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The colors of the rug are not true to the picture. The background is more of a gold color. I cannot get the edges to lay flat yet even though I have put heavy objects on them. The thickness of the rug is fine.
Very nice wool rug. Looks great. Have it in a room with yellow walls. Nice addition to the decor.
The rug is very well made and the colors are accurate when compared to the picture. We are very happy with it.
beautiful rug - the green and cream are muted and the blue provides a lovely pop of bright color. We have it in our bedroom and it's perfect next to our queen size bed.
it's a great rug to add a bit of accent to your home. the colors on the rug fit into my color scheme. the only thing, as someone else wrote in their review, is that it sheds so i have to put a blanket down if i want to sit on the rug. i've only had it for a few weeks and vacuumed it 3 times so hopefully it will stop shedding so much after a while.
It's a beautiful rug but I'm returning it becuase the color is more gold than beige and the blue is a bright blue. It's pretty but it didn't fit with my decor.
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Nora Ephron's last play is about the world of New York tabloids, and it's a lot like the messy subject she looks at - overindulgent, overstuffed and raucous. That's its charm as well as its undoing.
"Lucky Guy," starring Tom Hanks sporting a wedge of a mustache, focuses on Mike McAlary, the city's one-time dominant tabloid reporter. His rise and fall and rise again during the 1980s and '90s helped define the transition from boys-will-be-boys notepad journalism to the buttoned-up, professional digital recorders of today.
Ephron's play, which opened Monday at the Broadhurst Theatre, has touches of film noir, a ton of testosterone and profanity and moments of humor but not too much elegance or heft.
It's Ephron's valentine to those hard-charging, heavy-smoking, gruff reporters she met in newsrooms with ink in their veins and booze on their breath. Ephron's humor can be heard, but only faintly. At times, watching it is more like enduring a verbal assault by drunken Irish-American frat boys.
Hanks, making his Broadway debut, is classic Hanks - lovable, touching and funny. "It's New York City, who can relax?" he says at the beginning, before turning to someone in the audience. "Are you relaxed?" He makes a great Broadway debut, making McAlary a lovable rogue we have to root for even if we sometimes shouldn't.
McAlary, who bounced from tabloid to tabloid during his career, was a star even before he got the first interview with Abner Louima, a Haitian immigrant who was sodomized and beaten by white police officers at a station house in 1997. McAlary would win the Pulitzer Prize the next year but would die of cancer a few months later at age 41.
Ephron, who died of leukemia last summer at age 71, gained fame as the writer of films such as "You've Got Mail" and "Sleepless in Seattle," which both also starred Hanks.
Ephron has structured the play chronologically, but as if it were a story told in a bar, with the supporting actors pulling each other into onstage roles ("Who wants to play Eddie Hayes?" one actor asks the ensemble. At another point, someone says while walking offstage: "And by the way, that is the end of me in this story.") It's cute at first, but soon grows grating.
Ephron also has broken one of the cardinal rules of journalism - show, don't tell. There is far too much expository writing and at various points, characters will tell the audience something and then pointlessly repeat it when they return to the scene.
Adding to the frantic nature of the piece is all the modern toys thrown at it - projected images, archive footage, TV sets, smoke machines, desks whizzing by, even a live camera broadcasting a TV interview. (In one, the TV cameras block the view of the screaming newspaper headlines projected onto the back wall). Under George C. Wolfe's direction, no scene can just breathe. So most don't connect.
With a cast of 14, only two of whom are women, Ephron has effectively surrendered the stage to the guys, even admitting at one point through one of her female characters: "This is a story about guys, guys with cops, cops with guys. It's a very guy thing."
The women she does show are either a ball-busting, f-bomb spewing emasculator (a great Deirdre Lovejoy in two roles) or a sainted, calm, supportive spouse (a limp Maura Tierney as McAlary's wife.)
The dozen male actors swagger and bellow and carouse in various newsroom and cop roles. Some standouts: Courtney B. Vance is superb as one of McAlary's favorite editors, almost stealing the show from Hanks, no easy feat. Christopher McDonald also is elegant cool as McAlary's lawyer, and Peter Gerety is having entirely too much drunken fun onstage.
The script veers from one scene to the next, often without building tension or meaning. The inside-baseball nature of the story - filled with freewheeling references to the city's tabloid past and editors few may know - may confuse audience-members not in the business or New Yorkers.
There's a hysterical scene where both McAlary and his editor pump up their morphine drips while both at the hospital and another funny bit about the Atkins' diet. But there's also an unnecessarily noir funeral - complete with casket and a cliched umbrella - as well as a moving and excruciating monologue by Louima about his attack. Add to that various newsroom craziness and domestic squabbles between McAlary and his wife. They all stubbornly refuse to add up to much more than their parts.
After 16 scenes over two hours, McAlary emerges as a complex figure, both self-aggrandizing and yet also someone who genuinely seems to want to "right wrongs." He chased big paychecks as well as big stories, and Ephron seems to be bewitched by this lovable scamp. But the play leaves little lasting impression, like a day-old tabloid.
Tom Hanks made his Broadway debut Monday as legendary columnist Mike McAlary in Nora Ephron's new play "Lucky Guy."
The drama is a love letter to scruffy and scrappy New York City tabloids and one of its heroes who, like Ephron, lived large and died too soon of cancer.
Hanks, a Hollywood A-lister and two-time Oscar winner, delivers a colorful and compelling star turn as the Daily News Pulitzer Prize winner. Sporting a mustache and bracing gusto, Hanks looks the part and nails McAlary's gutsy bravado and cocky bluster.
But although it's heartfelt, the show is a hodgepodge. Long-winded and overly linear, it skates along on a just-the-facts-ma'am surface like a typical TV movie bio. The script was originally written for HBO.
Toggling between NYC newsrooms from 1985 to 1998, the story gives glimpses of McAlary's life: Breakout stories on tainted Tylenol and corrupt cops; rising-star status and salary; a near-fatal car wreck; a career-threatening libel suit; and coverage of the Abner Louima case, which propelled him to the Pulitzer eight months before he died in 1998 at age 41.
At its best, the drama cracks with the smoky and gritty atmosphere Ephron knew firsthand from her own days as a reporter. Her signature wry humor bites, as when an editor is lovingly needled: "If you held the guy up to the light, you could see the olive." That is 100-proof Ephron zing.
But she was still refining the work when she died in June, and too many styles are mashed together — direct addresses and jokes to the audience, monologues and dramatic re-creations.
Scenes with McAlary's wife, long-suffering Alice (Maura Tierney), are boilerplate and corny. A chemotherapy scene is played for comedy. The lone moving scene comes when Louima (Stephen Tyrone Williams) tells of being tortured by cops, but this pivotal part of McAlary's life is dispatched in an oddly quick fashion.
Director George C. Wolfe has assembled a fine ensemble to accompany Hanks, including Courtney B. Vance, Peter Gerety and Peter Scolari who respectively play fellow journalists Hap Hairston, John Cotter and Michael Daly.
But Wolfe's staging doesn't clarify or sort out the scattered episodes that unfold on David Rockwell's set pieces. Dramatically and stylistically, there's no thread or theme to make "Lucky Guy" reverberate universally.
Broadway audiences don't seem to care. Hanks' debut and Ephron's death have made the play a hot-ticket event. How this play will resonate beyond the New York axis is a story that's to be written.
Nora Ephron's "Lucky Guy" is a eulogy. A really fun, really entertaining eulogy.
You may have heard that Tom Hanks, making his Broadway debut, is the star of the show — and he is, his Everyman-relatable charm coming through as strongly onstage as it does on-screen. But Ephron's real focus isn't a man but the end of hardboiled New York journalism.
This bioplay follows the rise and death of mustachioed star columnist Mike McAlary (Hanks), who worked at the three dailies competing for readers' quarters in the 1980s and early '90s: The Post, the Daily News and New York Newsday. The fourth doesn't matter here: News editor Hap Hairston (Courtney B. Vance) dismisses the Times with, "This is a serious newspaper. F - - k it."
Ephron finished "Lucky Guy" shortly before her death last June. That may partly explain the show's sense of urgency as it rushes through McAlary's career milestones in two tight hours. The professional and personal details are filled in by a Greek chorus of colleagues, including editor John Cotter (Peter Gerety) and columnist Michael Daly (Peter Scolari, Hanks' old "Bosom Buddies" co-star).
The one outsider to this insular world is McAlary's wife, Alice (Maura Tierney). Sketchy as the part is, it does allow for a memorable scene in which Alice lists, conductor-style, every stop on her LIRR line.
Even though Ephron came to embody romantic comedy via hits like "Sleepless in Seattle" and "When Harry Met Sally," she started in the trenches — she worked at The Post for five years in the '60s. Her play doesn't gloss over the newsmen's warts: the clubby all-maleness, the boozing, the pursuit of "the wood" (journo slang for the Page One headline) at all cost.
But, as in her movies, Ephron isn't interested in polemics. The show springs from her deep affection for the trade and its ink-stained wretches.
Making good use of projections and wheeled furniture, "Lucky Guy" barrels along as director George C. Wolfe ("The Normal Heart," "Jelly's Last Jam") sets a frantic pace fit for this world of urgent deadlines and breaking news.
We career from story to story, with shorthand allusions to the era — Joey Buttafuoco, baggy pleated pants — and Ephron's trademark quips. After McAlary learns he has the colon cancer that will eventually kill him in 1998, his lawyer and friend, Eddie Hayes (Christopher McDonald), says that "if we can just keep you alive for a few years, some Asian guy will find a cure."
McAlary, who died at 41, made it long enough to land his final and biggest scoop, about a security guard named Abner Louima (Stephen Tyrone Williams) who was sodomized by two cops with a plunger in '97. But that segment is over as soon as it starts, and you wish Ephron had developed it.
The Louima scandal was huge in New York, and it meant a lot to McAlary — it provided redemption after his mishandling of a Brooklyn rape case and earned him a Pulitzer.
As brief as the scene is, it segues nicely into the show's coda, in which McAlary's pals reprise the Irish song ("The Wild Rover") they sang at the beginning. It's a wake for a man, but also for a certain city and a certain profession.
"It must be true — it's on television," Hairston says after a broadcast announces the Louima cops' arrest. "It's the moment you know, if you didn't already know, that it's over. The newspaper business. The glory days."
You can almost hear Ephron whisper, "Amen."
If love were really all you need, Nora Ephron's "Lucky Guy" would be the best show of the season, hands down. This fast-moving ink- and tear-stained portrait of the tabloid columnist Mike McAlary opened Monday night at the Broadhurst Theater, floating on a fathoms-deep reservoir of affection and good will, the likes of which back-stabbing Broadway seldom sees.
Well, of course. "Lucky Guy" is both an elegy and a valentine to a vanishing world held dear in the collective imagination of New Yorkers, that of the rough-and-tumble of big-city newsrooms and scoop-hungry reporters. The script has been written with a true fan's glee and avidity by Ephron, one of the most personally popular figures in the media and entertainment industries, who was still working on it when she died at 71 last June.
Directed by the super showman George C. Wolfe, this production stars the two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks, making an honorable Broadway debut. Mr. Hanks is one of the few enduring movie stars whose name is a byword not for sex appeal or power but for decency and likability. He and his wife, Rita Wilson, were close friends of Ephron, and they appeared at her memorial service to enact a dialogue between Ephron and her husband, the writer Nick Pileggi, as irresistibly enthusiastic conversationalists.
Add to this the fact that McAlary, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist with the chutzpah of which barroom legends are made, was only 41 when he died in 1998, and you have the makings of a first-class wake. Which is what, in the final analysis, "Lucky Guy" is — not so much a fully developed play or even a persuasive character study as a boisterous swapping of fond anecdotes about the end of a life and the end of an era.
Not that "Lucky Guy" is a crepe hanger. On the contrary, staged with the full bells-and-whistles treatment for which Mr. Wolfe is celebrated, the production exudes that same narrative excitability and grinning hyperbole that Mr. Hanks and Ms. Wilson brought to their performance at Ephron's memorial. I was also reminded at times of the expletive-fueled, can-you-believe-this storytelling momentum of the Martin Scorsese movie "Goodfellas," based on a book by Mr. Pileggi.
The problem is that if you know anything about McAlary — or even read the advance pieces on "Lucky Guy" in The New York Times — you may already know most of the stories told here. And despite the flashy camouflage provided by Mr. Wolfe, a crack technical team and a large and lively cast, "Lucky Guy" turns out to be little more than the sum of its anecdotes.
This is one production I wish I hadn't researched at all, because whenever we were being set up for the recounting of another Crazy Mike (or Heroic Mike) story, I'd think eagerly, "Now, how are they going to handle this one?" But mostly the tale remained only a tale told, rarely acquiring the full dimensionality of a life lived.
With a pot-scrubber mustache and a drinker's paunch, Mr. Hanks is always gamely and industriously present to act as an animated illustration for those tales. But he's not given much room to be more, making this McAlary seem less like the protagonist of his life than like the passive recipient of reversals of fortune. The play's title comes to seem almost too apt.
It is largely left to the other characters — a foul-mouthed Greek chorus of hard-drinking reporters and the occasional cop or lawyer — to give us the annotated version of Mike's rise and fall and rise in the pages of New York Newsday, The New York Post and The Daily News, where his career reached its peak with his award-winning coverage of the Abner Louima case. They frequently remind us that truth is relative and that nothing described here is as black and white as it is in newsprint.
For example, we hear that Mike is conscience-stricken when a corrupt policeman he has interviewed kills himself after the article appears. We are also told that he certainly seems to enjoy the attendant publicity and milks it. But there is no relevant scene in which Mr. Hanks is allowed to embody this ambiguity.
That may be part of an attitude built into the structure of "Lucky Guy," the notion that portraiture is only a collage of others' perceptions and that we can never fully know the real person within. In plays like "Democracy" and "Copenhagen," Michael Frayn has proved himself a master at finding the dramatic dynamic in this very point of view.
But "Lucky Guy" doesn't entirely sustain the approach, any more than it does the fourth-wall-breaking camaraderie established between actors and audience in the early scenes. We follow Mike into the private sanctum of his bedroom, where his wife, Alice (a mild-mannered Maura Tierney), gently chastises and consoles him.
There is little friction or passion here, and Mr. Hanks's Mike, with his professional persona set aside, registers as just a regular Joe with worries that furrow his brow. The final scenes, portraying Mike's last days in a hospital, are heartbreaking, rendered with beautiful restraint by Mr. Hanks. But it's an everyman's death we're witnessing, not that of a particular person we have come to know.
The most detailed glimpses we have of Mike are through the unreliable mirrors provided by other characters. His increasing lust for the lucre that comes with success is reflected in the man who arranges it for him, the lawyer Eddie Hayes (an enjoyably revved-up Christopher McDonald); his ambivalent friendships with his co-workers must be inferred less from anything Mike does or says than from the statements and performances of his mentors, played by excellent actors like Courtney B. Vance and Peter Gerety.
As designed by David Rockwell (sets), Toni-Leslie James (costumes) and Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer (lighting), the show captures with verve the cigarette-and-whiskey-scented flavor of its period. This production features the wittiest use ever of a smoke machine. And the projections by Batwin & Robin Productions pungently summon the spirit of a world measured by the placement and type size of headlines.
Unlike some of the movies Ephron wrote and directed, and many of her peerlessly sharp essays, "Lucky Guy" often feels only newsprint deep. But as a love song to a fast-disappearing, two-fisted brand of journalism — a field in which she began her long and varied career — it has the heart and energy of the perpetually engaged, insatiably curious observer that Ephron never ceased to be.
"Go to the morgue and count the bodies," the hard-boiled tabloid editor growls at the hungry young reporter. His point -- meant to be both morbid and inspirational -- is that everything between birth and death is "how you tell the story."
Telling the story is the giddy joy of "Lucky Guy," Nora Ephron's raucous and moving fact-based fiction, starring the spectacularly protean Tom Hanks, about the rise and fall and rise and death of superstar New York street columnist Mike McAlary.
In lesser hands, the body count behind George C. Wolfe's exhilarating production could drag the whole fragile construction into deep mourning. We not only have the 1998 cancer death of McAlary at 41, but Ephron's cancer death in June at 71 and, in the heart of her smart and snappy play, the critical condition of the thing being celebrated -- newspapers. Even the 1995 death of Newsday's New York paper, where many of these characters begin their self-referential tale, is part of the story.
Everyone around in the heyday of New York's tabloid wars, 1985-1998, will surely fight about the details -- not just the facts and the mythmaking, but why this one got included and that one left out. That's fair. Almost from the start of the fast-moving two hours, McAlary and his Greek chorus of newsroom buddies are jockeying for position as narrator as they talk directly to us.
At the center is Hanks, Ephron's longtime movie muse. Not onstage since the late '70s, Hanks brings all his cumulative comforting trustworthiness. This is invaluable, because Ephron does not sugarcoat too many of McAlary's uglier qualities.
Hanks, suitably transformed by McAlary's trademark mouse-brown mustache and bristly hair, begins the reporter's ascent with the self-delight of the kid in a grown-up body in "Big." Soon, his head gets too big. Then, as a libel case, a car accident and cancer eat away at him, his clothes get too big.
McAlary was heroic when he left a chemo treatment to cover the police abuse of Abner Louima all the way to a Pulitzer Prize. But McAlary is also reckless, self-aggrandizing and, without an enormously endearing actor in the role, very likely unlovable.
Maura Tierney does long-suffering with style as McAlary's neglected and supportive wife. Except for Deirdre Lovejoy as a lone woman reporter and as Debby Krenek (then Daily News editor, now Newsday's editorial director and senior vice president of digital media), this is journalism as a hard-drinking, competitive Irish boys' club.
As the only black member of the group, Courtney B. Vance has a punchy sardonic magnetism, as does Peter Gerety as the tough-talking older editor with the soft insides. Juggling the fast-talking chronicles are many recognizable bylines -- Jim Dwyer (Michael Gaston), Michael Daly (Peter Scolari) and Bob Drury (Danny Mastrogiorgio).
Wolfe and a laser-eyed creative team take control of our gaze with the rhythm and allure of a noir movie. David Rockwell's brilliantly inventive, sleek black-and-white sets make headline projections and sliding furniture look new again. Desks are seldom out of sight for these workaholics, even when they're at the bars.
In "Imaginary Friends," Ephron's grossly underrated 2002 Broadway play about Lillian Hellman and Mary McCarthy, Hellman says, "We're all just stories. The question is, who gets to tell them." How lucky, if that's not too paradoxical a word, that Ephron got to tell this one.
Leave it to Nora Ephron to write a play involving police brutality, cancer and one of the world's most famously cynical professions -- and make it a romantic comedy.
The hero of her swan song, Lucky Guy (* * * 1/2 out of four stars), which opened Monday at Broadway's Broadhurst Theatre, dies at the end, as do other men; but that's a mere technicality. In tracing the colorful, controversial career of the late journalist Mike McAlary, Ephron -- who lost her own battle with leukemia last year -- left us a work that is, in its way, as buoyantly entertaining and uplifting as the thinking women's (and men's) chick flicks that made her one of the most successful screenwriters of the late 20th century.
Guy's milieu is vastly different, and more testosterone-fueled, than that of When Harry Met Sally or Sleepless In Seattle, but it's one that Ephron knew: In the 1960s, she worked as a reporter at the New York Post, one of the tabloids where McAlary made his name two decades later.
The play is, in fact, a valentine to that world, as it was then -- before social media and the 24/7 news cycle -- and the city that was so much a part of it. If there are tinges of sentimentality, director George C. Wolfe and a robust cast led by Tom Hanks, in his Broadway debut, keep the tone appropriately gritty and the pace vigorous.
Ephron's dialogue requires the actors to verbally joust and parry with varying degrees of playfulness and aggression, as the characters, many of them sharing McAlary's vocation, endeavor to tell his story from their own perspectives. All aim to draw the audience in as they would a reader, often delivering their lines in boldface.
Were the players less skilled, the effect might be hokey, or exhausting; but supple veterans such as Peter Gerety and Courtney B. Vance, as editors who champion and clash with McAlary, are at once credible and magnetic as they shift from heated interaction to animated asides.
The actor whose name sits above the marquee proves equally adroit. McAlary, whose columns could be as unsparing on alleged crime victims as they were on rogue cops, made his share of professional and personal missteps; and Hanks shows us his capacity for arrogance and recklessness.
But the actor also makes McAlary's human fallibility part of his appeal, bringing to the role a crustier version of the unmannered charm that made Hanks one of Hollywood's most likable leading men. That's a key asset here, as something like it surely helped McAlary form the regular-guy bonds that fed his biggest scoops.
The real star of Lucky Guy, though, is the Manhattan of Ephron's young adulthood, and McAlary's: a seedy, mystical place, however idealized, where men did battle in Google-free newsrooms and bonded after hours in smoke-filled bars.
In the more sterile Times Square of 2013, that unlikely love story is a bracing tonic indeed.
Tom Hanks is a natural. Although he hasn't trod the boards in years, the affable movie star takes to the stage like a fish to water in "Lucky Guy," Nora Ephron's affectionate nostalgia piece about that gritty era of the 1980s when big-mouth tabloid journalists like Mike McAlary were the media stars of big, bad, dirty Gotham City. Helmer George C. Wolfe has embedded Hanks in a terrific ensemble of veteran character actors and a helluva time is had by all. But once the star ankles, as stars must, the shelf life of this New York-centered show is zilch.
There's a "Goodbye to All That" poignancy to this sweet and sloppy kiss to the boys in the big city newsrooms where the playwright got her start as a cub reporter for the New York Post. As the last thing that Ephron worked on before she died last year, the show that celebrates the giddy beginnings of her career also sustained her through the end of it.
It was the same thing with McAlary (Hanks), a hard-drinking, hard-driving, hard-headed police reporter who broke the most sensational story of his career while undergoing chemotherapy. And while death ultimately prevailed, his good work on that landmark story — an expose of the savage station-house rape of Abner Louima, movingly recounted here by Stephen Tyrone Williams from a hospital bed — kept the journo alive long enough to win the Pulitzer Prize.
Like his ink-stained peers who are fondly represented in this warmly entertaining ensemble piece, McAlary ricocheted from the Post to the Daily News to New York Newsday in the scary days when crack cocaine had the city by the throat and scrappy journalists were the only ones keeping score on the exploding crime rates. (In the testimony of the boys in the back room, "It was a great time to be in the tabloid business.") While he may not have been worthy of changing typewriter ribbons for writers like Jimmy Breslin and Pete Hamill, or the great Mike Royko in mobbed-up Chicago, McAlary was a fearless muckraker, a bulldog at breaking crime stories and exposing police corruption.
Being a great reporter made McAlary a lucky guy, but it didn't necessarily make him a nice guy — and that's where Hanks comes in. As an actor whose niceness is the key component of his DNA, Hanks can play selfish, arrogant, cunning, and calculating without losing his sources or alienating his enemies. The inherent decency he projects redeems this prickly character from his less than princely behavior toward friend, foe, and long-suffering family.
Not that Ephron goes out of her way to dig deeply into the psychology of McAlary's obsessive personality. For all his flaws, she loves this rogue as unconditionally as she loved the untarnished younger heroes she wrote for Hanks in "Sleepless in Seattle" and "You've Got Mail."
The episodic structure and presentational performance style are well designed (and superbly executed by helmer Wolfe) for a story built from the collective memory of the people who lived it. It makes perfect sense that more than a dozen reporters, editors, columnists, and their sources should have a hand in shaping the bare-bones events of McAlary's meteoric rise and bumpy fall to earth, because his life story is theirs as well — or at least, the life story they'd like to think they lived.
To journalists and tabloid junkies of a certain age, some of the names will be familiar: Great, hands-on editors like John Cotter and Hap Hairston (played with break-your-heart professional passion by Peter Gerety and Courtney C. Vance), columnists Michael Daly (Peter Scolari) and Jim Dwyer (Michael Gaston), reporters Bob Drury (Danny Mastrogiorgio) and, always last and least, Louise Imerman (Deirdre Lovejoy), the tough-as-nails "lady" staffer who cynically notes that neither the play nor the 1980s newsroom was a place for ladies.
"This is a story about guys, guys with cops, cops with guys," she says. And the guys all liked McAlary because "he made them think they could go back to the days when there were no women around, none, just Irish guys at the bar all night long."
After a hard day's night in the newsroom, that's where they all wound up, at bars like Elaine's and Ryan's and McGuire's and O'Lunney's — holy places in David Rockwell's settings, with bottles of booze lined up like candles on altars, lighted in glowing gold tones by Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer. If the bars were their churches, then Irish songs like "Wild Rover" were both their hymns and, in the end, their dirges. Because as Ephron tells the sad story, they couldn't last, those glory days when journalism was a congenial profession, conducted face to face and fist to fist. Maybe it ended when Mike McAlary died — or maybe when reporters stopped answering their phones.

subset: commoncrawl


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Lexus RX Transmission Problems
ahalks Posts: 4I am looking to purchase a 2002 or 2003 RX 300. Have these model years encountered the same transmission issues/problems as the earlier years. If not, what changes were made? I did not read all the previous messages so I apologize if this was already discussed. Also, typically, what service work is needed at 120,000 miles.
Thanks, -
nckimifan Posts: 6
winston21 Posts: 3I heard that Lexus, because of the transmission problems, replaced the gear ratio from 4 gears to 3 but I'm not sure when that was done in production. They also changed the gear composition from aluminum to steel, again, because of the problems they had been having. I don't know if they were forced to make the change, nothing I found on technical bulletins or recalls. I've had my car for 10 years and this transmission thing is the only problem I've had with it. If you are dead set on getting the 2002 or 2003 you should check out what type of transmission it has in it (4 gears aluminum vs. 3 gears steel). Make sure it has had all of it's service work done and the owner has the records. Check on the Lexus site to find out what maintenance should have been done so far. I would also take it to a reputable transmission dealer (not Lexus) and have an inspection and full system flush with screen replacement done.
mrboston Posts: 43I had a 2000 RX 300 and my wife had a 2001 RX 300, both AWD. One transmission went out at 85,000 the
other at 101,000. These cars never towed anything, never had a teenage driver and were never driven off road.
Shame, shame, shame on Lexus for such a piece of junk.
These transmissions at $5,000 plus each are a rip off.
I hope some lawyer does a class action lawsuit. -
wwest Posts: 10,706Were I in your shoes I would only consider a 2002 RX300 if it were ONLY FWD and already had the extra ATF cooling radiator. My 2001 F/awd has the extra cooling yet at only 40,000 miles the ATF smelled and looked quite burned. Did two sequential drain and refills and now at ~80,000 miles and watching/checking ATF condition often.
Overstressing of the transaxle was resolved in the RX330 series by dropping the viscous clutch for F/awd models and adopting DBW to prevent the engine form producing torque before the gears were fully and firmly engaged.
But that "fix" came with its own set of problems. -
bendorrx300 Posts: 112000 RX300 AWD, now on the third transmission. After the latest transmission was installed in August 2009, we took a sample of ATF via the dip stick tube, using a large syringe and 3 ft section of silicon tubing. Sent the sample to AOA in AZ for spectroscopic analysis. Now at 7 months, wife suspects the third tranny is eating itself alive, as in the first to occasions. Sent another ATF sample to AOA 3/20 and will report back to the forum. Lexus paid for all of the expenses on #2, since failure was reported and documented by dealer prior to the one year warranty expiring.
wwest Posts: 10,706You could probably extend the life of your next RX300 transaxle by providing a little DC, Direct Current, bias to the ATF line pressure control solenoid. That would raise the average pressure of the line pressure but you would need to be sure and add an external ATF cooling radiator and drain and refill the ATF on a regular basis, say every 30,000 miles.
pooryota Posts: 2:sick: Ok so my 1999 RX300 last year had major work done around $2,300.. One week later the axle was slipping. That was around 87,000 miles, I was told my tranmisson was going. How shocked was !?! Here I thought I had longevity in my Lexus. So now at 92,000 I need a tow to the auto shop. I am not sure if it's worth the fix. I love my car but after reading all the posts and seeing some are on there 3rd transmission. Shame on Toyota!! Like most I had the car serviced at Lexus following the book. My dealership mechanic's didn't even pick up on any problems when the oil was leaking from the axle. I had so many oil changes at the dealership and nothing. I to tried to speak to the manger nothing came out it.
So as I decide tonight to fix the car or donate it for parts. I know this is my last Toyota car. I do have a Camry that needed an alternator at 65,000 miles. I think I have my answer to move on to another car family. So no class action on the RX300 with all these transmission issue? :lemon: -
notlexusloyal Posts: 6:mad:
Our 2001 Lexus Rx300 transmission experienced catastrophic failure at 97,000.
No warranty, no "Lexus" dealership visits= no help from Lexus.
Lexus misrepresented the quality of this vehicle- selling its customers an inferior product wrapped in leather and the Lexus brand name.
I am awaiting a call-back from an attorney with much experience in class action lawsuits and even one against Lexus. -
mrboston Posts: 43The RX 300 Transmission through mid 2002 was designed with aluminum gearing that could not handle the torque of AWD. We had two one a year 2000 and a 2002
one failed at 103,000 and the other at 106,000. All were driven by carfeul mature drivers, never towed anything, or gone off road. This transmission is junk.
Lexus motto, "Relentless Pursuit of Excellence" is a down right lie! -
wwest Posts: 10,706"..a fluke..."
Or maybe not....
Ford's Escape and Mariner have been using this very same rear drive clutch coupling technique for quite some number of years and still has problems related to overstressing, overheating, the PTO. There is an indication that Ford has reduced the functionality of the rear drive in response, including removing the driver's manual engagement capability.
On the other hand Mazda, using the very same system, stepped up to the plate and added cooling, engine coolant, to the PTO.
The RX350 does not have PTO cooling provisions AND it has manual engagement capability whereas the Venza and Sienna do not. Next model year you should expect the loss of that manual capability unless Lexus adds PTO cooling.
IMMHO having that manual engagement capability without some sort of strain guage override/failsafe system is simply inviting (inadvertent) abuse of the drive system. -
naperleigh Posts: 7I just got towed after being standed yesterday. The transmission started slipping and finally gave out. I got the call from the dealer 1 hour ago with the message the transmission failed and it would cost me $5600.00. I have 96000 miles on my 1999 and don't think this should happen. I own two Lexus and they will be my last. I am done :sick: with Toyota products!
mrboston Posts: 43First, go to AAMCO, (I have no vested interest in AAMCO). They put in a rebuilt one in my RX 300 for $2,800. My transmission went out at 103,000 miles and is now running perfect. The AWD models create to much torque on the aluminum transmission gears and they wear out. That is why most mechanics tell you to replace transmission fluid in these ever 30,000 miles becasue the alluminum particles simply clog the filter.
Second, Lexus follows the Toyota policy of denial, the customer is wrong and besides that your warrnaty is over. These transmissions are junk and you should sue both the dealer and Lexus in smalls claims court. You will win, I did. -
wwest Posts: 10,706"...to much torque on the aluminum..."
No, the early RX300 transaxles had/have a factory design flaw that was finally overcome via the adoption of DBW throttles beginning with the RX330 models.
Via the adoption of DBW the engine was prevented from rising above idle until the transaxle could finish, fully and completely, changing gears. Due to the design flaw there were instances in which a gear change would sometimes take 1-2 seconds to complete.
Thus you now often, post ~2003, see complaints of engine non-response to gas pedal position lasting 1-2 seconds for/regarding Toyota/Lexus/Scion vehicles. -
notlexusloyal Posts: 6I contacted Lexus and a law firm that has handled similar cases (one with Lexus) just to gather information. I quickly realized this was not going to be an easy process. I did want resolution, so I contacted both again. Much to my surprise, Lexus agreed to pay for 1/3 of our repair. We decided that was much better than months of legal proceedings so we took the offer. With this payment, I believe it is clear that Lexus does know that there is a major issue with these transmissions and owners might have cause for legal action. Maybe this is why they decided to offer us a little money to make us happy? For us, we had to choose what was best for our situation. Good Luck on further actions!
naperleigh Posts: 7
jbl85 Posts: 49So I am looking into all of these postings with trans problems again...my question is this:
I have a 99 with 48k miles on it and absolutely no sign of trans problems at this time. I drained and filled it twice to get the majority of the fluid swapped out. Now the fluid is cherry red the way it should be. I can drop the pan and look, but better to ask first: If the fluid stays cherry red for several thousand miles, would that indicate that the screen is free and clear of aluminum? And if the fluid changes color rather quickly, I would assume that this would indicate a clogged screen?
Also, the replacement transmissions, if indeed it is the aluminum gears that are failing, are they being replaced with better built units? I can't believe people are having 2, 3 transmissions replaced on these cars.
Replies appreciated.
la4mead Posts: 347The transmissions that repeatedly fail seem to be third-party rebuilt units, even when done at the dealer.
Not all of them are bad. My early '99 2WD original trans had a shifting problems when cold, I had serviced the transmission at the dealer (NOT FLUSH) twice during the warrantee period. When I mentioned it just before the warrantee expired, Lexus replaced it. They tried 2 third-party rebuilt units that also had problems, and finally got approval for a brand-new transmission directly from Lexus/Kyushu Japan. This was in 2004, just before 70,000 miles. My original had not failed yet, however they replaced it with an updated transmission which does not burn fluid, shifts "enthusiastically" and also does not have a screen. This "updated' transmission has a filter element with fine media which I have had transmission shops service three times since then, and each time was completely clean. Lexus said "what?... we've never seen a '99 with a filter instead of screen". So I took it to the trusted tranny mechanic I have my other vehicles serviced at who serviced it, showed me the pan and filter (clean!) and used TYPE 4 FLUID! Many third-party shops use the typical Dextron/Mercron and a can of additive to simulate Toyota fluid, which also leads to problems!
As far as Lexus goes, I was very happy with the warrantee service when I finally found a dealer to help. I'm even more happy with the "updated" transmission. But on any car, especially fwd platform, I wouldn't recommend to go more than two years without servicing the trans (NOT FLUSHING). Many other makes and models have this same issue, not just Lexus and Toyota.
I think a big part of the problem is "serviced by Lexus" from their menu-based services does not include servicing the transmission. If promted, they usually recommend a "flush" which seems to be profitable for them, but fatal for any automatic transmission that already has some issues/weaknesses, regardless of make.
If your fluid stays pink, chances are pretty good that you've got one of the good ones. But I still recommend having it serviced including cleaning the pan and filter (or screen on the earlier models) every other year. Some of these good transmissions go for hundreds of thousands of miles but require proper maintainence to do so, but Lexus is not going to suggest it.
If you are handy, you can also add extra cooling. I added an additional thermostatic cooler behind the factory cooler in the passenger side wheel well. I also added a small computer fan and an automatic thermostatic switch (Hayden from Pep Boys) which I set to come on about 160 degrees, and I opened up the vent holes in the plastic fender with an exacto knife. Cheap insurance, I thought, since others have had so many problems and they are usually related, or indicated by poor fluid quality. I'm pleased with the result. -
wwest Posts: 10,706I would suspect that you got an '01 or later transaxle model as a replacement. The dealer was also likely to have been instructed to included an auxillary ATF cooler even thought yours is FWD only.
For the '01 and later model RX300's I suspect the engine idling ATF line pressure specification was raised so the re-acceleration downshift can be quicker and firmer. That, of course, still results in a higher than planned for, initially planned for, ATF temperature rise so the auxillary cooler becomes a real requirement.
Regretably the ATF heating, OVER-heating is localized to the ATF pump and pressure by-pass mechanicals so over time the ATF will still become "dirty", brown looking, and burned smelling.
My first need for ATF change, '01 F/awd RX300, was at only ~40,000 miles and am now approaching 80,000 and watching ATF condition VERY closely.


text:
When the reign is over Miss Jamaica Festival Queens --where are they now? THE
MISS Jamaica Beauty contest began in 1963 with most of the winners and
runners-up going on to compete in international beauty pageants. In its early years controversy surrounded the competition. In 1964, organisers sent the runner-up to compete in the Miss World contest instead of the winner, Mitsy Constantine (later Seaga), who wanted to have her mother act as her chaperone. The issue of colour and favourtism to contestants of lighter hues also plagued the pageant. In the mid 1970s there was a shift as the Festival Office took over the running of the contest and emphasis was placed on cultural awareness, talent and community development. The beauty pageant component was awarded to Spartan Health Club which today organises the Miss Jamaica World contest. The first Festival Queen was crowned in 1975. However, there was no competition between 1976 and 1984. While acknowledging the break, national Festival Queen Coordina-tor Dorrett Thaxter was reluctant to explain the reason. In 1990 the competition again underwent a change, becoming the Miss Jamaica Festival Queen competition because the concept better portrayed the queen as Jamaican, explains Thaxter. The competition has since grown to become the premier forum for young women between 18 and 25 to display their knowlege of Jamaican culture and to contribute to nation building. WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Some of the Festival Queens have migrated or disappeared into the background since their reign ended. However, others like actress and TVJ sportscaster Dahlia Harris and Jennifer Small, Radio 2 FM's Jenny Jenny, have remained in the spotlight. Karen Beale caught up with a few of them and tells us what they've been up to. We also have a snapshot of some of the others. PAMELA ALVARANGA-POWELL,
1975 Today, Powell is the co-ordinator of the JCDC Culinary Arts section and has given more than 25 years of service to the organisation. She sits on numerous culinary committees and acts as a local and international judge for culinary competitions. She is also the co-ordinator and head of delegation for the Jamaica National Culinary team which has performed internationally, winning gold, silver and bronze medals. A confessed food lover Powell, who brags that she is one of the best culinary experts around, was a part of the panel that established industry standards for local chefs. Through her work she has linked renowned chefs from across the globe with talented Jamaican chefs who might want to take their talent beyond the borders of the island. "I have made my mark as a National festival queen, giving service to my country for 27 years consistently," she says. "The competition has opened several doors for me and I have no regrets. I believe that a National festival queen should make a contribution in the parish from which she originates. It is a worthwhile event as long as the winners realize that it is not a competition for self, but a competition that promotes service." CLAUDETTE JONES, 1985 She represented St. Mary in the national finals. JACQUELINE STULTZ, 1986 Jacqueline Stultz, Miss St. Thomas, is the only national winner from this parish. For years she worked at IGL in Kingston. YVETTE TAYLOR, 1987 Evette Taylor represented Kingston & St. Andrew in the national competition. GEORGIA MCDONALD, 1988 She took the crown in 1988, representing Clarendon. These days Georgette McDonald is the assistant manager of the Bank of Nova Scotia in Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland. A member of the Kiwanis Club McDonald, who is still single, notes that "the contest has grown in leaps and bounds. It continues to provide wonderful opportunities for young Jamaican women." CHRISTINE DAWSON, 1989 Christine Dawson represented Kingston & St. Andrew before taking the national title. She is employed to the Bank of Nova Scotia. She is a mouthful of laughs if ever you watch her performances on stage. Crowned in 1990, wearing the sash of Miss St. Catherine, Dahlia Harris is an actress and sports presenter on TVJ. Harris says the exposure through the competition helped her to mature, especially in her knowledge of Jamaica. KARLENE KELLY-REID, 1991 A former Vice President of the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) Sports Club, Karlene Kelly-Reid is a property manager at the UDC and a mother. "The festival queen competition is the best competition in terms of identifying a true Jamaican woman," says Reid who represented Manchester in the national competition. "I support the competition yearly because I still believe in the principles it exhibits. The only problem I see right now with the competition is that the queens are not recognized enough as the cultural ambassadors of Jamaica." HYACINTH HALL-TRACEY, 1992 She represented St. Ann back in 1992. Today, Hyacinth Hall-Tracey is a busy wife and mother of two. Still glowing in golden beauty, she manages the financial services of the Jamaica Lottery Company. Hall-Tracey says she is pleased with the education level of the girls now participating in the competition. "It means that women are taking this contest seriously." Her hope, she adds, is that participants continue to hold the Festival Queen competition in high esteem and realize that it is a contest only for women of such calibre. ANDREA TULLOCH, 1993 A decade ago she lifted the national crown. Today, Andrea Tulloch, who represented Kingston & St. Andrew, flies in a different circle. She is employed to the sales office of Air Jamaica. SIMONE LOU CRUTCHLEY, 1994 Simone Lou Crutchley, queen for 1994 from Kingston and St. Andrew now resides in the United States. JENNIFER SMALL, 1995 To most Jamaicans she's Jenny Jenny -- a popular voice in radio commercials, the jovial hostess of Radio 2 FM's Jenny Jenny show, and an energetic MC for numerous entertainment and social events. Before that, however, Jennifer Small, represented Manchester in the national Festival Queen competition and walked away with the crown. She says the competition made her a confident leader. "I developed self confidence and fluency." In addition to broadcasting and entertainment, Small is a committee member of the JCDC and a member of the Jamaica AIDS support (JAS). GRACE ANN SCARLETT, 1996 She represented Kingston & St. Andrew at the national level and is now teaches at the Edith Dalton James High School, in the Corporate Area. MONIFA MORGAN, 1997 Queen for 1997, Monifa
Morgan from Clarendon lives in Canada. TANEISHA MCGHIE, 2000 Three years after taking the national crown, Taneisha McGhie still has her winning smile. She has also taken the spirit of the festival queen to anew level. McGhie is a medical intern at the University Hospital of the West Indies in Mona, St. Andrew. She's a resident advisor for the co-ed dormitory Taylor Hall, University of the West Indies (UWI), and has brought the Hall many successes in the cultural arena. Last year Taylor Hall won first place in UWI's annual Tallawah competition for the first time, while McGhie captured the prize for best director the year before that. The multi-talented queen has also shone in the media, appearing in advertisements and co-hosting TVJ's morning show Smile Jamaica for two years. Plus her flair for writing has paid off as her most recent essay on designer babies is soon to be published in the West Indian medical journal. As if that weren't enough, McGhie continues the social work she began during her reign -- working with HIV infected children at the Dare to Care home just outside of Spanish Town, St. Catherine. "The competition has changed my life significantly. It has developed my skills and potential, above all teaching me to be humble," she says with that trademark smile. "It is the major good thing I have done with my life." Participants in the Festival Queen competition should "use the opportunity to develop self and, in that period, serve society," she adds. TROY-ANN DAVIS, 1998 Troy-Ann Davis, who won in 1998 as Miss Kingston & St. Andrew is an Aesthetician and make-up artist. She also provides post mastectomy products for post mastectomy patients. GREGOR FONG, 1999 In 1999 Miss Portland, Gregor Fong, emerged as the National Festival Queen. She is now a Guidance Counsellor at Norwich Primary School in Portland. TERRY ANN TUCKER, 2001 The winner in 2001 from Trelawny, Terry Ann Tucker is studying in the United States. KAYDEON THOMAS, 2002 She's now working for The National Water Commission's North Coast Waste Water Department in Montego Bay. Kaydeon Thomas represented Clarendon in the national contest. Karen Beale
See Also A Tribute To Miss Lou |
©Copyright 2000 Gleaner Company Ltd. | Disclaimer | Letters to the Editor | Suggestions |


text:
The SX150 IS doesn't seem awfully fast when compared to its closest competitors, but numbers don't always tell the whole story. The SX150 IS performs credibly and is easily competitive with any camera in its street price range. When you design a camera with a 12x zoom some operational speed must be sacrificed (particularly at longer focal length settings) because a very long lens will obviously move and focus more slowly than a substantially shorter lens.
Shooting Performance
Performance and image quality should be the primary considerations when assessing digital camera performance. The SX150 IS comes in near the top when compared to its competition in terms of timing, except for its slower than average AF acquisition times.
Shutter Lag (press-to-capture, pre-focused)
Time (seconds)
Kodak EasyShare Z990 Max
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ150
Canon PowerShot SX150
Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR
AF Acquisition (press-to-capture, no pre-focus)
Time (seconds)
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ150
Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR
Kodak EasyShare Z990 Max
Canon PowerShot SX150
Continuous Shooting
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ150
Kodak EasyShare Z990 Max
Fujifilm FinePix HS20 EXR
Canon PowerShot SX150
*Note: Continuous shooting framerates are based on the camera's fastest full-resolution JPEG continuous shooting mode, using the fastest media type available (300x CF, SDHC, etc.). "Frames" notes the number of captures recorded per burst before the camera stops/slows to clear the buffer.
While the 0.53 second AF Acquisition (press-to-capture with no pre-focus) time noted in the DCR test chart looks pretty slow when compared to the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ150, that 1/3 of second difference isn't really significant in the real world and it can be attributed, at least in part, to the included Panasonic LR6 Alkaline AA's. I suspect performance will improve noticeably when using 2500 mAh NiMH rechargeable AAs.
The SX150 is fast enough to function nicely as a general purpose digicam and quick enough to capture the decisive moment - in all but the most extreme shooting situations. The SX150 IS powers up promptly and shutter lag shouldn't present much of a problem. Shot-to-shot times are between 2 and 3 seconds with OTC Alkaline AAs.
Lens Performance
When the SX150 is powered up - the lens automatically extends from the camera body and when the camera is powered down, the zoom retracts into the camera body and a built in iris-style lens cover closes to protect the front element. The SX150 IS's f/3.4-5.6 5.0-60.0mm (28-336mm equivalent) zoom makes this digicam ideal for a broad variety of photographic applications - including shooting group pictures in tight indoor venues, capturing expansive landscapes, snapping excellent travel pictures, nailing not too distant wildlife, shooting youth sports like a pro, and getting in-your-face macro shots of bugs and flowers.
The SX150's zoom is impressively compact and it doesn't appear to be flimsy, but it is (unavoidably) an extremely complex lens and as complexity increases optical faults are magnified exponentially. Corners are noticeably soft at the wide angle end of the zoom, but they are appreciably sharper at the telephoto end of the range. The SX150 IS's f/3.4 maximum aperture (at the wide end of the zoom) is about a half a stop slower than the f/2.8 maximum apertures of many upper tier point-and-shoots, but it is fast enough for almost anything this camera's target audience is likely to shoot outdoors.
Zoom operation is fast, smooth, and fairly quiet, but this lens exhibits noticeable barrel distortion (straight lines bow out from the center) at the wide-angle end of the zoom and visible pincushion distortion (straight lines bow in toward the center of the frame) at the telephoto end of the zoom range. Chromatic aberration (purple fringing) is present, especially in high contrast color transition areas, but managed nicely. Overall, the SX150's 12x zoom is surprisingly good.
This PowerShot's optical image stabilization system reduces blur by quickly and precisely shifting a lens element in the zoom to compensate for involuntary camera movement. Typically, IS systems allow users to shoot at shutter speeds up to three EV (exposure values) slower than would have been possible without Image stabilization. Keeping a lens with a focal length range from ultra-wide to super-telephoto steady (without a tripod) poses some impressive challenges.
Canon has equipped the SX150 IS with what they claim is the most advanced and effective optical Image Stabilization system ever used in a P&S camera (it assesses camera shake about 8,000 times per second) providing up to 4.5 EV of compensation. The SX150 IS's 4.5-stop optical Image Stabilizer incorporates Canon's Intelligent IS technology that detects the shooting situation and automatically applies the most appropriate image stabilization settings from seven possible options.
For example, Panning IS is enabled when users follow the action horizontally, ensuring the IS system stabilizes in only one direction, while Macro IS (with Hybrid IS technology) is meant for shooting sharp handheld close-ups. Powered IS uses Canon camcorder technology to make it easy to film distant subjects with the long zoom, and Tripod mode switches off the Image Stabilizer when the camera is placed on a stable surface or mounted on a tripod.
The SX150 IS features the same TTL Contrast Detection 10-point AiAF system, providing three AF modes: Face AF, Tracking AF, and Center AF as Canon's popular SX230 HS. In all exposure modes, the camera analyzes the scene in front of the lens and then calculates camera-to-subject distance to determine which AF point is closest to the primary subject (closest subject priority) and then locks focus on that AF point.
The SX150 IS's face detection AF mode is linked to the camera's exposure and WB systems so the camera automatically finds, locks focus on, tracks and then optimizes exposure for up to nine faces - or shooters can lock on a single face and track it through the crowd. The SX150 IS's Center AF mode is a good choice for traditional landscapes and informal portraits and an even better option for street shooting, because serious photographers don't want the camera deciding which face in the crowd to focus on. AF is a bit slower than average, but dependably accurate.
There is a dark cloud on the SX150's horizon that potential purchasers should consider. The SX150 is a complex, feature rich, digicam with a long zoom - so it is (not unexpectedly) a profligate power user. I do a lot of shoot, review, delete, and re-shoot so my battery use is probably a bit heavier than that of most P&S digicam users, but the included AA batteries (a pair of Panasonic LR6 Alkaline AA's were packed with my test unit) only lasted long enough for the DCR test lab to run its standard array of tests and for one fairly short shooting session for me. A pair of cheap OTC Eveready "Gold" Alkalines purchased when the included batteries failed on me in the field got me through the rest of the afternoon and two longer shooting sessions and three short video clips before they bit the dust.
I bought a four pack of Energizer MAX Alkaline AA's (the World's first zero mercury AA alkalines for environmentally conscious shooters) to replace the Eveready "Gold" alkalines. I promised in my SX150 preview to discuss their performance in the full review - the Energizer "MAX" alkalines (even though they cost twice as much) only did marginally better than the cheap Eveready "Gold" alkalines.
Canon claims the SX150 IS is good for about 320 exposures with a pair of Canon NB-3AH (2500 mAh) NiMH rechargeables - I couldn't find any numbers for OTC Alkaline AAs, but I'm guessing (based on my experiences with the camera) that it is less than 100 exposures. Most shooters should opt for re-chargeable NiMHs or more expensive Lithium AA's because OTC alkaline AA's will be too expensive long-term as a power source and should only be used as a last resort or when traveling.
The SX150 IS's multi-mode pop-up flash provides an acceptable selection of artificial lighting options, including Auto, Flash On, Flash Off, Slow Sync, and Red-eye reduction plus menu options including flash exposure compensation at +/- 2 EV in 1/3 EV increments. According to Canon, the maximum flash range is a bit more than 18 feet, which seems a little optimistic given the small size of the flash. Based on my very limited flash use, the flash recycle time is between 4 and 5 seconds with OTC Alkaline AA's.
The Canon PowerShot SX150 supports SD, SDHC, and the SDXC format memory cards, but provides no internal memory. The SX150 IS also provides Eye-Fi Card support.
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Translate this page Rainbow approves $1.2 million contract for design of Beck Reservoir UV disinfection facilityThursday, December 12th, 2013 Issue 50, Volume 17.
The Rainbow board voted 5-0 Nov. 19 to authorize staff to enter into negotiations with Arcadis for a professional services contract for a price not to exceed $1,232,246. "This is an important project for the district because it is our principal emergency storage reservoir," said Rainbow general manager Brian Brady. "It is important that we install this new equipment and reactivate the reservoir as soon as possible." Beck Reservoir was constructed in 1983 and has a capacity of approximately 204 million gallons. The earthen embankment reservoir was initially built for fire suppression and emergency purposes and to improve water reliability for the Beck pressure zone. Current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency surface water treatment rules require that the reservoir must either be covered or provide disinfection treatment. The Rainbow district received a compliance order for the Beck Reservoir and other uncovered reservoirs, and after building the 6 million gallon Pala Mesa Tank, the Beck Reservoir was removed from service while district staff completed studies analyzing the best long-term use. The Rainbow board was presented with several options at board meetings earlier this year. Ultraviolet disinfection was deemed the most feasible of the various options which also included abandoning the reservoir, using it for raw water or recycled water storage, and installing floating covers. On May 28, the board directed staff to move forward with a plan to use ultraviolet disinfection Advertisement The estimated cost for the ultraviolet treatment option is $10.4 million including additional localized piping changes. Chloramination and other chemical facilities will be required to increase the chlorine residual from the water. The primary operations and maintenance cost would involve instrument and analyzer calibration and the cleaning of the UV reactors when the facility is in service. The Beck Reservoir could be monitored remotely. On June 27, Rainbow submitted a request for California Department of Public Health (CDPH) approval for the installation of an ultraviolet disinfection system at Beck Reservoir. Rainbow and CDPH staff met on Aug. 8, and on Oct. 24 CDPH district engineer Sean Sterchi sent Brady a letter providing conditional approval. The conditions included a permit amendment application to allow CDPH to review the proposed design and construction. During the process, Rainbow also provided a draft request for proposals for CDPH to review, and CDPH recommended the addition of a subtask involving coordination between the contractor and CDPH. Rainbows final request for proposals was sent to three firms which were deemed pre-qualified due to their design expertise and their expertise in UV disinfection. Arcadis, Black and Veatch, and Carollo all responded. Rainbows staff reviewed and ranked the proposals and conducted interviews with two finalists before determining that Arcadis was the most qualified firm to work with the district. 0 comments Be the first to share your opinion on this article!
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Quotes & Info
EGL > SEC Filings for EGL > Form 8-K on 3-Feb-2014 | All Recent SEC Filings |
Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement, Completion of Acquisition or
Amendment to Credit Agreement
On January 31, 2014, Engility Holdings, Inc. (the "Company") and its wholly owned subsidiary, Engility Corporation, entered into a First Amendment to the Credit Agreement among the Company, Engility Corporation, the subsidiary guarantors party thereto, Bank of America, N.A. (as administrative agent, swing line lender and letter of credit issuer) and each of the lenders listed on the signature pages thereto (the "First Amendment"). The First Amendment provides for $150,000,000 in incremental senior secured credit facilities (the "Incremental Senior Credit Facilities") subject to the terms of the First Amendment and comprised of:
� an incremental term loan facility of up to $75,000,000 (the "Incremental Term Loan Facility") incurred pursuant to and in accordance with the existing credit agreement by and among the Company, Engility Corporation, Bank of America, N.A., as administrative agent, and each of the several lenders from time to time party thereto, dated August 9, 2013 (the "Existing Credit Agreement" and as amended by the First Amendment, the "Amended Credit Agreement"); and
� an incremental revolving credit facility of up to $75,000,000 (the "Incremental Revolving Credit Facility") to be incurred pursuant to and in accordance with the Existing Credit Agreement.
A portion of the proceeds of the Incremental Senior Credit Facilities were used to pay a portion of the Offer Price (as defined below) for the Shares (as defined below) of DRC (as defined below) accepted for payment upon the expiration of the offering period of the Offer (as defined below), as well as for repayment of certain of DRC's indebtedness in connection with the Merger (as defined below).
The Incremental Term Loan Facility will mature on August 9, 2018 and the Incremental Revolving Credit Facility will terminate on August 9, 2018. The Incremental Senior Credit Facilities will bear interest at the same rate as borrowings under the Existing Credit Agreement, which is a variable rate per annum equal to an applicable margin, plus, at Engility Corporation's option, either (1) a base rate determined by reference to the highest of (a) the prime rate of Bank of America, N.A., (b) the federal funds effective rate plus 0.50% and (c) a LIBOR rate determined by reference to the cost of funds for U.S. dollar deposits for the interest period of one month plus 1.00% or (2) a LIBOR rate determined by reference to the costs of funds for U.S. dollar deposits for the interest period relevant to such borrowing. The applicable margin depends on the consolidated leverage ratio of the Company, Engility Corporation and its subsidiaries. The applicable LIBOR margin varies between 2.25% and 3.25%, and the applicable base rate margin varies between 1.25% and 2.25%.
All obligations under the Amended Credit Agreement are unconditionally guaranteed by the Company and certain of its direct or indirect wholly owned domestic subsidiaries. All obligations under the Amended Credit Agreement, and the guarantees of those obligations, are secured, subject to certain exceptions, by substantially all of the assets of Engility Corporation and the assets of the Company and Engility Corporation's subsidiary guarantors.
The terms of the Amended Credit Agreement permit prepayment and termination of the loan commitments at any time, subject to certain conditions. The Amended Credit Agreement requires the Company, Engility Corporation and certain of Engility Corporation's subsidiaries to comply with specified financial covenants, including the maintenance of a certain consolidated debt service coverage ratio and consolidated leverage ratio. The Amended Credit Agreement also contains various covenants, including affirmative covenants with respect to certain reporting requirements and maintaining certain business activities, and negative covenants that, among other things, may limit or impose restrictions on the ability of the Company, Engility Corporation and certain of Engility Corporation's subsidiaries to incur liens, incur additional indebtedness, make investments, make acquisitions and undertake certain other actions. In addition, the Company is also subject to a passive holding company covenant that limits its ability to engage in certain activities. The Amended Credit Agreement also contains certain customary representations and warranties and provisions related to events of default (including upon a change of control).
The foregoing summary of the First Amendment does not purport to be complete and is subject to, and qualified in its entirety by, the full text of the First Amendment, which is filed as Exhibit 10.1 hereto and incorporated herein by reference.
Completion of Tender Offer
As previously disclosed, on December 20, 2014, the Company entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the "Merger Agreement") by and among Engility Corporation, Engility Solutions, Inc., a Massachusetts Corporation and wholly owned subsidiary of Engility Corporation ("Purchaser"), and Dynamics Research Corporation, a Massachusetts corporation ("DRC"). Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, Purchaser offered to purchase all outstanding shares of DRC common stock, par value $0.10 per share (the "Shares"), at a purchase price of $11.50 per Share (the "Offer Price"), to the holder thereof in cash, without interest, less any applicable withholding taxes, upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase dated December 30, 2013 (the "Offer to Purchase") and in the related Letter of Transmittal (which, together with Offer to Purchase and all amendments and supplements thereto, collectively constituted the "Offer").
Upon the expiration of the offering period of the Offer at midnight, New York City time, on Tuesday, January 28, 2014 (which was the end of the day on Tuesday, January 28, 2014), Purchaser accepted for payment approximately 9,025,528 Shares, representing approximately 86% of DRC's then issued and outstanding Shares. In addition, as of the expiration of the offering period of the Offer, notices of guaranteed delivery were delivered with respect to approximately 126,106 Shares, representing approximately 1% of DRC's then issued and outstanding Shares.
Consummation of Merger Transaction
On January 31, 2014, pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement, Purchaser merged with and into DRC, with DRC continuing as the surviving corporation and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company (the "Merger").
In order to accomplish the Merger, on January 29, 2014, Purchaser exercised its top-up option pursuant to the Merger Agreement (the "Top-Up Option"), which permitted Purchaser to purchase directly from DRC, at the Offer Price, a number of newly issued Shares (the "Top-Up Shares") equal to the number of Shares that, when added to the number of Shares owned by Engility Corporation, Purchaser or any other subsidiary of Engility Corporation at the time of such exercise, constituted at least one Share more than 90% of the fully diluted Shares then outstanding (after giving effect to the issuance of the Top-Up Shares).
Based on the Offer Price and the number of Shares validly tendered and accepted for payment at the end of the offering period and after exercising the Top-Up Option, the value of the Shares (excluding the Top-Up Shares) purchased by Purchaser in connection with the Offer on January 31, 2014 was approximately $105,147,973.
As a result of the Merger, each outstanding Share not acquired in the Offer (other than (i) Shares owned by Engility Corporation, Purchaser or any of their direct or indirect wholly owned subsidiaries, (ii) Shares owned by DRC or any of its wholly owned subsidiaries and (iii) Shares held by shareholders who properly exercise appraisal rights under Massachusetts law, if any) was cancelled and converted into the right to receive $11.50 per Share in cash, without interest and subject to any required withholding taxes.
The foregoing description of the transactions consummated pursuant to the Merger Agreement does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Merger Agreement, which was filed as Exhibit 2.1 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on December 23, 2013, which is incorporated herein by reference.
On January 31, 2014, the Company borrowed $210,000,000 under the Incremental Senior Credit Facilities and the Existing Credit Facility in connection with the Company's acquisition of DRC.
Item 8.01. Other Events.
On January 31, 2014, the Company issued a press release announcing, among other things, that it had completed the Merger. A copy of that press release is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1.
(a) Financial Statements of Business Acquired
The applicable financial statements of DRC required by this item will be filed by amendment to this Current Report on Form 8-K no later than 71 calendar days after the date this Current Report on Form 8-K is required to be filed.
(b) Pro Forma Financial Information
The applicable pro forma financial information required by this item will be filed by amendment to this Current Report on Form 8-K no later than 71 calendar days after the date this Current Report on Form 8-K is required to be filed.
(d) Exhibits
Exhibit No. Description of Exhibit 2.1 Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of December 20, 2013, by and among Dynamics Research Corporation, Engility Corporation and Engility Solutions, Inc. (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 2.1 of the Current Report on Form 8-K filed by Engility Holdings, Inc. on December 23, 2013)* 10.1 First Amendment to the Credit Agreement, dated as of January 31, 2014, among Engility Holdings, Inc., Engility Corporation, the subsidiary guarantors party thereto, each of the lenders listed on the signature pages thereto and Bank of America, N.A. (as administrative agent, swing line lender and letter of credit issuer) 99.1 Press Release issued by Engility Holdings, Inc. on January 31, 2014 |
* Certain schedules referenced in the Agreement and Plan of Merger have been omitted in accordance with Item 601(b)(2) of Regulation S-K. A copy of any omitted schedule will be furnished supplementally to the Securities and Exchange Commission upon request.


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The Battle of Baqubah I
Major offensive in al Qaeda's so-called capital of the Islamic State of Iraq
The Diyala Campaign is underway. As part of major offensive operations throughout the belts regions of Baghdad, Iraqi and U.S. forces have launched a large scale operation in the city of Baqubah the provincial capital of Diyala. Dubbed Operation Arrowhead Ripper, the offensive is massive. This is a division sized operation of "approximately 10,000 Soldiers, with a full complement of attack helicopters, close air support, Strykers and Bradley Fighting Vehicles." Over 30 al Qaeda operatives have been killed since the 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division kicked off the operation with a "quick-strike nighttime air assault."
Elements of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, and the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, are operating in Baqubah along with the 2nd Brigade of the 5th Iraqi Army Division. American forces are in the lead of the assault, with the Iraqi Army in support. The 2-5 Iraqi Army Brigade killed four al Qaeda after receiving sniper fire, and captured 2 others.
The New York Times, which incorrectly reported the operation as consisting of 2,000 U.S. troops, reported that the western portion of the city of Baqubah as been sealed off with ground and air units as troops pursue the 300 to 500 Qaeda believed to be operating in the area.
The 1920 Revolution Brigades, which turned on al Qaeda in Diyala and cleared the city of Buhriz with U.S. assistance, is actively working along side Iraqi Army units in Baqubah "The Iraqi forces were joined by some members of the 1920s Revolutionary Brigade, a Sunni Arab group with units that have recently repudiated a longstanding alliance with Al Qaeda, and witnesses said the two groups were welcomed by the residents," note the Times.
Back in May, we noted Diyala has become the main hub of al Qaeda's operations. Al Qaeda in Iraq made Baqubah he capital of its rump Islamic State of Iraq last year. Since the inception of the Baghdad Security Plan in mid-February, the security situation, which was deteriorating after U.S. forces pulled back last fall, has markedly worsened. Al Qaeda has prepared fighting positions, supply bases, IED traps, bomb rigged buildings, and training camps in the province.
Over 2,000 hardened al Qaeda fighters fled Baghdad and are operating in Diyala. An American intelligence official and a U.S. military officer informed us that al Qaeda is operating along the lines of Hezbollah's military structure in Lebanon. Al Qaeda attacks in the region proved this, as a series of assaults along the Iranian border and elsewhere in the province bore the hallmark of a well led, well trained fighting unit.
The fighting in Diyala will be hard. Al Qaeda is organized in small military units with infantry, mortars, anti-tank and anti-aircraft teams, as well as suicide and IED cells and the accompanying logistical nodes. Al Qaeda has been conducting a terror campaign to remove tribal leaders and others who oppose them, while waging a campaign of intimidation designed to cow the local population.
The Diyala Campaign has been a long time coming. The 10,000 U.S. troops and supporting Iraqi units won't sit pat in Baqubah but will reach out to strike at other al Qaeda bases in the troubled province. These areas include Khalis, Muqdadiyah and a host of small towns up and down the Diyala River Valley and along the Iranian border where al Qaeda has established bases, training camps and logistical nodes.
READER COMMENTS: "The Battle of Baqubah I"
Posted by Tony at June 19, 2007 10:21 AM ET:
Bill, would you call this a major combat operation?
Posted by DJ Elliott at June 19, 2007 10:30 AM ET:
From just below the title above: "Major offensive in al Qaeda's so-called capital of the Islamic State of Iraq"
Last I checked, offensives are combat operations.
This is just the MND-D portion of the Battle of the Belts. MND-C and MNF-W have their own Major ops ongoing as well while MND-B is continuing clearing Baghdad. Prob the largest coordinated operations since May 2003. Four coordinated joint Division scale operations all concentrated within 35 miles of Baghdad.
Posted by ECH at June 19, 2007 10:33 AM ET:
2000 Pehsmerga soldiers were moved about a week ago. I wonder if Diyala has its own ERUs yet? The combination of the tribes, Baathists, Peshmerga, and ISF will give our troops a much better chance to make this operation a success.
I hope we have prepared for large numbers of al-Qaeda to suddenly appear in Saladin.
Posted by avidbuff at June 19, 2007 10:47 AM ET:
Bill, I want to thank you for the incredible effort you are making to bring this news to us. An amazing effort!
Posted by joe at June 19, 2007 11:52 AM ET:
I would expect the jihadists that are not killed or captured to flee to salahadin province or mosul. I recently read that mosul a city in some 2 million has only a small force of US troops presently. Theyll probably go there.
Posted by DJ Elliott at June 19, 2007 12:12 PM ET:
The reason we have such a small presence in Ninawa is that 2nd and 3rd IA Divs are among the four best IA Divisions.
Also, the two Bdes of 2nd IA Div (HQ Mosul) that were on vacation to Baghdad have returned to home areas.
- One of the new forming Divisions is being formed by spliting 4th IA Div (Sulmaniyah/Kirkuk/Salahadin) and adding to it. Elements are already there.
- Taji has been augmented with 1st INP Mech Bde and elements of new forming 4-9 Mot Bde.
If they run north, we win...
If they run south, we win...
If they run west, we win...
The only direction that is not augmented is east (Iran). Escape to the Persians.
Considering Iraqi Nationalism, that means:
We win...
That is what the surge is about. Providing enough forces to deny them an escape route...
Posted by Andrew R. at June 19, 2007 1:38 PM ET:
My biggest worry is whether those IA and IP units that have shown themselves capable of operating with minimal adult supervision are able to hold up if they're faced with AQ in concentrated numbers. If they are, then we win (in the sense of leaving behind an Iraq that's a unitary state and not run by the Ba'ath party or Al Qaeda). If, though, they're not (a la Diyala in 2005-2006), then Iraq is in even more serious trouble than it currently is.
Posted by anand at June 19, 2007 1:42 PM ET:
To add on to DJ's comments, Ninevah has 18,000 IP (including at least 3 QRF combat battalions or "ERU's" if you like with a 4th one being trained). This is in addition to more than 20,000 3rd and 2nd IAD soldiers. (They had 20,000 before the 2nd IAD brigades returned from Baghdad. Note that parts of 2nd IAD might still be in Diyala.)
Aside from growing IED attacks on the ISF (maybe civilian targets as well?), most trends in Ninevah (including other types of attacks) are positive.
Going to Ninevah is like Moths to the flame.
9th IAD's 3rd tank brigade, 4th motorized brigade, and IA 4-4 are waiting for Diyala spillover in Salahadin. (2-9 Tank brigade is also listed as in Diyala, but with its FMC BSB, it could be redeployed anywhere in Iraq fairly quickly, and it might be part of the current offensive with OPSEC.) This is IA 4-4's first live fire exercise . . . and we are going to find out how good they are. In addition, the Salahadin provincial and local police, as well as the provincial government, are far better than in Diyala, and most of Baghdad. Probably better than their counterparts in al Basrah.
The weakest part of offensive are the ISF in Diyala (they are supposed to be augmented by parts of 2nd and 4th IAD), but that is why there are over 2 US brigades in the fight there. There are reports that the local and provincial Diyala police do "NOT"� inspire confidence.
DJ, you mentioned that you consider 2nd and 3rd IAD to be two of the 4 best divisions in the IA. The other two are 4th and 1st presumably.
Although 4th Iraqi Infantry division's readiness is likely to fall temporarily as it is upgraded and split into two mech divisions with one tank brigade, two mech brigades, 3 BSBs, 1 maintenance bn and 1 engineering bn each. That is going to be a brutally tough transition an amazingly short period of time. 9th Iraqi Mech (being upgraded to Armor) division's readiness is also like to temporarily suffer as cadre are taken for 4th/12th and the newly forming Southern Mech IAD.
I would order the IADs in quality ATT as:
1st IAD
2nd IAD
3rd IAD
4th IAD (despite being split)
9th IAD (despite losing cadre to newly forming Mech Divisions)
6th IAD (despite having 11th joint IA/INP division split off from it)
8th IAD (pretty good and close to independent, but without major challenge in its AO, and still largely Shia which makes it suspect in other parts of Iraq)
7th IAD (Now close to logistically self-reliant and in the lead)
5th IAD (major leadership problems now being fixed)
10th IAD (maybe upgrading to Mech?) (three brigades okay, Basrah Brigade not so good, and 5-10 just forming)
11th IAD (forming)
12th IAD (forming)
13th IAD (forming last)
Posted by Tony at June 19, 2007 3:38 PM ET:
Thanks DJ. I just wanted to know whether this offensive was classified as a "major" combat operation.
For the last few years the MSM has been undermining morale on the home front for The Long War by telling us that major combat operations in Iraq have ended.
We need to understand that this is indeed a Long War and that major combat operations are continuing and in my judgment will need to continue for a very long time, as part of this Long War.
We need to prepare for the long haul here. This fight against al Qaeda could obviously take decades but it is my view it is more likely to take centuries before they disappear from the face of the earth.
And the MSM needs to stop telling us that major combat operations are over in Iraq and start preparing us for the Long War. We will all need to make huge sacrifices, not just the brave young men and women in uniform.
Posted by Mark at June 19, 2007 3:55 PM ET:
Interesting. If these sorts of offensives are maintained for a few months, in combination with the new alliance of tribes and Sunnis, it should probably have an even stronger effect than past operations.
I'll keep checking in for updates.
Nice piece as usual Bill.
Posted by Richard1 at June 19, 2007 5:27 PM ET:
Al-Qa'ida Leader Arrested in Muqdadiya
Diyala under Curfew as Large-Scale Operation Targets Province
Muqdadiya, June 19, (VOI)- A joint force of Iraqi and U.S. forces arrested on Tuesday the leader of al-Qaeda armed group in Muqdadiya, Diyala province, where a curfew imposed as a large-scale security operation started to hunt down armed groups, a police source said.
"A joint force of Iraqi and U.S. forces waged on Tuesday afternoon a security crackdown north of Muqdadiya after receiving reports that asserted the presence of al-Qaeda group leader, Mohammad Khaled al-Haron , in the district," the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
"Al-Haron was responsible for many attacks, in the district in addition to issuing Fatwas (religious edicts) asserting that Muslims in Diala are infidels," he also said. "The operation ended also with the confiscation of amounts of weapons," the source noted.
Posted by Firght4TheRight at June 19, 2007 6:47 PM ET:
Great, great reporting here by all of you, thank you! This offensive has been so anticipated, and to see it finally happening, is great to see. I, for one, have complete faith in the plan and the execution by our troops and I think as the offensive gains momentum, and results become more and more obvious, you will see the Iraqi troops step up and show they can more than hold their own.
It's stated that over 30 Al Qaeda have been killed so far. That leaves 1970 or so and I hope we get every single one of them. My hope is we get them before they cross into Iran - it's my belief that given the fact they are being pursued by American troops, the Iranians will let them in and give them a "pass."
Posted by Barry S. Hauser at June 19, 2007 7:45 PM ET:
Thanks for the update. I am just glad to see that the US and Iraqs are starting to fight this as a war.
Posted by diana at June 20, 2007 1:12 AM ET:
Amazing reporting, thankyou.
Posted by Rubin at June 20, 2007 1:49 AM ET:
Tony, "For the last few years the MSM has been undermining morale on the home front for The Long War by telling us that major combat operations in Iraq have ended."
Yes, thank you. A sadly pathetic but most important dynamic to remind everyone about..
The MSM, the current crop of rapporteurs express their contempt for the current mission in A-stan and Iraq every day.
That's Right, sometimes subtlety but usually overtly, they express Contempt for the mission, Contempt for the job that the Best of us Americans are performing every single day. How could you ask for more courage when they already sacrifice life and limb. These truly are the most magnificent Americans.
This new crop of media are the fruit of their anti-Military fathers from the Vietnam era, who were the shallowest generation of news men and women ever.
Just in case you weren't alive back during the war in Vietnam, the elite Media back then from editor to correspondent were packed full of themselves [hubris] and envy.
They pretended to know better because than our courageous men and women [military] because they had bull-shitted themselves into believing that they were SUPERIOR than the American Marines, Soldiers, Airman, Coast Guardsmen, and Navy.
There wasn't a Ernie Pile, Bill Roggio or Michael Yon or Pat Dollard amongst the lot of them. [except Galloway]
Today the "rapporteurs' and editors come up with the most slanted articles and Headlines.....
"The Powerful Islamic Courts.."
"The Deadly Spring Offensive.."
You've seen them.. an article that calls the Coalition "invaders" and yet calls the Paki terrorist in A-stan, "the insurgents".
media Cliches on top of Stereotypes.
They are possessed by an evil that is tireless and will keep on trying to demoralize us, and we must never forget that *OUR* job to defend liberty and freedom is a battle never finished.
what do you call an old antique Media whore that no one pays attention to anymore...?
Posted by Luke Willen at June 20, 2007 5:11 AM ET:
The BBC are just as biased. If there is yet another car bombing in Baghdfdad or Kabul then it was committed by the "Insurgents."
Call it what it is - TERRORISM
It would be a different matter if the enemy confined their attacks to purely military targets. Then they might deserve to be called "Insurgents" However, as we all know on the media's own evidence, this is most certainly not the case.
At least we have people like Bill Roggio who are prepared to stand up and tell us the other side of the story.
What is needed is more sites like this one and more of an effort made to educate the rest of the public about what is really going on and why.
At least that way intelligent people can make up their own minds rather than simply being spoon fed by our so called "independant" media.
Posted by RHYNO at June 20, 2007 8:47 AM ET:
i am pretty sure i read somewhere that Baqubah is surrounded by coalition forces. is this true? if so, we are looking at a fight similar to Fallujah. they got nowhere to go, they either surrender, or die. i would like to know more about the 2nd ID's air-assault. the 2nd is a versatile formation, i know coz i spent a year with the 506 PIR. these guys are top notch, and this op. sounds like overwhelming force is being used. we have momentum, keep it going, there is still a chance for the overall mission to succeed.
Posted by DJ Elliott at June 20, 2007 8:59 AM ET:
5-20 Inf/3-2SBCT did a nightime AAslt with IA Scouts to kickoff the Baqubah part of this offensive.
As RAdm Fox said this morning, MNF-I is doing Corps Level Coordinated Offensive Operations.
The press did not seem to comprehend the scale he was refering to.
In MND-N: I count 2 US and 1 IA Bde in direct action at Baqubah. 1 US and 4 (poss 6) IA/INP Bdes are in blocking positions in the area.
In MND-C: I count 2 US and 1 IA Bde in offensive operations south of Baghdad (Triangle of Death). 1 US and 2 INP Bdes are in blocking positions in that area.
In MNF-W: RCT6, 13MEU and 3-6 IA Bde appear to be the teeth while elements of 1st IA Div are blocking.
In MND-B: Clearing continues in Rasheed and Sadr City.
In MND-SC and SE: So far it is raids against JAM.
Posted by Anti-Herman at June 20, 2007 11:27 AM ET:
Casualties seem to be down considerably. Is this just a lag in reporting or is this the result of pacification?
Posted by Ammo Guy at June 21, 2007 6:31 AM ET:
In terms of what constitutes a "major operation", the Joint Publication 1-02, Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms, defines it as follows: "A series of tactical actions (battles, engagements, strikes) conducted by combat forces of a single or several Services, coordinated in time and place, to achieve strategic or operational objectives in an operational area. These actions are conducted simultaneously or sequentially in accordance with a common plan and are controlled by a single commander. For noncombat operations, a reference to the relative size and scope of a military operation."
You can draw your own conclusions as to how big a force should be to reach this threshold, but the Joint Pub also defines a "major combat element" as follows: "Those organizations and units described in the Joint Strategic
Capabilities Plan that directly produce combat capability. The size of the element varies by
Service, force capability, and the total number of such elements available. Examples are
Army divisions and separate brigades, Air Force squadrons, Navy task forces, and Marine
expeditionary forces."
So, my take (for what it's worth) would be a division or so, though a souped-up brigade might also qualify.
Posted by DJ Elliott at June 21, 2007 6:53 AM ET:
Ammo Guy
Don't you just love those official definitions? Nothing dryer than a military publication. Great for insomnia...
"MNF-I is doing Corps Level Coordinated Offensive Operations."
Corps Level is well past the definition line.
Baqubah (Ripper Arrowhead) has four US and three ISF Bdes directly involved and rates that definition on its own.
There are three other operations ongoing under MNC-I's overall "Phantom Thunder".
- Marne Torch
- Commando Eagle
- Fardh al-Qanoon
Plus whatever the MNF-W op will be called...
Posted by RHYNO327 at June 23, 2007 11:52 AM ET:
thanx for the info DJ. sounds like Baqubah is surrounded. thats wat i read somewhere. DJ, where is our heavy armor being used? and in wat role? haven't heard much about the 101st, even though they have 3 out of 4 regiments deployed. can you, if possible, give me an answer to these 2 questions? i think ur doing a REMARKABLE job. hearing that the 327, 101st is part of this and doing well would mean alot. my thoughts and prayers to all who fight this evil. who would think a form of religion would be the biggest threat to world order...keep up the outstanding work DJ & Bill
Posted by DJ Elliott at June 23, 2007 12:03 PM ET:
The 1st, 2nd and 3rd BCTs of the 101st do not deploy to Iraq until this fall.
As to the armor, the symbology on the map is accurate and the legend is bottom left...
Posted by anand at June 23, 2007 9:26 PM ET:
101st Airborne will be a great asset, and QRF when they arrive. I suspect that in addition to their strategic oversight functions, they will also be tasked with a lot of "3D" ops, such as civil affairs, training, advising, governance etc. The 101st are very good at relief operations etc.
The current opp will probably be the last great offensive opp in Iraq by our GIs. The mission is shifting to civil affairs, and enabling Iraqis.
Posted by RHYNO327 at June 25, 2007 8:38 AM ET:
DJ, thanx for clarifying that for me, since i thought they were already in theater. ANand, thanks to you also for pointing out the versatility of this formation. they will be performing all ops mentioned above, God willing, when they get there. the fall is 8 weeks or so away, so i bet thier days are well spent, and they will be READY. Godspeed 101st..


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Home › Academics › Honors Program › Honor Societies › Alpha Epsilon Delta
Alpha Epsilon Delta is an honor society with the objective of stimulating an appreciation of the importance of premedical education and to promote cooperation and contacts between medical and premedical students and educators in developing an effective program of premedical education. Alpha Epsilon Delta is the National Health Preprofessional Honor Society dedicated to the encouragement and recognition of excellence in preprofessional health scholarship, including medicine, dentistry, veterinary, and others.
The Society welcomes all students engaged in the pursuit of a professional healthcare career. AED offers opportunities for intellectual and professional development, provides a forum for students with common interests, and extends a program of service to benefit the college/university community.


text:
Please be patient. Sexy Friday is on the way. Hey everybody. I've got Sexy Friday duties this week, but I'm backed up with work at Uproxx brothers Warming Glow and With Leather. In the meantime, please accept this post on the bikini-riffic trash TV show "Battle of the Bods" as a placeholder.
I want more like this!
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