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|Questions raised about use of tornado sirens
|Written by Kyle Arnoldy
Sirens are a very prominent component of life in Holyoke. They sound a minimum of three times on any given weekday and more in emergencies. But during the recent storm that overtook the town, many wondered why no siren was sounded to warn citizens of the tornado threat.
To understand why sirens weren't whistled the evening of Monday, April 8, it is important to understand the protocol involved.
The communications center is responsible for sounding the tornado siren, which blows for three consecutive minutes. Once the center receives a report of a tornado in the area, whether from the National Weather Service through Sterling or from a citizen, a trained tornado spotter is then sent out to determine the validity of the claim. Once verified by a spotter, the alarm is sounded when the tornado is within 10 miles of Holyoke.
Upwards of 50 people in Phillips County, including first responders, have taken the training class put on by the National Weather Service to become certified spotters.
The communications center was actually in touch with the National Weather Service the night of the Holyoke storm, but their radar did not indicate the presence of a tornado. Holyoke had been placed under a tornado warning, but spotters were unable to locate a tornado in the area, so the tornado sirens were never put to use.
Kenny Gaskill, communications center director, noted the difficulty in spotting a tornado at night because the only source of light is the lightning that generally accompanies the twister.
Members of Holyoke City Council also addressed issues with the tornado siren at the April 16 meeting, discussing the catch-22 scenario that sounding the tornado siren presents.
If sounded every time a warning is issued instead of when a tornado is within 10 miles, citizens may begin to ignore the sirens as they become more common. During the April 8 storm, Holyoke was put under a tornado warning on two separate occasions during the night.
Unnecessarily sounding the alarm can present a new series of issues in the community. Those at the hospital and at Regent Park are moved to hallways when the alarm is sounded. If multiple tornadoes are in the area, it may be several hours before an all-clear siren is sounded, even if the tornadoes never come within 10 miles of town.
City Superintendent Mark Brown notified members that even if a tornado was spotted and it was determined that a siren was necessary April 8, a main line fuse had gone down in the storm. Two of the five sirens, located on the golf course and at the intersection at Gordon Street and Evans Avenue, would not have worked.
Holyoke Enterprise April 25, 2013


text: By Jan RahnManaging Editor Superintendent Tobin Buchanan will be leaving his post at Perkins County Schools around the beginning of July to start a position he has accepted with First National Capital Markets of Nebraska in North Platte. Buchanan has served as superintendent of schools since the fall of 2007 when he and his family moved to Grant from Arlington where he had been an elementary principal. His new position will deal in public finance with non-profits such as schools, cities, counties or health care facilities in helping them finance projects such as school bonds or hospital expansions. Buchanan faced a tough decision in leaving the school district he has been so dedicated to for the past several years. The offer for employment with the finance firm presented itself due to his relationships built over the years with people in positions that assist schools with financing. He said the company he is joining was seeking someone living in the western end of the state who already has established relationships with superintendents from other districts; this would be beneficial in helping the company expand their business to the greater Nebraska area. "This is an opportunity for advancement that presented itself that allows us to remain in a school district we love and in a community we love," said Buchanan. He and wife, Michelle, and their three young sons, Will, who is nine, Beau at age seven, and Ben, who is six, will continue to live in Grant. His new position with an office based in North Platte will involve some day travel to areas of the state. The Perkins County Board of Education is exploring the possibility for short and/or longterm leadership to fill Buchanan's position. He believes the board won't have any difficulty filling the open position because of Perkins County's reputation and student performance record. "This community has a great reputation, and I have a fantastic board," said Buchanan. Michelle Buchanan will continue in her position as half-time math instructor at the high school, however, will not continue as head coach of junior high volleyball.

subset: commoncrawl


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Plan and share activities for IYC 2011
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In this section, your ideas for IYC2011 can start to become reality. Here, you can submit activities for consideration and, after a short review, they will be listed below and any related events will populate the IYC calendar. Activities listed here have a clearly defined theme and describe how, when, and where they will take place.
If you are not quite ready to submit a plan, keep working at it and come back soon. And remember, you can always browse and search this forum to find out what others are planning and even add your own comments to the discussion.
Currently viewing all activities tagged with workshops - See all activities
14th Norwegian Winter Meeting in Mass Spectrometry Dag Ekeberg | added on Nov 05, 2010 | Norway The Norwegian Society for Mass Spectrometry (NSMS) has the great pleasure of inviting you and your colleagues to the 14th MS-winter meeting. The Seminar will take place 23 – 26 January 2011, and is held at the Quality Hotel & Resort Hafjell, 20 km north of Lillehammer.
International Conference on the Chemistry of Glasses and Glass-Forming Melts Lisa Fearn | added on Nov 05, 2010 | United Kingdom The International Conference on the Chemistry of Glasses and Glass-Forming Melts in celebration of the 300th anniversary of the birth of Mikhail Vasilievich Lomonosov
A Series of Chemistry Popularization Workshops Brijesh Pare | added on Nov 03, 2010 | India For Indian Middle, High and Secondary level school students and Teachers. Organizations of chemistry popularization workshops by quizzing the students of Indian school of class 7th to class 12th and Teachers. In India we propose to conduct 10 such workshops during IYC - 2011
|workshops, hands-on activities, art, sustainable and green chemistry, competition
|students, educators, professors, teachers, secondary schools, educational institutes, high schools, middle schools, higher secondary schools
Natural Products Research Network for Eastern and Central Africa (NAPRECA) Solomon Derese | added on Oct 23, 2010 | Kenya The theme of the symposium is "Natural Products from African Biodiversity" and experts in the area will present papers on the structure elucidation, biological activity, potential use as drugs and synthesis of Natural Products.
|symposium, workshops, hands-on activities
|students, professional chemists, professors, post graduate students, tertiary education, research scientists, women chemists, universities
XVII Congreso Argentino de Fisicoquímica y Química Inorgánica Juan Ferrero | added on Oct 19, 2010 | Argentina This meeting is organized by the AAIFQ. It will be held in Córdoba, Argentina, May 3 -6, 2011 in celebration of the International Year of Chemistry, as a meeting point of Chemistry, Physics and Biology.
|conferences, celebrating chemistry, workshops
|professional chemists, students, educators, industrial chemists, professors, post graduate students, universities, research scientists


text: Transmedia: Entertainment reimagined Transmedia 08 July 10 by Tom Cheshire and Charlie Burton This article was taken from the August issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing onlineEsther Robinson got off the R train in Astoria, Queens, and started walking to the American Museum of the Moving Image. It was a warm July evening in 2007 and Robinson, then 37 years old and a filmmaker, had come with a friend to see a movie, Head Trauma. As they approached the cinema, she noticed that the payphones were ringing -- all four of them. "You forget payphones exist," recalls Robinson. "That was the first thing I noticed." She picked one up: all she could hear were fragments of a conversation, "sounds of madness". Outside the cinema, a preacher in short sleeves and a tie was raving, handing out apocalyptic comic books to passers-by. He pressed one into Robinson's hand as she hurried past, anxious to get to the film. The opening credits prompted the audience to send in a text to a given number. As the film rolled, they started receiving "weird text messages"; phones were ringing.The film was about a drifter who inherits his mother's house and starts to lose his mind. The next day, back in Brooklyn, Robinson found the comic in her handbag. On the back was written: "Do you want to play a game?", along with an address, headtraumamovie.com. She typed it in to her computer. What she found was an online game that continued the story. "In the middle of it, the phone rang," she says. She recognised the voice. It was the film's "hooded villain". He started asking questions: "Do you feel guilty? Have you ever lost consciousness?" Last, he asked Robinson to tell him her darkest secret. Her answer started playing back on a loop through her computer speakers. Robinson clicked on the exit box. She kept clicking, but nothing happened. Her phone buzzed with a text: "Where are you going? We're not finished yet…" At that point, Robinson was dumped into a conference call with other cinema goers who had just gone through the same experience. "We were all like, 'What the fuck was that?' It was totally nuts."Unwittingly, she had just participated in an emerging form of mainstream entertainment. Lance Weiler, the creator of Head Trauma, had programmed software to make all the payphones on the block ring. The preacher was an actor, a lead in the feature. Based on the participants' responses to the automated phone calls, audio and video launched on the desktop screen. The exit box was a fake. Clicking on it sent that last text. For Weiler, a 41-year-old New Yorker, the experience "demonstrated the fluidity of an audience. After the movie ended, it followed people home."This is transmedia storytelling. Large studios and broadcasters, as well as independent filmmakers such as Weiler, are building fictional worlds that smash through their frames on to multiple platforms. Unlike quick promotional spin-offs, this new type of tie-in extends, rather than adapts, storylines. It tells various parts of the story using distinct media, exploiting the qualities unique to each platform. So when you watch a TV show, you might follow a sub-plot that spills on to the web, then read the dénouement in a graphic novel. Yes, writers have long created worlds that go beyond the page -- L Frank Baum did as much with his 1900 novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, whose story world he expanded into a musical and other books. But today's transmedia producers are planning for multiple platforms from the start. They design fictional universes that are consistent however the audience engages. The trend is already reconfiguring the industry, affecting everything from how stories are made, down to titles on business cards. In April, the Producers Guild of America, which represents production staff in TV, film and online, ratified a new credit: transmedia producer, which codified these characteristics. Jeff Gomez, a videogame producer, was instrumental in pushing the credit: in 2000, after becoming excited by the multiplatform genre, he had left his job as an editor at Acclaim Entertainment to start Starlight Runner, a transmedia production company. After he successfully extended the Hot Wheels brand across videogames, TV and film in 2003, a string of Hollywood studios asked him to create multiplatform worlds for the likes of Pirates Of The Caribbean, Avatar and Tron 2. This side of the Atlantic, broadcasters are taking the lead, using transmedia to invigorate small-screen titles such as Emmerdale and Doctor Who. In a world of multichoice TV, mobile and the web, competition for viewers has never been greater, and audience attention never more fragmented. That's why many content creators are betting that transmedia will focus it once again. Read page 2 123 Read on one page Latest on wired.co.uk


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Anushka Sharma in Jab Tak Hai Jaan
Courtesy: Yashraj Films
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This is one good example of when nice things come out of annoying situations. I won't go into it too much here, but my landlord is the worst landlord on the planet. I have a whole list of reasons to dislike him and how he treats his tenants. Poetic justice has actually been served, however, because he fled from the US recently after being charged with something like 13 counts of fraud or some such nonsense. So now his adult children run the family business, but you know what they say about where the proverbial apple falls.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Lavender and Crème Fraîche Scones
14 comments:
- captaintodd said...
This is my favorite post so far! So controlled and with the perfect hint of bitter anger. And it all seems to work so well presented with this subtle little treat. You are some kind of brilliant. :)
- March 21, 2009 at 5:21 PM
- Hayley said...
Sorry about your awful landlord. I hope you get a fridge soon.
These scones sound wonderful. I'm making some tomorrow for brunch, and I might have to steal some ideas from you. Thanks Andrea!
- March 21, 2009 at 6:46 PM
- Zita said...
Saw it on RM, great pairing for scone's flavor :)
- March 21, 2009 at 6:58 PM
- Snooky doodle said...
Hope you have a nice, new fridge soon. I m sorry for the awful landlord. These scones look good.
- March 21, 2009 at 8:59 PM
- Dana Treat said...
I think Starbucks has forever ruined us in our taste expectations for scones. They aren't supposed to be sugar-y gut bombs, they should be much more subtle. Yours look lovely!
You make me feel guilty because I have not one, but two refrigerators. I wish I could loan you some space!
- March 21, 2009 at 9:56 PM
- unconfidentialcook said...
Hmmm, lavender. I've never cooked with it. Thanks.
- March 21, 2009 at 10:11 PM
- Angela said...
Nice scones, Andrea! Way to go with making the most out of a rough situation and using what you had -- fast. That's the sign of a great cook! These look delicious. I hope it works out with getting a new fridge!
- March 21, 2009 at 11:24 PM
- The Food Librarian said...
These look delicate and fantastic! Sorry about your yucky landlord!!!
- March 22, 2009 at 4:55 AM
- anna said...
Those look amazing. I'm totally on a lavender kick right now. And I don't know anything of these overly-sweet Starbucks scones you speak of - the scones I'm used to come from the local coffee shop and are more like hard buttermilk biscuits (usually) with dried fruit in them. I can definitely see how lavender would work in a scone!
- March 22, 2009 at 4:53 PM
- Esi said...
Sorry about your landlord and refrigerator. Although, it may be worth it for these lovely scones.
- March 23, 2009 at 2:18 AM
- zested said...
Gotta love renting in NYC. Glad you found a lavender lining.
- March 23, 2009 at 7:03 PM
- Janine said...
Heavenly! Have to try this!!
Great blog; happy I found you!
- March 22, 2011 at 9:17 AM
- Janine said...
Heavenly! Have to try this!!
Great blog; happy I found you!
- March 22, 2011 at 9:18 AM
- Abby Mifsud said...
Yum! Looks lovely and delicious :)
- March 20, 2013 at 8:57 PM


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And more!
11. When will the recovery slider NOT TO make a plain bad looking highlights with a HUGE PEAK of repeated tones in the highlights histogram?
12. When will contrast work from the middle of the histogram and not from the middle of the histogram box?
For those who also knows Aperture, you may notice how GOOD Aperture handles color separation when talking about temperature and color re-interpretation.
I used Lightroom since it came into existence, for many years, and for many purposes and styles, then I used it more for landscape photography, but sunsets tends to look FLAT when trying to separate the colors by using ANY color adjustment (WB, Split Toning, Camera Calibration). So for portrait much better not to use it because of the UNREALISTIC (over saturated reddish/orangeish) skin tones it gives.
So, since a year ago, I'm just using Aperture 3. It's also the way of cheaper.
So, for what is good Lightroom? For black and white. It really does good results.


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Will Padres' pitching stack up to NL West's?
On paper, just for starters, roll call is rough.
Opening Day pitcher Edinson Volquez, while a strikeout artist, led the National League in walks last year. The starting pitcher for the home opener, workhorse Clayton Richard, gave up more hits, homers and RBIs than any NL pitcher in 2012.
Three of the promising young starters who likely would've been in the Padres rotation — left-hander Cory Luebke and righties Joe Wieland and Casey Kelly — already have had all or much of this season wiped out by the need for Tommy John surgery on their pitching elbows.
Two of the five starters, rejuvenated southpaw Eric Stults and Jason Marquis, are journeyman cut by other clubs last season. The latter, though esteemed for his fielding prowess, has had each of his past two seasons ended prematurely by bone fractures on comebackers to the mound. Just freaky stuff.
Andrew Cashner is a long, tall Texan who throws 100 mph regularly, but hasn't been available regularly due to injury, the latest of which was a pitching hand accidentally sliced by the knife of a hunting pal while skinning a deer. Healed and back at work before anybody expected, he's been vying for the No. 5 spot with 6-foot-6 newcomer Tyson Ross, a former top prospect with the Oakland A's who was the biggest pleasant surprise of training camp.
And there you have it. The San Diego Padres rotation.
Clean start: The 2013 Padres
Health, schedule might slow Padres start
Padres' new brass definitely on hot seat
Will Padres' pitching stack up to NL West's?
"We have what we feel are very capable starting pitchers," said manager Bud Black, a man who knows pitching better than any other manager in the majors. "The names might not resonate nationally with other pitchers in our division, but our guys have talent. We feel they can pitch with anybody."
You know what he meant. The ever-bouyant and optimistic Black may very well be right, too. The aforementioned Padres will, however, have to pitch against guys who aren't just anybody.
For all the local concern over the absence of position players Chase Headley, Yasmani Grandal and Logan Forsythe from the Opening Day lineup, this is the National League West Division, where even the mightiest of batting orders tend to be less important than the pitchers that teams trot out to the mound on an everyday rotational basis.
"It is the best pitching division in baseball, and because of the way pitching subdues hitting out here, I think it's very underrated," said Padres pitching coach Darren Balsley. "We've jumped up on people in the past and had people saying, the Padres have a pretty good pitching staff, but without the All-Star names in there. These guys we have now can pitch."
The Los Angeles Dodgers will open with the best left-handed pitcher in baseball, Clayton Kershaw, who won the Cy Young Award in 2011 and placed second last season. L.A. will follow with a right-hander, Zack Greinke, whose Cy Young in the American League might partly help explain why the Dodgers gave him $147 million over the winter.
The Dodgers spent a total of $61 million more for likely the best pitching import of the offseason, Ryu Hyun-jin of South Korea, adding the southpaw strikeout artist to a rotation with Josh Beckett and Chad Billingsley. Not to mention veterans Ted Lilly and Aaron Harang.
The San Francisco Giants, defending champions of both the division and the World Series, have two pitchers with three combined Cy Youngs in Tim Lincecum and Barry Zito. They're deemed only the fourth- and fifth-best Giants starters behind Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner and Ryan Vogelsong.
If only to keep up, Arizona has solidified its rotation with Ian Kennedy, Trevor Cahill, Wade Miley, Brandon McCarthy and another rookie of the year candidate, southpaw Tyler Skaggs.


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Lena Headey
Birth Name: Lena Headey
Born: 10/03/1973
Birth Place: Bermuda
Born: 10/03/1973
Birth Place: Bermuda
Lena Headey was born on Oct. 3, 1976 (though some sources cite 1973) in Bermuda, where her father, a British police officer, had recently been transferred for his job. She spent her earliest years in the British territory before she and her parents returned to England, where Headey grew up mainly in Yorkshire. A shy tomboy with one younger brother, Headey began to take an interest in acting through a local youth theater group. While still in high school at Yorkshire's Shelley College, she was "discovered" during a theatrical performance and offered a role in "Waterland" (1992), making a saucy debut in a supporting role as a sexually precocious schoolgirl. The following year she portrayed a q... Continue Bio >>
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Whether you're a parrot "newbie" or and experienced birder, caring for parrots is both incredibly enjoyable and sometimes stressful and worrisome. Sort of like parenting! We want to make caring for parrots less stressful by providing important bird care information about a variety of common and even unusual topics pertaining to caring for your bird. Plus, we're dedicated to answering important bird care questions. After 15 years of caring for our own parrots, we are constantly learning.
These exotic pets are such fun, interactive companions, but they require knowledgeable bird care practices to thrive to their potential. Without expert bird care, your parrot may develop frightening habits like picking or mutilation, biting and screaming.We parronts worry about health, mental health, nutrition, enrichment and training all of the time. Here at BirdSupplies.com, we want to make bird care easier by researching answers to your questions.
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You can view your pictures as a full-screen slide show. When you do this, you can choose which pictures you want to appear in your slide show, and you can also control the speed at which your slide show plays.
Open the Pictures library by clicking the Start button , and then clicking Pictures.
Click a folder that contains your pictures, and then click Slide show.
Your pictures will begin to play full-screen as a slide show—starting with the first picture in the selected folder.
To stop playing the slide show, press ESC or right-click the slide show as it plays, and then click Exit.
Slide shows run automatically, so you don't need to use the mouse or keyboard to move from one picture to the next. However, if you want to control the slide show, you can do so at any time by right-clicking the slide show to display a menu with control options, and then clicking one or more of the slide show options. For example, you might want to make the pictures appear in a random order, go backward or forward, pause the slide show, change the speed of the slide show, or exit to stop playing the slide show.
You can view your pictures and videos as a full-screen slide show. You can select which pictures you want to appear in your slide show, and you can also control the speed at which your slide show plays.
Open Windows Photo Gallery by clicking the Start button , clicking All Programs, and then clicking Windows Photo Gallery.
Click the pictures you want to display in the slide show.
To select more than one picture, hold down the CTRL key while you click the pictures you want. To include all of your pictures in the slide show, don't click any pictures.
Click the Slide Show button at the bottom of Photo Gallery to start the slide show.
If you don't select any pictures, or if you only select one picture, the slide show will play all of the pictures in the current view of Photo Gallery.
Slide shows run automatically, so you do not need to use the mouse or keyboard to move from one picture to the next. However, you can take over the controls of the slide show at any time. The slide show controls are located at the bottom of the screen and will disappear if you do not touch the mouse or keyboard while the slide show runs. To make the controls reappear, move the mouse. This is what the controls look like:
If you don't see these controls, your slide show is running in Basic mode. In Basic mode, you can't play videos or change themes, but you can control other aspects of the slide show. Right-click the slide show to display a menu with control options. For information about how to avoid Basic mode and see the slide show controls, see "Improve your slide show's visuals" later in this topic.
In order to see your slide show with high-quality visuals (including videos, themes, and transitions), you need to have a subscore of 3.0 for the Graphics category in the Windows Experience Index. Some themes also require your computer's graphics card to have a feature called Vertex Shader 2.0. To take advantage of all slide show capabilities, you might need to upgrade to a more powerful graphics card. For more information, see Ways to improve your computer's performance.
See all support pages for music, photos, & video.
Ask a question in the
community forums.


text:
Marija over at Women's Tennis Blog stumbled upon these images of the adidas by Stella McCartney 2008 Fall/Winter Collection.
The designs continue to feature amazing detailing, particularly for sports apparel, including pleating, rouching, layers, drawstring, and even a bubble skirt which all help to keep the pieces looking feminine. The colorways, however, are simple and mostly neutral allowing the eye to focus on the many details of the clothing.
So when are we going to see Ana Ivanovic working this collection? I know Maria Kirilenko wears this line, and she wears it well, but this clothing really needs to be worn by tennis' top lady baller.
How great would this clothing look on Ana's tall, lean frame and against the beautiful tone of her skin and dark features? I can see her wearing this collection at Wimbledon already.
C'mon adidas - make the offer!
(via womenstennisblog)
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
FASHION FIX: New adidas by Stella McCartney revealed + ready for Ana Ivanovic
Marija over at Women's Tennis Blog stumbled upon these images of the adidas by Stella McCartney 2008 Fall/Winter Collection.
Labels: fashion, sponsorship, Stella McCartney for adidas, style, tennis
10 comments:
this is some great stuff. i agree, ivanovic would look good in these outfits.ReplyDelete
I like Stella's designs so much that immediately after writing about them on my blog I felt the urge to buy something of Stella's clothes. I went to adidas, but I was only window shopping. :/ Praying for the day when Stella will send me something to review. :)ReplyDelete
"Praying for the day when Stella will send me something to review."ReplyDelete
...and keep might I add!
- AnonymousJuly 29, 2008 at 3:22 PM
I don't like them at all. They look dowdy. I like what Ralph Lauren does, nice crisp and clean tennis wear.ReplyDelete
The "keep" part goes without saying. :DReplyDelete
I don't like Stella's designs at all, personally. And I still hate that bubble skirt.ReplyDelete
- Uvijek ArgenJuly 29, 2008 at 8:29 PM
Oh my eyes!! what you have dont Rich?? what you have dooone!! : )ReplyDelete
oh, i love it!i'm not a big fan of bubble skirts, but i love stella's designs, i would so wear it on the court!ReplyDelete
oh the drama! it seems you either love it or hate it...ReplyDelete
Ew I don't like. Although I agree that Ana and Adidas need to spice it up a bit.ReplyDelete


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bareMinerals Natural Pink Delicious Lip Gloss Kit is an irresistible collection of specialty items from the bareMinerals Lip Gloss line. Each of the four shades in the bareMinerals Lip Gloss collection is inspired by cake. Strawberry Shortcake is a pink/lavender shade. The Birthday Cake is a fruity shade. The 7 Layer Cake is a light pink and the Cupcake is a rose color. The mini bareMinerals Lip Gloss goodies can easily be tossed into a hand bag and reapplied throughout the day. bareMinerals Lip Gloss can add a little pizzazz to any outfit and liven up every day makeup. The mini size allows for fun on the run.
You may purchase bareMinerals lip gloss as a single purchase or save on bareMinerals lip gloss when you setup an automatic shipment.


text:
That's really nice! What state?
I shot these 2 deer within 400 yards, so i decided to put them together on a pedestal. One was with muzzleloader and the other with my bow.
That's really nice! What state?
Live to hunt, hunt to live.
Wow, that looks great! Nice deer too!
My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives.
Very nice! They really compliment each other. Awesome job by the taxidermist.
Every hunting season you miss is one you can not make up.
Great job, they look great together!
Shoot STR8
Thats sweet, Congrats sir!
Looks great!
That looks really good. Nice white tails
-NRA Life Member
Those are a pair of great lookin buck and a really awesome mount. Congrats!
Wow what a awesome mount!!! Congrats!


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Hundreds of illegal licenses granted in DMV scam
Do you ever wonder about those drivers who cut you off, swerve into your lane, zoom through stop signs or otherwise break the law: How in the world did they pass their driving test?
It's possible they didn't.
A scheme that took root in or around 2010 at the Department of Motor Vehicles offices of El Cajon and Rancho San Diego resulted in hundreds of standard and commercial driving licenses being granted to people who failed or never took their driving tests. Applicants "who were unwilling or unable to pass the required DMV written and driving tests would speak with the recruiters. … If they paid the fee, they would not have to take any of the required tests in order to receive a license," federal court records state. The arrangement "created a significant public safety risk," the records continue.
"It's the first time I've seen anything like this," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Orabona.
Last week nine people were charged with bribery and conspiracy, including a DMV supervisor, Jesse Mario Bryan, 36. Thursday, four defendants were arraigned. If convicted, they face prison time and fines of up to $250,000. Last May, 21 others involved in the same scheme were indicted; several of those defendants have since pleaded guilty.
In complaints for both related cases, investigators describe a two-tier scheme where members of the public bribed purveyors of illegal licenses, and where these middlemen bribed DMV employees for the licenses. The investigators offer some colorful details: furtive glances exchanged between alleged co-conspirators, flurries of text messages that discussed timing and pricing, and cryptic shorthand.
The text messages also suggest that the alleged participants put profits over safety: In one exchange from December, 2011, a DMV driving exam proctor named Jim Bean allegedly noted that a fake license applicant was a poor driver. "She gonna kill someone," he wrote, a court record states. The man who was selling the woman the license and bribing the DMV replied, "Oh, I didn't know. She said I'm driving ok. If u want u can skip it." Bean, the DMV employee, immediately wrote back: "I need cash so as long as she gets help." The recruiter then paid the DMV employee for a passing driving test score, court documents allege.
DMV officials declined to comment.
Here's how this underground market, which produced hundreds of illegal licenses, operated:
Investigators found that from December 2010 or earlier, to April 2012, license applicants were allegedly invited to pay between $400 and $3,000 for the privilege of skipping written and behind-the-wheel driving tests. A cut went to DMV examiners and a cut went to the people who recruited the license applicants, which included a driving instructor and his assistants. In all, the bribes surpassed $100,000, an FBI investigation found. Complicit DMV employees reportedly received around $20,000 of those bribes.
DMV auditors got wind of the activities when they discovered several "highly suspicious" transactions starting in December 2010. "Despite the fact that the written and driving tests for Class C licenses should take at least 20 minutes each, DMV auditors found multiple transactions involving BRYAN, and others, where an applicant completed the entire license application process (from completing the initial application, to taking the applicant's photograph, to completing the required tests) in under 30 minutes," the federal complaint states.
The FBI's investigation involved a sting operation, a wiretap, inspection of surveillance footage and DMV records, one-way recorded interviews, and turning some of the alleged co-conspirators against one another. In the six-month sting operation, undercover agents bought four standard licenses for $500 each, the complaint states. One of the recruiters assured an undercover agent not to worry because he had done this "many, many times."


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Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton's nominating commission has been quietly reviewing applicants for U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia since April, and I've reported the names of five who have been interviewed. Yesterday, a person with knowledge of the process told me of a sixth: Fried Frank partner Michael Bromwich, who served as the Justice Department's inspector general during the Clinton administration. (Bromwich declined to comment.)
Bromwich, who heads the firm's Internal Investigations, Compliance and Monitoring practice group, brings some heavy credentials to a mix that includes Assistant U.S. Attorney Roy Austin Jr.; Nixon Peabody partner Anjali Chaturvedi, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr partner Ron Machen; Channing Phillips, the District's acting U.S. attorney; and Shanlon Wu, of Wheat Wu.
Chaturvedi, Machen, and Wu were all AUSAs in the District. Bromwich was an AUSA in the Southern District of New York in the 1980s and later served as associate counsel in the Office of Independent Counsel for Iran-Contra. At Fried Frank, Bromwich splits his time between the firm's New York and D.C. offices, and since 2002, he's been the independent monitor for the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department on use of force issues. Click here for his firm bio.
In late May, the 17-member commission tasked with reviewing candidates for U.S. attorney began interviewing the candidates, one of the final stages before the body makes its recommendations Norton. Still unclear is whether Norton will forward all of the commission's recommendations to the president or pluck her favorite from the list. Her office has repeatedly declined to say, and my former colleagues at The National Law Journal wrote earlier this year that Norton and the White House could be in a bit of a row over the issue.
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe partner Pauline Schneider, who chairs the commission, could not be immediately reached.


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|Sluggers back in action in Neb.
|Written by Holyoke Enterprise
The Holyoke Sluggers continue to stay busy with summer tournament as the young team traveled to Ogallala, Neb., Saturday-Sunday, June 8-9 for another tournament.
In the first match of the tournament, the Sluggers fell to the team from North Platte, Neb., 6-5. The Sluggers were actually down 6-0 in the last inning but made a run at the end that nearly tied the game.
Caleb Deaver and Mason King combined to allow seven hits and two walks while striking out eight.
In another close game, the Sluggers fell to Scottsbluff, Neb., 5-4. Blake Mosenteen threw the first six innings and King and Deaver finished the last inning. The trio combined to allow six hits and six walks and struck out seven.
Mosenteen led the way at the plate with a double and a triple while King and Trevor Peterson each contributed a pair of singles.
Holyoke faced the same two teams on Sunday and managed to even their records with both squads.
The Sluggers took down Scottsbluff 6-5 in the day's first game. Peterson and Deaver pitched for the Sluggers, allowing six hits and three walks and striking out four.
Slaten Burris and Peterson each hit a single and double in the match.
For the last game of the tournament, Holyoke took down North Platte 9-3.
Mosenteen threw a complete game, allowing six hits and striking out six.
Mosenteen helped his own cause at the plate, lacing two doubles in the game. Xander Speicher and Peterson each had a single and a double in the game as well.
"Overall, we played really solid and smart defensively and got very good pitching," coach Ron Lock said. "We played the same teams both days so it's good that our wins came on Sunday. I guarantee you that we feel better about how we finished the tournament than the teams we played do."
Holyoke Enterprise June 13, 2013


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Hi all,
I found an old piece I drew on paint a few years ago. I've just added some effects on GIMP (of which I am still a beginner) and thought someone might appreciate it or, even better, have some suggestions, even though it's still just a WIP.
I thought about calling the main two continents, or at least their largest regions, Leviathum and Behemothia, after the mythology between Behemoth and Leviathan.


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DigitalGlobe - high-res satelite earth photos
Our DigitalGlobe collection gives you exclusive access to the world's highest-resolution commercial satellite photos.
You'll find hundreds of thousands of images from around the world, offering a rare and fascinating perspective on everything from land masses to objects as small as 60 centimeters in diameter.
Use the search box above to find the DigitalGlobe images you're looking for.


text:
Law Firm Program: Immigration Law (7090)
This course will provide students the background to evaluate the immigration-related impact of a simulated corporate transaction. Students will gain an understanding of commonly used U.S. work visa categories, employment-based immigration, immigration-related employer compliance, and issues raised when a business is reorganized, acquired or merged. Students will engage in due diligence, review and draft analyses, conduct research, and interview company employees to recommend steps to be taken to keep both employees and the business in compliance in a multinational business context. Either LAW 2960 Immigration Law or LAW 6230 U.S. and Canadian Immigration Law will satisfy the prerequisite.
Course Details
- Credits: 2


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Live in harmony with the natural world around you when wearing one of these brilliantly designed Men's Indian costumes for Halloween or a fancy dress party. The Indians category embraces the traditions and culture of the first inhabitants of the North American continent. If you want to get in touch with a spiritual side you've never tapped into before, then you'll certainly want to do so in any one of these handsome costumes.
Beige is a common color scheme with these costumes because they are meant to give the impression that they've been fashioned from the hides of animals hunted and reused for the good of the tribe and its members. Many of the pants and tops also feature frayed trim details that add a woodsman feel to the overall presentation of the costumes.
Additional features also include items like headpieces, arm bands, and beaded chest pieces. These items are often decorated with colored feathers that add a brilliant contrast of color to the beige of the pants and tops. Other than the tunics and fringe, you may also be interested in adding additional props for reenactments. Assorted bow and arrow sets and tomahawks can also be added to enhance the costume.
Dedication is key with the costumes in the Indians category. These are meant to honor those who settled and lived with nature, rather than against it. You will be humbled by the experience of wearing these men's Native American costumes.


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Russian Circles -- Cleveland, OH -- November 18th, 2011
Venue: The Grog Shop
Source: Yours Truly
So originally I was thinking about going to Shittsburgh to see this tour on 11/11/11, because when the tour was first announced, the Clevetown show was scheduled on a night which my wife would normally be working, and I didn't think it would be a wise move to ask her if I should get a babysitter for the kids just so I could go to a show where I had other options. Plus, the PA show had Young Widows on the bill, and even though I'm a little perplexed by their most recent album, I have seen them in the past (opening for Russian Circles, as a matter of fact), and I liked them a great deal. Their 2008 release Old Wounds kicks all kinds of ass. Plus, the bonus of seeing a show in Dah Burg is that there's always a stop at the poker tables afterward.
Anyway, I found out a few weeks ago that my wife actually had the night off on 11/18 - and not long thereafter, I found out Akron, Ohio's own If These Trees Could Talk would be opening this show. That was all it took. Done deal. I was there.
When we first got there, we happened upon the unofficial frontman and one of several guitarists (there are three, not including the bassist) for Trees, namely Mike Socrates. He was just as gracious as the other two times I've met him, and if anything more so. This time around, he shared with me some tidbits about a new album that they're trying to have finished by the end of 2011 for a Spring 2012 release, and a tour in April that is said to include Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia (are you reading this, br00tle dissent?).
Anyhow, Trees took the stage at around 9:30, and for the duration of their relatively short set (about thirty minutes or so), they mesmerized every mother fucker in the Grog Shop that night (most of whom were presumably there to see Circles). They played a song and a half, if you will, from their new album, and judging by what we heard, the new release is going to be every bit as awesome as their previous two. Mike said it's going to be the heaviest album of theirs yet - something he really pushed for, according to him - and I would say that the samples we got tend to bear out this claim. The first new song was the opener for their set (which Mike said is also set to be the opener for the album), and it was tremendous. The second new one was actually an intro for another song on the album - a song which isn't yet finished. Neither track has a name yet.
If These Trees Could Talk
[New Song]
What's In the Ground Belongs to You
Above the Earth
Below the Sky
[Intro to New Song]
Thirty-Six Silos
From Roots to Needles
Before the above set, I also had occasion to speak to two other individuals. I'll get to the third in a moment, but for now I'll mention that the second guy I talked to was the insanely emotive screamer from deafheaven, George Clark. I'll tell you what - this guy was not what I expected at all. He had a really short haircut (a lot like mine, truthfully), was neatly dressed and very well spoken, and was thin and very tall (I'm 6'-4", and I think he may have been slightly taller than I am). For a screaming black metal vocalist, I wasn't expecting this dude at all - but we had a nice chat about the album, the tour, and of all topics, somehow we ended up talking about file sharing, which George seemed to be totally in favor of with respect to the band he's in, because it gets their name out there one way or another (an opinion which I find to be surprisingly common among small-ish bands who are still trying to make a name for themselves). Anyway, this smiling and polite gent from San Fran proceeded to transform into a demon possessed about an hour later when he and his mates took the stage. Rocking back and forth while gripping the mic stand like it was his last handhold on life and grimacing at the crowd like a caged animal, he proceeded to scare the living shit out of nearly everyone in the place. deafheaven played only three songs that night (the first two of which I'm fairly sure about and the third I am certain), but those three songs were (a) thirty minutes long in total, and (b) packed full of more emotion that many sets twice that length that I've stood through before.
This band is really something. The only suggestion I would make is that if you're thinking about going to see this tour (and by all means, I strongly suggest you do so), you might want to familiarize yourself a bit with the songs on this monster of an album, because it's a little difficult to pick out all of the nuances of the songs unless you've already heard them before. deafheaven's music is dense and complex, and quite frankly the acoustics are probably going to be set up for Russian Circles, who have a completely different sound altogether. Still, if nothing else, the sheer intensity of deafheaven's set should knock your fucking socks off one way or the other.
Language Games
...and then there was the main event.
Now mind you, this was my fourth time seeing the inimitable RUSSIAN CIRCLES crush some fucking heads, and I knew when I bought the ticket that this night was going to be one for the record books. Before the first band played, as I described above, I got to meet Mike from Trees and George from deafheaven, and both conversations were great. However, as I was finishing up talking with George, I looked over at the merch table for the headliner and who do I fucking see standing there selling gear but the band's rhythmic phenom Dave Turncrantz? Now this was a surprise in and of itself, because of al the times I've seen these cats, I've never seen a single one of them when they weren't on the stage. I've always read that they're pretty private guys who prefer to let the music speak for itself and not have their performances be about over-the-top personalities or something like that (hence the almost complete lack of vocals in their music). I've always joked that Russian Circles is the Daft Punk of post metal (Manks might get that one, amongst a few others).
So anyway, I never thought I'd get a chance to talk with any of these guys in person, and that was fine with me. To each his own. Even though I'd love to shake their hands and tell them I think they're one of the best post-metal bands to have ever played, I just figured you gotta respect them for wanting it to be all about the music. So the last thing I expected when I approached Dave was for him to be as genuinely outgoing as he actually was. I told him my name and said I was a big fan of their work, and he smiled graciously, looked me in the eye, shook my hand and said, "right on - thanks, man!". I was stoked. Not only was this guy not the shy, hermit type I thought he might be, but he was actually downright friendly and talkative.
We chatted for a bit about the new album - which I told him was more of a grower than any of the previous ones, but that I was really starting to think it might be some of their best work yet - and about other stuff like the fact that Dave really likes playing the Grog Shop and has really fond memories of their shows in Clevetown. We talked about the other tours they've been on, and I told him that I've seen them on tour for all four of their albums, including their show with Clutch back in 2008. He laughed about that one and said that they got heckled on the first show of that tour by some rabid Clutch fans, but after that, the rest of the tour was fantastic for them. I told him about how that was one of my favorite shows of theirs not only because of the sound in the Newport being incredible, but also because of all the Clutch fans I saw with their jaws on the ground saying "who the fuck are these guys?!? They are totally fucking awesome!" You're got damn right, you knuckle-dragging scumbags.
Anyway, the Chi-town trio commenced to take the stage at around 11:30 and of course, they completely blew the fucking doors and roof off that fucking popsicle stand. The sound was so awesome, and it filled that relatively small little joint to the rafters. The volume was incredible, yet the clarity of the music was top notch. That, and the stage at the Grog is about two feet off the ground, giving folks such as myself a place to park their fat asses while taking bootleg videos of the whole affair (don't worry, I asked the band like I always do if it was OK with them ). I think it's some of the best video I've ever taken, but I haven't reviewed it all yet. The one thing that sucks for taping these guys is that the lighting is really low, so you have to get creative on how you're gonna film. Anyway, I digress.
Before they started playing, I asked a guy who was standing near me if he'd ever seen Russian Circles live, and he said no. I told him he was in for a real treat, and his friend next to him smiled and said "hell yeah, he is!". I looked over at him during the second or third song, and he was grinning like he was getting a hummer from the porn star of his dreams, so I figured I had advised him correctly. The set was just over an hour long, and as per usual, did not include an encore (but they almost never do). The lights went down between every track, but the sound never stopped. There was a continuous hum of feedback and noise the entire time, and in the darkness while Mike Sullivan set up his dizzying array of pedals for the next track, the excitement in the air was palpable. The buzz was both literal and figurative at the same time. Speaking of the lights being down, this was also the case for almost all of the epic track Philos, which is not too shabby on album but which is an absolute crusher when played live at full volume in the fucking dark.
Harper Lewis
Anyway, I'm running out of things to say, and it's time for me to go upstairs and watch some TV with my five-year-old before sending him off to bed. I know there's some stuff I forgot to mention, but this feels like a pretty thorough account. Let's put it this way - not only was this probably the best show I've seen this year (top three, at least), but it's probably one of my personal favorites of all time. It wasn't huge, it wasn't in an arena, there were no pyrotechnics or other such trickery, but simply put, this show gave me just about the highest value for my entertainment dollar I've ever received.
Three bands - all awesome in their own way - one of which is one of my personal favorites of all time - and I got to meet a member of each band and have a great conversation with him...and I got to tape the headliner from six feet away in high def. All for the low low price of twelve fucking damn dollars. That's right, bitches. You so fucking jelly it says "Smuckers" across your fucking forehead.
9/2 Chelsea Wolfe
10/16 Kylesa / Inter Arma / Indian Handcrafts / Irata
11/13 Windhand / Monolord
12/30 Clutch
Great review. I'm also going to see them for the 4th time and plan on having the same experience.
George is one of the kindest guys I've had the pleasure to talk to this year. Total class act. Dave gave me a sweaty hug after their show in Pittsburgh
True Widow: 4/27
No Joy: 4/30
Youth Code: 5/2
Lush: 5/6-7
Mitochondrion: 5/21
This sounds so incredible.
@ Rocco: Thanks, man. Hope you have a blast (I'm sure you will).
@ Moobs: Sounds like Dave might be coming out of the green room on a regular basis for this tour - that's awesome. I wondered if it was a fluke in my case or not. I did notice that, after leaving the merch table shortly after talking to me, he never came back out again after that (even though he told their merch guy, "I'll be right back." ).
@ JD: I know I have a way of hyping up the things I like quite a bit, but this show really was something to behold. Both ITTCT and deafheaven were awesome. Russian Circles keeps getting better and better at what they do, and their live performances are where they really shine, in my opinion. Some post-metal is sweeping and expansive and dense, and that's definitely OK for bands that specialize in that sound, but RC's brand of post-metal is more about rhythm and melody and movement and VOLUME than any other band in the genre, and I just fucking love it - especially in a live setting. So much fun.
9/2 Chelsea Wolfe
10/16 Kylesa / Inter Arma / Indian Handcrafts / Irata
11/13 Windhand / Monolord
12/30 Clutch
Oh, and I knew I forgot something. Merch. Trees had both of their CD's for sale (I don't remember the price, but it doesn't matter because this was a one-off show for them), and a really cool vinyl version of their latest album. deafheaven had their album available in vinyl only - George told me that the CD's had sold out in only a few days. Circles had copies of Empros on CD and vinyl - $12 for the CD (which I bought from Dave himself ), and I didn't catch the price on the vinyl.
All three bands had a limited number of shirts (and a few hoodies), in a very limited range of sizes. The largest size RC had was XL, and since that's too small for me, I didn't buy one. Their shirts are very cool, though - both literally and figuratively. They have four different designs on this really awesome tri-blend material that's very stretchy and light, and comfortable as fuck. I have two of them with designs from the last tour, and I wear them to bed every night. So comfy. You can buy them at www.hellomerch.com for twenty clams if you're a big fucker like me - they have XXL in every design except the "Geneva" tour shirt (and fuck no, you can't have mine ).
9/2 Chelsea Wolfe
10/16 Kylesa / Inter Arma / Indian Handcrafts / Irata
11/13 Windhand / Monolord
12/30 Clutch
I've been meaning to read this review and comment, and after reading it all I can say is NATRLHI YOU'RE A LUCKY BASTARD.
If These Trees Could Talk
Tides From Nebula
I am waiting for you last summer
The American Dollar
Moonlit Sailor
Everything Is Made In China
...Yeah, that stinky little shit.
I'm glad this show was a blast and it's cool you talked to members from every band. I've never been much good at talking to musicians at shows. It's never really the environment I'm looking for.
EDIT: I just gave this thread a 5-star rating
3/12 Pentagram
I actually didn't even know you could do that.
9/2 Chelsea Wolfe
10/16 Kylesa / Inter Arma / Indian Handcrafts / Irata
11/13 Windhand / Monolord
12/30 Clutch
Actually, I do have some new and relevant info about this show. I just watched about half of the video I took from this gig, and it is perhaps the best video I've taken of these guys yet. I was sitting on the stage at Mike Sullivan's feet (right in front of his pedal board - I had to be careful not to bump into it and fuck up his settings) for the whole set...almost "too" close. I noticed several times while reviewing the video that the majority of the sound from the drums was actually live and not filtered through the house's sound system, because I was sitting so close to Dave that I was getting more volume from Dave himself than from the speakers which were next to me and pointing toward the back of the room. I have yet to see if some of the super close-up shots I tried to get turned out, because as I mentioned above, the lighting was a real challenge, but one thing I know for sure is that the audio on this recording is damned good for an amateur bootleg.
Before anybody asks, it will probably not make it to YouTube...at least not for a long while. I have so much shit to do, that downloading these tapes, cleaning up the video and cutting it into separate clips for each song is not gonna happen for quite a while...plus, I'm not sure if I want to post it or not. Usually I tell bands when I ask them to tape that I don't post on YouTube or similar sites, and that usually makes a difference in them allowing me to do it. I didn't mention that to Dave this time around, but I still feel a sense of responsibility to follow my typical M.O. on this one. We'll see. If it's as awesome as I think it may be, I might make an exception...
9/2 Chelsea Wolfe
10/16 Kylesa / Inter Arma / Indian Handcrafts / Irata
11/13 Windhand / Monolord
12/30 Clutch
|deafheaven, if these trees could talk, russian circles
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RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- John Allen Muhammad's attorneys said Friday they are asking Gov. Timothy M. Kaine to spare the life of the mastermind behind the 2002 sniper attacks that left 10 dead in the Washington, DC area because he is too mentally ill to be executed.
Muhammad's attorneys used an unconventional video presentation to plead for his life, compiling recorded interviews with attorneys, mental health experts and witnesses to illustrate Muhammad's mental illness instead of a written clemency request.
Muhammad is scheduled to be executed Nov. 10.
Jonathan Sheldon said he and other attorneys for Muhammad met with Kaine's staff on Thursday to present the 40-minute video of recorded interviews set over graphic information.
A Kaine spokeswoman would not confirm the meeting took place or say whether the governor had received the clemency request. Kaine typically does not act on clemency petitions until after condemned inmates have exhausted their appeals.
Sheldon plans to file an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 3.
Sheldon said he felt like the video would make a "more genuine argument" than a lawyer's written pleas. Virginia has no guidelines on the form of a clemency request.
"Certainly, clemency in almost every case calls for you to make a compelling argument, because clemency is an extraordinary remedy," Sheldon said in a telephone interview.
Sheldon said he did not plan to publicly release the video until after the Supreme Court appeal is filed.
A summary of the clemency request posted on Sheldon's firm's Web site said execution was not justified because of Muhammad's "severe mental illness as illustrated by brain damage, brain dysfunction, neurological deficits as well as his psychotic and delusional behavior."
His attorneys say this was exacerbated by the Gulf War Syndrome he suffered as a sergeant in the first Iraq war.
The announcement says a juror in the case has said that she would not have sentenced Muhammad to death if she had known of his severe mental illness. The U.S. Supreme Court has banned executing the mentally ill.
"Life in prison without the possibility of parole has and will keep the people of Virginia safe," the announcement states.
Muhammad was sentenced to death for the slaying of Dean Meyers, who was shot at a Manassas gas station. Myers was one of 10 people killed over a three-week period in 2002 by Muhammad and his teenage accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo.
Malvo is serving a life sentence.
In August, a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously rejected Muhammad's claims, including that he should never have been allowed to act as his own attorney for a portion of his trial because he was too mentally ill.
Last month, Kaine said on his monthly call-in radio show on WTOP that he couldn't think of any reason he would stop the execution.
"I know of nothing in this case now that would suggest that there is any credible claim of innocence or that there was anything procedurally wrong with the prosecution," Kaine said.
But Kaine promised to review any clemency request.
Kaine, a Roman Catholic, is opposed to the death penalty, but has allowed nine executions in the nation's second-busiest death chamber since he took office in 2006. He commuted one sentence because he said the man was too mentally ill to be executed.
Sheldon said he had faith that Kaine would carefully consider Muhammad's arguments.


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I am looking for a quality camera and quality pics for snorkeling underwater only. What is the best choice ? Sealife Mini II (169.) do both cameras have wide angle lens, and Olympus PT 019 no reviews on this camera? Thank You Lynne
The Pt-019 is simply a housing for the Olympus C5000 camera. You'd need to locate the camera to go with the housing. The Sealife Mini II is the older version and the Mini 2.1 is the newer version of Sealife's camera designed as an inexpensive option for snorkeler and divers. It has a full manufacturer's warranty and has features such as Video with sound, Still images, settings for snorkeling, diving and above water use and more.


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WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama says the acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, Steven Miller, has submitted his resignation in the aftermath of an investigation that found the agency improperly targeted conservative groups.
President Obama says Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew requested Miller's resignation.
President Obama says he also insists that safeguards be put in place to prevent reoccurrence of improper actions.
President Obama has been under pressure to act in the aftermath of acknowledgement by top IRS officials that conservative groups were improperly singled out. An investigation by a Treasury inspector general found that the IRS used inappropriate criteria that identified for review tea party and other conservative groups that were seeking tax exempt status.
President Obama spoke from the White House East Room after conferring with Lew and his top deputy.


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Could this be related to commuting too much?
I commute 150 miles per week on the bike and rarely get any leg pain while cycling. I've been commuting for years, I'm not a youngster, and I stretch almost every day.
If I hike on the weekend, particularly on Sunday after a day of rest, I can get pain in the quads while hiking downhill or down stairs, the pain can be acute. When it happens, the quads hurt as the knee is bent. MD's, PT's, sports MD's have not figured it out yet.
Am I cycling too much?
Anyone have this problem before?
I'm not asking for a diagnosis, just more data points.


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British/Irish boyband One Direction teamed up with the stars of the "Anchorman" sequel this weekend to perform a comedy duet on "Saturday Night Live."
The pop stars were guests on the comedy program on Saturday night along with host Paul Rudd and his movie co-stars, including Will Ferrell, David Koechner and Steve Carell. After exchanging barbs with the group, guest host Rudd declared he had set up a rival "man band", before teaming up with the young singers for a rendition of Starland Vocal Band's "Afternoon Delight," and branding the supergroup "Nine Direction".
In another sketch, (below), Rudd plays a star-struck 1D fan so devoted that he misses the birth of his child while waiting in a concert line and suggests to his wife that they name the baby after a band member.


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If you are exploring central Florida's Polk County, look beyond the usual chain restaurants and fast-food joints to discover some independently owned gems, several of which have been in the same family for generations. Mostly frequented by locals, all these eateries are less than an hour's drive from Orlando.
Harry's Old Place in Winter Haven is lively, low-key, unpretentious and affordable, with excellent fresh seafood.
I tried one of Harry's signature dishes called Harry in the Bag, which is a succulent piece of pecan-coated grouper (shown left) cooked, as you might suspect, in a brown paper bag and served to me there by Harry himself. One caveat: the restaurant doesn't take reservations, and it does get busy.
Harry's Old Place
3751 Cypress Gardens Road, Winter Haven
A charming spot for lunch and a local institution since 1969 is The Barn, the Stable and the Backporch Tearoom. There you can browse through rooms filled with antiques and home decor items, visit the garden shop with its funky yard art, then enjoy a casual, picnic-basket-style lunch that consists of your choice of homemade soup, salad, sandwich and dessert–all for under $8. (Open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 to 4 from October until the last Saturday in May.)
The Barn, the Stable and the Backporch Tearoom
I-4, Exit 48, three miles south on Hwy 557 in Lake Alfred
www.barnantiques.biz (click on Our History)
Finally, nestled on 140 acres and steeped in ambiance (it's on the register of National Historic Places) is Chalet Suzanne, a spot voted one of the top ten most romantic in Florida. Since 1931, the Hinshaw family has been welcoming guests (and many celebrities). The decor alone is worth a visit, for the place is jam-packed with beautiful old lamps, antiques, fabulous decorative tiles and stained glass. These were collected from around the world by Bertha Hinshaw, who founded and developed the business after her husband, Carl, passed away at age 47, leaving her with two small children and the pressing need to earn a living. The award-winning restaurant comprises five dining rooms. There are also 30 guest rooms, a landing strip for airplanes and more, as well as a soup cannery, which was begun in 1956 by Carl Hinshaw Jr. in his garage. Chalet Suzanne now produces 13 gourmet soup varieties and three sauces. The soups have been served in many places, including the spacecraft Apollo 13 and two other Apollo flights. To commemorate this honour, their signature romaine soup has been renamed Moon Soup.
There is also pretty little garden filled with personalized tiles, including some made by celebrities and astronauts. For a fee, you can create your own tile to add to the walls.
Chalet Suzanne Restaurant and Country Inn
3800 Chalet Suzanne Drive, Lake Wales
Cheap retreats On the last morning of our stay, we were to view a vacation rental property. I have to say my first thought was: "Uh oh. Will this turn out to be one of those swamp-land-in-Florida-type sales pitches?" In fact, we were taken to a very pretty and quiet upscale residential neighbourhood, where we toured a fully-equipped, five-bedroom home with ensuite bathrooms, several family and games rooms (in addition to a large living and dining room), laundry facilities and a good-sized, enclosed private swimming pool and spa. This house sleeps 12, and the cost to rent it per night is $150!
I don't know about you, but this seems like an incredible deal to me. Think of the possibilities for a family vacation in the Orlando area (Disney World, Sea World, etc.) or a reunion, or just a nice escape from winter with friends. You can even hire a cook, a concierge, etc. Anyway, there are something like 25,000 vacation homes available in the central Florida area that range in price from $100 to $400 per night. If you want to find out more, you can look on the website of The Central Florida Vacation Rental Managers Association at www.vacationwithconfidence.com.
Next: Searching for signs of spring


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Xiaodong He
June 2007
In this paper, we present a Bayesian Learning based method to train word dependent transition models for HMM based word alignment. We present word alignment results on the Canadian Hansards corpus as compared to the conventional HMM and IBM model 4. We show that this method gives consistent and significant alignment error rate (AER) reduction. We also conducted machine translation (MT) experiments on the Europarl corpus. MT results show that word alignment based on this method can be used in a phrase-based machine translation system to yield up to 1% absolute improvement in BLEU score, compared to a conventional HMM, and 0.8% compared to a IBM model 4 based word alignment.
|Publication type
|Published in
|in ACL workshop on SMT (WMT)
|Association for Computational Linguistics
All copyrights reserved by ACL 2007


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Photo Gallery | News10 My Neighborhood, A Healthy New 2012 Awaits Us, And Our Thanks To You!
My Neighborhood ushered in the New Year 2012, hosting a fun health luncheon at Woodbridge Crossing Restaurant, whose location: 18939 N. Lower Sacramento Road, Woodbridge, CA 95628 on February 9, 2012, but not with all those restrictive resolutions we tend to commit to, and as we know, only are always short-lived, but with strategies which are simple, healthy and rewarding for our physical bodies and our mental and emotional well-being!
Speakers included:
- Michelle Ponto- Fitness author and NPC athlete - Currently based in Sacramento, Michelle Ponto is a NPC bikini athlete and the co-writer of Buff Dad: The 4-week fitness game plan for real guys. She has also written for a number of media companies including CBS News, ABC News, Discovery Channel, The New York Times, and Harlequin.
- Laura McIntosh from Bringing It Home - Bringing it Home is the award-winning, weekly cooking series with James Beard and Emmy Nominated Host, Laura McIntosh. Revolutionary in concept, Bringing it Home shows viewers how to take seasonal ingredients straight from the farm to the kitchen to create fresh and healthy meals for the whole family.
- Dr. David Eibling, Health Plan of San Joaquin's Associate Medical Director
- In-Shape Clubs
Our first speaker was Dr. David Eibling, Health Plan of San Joaquin's Associate Medical Director, who reminded us that as consumers of healthcare, seeking the so-call "sweet-spot," that is, being sure to seek out preventive care in the form of physical examinations, being aware of the basic studies which insure we are detecting medical issues as they arise, stressing that we get the healthcare we need so that we do not become sick are basic to insuring good health.
Dr. Eibling stressed that "get enough health care to keep you healthy" is the goal. We are encouraged by Dr. Eibling to start with two simple principles:
- The right diet
- The right activity
The body is like a checkbook:
Goal: Balanced body = intake/output. If our intake is much greater than our output, we are out of balance and prone to diseased states such as diabetes, congestive heart failure, hypertension and depression.
As Michelle Ponto - Fitness Author and NPC Athlete - addressed us, her bright smile, vibrancy and beauty from within complemented her beauty on the outside – her physical presence was that of grace and poise. As Michelle is the co-writer of Buff Dad: The 4-week fitness game plan for real guys, with Mike Levinson, R.D., Michelle initially a journalist and basic trainer at the time when her blogging and articles had been read, in turn offered her a path to become a co-writer for her book. Her secrets, simplistic as they seem, create lifestyles which pave the way for high self-esteem, good health and overall happiness that comes from a commitment to oneself!
Secret #1: Eat Smarter
Not eating is NOT the solution
Make better decisions – salads vs. lean steak or grilled salmon
Allow a "cheat" meal a week
Prepare in advance – groceries & recipes
Get rid of temptation
Secret #2: Burn Fat
Cardio helps burn off fat
Just 30 minutes a day
Can be anything that keeps heart rate elevated
Challenge yourself
Secret #3: Set A Goal
Short term
Long term
Celebrate our wins (but NOT with food!)
Thank you, Michelle! All in the audience agreed that these goals are so attainable…all we need is to stay focused on our desire to weave this into our thinking…And, as Michelle went on to show us slides of a beautiful woman who is an example to us all, that perseverance is the key to staying on track, and that the commitment of blogging encourages not only ourselves to continue our mission of better health, but those who read our blogs are a very important part of this process, as well. The writer and reader both share in the unique goal of success ~ our blogs of ups and downs in our mission elicits great support from readers, and as well, our sharing via blogging, supports those who wish to join our mission. This is a win-win situation.
In-Shape Clubs stressed the importance of regimen of physical work-out, emphasizing cardio as well as muscle building/toning. As is noted, the greater amount of lean muscle, calories continue to burn well after the end of an exercise session.
In-Shape Clubs offers the following:
Aquatics, Cardio Conditioning, Cycling, Dance Rhythms, In-Shape Kids, Intro Classes, Kickboxing, Mind/Body, Resistance/Sculpt, Seniors, Sports Conditioning.
Free Enrollment: Hurry! Offer Ends February 29, 2012
As Dr. Eibling stressed, diet and exercise are the keys to maintaining a balanced body!
Laura McIntosh was truly a delight! Her articulate, high energy level exuded as she described the culinary delights prepared by Mike, Chef for Woodbridge Crossing. As Laura listed the ingredients for our luncheon, Mike elegantly peeled and chopped, as a chef would do, so artistically demonstrating for the audience the preparation of the following:
Orange BBQ Chicken with Grilled Vegetables
Marinated Red Ace Beets with Arugula, Goat Cheese and White Truffle Oil
Laura went on to mention that as many olive oils possess up to 85% of oil such as canola oil, one needs to be cautious when purchasing olive oil, albeit it is labeled 100% natural olive oil; it just may not be. One 100% natural olive oil sold locally from Lodi: Cecchetti Olive Oil. Laura reminds us that we need to be aware of what is in our diet, our foods and researching ingredients is important such that we are aware of what we are consuming. This, along with proper caloric count, fat content, carbohydrate consumption and exercise are the components which enables us to live healthier.
My Neighborhood, all who attended this New Year commitment to ourselves, thank you for all you shared. Everyone walked away with a feeling that health should be a primary concern and you have, indeed, enlightened us on how to accomplish this!


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68 Dodge Charger - It's Only Original....Twice!Written by on March 24, 2008 Contributors: Mopar Muscle Archives Keystone State Charger's Kept Its Good Looks
Four decades on, the '68 Charger has so much going for it that you find yourself asking, 'What's not to like about it?"
It can't be the styling, which drew lookers--and, more importantly, buyers--into Dodge dealers from coast to coast in huge numbers back then. It can't be the continued demand for it, which has seen prices for used ones stop depreciating over a quarter-century ago. It can't be Mother Mopar's legendary B-Body platform, which wore the '68's first-year-second-generation sheetmetal very well.
Dick and Char Fuechslin of Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania were asking themselves what was not to like about this '68 Charger back in '99, when they got word from a friend that it was for sale. A non-R/T car, it was "fixed up" (how some folks described "restoration" on anything pre-'55 back then) in the mid '80s, a project that included a new coat of Medium Green Metallic paint.
Dick drove out to Shelbyville, Indiana where the car was then--owned by the son of a co-worker of Dick's friend, Ed Eckenrode (who'd given the original 383 a good freshening when he rebuilt it). The deal was made, and Dick drove the Charger back east to his Pennsylvania home.
Since then, Dick's added a new Legendary carpet set, APC leather-and-billet steering wheel and Summit gauges to the cabin;, a Classic Auto Air upgrade to the car's OEM Airtemp A/C system; a Mopar Performance M2 intake topped by a 750 cfm Edelbrock four-barrel; Powermaster 85 amp alternator; a Mopar Perfomance electronic ignition system; as well as Flowmaster Series 70 mufflers in an aluminized 2 1/2-inch dual-exhaust system. He's also rebuilt the front end while adding KYB gas shocks and keeping the OEM power drum brake system, and swapped the stock rims and rubber for five-spoke, 16-inch American Racing wheels on 50-series Parnelli Jones-brand tires.
There's still plenty of original stuff on the car. The vinyl top is one that's survived the ages extremely well, as have the original seat covers and headliner. Plus, when he bought the Charger, Dick scored an original '68-vintage shop manual and parts book--and he found the original broadcast sheet behind the back seat, where it was stuffed during final assembly.
Dick says when he shows it, no one can believe the paint's over two decades old, or the seat covers are originals. We believe it, though some folks may believe that this one's all original.
Except that us '60s-vintage kids never heard the sweet sound of 383s through Flowmasters back then!
More Photos From This Article View Slideshow
Only the APC billet-and-leather steering wheel and Summit gauges are non-period-correct for this '68 Charger. Carpet's a Legendary repro, while the seats still wear their original covers.Though it wears Mopar dress-up items like valve covers and high-flow air cleaner, along with Mopar Performance's electronic ignition and MP2 intake with an Edelbrock 750 four-barrel, the 383 you see here is this Charger's original engine. There's a Comp Cams hydraulic cam-and-lifter set inside.Yep, that's what folks called Charger's clock-tach combo in '68. Also note the original 150-mph speedometer.Have you ever seen a '68 Charger with 20+ year old paint on it that looks this sharp? Wheels are 16-inch American Racing five-spokes on 50-series Parnelli Jones radials.Dick and Char Fuechslin's '68 Charger look showroom-fresh from this angle. Headlight door workings were fixed in mid-'80s restoration.


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Worked With:
Scott Caan
Birth Name: Scott Caan
Born: 08/23/1976
Birth Place: Los Angeles, California, USA
Born: 08/23/1976
Birth Place: Los Angeles, California, USA
Born on Aug. 23, 1976 in Los Angeles, CA, Caan was the son of veteran film actor James Caan and former model-actress Sheila Ryan. His parents split up a year after his birth, but maintained a very active presence in his upbringing. His father took a hiatus from acting for several years in the 1980s to concentrate on coaching the younger Caan's Little League team. At the start of the 1990s, Caan drifted from school to school, spending time at the celebrity-magnet Beverly Hills High School before graduating from Excelsior High. Despite his perpetual love of baseball, Caan's hopes of having a professional career as a major leaguer lessened. He had designs on the music business, having formed... Continue Bio >>
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Sometimes things just work out for impossibly fit, tall blondes like Molly Sims. The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit evergreen and CoverGirl face tied the knot with movie producer Scott Stuber. The ceremony took place over the weekend in Napa Valley and Fergie was there.
Sims wore a traditional lacy white fishtail by (wait for it) Marchesa, which we all found very lovely. The jewels were by Lorraine Schwartz and the groom wore Tom Ford. Here are some shots.
For now, the photos come from the Mail, but hopefully the official portraits will come out and be less grainy and glamorous snuff film-looking.


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|FCCLA members compete at STAR
District 11 FCCLA STAR (Students Taking Action with Recognition) Competition was held in Elwood, on Wednesday, Jan. 16. Four FCCLA members from Perkins County competed in this contest. The members who competed were Kylie Hanson, Alexis Schmidt, Jasmin Walkinshaw, and Renae Goodwin. They were accompanied by FCCLA Advisor Cathy Ochsner who served as a judge and helper for the STAR competition.


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WASHINGTON (AP) - Americans are living longer, and Republicans want to raise the Medicare eligibility age as part of any deal to reduce the government's huge deficits.
But what sounds like a prudent sacrifice for an aging society that must watch its budget could have some surprising consequences, including higher premiums for people on Medicare.
Unlike tax hikes, which spawn hard partisan divisions, increasing the Medicare age could help ease a budget compromise because President Barack Obama has previously been willing to consider it. A worried AARP, the seniors' lobby, is already running ads knocking down the idea as a quick fix that would cause long-term problems. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., doesn't like it either.
Article Photos
AP Photo
President Barack Obama must reach a deal with congressional Republicans to avoid taking the federal government over a "fiscal cliff."
But for Republicans seeking more than just tweaks to benefit programs, raising the current eligibility age of 65 has become a top priority in the quest to rein in a costly government's out-of-control spending. If Obama and the GOP can't agree soon on a budget outline, it may trigger tax increases and spending cuts that would threaten the attempt at an economic recovery.
Increasing the eligibility age to 67 would reduce Medicare spending by about 5 percent annually, compounding into hundreds of billions of dollars over time. But things aren't that simple.
"This is a policy change that seems straightforward, but has surprising ripple effects," said Tricia Neuman, a leading Medicare expert with the Kaiser Family Foundation. "It's a simple thing to describe, and the justification is that people are living longer, but I don't think people have thought through the indirect effects."
Fact Box
U.S. life expectancy has risen by about eight years since Medicare was created in 1965.
Among the cost shifts identified in a Kaiser study:
The Congressional Budget Office has also projected an increase in the number of uninsured. That possibility becomes more real with populous states like Texas saying they won't accept the Medicaid expansion in Obama's health overhaul, which would provide coverage to low-income adults. Then there's the impact on people with physically demanding jobs, for whom extending their working years may be difficult.
Still, the idea isn't going away.
Polls show that many Americans are willing to consider raising the age at which people become eligible for Medicare benefits as part of a plan to reduce deficits, even if on the whole it's still unpopular.
During the 1980s, Republican President Ronald Reagan and Democrat congressional leaders agreed to gradually increase the age for receiving full Social Security benefits from 65 to 67. But they didn't touch Medicare eligibility.
Since then, some policy experts have advocated aligning the Medicare and Social Security eligibility ages through a gradual phase-in that would spare those close to retirement.
The idea gained new life when Republicans won the House in 2010, and Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., embraced it. Obama indicated he was open to it during budget talks with Republicans in 2011. But the president quickly retreated, and now says he's not willing to consider cutting Medicare unless Congress agrees to raise taxes on the wealthy.
The No. 2 Democrat in the House, Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer, says raising the eligibility age and other cuts "clearly are on the table," although he doesn't see much chance for them if Republicans don't yield on taxes.
For his part, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has relented from pursuing other major changes to Medicare, such as privatization. But when it comes to the eligibility age, he is still pushing.
AARP and other groups representing older adults are mobilizing against it.
"We are prepared to oppose this one pretty strongly," said AARP legislative policy director David Certner. "It's a pretty big deal."


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I'm about (to try) to install z-push on my zimbra machine.
z-push requires an apache webserver.
It seems my zimbra install already sports an apache webserver listening on port 7780 besides jetty.
I'm not zimbra savvy enough to know what it's for.
It serves up an "It works" page.
Can I reuse that apache server or should I install an seperate instance regardless?Code:lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 24 2010-10-02 11:55 httpd -> /opt/zimbra/httpd-2.2.15 drwxr-xr-x 15 root root 4096 2010-10-02 11:55 httpd-2.2.15 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 27 2010-10-02 11:55 jetty -> /opt/zimbra/jetty-6.1.22.z6 drwxr-xr-x 11 root root 4096 2010-10-02 11:55 jetty-6.1.22.z6 drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 4096 2010-10-02 11:30 jetty-6.1.5 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 27 2010-10-02 11:55 mailboxd -> /opt/zimbra/jetty-6.1.22.z6
If the latter, would they interfere with one another?
I read though the (long) Zimbra contact backend for Z-push post, but haven't found a clue.
best regards


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GameCulture reports on the strange case of an Indiana mother who has complained that her 8-year-old daughter's Baby Pals game for the Nintendo DS speaks the phrase "Islam is the light."
Readers may recall that a remarkably similar controversy last fall centered around Fisher-Price's Little Mommy Cuddle and Coo doll. And, in fact, the mother in this case, Rachel Jones, was also one of those who complained about her child's Cuddle and Coo doll.
In regard to the doll controversy, Mattel issued a statement in October which said that the only scripted word was "mama" and other baby talk sounds were gibberish.
Urban Legends reports that an audio expert experimented with the Cuddle and Coo doll and found that the phrase most closely sounded like "It's not near the light."
In fairness, the sound uttered by the DS game sounds exactly like the one that caused so much controversy in regard to the doll. We're wondering if Crave, publisher of Baby Pals, somehow licensed the same digitized audio file.
GP: So, is this a case of anti-Islamic paranoia or subtle indoctrination of America's youth? What do you think, GP readers?


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Khloe Kardashian has finally broken her silence about her estranged husband Lamar Odom's recent hospitalization. "The past week has been incredibly difficult," Kardashian wrote on
We've (almost) gotten over our excitement about Netflix's upcoming Gilmore Girls
Pat Woodell, who played Bobbie Jo Bradley on the 1960s sitcom
It's 5 o'clock somewhere, but not when you're trying to catch an unsub. On Wednesday's Criminal...
Ashland High School interim Principal Erika Bare was in her office interviewing a candidate for a secretary position last Friday when the commotion ignited by a pro-life demonstration outside her window crossed the line from merely...
For fully a generation now, congressional Republicans have had the mistaken notion that Americans in general are as easily scandalized as they are. GOP lawmakers seem to think that everyone is suckered by the nonsense cranked out by the right-wing...
"Gilmore Girls" fans may finally get some closure, thanks to Netflix.
Subway will start making its sandwiches bigger after a lawsuit claiming the chain's footlong sandwiches are shorter than advertised, according to a
A California man wielding a machete and screaming while swinging it at passing cars was arrested after being hit twice by the vehicles,
Zooey Deschanel and her husband, Jacob Pechenik, are finally introducing their new daughter to the world...
Michigan International Speedway announced Tuesday that next year's June Sprint Cup Series race will be named the FireKeepers Casino 400.
Southern Oregon Directory
Business Name
Location, ST | website.com


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Horizon DaaS
Desktop as a service with VMware Horizon™ DaaS®, built on VMware vCloud® Air™, delivers cloud-hosted desktops and applications to any device, anywhere.
IT can simplify the delivery of Windows desktops and applications and lower desktop TCO with predictable cloud economics. End users get a great user experience from any device or browser.
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Predictable Costs
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Gain flexibility with a service that lets you balance business-owned and cloud-based infrastructure to best serve your business.
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Use a single console for deployment and management of cloud-hosted desktops and apps and built-in security options to ensure your corporate data and applications are secure.
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Seamlessly extend your corporate data center to your cloud-hosted desktops and apps and leverage corporate resources such as Active Directory, applications, and file services.
VMware Horizon DaaS Webcast Replay
Playback this webcast to learn how VMware Horizon DaaS simplifies the delivery of Windows desktops and apps as a cloud service.Watch and listen


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Art Museums
Massachusetts has a rich heritage of making and collecting art; this heritage is on display across the state in museums of all kinds.
The world-renowned Museum of Fine Arts in Boston has an encyclopedic collection that ranges from French Impressionists to ancient Egyptian art. The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) showcases contemporary art in its striking new building overlooking Boston Harbor. Across the Charles River in Cambridge, the Harvard Art Museums are home to works by Matisse, Picasso and Italian Renaissance masters in intimate galleries. And travelling north of metro Boston, Salem's Peabody Essex Museum exhibits connections between art, architecture and culture.
Large-scale American sculpture is sited throughout the 35 acres of the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park in Lincoln. Worcester's Art Museum, acknowledged as one of America's leading small art museums, includes works by Cassatt, Gauguin, Goya, Monet, Sargent and Whistler. In Western Massachusetts, the Norman Rockwell Museum houses the largest collection of the illustrator's original art, many from the Saturday Evening Post. Fuller Craft Museum is one of eight museums in the country specializing in contemporary craft.
Springfield Quadrangle Art Museum, Springfield
DeCordova Museum, Lincoln
Peabody Esses Museum, Salem
Amazing Arts, Cool Culture: it's all here
Looking for fun things to do and see in Massachusetts?
Get some Amazing Arts, Cool Culture ideas
Montserrat College of Art
Featuring five galleries exhibiting international, national, regional and student art, with free public lectures by visiting artists, and gala openings... more+ 0 saves
Montserrat College of Art
23 Essex Street
Po Box 26
978-922-8222+ 0 saves
Amazing Arts, Cool Culture: it's all here
Looking for fun things to do and see in Massachusetts?


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NASCAR's redesigned race cars receive rave reviews
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow is a thing of the past.
Designed primarily to improve driver safety following the death of Dale Earnhardt in the 2001 Daytona 500, the car has been kicked to the curb, left in the rearview mirror and turned into scrap metal.
The redesigned replacements - at least so far - are a huge hit with drivers, owners, auto manufacturers and fans.
The new cars, dubbed "Generation 6," look considerably closer to the ones sold on showroom floors. It's NASCAR's way of putting the "stock" back in stock-car racing and possibly making the cars stars once again.
"It matters because it's the image we portray," defending Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski said. "I wear a fire suit with a helmet and a full seat around me. You can't see me. What you are seeing is this car going around the race track and the sponsors and the car construction, styling, etc. So that is what you see as a fan or as an ambassador of the sport. Absolutely it matters."
Cars used to be as iconic as drivers in NASCAR.
In the mid-1950s, race cars were virtually indistinguishable from production vehicles. Sure, they had some rudimentary safety equipment and numbers on the doors, but they often still had license plates and working headlights.
Against other real production cars, the very first Chrysler 300 was dominant. That set the stage for the next five decades of racing.
Fireball Roberts and his No. 22 black and gold Pontiac Catalina were mainstays in Victory Lane in the early 60s. Richard Petty's blue Dodge Charger was a series staple.
The Charger became so important to Petty that NASCAR extended the car's eligibility through the 1977 season, an unprecedented move for the sanctioning body. And few have forgotten Bill Elliott's sleek Ford Thunderbird or Earnhardt's stylish Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS in the late 1980s.
"People want that kind of connection with the car they're driving," NASCAR team owner Chip Ganassi said.
NASCAR hasn't had that in years.
The CoT debuted in 2007 after extension research and development. The driver's seat moved more toward the center of the car, which was longer and wider.
The result was a boxy car that was indistinguishable from make to make; NASCAR needed just one template to check every car during inspections. Maybe more troubling was that it was considerably less racy than its predecessor.
Drivers hated it, fans ripped it and NASCAR officials dismissed the backlash while continuously pointing to the car's safety record.
"It was something that's never happened in history, where manufacturers were basically treated like mushrooms - kept in the dark and under a pile a crap by the organizing bodies," said Lee White, president and general manager of Toyota Racing Development. "Now it's an opportunity for the manufacturers to become front and center."
With Chevrolet leading the way, and fellow manufactures Ford and Toyota gladly following its lead, the auto giants demanded change. By some accounts, Chevy even threatened to leave NASCAR if the on-track cars didn't become more relevant.
NASCAR listened, and allowed the three manufacturers to develop unique versions of the Gen-6 car. That led to cars that closely resemble the Chevrolet SS, the Ford Fusion and the Toyota Camry.
Grills and body lines are similar. Silhouettes are within millimeters of their showroom counterparts.
"This is stock-car racing," said Mark Reuss, president of General Motors North America. "Everything is supposed to be stock or at least as close as you can get to stock. NASCAR knew it. The manufacturers knew. The fans knew it. Everyone could feel things were off. We're trying to appeal to a whole new generation of people, and when the car's not relevant, it gets really hard because everyone starts aging. We did this as much for the sport as we did for the brand."