the Sugar Mills) testify to a time of prosperity during the sugarcane boom. The Valley and its old sugar mills are interesting historically, as well as scenically, because the slave trade was a huge contributing factor in the sugarcane industry's success. It was after the abolishment of slavery that the boom ended and the area drifted into picturesque tranquillity.


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Separate names with a comma.
Discussion in 'Regional Forums' started by RC Pilot, May 3, 2010.
Well I think we've waited long enough if someone had the nut.
Nutzy's new replacement...
Nutzy II will be placed tomorrow.
Nutzy II has it's first location!!! From one water crossing to the next.
Looking at the bridge,,, it's inside of the guardrail end on the left closest to the bridge.
And the location.....
Safe trip little fella!
Hey...I found the rest of my pics!! It's a Miracle!!!
Must be something wrong with my camera...weird. Anyhoo, the money shots:
He heeeee...Adirondacks, here we come, you little nut! I left some Pep-O-Mint Lifesavers for any potential Bruce-ee's. Ain't ah sweeet??
I was going to grab it today but put it off until tomorrow nice grab
Just realised why you were over my way....
In the words of Doc..... "No bike pic, no tag,,, you have to go back!!" j/k
Good job Chuck,,,, if Kenny hadn't been screwing around down south there would have been another tag (Dirty) for you.
Yep you gotta go back....LOL
I did the same thing on my tag...Rode and got there and got all concerned over mister nut and forgot about the damn bike pic....Luckly I had taken one on the way in...
Nice grab and glad to see Mr. Nuts 3rd cousin moving along in this game.
go back, shoot the bike at the site.
This game is in it's infancy, and by now anyone playing TOR in any form, knows
you gotta have a pic of the bike at the grab.
O2 can make the ruling, and let this slide, but I think this needs to be the #1 thing in the game.....picture of bike at site......then grab the booty.
and play on.
O2, how about making it formal in the rules so we don't have this as a habit?
Jeez guys ,,,, I say let it slide this time, if he was just around the corner I'd say go back and take the pic. You guys are starting to sound like Doc now. Plus it's not like the pic is the most important thing here,,, he got the mascot.
You know i've been watch'n thinking bout joining in,,,,,but,,,shit.If you guys are gonna start cry'n over such alittle deal as Chuck forgot a pic of his bike there,after he told everyone in his post there was someone parked in the way at the time then forget it.
I know Chuck,,,and i know he wouldn't have posted a tag if he didn't get it with his bike,,,or by breaking an rules.
Chuck do you even own a car at the moment?
The man rode almost 500 miles to play the game,got the tag,,and i didn't see anyone else saying they got bruced,,or they were going to get it,blah,blah,blah.
Some people round here gotta pull the pantys out there crack,and light'n up its a game,,,,try and let someone have fun.
I know you got the tag the way your supposed to Chuck,,,so do you,and anyone that knows you.
I guess i'm not tag'n here.
Hopefully we can move this thing along now.
I have a funny feeling this will be headed west!!
Awesome!! This poor game sure has had a rough beginning, hasn't it? I modified my tag post and...fuggered the pics a little...just havin fun! Me and Boatman have the exact same bike, so I cropped his shot and...waa laa! There's a Silver and Black Adventure in the shot! Just like there was when I was there!
The Adirondack Tag game's 100th Tag is being celebrated tomorrow in the Adirondacks and Nutty's coming with me. I have a plan...oh yes!
Thanks for letting me slide on the rules (this isn't my first tag - I really should have known!), and thanks AWM and Boatman for your support...I really appreciate that.
OK! New pics (and hopefully lots of 'em) tomorrow!
Game Fookin On!!! Don't know ya Chuck, but I like your style
:fyyff rules....pppphhhh
Since we have unbunched our panties ....wheres this next tag at...we are waiting patiently to see where MR Nut will be making a new home.
I dunno bro,
I think you and the HR crew would be up his ass sideways if he pulled that crap over here....
We play tag a bit differently...don't we?
I think it sucks ass personally, having moved this bitch, and played it right...(only to have some knob steal it or pull it off the boat and toss it, with signatures on it...forking the game up for boatman)
no foookin way you can say you play TOR, and forget the fookin' obligatory "money shot..."
I'll be down in HR with my spare windshield in the back of the truck next week ....
game on
oh, and now it IS a rule:
The game has always been a game. We are riding motorcycles and taking pictures in unique/ beautiful places, we are not deciding the fate of the world here.
Me, personally, wouldn't get in anyone's ass sideways for a rule violation within the TOR game I started in Hampton Roads. I may have when it was in it's infancy, but over the last year and a half the most important rule I have come to know is the rule of Game On.
I started the HR TOR because I wanted to play Tag and the VA Tag never came around VA Boring riding Beach much.
The game takes on a life of it's own and no matter how one tries to control through a monitor miles away it will be what it will be. Try and you may find yourself all Duck Gonzoed.
It's not like this thing got off to a raging start. It's been slow and any movement should be good for it.
Just my .02 and I could be way off base here.
So What the Fuck Chuck?!
I reckon a good old fashioned lynching would straighten things out proper.
Get the rope.....we got ourselves one of them TOR rule breakers
Jeez man,,,, check the NE TORs, Chucks an avid tagger in a number of them. Chuck loves to ride so much that he rode all the way over to the RA in Pownal, VT from the western Daks just to chat for 5 minutes before hopping back on the bike to head for home. It's a silly game and some people take them WAY too seriously. This TOR has been languishing for quite some time before I took the initiative to chase it down. Personally I didn't think it was that great of an idea to tie the nut to a place on the ferry that was open for all to see,,, some kid probably found it and tossed it into the river.
I'm done. Tag On!!


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Apart from haemophilia and von Willebrand disorder, there are also other rare blood clotting factor deficiencies. These are caused when a particular factor or protein in the blood that helps blood to clot is lower than normal, missing or doesn't work properly.
The following web sites have more detailed information on other factor deficiencies:
World Federation of Hemophilia - See the About Bleeding Disorders section
Canadian Hemophilia Society – Bleeding disorders – Other factor deficiencies
What are rare clotting factor deficiencies? World Federation of Hemophilia, Montreal, Canada, 2009.
NB We provide these links as a service to the haemophilia community. As web sites can change or should you find a site to be no longer active please notify email@example.com. Haemophilia Foundation Australia is not responsible for the content of any external web sites. The featuring of a site on this page is not an endorsement by HFA of the information or views expressed therein.


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Great Hatchet Jobs In HistoryComments
I suppose one could argue that devoting real estate in the New York Times to a review of a Times Square "restaurant" serving Southern Southwestern corn dog batter to particularly gullible or intimidated tourists is overkill. But when it's directed at 1)the profit-taking brand extension of the most Irritating Person in the World, and 2)it's funny, I say Wells is doing God's work:
Did panic grip your soul as you stared into the whirling hypno wheel of the menu, where adjectives and nouns spin in a crazy vortex? When you saw the burger described as "Guy's Pat LaFrieda custom blend, all-natural Creekstone Farm Black Angus beef patty, LTOP (lettuce, tomato, onion + pickle), SMC (super-melty-cheese) and a slathering of Donkey Sauce on garlic-buttered brioche," did your mind touch the void for a minute?
Did you notice that the menu was an unreliable predictor of what actually came to the table? Were the "bourbon butter crunch chips" missing from your Almond Joy cocktail, too? Was your deep-fried "boulder" of ice cream the size of a standard scoop?
What exactly about a small salad with four or five miniature croutons makes Guy's Famous Big Bite Caesar (a) big (b) famous or (c) Guy's, in any meaningful sense?
Were you struck by how very far from awesome the Awesome Pretzel Chicken Tenders are? If you hadn't come up with the recipe yourself, would you ever guess that the shiny tissue of breading that exudes grease onto the plate contains either pretzels or smoked almonds? Did you discern any buttermilk or brine in the white meat, or did you think it tasted like chewy air?
Why is one of the few things on your menu that can be eaten without fear or regret — a lunch-only sandwich of chopped soy-glazed pork with coleslaw and cucumbers — called a Roasted Pork Bahn Mi, when it resembles that item about as much as you resemble Emily Dickinson?
Donkey sauce? SMC (super-melty-cheese)? As a connoisseur of bad early-90s infomericals, the latter seems especially perfect given the shared name with the Tom Bosley-promoted marketing scam that's not sophisticated enough to rise to the level of being a pyramid scheme:
Before this restaurant closes, I fully expect servers to start pitching worthless merchandise that can be sold in a Las Vegas gift shop for a 300% profit!!!!!! The mark…er, customers would probably be getting a better deal. Anyway, this definitely belongs in the canon with Bruni's takedowns of Harry Cipriani and Ago.


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Area malls welcome new retailers, more on the way
Richard Lee/GreenwichTime.com
Shopping malls across the country were hit hard by the recession as vacancy rates skyrocketed, but as the economy improves, there are fewer empty store fronts in the indoor retail meccas, and area malls seem to be following the trend.
Reis Inc., a provider of commercial real estate performance information and analysis, has reported that regional mall vacancy rates across the nation are on the decline, falling from 8.9 percent at the end of the second quarter to 8.7 percent in the third quarter.
"We started to see big jumps in vacancy rates in 2008, but it didn't peak until 2011," said Brad Doremus, senior economics analyst at Reis. "The lowest was 5.1 percent to the high 5s between 2005 and 2008, but in the second quarter of 2008, it jumped to 6.3 percent. The highest was 9.4 percent in the third quarter of 2011."
Representatives of the Westfield Connecticut Post mall in Milford, the Westfield Trumbull mall in Trumbull, Stamford Town Center mall in Stamford and Danbury Fair mall declined to disclose their vacancy rates, but all four said they are seeing an upswing in store openings.
"Things are looking good. People are out and shopping. The economy is starting to rebound," said Amy Daniels, marketing director at the Westfield Connecticut Post.
Noting the mall, the largest in state at 1.3 million square feet, now has about 160 retailers, she said that Alta Beauty opened Oct. 12, and Ten Asian Bistro and LA Fitness will open in November. Forever 21, which is in space temporarily, will open a two-level store in December.
"We're working on a number of deals for 2013," Daniels said.
Bryan Gaus, senior general manager of Westfield Trumbull, said several retailers have recently opened or plan to open, including Lush, The Limited, Sephora, PS by Aeropostale, Crazy 8, Forever 21 and Ten Asian Bistro.
He credited much of the interest by retailers to the mall's $42 million renovation in 2010.
"We've seen some great progress. We're optimistic about the holiday season," Gaus said.
Like his peers, Gaus would not comment on his vacancy rate, but referred to a Westfield Group half-year report issued in August that said its U.S. portfolio was 92.7 percent leased.
The Stamford Town Center, a Taubman property, also has seen an influx of retailers in the past few months and expects to welcome L'Occitane en Provence soon.
"They do an amazing job with their soaps and hand lotions," said general manager Meredith Keeler, who took the job at the 140-store mall in early May. "We've had a very strong year of leasing. The way leasing works, it's a continual conversation. Chico's, Teavana and the Art of Shaving all joined us in April, and Plan B Burger Bar opened at the beginning of August."
Management of the Danbury Fair mall, a Macerich Co., property with more than 180 stores, also has seen an uptick in leasing activity with the expected arrival of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in late October and the coming of L.L. Bean, Microsoft, Vera Bradley, Lucky Brand Jeans and Carmen Steffens in the past several months.
"Just this year, we've opened stores that have strong regional appeal. Our occupancy rate has been very strong," said marketing manager Melissa Eigen, declining to disclose a figure.
The mall's location in northern Fairfield County is attractive to retailers because it draws shoppers from New York state as well as that area.
"We serve a dual market," Eigen said.
As the economy slowly improves, more retailers are looking for places where they can expand and improve their revenue, said Steve Blank, a senior fellow with the Urban Land Institute.
"They're looking at markets where they are not represented," he said, commenting that indoor malls are still where many high-end retailers and department stores want to be. "If you're a retailer, you have to go where the shoppers are."
Mall occupancy at "A" malls and their Tier 1 developers, such as Simon, Taubman, General Growth, Westfield and Macerich, has been on the rise for nearly two years, said Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners, a New Canaan-based consumer and retail consulting firm.
"Many `B' and most `C' malls are still challenged by high vacancy rates, particularly when their owners are second-tier players or privately held developers with limited access to the capital needed to refurbish long-aging malls," he said. "But at least in many `A' malls, developers, after many years, are beginning to reach positive re-lease spreads — the difference between the net rents achieved from new tenants versus what was paid by the old tenants they replaced."
Malls in the "A" category typically have revenue of $500 per square foot and up, while "B" category malls are in the $375 to $500 per square foot range, said Jeff Green, president and chief executive officer of Jeff Green Partners, an adviser to retail property owners and developers.
He said he would consider the malls in Stamford, Milford and Trumbull "B-plus" malls and Danbury an "A" mall.
While Stamford Town Center became more inviting with the reconstruction of its entrance with various restaurants, it still is challenged by its multi-story layout, Green said.
"There are still people who will bypass it to shop at the hot streets of Westport, New Canaan and Greenwich," he said. "The Connecticut Post mall and Trumbull are very stable malls. Danbury has really upgraded its tenants, and really succeeded in taking it up a notch in terms of quality."


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THE SQL Server Blog Spot on the Web
Microsoft recently announced a new roadmap for its BI architecture. The next version of SQL Server, codenamed "Denali", is going to introduce a new semantic model named BISM (Business Intelligence Semantic Model). Analysis Services will host it and it will be queryable through MDX and DAX. DAX has been introduced in PowerPivot as an expression language, but it will be extended in Denali to provide also query capabilities, but it will keep its nature of a "functional" language.
A more complete description about this roadmap has been published in a blog post made by the SSAS development team. Since we still don't have a working beta product to test (CTP1 of Denali doesn't include any new feature in SSAS) I can only make some consideration based on the many information I gathered at PASS Summit 2010 and during private meetings and conversations with members of the SSAS development team. You can of course read other interesting posts from Chris Webb and Teo Lachev to look at some concerns the announcements made at PASS have been raised up in the MS BI Community.
In the long term, the Microsoft strategy is to provide a platform for BI to everyone that will provide the same basic building blocks to any user interested in building a data model for any kind of reporting or analytical needs. Many tried to do the same in the past, and Microsoft tried the same too by introducing UDM (Unified Dimensional Model) several years ago. UDM is great to build models that can be expressed in a multidimensional way, but it might be too complex to be used for simple reporting purposes. Its learning curve requires a certain investment just to start with a simple project. And many developers that are used to SQL simply refuse to approach MDX and UDM just to build a few reports. For these reasons, and also to contrast other vendor's products, Microsoft is going to introduce a new "big thing", which is BISM.
To describe BISM, the best thing is looking at PowerPivot today. You can define a model by simply defining tables, relationships and calculations, which are made by using DAX. These concepts are very familiar to both Excel users and developers who are used to relational databases. So, why not using SQL? The reason is that in PowerPivot (and then in BISM) the relationships are part of the model, whereas in a RDBMS a relationship is just a relational constraint. And, most important, DAX is a language that is very simple at the beginning, and that can be learned in a very incremental way. Under the cover, there is a calculation engine called Vertipaq. It is very fast. Faster than any competitor and also faster than columnar indexes that will be implemented in SQL Denali. But BISM will also allow querying an underlying relational database in pass-through mode – in Denali only SQL Server will be supported for this type of real-time usage. Something that is very important to enable BISM as the "unified model" for any reporting need. Finally, to query BISM you can use MDX and, in Denali, also DAX (which will be extended for this purpose), making it easier to express a query over a set of unrelated tables, something that would be nearly impossible in MDX and UDM today.
BISM sounds very promising and the long term strategy is very consistent. What caused many concerns in many of us is the transition strategy. After many discussions and many thoughts, I have this roadmap to share with you:
Thus, I'm really confident with the strategy about the server side. I still need to hear more news about the client-side, even if rumors seem better than actual evidence.
As you can see, we are just at the beginning of a major wave of innovation in the BI space. In this case, the innovation start from the Self-service BI and will grow-up until it will reach the corporate BI at a more pervasive level. A key point of the Microsoft strategy is the Vertipaq engine. Only in these days I started to understand how much disruptive this technology can be. I know very well that several UDM cubes in these days run on server that have more RAM than the cube size. Not every project is inside these boundaries, but many are. And with Vertipaq compression, the bar is simply higher.
Finally, these are my advices for the current and future BI developments:
A final thought is about MDX. I know that mastering MDX is hard, but I cannot say that DAX is so simpler. Yes, it is simpler at the beginning, but for more complex calculations, the required DAX expression might be more complex than the corresponding MDX one. Coming from a relational background (SQL) DAX is more intuitive at the beginning, but coming from an MDX background it is easier to learn the more advanced part of DAX that allows you to create the more complex and powerful expressions that solve real-world complex problems in a very efficient way. Thus, also your investments in MDX are preserved. Your MDX queries will still run and you will still be able to write new MDX queries. But the more important asset you have is the MDX knowledge and understanding, which puts you in pole position to really master DAX too, even if a further study will still be required.
There is less than one week (and only a few seats) available to register to the first PowerPivot Workshop
During TechEd 2011, Microsoft announced an important update to its BI roadmap . The reason why this is
If you want the functionality of Crescent but would like to have it without installing the entire Microsoft stack, please take a look at this comparison of http://blogs.windwardreports.com/davidt/2011/07/microsoft-crescent-and-autoquery.htmlMicrosoft Crescent and Windward AutoQuery</a>. AutoQuery provides all the functionality of Crescent with no server components to install, configure, and administer.
Marco, have you heard any additional news of a new version of Performance Point slated for 2013 ?
Performance Point is a service included in SharePoint.
So I suppose that the next version of SharePoint and Office will include a new version of Performance Point, even if I don't have any news about that.
I see Sharepoint 2013 Preview is now available with new performance point features. About to check it out.


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Authorities are searching for up to four boys who ran away from the Summit Academy this weekend.
At least one of the five out-of-county boys who left the reform school on Herman Road in Summit Township has been caught.
State police said they were notified at 11:44 p.m. Saturday that two boys — a 16-year-old from Kittanning and a 17-year-old from Gallitzin, Cambria County — had fled the facility.
The next day, three more boys — a 16-year-old from Indiana, Pa., a 17-year-old from Greencastle, Franklin County, and a 17-year-old from Enola, Cumberland County — turned up missing.
The private school — which is for court adjudicated youth in grades nine through 12 — notified police at 11:45 p.m. Sunday.
One of the youths was captured Monday morning in Pittsburgh, police said.
All of the boys still being sought are listed as runaways, not escapees, police said, because they were not placed there for criminal matters. Rather, they are considered dependents, or wards of the state.
The designation could include children with no family or those in the custody of a public child welfare agency, like Children and Youth Services.
All five students are no longer missing, Dick Roberts, spokesman for Summit Academy, said in a text received at 1:44 p.m. today.
He said two students left the facility at 12 a.m. Saturday and three left at 10:40 p.m. Sunday.
"They were found within an hour of each other," the text said. "Summit is working to determine next step for students."
It was not known if Summit Academy has passed on the information to police as the Eagle has not been able to confirm this statement, at this time, with police.
Further updates to this situation will appear in Tuesday's Butler Eagle.
Story was updated at 2:30 p.m. June 17 to include a statement from a spokesman for Summit Academy provided to us after online publication.


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What the Florida Pension Ruling Means for Other States
Florida's high court ruled that pension contracts can be adjusted, weighing in on an issue that many believe will make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Florida Supreme Court this week ruled that public employees' pension contracts can be adjusted, weighing in on an issue that many believe will make its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The state's high court on Thursday upheld in a split decision a 2011 state law requiring public employees to contribute 3 percent of their salaries to the state's pension fund. The 140,000-member Florida Education Association had sued the state, arguing that the required contribution amounted to a pay cut and was subject to negotiation, according to their collective bargaining agreement.
But in a 4-3 decision, the court ruled that such a restriction on the state's pension structure, that "could never be amended or repealed irrespective of the fiscal condition of this state," could lead to fiscal irresponsibility."
"It would also impose on state employees an inflexible plan which would prohibit the legislature from modifying the plan in a way that would be beneficial to a majority of employees, but would not be beneficial to a minority," the ruling said.
If the court had ruled in favor of the employees, the state would have faced repaying about $1 billion in lost wages for 2011 and 2012, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
The decision hits on a point – whether pensions can be adjusted outside of the bargaining process – that is being tested now in other cases in the country. In Rhode Island, the unions are challenging pension reform passed in 2011 that, among other things, changed the contribution structure and increased the retirement age for current employees. Two bankruptcy cases in California (Stockton's and San Bernardino's) are testing whether pension agreements for retired workers can be adjusted.
"I think we're going to have a lot more courts opine on this in the next few years," said Frank Shafroth, director of the George Mason University Center for State and Local Government Leadership. "What really struck me this is an important decision because it laid out the [pension] questions the Supreme Court will answer."
Karen Grande, a municipal finance lawyer at Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP in Providence, said the unions are well funded enough to litigate the issue for as long as they can. But whether they'll end up on the winning side is another question.
"I think what they're saying mostly is, it's not fair," she said. "And I don't think anyone's saying it [isn't]. The money is just not there."
But in Florida, the FEA said the pension plan change amounts to an extra tax on public employees because the state has been using money from its pension fund to balance the budget.
"Balancing the state budget on the backs of middle-class working families is the wrong approach for legislative leaders and the governor to take," FEA President Andy Ford said in a statement. "We're disappointed that the state's highest court said this approach was legal."
Shafroth compared the fight over pension funds to the biblical story in which King Solomon of Israel ruled between two women both claiming to be the mother of a child by proposing to cut the child in half. The moral was that the woman who cared more about the child was willing to let it go rather than see it sacrificed.
"Union employees, they're terrified their pensions will be cut," Shafroth said. "But another part is balancing and saying, 'if you're not careful, there might not be enough money in the pension fund when current pensioners retire.'"


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Stop Texting Under the Table! A Q&A with etiquette expert Barbara Pachter
- Authors:
Publication Date:
October 2013
Decades after the first guides to workplace behavior appeared, says Barbara Pachter, people remain unsure how to properly shake hands and host a business dinner—and constantly changing technology presents a series of fresh challenges. In The Essentials of Business Etiquette: How to Greet, Eat, and Tweet Your Way to Success, Pachter takes on a wide range of up-to-date proper business behavior, and this Q&A with her addresses some key questions. Pachter notes that even successful veteran executives are hardly exempt from etiquette advice. "They often need more than they think," she says.
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This module provides an infrastructure to simplify server design.
Written by John Goerzen, firstname.lastname@example.com
Please note: this module is designed to work with TCP, UDP, and Unix domain sockets, but only TCP sockets have been tested to date.
This module is presently under-documented. For an example of usage, please see the description of Network.FTP.Server.
|Generic Options and Types
The main handler type.
The first parameter is the socket itself.
The second is the address of the remote endpoint.
The third is the address of the local endpoint.
|TCP server convenient setup
|Lower-Level Processing
|Takes some options and sets up the SocketServer. I will bind and begin listening, but will not accept any connections itself.
|Handle one incoming request from the given SocketServer.
|Handle all incoming requests from the given SocketServer.
|Close the socket server. Does not terminate active handlers, if any.
|Produced by Haddock version 2.6.0


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Free Garment District Walking Tour418
It's the Free Garment District Walking Tour, with your always entertaining guide, and authentic garmento, Mike Kaback.
Follow Mike around the neighborhood he has known for over 40 years, as he takes you through a brief history of the apparel industry in New York City. The tour will stops at iconic garment/fashion industry sites, including the Fashion Walk of Fame, and may include visits to showrooms and factories, depending on scheduling and group size.
Tour Duration: 1.5 – 2 hours
Reservations: To reserve your spot, email email@example.com
Meeting Location: Northeast corner of Seventh Avenue at 39th Street, between the Garment District Information Kiosk and the bronze statue of the garment worker
This tour is offered twice a month. For other available dates visit the Walking Tours section of or website.


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This is simply due to the fact that their so little delay between power delivery and wheel monitoring. Add to that only one effective gear and we should all find traction control works much better than in any gasoline powered car especially in rain and snow.
By the way, worst ever traction control was in my wife's old Volvo turbo with front wheel drive due to the incredibly long lag time / sensor delay. All it really seemed to do was make a pathetic, faint grinding sound. And I thought it snowed in Sweden...
Yes, among many reasons why electric vehicles are brilliant!
Imagine an EV with AWD, with capabilities like a Subaru Forester! That would be very cool!
Or even a Model S with AWD.
I'm very curious about the off road capabilities of the Model X!


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Guys, I don't know if you've seen this new page on Ivans site:www.ivansperformanceproducts.com/ZG1400.htmHis tuning philosophy and approach is listed on this page on his site.www.ivansperformanceproducts.com/ecu.htmLots of good info here. and the engine is smooth as silk.His Concours 14 reflash is now available. I know many of us who are using his Ninja 1000 flash have waited a long time for this. Fueling and driveability is flawless and the engine is smooth as silk from idle up to its "new and improved" redline. Make no mistake, this bike now feels like a 1400. Engine response is instant, silky smooth, light and revvy just as you would expect a first class tune to be.My wife and I took the concours up to one of the local ski resorts.It's not much of a distance ride, but you gain elevation like crazy. We start at my house which is 4500ft and finish at 10,500ft @ 30 miles later. I've had the bike up there before with original programming, and it was about halfway a mess at the high altitude. Especially the on/off throttle. Her helmet was constantly smacking mine.With Ivan's tuning, the bike was awesome up there. Of course, power dropped off, but the character was still there and driveability remained flawless.Another welcome change is how the bike is in traffic. You cannot imagine how the traffic is on the highway leading to Idaho on 8-20-17 , and the people who are going to watch the eclipse. There's only one road to get to Idaho, and sadly, I had to be on it. The fan kicks on sooner. 195 degrees on, 186, off. On the 08, that is huge. Previously, I've stopped for fuel when I only had 2 gallons left, just to cool the tank. No need for that, now. It gets warm, but I've had it to the point where I was scared it would ignite when the bike was stock.I haven't tested it for mileage yet because I've been having too much fun with it, but I will offer some mileage figures soon within the next week or so.When discussing the Concours flash with Ivan, he informed me that it was developed with "on the road" as well as extensive time on his dyno. More than a year was invested in this bike reverse engineering the ecus for all the generations of C14's, as well as the purchase of a brand new 2017 model for the tuning part of it, and also borrowing a 2008 model to transfer the work into and test before offering it for sale to us. A sizeable investment of time and money to say the least.I don't work for Ivan, and I pay full price for any work that he does for me.He has been tuning motorcycles for a living for more than 30 years, and has been in many of the magazines over the years for his abilities.After riding my ninja 1000 that he re-flashed, as well as a friend's fz09, this is the person I choose to tune my bikes. It is because of this, and his very thorough approach to all facets of his products is why I choose his work.Ivan said he will be away until sept5, but after that, business as usual.« Last Edit: Yesterday at 11:47:51 am by Rev Ryder »
I am 100% satisfied with Steve's flash and like to support someone who not only supports COG, but is a COG member
Competition is a good thing. It's always good to have options. I'd probably lean towards Shoodabeen Engineering but I have no reason to believe the results that the OP report are anything but legit. Steve seems to be a good guy and appears to have made a great tune for our bikes but I'm not gonna bring out the tar & feathers for a guy who's brought another (seemingly) equally good product to our attention.
What does he charge for the flash and what is the turn around? I guess I should ask him...
I don't know if he considers a C14 a sports bike but that fee is $800 - $1000 I am 100% satisfied with Steve's flash and like to support someone who not only supports COG, but is a COG member
Quote from: COGnosticator on August 22, 2017, 10:04:13 amI don't know if he considers a C14 a sports bike but that fee is $800 - $1000 I am 100% satisfied with Steve's flash and like to support someone who not only supports COG, but is a COG member No, the cost is right under the bike picture, in red.....350.00, plus shipping. I think you have to own a BMW before you pay 800.00, for a reflash. I have a friend with a k 1300s, and thats what hes looking at to get his bike fixed.I have had 4 reflashes through Ivans shop. Turn around time has never been over 24 hrs.Im kind of an impatient idiot, and usually use next day air shipping. Typically, I'll send it in , on monday....it arrives, tuesday, and Im riding again by wednesday....not typically, thats how its always been.No idea what "edited by rev rider" means. Thats strange. I did post bad links, and went back in and changed that, but Im not "rev rider"I think I am a cog member, or I have always been one, and Ive been a member , here, since @2010.
IHonestly, thought it was still good , and this organization is worth supporting...I just renewed it, and Im glad you brought it to my attention. This is the only forum ive ever paid to be a part of, and the only one that was worth paying for.
ROK has partnered with AMA so we can no longer get road service from both.
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With Facebook maturing as an app platform, we figured it was time to take a look at it from a music app — especially because Facebook and apps share an important similarity.
Facebook is basically one big, friendly, privatized version of the internet. Likewise, apps are little walled gardens where you can stream music without fussing with DRM, play Scrabble with only your friends, control the music playing in bars, and so on.
Facebook and apps are a match made in heaven with its own commerce engine (Facebook credits) and ready networks of friends, just waiting to interact with each other. Perhaps the most convincing sign that Facebook is a real app platform: Angry Birds is coming.
Still, Facebook apps differ from mobile apps in that they tend to be designed for sharing music and videos with friends, rather than listening to music on your own.
Here are some other traits we noticed among the 20 most popular Facebook apps listed in the chart below:
- Displaying one's favorite songs on one's own page
- Connecting with bands
- Receiving "push" information (tour dates, audio releases, video releases)
- Embedding full-track audio or video playback in a news stream (something you can also do by simply pasting in a YouTube URL, no app required)
Here are the 20 most popular Facebook apps, along with their official descriptions and monthly unique user count, according to Facebook's official rankings:
Continue reading …
|Official description
|Monthly Active Users
|BandPage (RootMusic)
|BandPage allows bands to create a custom hub with their tour schedule, music, pictures, twitter and wall all in one place.
|18.5 million
|My Band: Profile Pages for Bands and Musicians (ReverbNation)
|Im a band? Add a Band Profile to your fan page or personal page. Unlimited songs, pics, member info, show schedule, and a "join the mailing list" function. Fans can add/share music, buy tracks or tickets. Stats to track everything.
|6 million
|Connect with your friends on Spotify.
|2.2 million
|Music (iLike)
|Add a music tab to your profile. Get personalized concert alerts. Create and share playlists. Discover and share new music and free MP3s. And prove you're a Music Genius: play the iLike Challenge.
|1.5 million
|Bandsintown is an application for live music fans and artists. Be the first to know when your favorite bands are coming to town, and if you're an artist — easily display upcoming tour and ticket info on Facebook.
|1.4 million
|YouTube Video Box
|Share your favourite videos on your profile and Facebook pages. Easily find videos, add them to your favourites and share with friends. Additional features include viewing your friends favourite videos and syncronising your YouTube.com account.
|iLike this Artist (iLike)
|Musicians, you can show off your fans on iLike on your artist page. This will add an "iLike this artist" button on your page, and will show your (larger) fan count across the entire iLike network.
|The largest worldwide video-sharing community on Facebook.
|Profile Song
|Profile Song lets you add a song to your Facebook profile. Let your friends easily hear your favorite song. You can choose from a large library of songs or upload your own. You can also send and receive music suggestions.
|iCast (iLike)
|Send bulletins to fans with iCast, the best bulletins system on Facebook. You can send multimedia or mobile bulletins, or just plain blogs. Your bulletins will show not only to Facebook fans, but via iLike across 10 different networks.
|The SoundCloud Player allows you to put tracks that are on SoundCloud.com right in your Facebook profile, complete with timed comments, a crisp waveform display and all.
|MixPod Music Playlist
|Build a music playlist for your profile. Search for songs or upload your own. Full length tracks. Customize your playlist with 18 player skins to choose from with custom colors. 100 percent free.
|Music (Burst Development)
|Music allows you to add multiple songs to your profile by either uploading a song, giving us a link, or searching a database.
|YouTube (Hougar)
|Browse and watch Youtube Videos on Facebook.
|Slide FunSpace
|Over six billion videos and more exchanged on Slide FunSpace. Find and share videos, posters, graffiti, and more with all your friends.
|Livestream is the simplest way to broadcast your events live on the internet and to mobile devices. It's completely free… and now it's available right within your Facebook Page.
|iLoader for iPhone/iPad/iPod
|An iPhone application that batch uploads photos and videos to Facebook. It's super fast and easy to use. It also allows you to watch Facebook videos too.
|This app sends you a notification when werevertumorro releases a new video.
|Shane Dawson TV
|This app updates YouTube fans when new videos are relased.
MySpace has become a laughing stock of sorts for having squandered its first-place status to Facebook, the same way Friendster lost its lead to MySpace. But when it comes to Facebook music apps, at least, MySpace looks quite healthy indeed. Three of its iLike apps rank among the most popular 20 music apps on Facebook. Maybe MySpace should have stayed about music.
Facebook spokeswoman Meredith Chin sent Evolver.fm some additional information about BandPage, the most popular music app on Facebook:
- #1 music app on Facebook
- #1 entertainment app on Facebook
- 24.5 percent growth in monthly active users in the last 30 days
- Averages 800,000 daily active users
- 80,000 bands currently using BandPage
Image courtesy of Flickr/Horia Varlan
See Also:
- How and Why Every Song Can Be an App
- Is YouTube Bad For Music?
- Listening Room Battles The New Antisocial Music Experience
- MySpace Redesign Squanders Huge Opportunity: Turning Band Pages Into Apps


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"Stand up now!" Jeff cried as he pushed my board into the path of an oncoming wave.
I put in three arm strokes before hauling myself up to a wobbly standing position. I was on top of a metre-and-a-half wave cruising into Pacifica Beach just north of Half Moon Bay in sunny California.
My husband and I were on our honeymoon, travelling down the west coast from Whistler to Big Sur. After spending Independence Day in San Francisco, we had travelled a mere 50 kilometres south to Half Moon Bay and found a relaxing surfers' paradise.
We were being taught by a surf legend, although we were completely ignorant to that until surfers paddled over saying things like: "Dude, it's so cool to be catching a wave with you," and other such mystifying platitudes.
Jeff, it turns out, is one of the most respected big-wave surfers in the world — Jeff Clark — having surfed Mavericks for years before it became the mecca it is today. The waves there can crest at over 7.5 metres and top out at more than 24 — I was proud of my five-footer.
Surfing is thirsty work, and after a morning of hitting the waves — sometimes straight in the face — we were peeling off our wetsuits hankering for something filling. Jeff suggested the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company, a short drive away in picturesque Princeton-by-the-Sea.
With salt crystallizing in our hair, we pushed our way through the crowds to a table under a chandelier aptly made of beer bottles.
Our stomachs did the ordering and soon we had a table full of beer-battered artichokes, ceviche with homemade tortilla chips, and sesame-encrusted ahi tuna. This was all washed down with a sample tray of Half Moon's freshly brewed beers, piped directly from serving tanks in a barn behind their garden.
We both love hoppy beers, so their Double Overhead IPA went down a treat, as did their Mavericks Amber Ale, but it was their Ocho Barril Saison that we decanted into a growler to go.
After a morning of adrenalin-filled action on the waves, we decided to change the pace of the afternoon. Glass artist Douglas Brown ushered us into his small studio situated next to La Nebbia Winery just outside Half Moon Bay.
Glass octopuses hung from the rafters with multicoloured tendrils, glittering toadstools clustered in piles on the stone floor, but the most prominent items were the glass pumpkins. Half Moon Bay is home to one of the largest pumpkin festivals in the world — it occurs every October — so this is what we'd be making.
After stripping off a few layers due to the heat of the furnaces and donning some safety gear, we faced clear glass pebbles shining like ice cubes and colourful choices laid out as if we were at a crazy spice market. I went for translucent purple for the body of my pumpkin, topped with a gold stem.
We were staying at The Ritz-Carlton, and to say it's romantic is an understatement. From our room we could hear the Pacific Ocean as it crashed into the cliffs below.
We booked in at the hotel's Navio restaurant, with views out over the Pacific and shared a seafood platter teaming with Fanny Bay oysters, poached shrimp and halibut ceviche.
Our server brought over a 2010 Peay Chardonnay from the Sonoma Coast. Even though we were at a restaurant that prides itself on seafood, we were hankering after something meatier. My husband opted for their succulent 48-hour braised beef short rib while I went for their grilled Berkshire pork chop. Accompanied by a 2009 Ladera Cabernet Sauvignon, we were in fine form by the time we made it out for a planned stroll along the cliff tops.
If you go
We truly had an amazing time with Jeff, so we'd suggest taking a lesson with the man himself or one of his vetted instructors: jeffclarkmavericks.com
For a memento you can make yourself, why not have a go at glass-blowing with Doug Brown: hmbartglass.com
Where to stay: The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay is a romantic option with magnificent views and a stunning restaurant. The Inn at Mavericks is another place boasting an incredible location close to the famous big-surf Mavericks.
Where to eat: As well as the Navio at The Ritz-Carlton, we dined at Pasta Moon, a funky and vibrant restaurant with a strong farm-to-table concept.


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AXIS Management Group LLC
B-408575: Nov 13, 2013
Additional Materials:
- Full Report:
(202) 512-8278
Kenneth E. Patton
(202) 512-8205
Office of Public Affairs
(202) 512-4800
AXIS Management Group LLC, of McLean, Virginia, protests the award of a contract to Cherokee Nations Technology Solutions, Inc., of Lakewood, Colorado, by the Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), under request for proposals (RFP) No. G12PS00932 for laboratory operational support at the agency's National Water Quality Laboratory (NWQL). AXIS argues that the agency failed to conduct a rational price evaluation and failed to conduct meaningful discussions.
We sustain the protest in part, and deny it in part.
Matter of: AXIS Management Group LLC
File: B-408575
Date: November 13, 2013
Venkat Reddy, AXIS Management Group LLC, for the protester.
Sarah T. Zaffina, Esq., Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, for the agency.
Robert T. Wu, Esq., and Tania Calhoun, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision.
1. Protest that agencys price evaluation was unreasonable is sustained where the solicitation gave offerors the discretion to propose a technical approach to satisfy the agencys requirements, and the agency improperly normalized labor hours and labor mix in its price evaluation, which had the effect of ignoring the protesters unique technical approach to satisfying the agencys requirements.
2. Protest that agency failed to raise significant weaknesses in protested proposal during discussions is denied where the record shows the concerns at issue were not significant weaknesses and need not have been raised.
AXIS Management Group LLC, of McLean, Virginia, protests the award of a contract to Cherokee Nations Technology Solutions, Inc., of Lakewood, Colorado, by the Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), under request for proposals (RFP) No. G12PS00932 for laboratory operational support at the agencys National Water Quality Laboratory (NWQL). AXIS argues that the agency failed to conduct a rational price evaluation and failed to conduct meaningful discussions.
We sustain the protest in part, and deny it in part.
The solicitation, issued on April 2, 2013, sought proposals for the provision of operational support to the NWQL.[1] The solicitation contemplated award of an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with task orders to be issued on a fixed-price and labor-hour basis for services to be performed over one base year and up to four option years. RFP at 1-3, 6, 19; Schedule B. Proposals were to be evaluated on a best value basis, with price and four non-price factors considered. Overall technical merit was significantly more important than evaluated price, with price being the determining factor between proposals judged to be essentially equal in technical merit. RFP at 37.
The technical factors, listed in descending order of importance, were: (1) offerors experience and past performance, (2) technical approach, (3) staffing plan, and (4) transition plan. RFP at 36-37. For the technical approach factor, the RFP stated that the agency was to assess the offerors understanding of the SOWs requirements and the offerors approach, including overall staffing, work force performance, medical surveillance, and management reporting. Id. at 36. Under the staffing plan factor, the agency was to assess the offerors ability and risk associated with obtaining properly credentialed personnel to fulfill the SOWs tasks. Id.
With respect to price proposals, offerors were instructed to submit unit pricing for two fixed-price contract line item numbers (CLIN) consisting of front desk support and information technology support. RFP at 1-3; Schedule B. Offerors were also instructed to propose labor categories, number of hours and hourly rates for three CLINS: (1) laboratory support, (2) support services support, and (3) quality assurance. Id. For each of these CLINs, offerors were required to list proposed labor categories, number of hours, and rates on the pricing sheet included with the RFP at Schedule B. Id. Offerors were instructed that all task descriptions identified in the SOW must be priced. RFP at 57. The RFP cautioned offerors that if a labor category is not available, these exceptions may be detrimental to the evaluation of the offerors proposal. Id. Finally, the RFP instructed offerors that the government was to evaluate offers for award purposes by adding the total price for all options to the total price for the basic requirement. RFP at 37.
The SOW included historical staffing levels for 26 separate labor categories from fiscal year (FY) 2006 through FY 2012.[2] RFP, SOW, at 1-2. The historical data showed staffing for only 12 of the 26 identified labor categories; the data was listed as fractions of full-time equivalent (FTE) staffing. The historical labor hours for each FTE were not listed in the solicitation. Id. The SOW also set forth training, quality assurance, safety management, work days/hours requirements as well as various task descriptions. The task descriptions corresponded to the CLINs set forth in the schedule of supply/services as well as the Schedule B pricing sheet. Each task description set forth performance-based tasks, contractor qualification, training, and quality assurance requirements. RFP, SOW, at 13-29. Finally, while the SOW set forth historical staffing levels, it did not include staffing estimates or annual labor hour requirements.
Three proposals were received by the proposal due date. The agency conducted a technical evaluation of the proposals, assigned numerical scores for each non-price evaluation factor, and made substantive comments.[3] AR, Exh. 7, Technical Evaluation Score Sheets. Cherokee received a higher technical point score than AXIS, and both proposals received significantly higher point scores than the third proposal. The agency established a competitive range comprised of Cherokee and AXIS.
With respect to the initial technical evaluation of AXIS, the competitive range determination found no deficiencies and various strengths, but noted the following weaknesses:
Weaknesses Staffing and transition plan risky and unrealistic with USGS security requirements and no contingency for possible delays if current employees dont accept offer to work, and labor mix of a concern in regards to laboratory technician positions, 1880 hours per year is 40 hours below the standard and is a concern for maintaining current work requirements.
AR, Exh. 8, Competitive Range Determination, at 2-3. The competitive range determination also synopsized AXIS technical evaluation, listing concerns with AXIS technical approach due to security requirements of the agency, with AXIS staffing plan because it used a staffing pool, and with AXIS use of 1880 hours per year (instead of 1920) as a basis for its labor hours CLINs. Id. at 3-4.
The agency conducted oral discussions with AXIS via a teleconference. A written synopsis of this session shows that six discussion topics were addressed, including concerns about AXIS labor mix as it relates to laboratory technicians and quality assurance, concern about its downward pricing, and concern about its use of 1880 instead of 1920 hours as a basis for its labor hour CLINs.[4] AR, Exh. 9, Agencys Discussion Notes. The synopsis shows that AXIS responded to each question. The synopsis also states that AXIS asked if they had answered all my questions to my satisfaction and I replied yes. Then he asked if they should submit a revised proposal and I responded that the decision to submit a revised proposal or not was up to them. Id. AXIS did not submit a revised proposal.
After conducting discussions, the agency made a source selection decision, awarding the contract to Cherokee based on its higher technical rating[5] and lower evaluated price of $4,813,859.16 versus AXIS evaluated price of $4,914,872.10.[6] AR, Exh. 10, Source Selection Decision. AXIS was informed of the agencys award decision via letter dated June 28. The firm timely requested a debriefing, which was conducted via teleconference on July 9. In the debriefing, AXIS was informed of a weakness related to its reliance on a staffing pool and that its transition plan presented risk. This protest followed.
AXIS primary arguments are two-fold. First, AXIS argues that the agency conducted an improper price evaluation. Specifically, AXIS contends that the agency improperly adjusted its evaluated price to conform to an internal agency objective for level of effort and labor mix, despite the technical evaluation finding that protesters proposed solution was appropriate, contained strengths, and warranted an acceptable rating. Comments at 9. Second, AXIS argues that the agency did not conduct meaningful discussions as it failed to raise various significant weaknesses in AXIS proposal, including agency concerns regarding AXIS staffing and transition plans and concerns about AXIS labor mix, which resulted in substantial adjustments by the agency to protesters evaluated price. Protest at 4-7; Comments at 1-4. For the reasons discussed below, we sustain the protest with respect to the price evaluation and deny the protest with respect to the adequacy of discussions.
Price Evaluation
We review an agencys proposal evaluation for reasonableness and to ensure it is consistent with the terms of the solicitation, applicable statutes and regulations. Advanced Systems Technology and Management, Inc., B-291529, Dec. 20, 2002, 2002 CPD ¶ 219 at 4. The depth of an agencys price analysis is within the agencys discretion and we will review its analysis for reasonableness. Id. An agency may use various price analysis techniques and procedures to ensure a fair and reasonable price. Resource Consultants, Inc., B-290163, B-290163.2, June 7, 2002, 2002 CPD ¶ 94 at 3 n.1.
The record shows that AXIS proposed a price of $3,824,972.80 for the base year and four option years, covering the two fixed-price CLINs and three labor hour CLINs. AR, Exh. 8, Competitive Range Determination, at 4. AXIS derived its labor hour CLIN prices based on an 1880 hour per year FTE, its proposed labor rates, and its proposed labor mix based on its understanding of the SOW. AR, Exh. 6, AXIS Proposal. In conducting its price evaluation, the agency adjusted AXIS proposed labor hours from 1880 to 1920 in order to match the historical data and the current requirement of the NWQL. AR, Exh. 10, Source Selection Decision, at 5. It also adjusted both offerors labor category mixes for the same stated reason. Id. While the agency did not adjust proposed labor rates, its adjustment to AXIS labor hours, and to both offerors labor mixes, resulted in adjustments to both offerors evaluated prices. According to the agency, since the focus of the labor hour CLINs was on the hourly labor rates, the number of hours and labor mix to calculate the estimated full cost should be consistent for both offerors. The agencys evaluation resulted in an upward adjustment in AXIS price from its proposed price of $3,824,972.80 to $4,914,812.10. Id. at 10.
In effect, the agency normalized each offerors labor hours and labor mix to conform to an internal government estimate of its current need. Normalization involves the adjustment of offers to the same standard or baseline where there is no logical basis for a difference in approach or where there is insufficient information provided with the proposals. Information Ventures, Inc., B-297276.2 et al., Mar. 1, 2006, 2006 CPD ¶ 45 at 9. Normalization is not proper, however, where varying costs between competing proposals result from different technical approaches that are permitted by the RFP. Id.
As detailed above, the RFP here required offerors to submit proposed labor hours, labor rates, and a labor mix based on their assessments of task descriptions set forth in the SOW. Moreover, the RFP informed offerors that the government would assess each offerors understanding of the requirements and approach, including overall staffing, as a function of its technical evaluation. In other words, the RFP permitted offerors to submit their own technical approach and the agency obligated itself to evaluate that approach. Consequently, it was unreasonable for the agency to substitute the labor hours and labor mix proposed by AXIS with its own internal estimates as such substitution ignores the potential for differing labor hours and labor mix based on differing technical approaches. See General Atomics, B-287348, B-287348.2, June 11, 2001, 2001 CPD ¶ 169 at 7.
The agency asserts that neither the awardee nor AXIS submitted proposals that demonstrated compliance with the solicitation requirements. As a result, the agency states that it provided each offeror an opportunity to address issues with their respective proposals during discussions. AR, Agency Supplemental Response, at 6. According to the agency, AXIS was placed on notice of the agencys concerns with its labor mix and proposed use of 1880 hours, and on notice about how the agency would conduct its price evaluation.[7] Id. Based on the record before us, we disagree.
First, a review of AXIS proposal as it relates to labor hours, labor rates and labor mix does not support the agencys position that the firm failed to demonstrate compliance with the solicitation requirements. To the contrary, AXIS proposed hours, rates and mix that it believed were appropriate based on its own assessment of the SOW, as it was instructed to do by the RFP. The fact that AXIS proposal did not comport with the agencys internal estimates does not render its proposal non-compliant with the solicitation requirements.
Second, our review of the record shows that, while the agency may have placed AXIS on notice that it intended to adjust its labor hours from 1880 to 1920 per FTE as part of its price evaluation, the record does not support the agencys position that it put the firm on notice that it intended to alter its labor mix as well.[8] The record shows that the adjustment to AXIS labor mix significantly increased its evaluated price. AR, Exh. 13, Price Evaluation. Since the solicitation did not inform offerors of the agencys price evaluation methodology, and since we find that AXIS was not placed on notice through discussions, we can only conclude that the firms challenge to the price evaluation is timely.
In conclusion, where, as here, an RFP permits offerors to propose a technical approach and informs them that it intends to evaluate that approach, including proposed labor hours, labor rates and labor mix, its subsequent price evaluation cannot ignore proposed labor hours and labor mix, as such an evaluation ignores the potential for differing hours and labor mix based on differing technical approaches.[9] See General Atomics, supra, at 7. Therefore, for this reason we sustain the protest.
We are also not persuaded by the agencys argument that AXIS was not prejudiced since it applied the same price evaluation methodology to both proposals. AXIS was the lower-priced offeror considering proposed prices. The agency improperly raised AXIS proposed price when it adjusted its labor hours and labor mix, making AXIS the higher-priced offeror. Although Cherokees proposal was rated higher than AXIS proposal, we cannot say whether the agencys award decision would have changed had it not adjusted AXIS labor hours and labor mix. In such circumstances, we resolve any doubts regarding prejudice in favor of a protester since a reasonable possibility of prejudice is a sufficient basis for sustaining a protest. See Kellogg, Brown & Root Servs., Inc. Recon., B-309752.8, Dec. 20, 2007, 2008 CPD ¶ 84 at 5. Accordingly, we conclude that AXIS has established the requisite competitive prejudice for our Office to sustain the protest.
Lack of Meaningful Discussions
AXIS next alleges that the agency did not conduct meaningful discussions as it failed to raise various significant weaknesses in its proposal, including agency concerns regarding AXIS staffing and transition plans, and concerns about its labor mix. Protest at 4-7; Comments at 1-4. We deny this protest ground.
When an agency engages in discussions with an offeror, the discussions must be meaningful. In order to be meaningful, discussions must be sufficiently detailed so as to lead an offeror into the areas of its proposal requiring amplification or revision in a manner to materially enhance the offerors potential for receiving award. Powersolv, Inc., B-402534, B-402534.2, June 1, 2010, 2010 CPD ¶ 206 at 7. An agency may not, through its questions or silence, lead an offeror into responding in a manner that fails to address the agencys actual concerns; may not misinform the offeror concerning a problem with its proposal; and may not misinform the offeror about the governments requirements. Id. While the precise content of discussions is largely a matter of the contracting officers judgment, such discussions must, at a minimum, address deficiencies and significant weaknesses identified in the proposal. Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) § 15.306 (d)(3); American States Utilities Services, Inc., B-291307.3, June 30, 2004, 2004 CPD ¶ 150 at 5.
The agency argues that AXIS did not have deficiencies or significant weaknesses in its proposal. AR, Memorandum of Law, at 5. In support of this contention, the agency asserts that none of the individual evaluations indicated a significant weakness and AXIS was scored highly for each factor. Id. On the issue of AXIS price proposal, the agency states that it did not have any concerns with AXIS price proposal and consequently did not have a duty to discuss any price issues with the firm. AR, Supp. Agency Response, at 3-4.
A significant weakness in a proposal is a flaw that appreciably increases the risk of unsuccessful contract performance. FAR § 15.001. In determining whether a concern is a significant weakness, our Office does not look solely to the label or term used by the agency, but additionally looks to the context of the evaluation. Raytheon Company, B-404998, July 25, 2011, 2011 CPD ¶ 232 at 4; Planning and Development Collaborative International, B-299041, Jan. 24, 2007, 2007 CPD ¶ 28. The fact that the agency does not expressly characterize the concern as a significant weakness is not controlling. AT&T Corp., B-299542.3, B-299542.4, Nov. 16, 2007, 2008 CPD ¶ 65 at 8.
Here, the agency did not label its concerns about AXIS staffing or transition plans as significant weaknesses. In fact, the individual evaluation worksheets did not categorize any aspect of AXIS proposal as strengths or weaknesses. Nor did the competitive range determination categorize any concerns about AXIS proposal as significant weaknesses; the determination only categorized evaluation comments as strengths or weaknesses. AR, Exh. 8, Competitive Range Determination.
Also, the record shows that the agency gave AXIS very high point scores for both the staffing plan and transition plan factors, AR, Exh. 7, Technical Evaluation Score Sheets, despite finding the [s]taffing and transition plan risky and unrealistic with USGS security requirements and no contingency for possible delays if current employees dont accept offer to work. AR, Exh. 8, Competitive Range Determination at 2. Moreover, when the technical evaluation team chair met with the contract specialist--subsequent to the technical evaluation and prior to discussions--it appears that concerns about AXIS transition and staffing plans were not discussed as they were not USGS greatest concern. AR, Memorandum of Law at 5; AR, Exh. 16, Contract File Notes. Finally, these concerns do not appear in the source selection decision, which discusses staffing pools in general and recognizes AXIS good recruitment skills. AR, Exh. 10, Source Selection Decision at 7.
We conclude, on this record, that the agency was not required to raise its concerns about AXIS staffing and transition plans during discussions because the agency neither identified these concerns as significant weaknesses nor treated them as such. Any such concerns appear to have been addressed and allayed prior to engaging in discussions, and prior to the award decision.
We also deny AXIS protest ground alleging lack of meaningful discussions with respect to its labor mix. As noted above, the record shows that the agency did raise the identified concerns it had about AXIS labor mix. AXIS was also afforded the opportunity to provide oral responses to the discussion questions on these topics, which the agency indicated were satisfactory.[10] Consequently, we believe that discussions were meaningful as to the agencys identified concerns about AXIS labor mix.
We recommend that the agency reevaluate the price proposals consistent with the terms of the solicitation and conduct a new price/technical tradeoff analysis. If Cherokees proposal is not found to reflect the best value to the government, the agency should terminate its contract and make award to the offeror whose proposal is determined to be the best value to the government.[11] We also recommend that the agency reimburse the protester for the reasonable costs of filing and pursuing the protest, including reasonable attorneys fees. 4 C.F.R. § 21.8(d)(1) (2013). The protesters certified claim for costs, detailing the time spent and the cost incurred, must be submitted to the agency within 60 days after receipt of this decision.
The protest is sustained.
Susan A. Poling
General Counsel
[1] The RFP contemplated various work requirements consisting of technical, analytical, quality assurance, administrative, information technology, warehouse and general support services for the NWQL. RFP, Statement of Work (SOW), at 4.
[2] Offerors were cautioned that the quantities in the schedule were estimated quantities for evaluation purposes only, RFP at 6, and were instructed to respond based on the work listed in the SOW. Agency Report (AR), Exh. 5, Question and Answer.
[3] The individual evaluator sheets were not provided to AXIS as there was no protective order issued in this protest. Because a protective order was not issued here, our discussion is necessarily general. Our Office was provided a complete copy of the AR for our in-camera review.
[4] The agency indicated its understanding that, historically, 1920 hours was used by NWQL to successfully complete its work and the number was in accordance with Department of Labor standards. AR, Exh. 9, Agencys Discussion Notes, at 2.
[5] During the course of the protest, the agency informed this Office that the original technical evaluation scores had been miscalculated. The agency provided a document showing the revised technical score calculation, which showed Cherokee had the higher technical score, although by a lesser margin than previously calculated.
[6] As discussed in more detail below, AXIS proposed price was $3,824,972.80, which was upwardly adjusted by the agency to $4,914,872.10. Cherokees proposed price was $6,820,556.60 before final proposal revision and adjustment downward by the agency to $4,813,859.16. AR, Exh. 8, Competitive Range Determination, at 4.
[7] To the extent that the agencys position is that AXIS protest of the agencys price evaluation methodology is untimely, as noted below, we disagree.
[8] The agency asserts that it raised the question of AXIS proposed labor hours during discussions. AR, Agency Supplemental Response, at 10. The agency then states that it deemed AXIS explanation regarding its use of reduced labor hours as satisfactory, and informed AXIS of this fact. Id.; AR, Exh. 9, Agencys Discussion Notes. The agency states that it then informed AXIS that, notwithstanding satisfactory explanation, it intended to conduct an apples to apples comparison of pricing based on level of effort to ensure fair evaluation. This comparison appears from the record to focus on labor hours, not labor mix. Id.
[9] This does not mean that the agency could not use its internal estimates in evaluating proposals. An agency may evaluate technical or price proposals against an undisclosed, reasonable estimate of the appropriate staffing needed to perform the solicitation requirements provided the RFP notifies offerors that staffing is an area of evaluation. IP Network Solutions, Inc.; Emagine IT, Inc.; EnterpriseTech Joint Venture, LLC, B-408232 et al., July 25, 2013, 2013 CPD ¶ 187 at 4. This decision, however, does not stand for the proposition that agencies can adjust proposed prices under these facts, as the agency asserts. Instead, agencies may reasonably compare technical and price proposals against internal estimates for evaluation purposes, such as for proposal risk, reasonableness and realism.
[10] Again, AXIS was not on notice that the concerns about its proposal would translate into adjusting its labor hours and labor mix during the price evaluation. It also appears that the technical evaluators believed the firms labor mix was appropriate to satisfy the SOWs requirements. If the technical evaluators were concerned about AXIS labor mix, they could have adjusted their technical scores and comments commensurately.
[11] The record shows that AXIS labor mix differed from the agencys internal estimate in areas other than those identified during discussions. There is no evidence in the record that the agency treated these differences as weaknesses, perhaps because the labor mix was normalized in the price evaluation. Upon re-evaluation, if the agency views AXIS labor mix as a significant weakness, it should address that matter through discussions.
Aug 12, 2020
The i4 Group Consulting, LLC
We deny the protest.
Aug 11, 2020
Chase Defense Partners
We deny the protest.
The Winvale Group, LLC
We deny the protest.
CEdge Software Consultants, LLC
We deny the protest.
Kardex Remstar, LLC
We deny the protest.
Aug 10, 2020
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text:
Pearl's Rainbow, Key West's only lesbians-only guest house, is going to have to go temporarily sausage party to survive in this economic climate.
The resort went "all welcome" during Thanksgiving weekend for the first time. According to The Miami Herald,
The decision was made public about the same time Pearl's Rainbow was honored in October by Curve, the best-selling lesbian magazine, as the guesthouse that had the greatest impact on lesbian culture over the past 20 years.
Pearl's Rainbow's lesbian owner, Heather Carruthers, said it was a business decision based on tough economic realities, the request of some lesbian guests who would like to bring male family members or friends — and on some good news. Lesbians are being more accepted and feel more comfortable in the mainstream these days.
Thanks, Katy Perry!
Pearl's Rainbow had historically stood as an oasis for gay women who wanted a sex-exclusive vacation experience in a city that's dominated by the gay male population. Much of the city government and chamber of commerce in Key West consists of gay men and the town boasts 9 male-only guest houses, none of which plan to go all-welcome.
Lady-loving ladies who still want an all-lady vacation, don't fret! There's one other all-women's resort in the US, the Highlands Inn of Bethlehem, NH. Reservations can be made by dialing 1-877-LES-B-INN.
"A Lesbian Landmark Goes All Welcome" [Miami Herald]
Image via Shutterstock


text:
- Yield
- Serves 4
- 3 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 4 large garlic cloves, minced
- 2 cups canned unsalted chicken broth
- 1 15 1/2-ounce can low-sodium garbanzo beans (chick peas), rinsed, drained
- 1 10-ounce package frozen leaf spinach, thawed, squeezed dry
- 12 ounces farfalle (bow tie) pasta, freshly cooked
- 2 ounces grated Parmesan cheese
- Heat 1 teaspoon oil in heavy large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until tender, about 10 minutes. Pour in chicken broth and simmer until liquid is reduced by half, about 4 minutes. Add garbanzo beans and spinach and boil 1 minute. Transfer spinach mixture to large bowl. Add pasta. Drizzle pasta with remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil and toss. Season pasta generously with pepper; sprinkle with grated Parmesan and toss well. Serve.
Per serving: calories, 540; fat, 12 g; sodium, 472 mg; cholesterol, 11 mg


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For those of you who can't wait to get another look at Tom Cruise, good news. His romantic-comedy-action flick with Cameron Diaz, "Knight and Day" will open two days earlier than planned.
Fox will release the movie on June 23, a midweek boost in an effort to move it apart from the herd of other big movies being released in that time period.
Adam Sandler's "Grown Ups" will be released on June 25 and is bound to attract herds of folks who haven't learned that every Adam Sandler movie is really terrible. (And if I may go on a tangent here. This one looks even more dire than all the rest, which is saying something. They cannot even find something mildly amusing to show in the lame trailer).
The movie schedule gets more crowded the next week with "Eclipse" opening on June 30 and "The Last Airbender" two days later. The extra two days is a chance to let Cruise shine alone in the crowd.
"Knight and Day" director James Mangold tells PopcornBiz that part of the reason for the release jump is Fox's attempt to capitalize on strong anticipation for the movie (the trailer does rock).
"We have been given such great word-of-mouth," Mangold says. "In many ways its an advantage to have two more nights of people talking about the movie heading into the weekend."


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text:
First Minister's Questions (FMQs) is a serve and volley game: a question is served, the First Minister returns with as much spin as she can muster and her opponent might get just one chance to volley it back. There's no time for lengthy baseline rallies to expose each other's weaknesses, the serve dominates the game.
This is why opposition parties who challenge the SNP on why they aren't raising taxes against the rich make a tactical mistake. The smarter serve would surely be to ask why they don't reduce taxes for the poor?
The SNP now have the powers to do so if they wanted to. The basic rate of income tax chosen by Westminster is 20% and applies to earnings above £11,000. The Scottish Government could help those subjected to in-work poverty by simply lowering the basic rate* and/or raising the amount you need to earn before you pay it.
So why don't they? Of course they'd need to make difficult decisions about how to fund that tax cut, but that's what a party of government is supposed to do.
Maybe they could decide that some higher earners can afford to pay for their prescriptions or their children's tuition fees, maybe they could have the courage to tax higher earners a bit more. The point is that the debate should start with why the SNP aren't choosing to do more to help the poor - addressing how that help should be funded is the secondary question, something for later in the rally.
But if FMQs and debates in the chamber are serve and volley tennis, Holyrood's committee rooms are the clay courts. Dominated by long and often tedious baseline rallies, this is where politicians need to be able to show that they can do more than simply block back questions with well-rehearsed replies.
Which brings us to SNP Finance Secretary Derek Mackay's rabbit-in-the-headlights performance before last week's Finance and Constitution Committee.
Of course this is only possible because we voted against independence and continue to pool and share our resources within the UK. This simple fact bears repeating: taking our fair share of the UK's costs - as determined by the Scottish Government when compiling the Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) figures - we now effectively get back over £9bn more from Westminster than we send in taxes4. That's over £1,700 for every man, woman and child in Scotland.
So Derek Mackay is a very lucky man. He has more money to spend and more power than any Finance Secretary before him. He could take pressure off the poorest in our society by topping-up benefits and he could address in-work poverty by shifting some of the tax burden onto those with the broadest shoulders.
When Tory MSP Murdo Fraser asked Mr Mackay to confirm the growth in the Scottish budget, his response was astonishing.
(see here).
He admitted to the increase this year (how could he not?) but on the longer-term question he kept insisting that there had been a real terms 9.2% reduction. It quickly became embarrassingly clear that Mr Mackay was neither familiar with the various spend categories in the Scottish budget nor with the difference between the actual budget year under discussion and some flaky longer-term forecasts5.
Maybe there aren't many people who understand the differences between the Total Budget and Departmental Expenditure Limits (DEL), non-cash DEL, financial transactions, capital borrowing and Annually Managed Expenditure (AME)6 – but surely we should expect our Finance Secretary to be one of them?
Here I confess to feeling some human sympathy for Mr Mackay. He is clearly out of his depth, a man promoted well beyond his ability. That's not his fault, the responsibility for that must lie with the person who promoted him: my new fellow Daily Record columnist, Nicola Sturgeon.
To be fair to our First Minister, it can't have been easy choosing a Finance Secretary when the talent pool is so shallow. This was illustrated just in the last week, with MSPs Gil Paterson and Sandra White following their colleague Paul Monaghan's lead by taking to Twitter to advertise their ignorance about how Scottish Export Statistics work7.
I started this blog comparing politics with tennis - but tennis is just a game and politics is about real people's lives. So I hope Ms Sturgeon uses her new platform in the Daily Record to do more than just deflect blame onto Tories, Westminster and Brexit; I hope she shows the Record's readers enough respect to start honestly addressing the economic realities of the choices we face.
*************It's been rightly pointed out by a reader (see comments below) that the Scottish Government does not in fact have power to change the personal allowance (the limit at which you start paying tax). Whilst this is technically true, they *do* however have the power to create new tax bands, so they could simply introduce a new zero-rated band to effectively increase the personal allowance as I hypothesise - my point still stands.
1. £371m real-terms budget increase
See Annex G, Table 4, p172 of the Scottish Draft Budget 2017-18
Total Scottish Budget 2016-17 = £37,031m
Total Scottish Budget 2017-18 = £37,945m
Growth in Nominal Terms = £914m (2.5%)
Applying UK GDP deflator (as used elsewhere in Scottish Budget) of 1.45% for 2017-18
Total Scottish Budget 2016-17 = £37,031m
Total Scottish Budget 2017-18 adjusted for Inflation= £37,403m
Growth in Real Terms = £371m (1.0%)
2. Real-terms budget increase since 2009-10
Using same sources as note 1. above (see Spinning the Scottish Budget part III)
See GERS 2015-16: Support Tables, Table 2.1
North Sea Revenues 2009-10 = £5990m
North Sea Revenues 2015-16 = £76m
4. £9bn effective fiscal transfer
see The £9bn Fiscal Transfer vs The £15bn GERS Deficit
5. Derek Mackay's "9.2% real-terms decline"
See here: Mackay repeatedly refers to "over a 10 year period a real-terms reduction of 9.2%" and says later "has been reduced" by 9.2%.
As explained in Spinning the Scottish Budget: Part III, the -9.2% is taken from Table 1.01:
6. Here are the various components of the Scottish Budget that Derek Mackay excludes when he erroneously refers to a 9.2% decline (in addition to the fact he uses the flaky 2019-20 forecast year instead of the 2017-18 budget year under discussion):
- Annually Managed Expenditure (AME) - which pays, for example, NHS and teachers' pension
- Capital Borrowing - an essential part of the Scottish Budget (whether the borrowing is directly by the Scottish Government or by the UK government on our behalf, it's still debt and it still funds our spending)
- Net DEL adjustments - the assumed impact of using devolved powers
- Financial Transactions (effectively more borrowing) &Non-Cash DEL
7. Some SNP MSPs like to suggest that Scottish goods leaving the UK are not counted as Scottish if they go via English ports. This is simply not true, as the Scottish Government website makes clear on at least three separate occasions
In both cases - when politely made aware of the misleading nature of what they'd shared they made no effort to correct the misconception.
.@GilMPaterson you (accidentally?) RTd meme suggesting Scottish export stats miss goods going via English ports - plse RT this to correct? pic.twitter.com/gZl3qJejab— Kevin Hague (@kevverage) January 15, 2017
In fact Sandra White thought the whole sorry affair was hilariousHey @SandraWhiteSNP - you RT'd the false information, I'm sure you'd like to take the opportunity to let your followers know the truth? pic.twitter.com/1ofczLQDS6— Kevin Hague (@kevverage) January 12, 2017
By knowingly perpetuating a lie that helps their argument, these MSPs show total and utter contempt for their followers, for Scottish voters.By exporting oops ! retweeting a tweet I seem to have imported Oops ! received barrel load of replies 😊— Sandra White (@SandraWhiteSNP) January 12, 2017


text:
I'm using ArcScene10.1 and I have a dataset containing of 3D points (x,y,z coordinates) with extrusion values (Evalue). Now I would like to create a square or ring buffer around the points and extrude that buffer by the extrusion value. The goal is to "layer 3D to feature class" those geometries and colour them by an other value (Cvalue). So far I was able to create a buffer around those points but I can't extrude them. eg.:
x y z Evalue Cvalue
1 2 3 5 3
2 4 1 3 15
... draft http://img594.imageshack.us/img594/741/extrudebufferdraft.jpg


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Duke Nukem 3D XBLA Screenshots Leak (Updated)
Screenshots showcasing the downloadable Xbox Live Arcade port of Duke Nukem 3D in the Xbox 360 dashboard have appeared...
Given the flood of screenshots from various outlets and languages, it is likely that the port has appeared on PartnerNet, a closed Xbox Live network only accessible through development kits and debug units.
PartnerNet availability would also suggest that the price point of 1337 Microsoft Points ($16.71), as specified in one of the shots, is placeholder.
Shacker ease one reports that the 83 MB Xbox Live Arcade port of Duke Nukem 3D is indeed downloadable through the closed PartnerNet network, though the current build only "displays a rotating poly and that is it."
Original Story: Two alleged screenshots showcasing the downloadable Xbox Live Arcade port of Duke Nukem 3D in the Xbox 360 dashboard have appeared courtesy Joystiq and tipper SV.
The enhanced XBLA release will arrive this year with co-op and online multiplayer in tow, according to a Dallas Business Journal report that contained "off the record" information.
While other details of that report--supposed platforms and release date for Duke Nukem Forever--were quickly removed, the Duke Nukem 3D port information remained intact, suggesting its validity.
Developer 3D Realms has previously indicated its desire to port the classic ass-kicking, bubblegum-chewing PC shooter to Xbox Live Arcade. At that time, the port's release was uncertain, and the company has yet to make any further official comments.
Well not a new engine, but there is this -