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USA & Canada orders arrive within 5-7 business days, while International is 7-12.
Letter from Nate Bosch
Sent: Monday, 1:21
Dear Friend,
Do you want to learn how to play piano by ear?
Well, I've got really good news for you...
You already have a natural ability to learn by ear!
It's true, and I can prove it to you right now.
When you were born, and until you were about a year old, your only method of communication was cries or gurgles. Your mom and dad could figure out what you wanted, but it was still pretty much non-sense.
By hearing people around you speak, and by occasionally being corrected by mom and dad, you slowly began the process of developing a rich vocabulary - completely by ear. You didn't study how to speak, and you didn't learn grammar, but in a couple of years - you were able to talk. You did all of this without actually understanding any theory of how to speak a language.
At some point, within the next few years, you learned how to read. You began to study the parts of sentences, and how they are structured. You learned why words work together the way that they do. This wasn't essential, but it helped you get even better at communicating your ideas.
I say all of this to make a very important point. Playing the piano starts by using your ears. Our ears are simply the best tool we have to learn the piano. Learning to listen, and understanding how to interpret what you are hearing, is the key to mastering the piano!
With that in mind, ask yourself these questions:
Well, if you have decided that you are ready to learn the piano, I've got great news for you. The all-new Piano System includes everything you need to progress from complete beginner to seasoned pro - with REAL results starting on the very first day.
Friend, please allow me to introduce you to the revolutionary training system that is
breaking all the rules to provide you with the best possible learning experience...
Below you will find a list of the many topics covered in this comprehensive beginner-to-advanced video training system. Each component of this course is listed separately, so you can get a complete picture of exactly what is included.
It is important to note that ALL sections are very relevant to students of all skill levels. I still teach some "beginner lessons" to advanced players from time to time. It's always a good idea to review the essentials to be sure you have a solid foundation!
I encourage you to read what the Piano System includes in each of the sections below. This way, you can see not only what is taught, but get a better sense of the teaching style. There is nearly 15 minutes of preview footage below, but keep in mind this is only a fraction of the 9 hours of total training included in the complete Piano System course!
NOTE: All of the DVDs and CDs are completely REGION FREE, and will work in any DVD or CD players in the world. If you are an international student, these piano lessons will work for you!
If you order the complete Piano System today, I will include the following bonuses 100% free of charge! Yes, in addition to all the great content already included in this comprehensive training course, you get these items at absolutely NO cost! Read on below for details...
BONUS #1: 12 Steps To Playing Piano on DVD!
Get a free hardcopy of my "12 Steps To Playing Piano" series on DVD. This way, you can watch these powerful beginner lessons on your TV, or share them with a friend that is also interested in learning to play the piano!
We have a very limited run of this DVD, so it will very likely be removed immediately after the introductory launch. Don't miss out on getting your copy today! It's valued at $49, and is a great way to complete your Piano System library!
BONUS #2: Footage From Nate's Piano Clinic!
This bonus features exclusive video footage from my Piano Clinic from May of 2008. In it, I discuss how I got started on the piano, and how I've dramatically changed the way I approach music over the past few years. This video is packed with valuable tid-bits of information that you definitely do NOT want to miss out on!
The video is in downloadable format, and you can get instant access to this bonus when you purchase the complete Piano System! It's easily valued at $97, as that is the minimum you would pay to attend a clinic like this.
BONUS #3: Unlimited Customer Support!
I want to be absolutely sure every customer is completely happy with this training solution, so I am including unlimited customer support at no cost! You can e-mail or phone our support team anytime, and we will help you work through any difficulties you may run into.
We'd like to tell you what this bonus is "valued at", but I'm sure you will agree - there is simply no way to put a price on great customer support. Just know that when you get the Piano System - help and support is always just a phone call away!
I know what you are probably thinking. This massive training package - with four DVDs, two play-along CDs, and two professionally printed workbooks HAS to cost a fortune, right? I mean, a package like that has got to be pretty pricey to create, and so it must be expensive...
Besides that, private piano lessons can easily cost $100-150/month (up to $1500/year), so why should the Piano System be any different, right? I mean, it is far more comprehensive and convenient than private lessons, so surely it is more expensive... isn't it?
Well, my friend - I can assure you that I won't be charging you hundreds or even thousands of dollars for this massive all-in-one package. No, this package was created to break the rules of expensive private lessons!
The GOOD NEWS is that you don't have to pay $1000!
You don't even pay $400 (the approximate
cost of a mere 3 months of private lessons)!
And YES, this complete package is backed by our famous...
Our dedicated support team is available by phone five days a week, and can assist
you with any questions you may have both before and after you order!
The simple fact is... IF you want to learn how to play the piano, this is the most comprehensive course available to you! There has never been such detailed step-by-step piano lessons put together in such a unique way!
Better still, this package is backed by my 100% 90-day money back guarantee - so you really have nothing to lose! Take advantage of this amazing opportunity, and get the Piano System today for the one-time investment of just $147! You'll be playing your favorite songs in no time!
To Your Success,
P.S. - This entire package will arrive at your door within a matter of days, and will include everything we've covered here: six training DVDs, two play-along audio CDs, and two professionally printed workbook. Also, your bonuses will be included at no cost!
P.S.S. - And remember, if you're not 100% convinced that the Piano System will have you playing your favorite songs on the piano - then simply send it back within a full 90 days, and we will issue a prompt and courteous refund -- no questions asked (and you keep the bonuses).
Tracking codes are optional on the order form.
USA & Canada orders arrive within 5-7 business days, while International is 7-12.
YES, the DVDs are region-free so they can work in DVD players around the world!
Get The Complete Piano System Now »


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AFC, NFC Championships Match-Ups to Watch
On Sunday, there will be two teams left that will play in the Super Bowl in two weeks in New Orleans at the Superdome. The AFC and NFC will crown a champion on Sunday and here are a few match-ups that could impact the outcome of the conference championships.
AFC: Baltimore at New England
Baltimore appears to be a team of destiny after knocking off the Denver Broncos in the Mile High City in double overtime when Justin Tucker hit game winning field goal to knock of the AFC's number one seed. Baltimore will have their hands full as they go into Foxboro a year later after Billy Cundiff missed a game-tying field goal last year.
This time, though, Baltimore has momentum and everyone is believing. Even, the owner is after he texted coach John Harbaugh in the fourth quarter to do the impossible.
Baltimore has perhaps the hottest quarterback in the playoffs - Joe Flacco. Flacco's highlight of playoffs came on a throw to Jacoby Jones for a 70 yard scoring play to tie the game and send the game into overtime last Saturday. Flacco has thrown for 613 yards, five touchdowns, no interceptions, and has averaged a quarterback rating of 120.9 in two playoff games.
The Patriots, meanwhile, used a different approach last week when they used a ground attack to beat the Texans. Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen ran for 133 total yards and two touchdowns in the game. Tom Brady still was a force in the playoffs throwing for 344 yards and three touchdowns and no interceptions.
The key match-up to watch is the Baltimore's Torrey Smith, Anquan Boldin and Jacoby Jones against the Patriots secondary. Aqib Talib, Devin McCourty, Steve Gregory and Tavon Wilson will have their hands full as Flacco was beating Champ Bailey and Rahim Moore last weekend.
NFC: San Francisco at Atlanta
The 49ers Colin Kaepernick had a pretty stellar first playoff start as he ran all over the Green Bay Packers defense. He ran for 181 yards and two scores and passed for 263 yards and two scores as well.
Meanwhile, Atlanta built a early 20-0 lead and it appeared they were going to run all over the Seahawks. Then, Russell Wilson nearly pulled the upset, but Matt Bryant hit a game-winning field goal to send the Falcons to the NFC Championship game.
The Falcons biggest task will be containing Kaepernick and the 49ers read-option offense. Atlanta has played its fair share against mobile quarterbacks and fared good and bad. The Falcons allowed 394 rushing yards to Cam Newton in two games, but gave up seven rushing yards to Robert Griffin III (he did leave game early). Last week, they gave up 46 yards to Marshawn Lynch and sixty yards and a touchdown to Russell Wilson.
The NFL playoffs has been must watch television so far and I am sure the AFC and NFC championships won't disappoint.

subset: commoncrawl


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L – Oilers 1 Hawks 5 – Game 25 – 2013-11-25 @ 7:30 PM MST – SNET W
We're going streaking!!! 3 in a row is officially a streak right? And the kind we actually want this time.
The boys will be in tough tonight to keep that momentum rolling against a very talented Hawks team. They are 7-2-1 in their last 10 and we have 7 wins through the entire season. Aside from a tough opponent, the team has been off since Thursday. A nice break to heal some wounds but when you finally start hitting your stride you don't want to sit at home on the couch. Ideally we come out focused and don't have the rust of 3 days to shake off. Don't expect any shutouts tonight as the last time these 2 met 9 goals were tallied collectively.
Dubnyk was named the 3rd star of the week and the team has averaged 5 goals per game over the modest streak. If the back end is stopping while the top guys are popping, therein is a recipe for success.
Eakins has said previously why mess with the lines when things are working, so tonight's lines remain unchanged. Dubnyk gets the start as well. Bryzgalov will likely get his first start as on Oiler on Thursday or Friday with back to back games against Nashville and Columbus.
Continue reading 'L – Oilers 1 Hawks 5 – Game 25 – 2013-11-25 @ 7:30 PM MST – SNET W'»


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President Obama's nomination of B. Todd Jones to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on Wednesday is an effort to energize a depleted agency that has been denied leadership and resources by legislators aligned with the gun lobby, according to administration officials and former law enforcement officials.
The introduction of Jones during the unveiling of Obama's sweeping gun proposals at the White House signals a willingness to fight for a position that has languished in political limbo across two administrations. But questions remain about whether the nomination will be blocked by National Rifle Association allies in the Senate and, more broadly, whether the ATF has the institutional strength to lead the kind of crackdown on illegal gun trafficking that Obama desires even if Jones is confirmed.
The ATF has fewer agents than it did in 1970 and takes up to eight years between inspections of gun stores because of a lack of personnel. The agency also is prohibited from creating a searchable computer database for gun ownership records, according to current and former ATF officials.
Some of ATF's wounds are self-inflicted. In a scandal known as "Fast and Furious," senior agents lost track of 2,000 guns sold to suspected traffickers. Two weapons linked to one of the traffickers were found at the scene of the fatal shooting of a Border Patrol agent.
Jones, a federal prosecutor and former Marine, became the acting director of the ATF after congressional pressure connected to Fast and Furious led to the resignation of his predecessor, Kenneth Melson.
Jones has served as a part-time director of the ATF and continues to serve as the U.S. attorney in Minnesota. He declined to comment Wednesday on his nomination.
For the past six years, the Senate has not confirmed the nominees for ATF director by Obama or President George W. Bush. In the first case, individual Republican senators have placed a hold on the nomination. Obama's first nomination was never acted upon.
The lack of a director was simply the most obvious manifestation of an effort to make sure that the ATF lacked the staffing, equipment and powers to police the gun industry, according to gun-control advocates.
"An acting director is never really the director," said Malcolm Brady, a former assistant director at the agency. "You want someone who has the authority to lead, and the ability to work with both Congress and the NRA. It's a great first step. Mr. Jones has the dedication and authority to move the agency forward."
But recent history suggests that it is very difficult to take even that first step. According to the Center for American Progress, the NRA lobbied Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.), then chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, to insert a provision in the Patriot Act reauthorization in 2006 that changed the position of ATF director from one appointed by the administration to one confirmed by the Senate.
"All the other major law enforcement agencies had Senate-confirmed heads except the ATF," Sensenbrenner said in an e-mail Wednesday. He did not address a question about the NRA's role in the change. "The goal was to give ATF more stature and credibility, and it was an attempt to strengthen the agency after some high-profile failures."
The NRA did not respond to requests for comment.
No one has been confirmed as ATF director since. Bush's nominee, Michael J. Sullivan, a former Republican state legislator and U.S. attorney in Massachusetts, was blocked by three Republican senators. They said that Sullivan, who served as acting director of the ATF, had not done enough to end the agency's "overly burdensome regulatory policies" on gun owners.
The NRA said Obama's first nominee, Andrew Traver, who headed the ATF's Chicago field office, was "deeply aligned with gun-control advocates and anti-gun activities."
Brad Buckles, the ATF director from 1999 to 2004, said the agency is no bigger today than when he was its appointed head. He blamed the NRA lobby for persuading members of Congress to block money for expansion that would have increased regulation of firearms dealers and improved gun tracing.
"The NRA wasn't interested in having a stronger ATF," Buckles said.
Winnie Stachelberg, who recently co-wrote a report at the Center for American Progress on preventing gun violence, said the changed climate after the mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., may allow Jones to have the Senate vote denied his predecessors.
"There has been a fundamental change in this country, and that change happened 33 days ago," she said. "If someone should not be confirmed for the post for a specific reason, let's debate that and vote on that, but don't block the nomination."


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John Nix gives his opinion on a changing American work ethic.
It�s not too often the words flow freely from my pen as they are at this very moment. For those of you that have been following the civil liberties debate regarding illegal immigrants and their fate, this commentary won�t be new to you.
But first, let me set the stage.
A dying majority of us pay taxes, both federal and state. We have paid into a socialist program we call Social Security since we had our first jobs. Most of us never thought of this program to be socialist, but, indeed, it is. With years of our hard-earned money going to a supposed retirement fund, most of us have blindly accepted we will have at least something to fall back on in retirement.
Will it be there for you? I am not counting on it. It seems the federal government has lower regards for our money than we do. Beginning with the Franklin D. Roosevelt�s �New Deal� beginning in 1934, our country has been in a liberal tailspin. The absurd liberal progressive principle of �Redistribution of Wealth� is competing to replace the innate American right that our success depends on individual ingenuity and hard work.
Most of you reading this were taught we need not rely on government subsidies � only hard work and honest determination.
Well, wake up and smell the coffee, friends. The work ethic in this country is pathetic. The president and other liberal thinkers push an agenda to appease the masses, including a college education for everyone.
This is horse hockey for a couple of reasons. First, everyone doesn�t have the desire to go to college. Some high school graduates don�t have the ability to go further. Secondly, our educators have been quite busy preparing students for higher education but have failed to prepare them for the workforce.
Yes, we need chemists, engineers, and computer programmers. But, we also need mechanics, miners, construction workers and farm hands. Students should have trade school options, so at graduation from high school they are prepared to enter the workforce in a selected trade. Viable options may include credit for on-the-job internships and other non-traditional learning opportunities. Perhaps the jobsite would replace the classroom in the senior year.
We have a multigenerational problem. It didn�t happen overnight and we can�t correct it overnight. The breakdown of the traditional family � along with a waning value system � is partly to blame. Our children emulate their role models or caregivers, good or bad.
We live in a far different world than a generation or two ago. With the click of button, we can search the Internet for information that would have taken weeks or months to access just 15 years ago.
Our society has become more demanding, less tolerant, and more lethargic. Instead of leading the world in production and exportation, we have become a nation of overweight consumers dependent on others to feed our cravings.
Moreover, our public schools have indoctrinated our children by teaching only a portion of history, depriving students of their own critical thinking skills.
This country is in dire straits. A great percentage of our labor force is made up of foreign labor, many of which are in this country illegally. These illegal aliens come here wanting better for themselves and their families. By and large, they have an unsurpassed work ethic. They like it here, as they should. Compared to where they come from, this is Shangri-La.
We take so much for granted and are so ignorant to the ways of the world. We have a politicized 8 percent-plus unemployment rate nationally with an actual rate of 23 percent, according to economist John Williams. In December, the 7.8 percent reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics is �manipulated by reporting the key economic data for political purposes using methodologies that tend to mask bad news.�
We are �carrying� our unemployed natural citizens for up to 99 weeks of unemployment when we have a constant influx of migrant labor into this country filling the jobs our natural born citizens could have. But, alas, do those on unemployment even want those jobs? I�ll leave that for you to decide. Through personal observation and knowledge, many are riding the gravy train until they are forced to disembark.
Why does our government allow the constant influx of illegal aliens? If they want citizenship status they should apply and go through the steps like those before them. Set to begin in March, North Carolina driver�s licenses will be issued to illegal aliens with a bright pink stripe and �NO LAWFUL STATUS� in print with the intent of alerting the �legal presence� not here lawfully. That means no ability to register to vote and no social programs. Of course, the American Civil Liberties Union is all over this one.
Driven by liberal politics, the current administration knows full well it will make political allies by granting citizenship to 13 million undocumented immigrants, furthering this administration�s agenda. The immigration law is one of many the president, the Department of Justice and the current administration ignore to further their personal interests and secure their political future.
Many sound theories have supported the idea the U.S. economy is on the verge of financial collapse. Some say this collapse would be deliberate. We shall see.
My dad has always said, �The world is getting smaller.� How right he is. I can connect and converse via Internet instantaneously with my friend in Belgium. We know almost instantly the news in Russia or Spain.
The media plays up what they are allowed, lest the FCC pull their license. They walk a tightrope. We are indoctrinated and lied to through the mainstream media daily. And, remember, they sell the news and rely on ratings. Instead of just focusing on work and play, we are infiltrated by a barrage of information. Extracting the truth can be difficult at times.
We have a toolbox that our founding fathers left us, consisting of the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers and the Constitution. These documents were intended to be indelible truths and principles to protect our way of life. They protect us from a tyrannical government while creating a framework by which a moral and civilized society may function with grace and equity.
My suggestion is that we all become very familiar with them and get to work educating others. Stay in contact with your senators and legislators; demand we adhere and preserve these values that set us apart as the greatest nation in the history of the world.
Future generations depend on us. No one else is going to do it.
John Nix is the owner of Matrix East, a former Kinston City Council candidate and part of the Nix v. Holder federal lawsuit. You can reach him at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Ellen's Walk-In Closet Bedroom
Like this entry? Favorite it below!
- Name:
- Ellen
- Location:
- Seattle, WA
- Division:
- United States
- What do you love about your bedroom?:
- My bedroom is my favorite spot in my 420 square foot apartment. What do I love about it? First off, it isn't supposed to be a bedroom at all, but a walk-in closet. Luckily, it has two doors, so doesn't feel claustrophobic at all, and my double bed fits in just perfectly, so now I have a little nest to sleep in.
- What are your tips for creating a beautiful, healthy and organized bedroom?:
- Organized is KEY - especially in a bedroom as small as mine. I have shallow under-bed storage baskets, as well as deep built-in cabinets at one end of the room that hold more clothes/shoes/books than you'd expect! I chose to keep the shelf above the bed clear of clutter, sticking with a simple black-and-white framed picture theme. The white linens and curtains make the room feel spacious and fresh, despite it's tiny-ness!
- In modern homes, bedrooms have become more than just a place to sleep; they can be a retreat, a home office, a library, a relaxation zone. What are some ways you make the most of your bedroom?:
- I've obviously made the most of my limited apartment space by turning my closet into a bedroom, but beyond that, I use my bedroom as a retreat - keeping it free of clutter, computer lights, television, etc. It's a place to tuck into and turn off the day.


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At more than 2,500 pages and 500,000 words long, the new health care bill — the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — is the most significant transformation of the American health care system since Medicare and Medicaid.
The bill's complexity has created confusion, frustration, false expectations, and conflicts about its coverage and impact. An incisive new report by Cato scholar Michael D. Tanner provides an authoritative and deeply revealing explanation of its provisions.
The diagnosis: the bill is bad medicine. It is likely to make Americans less healthy, less prosperous, less able to direct their own health care decisions, and places huge burdens on our economy and already massive national debt. It is now certain that the debate over health care reform will be with us for much longer.
Update: Printed copies are now available for purchase for $10.


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Say you just bought a used boat. It needs work, but you got it for a song, so you can afford to sink some money into it. Good thing, because little did … [Read more...]
gimbal bearings
Repairing the Gimbal Housing in an Outdrive
September 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment


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Hoyer: Dems still back Obamacare
The No. 2 House Democrat said that despite the "disappointing" rollout of Obamacare, the party still stands behind the health care law and that its "substance is good for America's health care."
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said the launch is not "politically the highpoint for the Affordable Care Act." But "any view that Democrats have decided that the Affordable Care Act is not an important piece of legislation that's going to be good for the American people and for America is incorrect. I think there's still that broad-based feeling and commitment."
Story Continued Below
"It's had a rough rollout, to say the least, that's disappointing," Hoyer said in his weekly meeting with reporters. "But it doesn't undermine the fact that at its basis the Affordable Care Act will provide millions and millions of people with access to affordable, quality health care."
The comments come as congressional Republicans continue to try to keep the health care law's woes in the public eye.


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Last Friday, November 9, Elisa Massimino, President and CEO of Human Rights First (HRF), hosted a press call with retired Rear Admiral Don Guter. HRF, along with a number of other human rights and legal groups, are calling upon President Barack Obama to fulfill his January 2009 pledge to close Guantanamo's detention facility.
Admiral Guter was the Navy's Judge Advocate General in 2000-2002. Last January, along with 14 other high-ranking former officers, Guter signed an open letter to President Obama calling for the immediate closure of Guantanamo.
The retired military officers were willing to put the blame on Obama's failure to keep his promise on a recalcitrant Congress.
"We recognize the political opposition you have faced in attempting to honor your commitment," Guter and the others wrote. "Congress has repeatedly restricted your ability to transfer detainees held there who have been cleared for release. Congress has also restricted your authority to bring criminal suspects held at Guantanamo to justice in our time-honored federal criminal courts. However, despite these restrictions, we are asking you to act within the discretion available to you to move our nation forward in closing Guantanamo once and for all."
But according to a question I posed to Guter last Friday, neither Obama nor anyone in his administration even bothered to reply to the 15 former "high-ranking former officers," which included General Joseph Hoar (USMC, ret.), former Commander in Chief of U.S. Central Command, and Major General Antonio Taguba, who headed the Army's investigation into the Abu Ghraib torture scandal.
But this didn't deter Admiral Guter, who maintains that Guantanamo is "still the symbol of the torture and the other horrific acts that took place down there, and still a symbol of delayed justice which we're still experiencing." He added that Guantanamo's ongoing detention program has become a "recruiting tool" for U.S. enemies abroad. [Quote updated on 11/14 from an earlier version of this article, thanks to a transcript of the press call provided by HRF]
A Pathway?
Both Guter and Massimino maintained that there was a "pathway" for the closure of Guantanamo and the release of the 86 cleared detainees. But they would not be more specific about what it would be. Massimino indicated that a "policy blueprint" on the topic would be released during an HRF summit in the the first week of December.
I asked whether such a "pathway" would include the use of recent changes in the NDAA guidelines that would allow the Secretary of Defense to issue waivers that would guarantee the necessary security assurances for release. (For those who want Shaker Aamer released, for instance, such an action, long desired, is only a Leon Panetta signature away.)
It seemed that HRF's "pathway" would include such "flexibility in the waiver process", but more specifics were frustratingly withheld, no doubt awaiting the full roll-out of the programmatic call next month. However, Massimino did indicate that HRF will ask Obama to "task someone" to work specifically on the Guantanamo issue.
Despite the perspicacity of HRF and Admiral Guter in sticking with the Guantanamo issue, the reliance on faith in President Obama appears to be misplaced. Not only has he ignored those who have implored him on the issue in the past two years (including Admiral Guter himself), but his administration continues to do what it can to go after whistleblowers on torture (like John Kiriakou), who file suit against administration officials for torture (the latest defeat was in the Vance-Ertel suit against Rumsfeld), and press the Bush-era military commissions invention, only slightly modified from that of the previous administration.
No Accountability for Torture
The list of those who have escaped accountability for torture is getting to be a very long one, as attorney Jesselyn Radack wrote in an article recently about the Kiriakou guilty plea, noting the cover-ups have spanned two administrations. (I'd note that her list mostly comes from the CIA and DoJ, but there are plenty of DoD operatives who could have been mentioned, too.)
Jose Rodriguez, Enrique "Ricky" Prado, Deuce Martinez, Alfreda Bikowsky, all of the lawyers who said it was legal, including my law school contemporary John Yoo (enjoying his tenured professorship) and now-federal judge Jay Bybee, twisted psychiatrists, including criminal contractors James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen, not to mention all of the names we still don't know of the anonymous masked brutes who kidnapped, rendered, beat, waterboarded, and deprived prisoners of the basic human dignities mandated by the Geneva Conventions.
Nor is it clear that a closure of Guantanamo — should it indeed come — wouldn't be primarily to cover-up on-going U.S. interrogation and detention crimes at Bagram, or other U.S. black sites from Somalia and Libya to Afghanistan. Indeed, Moon of Alabama has tied the current David Petraeus scandal and resignation to revelations about a CIA detention site in Benghazi, Libya.
But the clearest sign of political weakness on the torture issue lies in the relative disinterest in the topic by the vast majority of the press. During the press call with HRF, mine was the only question by the press. I can't know how many were present during the press call, but I wouldn't be shocked if the turnout was very low.
So, I don't have much faith in the Obama administration doing the right thing. But maybe HRF, Guter, and others will be successful in the long run. Unfortunately, I believe it will take a massive social struggle to change the torture policy of the U.S., as it has long been linked to a military and political policy of support for dictatorial regimes abroad, to such a degree that the problem has become systemic.
The U.S. cannot give up its torture habit, one that goes back decades now, way before Bush and Obama, even if Guter and his co-thinkers believe they can make U.S. military practice more ethical. I wish them luck, but I just don't have the requisite faith they have.
Jeffrey Kaye, a psychologist living in Northern California, writes regularly on torture and other subjects for Truthout, The Public Record and Firedoglake. He also maintains a personal blog, Invictus. His email address is sfpsych at gmail dot com.
"[DNC Chair Tom Perez] has gotten instructions from Bill Clinton not to let the party go to the Bernie Sanders folks." - Jonathan Allen, co-author of Shattered, revealing new material in the upcoming paperback release pic.twitter.com/dLEnwl7kIc— HootHootBerns 🌹🐦 (@HootHootBerns) May 3, 2018


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I think the one thing the Warriors have realized is that until they start having consistent success, having cap space is nearly meaningless. Star players don't want to come here and good players you have to grossly overpay to sign. I think they learned that after striking out with Chandler and Jordan.
Now, the plan is to not care about cap space for the next two years, acquire as much talent as possible, and make this a playoff roster. Two years from now, when Biedrins and Jefferson come off the books, hopefully they have had enough success and the Cohan stench has worn off enough to where they can attract a important piece to come here via free agency.
If (and it's a big if) Bogut and Curry can stay healthy enough to each give us 60+ games next year, this should be a playoff team.
Bucher just tweeted R. Jefferson for Stack Jack discussed
Discuss anything related to Golden State Warriors basketball here
Moderators: Mr. Crackerz, JREED, Guybrush, 32
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- Joined: Mon Jun 13, 2005 10:21 pm
Exactly... if health isn't a concern next year, the warriors will make the playoffs next year. Lee is a solid compliment to a healthy Bogut. But I do not see a healthy team heading into the playoffs. Especially if we do not pick up a top draft pick.
rockyBeli wrote:Is it just me or does it seem like Richard Jefferson went into witness protection after those title runs with Jason Kidd and the Nets? Don't know what to think of this trade...not a fan of the extra year on his contract but I guess it gives the team more depth.
Yea, his best years were his first few in New Jersey. He doesn't do much and is grossly overpaid. Thing with him is he has two years left on his contract, SJack only had one and was a rather huge expirer this offseason to be used to get something good
GSW Hoops Fan wrote:I think this is a great move. Get rid of the cancer of Jackson, and get a vet with experience who can help mold our young players. He isn't what he used to be, but he does add depth and experience we didn't have. Put it this way Jefferson >> Jackson.
Also, didn't Jefferson and Bogut play togther a couple years ago in Milwuakee? It might help the team chemistry.
so now in the draft we have:
1st rounder from SAS
2nd rounder from Nets
2nd rounder form ATL
and maybe we will get lucky and keep our first rounder.
we have under contract for next year 7 players:
Wright / Jefferson
Bogut / Beans
And 6 Free Agents:
Robinson / Jenkins
So, 13 players... 3 or 4 picks.... someone isn't coming back.
Thing is that sJack could have been traded for better. I'd have traded him in the offseason, coupling him with DWright, another expirer, giving over 14 million in salary dump and getting a very good player or two back. Shut SJack down for the last six weeks of the season and then use him well.
That 1st rounder from the Spurs is so late in the 1st round that it won't get much, so not of any real significance
Mr. Crackerz wrote:Exactly... if health isn't a concern next year, the warriors will make the playoffs next year. Lee is a solid compliment to a healthy Bogut. But I do not see a healthy team heading into the playoffs. Especially if we do not pick up a top draft pick.
I think this roster is definately playoof caliber, but as always it is how it all meshes and can always go either way. One good backup big and injuries won't hurt the team so much next season.
Definately a much better looking roster right now
AB, Jefferson, D. Wright are goners this summer. We will trade for a higher pick( than 27). We are rebuilding almost from scratch like Portland. The difference is they have one keeper in Aldridge we have 4 Bogut, Lee, Klay, Curry. Can you imagine this team in 2 years if the FO do a good job in the draft like last year?
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- Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2006 11:03 am
All Star
Good pick up, knew Capt Jack was not going to come back to the bay. I could've only imagine his facial expression.
Be very difficult to move in this very talented draft and not sure the expiring DWright alone with the Spurs pick would get us into the lottery, so certainly not coupling him with RJeff or AB will get it done.
The team will likely have to ignore this draft and be happy with what we got recently. Looking to trade and signing good free agents is what the team could do
The team will likely have to ignore this draft and be happy with what we got recently. Looking to trade and signing good free agents is what the team could do


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- General questions regarding background and structure
- Why is Nordea doing the Rights Offering?
- Vastaus:
- The Rights Offering enables Nordea to maintain its position as one of the stronger banks in Europe
- The Rights Offering gives the bank an additional cushion to manage for an uncertain economic outlook. At the same time Nordea believes that the current market conditions create possibilities to selectively exploit high credit quality business opportunities
- A rights offering provides a fair and transparent market solution
- How large is the Rights Offering?
- Vastaus:
The Rights Offering will raise approximately EUR 2.5bn after estimated aggregate costs and expenses.
- Why is Nordea reducing the dividend to EUR 0.20 per share?
- Vastaus:
Many shareholders value the dividend, which is why Nordea believes paying a reduced dividend strikes the right balance between the bank's intentions to increase capital and the requirement to have an appropriate distribution policy at this particular point in time.
- Is the Rights Offering underwritten?
- Vastaus:
Yes, the Rights Offering is fully underwritten through a combination of commitments from existing shareholders and underwriting by J.P. Morgan Securities Ltd. and Merrill Lynch International, subject to customary terms and conditions.
- Is the Swedish State committed to the Rights Offering?
- Vastaus:
Nordea's largest shareholder, the Swedish State, will subscribe for its pro-rata share of 19.9% in the Rights Offering.
- Has the Swedish State required any conditions for their participation in the Rights Offering?
- Vastaus:
In order to facilitate the Swedish State's subscription through the Swedish National Debt Office (Sw. Riksgälden), Nordea has signed an agreement with the Swedish National Debt Office in accordance with the new Ordinance on Capital Injections in Solvent Banks and Others.
- How did Nordea arrive at the Rights Offering amount of EUR 2.5bn?
- Vastaus:
Nordea believes this amount gives Nordea both a sufficient additional capital cushion above the bank's existing target capital ratios to protect the bank against the increased uncertainty in the market and economic outlook and gives the bank the flexibility to selectively pursue high credit quality business opportunities. Nordea believes that the capital strengthening measures, including the Rights Offering and proposed dividend reduction, will put Nordea in a strong position with a pro forma Core Tier 1 capital ratio at 10%. The capital strengthening measures are expected to position Nordea as one of the best capitalised banks in Europe.
- How much of the Rights Offering will be used to increase lending?
- Vastaus:
Any figures for additional lending are purely hypothetical at this stage. In the short term Nordea is not changing the bank's growth plans due to the Rights Offering. Nordea is already planning to increase lending somewhat, but at a clearly slower rate than in 2008, which in the bank's view is possible without negatively affecting the Core Tier 1 capital ratio, also taking some credit migration into account. However, when the economy stabilises and visibility in the market improves, Nordea will have the capacity to increase lending and support high quality customers.
- Why has this been decided now – has the situation measurably deteriorated recently?
- Vastaus:
No, Nordea maintains its position as one of the stronger banks in Europe, entering a challenging 2009, and has a strong starting position with a Tier 1 capital ratio of 9.3% excluding transition rules. Nordea is keen to maintain and reinforce the bank's strong position going forward, by taking measures including supporting our current strong credit rating, thereby retaining the current favourable funding position relative to peers.
- How will Nordea's dividend policy be affected by the Rights Offering?
- Vastaus:
There is no change to the long-term dividend policy. The dividend reduction for 2008 reflects the need to strike an appropriate balance between the needs of shareholders and the requirements of the company to have an appropriate distribution policy at this particular point in time.
Nordea's dividend policy is that the total dividend payment shall exceed 40% of the net profit for the year.
- Is this capital raising sufficient or is there a risk that Nordea will have to ask for more capital in a few months as we have seen with other financial institutions?
- Vastaus:
Nordea feels very comfortable with its capital position post the Rights Offering, both in relative and absolute terms, and have no plans to ask shareholders for more in the foreseeable future. However, Nordea cannot at this stage exclude the possibility of a need to tap the subordinated debt market should the terms be attractive.
- Why have Nordea changed its mind regarding hybrid loans and rights offerings being too expensive, time consuming and complicated?
- Vastaus:
Market perception of what constitutes a strong capital base has changed rapidly over the course of the last months. For a long time Nordea actually thought it would be enough to strengthen the capital base by issuing hybrid loans. But the market has clearly told Nordea that there is a strong preference for core capital, under these extraordinary market circumstances. The Rights Offering reinforces Nordea's capital base with the highest quality capital in the form of straight equity, is fully transparent and secures fair treatment of shareholders through the application of pre-emptive rights.
- Does Nordea rule out issuing hybrid capital at a later stage?
- Vastaus:
No, Nordea does not rule out anything. That decision will depend on the market conditions for hybrid capital and the growth of the business. Nordea has significant capacity to increase hybrid capital as a percentage of the capital base.
- Details on the Rights Offering
- When is the record date?
- Vastaus:
The record date, which determines the right to receive subscription rights, is on 17 March 2009.
The last day of trading in the Nordea share/FDR including the right to receive subscription rights is 12 March 2009, i.e. you must acquire shares/FDRs in Nordea on 12 March at the latest to be registered as a shareholder on the record date.
- What are the terms of the Rights Offering?
- Vastaus:
- According to the terms of the Rights Offering, each one (1) existing share entitles to eleven (11) subscription rights
- You need twenty (20) subscription rights to subscribe for one (1) new shares
- Put differently, each twenty (20) existing shares in Nordea entitles to eleven (11) new shares
- What is the subscription price?
- Vastaus:
The new shares will be issued at a subscription price of either EUR 1.81, SEK 20.75 or DKK 13.49 per new share. The subscription price shall be paid in:
- SEK or EUR if subscription takes place by exercise of subscription rights registered with the Swedish securities system (Euroclear Sweden-formerly VPC) and traded on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm;
- EUR if subscription takes place by exercise of subscription rights registered with the Finnish securities system (Euroclear Finland-formerly APK) and traded on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki; and
- DKK or EUR if subscription takes place by exercise of subscription rights registered with the Danish securities system (VP Securities-formerly Værdipapircentralen) and traded on NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen.
Hence, there are separate instructions for participation in the rights offering depending on where the shareholders' subscription rights are registered and traded. This also applies to subscription without subscription rights for new shares to be registered in the respective securities system.
- When can I subscribe for new shares?
- Vastaus:
The subscription period runs during the period 20 March–3 April 2009. Subscription for new shares with subscription rights and application for subscription of new shares without subscription rights must be made during the subscription period. If your shareholding is registered with a nominee, note that certain nominees might require subscription at an earlier date than 3 April 2009.
- When can I trade subscription rights?
- Vastaus:
Trading in the subscription rights starts on 20 March 2009, on the NASDAQ OMX Stockholm and Copenhagen ending 31 March 2009 and on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki ending 27 March 2009.
- Can I transfer my subscription rights to other countries?
- Vastaus:
The subscription rights will not be transferable between the Swedish, Finnish or Danish securities systems.
- What does it mean that the shares are issued at a discount to the share price?
- Vastaus:
There is a difference between how you structure a rights offering with pre-emptive rights for existing shareholders and an equity offering without pre-emptive rights. In a rights offering, the discount is irrelevant to existing shareholders. The deeper the discount, the higher the rights value will be, and a shareholder's net worth is the same, assuming they take up their rights in full. There is no economic dilution as long as you either subscribe for new shares or sell your subscription rights.
- What is the discount to the share price in the Rights Offering?
- Vastaus:
The subscription price corresponds to an implied discount of approximately 44% to the theoretical ex-rights price adjusted for the proposed dividend, based on the closing price on 10 March 2009 for Nordea's share listed on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm.
- What does TERP stand for?
- Vastaus:
TERP is short for Theoretical Ex-Rights Price. Mathematically, the TERP equals the market cap pre a rights offering plus the proceeds raised in the rights issue, divided by the number of shares outstanding before the rights offering and the number of shares issued in the rights offering. The market cap is calculated as the closing share price on the day before detachment of subscription rights multiplied by the number of shares outstanding.
The TERP in the Rights Offering is calculated as:
Nordea's share price on 12 March * No. of Nordea shares on 12 March + Proceeds from the Rights Offering No. of Nordea shares on 12 March + No. of new shares issued in the Rights Offering
On the ex-rights date, i.e. the first day the share trades without the right to receive subscription rights, the theoretical value of the share will be TERP. Theoretically, the value of the subscription rights associated with a share is equal to the difference between the cum-rights price of the share and the theoretical ex-rights price of the share.
It should be noted that the new shares do not entitle the holders to dividend for the financial year 2008 (to be decided at the AGM on 2 April 2009). Hence, discount to TERP adjusted for dividend will be lower than the discount to TERP.
- What is international market practice when it comes to discount to share price?
- Vastaus:
In recent European rights issues the discount to TERP, the Theoretical Ex Rights Price, has been around 40%.
- Shareholders' alternatives in the Rights Offering
- What are my alternatives in the Rights Offering?
- Vastaus:
You have the following alternatives:
- Participate in the Rights Offering by using all of your subscription rights to subscribe for new shares in Nordea
- Refrain from participating in the Rights Offering by selling your subscription rights
- Buy additional subscription rights and subscribe for more shares, or use part of your subscription rights to subscribe for new shares and sell the rest
- You can also apply to subscribe for shares without subscription rights. You are however not guaranteed allocation of shares
- What happens if I do nothing?
- Vastaus:
This depends on what share ledger your shares in Nordea are registered in. Note that your subscription rights have an economic value if the share price of the Nordea share exceeds the subscription price. To prevent that you lose the value of your subscription rights, you must either subscribe for new shares or sell your subscription rights.
- What if I have been granted subscription rights but do not have the funds to subscribe for new shares?
- Vastaus:
Nordea expects there to be a liquid and fair market for the trading in the subscription rights. The subscription rights will be listed on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm, Helsinki and Copenhagen. This will enable shareholders to sell part of their subscription rights entitlements in the market to raise funds to subscribe for some shares.
- What is the value of the subscription rights?
- Vastaus:
The subscription rights will be traded/are traded on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm, Helsinki and Copenhagen. The price will depend on supply and demand.
It should be noted that the pricing of the subscription rights can be affected by the fact that the new shares will not entitle the holder to dividend to be decided on the Annual General Meeting in Nordea on 2 April 2009.
- I am currently not a shareholder. How can I participate in the Rights Offering?
- Vastaus:
Investors who are currently not holders of Nordea shares have various options:
- You can buy shares in the market before detachment of subscription rights, in which case you will automatically receive subscription rights based on your registered shareholding on record date. The last day of trading including the right to receive subscription rights is 12 March 2009
- You can buy subscription rights in the market during the subscription rights trading period and use these to subscribe for new shares. This will guarantee allocation of new shares
- You can apply for subscription without subscription rights. In this case you are not guaranteed allocation of new shares
- What is the allocation principle for subscription without subscription rights?
- Vastaus:
Shareholders who have subscribed for shares by virtue of subscription rights will be prioritised in the allocation of new shares, which potentially have not been subscribed for by virtue of subscription rights.
- Will the new shares entitle the holder to dividends?
- Vastaus:
The new shares will not entitle the holder to the suggested dividend of EUR 0.20 per share to be decided on the Annual General Meeting in Nordea on 2 April 2009.
The new shares will however entitle the holders the same right to dividends as ordinary shares starting from and including the fiscal year 2009.
- Is this an attractive investment for a private individual?
- Vastaus:
Nordea cannot comment on its own shares and as banking advisors we cannot give an opinion as to whether one should participate in the offer or not.
- How do I subscribe?
- Vastaus:
Subscription for new shares is to be made during the subscription period 20 March – 3 April 2009. Detailed information on how to subscribe will be made available to shareholders at the beginning of the subscription period.
- How do I get more information on the Rights Offering?
- Vastaus:
You are welcome to contact Nordea if you have any questions. Note that you should contact Nordea in the country in which share ledger your shares are registered.
Sweden: +46 8 678 0440
Finland (Finnish): +358 200 3000
Finland (Finland-Swedish): +358 200 5000
Finland (English): +358 200 70000
Denmark: +45 3333 5092
- General questions regarding rights offerings
- What is a rights offering?
- Vastaus:
A rights offering enables a company to raise more money to its operations by issuing new shares to existing and/or new shareholders.
- What is a subscription right?
- Vastaus:
A subscription right is a financial instrument which entitles the holder to subscribe for a certain number of new shares at a defined subscription price.
- What is an interim share?
- Vastaus:
An interim share is a share which exists during a limited time period. Subscription rights are converted to interim shares and booked on subscribing investors' accounts when the subscription period expires. The interim shares are converted into regular shares after the increase of the share capital has been validly registered. The interim shares are often traded on the stock exchange.
- What is the record date?
- Vastaus:
The record date is the day when you have to be registered as shareholder to be granted subscription rights. It should be noted that it takes three business days after the acquisition of shares until the registration of the shares is effected (the registration is completed on the settlement day).
- What does it mean that there is a pre-emptive right for existing shareholders in a rights offering?
- Vastaus:
A rights offering with pre-emptive rights for existing shareholders is a type of rights offering where a company's shareholders as of a defined day (the record date) are given the primary right to subscribe for new shares. The shareholding on the record date will determine how many shares a shareholder has the pre-emptive right to subscribe for. The pre-emptive right is represented by subscription rights.
- What is subscription without subscription rights?
- Vastaus:
New shares which are not subscribed for with subscription rights can be offered to the public. Application to subscribe for new shares without subscription right can be submitted by any investor, but the investor is not guaranteed to be granted the number of shares applied for.


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Every lightcone contains infinitely many nearly complete, mutually exclusive, lightcones. This page looks at the maths of this, and its use as a cosmological model.
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This fantastic site deals with cosmology : the study of the structure, history, and fate of the Universe. It's the place to go whether you want to know more about dark matter, how our universe formed ...
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The first time my father took me out driving, it was behind the wheel of his rusty but still running six-cylinder '88 F-150. This was a bare bones truck that my father had bought for his contracting business, and standard equipment back then was a five-speed transmission with a shifter a mile long. The truck was as fast as a retired snail, but it could lay down an impressive smoke show if you dumped the clutch, which I quickly discovered on the day my dad took me out driving. Even as my father was yanking out the last few hairs on his head, I was blowing smoke shows up and down the elementary school parking lot – at least until I fried the clutch.
That was my first experience with both the importance of a good clutch, and the pain it can be to replace a torn up clutch. The clutch is the ambassador between the engine and transmission, transferring torque and power from the flywheel through the transmission to either the driveshaft or drive axles, and putting the power to the ground. But clutches can be tricky devils, and picking the right one for your application can have a dramatic effect on your drivability and power capacity. That's why we turned to the pros at SPEC Clutches and Flywheels to answer ten questions about how clutches work, choosing the best part for your application, and what goes into designing and manufacturing high power holding clutches.
Who is SPEC?
Based out of Bessemer, Alabama, SPEC Clutches and Flywheels was founded by enthusiasts and racers who were motivated to build a better product than what was available to them. SPEC assembled a team of experienced engineers, clutch builders, machinists, and other automotive enthusiasts to build the company, which began cranking out clutches all day in a 5,000 square foot building.
They now reside in a purpose-built 30,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art facility, where they design, test, and manufacture all of their products in-house. This means that your clutch, pressure plate, and flywheel are all designed under the same roof and are therefore optimized to work with each other, giving you the very best results. Shelly Norton of SPEC was kind enough to take some time to answer our questions about how clutches work and what goes on behind the scenes.
PowerTV: What is the difference between single, dual, and triple disk clutches?
SPEC Clutch: The single disc setup is the most common design found in production automobiles and consists of one friction disc contacting two friction surfaces (the friction surfaces are the pressure plate and flywheel).
The dual disc adds a friction disc and set of surfaces (called a floater). The addition of a second friction disc and surfaces, given an equal load pressure and diameter, nearly doubles the torque capacity of the clutch assembly.
The triple disc consists of three friction discs and can increase capacity by nearly 200% beyond a single disc. The practical benefit of the multi-disc is a higher torque capacity without an increase in the aggressiveness of the unit. A properly tuned multi-disc will offer a much higher capacity than an aggressive single disc and with much better drivability.
PowerTV: How do you go about designing and building a clutch-pressure plate-flywheel package that can stand up to HUGE (800+) horsepower?
SPEC Clutch: The key to an effective performance assembly is to balance clamp load, friction, diameter, and rotating mass to achieve the best solution for a particular application. That's why SPEC builds to order in-house. We encourage builders and end users to call us for a recommendation so we can have all the information possible about the vehicle.
We may have three or four different stages that will hold well, but when we know more about the environment in which the vehicle will be driven, we can fine tune the recommendation and offer an even better solution. For example, a dedicated road race 800hp Corvette should require a slightly different recommendation than an 800hp Corvette that is road raced but also driven to work and to the drag strip a few days a week.
PowerTV: What have advancements in technology allowed you to do that wasn't previously possible in the past decade?
SPEC Clutch: Friction material technology has greatly evolved in the last decade, but cutting edge production machinery and test equipment have allowed us to accelerate and expand research and development. It is the knowledge from research and development that provides a direction for technology.
A triple disc clutch for serious applications that would break other clutches in twain.
PowerTV: How does one upgrade or downgrade a clutch? We've never heard of that. What specifically does that entail or cost?
SPEC Clutch: Upgrading or downgrading a clutch can consist of changing up to two possible elements, clamp load and friction disc. If someone did not order enough clutch for their application, they could upgrade the friction disc with a higher friction coefficient material, increase the clamp load of the pressure plate, or both.
A driver who purchased too much clutch for their application (meaning they want better drivability and don't need all the capacity of their current unit) can change their friction disc to a less aggressive configuration and/or have the clamp load of the pressure plate reduced. The process entails sending the clutch to the manufacturer for the upgrade or downgrade. Not all manufacturers have the ability or willingness to execute such a task. The cost depends on the application, but is normally less expensive than purchasing a new clutch.
PowerTV: What does SPEC need to know to help someone pick the right clutch?
SPEC Clutch: They need specifics on their application, such as what they drive, where they drive, horsepower and torque output, and the nature of the modifications responsible for that output. Other factors are important as well, such as vehicle weight and gearing, if greatly different from stock.
PowerTV: How does SPEC recommend breaking in a new clutch?
SPEC Clutch: Different clutches require different break-in procedures. In general, the break-in procedure entails normal usage to seat the new surfaces. Normal usage does not mean babying the clutch, but simply refraining from burnouts and high RPM speed shifting until the clutch is ready to hold the torque. Premature aggressive driving can take wear life from the clutch, produce heat related issues that can effect drivability, or even permanently damage the clutch and surfaces.
PowerTV: I see you have eight stages of different clutches. What applications might a stage one use versus a stage four or five?
SPEC Clutch: We offer seven stages of single disc clutches and up to eight stages of multi-disc clutches. An application that requires a stage three would be more modified than an application that requires a stage one. It must be noted, however, that in a lot of applications a stage one can still hold power adders, so the stage one is not always restricted to a mildly modified setup.
The pressure plate, which grabs onto the clutch and transfers the power from the engine through the transmission.
PowerTV: How about the flywheel and pressure plate? What differences can those two pieces make in the grand scheme of things?
SPEC Clutch: The flywheel and pressure plate are 2/3 the equation, so both are VERY important. Our kits always include a performance pressure plate and sometimes include a performance flywheel. Billet flywheels are an optional item on most applications, but are always recommended for optimal clutch performance, safety, rotational integrity and balance, as well as additional power.
An aluminum flywheel. A lighter flywheels spins more easily, siphoning off less horsepower from the engine which means more for the wheels.
PowerTV: What are the different kinds of metals you use for flywheels, and what are the pros and cons of each?
SPEC Clutch: We use high carbon steel and aircraft grade aluminum. Given the quality of the materials, there are no cons to either material. However, the weight of the flywheel can change drivability characteristics, as well as add performance. A flywheel recommendation from a SPEC technician is recommended.
This is the beginning of the milling process for the flywheel, which will bore and drill mounting holes and dowel pin locations.
PowerTV: What process do your clutches go through to ensure they can survive multiple thrashings without burning up?
SPEC Clutch: The entire manufacturing process is engineered to ensure the clutches are built to survive the demands of a performance clutch application. In addition to our normal post-manufacturing quality control procedures, during which each unit is tested for clamp load, actuation, and concentrically, prototypes are put through the best test environment: real world use. We prototype and install in-house, as well as conduct abusive street and track tests with all new applications.
Clutches 101
There is some great information here, but you may still be scratching your head wondering, "How exactly does a clutch work and why do we need them in the first place?"
It's very simple really. When you press the clutch pedal down, it releases the pressure plate from the clutch disc and the flywheel, where all the engine's torque and power are stored. Releasing the clutch pedal clamps the disc to the flywheel, transferring that power to the transmission and to your wheels, providing propulsion. The clutch disc is attached to the input shaft and is always spinning when the pedal is out, whether or not the car is in gear. Only when the clutch pedal is depressed does the disc stop spinning, allowing you to slip the transmission into gear.
The mechanics behind how a clutch works haven't changed much in the hundred years of mass transportation, at least in any way that the typical driver would notice. Clutches have evolved from mechanical linkage to hydraulic, which provides easier and smoother gear shifts over older mechanical linkages.
Fork actuation has also been replaced by concentric hydraulic bearings, which eliminate the external slave cylinder, fork, and standalone throwout bearing. But as far as you and I are concerned, clutches work the same today as they did when Henry Ford first began cranking out the Model T for the masses.
If you need more technical answers or have questions regarding your specific application, the gearheads over at SPEC will be happy to help you out. You can call their tech line at 205-491-8581 and their experienced technicians will be able to sort out any clutch problems you may have. Just don't ask them the meaning of life, that's for Miss Cleo.
So What Have We Learned?
• Double disk clutches can double the torque capacity of a clutch, and triple disks can increase it by as much as 200% over a single disk.
• Upgrading or downgrading a clutch can help you find the right balance of drivability and power capacity for your application, usually at less cost than buying a whole new clutch kit.
• Prototype clutches are put through real world testing on the street and track to ensure they are durable enough for real world use.
• Stage one clutches can hold power even with a power adder, so a stage two clutch or beyond may not be necessary. Speak with a SPEC technician for specifics regarding your application.
• Flywheels and pressure plates are 2/3 of the clutch equation and can have a dramatic effect on performance, durability, and drivability, so make sure all your parts are in agreement with each other.
• Breaking in a clutch does not require babying the car, but rather merely refraining from burnouts and speed shifting until the clutch is settled in. Premature aggressive driving is a good way to destroy even the strongest clutches.


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madcrow wrote:The three NEC tracks are logically numbered 1, 2 and 3
JWilson wrote:As 130MM said additional tracks on the track one side are odd numbered while additional tracks on the track 2 side are even numbered. It's not that there were once more tracks which are now gone, it's because the NY,NH&H was thinking ahead when deciding how to number tracks. This way you don't have to identify added tracks on the number one side with names like Zero, A, B . . .
ns3010 wrote:My favorite numbering scheme is the four tracks through Secaucus Junction, that, from east to west, are labeled 2, A, B, 3. Not sure how anyone came up with that idea...
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In this case, the vial of vaccine rivets because we think it's scarce--availability is limited at the moment, and focused on high-risk groups. Just showing the vial underscores that it's available--not a mythical thing, in an epidemic where so many myths are spreading.
You can use props as evidence, as visual aids, as eye candy, or as extra emphasis. But keep in mind these tips:
- Use props with care. Props shouldn't be appearing every few minutes in your speech. Think judicious use, to underscore a key point--perhaps right at the start of your presentation, or at a critical moment.
- Keep it universal--and clear. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but you won't have that many to explain what you have in your hand. Make sure it's visible, understandable and clear to get the value you seek.
- Share the prop. If possible, hand the prop around for the audience to handle up close. If it's the right kind of prop--historic, unusual, or new-t0-them--you'll be reinforcing your talk as they pass it around, without too much loss of attention. (Not good for vaccines, I'm afraid.)
Here's the video of the full piece, with thanks to MSNBC.com for making embedded video possible. Dr. Caine comes in at about 49 seconds:
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy


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Best Of :: Food & Drink
Stuck in an inland office during the week, longing for a beach haven — and the bums (and non-bums) who hang out there? Some of my girlfriends and I like to head out on a Saturday morning to the Hermosa Beach Pier and Patrick Malloy's, where the hot-bodied clientele will take you back to Spring Break, even in January. Well, almost. On weekends before noon, the Irish pub serves up unlimited mimosas for one hour (with the purchase of a solid brunch, as necessary) or, if you choose not to bother with food, $3 mimosas until 2 p.m. The drinks are more about quantity than quality — we did say pub, right? — but after knocking back a few, who really remembers? Get there early on big game days to avoid the sports fanatics, and don't be afraid to get friendly with your easy-on-the-eyes bar fellows. We like to fully lubricate ourselves not just with mimosas but loads of sunscreen and sit outside for a front-row view of the beefcakes and bikini babes. After you're fully tanked, strip down to your swimwear, head to the sand and give a few winks to the volleyball players. It just might make one more week at the office workable.—Sophia Kercher
First-timers at the Brooklyn Bagel Bakery, a squat factory in a part of town now better known for burritos and Filipino sinigiang, are often put off by the display in the cramped retail vestibule, glass cases full of blueberry bagels and strawberry bagels, cranberry bagels and chocolate bagels, banana-nut bagels and other affronts to the proud tradition Brooklyn Bagel has been carrying on since Sandy Koufax still pitched in his native borough. The most crowded bin is the one holding the puffy, blown-out, oversweetened plain bagels more or less identical to the ones at suburban bagelries. Has Brooklyn Bagel sold out? Posterity will have to decide. But the signature product survives here as Hearth-Baked Bagels — just another flavor here perhaps, like pumpernickel or jalapeño-cheese, but these plain bagels are dense, chewy, taut-skinned and properly boiled before baking. They are still the best bagels west of the Hudson.—Jonathan Gold
The Cobb salad was invented at the old Hollywood Brown Derby when owner Bob Cobb, faced with either an overfull refrigerator or a starlet with troublesome bridgework, chopped the elements of a standard chef's salad into chunks no larger than a pea. He was always a couple of steps ahead, that guy, just as you would have to be if your fortune was based on chiffon cake and the Hollywood Stars baseball team. A great Cobb salad is less a feat of cuisine than an exercise in customization: If you can't express exact preferences on chopped bacon, chopped avocado, chopped chicken or chopped egg yolk, tossed or not tossed, dressing mixed in with the salad or meted out on the side, you probably don't belong in Hollywood. It may seem like a modest innovation, chopping a chef's salad, but Cobb salads were on the menu of practically every restaurant in America through the '60s, and continue to this day not just at the Hamburger Hamlet but in, say, the Asian-inflected Thai Cobb salad at Tiara. The Brown Derby is long gone, but the time-honored Beverly Hills Hotel variant known as the McCarthy Salad, which includes shredded cheddar cheese and beets, is permanently on the lunch menu at the Polo Lounge — no matter how much the establishment may prefer to feed you warm goat cheese or ahi tartare.—Jonathan Gold
Los Angeles, as has been amply proven, is a melting pot of world hot dog culture, a city where it is possible to find persuasive versions of Chicago hot dogs, New York street dogs, Okinawan-Jewish-Mexican hot dogs, Dodger Dogs, Chinese hot dogs, West Virginia coleslaw dogs, Colombian hot dogs and Chez Panisse–influenced organic hot dogs with pedigrees more impressive than a prize Pekinese. Some would argue that the city's most vital contribution to the hot dog diaspora is the chilidog at Pink's, and those people are probably correct — right now, even if you are reading this at a rainy 2:30 a.m., 112 people are probably lined up outside Pink's waiting for a chili kraut dog with everything. But I can't help thinking that the most important homegrown hot dog is probably the L.A. street dog, also known as the Danger Dog, the Tijuana Dog, the Ghetto Dog and the Dog Dog — you know, the mayo-slathered, chile-sluiced, grilled onion–smothered bacon-wrapped wonders bought from bootleg griddle masters outside Staples Center after a Lakers game or on Hollywood Boulevard after the clubs close. Those dogs, as the saying goes, are so good they're illegal: Cops tend to impound the griddles on the spot, and the dash of illicitness (or is it salmonella?) seems to add a certain flavor to the meat. You could take your chances on a cart downtown, where your entrée may come with a side of handcuffs. Or you could go to Fab, a Reseda joint that actually specializes in a kind of deep-fried New Jersey–style hot dog called the Ripper, but prepares a drippy, spicy, crunchy version of the street dog, served with homemade tater tots instead of a misdemeanor warrant.—Jonathan Gold
We are living in an age not just of cupcakes but of cupcakes with publicists, exquisitely art-directed confections whose geometric decoration owes less to Betty Crocker than to Josef Albers. Cupcake manufacture seems to occupy the midlife-crisis Plan Bs that used to be reserved for interior decoration or jewelry design. Eat them, arrange them prettily on a conference room table, mount them on the wall — it really makes no difference. The cupcakes in the display case at the Eagle Rock hamburger stand Oinkster, Andre Guerrero's shotgun marriage of fast-food culture and classic French technique, look like examples of the new breed: pretty, swirly, just lumpy enough to give a Gourmet cover a peppy summer look. It is easy to imagine a box of the carrot-cake cupcakes sitting uneaten on a Stickley sideboard until they eventually stale, or the sticky, snowy coconut cupcakes at a society lunch with precisely one bite taken out of each. But Guerrero is neither a corporate lawyer nor a party planner with a truck-tire-size Rolodex — he's a chef. So the fluffy peanut-butter-and-jelly cupcakes taste like peanut butter and jelly, and those dense, cream-cheese-frosted carrot cupcakes would probably also be the best carrot cake in town if they happened to compete in that category too.—Jonathan Gold
Angelenos are spoiled for choice when it comes to roast chicken, from the smoky Peruvian-style chickens at Lola's or Pollos a la Brasa to the garlicky Armenian birds at Marouch and Carousel, the soft, savory hens at Brentwood's Reddi-Chik to the oregano-kissed chicken at Papa Cristo's in the Byzantine-Latino district. Nowhere else that I know of can you duck into a place like Zankou and walk away with a fragrant rotisserie chicken in about the time, and for about the price, of a soul-killing meal at Burger King. Still, even among the feathered plenty, the chickens at Grill Masters stands a cluck or two above the rest: extravagantly seasoned fowl cooked on rotating spits, perfumed with smoke, slow-roasted and glistening with juice, basted in its own fat plus probably a dozen other things, soft enough to eat with a spoon. And the skin! Like a thin sheet of crackly caramel, salty and drippy and saturated with herbs, chewy but taut and crisp enough to give way under your teeth with a magnificent thwack. But find a tree to eat under — the hot, succulent bird does not travel well. Grill Masters bright red catering wagons fold out like Mr. Haney's truck at local farmers markets, including the Tuesday Manhattan Beach market, the Wednesday noon downtown market, the Thursday South Pasadena market and the Sunday market on Larchmont.—Jonathan Gold
Despite the downtown sushi restaurant that has reimagined the cheesesteak as an egg roll stuffing, and the close approximations of cheesesteaks assembled at both Vietnamese banh mi parlors and a Jewish delicatessen in the deep Valley, the basic form of the Philadelphia cheesesteak is well-settled. There will be a light, chewy Italian roll, almost certainly imported from the Amoroso bakery in Philadelphia itself; there will be onions; and there will be thin, griddled shavings of the cheapest imaginable beef. There will be a choice of available cheeses, including white American, hot Cheez Whiz and sharp provolone, although it will have melted completely into the meat before you have the chance to take a bite. It is not strictly necessary for a cheesesteak emporium to have birch beer, Tastykakes or a poster of the 1980 Phillies, but it is never a bad thing — extra points for an autographed photo of Tug McGraw. South Street and the Philly's Best chain both serve pretty decent cheesesteaks. Fredo's, a specialist in Pasadena, made exemplary cheesesteaks until the proprietor left in August. (They're still very good.) Philly West, an Eagles-centric dive bar near Westwood, may chop their meat a little too finely, but they've mastered the proper ratio of onions to steak, and of chomp to goo. But for the love of God, ask them to hold the tomato sauce.—Jonathan Gold
It is almost impossible to have a civil discussion about pizza in this city of immigrants, because there may be no foodstuff so intimately linked to one's sense of identity. People who grew up in New York usually plump for Vito's or Mulberry Street, where it is automatically assumed that the best pizza in the world is found only in the five boroughs, and people who have spent time in Naples argue for the strictly traditional Antica Pizzeria in Marina del Rey. Argentines are in favor of the onion-intensive fugazetta served at Damiano's on Fairfax; newly arrived Koreans enjoy the deeply weird pizza served at Mr. Pizza in Koreatown. For decades, I have maintained that the eggplant and homemade sausage pizza at Casa Bianca, a thin-crusted Chicago-bar-style pizza whose garlicky snap I actually missed the years I lived in Brooklyn, was the best pizza in town, although I admit that the wait on weekend nights tends toward the unreal. Among the newcomers, Terroni and the Monterey Park pizza dive Bollini are wood-burning demons of crust. But in the wood oven at Pizzeria Mozza, Nancy Silverton has more or less reinvented the very idea of pizza, airy and burnt and risen around the rim, thin and crisp in the center, neither bready in the traditional Neapolitan manner nor wispy the way you find them in the best places in Tuscany. The crust is so good, in fact, that it may be at its best dressed with nothing more than a drizzle of good olive oil and a few grains of sea salt — and it's not sad to eat topped with burrata and vivid squash blossoms, taleggio and housemade sausage, lardo and rosemary or puréed anchovies and fried egg. (The mandatory caveat applies here: Silverton is a family friend.) This isn't your mama's pizza, and it's not the pizza you used to eat back in Jersey, and that, perhaps, is the point.—Jonathan Gold
Leo Bulgarini is the wrong guy to mouth off to the day after his beloved AS Roma squad drops a game to Genoa or Inter Milan, and I suspect he cheered the bankruptcy of AIG as cosmic revenge for its sponsorship of the hated Manchester U. His gelati are labeled only in Italian, and he is not above correcting an 8-year-old on her faulty pronunciation of pistacchio or stracciatella. His standards are so famously strict that he's been known to pull his delicious sorbetti from the menus of restaurants and the freezer cases of retailers that in one way or another failed to come up to his standards. A big photograph on the wall of his Altadena shop shows him making an obscene Italian gesture to a giant Sicilian ice cream plant. But it cannot be denied: Bulgarini is an artist, a master of smooth textures, an ace at coaxing the maximum flavor from a rare-breed plum or a ripe peach, an artisanal dark chocolate or an especially fragrant Sicilian pistachio he himself smuggles from Italy. When the evenings are warm, he screens Italian movies on Saturdays on the patio outside his shop. And he probably pulls the best espresso shot in the San Gabriel Valley, when he's in the mood, a thick, syrupy thimbleful made with an antique Italian machine. If you don't believe me, ask him yourself.—Jonathan Gold
I often find myself drawn to the peppery fried chicken at Bertha's, a soul-food café not far from Watts, and the crackly skinned fried chicken with fermented tofu at Mission 261 may be the best dish in that formidable Cantonese restaurant. The Buffalo-style fried wings at Ye Rustic Inn and the Japanese-style fried wings at FuRaiBo are exemplary. But it has become evident in the last year that Korean fried chicken really is an evolutionary leap forward — marinated in a cabinet full of spices, saturated with garlic, double-fried to a shattering, thin-skinned snap dramatic enough to wake a sleeping baby in an adjoining room. It is not accidental that fried-chicken parlors have been opening in Koreatown almost as ferociously as frozen-yogurt stands. Kyochon, the first of the Korean chicken joints, definitely has some problems. The chicken is cooked to order, so even a simple to-go box can take an eternity to prepare, and the only real appetizer is marinated cubes of daikon, a conceit that is amusing for about five minutes. Somebody really needs to learn how to set the carbonation controls on the soda machine. Beer would be nice. But then the chicken comes out, hacked into random pieces, all garlic and juice, heat and crunch, and finishing every last femur and scrap of rib meat becomes the most important thing in the world. Bonchon, Chicken Day and the oddly named BBQ all serve good Korean fried chicken, but it's the Kyochon birds that you dream about the next day.—Jonathan Gold
It isn't that the food in Disneyland sucks — it does — but who wants to waste precious ride time waiting in food lines that move slower than Dumbo's (the slowest-loading attraction in the Magic Kingdom)? As a pal once said, "If you go to the snack bar in Tomorrowland, you won't end up getting your food until tomorrow." The best bet for a filling lunch is also among the quickest — the legendary corn dog from the Little Red Wagon at the end of Main Street. Legendary as in huge, this bad boy will take you halfway around the Matterhorn to eat. It's not the prettiest corn dog you'll ever have, but after it's been hand-dipped in thick cornmeal batter and deep-fried to a funny-looking off-kilter shape, you'll know why Disneyland devotees make a beeline for the Little Red Wagon. You can also find it at the Corn Dog Castle in California Adventure. And don't forget the amazing dill pickle, which they will fish out of a barrel for you at the Market House on Main Street. Cold, vinegary and snappy as all get-out.—Libby Molyneaux
Mastro, Arnie Morton's, Wolfgang's, BLT Steak, Ruth's Chris, the Palm — the city is awash in expense-account steak, empurpled slabs of rare, prime beef seared on 1,000-degree grills, and ideally accompanied by a bottle of California cabernet that costs as much as your first car. For years, we asserted that the best steak in town was at Michael's in Santa Monica, because Michael McCarty bought the best beef, dry-aged it for long enough to bring out the profound sourness in the meat, and served it with wispy French fries cooked in pure lard. We still admire that steak. But at Cut, Wolfgang Puck's gleaming-white temple of steakhouse cuisine in the Beverly-Wilshire Hotel, a beef man pads silently around the room with his cuts of certified Japanese wagyu ribeye and filet swaddled in ninja-black cloth — when he displays them at table, he does so with the reverence of an art dealer revealing an undiscovered Cranach. And if your financial consultants should permit you to order this ribeye, you will discover a miracle unduplicated in the world of meat, richness upon richness, all possible permutations of smoke and char and animal dancing across your consciousness like sunlight rippling on a pond. At $160 or so, it will probably be the most expensive meat you have ever eaten ... but the sensations are so intense that one small steak easily satiates four. Save room for the warm veal-tongue salad and Lee Hefter's roasted bone marrow flan.—Jonathan Gold


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Zachary Cale
Zachary Cale is a songwriter originally hailing from the small town of Enon, Louisiana. His music ranges from lyrical folk balladry and American primitive inspired guitar instrumentals to experiments in popular song forms.
Over the span of 6 years he has released four full length albums, Outlander Sessions (2005), Walking Papers (2008), a full band rock record See-Saw (2008) under the name Illuminations, and most recently the critically acclaimed Noise of Welcome (2011). He has toured extensively throughout the U.S. and in Europe, often performing alone with only an acoustic guitar, but has been known to perform with a revolving cast of musicians whom he calls The Rain Band.
Upon the release of his sophomore album Walking Papers Cale was described by New Jersey's, WFMU as a "songwriter's songwriter" with a writing style comparable to the greats like Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt, and Leonard Cohen. In concert his melodically complex guitar playing has been compared to Neil Young and Bert Jansch with nods to pre-war Piedmont and Ragtime players such as Blind Willie McTell and Mississippi John Hurt. In a full band setting Cale has been known to strap on an electric, adopting a style and delivery that flies closer to country-tinged rock songwriters such as Alex Chilton, Ray Davies and Tom Petty.
Since the release of Noise of Welcome Cale has toured the U.S., completed his first European tour including performances at the No Mean City Festival (Glasgow), the Incubate Festival (Netherlands), Festival de Pilar (Spain) and Reeperbahn Festival (Germany), released a new 7″ single on Dull Knife Records, performed at the End of the Road Festival in the UK sharing stages with artists like Robyn Hitchcock, Justin Townes Earle and Deer Tick, and completed another successful European tour sharing dates with The Black Swans and Six Organs of Admittance.
2013 will see the release of Blue Rider, the much anticipated follow up album to Noise of Welcome.
ARTIST CONTACT: email@example.com
WEBSITE: zacharycale.com
YOUTUBE: youtube.com/user/jacklaughter
BANDCAMP: zacharycale.bandcamp.com
SOUNDCLOUD: soundcloud.com/zachary-cale
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/zacharycalemusic
TWITTER: twitter.com/zacharycale


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|Darlington, S.C.
|High School:
2011 — Suffered through a disappointing season after a brilliant 2010 freshman campaign, converting just 2-of-6 field goals and 14-of-19 PATs in 10 games...enjoyed his most success handling kickoffs, averaging a solid 62.8 yards on 53 kicks with 10 touchbacks...began the season as Furman's primary kicker but quickly lost the job to Chas Short...top outing came in impressive 14-7 road victory over Chattanooga when he converted a pair of field goal attempts from 44 and 30 yards...did not play against Florida. 2010 — Earned consensus All-SoCon second team honors in separate balloting by SoCon coaches and media, as well as SoCon All-Freshman Team honors after converting 11-of-12 field goals (league best 91.7 percent) and 40-of-41 PATs (97.6 percent) as a true freshman...also averaged 63.6 yards on kickoffs, including nine touchbacks, which marked a whopping 4.0 yards/kick improvement over 2009 (59.6 avg.) and eight more touchbacks over the one touchback recorded in '09...had only one kickoff go out of bounds...tallied nine points in his collegiate debut, making good on 6-of-6 PATs and a 23-yard field goal against Colgate (45-15 win)...converted a pair of 37-yard field goal tries versus 13th-ranked South Carolina...connected on his first five field goal attempts before registering his lone miss of the season (43 yards) against Howard (56-14 win)...earned SoCon Special Teams Player-of-the-Week honors for his work against Samford (27-10 win), which included nine points, a 52-yard field goal (the second longest in Furman history), and six kickoffs that averaged 66.0 yards and included two touchbacks...was joined on the SoCon All-Freshman Team by offensive tackle Dakota Dozier and defensive end Shawn Boone...recipient of Furman's Whitey Kendall Specialist Award following the season.
High School: 2010 graduate of Darlington (3A) High School...football coach was Justin Danner...served as placekicker and punter...converted 13-of-22 field goal attempts and averaged 43.0 yards per punt in his career...career long field goal was 45 yards and longest punt covered 62 yards...recorded 48 touchbacks on 56 career kickoffs...twice earned first team all-region honors and was named 3A kicker of the year in 2009 after making 5-of-9 field goal attempts, scoring 58 points, and averaging 43.0 yards per punt...converted a 32-yard field goal attempt in South Carolina North-South All-Star Game.
Personal: Full name is Raymond Joseph Early...born June 3, 1992, in Florence, South Carolina...son of John and Rebecca Early...brother, John, played football at Clemson (2006-09)...great-uncle, Lee Rhame `37 was an outstanding running back for Furman and charter member (1981) of the Furman Athletic Hall of Fame who is also in the South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame....undeclared major.