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All Co-op branded fresh pork is 100% British and outdoor-bred
144 words approx. 1 minute to read
From July, all of Co-op branded fresh pork, bacon, sausage, gammon and ham will be sourced from British outdoor, RSPCA Assured farms.
Last year we invested £1 billion in British agriculture, sourcing home-grown meat and fresh produce. We switched our Co-op branded fresh meat to 100% British too. We're now committed to leading the way with higher standards of animal welfare.
What 100% British outdoor-bred pork means for you
Our customers and members shop with Co-op because they know we are as passionate as they are about animal welfare.
The highest animal welfare standards should not just be the preserve of premium products and we want to ensure that the very best quality British pork is available at everyday affordable prices. We are working hard with passionate British farmers who share our principles, providing exceptional quality pork produce with a conscience.
Cathryn Higgs
Head of Food Policy
Join the conversation! 18 Comments
I agree with all the comments above about "Outdoor bred" being too ambiguous. Better than the alternatives but I think Co-op (and others) can and should do better. If all our meat were fully free-range, it would be more expensive, people would eat less of it as a result, and animals would have better lives – isn't this the sort of result we're after?
I feel it is also important to support farmers in my local area, as opposed to hundreds of miles away: does the Coop have any policy on locally produced food, in addition to the above?
Not so reassuring for piglets – following an article in the Times on 30 July 2018. I agree with many comments – don't eat meat!
Animal welfare is important. The Co-Op needs to make clear to customers what exactly it means by 'free-range', outdoor bred', outdoor reared', etc.
I would also like to know what the Co-Op thinks about nitrates and nitrites as preservatives in meat?
I note you have waited for a response to your question about Nitrate free bacon.
Suspect that product management team spend their time playing cards!
Waitrose, Morrisons and Lidl retail this product.
I do agree with the comment from Andrew, that it would be good if this emphasis on animal welfare could be rolled out to include chickens. I asked a member of staff in my local Co-Op why they didn't have any free range chicken and she said she thought it all was! it's certainly not described as such and if the staff aren't sure how can the customers be?
Gillian. The Co-op do sell free range chicken, in selected stores. The vast majority of the chicken is reared to basic Red Tractor standard. They did sell 100% high welfare chicken a few years ago, but this was stopped about 6 years ago. Let's hope this news about the pigs is just the start of a move to higher welfare for all animals.
Outdoor bred simply means the sows live outdoors and have their piglets in small straw bedded arcs out in the fields. The piglets can run around outside until they are weaned. They are then moved into social groups in large open straw bedded barns.
This system is a massive improvement to the standard indoor intensive reared pork that others sell. But it's not something new. Co-op were selling outdoor reared pork nearly 10 years ago. It was all stopped years ago when they wanted to make more money. Now they have relaunched it. We should be supporting them in this. Then they might look at improving welfare for other species like chickens.
This is good news. Are you looking at the possibility of selling "continental meats" such as salamis and chorizo which is now being produced in the UK?
These terms such as outdoor reared can be confusing. Can we explain them more widely in stores? It is great that sows spend all their lives outdoors which they enjoy. When piglets are weaned they seem quite content to come into straw bedded light airy barns. Pigs spend a lot of time sleeping!
Outdoor bred is a very unclear description; it doesn't mean outdoor reared or free range. I think everyone should ditch this description and be more truthful about exact state in which pigs live. Also, there have been some awful animal welfare issues on "RSPCA farm assured" making it very hard for consumers to know the truth!


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Dell Latitude D510
Today's Best Tech Deals
Picked by PCWorld's Editors
Top Deals On Great Products
Picked by Techconnect's Editors
Dell Latitude D510
The least assuming of Dell's business notebooks, the Latitude D510 lacks the flashier features of its siblings--the D610's smart card reader and the D810's wide screen, for instance. What it does have is a handsome charcoal-colored case, a good keyboard, a handy multipurpose bay, and a long-lasting battery, all for a good price.
The $1509 D510 packs a 1.6-GHz Pentium M 730 processor, a 15-inch XGA screen, a DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive (a $59 upgrade from the standard CD-ROM drive), and a 40GB hard drive. You can bump up the configuration to include a DVD burner for an extra $90, an 80GB hard drive for $99, and a 1.86-GHz processor for $190; or you can shave a bit off the price and the weight by ordering a 14.1-inch screen and a hollow travel module instead of an optical drive. Bluetooth and software cost extra ($49 for Bluetooth and $125 for Microsoft Office Basic Edition).
Connections offer a good balance of old and new, including parallel and serial ports for legacy peripherals and four USB ports, two on the right side for quick access and two on the back, plus a FireWire port for digital video downloads.
I liked the quietness of the keyboard and its pleasantly mushy feel. The layout is fine except for the location of the <Delete> key, which is buried in the second row from the top--not the most convenient place for a frequently used key. (It's more commonly placed in the top right corner.) The touchpad's mouse buttons have a flared box shape I found easy to use. The D510 has no dedicated shortcut buttons for applications, volume control, or anything else. On the plus side, the power status lights are in a quick-to-spot location on the right screen hinge. The front-mounted stereo speakers are loud enough for making presentations to a small group.
The D510's battery life and modular design really shine. It lasted 4 hours, 41 minutes on one charge in our tests--more than an hour longer than the average portable. You can check how much power is left without turning on the notebook by pressing the battery's handy external gauge, and you can work even longer untethered to an electrical outlet by using two batteries at once: The $119 media cell battery fits into the modular bay in place of the optical drive. All of the interchangeable bay devices, including a secondary 80GB hard drive ($150), have built-in spring-loaded releases, a small luxury that saves me from having to fumble around the bottom of the laptop for a release every time I want to swap devices. The D510 does not work with the highest-end docking station Dell sells for the Latitude line (the D/Dock Expansion Station, which includes an internal media bay), but a 240-pin bottom connector accepts the $179 D/Port Advanced Port Replicator, which adds a DVI digital monitor port and a S/PDIF port.
The D510 performed well in our speed tests, earning a WorldBench score of 76--slightly slower than the other all-purpose notebooks that we've seen, but not significantly so. The D510 comes with good documentation, although mostly in the form of an unindexed, unlinked electronic user manual inconveniently buried in the Windows Help and Support Center. However, the manual is comprehensive and well-organized enough for finding information fairly easily, so the lack of an index is no great problem.
A standout in battery life and modular expansion, the Dell Latitude D510 is a fine mainstream business laptop.
Carla Thornton
Dell Latitude D510
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subset: commoncrawl


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7 of the best frequent flier programs
If I were to tell someone living in Paris that they should consider earning frequent flier miles with Alaska Airlines, they'd likely give me a puzzled look.
Similarly, if I suggested to a Los Angeles resident who flies only occasionally that they ought to look at a Colombian/Salvadorean air miles program, they'd probably think I was trying to be funny.
But in these days of international airline alliances and globalized frequent flier programs, some of the best deals lay hidden in programs from distant lands, run by airlines you may never fly.
It pays to do a bit of research.
A number of years ago, a growing interest in frequent flier miles approached obsession as I figured out ways to amass more and more of them and turn them into free round-the-world first class tickets.
As the list of friends and family who relied upon me for mileage advice grew, I made a short documentary about people much more advanced at the frequent flier game than me, which opened my eyes to even more possibilities.
After several years of pursuing miles and points, I've earned roughly three and a half million of them and spent almost as many.
More on CNN: The best ways to earn and burn frequent flier miles
Important things to keep in mind
Most airlines within a global alliance (oneworld, Star Alliance, Skyteam) have their own distinct mileage program rules, sometimes with very different rates for earning and burning miles on the same set of airlines.
This means that getting the maximum value for your miles depends on where you bank them. Many people overlook this.
Even if you're flying one particular airline often enough to get elite status (and the upgrades and priority treatment that come with it), it's a good idea to pick a couple of secondary programs.
Which program is best for you will depend on a number of factors, so it's difficult to give broad recommendations.
For travelers who don't know where to start, here are seven of the better air mileage programs.
More on CNN: Frequent flier miles: The cult of the obsessed
Aegean Miles & Bonus: For quick elite status
Aegean is a Greek airline, that's part of the Star Alliance.
The beauty of its program is that passengers get Star Alliance Silver status (the first elite tier) after only 4,000 miles, and Star Gold status (the highest elite tier) after 20,000 miles.Most airlines require 25,000 and 50,000 respectively before fliers achieve those levels.
If you're looking for a fast track to special treatment on Star Alliance airlines, a Miles & Bonus membership may be just the thing.
Alaska Airlines mileage plan: Flexibility for non-loyal fliers
Alaska Airlines might seem a poor option at first -- it's relatively small, serving mostly the western United States, and it's not even a member of a global airline alliance.
But that last fact is actually its great strength, because Alaska has instead hooked up with a diverse group of partners. This means it can be great for travelers who don't do most of their flying on one airline.
Its partners include American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Delta Airlines and Emirates.
So, for example, if in a given year you fly a smattering of flights on Delta, a few flights on American and a couple of long-hauls on Emirates, none of which partner with each other, rather than earn a handful of miles in each of those programs, you can pool them all with Alaska, and be able to redeem those miles faster.
And when it comes time to use the miles, there are some great deals, such as Cathay Pacific from the United States to South Africa via Hong Kong for 140,000 miles round-trip in first class.
American Airlines AAdvantage: Overall quality
As I've noted before, I can't recommend American's program highly enough.
It's straightforward, earning lots of miles is easy and redemption rates are generally good -- a solid choice for banking miles from oneworld alliance flights.
If you fly 100,000 miles a year in the program and attain American's top level Executive Platinum status, it's quite possibly the best top-tier level in the United States.
More on CNN: Future of air fares: More 'special' charges on the way
Avianca TACA Lifemiles: For travelers who don't earn many miles but still want to play the game
When Colombian/Salvadorean Avianca TACA joined the Star Alliance recently, I wasn't particularly anxious to rush and check out the frequent flier program.
But Gary Leff's blog View from the Wing tipped me off to an exciting opportunity to purchase miles for discounted business or first-class tickets -- no flying required.
Avianca TACA Lifemiles has been offering a 100-percent bonus on purchased miles, which yields a cost per mile of US1.5 cents. Better is that if you've banked at least 40 percent of the miles required for an award ticket, you can use a "cash and points" option to buy the remaining miles you need for travel at an even cheaper rate -- at 1.275 cents apiece.
For a sense of how the math works out, let's say you want a North America to Europe ticket in business class, which costs 100,000 miles round-trip. Assuming you find award seats available and the airline's 100-percent bonus on purchased miles promotion is in effect, you can buy the first 40,000 miles for a total of US$600.
Then, armed with your 40,000 miles, you could buy the remaining 60,000 necessary miles, which at 1.275 cents each comes out to $765.
That's a grand total of US$1,365 for a round-trip, business-class ticket from, say, San Francisco to Paris. You might easily pay more for economy if you simply bought the ticket.
Avianca also offers one-way tickets at half the cost of a round-trip, and most partner flights can be booked online.
Note that the 100-percent bonus is usually available only to those who own an account before the promotion is announced, so I'd advise that you get yourself a Lifemiles account now, and wait for the next promotion to be announced.
British Airways Executive Club: Cheap short-haul redemptions
When British Airways changed its redemption chart and made longer flights and those requiring connections more expensive to redeem miles for, shorter flights became much cheaper.
When I want to use miles on routes under 2,500 miles, BA's Executive Club is where I look first.
Highlights include Tokyo-Hong Kong for 20,000 miles round-trip (in economy), while very short flights, such as Los Angeles-Phoenix, run 4,500 miles each way.
BA imposes heavy fuel surcharges on its own aircraft and on most partners, but if you stick to flights within the Americas (on partners such as American and South America's LAN), you can generally avoid these charges.
United Airlines MileagePlus: Easy booking of award flights
United Airlines' MileagePlus is a good all-purpose Star Alliance program.
Lack of fuel surcharges on partner flights is one great aspect, as is the possibility of routing via Europe, with a stop, on a North America to Asia trip (or vice versa).
But my favorite thing about United is the excellent website that shows most Star Alliance partner flights when I'm searching for award tickets online.
Many airlines have a hard time showing partner flights, so a phone call is required to book most awards. With United, unpredictable phone interactions can mostly be avoided.
More on CNN: Why fly Delta?
Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer: Access to Singapore first and business class
Singapore Airlines' service is legendary, and for many (including myself) the carrier's premium cabins are the holy grail of mileage redemption.
Unfortunately, SIA doesn't offer many of those seats to its Star Alliance partners.
That's where Singapore Airlines' KrisFlyer program comes in -- recently the airline has started opening up a reasonable number of first- and business-class award seats to its own members. Rates for redemption are about on par with major U.S. programs.
Either way, if your goal is to fly Singapore Airlines at the pointy end of the aircraft, it's worth it.
Singapore is a points transfer partner with American Express in a number of countries, which makes topping up your account easy.
You don't even have to fly to Singapore. The airline flies a number of routes outside its home airport, such as San Francisco-Hong Kong, Los Angeles-Tokyo, Houston-Moscow, New York-Frankfurt and Barcelona-São Paulo.
More on CNN: And the world's best airline for 2012 is ...


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When a judge decides to dismiss evidence you feel would make your case in a patent lawsuit, you have one of two options: a) You can sit back and deal with it like a timid little tktkt or b) you can fire back and choose another public-facing channel to disseminate your information. Samsung chose the latter, opting to send its dismissed slides from its legal battle with Apple to the press, and drawing the ire of the judge overseeing the case.
At the start of yesterday's opening arguments, Samsung's lawyer John Quinn argued that a slide containing phones designed prior to the iPhone unveiling—including the F700 phone—be counted as evidence. The judge then threatened to sanction the lawyer and that seemed like the end of it. But as the AllThingsD tells it, Samsung sent them the slides with the following message:
The Judge's exclusion of evidence on independent creation meant that even though Apple was allowed to inaccurately argue to the jury that the F700 was an iPhone copy, Samsung was not allowed to tell the jury the full story and show the pre-iPhone design for that and other phones that were in development at Samsung in 2006, before the iPhone. The excluded evidence would have established beyond doubt that Samsung did not copy the iPhone design. Fundamental fairness requires that the jury decide the case based on all the evidence.
AllThingsD went on to post them. Judge Koh eventually found out and was not pleased, halting proceedings to find out Quinn's role in the slippery tactic. In the end, no action was taken, but when you're in a fierce battle with a formidable foe, it's probably best not brat out and piss off the voice of reason in the room. [AllThingsD via The Verge]


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TORONTO — A group of doctors is calling on federal and provincial governments to raise income taxes levied on high-income Canadians.
They are launching a campaign to get support for the idea, using the slogan "Tax us. Canada's worth it."
Doctors for Fair Taxation are proposing new surtaxes that would tax any income over $100,000.
People who earn between $100,000 and $170,000 would pay an extra one per cent on the income between those two figures and income between $170,000 and $640,000 would be subject to an extra two per cent levy.
Income over $640,000 and less than $1.85 million would be hit with an additional three per cent and income over $1.85 million would be subject to an additional surtax of six per cent.
The group estimates that the federal government would earn an extra $3.5 billion a year and Ontario would raise an extra $1.7 billion.
One of the organizers of the campaign, Dr. Michael Rachlis, says more than 50 doctors have signed the petition so far. A website hosting the petition will go live Thursday afternoon.
"Our group considers higher taxes a small price to pay for a more civilized Canada," says Rachlis, a public health physician and associate professor at the University of Toronto.
"We're becoming a more economically unequal society and we feel this is bad for our country's health."
Rachlis says the aim of the campaign is to get Canadians who would be paying the higher taxes to indicate their willingness, saying the organizers feel it would carry more weight that way.
Though the campaign has been started by doctors, anyone earning over $100,000 who supports the proposal can sign the petition.
One of the early signatories is Dr. Irfan Dalla, a Toronto-based physician who is also a member of Canadian Doctors for Medicare.
"Governments don't have the resources they need to address some of the causes of ill-health and some of the social programs that people want and need. And I think that people like me who are paid reasonably well can afford to contribute a little bit more to ensure that we have a fair society," Dalla says.
Rachlis says action needs to be taken to spare crucial public programs.
"We feel that this is a moral argument. We cannot talk about throwing people out of work and cutting needed programs for people," he says
"If the situations is that dire that governments are really feeling that that should be done, it seems to me that the only way to think of that is to tax higher-income earners who've seen their taxes fall a lot."
Doctors lobby for higher taxes on wealthy Canadians | CTV Calgary


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NOTICE: Activation key must be used on a valid Steam account, requires internet connection.
Inspired be "Brave", the upcoming Disney Pixar animated fantasy adventure movie, the video game invites players to run, jump and battle their way through the rugged landscape of mythical and mysterious Scotland. By using their wits and bravery, gamers will also be able to wield a sword and bow to defeat fierce enemies, break a magical curse and save a kingdom.
1. Register an account
Go to www.steampowered.com and click 'login' at the top right corner of the website. After that, press 'Join Steam' in the middle of your screen to create your account.
2. Download Steam
Click the green button that says 'Install Steam' at the top right corner of the website, install Steam and login with with the account you created in step 1.
3. Click 'Games' at the top of your screen and select 'Activate a product on Steam'
4. Open the confirmation e-mail you received from Startselect and copy the code into the 'Product Code' box.
5. Confirm the code and install the game
6. You can access your games by clicking 'Library' at the top of your screen.
7. After the download is completed, you can enjoy your game!
Now on Startselect!
Now available at Startselect: Disney Pixar Brave. At Startselect you can purchase your digital games and gift cards anywhere and anytime. All of our products are fully authorized and supported by the publisher or developer.
Do you want to purchase this product? Just pick one of the payment methods, check out and you will receive your digital code almost immediately in your mailbox. If you run into any problems or if you have a question, our support team is standing by. We want to give you the easiest shopping experience, so you can use your product straight away!
Happy with your choice? Be sure to check out all the other products available at Startselect!About this game
We're not saying you're going to be the next Rambo or Chuck Norris, because that's just impossible, but you'll definitely feel like one in these games. In most action games you are in control of all the excitement happening around you, requiring some decent motor skills most of the time.


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Our Christmas Story Tree
1. It's time to peek inside our box of ornaments to see
Which ones we'll choose to decorate our Christmas story tree.
Let's hang a cane of peppermint upon the nearest bough
To tell of shepherds watching lambs, as Jesus watches now.
2. The angel on the highest branch still sings the joyful song
Of peace on earth, good will to men, of pardon for our wrongs.
We'll set a star of silver here among the twinkling lights,
Like one that shone on Bethlehem that sacred, starry night.
3. And there beneath the tree we'll place a package wrapped in red.
Reminding of our Lord's great gifts – His love, the blood He shed.
Our Christmas tree is ever green; its needles never fall.
Our Savior dear was born to bring eternal life to all.
Our Savior dear was born to bring eternal life to all.
Text: Jan Pinborough
Music: Michael Moody


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A Couple of my Favorite Kid Decor Items in my Home~
Thank you to The Land of Nod for sponsoring this post.
Today I wanted to share a couple of my favorite kid decor items in my home.
I have had an infatuation with the teepee craze since it burst on the scene a couple of years ago. And I knew that I wanted to add a teepee to my little boys' room when we moved to Hydeaway Cottage.
In my search for teepees, I ran across this adorable teepee from The Land of Nod.
I loved the black and white stripes and the fact that it is portable and easy to set up and take down. My boys often carry it to different places in the house and set it up as a "fort".
The rug in my daughter's room is the Color Static Rug also from The Land of Nod.
I had originally planned on using this rug in my boys' room as well, but once I got it, I noticed that it had a lot more pink in it than I had originally thought. It turned out to be absolutely perfect for my daughter's space though.
I really like the rug because it is thick and soft and even though it is a kid's rug, it has a level of sophistication to it that I love in the space. In addition, the fact that there are so many colors in this particular rug means that it can be used in an entirely different space and look just as good! Since I love to switch decor around periodically, items that can be used in many different spaces are always a good idea in my book.
The Land of Nod provided the teepee and rug to me at no charge. The opinions expressed about them are 100% mine. I love The Land of Nod!


text: Take the next step towards ownership First name Required Last name Required Email Required Invalid value Phone Required Invalid value How did you hear about us? Advertisement Discovery Meet & Greet Email Farrell's Member Farrell's Owner Franchise Magazine Franchise Material Downloaded Franchise.org Friends Internet Search Trade Show Website WorldFranchising.com Careers Inquiry Select source category Required City State Select Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming ZIP Required Invalid value Country USA Preferred city Required I would like to receive information via email You must check the box to proceed Favorite Comedian Fire or Ice Height in meters For nearly 20 years, Farrell's R Plaza has withstood the test of time. In an industry where fads come and go, Farrell's R Plaza continues to flourish. Our established program produces results—from our members to our franchise owners. We're prepared to go to the next stage. Are you? Welcome To Life at Level 10 Franchise Ownership Farrell's R Plaza isn't just another fitness center. We're a group fitness program that takes an all-emcompassing view of wellness—combining fitness kickboxing, strength training, nutrition, and one-on-one coaching—to deliver exceptional results. As a new Farrell's R Plaza owner, you'll uncover the blueprint to success. Through our proprietary training program, FXB University, you'll learn the nuts and bolts of opening and operating your own Farrell's R Plaza location. Our dedicated team of industry professionals will assist you along the way to help develop your business and be a part of your zeal for transforming lives. Why Own a Farrell's? Relevant Programming. Unprecedented Results. Impressive Returns. Best for both semi-absentee owners and owner-operators Modest per-location maintenance expenses Full corporate access, turnkey systems, and ongoing expert support Unrivaled member results—over 4.5 million pounds of body fat lost! Proven concept that has held up over time Existing community of franchisee support Concept attracts both traditional and boutique fitness markets Program components fit the top 2018-19 fitness trends Ariel D., Farrell's Denver, Colorado "As a Farrell's owner, I've been given the incredible opportunity to impact the way people view fitness and nutrition – unlike any other gym franchise on the market. Not everyone gets the opportunity to live out their dream. I am, and I don't take it for granted for one second." Justin G., Multi-location Owner, Minnesota "I decided to step away from the corporate path and pursue my dream of owning my own business. The camaraderie and support you find at Farrell's are unparalleled. I believe in this program and want to help others live healthier and more active lives. It's not just a gym...it's a way of life!" Farrell's eXtreme Bodyshaping Founder and CEO, Lance Farrell, talks about what it means to be a franchise owner, and how our experienced team supports your success. Where Will You Open the Next Farrells? Take a look at the map of our current locations–this is just the beginning. We have even more territories available in hot markets nationwide!View all locations Six Steps to Ownership Find a spot with our Farrell's R Plaza real estate agent Finish online courses to get ready for FXB University Detailed FXB University training at our corporate office in Des Moines, Iowa Pre-opening marketing campaigns launched Grand opening celebration with ongoing marketing support Transform lives—the more transformations, the more revenue! Read our FAQs State-of-the-Art Facilities Open reception Front entryway, welcome reception and merchandise area. 1of5


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We just got finished writing up a post over the most recent comments to come from B. J. Upton, Delmon Young and Elijah Dukes that were printed in a USA Today article last week (we will have that post for you tomorrow). But no sooner had we finished writing the post, and we hear that B. J. Upton has gone and screwed up again…
We want to make it clear that this is just a rumor at this point and we have been unable to confirm the story yet.
Apparently, during the Bulls game against Rochester last night, the Durham Bulls public address announcer was refusing to play the requested music of the "Big 3" as a protest against the article that appeared in USA Today. In the top of the 4th inning, after a close play at the plate, catcher Shawn Riggans and manager John Tamargo were ejected for arguing with the home plate umpire. In the bottom of the 5th B. J. Upton was called out on strikes for the 2nd time in the game. Afterwards, Upton alledgedly called up to the press box from the clubhouse to protest the decision to not play his song before his at-bats. Apparently Tamargo was in the press box looking for a replay of the close play at home plate when Upton called and overheard Upton's complaints. As expected, Tamargo was
livid pissed off friggin' insane extremely upset and after the game gave Upton a spanking had a one-on-one meeting with Upton concerning the incident.
With Ty Wiggington on the DL and an open roster spot, Upton was the leading candidate to be called up to replace Wiggy. While there was no certainty in this move, it seems to be less likely now after the USA Today article and this latest incident of immaturity.


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Sources close to SEGA have informed The Sonic Stadium that the publisher intends to announce/tease a new game within the Sonic the Hedgehog series next month.
Not into Sonic anymore they should of done themselves a favour and sold sonic to Nintendo at least there would have been a few decades of good sonic games then SEGA have failed with Sonic.
Sonic & All Stars Racing Transformed is one of the best fun racers ever!


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Microsoft today erased investor worries over a 24 per cent drop in fourth quarter profits by announcing a massive stock buyback program and bullish results for its fiscal year.
Redmond's fourth quarter revenue came in at $11.80bn - a 16 per cent year-over-year increase. The revenue gains, however, were offset by the large profit dip. Microsoft's profit slipped to $2.83bn or 28 cents per share from the $3.7bn or 34 cents per share reported last year. Microsoft's operating expenses rose more than 10 per cent, as the company shelled out cash to catch up to Google in the search game and correct product delays.
As usual, Microsoft's bottom line was also hurt by legal settlements. This time around Microsoft chalked up $351m in legal charges as a result of a European Commission fine. Last year, Microsoft had to pay $756m in legal charges. But, when you're posting a $3bn profit, who cares?
Riding Buyback
Microsoft looks to please investors by putting its cash horde to good use. The company plans to buy back up to $40bn of stock via a $20bn tender offer and a $20bn five-year share repurchase plan.
Investors were tickled again when Microsoft's CFO Chris Liddell promised "strong, double-digit revenue growth" in this fiscal year. With Vista and a revamped Office on its side, the company expects full-year 2007 revenue to come in between $49.7bn and $50.7bn. In the nearer term, Microsoft forecasted a first quarter revenue total between $10.6bn and $10.8bn.
Some close software watchers wanted Microsoft to dish out specific revenue goals for Vista and Office. Liddell declined to provide such detail. Instead, he simply reiterated a November release of Vista to businesses, a January release to consumers and an Office release in the "beginning of next year."
Bleeding MSN
Looking back to the fourth quarter, we find Microsoft's client business humming along as usual. Client software revenue rose from $3bn in last year's fourth quarter to $3.4bn. This business also provided Microsoft with $2.5bn in income up from $2.2bn.
The server and tools unit performed even better with revenue rising to $3.2bn from $2.7bn. This unit posted income of $1.2bn - up from $814m.
Information worker revenue rose to $3.1bn from $2.9bn and offered up net income of $2.2bn - up from $2bn.
Microsoft's home and entertainment business enjoyed a large rise in revenue, reaching $1.1bn in this year's fourth quarter as compared to $587m last year. The unit's loss, however, swelled to $414m from $201m.
The MSN unit also posted a loss of $190m on revenue of $580m. That compares to a profit of $101m on revenue of $598m last year.
For the fiscal year ended June, 30, Microsoft reported an 11 per cent rise in revenue to $44.28bn.
Shares of Microsoft rose more than 5 per cent in after-hours trading, following the release of the financial report. ®


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Outside its upcoming lineup of high-end phones such as the Nexus 4 and the Optimus G, LG has had a long history of creating decent and reliable, if somewhat unremarkable, midrange handsets.
The LG Venice is no exception. It's a variant of the unlocked LG Optimus L7 and the LG Splendor on U.S. Cellular, but it delivers the same specs (such as the 4.3-inch screen, the 1GHz CPU, and the 5-megapixel camera) on the prepaid Boost Mobile network.
At $219.99, the device is the priciest 3G phone in Boost's lineup. But you do get a lot of bang for your buck due to its svelte design, swift and smooth processor, and bright display. In addition, for a limited time, users who purchase the Venice will also receive 50GB of free cloud storage from Box. Given all this, it's easy to see why it has a slight edge over others like the Samsung Galaxy Rush and the LG Marquee.
In comparison with the LG Splendor and the Optimus L7, I like the LG Venice's slightly altered look the best simply due to its bright silver back plate, which sets it apart. Other than that, however, its design is nothing to write home about. With its sharp corners, plastic backing, and tapered edges, the device looks similar to all the other minimalist Optimus handsets that came out last summer. It measures 4.92 inches tall, 2.64 inches wide, and 0.34 inch thick, and its slim body weighs 4.41 ounces. It's one of LG's smaller phones, and can snugly fit in a front or back jean pocket. It's easy to pack into a small purse and handling it with one hand is a cinch.
On the Venice's left side is a volume rocker, up top are a 3.5mm headphone jack and a sleep/power button, and at the bottom is a Micro-USB port.
At the back center is a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash. Below that to the left are two small slits for the output speaker. Unlike most devices, this handset doesn't have an indentation to make it easy to pry off the back of the handset. Instead, you'll have to just insert your fingernails anywhere within the seams of the back plate. Once you remove it, you can access the microSD slot and 1,700mAh battery.
Though generally I don't mind plastic battery covers since they keep a phone light and durable, the Venice is an exception. There are ways to give plastic a more luxurious feel, by giving it a matte coating or unique texture. But this device just has lined grooves like a 3D baseball card, which makes it feel cheap and almost like a toy.
The handset sports a 4.3-inch IPS display with an 800x480-pixel resolution and 450 nits of brightness. Though these specs aren't as impressive as those of other phones, like the LG Nexus 4, the screen is still decent in its own right. App icons were crisp, text was sharp, and colors were vivid at maximum brightness. Although gradient patterns looked somewhat streaky, on the whole, images were rich and highly saturated.
Above the display in the right corner is a proximity sensor and to the left is a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera. Below is a physical home button, with a back and menu front key on either side of it that light up when in use.
Sinking into the LG Venice (pictures)See all photos
Features and OS
The Venice runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, and comes with Google goodies like Chrome, Gmail, Search, Plus, Latitude, Local, Play Books, Movies, Music, and Store, Messenger, Maps with Navigation, Talk, and YouTube.
Other preloaded apps include a news and weather app; the mobile office suite Polaris Office; SmartShare, a content distribution and file sharing app; and two Boost Mobile apps. One is Boost Zone, a help portal that also lets you check your phone balance and fees.
The other is Mobile ID, which you can use to customize your device with preselected apps, widgets, and other items depending on which ID profile you choose. For example, if you select the E! package, you'll get E! apps and widgets pertaining to the celebrity news channel. You can also choose a Business Pro package, which includes tools intended to aid with business travel plans, financial investments, and backing up data. Note that deleting a Mobile ID package won't uninstall the apps that you downloaded -- you'll have to remove those apps manually. So far, there are 26 available packs available. Personally, I don't like how Mobile ID so integral to the UI. You can't remove the Mobile ID app from the home screen's dashboard, so if you don't use it, the only choice you have is to ignore it.
Basic features present are texting, a native e-mail client, a Web browser, a video player, Bluetooth 3.0 support, a calendar, a clock with alarm settings, a memo pad, a calculator, a voice dialer, and a voice recorder. In addition, there's a power saver module that lets you customize which features (Bluetooth, autosyncing, display brightness) to turn off or adjust when your battery gets low.
The handset is equipped with LG's user interface, Optimus UI 3.0, which isn't as stylishly simplistic as the vanilla Ice Cream Sandwich skin. The icons are boxy (but luckily customizable) and the widgets look clunky, especially the unattractive weather widget. There are a few welcome changes, however, like the fact that you can access up to four apps of your choosing from the lock screen by simply swiping over their icons. There's also LG's signature note-taking app, QuickMemo. It lets you jot down with your finger or stylus quick notes or sketches directly over screen images, which you can then save and share. You can also customize the color and style of your pen tip.


text: Sijun Forums :: View topic - sketches from life done with iPad Pro and Procreate Log in to check your private messages Sijun Forums Forum Index >> Gallery/Finished Work View previous topic :: View next topic Author Topic : "sketches from life done with iPad Pro and Procreate" silbermemberMember #Joined: 15 Jul 2000Posts: 642Location: Berlin Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2016 11:42 pm Hi Sijun! it's crazy to post here something again after I haven't logged in here for more than 10 years. This forum meant _a lot_ to me for in the early 2000s. I grew up in a smaller city and the rise of the internet and this forum was a window into the world of illustration for me back then. I learned plenty from the great advice given here about techniques and business. It also felt very collegial and not only like a PR tool like most online show-off places nowadays. I actually shifted from doing illustrations to study interaction design. After I finished my studies I hooked up with a friend and we started doing independent games. So far we published only one game called "Spirits" for PC and Mobile and we are working on the second one "Future Unfolding" for PC and PS4 since a few years. For both I do all the art and game design/level design. Spirits: http://www.spacesofplay.com/spirits/ Future Unfolding: http://www.futureunfolding.com I don't take the time to practice drawing/painting in a focused way too much anymore, but I still enjoy drawing people from life in cafes and on the street. Here are a few of my latest sketches I have done jus a few days ago in Thailand using an iPad Pro and Procreate. I really love this device since the Apple Pencil is insanely precise and fast. Procreate can't compete with Photoshop but it's a good tool. Happy to be back! Curious to see who from the old days is still lurking around! As always comments and critique is very welcome! _________________marek Back to top silbermemberMember #Joined: 15 Jul 2000Posts: 642Location: Berlin Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2016 11:46 pm Here is also a portrait I did in 20 min. It was one of the first I did in Procreate on the iPad Pro and I was still getting used to the tool. VIDEO painting process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8pACzvUt7E _________________marek Back to top [Shizo]memberMember #Joined: 22 Oct 1999Posts: 3938 Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2016 11:48 pm We should organize a picnic. Back to top silbermemberMember #Joined: 15 Jul 2000Posts: 642Location: Berlin Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2016 12:40 am picnic, would be cool. Maybe there should be a Sijun Retirement Home first so getting all the old folks in one park is more feasible How is Shaolin Kung Fu going Shizo?_________________marek Back to top [Shizo]memberMember #Joined: 22 Oct 1999Posts: 3938 Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2016 1:20 am After training with the old masters I ran away from the temple and became a renegade monk. The abbot sent his people to kill me. I waited patiently in ambush. When they finally came I was ready. I used my excellent Drunken Fist technique to crush their inferior Disoriented Crane technique. Back to top SumalethAdministratorMember #Joined: 30 Oct 1999Posts: 2898Location: Australia Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2016 1:30 am silber: great to see some of your stuff! Your line work is particularly nice, with the way you nail the subject with just a line or two. Your games look great too. Spirits has a bit of a Lemmings vibe, but it's Future Unfolding that REALLY caught my eye. That looks fascinating (feel like I've seen bits of it on Twitter from time to time too). I'm doing indie game stuff these days too. The current project is an arcade physics thing that I've been trying to spend an hour a day on for the last month or two. Have just started to think about what the art might look like, more than just the stand-in cubes and spheres._________________Art Links Archive -- Artists and Tutorials Back to top balisticmemberMember #Joined: 01 Jun 2000Posts: 2599Location: Reno, NV, USA Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2016 1:48 pm Those game screenshots look great!_________________brian.prince|light.comp.paint Back to top silbermemberMember #Joined: 15 Jul 2000Posts: 642Location: Berlin Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 1:33 am balistic: thanks and great to see you are still around as well! sumaleth: glad to hear, thanks! Yeah Spirits was inspired by Lemmings (and a lot of other stuff) so I am not surprised to hear that Cool you like Future Unfoldings look! We spent some effort of getting the aesthetics how we wanted it to be. Required close collaboration between programming and art. For example we use 2D sprites for everything you see in the game but 3D models only to render the shadows (and that 3d models are generated out of special 2D animations): cool you are also doing games. Did you do something before your current project already?_________________marek Back to top silbermemberMember #Joined: 15 Jul 2000Posts: 642Location: Berlin Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 1:36 am and a super quick scribble from people hanging out in the little park in front of my house. I really like that I can go out now with my tablet and do quick color sketches from life. That wasn't really feasible with a paper sketchbook for me before. _________________marek Back to top Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First Sijun Forums Forum Index -> Gallery/Finished Work All times are GMT - 8 Hours Page 1 of 1 Jump to: Select a forum Digital Art----------------Digital Art DiscussionWork in ProgressGallery/Finished Work Miscellaneous----------------Random MusingsArchive : Sep99 - Dec00 You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot vote in polls in this forum Powered by phpBB © 2005 phpBB Group


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There is more crime in Canada than Statistics Canada and other experts like to admit.
Why won't our politicians, criminologists, law profs, prisoners'-rights activists and judges fess up? Because they want to believe our ultra-lenient justice system – the system they designed – is working. And they want to convince the rest of us, too.
Just one-third of Canada's convicted criminals will ever be sentenced to jail – only one-third. Courts are instructed to avoid time jail time wherever possible for young offenders, aboriginals and first-time convicts. Of those actually sent to jail, half will spend less than a month there; nearly 90% will spend less than six months.
Experts love these low incarceration rates. It fits right in with their four-decades long effort to replace punishment with rehabilitation as the main goal of our justice system.
They want to be able to show that crime is falling rapidly to validate their theory that there are no bad guys, only misguided individuals. We don't need to lock up most criminals. Rather, we need to show them compassion and understanding so they'll mend their ways.
This kind of thinking is also why our chattering classes are so opposed to the Harper government's plan to build more prisons and get tougher on criminals.
It is also why they have made so much of the official stats purporting to show crime in Canada went down 17% in the 2000s. If crime has declined that much, then their theories must be working.
But as Scott Newark, a former crown prosecutor who works for the Macdonald-Laurier Institute in Ottawa, pointed out this week of the second time, the way officialdom calculates crime data is incomplete and occasionally deliberately disingenuous.
Crime probably has decreased since the mid-1990s as StatsCan claims. But it is highly unlikely it has declined as much as 17%. Also, to the extent it has declined, the drop has been due to demographics rather than every-boy-a-good-boy theorizing.
If crime is at a low point since the 1970s, it is because the number of young men aged 16 to 30 is at a low point, too. Those are the prime crime-committing years. Fewer men in that age group equals less crime.
But as Newark points out, a good chunk of the drop likely arises from the public's loss of faith in the justice system. Canadians no longer report most crimes to police. They don't see the point.
Police don't respond to simple property crimes anymore. They issue victims a file number and tell them to contact their insurance companies. Those few thieves who are caught know they can expect little or no prison time.
It's the same with lots of other crimes, up to and including assault. So now only 31% of crimes are reported to police. That's off nearly 10 percentage points from two decades ago and about 50 points from the 1970s.
The branch of StatsCan that deals with crime stats won't even release the data on how many crimes are committed by repeat offenders or those on parole. It knows the numbers, but won't divulge them.
Ironically, the branch that deals with victims' stats is the source of much of Newark's research, since it is more forthcoming.
Roughly the same number of Canadians claim to be the victims of crime now as in 2004 and only slightly fewer than in 1999. That is a stark contrast from the official assertion that all is rosy and no get-tough reforms are needed because crime is off by 17%.
But even if crime were down by nearly one-fifth, I would still want more bad guys behind bars.
tap here to see other videos from our team.


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This is the story of crossed destinies and a broken love in a world torn apart.
Play through the tales of four characters, each trying to survive the horror of the trenches. Find historical items, defeat the Baron Von Dorf and save your entire platoon at the battle of the Somme.
Friendship, love, sacrifice, and tragedy befall each one as they help each other to retain their humanity against the horrors of war.
See it in action
Download from PS Store


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Episode 8: Phil Hagelberg; empowering userspace in Heroku, Leiningen, and EmacsPosted: September 21, 2012 Filed under: Conversation, Episode 1 Comment
Phil Hagelberg (a.k.a. technomancy just about everywhere) has been a constant presence in the Clojure world for years. Best known for starting the Leiningen project — which he continues to maintain as part of his duties at Heroku — Phil has had his fingers in all sorts of open source pots, including Clojure itself, a big pile of Clojure libraries, and the packaging and distribution infrastructure around Emacs (thus foreshadowing Leiningen to a certain degree?).
We talked about many of these topics (recorded on 8/31/2012, BTW), but one theme that kept coming up throughout our conversation was the notion of empowering userspace; that is, ensuring that users of a system have nearly (or exactly?) as much power available to them as the system's original creators. This is something that Phil has written about recently, where he dubbed a particular approach to empowering userspace as the "Emacs Way"…a strategy that has yielded great dividends in Leiningen and Clojure both.
Or, download the mp3 directly.
Discrete Topics
- Many questions and topics came from tweets to @MostlyLazy (watch for scheduled show announcements and send us topics and questions!)
- Heroku stuffs, including:
- Mark McGranahan gave a talk at the Clojure Conj last year on "Logs as Data" (inspired by Pulse, a Clojure system for consuming log streams at Heroku)
- Buildpacks, the way projects and apps deployed to Heroku are built
- Sonian
- The Leiningen survey, which aimed to get a snapshot of how people use the tool
- Scripting Gnome 3 with ClojureScript
- "The Great Samsung Laptop Fiasco of 2012"
- "Ending is better than mending" (or not?)
- Common tools for code pairing / swarming: screen & tmux
- "Emacs is a great operating system; if only it had a decent text editor…"
- nREPL, and the Emacs support for it, nrepl.el
- Gobby, a free collaborative editor
- A Leiningen and Clojars status update
- The potential vulnerability of builds that rely upon remote / third-party artifact repositories
- Maximizing community participation in open source projects
- "Pull requests aren't a joking matter, people!" 😉
- Empowering userspace, i.e. extending systems in the same way and language used to build the system itself viz. "the Emacs way"
- Phil's current reading list:
- The Lady Tasting Tea ("a pop-sci take on how statistics has influenced science")
- True Names ("sci-fi precursor to cyberpunk")
- The extensibility and flexibility of the Heroku / buildpack model
- OCaml, Factor, Haskell, elisp, and even buildpacks for NES roms
- "Making sure we can push it to the limits" of maximizing the leverage available to users within the system.


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Story highlights
- Ben and Jerry: After Citizen United, our government looks more like a plutocracy
- We need a stampede to rout the special interests who have corralled congress, they say
- Ben and Jerry: Stamp Stampede wants people to put a message on their dollars
- If we don't stunt the influence of money in politics, we might lose our democracy
When Jerry and I first started slinging scoops in 1978, we knew that it was about more than just the ice cream; it was about community.
Our first scoop shop was in a dilapidated gas station that we renovated with a small loan, a little pocket change and a lot of green wood. In the summer, folks would crowd around at the picnic tables late into the evenings and lounge on the grass laughing, talking and eating ice cream.
Ice cream brings people together. We might not agree on politics or religion, heck we might not agree on Chunky Monkey or Phish Food, but that doesn't mean we can't talk. And in that way, ice cream teaches us a lesson about democracy.
Democracy is the triple-deluxe droolworthy idea that the people can govern and be governed in turn, that We the People are the author and the subject of the law. In America, it's the idea that we can elect representatives who will rise above self-interest and work on behalf of the common good.
At least, that was the idea. These days, it looks a little different.
Thanks to Supreme Court cases such as Citizens United in 2010, which trampled over the last remaining semblance of campaign finance laws, our government looks a lot more like a plutocracy: a government where the wealthy rule.
The massive influx of corporate dough doesn't guarantee victory for Democrats or Republicans. But it allows wealthy donors to control the national conversation and drown out other voices, making it harder and harder for the people to be heard. It allows corporations to bully our representatives and influence their votes. All they have to do is threaten to throw gobs of cash against members of Congress who oppose them, and they can chill democratic debate.
When George Washington gave a farewell address to Congress in 1796, he talked about why the U.S. Constitution deserved the people's support and confidence. It wasn't because it contained immutable, universal principles; it was because the people wrote it and the people have the power to alter it.
Well, if we're going to save our democracy, we need a constitutional amendment that declares once and for all: 1) Money is not free speech. 2) Corporations are not people.
The movement to amend is already making big waves. Thirteen states and more than 500 municipalities have passed ballot initiatives calling on Congress to propose a constitutional amendment. More than 150 congressmen and President Barack Obama say they would support an amendment. But change won't happen if we sit back and let other people do the dirty work.
We need a stampede to rout the special interests who have corralled Congress. And that's what we're doing.
The Stamp Stampede encourages people to adorn their dollars, to beautify their bucks, to put make-up on their moola, to stamp money with messages that promote a constitutional amendment to get special interest money out of politics.
We know it's unusual, it's slightly subversive, but it's 100% legal (we checked into it), and it's precisely the kind of democratic action we need if we're going to win a constitutional amendment.
It's not enough for people to sign a petition. We need a petition on steroids. You can open up your windows and scream "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!" But if we want Congress to hear us we need to join together in a chorus.
So take out your stamps and start stamping messages on your money. The average dollar exchanges hands 875 times. That means if a thousand people stamp one dollar a day for a year, the message would be seen more than 300 million times. If 10,000 people do it, the message would be seen more than 3 billion times. If we all do it, we'll flush "dark money" out of politics for good.
The time to act is now.
This is OUR democracy -- a government of the people, for the people and by the people. But if we don't stunt the influence of money in politics, we may very well lose our democracy to special interests.
Follow @CNNOpinion on Twitter.
Join us at Facebook/CNNOpinion.


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Some final changes have been made to Monday's Cage Warriors 51 fight card.
The New Year's Eve event takes place at The Helix in Dublin, and Cage Warriors featherweight champion Conor McGregor (11-2) and Ivan Buchinger (21-3) meet for the vacant lightweight title in the day's headliner.
The main card streams for free on MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) at 4 p.m. ET (1 p.m. PT) following prelims on Facebook.
Officials today announced a few changes to the card.
John Michael Sheil (8-1) suffered a serious knee injury, and his opponent, welterweight Jack Mason (21-11), now meets replacement Florent Betorangal (10-5). The bout is part of the main card.
Additionally, Liam James (6-4) has suffered an undisclosed injury, and his bantamweight bout with Alan Philpott (7-3) has been pulled from the main card because a replacement couldn't be found. In its place, a preliminary-card bout between lightweights Paul Redmond (5-3) and Ryan Roddy (5-0) had been promoted to the main card.
The full Cage Warriors 51 card now includes:
MAIN CARD (MMAjunkie.com, 4 p.m. ET)
- Conor McGregor vs. Ivan Buchinger – for vacant lightweight title
- Chris Fields vs. Jesse Taylor – for middleweight title
- Aisling Daly vs. Katja Kankaanpaa
- Florent Betorangal vs. Jack Mason
- Paul Redmond vs. Ryan Roddy
PRELIMINARY (Facebook, 2:30 p.m. ET)
- Moktar Benkaci vs. James Brum
- Philip Mulpeter vs. Tommy Quinn
- Henry Fadipe vs. Charlie Watts
For more on Cage Warriors 51, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of the site.
(Pictured: Jack Mason)


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Mike Huckabee on How America Can Do the Right Thing
- Shawn McEvoy Crosswalk.com Senior Editor
- 2008 10 Dec
Before Sarah Palin, one of the biggest surprises of the 2008 election season was the success of the Mike Huckabee campaign. The former Arkansas governor and senior pastor ended up the last man standing next to John McCain in the effort to achieve the Republican Party nomination, outdoing more noted candidates like Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney... on a smaller budget.
Huckabee has never shied away from his faith, even when - as he admits in his newest book, Do the Right Thing - it has often caused him to receive naught but token morality or do-you-believe-in-evolution questions in debates. But Mike Huckabee, as this interviewer learned in reading Do the Right Thing, has so much more to say, so many more ideas for a better America where individuals would be better prepared to practice self-government, to be taxed at point of consumption rather than point of income or status, and where those in authority are more in touch with the common man than the country club crowd.
We caught up with Governor Huckabee - who has said repeatedly that it's too early to tell whether he will run again in 2012 - while he was somewhere between Florida and Kentucky on his book tour, which unfortunately for him is happening right in the middle of one of his favorite times of year in his home state...
Crosswalk: Governor, do I understand correctly that you are away on book tour during Arkansas duck season?
Mike Huckabee: Well, I'm telling you, this is very painful. I'm going to miss duck season until the week of December 21st, which is not easy for me to accept. But the book hit number five on the New York Times' best-seller list its first week and that was a little bit of a comfort, but otherwise, I'd just have to say, "Guys, forget it. I'm going duck hunting."
CW: I hope you do get some in at the end of the month, and congratulations on the success of the book. Most of my questions for you today, sir, are in regards to Do the Right Thing, but with the news of cabinet appointments this week - and how you've been noted as having been gracious to and optimistic about our president-elect - how do you feel about the appointments Barack Obama has made?
MH: I think he's made some very smart choices. He's shown his wisdom in bringing in experienced people who can help him from the very beginning. Sometimes a president brings so many new people they don't even know how to find the paper clips. He's bringing in people who truly understand how the White House works, how Congress works; I think that's smart on his part. I also think that picking people like Hillary Clinton to be in the cabinet's a brilliant move. It's like the Godfather said in the movie, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer." So he's neutralized any opposition that Hillary might have provided for his administration in these early days. I think it was a stroke of genius.
CW: You recount so many valuable lessons from your months on the campaign trail in Do the Right Thing - ones that not only shaped you personally and your strategy, but ones that are valuable to individuals and society. Which lesson from the campaign sticks with you the most?
MH: I think the most important lesson was just how great a country this is, and how hard people around America are working, and how they really don't want a lot from their government other than to be left alone. They're not participating in politics because they want more involvement with government; they're not expecting an appointment to the ambassadorship of France, or a sleepover in the Lincoln bedroom. They don't expect to be seated next to the First Lady during the State of the Union address. They just want to be able to pick their kids' schools. They want to be able to get a paycheck and know that the government isn't going to take most of it away from them. They'd like to be able to live in a safe neighborhood and know that if they work really hard, that their work will pay off in increased prosperity for themselves and their families.
CW: On page 31, when you're talking about that government in the chapter "The Best Government of All," you write that "having a moral code that is objective and consistent is necessary for a system" such as our government to work. "Should each person have ability to define his or her own 'code,' order completely falls apart." We see that dilemma of post-modernism every day - people and groups defining their own morality. Is there a solution, and if so, does it involve more looking to the past, or moving forward?
MH: Well it's moving forward, but our moving forward is also rooted in understanding that the strength of America comes from people who live within a moral center of some things being right and some things being wrong. The chapter in my book that's called "The Best Government of All" really does remind us that all the government in the world can never substitute for self-government, governing myself, doing the right thing. Which is: to do unto others as I would wish for others to do unto me. And if we all live by that, we wouldn't really need any other laws; the legislature could go home, they wouldn't meet, they wouldn't create a bunch of government, and they wouldn't have to tax us very much because there just wouldn't be a lot of cost associated with things if we properly governed ourselves.
CW: And yet, how do we create a society wherein people again begin to govern themselves?
MH: It starts at home. This is not something we can elect people to do for us. Mothers and fathers raise kids, and they need to be able to raise them more than having governments raise them. But mothers and fathers have to be committed to universal and permanent, everlasting truth. All roads don't lead to the same place. I think that's a great fallacy. It sounds awfully warm and fuzzy, but it's just not true. Some roads lead to disaster. For example, we start re-defining things like Life and Family, Marriage, it may sound like we're just accommodating people's desires and being awfully kind about it, but it has disastrous consequences. Words have meanings, and institutions have meanings. And we need to respect and keep them.
CW: One of the things I really appreciated in your book was the clear way you explained the right to life Americans are guaranteed by the Constitution and how, in your words, that "culture of life is much broader than the simple notion that abortions are immoral." So, how broad is it, and do you believe Christians are overly concerned with just the abortion part of it?
MH: I think there has been, maybe, an emphasis on the unborn, and that's maybe obvious, but we have to make sure that people understand that a committment to pro-life is not just during the gestation period; that the 80-year-old woman in hospice care is just as deserving and frankly just as in need of our respect of the sanctity of her life as we would be of an 8-month-old unborn child in the mother's womb. It's critically important that we realize that the heart of the pro-life movement - and I talk about this in my chapter called "What is it about 'Created Equal' You Don't Understand?" - that the real issue of being pro-life is accepting the intrinsic worth and value of each human life, whether that life is in the womb, whether it's an 8-year-old child, an 80-year-old grandmother, every life has worth and value. Nobody has a right to diminish or to destroy that precious life.
CW: Governor, you admit on page 55 that other issues outside of life and traditional marriage have become of concern among evangelicals, even if our beliefs have brought us to a condition of what you call being "politically homeless." You note that issues like poverty, AIDS, disease, and hunger have, for the better, come to the fore. Here at Crosswalk, we receive a lot of feedback suggesting the opposite - commenters often blame leaders like Rick Warren or certain social-minded conservatives for splintering our united interests on "more important" hardline issues, and perhaps even costing us the White House. How would you respond to that claim, sir?
MH: Well, I know Rick Warren very well. He was a seminary classmate of mine, and a dear friend. He is as pro-life as anybody I've ever met! He is as much for the traditon of marriage meaning one man and one woman as anybody. But, like me, Rick Warren believes that we also must address issues like hunger, poverty, and disease, and that to fail to do so is not really being pro-life! I can't say that I'm pro-life if I'm interested only in the child until he comes out of the birth canal. And then when he's starving to death or is wracked by a disease that we could have cured I say, "Hey, it's no longer my problem. Soon as he came out of the birth canal he's on his own." That's not being pro-life, so I would totally say that it's the Rick Warrens and Joel Hunters of the world that very much share my committment that bring pro-life is far more than just being anti-abortion.
CW: In your first eight chapters you describe a lot of the problems that we have as a society, or within the D.C. culture, or even as conservatives/Republicans/Christians. The remaining chapters then very much inspire and simplify, touching on everything from taxes to healthcare to volunteerism within a framework of what you call "vertical thinking" or "vertical politics." Can you elaborate a little bit on what you mean by this concept of verticality?
MH: In the chapter called "Let's Get Vertical" I point out that a lot of people in politics see everything in terms of left-right, liberal-conservative, democrat-republican - all on the horizontal plane. But the average American looks at life - and votes - vertically. They're not as concerned about where I am on the horizontal scale, they want to know: will I make the roads better? Will the schools get better? Will our borders get more secure? Will per capita income go up? And those are vertical issues; they don't really care whether a republican or a democrat gets it done. They just want to make sure that those things actually do get done.
CW: One thing that was just a revelation to me in your book was the concept of the FairTax. That was so exciting. Is this something that you can truly forsee coming to fruition in our society?
MH: Oh, I really can. In fact, one of the things that I am very committed to, whether I ever run for an office again, is being a voice for the FairTax. I want to help people to understand it. I am convinced that if we could implement it, we could salvage our economy without a bunch of bailouts, and it would do so much to empower people economically - get them out of the hole and give them an opportunity to put food on their own family's table. I would hope that if people aren't really familiar with the FairTax, they would buy the book for that sole chapter. I think it will want to make them look more into the restructuring of our tax system, and I think they'd be on the phone or on the computer to their congressman saying, "Either get the FairTax or we'll fire you and get a congressman who will."
CW: You don't spend a whole lot of time in Do the Right Thing talking about the hot-button issue of gay marriage, though you do indicate in the FairTax chapter that one benefit would be that the FairTax is good for everyone, including homosexual couples. How so?
MH: When you're building a tax code based on sociological patterns, Congress always has the capacity to manipulate it. One of the arguments that many same-sex couples make is that the tax code favors married couples. In some cases it doesn't, but sometimes it does. My point is that if you have a consumption tax, you only pay taxes at point of consuming something.
Now, I'm an absolute unflinching traditional when it comes to marriage. I think it means only one thing: one man, one woman, relationships for life. And when we start re-defining it, we've stepped across a line. And I don't think we have the right or the power to say that marriage now means something different, something that it's never meant as long as we've had recorded human history, regardless of the religion or the culture. It troubles me when I hear people saying, "It doesn't matter what we call it." Well, it actually does matter what we call it, and I would argue that if we are going to allow same-sex marriage, then we also have to allow for multiple-spouse marriage - that a man could marry six or seven or 25 women if he wanted to, and a woman could marry multiple men. And people say, "No, no no, that's not what we're talking about," but once we've decided that you can define it to accommodate somebody's lifestyle, why would you accomodate same-sex couples and not a person who wants to have multiple wives? That seems to me even more arbitrary than what heterosexuals are accused of by wanting to keep marriage defined as a-man-and-a-woman relationship.
CW: Another quote that I loved from your book was on page 174 where you say that we don't have a healthcare problem, in so much as we have a health problem. And you've acknowledged that changing this culture could take more time than a president would have in even two terms of office. So who will lead the way, and could that even be a responsibility of Christianity or the Church?
MH: Oh, I think it would be great if the Church would take a very leading role in encouraging people toward healthy behavior. And there's two reasons. One is because it's a matter of good stewardship of the body, but secondly, as a spiritual person, I recognize that my body doesn't belong to me. It's not mine to do with what I want. I have no right to abuse it. I have no right to overfeed it or under-exercise it, or to pump smoke in that was never intended to be in my lungs. My life is not my own, it's been bought with a price. It's wholly on subsidiary once Jesus Christ became the Lord of my life. And I don't have a right to say, well, I can throw caution to the wind and live any way I want, do whatever I want to my body. I really don't have that right, and it's a sin against God for me to think I do.
CW: Governor, one final question: in looking at your website this morning I noticed a link to the Vertical Politics Institute. Can you tell us a little about that?
MH: We just established a foundation called The Vertical Politics Institute. The purpose is to develop good, solid public policy and try to put it into the hands of state and even national leglislators to get passed. What we want to do is put some of the finest and sharpest minds in the country together to write critical papers on the ways that we can improve our culture and society. We'll try to be involved and active in being a spokesperson for just causes wherever they are. And it's another opportunity to keep the motivation of the message behind this.
For more from Mike Huckabee, visit www.mikehuckabee.com, or watch his show, "Huckabee," on the Fox News Channel at 8 p.m. Saturday nights. You can order Do the Right Thing: Inside the Movement That's Bringing Common Sense Back to America, by clicking here.


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Report: S.D. Children Would Benefit from Tobacco Tax Increase
(NPN) Anti-smoking groups say South Dakota children will benefit if Congress passes President Obama's proposal to expand early childhood education and fund it with an increase in federal tobacco taxes.
According to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free children, in South Dakota, the initiative would provide 796 more children from low- and moderate-income families with access to high-quality preschool in the first year alone and prevent 7,500 children from becoming addicted smokers. This is according to a report released Wednesday by nine organizations that focus on early learning and/or public health.
The groups also claim that additional South Dakota benefits would include:
- Additional funds provided for preschool in the first year: $6.5 million
- Residents saved from premature,smoking-caused deaths: 3,700
In his fiscal year 2014 budget, President Obama proposed to expand federal funding for early education programs, paid for with a 94-cent per pack increase in the federal cigarette tax and a proportional increase in the federal tax on other tobacco products.
"Taken together, these two measures would help ensure a future of smart, healthy children nationwide and in every state," the report concludes.
The report can be found at www.smarthealthykids.org. It details the educational and health benefits of the President's proposal nationwide and in every state.
Nationwide, the President's proposal would ensure that two million children in low- and moderate-income families have access to high-quality preschool and prevent 1.7 million children from becoming addicted smokers.
Organizations releasing the report are the National Women's Law Center, Save the Children, MomsRising, Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, Campaign for Tobacco-Free children, American Heart Association, American Lung Association and American Academy of Pediatrics.


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A very sweet light is spreading over the Earth like a perfume. The moon is slowly dissolving and a boy-sun languidly stretches his translucent arms…Cool murmurings of pure waters that surrender themselves to the hillsides. A pair of wings dances in the rosy atmosphere.
Silence, my friends.
The day is about to begin.
– Clarice Lispector, "Fever Dream" from The Complete Stories by Clarice Lispector
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- Post Title & Inspiration: Aldous Huxley: "It's dark because you are trying too hard. Lightly child, lightly. Learn to do everything lightly. Yes, feel lightly even though you're feeling deeply. Just lightly let things happen and lightly cope with them."


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Lewis Carroll#50 on top 500 poets
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Phantasmagoria Canto Iii ( Scarmoges )
"AND did you really walk," said I,
"On such a wretched night?
I always fancied Ghosts could fly -
If not exactly in the sky,
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BOSTON (Reuters) - New Englanders struggled to resume their normal routines on Monday in the wake of a blizzard that dumped 40 inches of snow across parts of the region, with Boston's subway service running again and roadways largely plowed, though still treacherous.
Two more deaths were reported in Massachusetts, raising the total number of storm-related deaths in the state to five, according to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency. The men died in a Springfield home when they were overcome by carbon monoxide fumes after running a generator indoors during the storm.
Five people also died in Connecticut, two in New York State, one in Maine and one in Rhode Island.
Residents of the region otherwise eased back into their routines, with Boston's mass transit system back in operation for Monday's morning rush hour.
Traffic on transit and roads was lighter than usual, in part because many schools around the city remained closed, though snow and ice on roadways made for slow going for those who did venture out. Schools remained closed across parts of Connecticut, which received up to 40 inches of snow.
Authorities did not release the names or ages of the two men who died in Springfield. Jennifer Fitzgerald, first assistant district attorney for Hampden County, where Springfield is located, said there were no signs of foul play and that a woman who was also found unconscious at the scene by rescuers was recovering.
In Maine, the body of 75-year-old Gerald Crommet was recovered from the Penobscot River near Passadumkeag after he ran off the road during the storm and his truck fell through the ice, said Stephen McCausland, a spokesman for the Maine State Police. That was the state's sole fatality linked to the storm.
One resident of Rhode Island died while shoveling snow after the storm, local media reported.
Some 150,000 homes and businesses, mostly in Massachusetts, remained without power by Monday afternoon.
Power had been restored to close to more than three-quarters of the 700,000 customers who had lost it after the two-day storm.
"The progress is pretty good," said Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick.
About 1,300 people remained in shelters, primarily in southeastern Massachusetts, which faced coastal flooding as well as heavy snow and hurricane-force winds.
With icy rain falling across the Boston area, authorities warned drivers that Monday evening's commute could be treacherous.
"A lot of these highways are a little bit thinner than usual, roads that normally are two or three lanes wide are just one lane now," said Judge. "If it turns into an icy skating rink out there, that is certainly going to be an issue this evening."
(Reporting By Scott Malone in Boston, additional reporting by Scott DiSavino in New York; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)


text:
Westport Reports Third Quarter Fiscal 2012 Results
2012-11-08 15:35 ET - News Release
Canada NewsWire
VANCOUVER, Nov. 8, 2012
~ Strong Balance Sheet Provides Solid Foundation for a Range of Product
Launches on Deck ~
VANCOUVER, Nov. 8, 2012 /CNW/ - Westport Innovations Inc. (TSX:WPT /
NASDAQ:WPRT), the global leader in natural gas engines, today reported
financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2012 and
provided an update on operations. All figures are in U.S. dollars
unless otherwise stated.
"The overall market for natural gas transportation is developing with
more infrastructure in place by the end of this year and key product
launches for the industry, such as the Cummins Westport ISX12 G, edging
closer," said David Demers, CEO of Westport Innovations Inc. "We expect
to launch a portfolio of new products ranging from automotive and
trucking to off-road applications over the next few quarters from a
broad variety of OEMs. Our Ford F-250/350 program and Westport™ WiNG
Power System is in full production now which positions us with a new
product line with strong prospects for growth."
"We may have changed our near-term and annual revenue expectations,
however, recent announcements to bring a new Cummins Westport 6.7 litre
engine to market, targeting school buses, and an innovative new engine
with Tata, also prove the thesis that virtually all segments of the
transportation market will see significant opportunity for natural gas
this decade," continued Demers. "While new markets evolve, our North
American heavy-duty business is seeing repeat orders from customers
such as UPS who've ordered 21 additional liquefied natural gas (LNG)
tractors with Westport high pressure direct injection (HPDI). Finally,
our programs with Caterpillar to jointly develop LNG as a fuel in
mining truck and locomotive operations are off to a strong start. We
are seeing high levels of interest from customers in these high fuel
use industries."
"We have a strong balance sheet and our asset-light business model
allows us to remain competitively positioned. We will continue to
invest in key products and markets that will help provide new revenue
streams and distribution channels to maintain our dominant market
Third Quarter and Year to Date (YTD) Highlights
* Included in the Company's net loss for the three months ended
September 30, 2012 and September 30, 2011 is a $7.4 million net foreign
exchange loss and a $2.0 million net foreign exchange gain,
respectively. Included in the Company's net loss for the nine months
ended September 30, 2012 and September 30, 2011 is a $2.9 million and a
$1.3 million net foreign exchange loss, respectively. These foreign
exchange gains/losses are attributed to the movement in the Canadian
dollar relative to the U.S. dollar, which are unrealized.
Financial Outlook for 2012
Based on recent feedback from OEM and fleet customers in North America
and automotive OEM customers in Europe, Westport has proactively
updated its 2012 financial outlook to reflect approximately 30% revenue
growth year over year with the consolidated revenue expected to be
between $340 and $350 million for the calendar year ended December 31,
Cummins Westport Inc. (CWI) Business Unit Highlights
Year to date shipments in North America have increased by 38% compared
to the previous year, with growth in each of the transit, refuse and
conventional truck segments. Year to date international shipments
increased 131% over 2011 due to large transit bus engine orders for
China, Peru and Venezuela. During the quarter there were several new
CWI ISL G-powered fleets put into service, including new refuse truck
fleets in Pomona, CA, and Winnipeg, MB, and new transit bus fleets in
Long Beach, CA, and Guadalajara, Mexico.
CWI is continuing the development of the ISX12 G, a 12 litre heavy-duty
natural gas engine for regional haul, vocational and refuse
applications. Limited production of this engine will commence in early
2013 at Cummins' Jamestown, New York engine plant. CWI is working with
OEM launch partners including Freightliner, Peterbilt, Kenworth, Volvo
and Autocar, all of whom are participating in the field trials.
Westport Light-Duty (Westport LD) Business Unit Highlights
During the quarter, Pioneer Natural Resources announced that it was
adding 225 bi-fuel Westport WiNG natural gas powered Ford F-250 Super
Duty trucks to its fleet. Pioneer has begun transitioning a number of
its fleet vehicles from gasoline and diesel powered to those able to
run on more cost-effective natural gas for light-duty and heavy-duty
applications. Westport LD delivered 184 WiNG Power Systems to Pioneer
during the quarter. Westport LD remains on track to deliver more than
500 units by the end of the year.
Westport LD in Sweden, the sole supplier of natural gas fuel systems to
Volvo Car Corporation for the bi-fuel version of the popular V70 wagon,
launched the 2013 model year V70. The 2.0-litre turbocharged V70 has
improved fuel efficiency and extended range compared with the previous
model. The manual transmission option is particularly popular for
company cars in Sweden.
Westport Heavy-Duty (Westport HD) Business Unit Highlights
During the quarter, Westport HD shipped 58 HD Systems to Kenworth and
Peterbilt for LNG truck production for customers such as City of Los
Angeles, Basic Energy, Kenan Advantage and TransGas.
UPS has continued its commitment to building its natural gas powered
fleet with an order for 21 Kenworth T800 LNG heavy-duty trucks. The
T800s, powered by Westport HD, make UPS one of the largest fleet owners
of LNG trucks in North America.
FortisBC, the gas distribution utility in British Columbia, Canada
designed an incentive funding program to assist qualified medium and
heavy-duty fleet owners to purchase natural gas vehicles in British
Columbia and recently has notified successful applicants of their
preliminary awards. The conditionally awarded recipients consist of 16
on-road-transportation fleets for 236 compressed natural gas (CNG) and
165 LNG vehicles. The final award details will be made public by
FortisBC, which is expected to take place by the end of 2012 with
vehicles being delivered in 2013.
According to Clean Energy Fuels' America's Natural Gas Highway
deployment plan, 48 LNG stations have been built to date and Clean
Energy expects to be on track to complete its goal of approximately 70
stations by year end. As announced during its quarterly conference
call, Clean Energy has 21 LNG stations under construction, 12 in
various stages in entitlement, design, and permitting process, and 64
stations in process for next year. By the end of 2014, Westport is
confident that infrastructure will likely not be a material barrier to
any fleet in the U.S. that wants to move to natural gas.
As announced at the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association
Transportation Summit in October, Irving Oil plans to open five LNG
stations in Eastern Canada commencing in late 2013. Irving Oil is
planning to make LNG available at five of its existing fuelling
stations in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec.
In August, a Shaanxi truck powered by the Weichai Westport 12L HPDI
engine conquered 4,767 meter (or 15,640 feet) altitude testing for the
first time on China's Kunlun Mountain. This marked a significant
milestone as it was the highest altitude that natural gas trucks had
ever reached, proving HPDI's comparable performance to diesel. The
Weichai Westport HPDI engine will be undergoing cold testing through
the winter months to prepare for commercial launch in 2013.
Weichai Westport Inc. (WWI) Highlights
High-Horsepower (HHP) Highlights
The off-road development program with Caterpillar was launched in June
2012. In September, Westport attended the first-ever HHP Summit in
Houston, which brought together delegates from key industries (e.g.
rail, mining, marine, drilling, agriculture, construction, and on-site
power generation) to discuss the use of natural gas for HHP
applications. At the Summit, Joel Feucht, Caterpillar's newly appointed
Director of Gas Engine Strategy, underlined the economic advantages of
moving to natural gas and confirmed Caterpillar's intentions to go
"all-in on natural gas" as quickly as possible. Feucht confirmed that
Caterpillar, who is working closely with Westport, is committed to a
long-term investment to provide natural gas fueled equipment and
engines across its product lines. Furthermore, Caterpillar announced at
September's MinExpo that its first expected LNG-powered products will
likely include Cat® 793, 795 and 797 mining trucks.
CN is presently running two of its diesel-fired locomotives on natural
gas as part of an evaluation program. This test also involves a longer
term demonstration project with Westport, Electro-Motive Diesel (a
Caterpillar subsidiary), and Quebec gas distributor Gaz Metro, with
funding from Sustainable Development Technology Canada to develop a
natural gas locomotive engine and LNG tender car to carry the fuel.
Westport anticipates the first results from the test engine in
Non-GAAP Financial Measure; Adjusted EBITDA Results
Adjusted EBITDA is used by management to review operational progress of
its business units and investment programs over successive periods and
as a long-term indicator of operational success since it ties closely
to the unit's ability to generate sustained cash flows. Westport
defines Adjusted EBITDA as net loss attributed to the Company before
(a) income taxes, (b) depreciation and amortization, (c) interest
expense, net, (d) amortization of stock-based compensation, (e)
unrealized foreign exchange loss (gain), (f) income (loss) from
unconsolidated joint ventures and (g) gains and other. The term
Adjusted EBITDA is not defined under U.S. generally accepted accounting
principles, or U.S. GAAP, and is not a measure of operating income,
operating performance or liquidity presented in accordance with U.S.
GAAP. Adjusted EBITDA has limitations as an analytical tool, and when
assessing Westport's operating performance, investors should not
consider Adjusted EBITDA in isolation, or as a substitute for net loss
or other consolidated statement of operations data prepared in
accordance with U.S. GAAP. Among other things, Adjusted EBITDA does not
reflect Westport's actual cash expenditures. Other companies may
calculate similar measures differently than Westport, limiting their
usefulness as comparative tools. Westport compensates for these
limitations by relying primarily on its GAAP results and using Adjusted
EBITDA only supplementally.
Non-GAAP Financial Measure; Segment Adjusted EBITDA Results
This press release includes financial outlook information for Westport
and such information is being provided for the purpose of updating
prior revenue disclosure and may not be appropriate for, and should not
be relied upon for, other purposes.
Financial Statements & Management's Discussion and Analysis
To view Westport's full financials for the quarter ended September 30,
2012, please point your browser to the following link: http://www.westport.com/investors/financial
Live Conference Call & Webcast
Westport has scheduled a conference call for today, Thursday, November
8, 2012 at 2:00 pm Pacific Time (5:00 pm Eastern Time) to discuss these
results. The public is invited to listen to the conference call in real
time by telephone or webcast. To access the conference call by
telephone, please dial: 1-800-319-4610 (Canada & USA toll-free) or
604-638-5340. The live webcast of the conference call can be accessed
through the Westport website at www.westport.com/investors.
Replay Conference Call & Webcast
To access the conference call replay, please dial 1-800-319-6413 (Canada
& USA toll-free) or 604-638-9010 using the pass code 1847. The replay
will be available until November 15, 2012. Shortly after the conference
call, the webcast will be archived on the Company's website and replay
will be available in streaming audio.
About Westport Innovations Inc.
Westport Innovations Inc. is a leading global supplier of proprietary
solutions that allow engines to operate on clean-burning fuels such as
compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG), hydrogen,
and renewable natural gas (RNG) fuels such as landfill gas and help
reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). Westport technology offers
advanced LNG fueling systems with direct injection natural gas engine
technology for heavy-duty vehicles such as highway trucks and off-road
applications such as mining and rail. Westport's joint venture with
Cummins Inc., Cummins Westport Inc. designs, engineers and markets
spark-ignited natural gas engines for North American transportation
applications such as trucks and buses. Westport LD division is one of
the global leaders for natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)
fuel in passenger cars, light-duty trucks and industrial applications
such as forklifts. To learn more about our business, visit our website
or subscribe to our RSS feed at www.westport.com, or follow us on
Twitter @WestportDotCom.
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including
statements regarding the consolidated revenue and revenue growth of
Westport for calendar year 2012, timing for launch and completion of milestones related to the engine
products referenced herein, including the CWI ISX12 G, Weichai Westport
HPDI engine and EMD locomotive engines, projected Westport engine unit
sales in the fourth quarter of 2012, timing for opening of LNG retail
plazas and development of refueling infrastructure, results of FortisBC
incentive program,timing and expectations for future cash flows, the demand for our
products, the future success of our business and technology strategies,
investment in new product and technology development and otherwise,
cash and capital requirements, intentions of partners and potential
customers, the performance and competitiveness of Westport's products
and expansion of product coverage, future market opportunities, speed
of adoption of natural gas for transportation and terms of future
agreements as well as Westport management's response to any of the
aforementioned factors. These statements are neither promises nor
guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and
are based on both the views of management and assumptions that may
cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or
achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels
of activities, performance or achievements expressed in or implied by
these forward looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include
risks and assumptions related to our revenue growth, operating results,
industry and products, the general economy, conditions of and access to
the capital and debt markets, governmental policies and regulation,
technology innovations, fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, the
availability and price of natural gas, global government stimulus
packages, the acceptance of and shift to natural gas vehicles, the
relaxation or waiver of fuel emission standards, the inability of
fleets to access capital or government funding to purchase natural gas
vehicles, the sufficiency of bio methane for use in our vehicles, the
development of competing technologies, our ability to adequately
develop and deploy our technology as well as other risk factors and
assumptions that may affect our actual results, performance or
achievements or financial position discussed in our most recent Annual
Information Form and other filings with securities regulators. Readers
should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements,
which speak only as of the date they were made. We disclaim any
obligation to publicly update or revise such statements to reflect any
change in our expectations or in events, conditions or circumstances on
which any such statements may be based, or that may affect the
likelihood that actual results will differ from those set forth in
these forward looking statements except as required by National
Instrument 51-102. The contents of any website, RSS feed or twitter
account referenced in this press release are not incorporated by
reference herein.
SOURCE: Westport Innovations Inc.

 Inquiries:
 Darren Seed
 Vice President, Investor Relations & Communications
 Westport Innovations Inc.
 Phone: 604-718-2046
 Email: email@example.com

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