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Sometimes, suddenly, you see someone — or something — and realize your destiny is oh-so-clear. Today is that day! This September, in Anzola Emilia, outside Bologna, The Gelato Museum will open. GELATO MUSEUM. Luciana Polliotti, who may have the best job in the world, because she is a gelato historian and the curator of the museum, explains that gelato is an ancient tradition; folks were gathering snow and ice from mountaintops and using it to make sorbets and sherbets 1,200 years before Christ. (Click here to see video of the woman with your dream job talking about Gelato — in Italian, of course.)
According to the Telegraph:
The Gelato Museum will showcase the first written recipe, 10,000 photographs and documents and around 20 old gelato-making machines, including primitive, hand-operated churns made out of wood and iron.
Documents, sure, machines, okay, but MMM GELATO.


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Reb Beach
It's Reb Beach
How ya doin?
I'm doing good
How is everything going?
Pretty good. We just had a big storm and I was just outside trying to save a tarp I put over something (laughs) I was chasing it down the street.
Ya I guess the winter is unfortunately here.
I live in Pittsburg and I have no use for the cold. My last name is Beach for a reason. I love the water and one of these days I'm going to move to Ft Lauderdale again.
I'm in eastern Canada.
Wow! Are you getting this storm?
It's up in Canada, I just don't know where.
The new cd is quite amazing. Why did it take so long to record a follow up to PULL?
We kind of got the wind knocked out of our sails. I think Winger took the brunt of the Beavis and Butthead thing more than any of the other 80's bands. At that point we felt that PULL was far our best record and nobody bought it. We were like… what's the point? (laughs). That's how I felt about it anyway. So we just figured we'd each go and do our own thing. We ended up doing our own thing for 13 years (laughs). There were a couple of other factors too: Rod's wife passed away last Xmas, she'd been fighting with cancer for a long time, so Rod had to be home with her. We layed low for years on that. I did some work with Kip on a record called THE MOB, he produced it for me. I think that made us both realize how much we love working together and what a great repore we have with each other. That's when Kip said let's look at doing another Winger album.
Did the BEST OF and the Poison tour in 2002 play any role in getting you to that point?
We just had an offer. Someone made us an offer for the Poison tour, and we weren't doing anything else so we all got together to do that. I don't know if it had any bearing on us recording a new album. The recording process we do is a lot different than the band jamming. It's just kind of me and Kip in a room, so when THE MOB thing happened that's really what sparked it.
Were you in constant contact with Kip during this time?
He's my best friend. He's like my soulmate, he's my rock. Whenever I have a problem in business, I call him, he's a business man, he's a cunning guy. I'm just a beer drinking guitar player idiot.
That Poison tour in 2002, in Toronto, was the only time I saw you guys live.
That's too bad because we had the worst soundman of all time. We were so much better than that. The production manager came up to us toward the end of the tour and said listen I can't not speak any longer, you guys sound like a record up here on stage and you sound like crap out there in the audience. Your soundman is horrible. Then we asked everyone and they were like your soundman is the worst we've ever heard. Too bad because the band is pretty amazing.
I hope to see you guys again sometime.
Yeah, we're not in Canada, but we're doing some shows in NYC, upstate New York in February/March.
Are you guys back fulltime now, or is this a one shot?
We're just promoting this particular record. We'll see how it does, and if it does ok we'll continue to do records in the future. Hopefully be able to keep all our other jobs. You know Rob's a professor at Berklee and I'm doing Whitesnake. As long as I can continue to juggle these two things, I don't want to quit Whitesnake of course. That's just a great gig.
How is the Whitesnake thing going?
Well they're not touring right now. Doug and David are over in Europe promoting the new live record LIVE IN THE SHADOW OF THE BLUES. Then they're are coming back and going to start writing for a new studio album I'm told. I don't think anything is in stone yet. I know the fans have been waiting for a full studio album, and getting kind of a taste for new studio tracks on this new live album. I've been putting ideas together to send to David and hopefully he'll use one of them. I don't know. I'm kind of nervous. Sending him my stuff is like sending him a picture of me naked. It's embarrassing, but there are some good riffs. I have probably 200 ideas.
Do you think you will be part of the new album, either writing or playing on it?
I play on 2 songs of the 4 studio tracks we did on the live album, but I just did it from my home. I just did some solo's from where Doug told me to play. I imagine what this deal will be to, unless David is inspired by what I send him and wants to do some kind of writing and then I'll probably fly out there and finish some songs with him. Depends what he thinks.
What is it like playing in a 2 guitar situation with Doug compared to being a solo player, and when you were in the DOKKEN gig?
It's completely different. I was in 2 guitar players in Alice so I know the drill. You just have to work things out and Doug really is, he can sound like the guitar player on the "Crying In The Rain" album. I can't think of his name right now.
John Sykes?
Ya Sykes! He sounds like Sykes and I don't. I can sound like Vai, but Vai didn't play on a lot of songs. I'm pretty good at the blues, so I got some blues sol's here and there. Doug gets the big solos because he's great at that stuff. I'm happy with that. There's no weirdness there with that. I told David when I first got the gig I'd play behind the amps just so I'd be in Whitesnake. That's all I really care about.
Like your favourite band?
Not my favourite band, but it's one of the bandsthat blew me away, I was a kid when that album came out. "Still Of The Night" was the coolest thing I'd ever heard since Led Zeppelin. Just to be part of it, only the best musicians are playing with David, so it's a real honor.
Does he give you total freedom to play what you want in your solo's?
Ya. I mean if I'm Steve Vai-ing it out to much or I'm riffing my face off right from the get go on a blues song, then David will come up and say, "Hey dude, lets get back to the basics here mister." (laughs) He's old school and likes it a certain way but for the most part he lets me do what I want, as long as I'm not doing something that's not right for the part.
Did you have that same freedom in Dokken?
It's nothing like Dokken. Dokken is a free form jam that goes for an hour. Dokken was the Reb Beach show! (laughs) Don would come out with a glass of whiskey and a bottle of wine and sing a couple of verses and leave the stage. (laughs) Go Reb! It's the same thing with Doug in Dio, it's just a completely different thing. It's different music. It's made for long guitar solos. That's not what Whitesnake is, Whitesnake is more a musical entity.
Think you'll ever work with Don in the future?
I'd love to work with Don again. I did an acoustic tour with him and we had a blast. We had so much fun together. He was a pain in the ass in the studio, but touring with Don was always a joy. I'd love to do another thing with Don. I'm doing Winger and Whitesnake now so…. I'd never be able to juggle that around.
Any chance of a live CD or DVD of one of the Reb Beach Project shows?
That's a great question. No, honestly that's probably my favourite thing to do, is to play with the Reb Beach Project. Because it's mine. (laughs) We really get to take it out, we have like 8 minute jams in that band. I would love to record something live with those guys, but when I'm home to put that together is a lot of work for the hundred bucks you make on the gig. You just play little clubs around town and you gotta get everyone's schedule together. The 2 other guys in the band are booked solid. They're working all the time, they're booked every friday and saturday night for the next 6 months. It's tough to get that together, but I do want to get that together before I die, so one of these days.I do have some recordings, but there when the band was just starting so my voice isn't as happening. It was a long time ago. It's not as cool as the band is now.
What about MASQUERADE II?
I've been writing for it and right now I'm going to send all those ideas to David, so if he likes any of them then they'll be on Whitesnake, and if he doesn't then they'll be on MASQUERADE II.
MASQUERADE is a great album.
Thank you, thank you very much. I really like the record, I'm really proud of the record. It's the hardest thing I ever did by far because I wrote it and produced it. From its inception, I did it all and I wanted to do that, and I wanted to have something that I could say if someone wanted to know who's Reb Beach, what's he about. I can have an album and say here this is, everything I do on one record. It was tough. A lot of people say I should have had a real singer on there, some killer singer, but singers are a pain in the butt. (laughs) They really are. If you want a guy to sing something, a lot of the times they can't sing what you want, they choose their own notes. It was so much easier to do it myself.
I think it turned out great.
Thanks. I got to work with Doug Pinnick on THE MOB, that was really cool. That was a big day for me, getting to instruct Doug Pinnick. At one point I said " Doug do that patened Doug Pinnick scream right here.", and he was like " oh YEAHHHHH". It just blew me away to hear that scream that I had heard when I was a kid, right there in front of me was something else. I've had a couple of experiences in my life where I just felt like I was the luckiest guy in the world. That was one of them. The other was when the Bee Gees sang for me. (laughs)
How did that come about?
I played on a Bee Gees record and they flew me out to Florida in the studio, and they put me up in The Doral on the beach. They were all smokin' weed, came into the studio and didn't have a vocal track on the song I was playing on, and they wanted me to hear the vocal, so they all got around me in a circle and sang acapella. It was the greatest experience to hear those multi-platinum voices from my past all around me in perfect tune. It was such a cool experience because I had a contact high. (laughs)
How did THE MOB project come about?
Well Frontiers approached me to do a band type record. They had these singers they had in mind and they were all the typical Frontiers singers. At that time they all sounded the same, now Frontiers is signing all kinds of bands. When I did THE MOB the guys they suggested were all great singers, but they all kinda had that 80's sound and I wanted to do something different. My favourite singer other than Steven Tyler, is Doug. I approached the record company about Doug Pinnick and they said no. I just kept pounding them saying you have to let me use Doug Pinnick. When I got Kip involved, he convinced the label to let me use Doug. I'm glad we did because it turned into a really interesting record. It doesn't sound like everything else.
Anything else coming from THE MOB in the future?
I doubt it, honestly. As far as I know it didn't sell that well. It wasn't very successful. I don't think they promoted it very well. I doubt they'll ask me. We had some legal issues at the end there, so I doubt they're goona do that again. That's me. That record. THE MOB was my baby and WINGER IV is Kip's baby. You can really tell. One is straight ahead 3 chord rock, and Winger is very progressive from the mind of a genius.
Kip does come across as a very talented musician and technical person.
That's it. Not only is he a talented musician, he's a jack of all trades. He's a really smart guy, interllectual, tortured. He studies compostion and arranging, he goes to classes and he teaches classes. He studies ballet, carpentry, he builds houses, he's just an amazing guy. Too bad he still has such a bad rap. Winger is pretty much the worst name in rock.
They just can't get past the image from the videos.
That is part of the problem with the band. We were 4 good looking guys, with great teeth, who never got into any trouble. We never trashed any hotel rooms and we proffessed to be the greatest musicians on the planet. Ya know we're studio cats ok? (laughs) That just made us a target.
I was guilty of that until I saw you guys live.
That's great. I saw a lot of people in the audience even though we had a terrible soundman. It was a great joy for me to see the people with their attitudes right at the beginning of the show. A lot of guys with folded arms just staring at us going "ok these guys are gonna suck." We did some more of our obscure stuff like "Rainbow In The Rose" I just watched them turn, turn around to their girlfriends and go "this is Winger?" . Every single day this would happen. "This is Winger?" , "there is no way this is Winger!" . The girls would be like "yep this is Kip Winger, definately Winger". I saw them liking it. We always won the audience over.
I was partially guilty myself.
Ha ha, there ya go.
How did you come about playing on the first Twisted Sister album, LOVE IS FOR SUCKERS?
So Twisted Sister is when I first got started. I got my foot in the door by playing with a girl named Fiona on Atlantic, and Beau Hill was the producer.Beau ended up using me on everything he did after that. It was me and Kip and another guy named David Rosenburg. He called us his A-Team. We played on pretty much everything he did and Twisted was one of them. He needed help specifically finishing his songs. I was good at coming up with riffs, so Beau put me in a room with Dee Snider for 6 months. It was the funniest, I never laughed so hard for so long everyday in my whole life, because Dee Snider is hysterically funny and great to work with, and a super super good singer. He just pegged it everytime. We wrote the songs together; he had the meat and potatoes of them, but I would finish them off and write solo sections and stuff. Then we did the guitar and I helped out and stuff. It's funny, Jay Jay French would come in and it would take him a while to do a solo, then Beau would have me come in late at night after he had left and go over his parts. I was playing his solos just with a better performance. I saw Jay Jay French a couple of years ago and he goes "Hey you know I finally figured out it wasn't me on LOVE IS FOR SUCKERS, it was you." I'm like…. "really??" He's like "Yeah! It took me a while to figure it out, took me like a year to think… that's not me .. is it?" (laughs)
That must've been a bit of an ego blow to him?
Well it's his band. He's the one in charge of that band. He formed it.
Any insight on projects you are working on, or what we can see in the future?
I'm sending all my ideas to David. If there's something he doesn't use then that'll end up being on my next solo record. I'm working on 2 different solo records. One is a follow up to MASQUERADE, and the other one is my dream, and my dream is to go on a G3 tour. That's really my next goal in life. In order to do that I need an instrumental record, and I think if there are any fans of me, what they want from me is an instrumental record. You can look for either of those 2 things from me. I'm just going to be touring with Winger and Whitesnake in the new year.
Reb Beach & Celtic Bob, Toronto, Ont. 2002
Thanks to Nancy at VQPR for setting up the interview and to Sharkbait for Transcribing

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Chapter 2F of the Ohio Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (OMUTCD) estabishes standards and guidelines for Specific Service (Logo) Signing. Additional information is provided in Section 207-2 of the ODOT Traffic Engineering Manual (TEM).
The Ohio Logo Signing Program permits eligible businesses which provide fuel, food, lodging, camping or attraction services to road users to have their logos placed on Specific Service (Logo) signs at rural and urban freeway and expressway interchanges. This program is operated by a private company, Ohio Logos, Inc., working under contract with ODOT. All inquiries regarding this program should be directed to:
Ohio Logos, Inc.
4384 Tuller Road
Dublin, Ohio 43017
Toll Free: (800) 860-5646
Phone: (614) 717-0833
Fax: (614) 717-0836
Website: http://www.ohio.interstatelogos.com/state/


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Clyde Mack Waldron, 64, of Clarksville, Florida, passed away Monday, March 4, 2013, in Panama City, Florida.
He retired from the United States Air Force after nineteen years as a jet engine mechanic and served in the Vietnam conflict, receiving the Meritorious Service Medal. He was also a member of Disabled American Veterans. Clyde was a member of Calvary Baptist Church where he served as Sunday school superintendent for twenty-eight and a half years.
He is survived by his wife, Christine Powell Waldron, of Clarksville; two sons, Christopher Mark Waldron and his wife, Jean, of Altha, Florida, and Steven Paul Waldron and his wife, Mandy, of Clarksville; seven grandchildren, Kayla Fowler and husband, Steven, of Marianna, Florida, Codi Waldron and wife, Alex, of Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, Christopher Waldron of Altha, Taylor Waldron of Marianna, Alicia Waldron, also of Marianna, Michael Hughes of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Haley Hebert of Altha; two great-grandchildren, Jacob Fowler of Marianna and Colby Hughes of Altha; his father, Henry Waldron, and wife, Betty, of Clarksville and his mother, Thelma Kyle, and husband, William "Buddy," of Blountstown; a brother, Jerry Waldron, of Clarksville; four sisters, Melinda Waldron, Sue Bailey and husband, Clyde, Janis Weiler and husband, Jack, all of Blountstown, and Deanna Waldron of Greensboro, Florida; and numerous nieces and nephews and other extended family.
Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m., Thursday, March 7, in the Chapel of Adams Funeral Home in Blountstown with Reverend Francis Carlisle and Reverend John Marvin Nichols officiating. Interment will follow in Calvary Baptist Church Resurrection Cemetery in Clarksville with full military honors. The family will receive friends 6:00-8:00 p.m., Wednesday, March 6, at Adams Funeral Home.
Adams Funeral home in Blountstown is in charge of the arrangements (phone 674-5449). Online condolences may be made at adamsfh.com.


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Fast HV Transistor Switches, HTS 151-12-B – HTS 181-12-B – HTS 211-12-B
Technische Daten
- 15kV at 125A or 18kV at 125A or 21kV at 125A
- Variable On-Time
- Very Low On-Resistance
- MOSFET Technology
- Alternative to IGBT Switches
This new generation of BEHLKE high voltage switching modules utilize an advanced MOSFET technology with very low on-resistance, the so called Trench FET technology. The switching speed of those modern FET is slightly slower than that of a classical power FET, but is still much faster than that of any IGBT, which is preferably used to achieve low turn-on losses. The new MOSFET switches of series HTS-B combine very low dynamic switching losses with moderate turn-on losses and are a serious alternative to IGBT switches. Another important advantage compared to the fault sensitive IGBT is the positive temperature coefficient of the on-resistance, which makes the switch short circuit proof within the thermal limits. Furthermore overvoltage transients as well as voltage reversal respectively current reversal is less dangerous to MOSFETs than to IGBTs. Insofar these switching modules are well suitable for applications with high demands on operational safety even under worst conditions.


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Discuss Detroit
Archives - Beginning January 2007
ģ For those who are interested...Symposium on Urban Revitalization April 11
Username: Thejesus
Post Number: 757
Registered: 06-2006
Posted on Tuesday, March 20, 2007 - 3:53 pm:
This will be held at WSU Law School on Wednesday, April 11th and it goes on all day long...
The American Constitution Society for Law and Policy will present a symposium: Urban Revitalization after Hathcock and Prop 4: What Now? on Wednesday, April 11, 2007 at the Wayne State University Law Schools Spencer M. Partrich Auditorium, 471 W. Palmer Street, Detroit.
The decision of the Michigan Supreme Court in Wayne County v Hathcock and the passage of Proposal 4 in the November, 2006, election have drastically limited the use of eminent domain as a tool for urban renewal. What can be done now? This symposium will bring together leading experts in the field to explore this question. They will look at the urban renewal experience, the new legal framework, and the tools available to promote revitalization.
Mary Massaron Ross, an attorney with Plunkett & Cooney, who argued the case of Wayne County v. Hathcock, the leading Michigan case limiting eminent domain, will speak about the case and about Proposition 4, which limited eminent domain even further.
John Cameron, an attorney with Dickinson Wright, and John Logie, an attorney with Warner, Norcross & Judd will look back at the urban renewal experience in Detroit and Grand Rapids.
Current revitalization projects will be discussed by attorney Cameron, who has been working on the Harbor Shores project in Benton Harbor, Douglass Diggs, the director of Detroits Planning and Development Department, who will discuss Detroits Far East Side Project, and Anika Goss-Foster, the director of Philanthropic Affairs for Detroit, who will talk about the Next Detroit Neighborhood Initiative.
Grant Trigger, an attorney and director of Real Estates Interests Group, Inc., will speak on brownfield financial incentives and environmental regulations and benefits.
Dan Kildee, Genesee County Treasurer, and Chairman of the Michigan Land Bank Fast Track Authority and of the Genesee Land Bank, will discuss land banking as a tool for revitalization.
Other speakers will address investment support by the state of Michigan, and WSU professor of Urban Planning Robin Boyle will discuss urban sprawl and revitalization.
The symposium begins at 8:30 am and concludes at 5 p.m. with a reception. Lunch will be served. There is a $10 fee for the event; students are admitted free of charge. Parking is available in structure #1, across from the Law School on Palmer Street, at the corner of Cass Avenue for $3.50.
The American Constitution Society for Law and Policy is one of the nationals leading progressive legal organizations. Founded in 2001, it is a rapidly growing network of lawyers, students, and other members of the bench and bar. The ACS mission is to ensure that fundamental principles of human dignity, individual rights and liberties, genuine equality and access to justice enjoy their rightful, central place in American law.
To RSVP for this event, or for more information, please contact Robin Dortenzio at (313) 577-3934 or
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IRA Rollover May Expire Soon: Act Now (7/24/07)
IRA Rollover May Expire Soon—Take Action!
Unless Congress takes action, an important charitable giving incentive will expire soon. The IRA Charitable Rollover, enacted in August 2006, allows individuals to make charitable gifts from their IRAs tax-free and has already spurred millions of dollars in new giving to nonprofit organizations. This provision is set to expire on December 31, 2007. Whether you are an orchestra professional or donor (or both!), please contact your members of Congress and urge them to co-sponsor bills that will improve and extend this important charitable giving incentive!
Your Orchestra Can Receive IRA Gifts Now
Before enactment of the IRA Rollover provision, individuals who made charitable gifts from their retirement accounts had to withdraw funds and treat them as taxable income, reducing the amount available for donation to charity. Orchestras report that the IRA Charitable Rollover is producing new gifts, with the potential for more if donors can be made aware of this new giving incentive.
IRA Rollover—Current Status
- Enacted as part of the Pension Reform Act of 2006
- Permits donors age 70 ½ and older to make tax-free charitable gifts directly from their IRAs
- Caps qualifying gifts to an annual ceiling of $100,000
- Expires December 31, 2007
Learn How Donors Can Use the Current IRA Provision
Speak Up to Support Future Giving
You can take action to help your orchestra and community benefit from the IRA Charitable Rollover provision by asking your members of Congress to co-sponsor legislation that would improve and preserve this important charitable giving incentive. By raising your voice, you will be joining thousands of other advocates in the arts and nonprofit communities calling for Congress to support the IRA Charitable Rollover.
IRA Rollover—Proposed Legislation
- Reduces the qualifying age to 59 ½
- Removes the $100,000 cap
- Makes this charitable giving incentive permanent
Contact Congress Today:
1. Contact your Representative in the House and both Senators. A faxed, personalized letter will get the most attention.
2. Convey the following message to your member of the House of Representatives: "Co-sponsor H.R. 1419, legislation to extend and improve the IRA Charitable Rollover provision, which will provide important new incentives for charitable giving." Send the following message to your Senators: "Co-sponsor S. 819, legislation to extend and improve the IRA Charitable Rollover provision, which will provide important new incentives or charitable giving." Use the talking points in our issue brief, and personalize your message with information about how increased charitable giving could benefit your orchestra and your community.
3. Very Important Final Step: Please send League Government Affairs a copy of your communication with Congress. The League will be following up with Hill offices, and can reinforce your advocacy efforts.
Thank you!
View Background and Talking Points for Orchestras 60.60 Kb
The League is a member of the American Arts Alliance, a coalition of national performing arts service organizations dedicated to advocating for national policies that recognize, enhance, and foster the contributions the performing arts make to America.


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Obama talks sports with ESPN's Bill Simmons [Videos]
President Obama says he had "Linsanity" before Linsanity was cool.
"I knew about Jeremy before you did, or everybody else did," Obama said in an interview with ESPN's Bill Simmons for his new site, Grantland. "I've been on the Jeremy Lin bandwagon for a while."
The president explained that his Education secretary, Arne Duncan, was captain of Harvard's basketball team and would rave about his play.
"It's a great story, and what's interesting is the fact that somehow folks were missing it in practice," he said. "You got to assume that during scrimmages he was running that pick-and-roll pretty well."
Now let's rewind a bit. The president did an interview with Bill "The Sports Guy" Simmons?
Yes, turns out he did. Chalk it up to the advantage of incumbency. While his Republican rivals are out tearing one another to pieces, and focusing on more conservative media outlets and Fox News, the president is expanding his reach to American voters in just such venues.
In this case, it's clear that the president is quite the sports geek.
Obama told Simmons he has the NBA League Pass on his iPad to watch late NBA games after his wife and daughters have gone to sleep, in between reading briefing memos.
He offered a rosy assessment of his hometown team's chances this year, saying the Chicago Bulls "have a great chance" to compete for a championship.
He's been thinking for five years about hosting an NBA champion Bulls team at the White House, and expects to see them in what he hopes will be a second term. "It hasn't happened yet, but it will happen," he said. "I've got another five years here, and somewhere along the line my Bulls are going to come through."
He even talked about playing a game of HORSE with former UConn standout Maya Moore. The president won.
"Maya is annoyed that I point out that I beat her. She was wearing high heels and a skirt at the time, so I'm not sure if that counts."
Simmons also talked with Obama about his golf game, his hope for a college football playoff, and throwing out ceremonial first pitches at baseball games, something he said is "about the most stressful thing" he does.
Here are some more highlights of the interview.
On the Bulls' chances: "Deng seems more confident. Boozer is in better shape. Derrick Rose has matured. I'm a little worried about making sure that they give him enough rest with the back spasms that he had. But the Bulls, I think, are right in there. I think they've got a great chance. The Heat are playing better than anybody right now. And when those folks get going on a fast break, it's over."
On the NBA lockout: "My whole theory — it's the same way with the NFL lockout. If you've got billionaires on one side and millionaires on another, you guys can figure out how to divide some money up. And ultimately they did. And it was the right thing to do. And what's been encouraging is to see how fast the sport has bounced back. And with Jeremy Lin and the Heat and all the unbelievable young players that are out here right now, I think this sport is as popular as it's ever been."
On whether people hold back when playing basketball with him: "No, because I'm always getting knocked around. I don't know what people are talking about. Reggie Love, my former aide who played at Duke and he's now getting his MBA, he answered anybody who said that people took it easy on me when they played with me. He said, nobody takes it easy on Obama because if he beats them, they won't hear the end of it. And it's true."
On his golf game: "I am very proud of the fact I do not cheat when I'm playing golf. Anybody who plays with me, they'll say I count my strokes. I count my strokes. I don't -- I'm not getting five-foot gimme putts."
On a college football playoff: "I'd rather see it eight teams, but four is a good place to start. I think that gets us on the right trend. Nothing is more frustrating than at the end of the season, nobody knows who won. And what, there is some poll? Coaches make a decision? Nobody knows what that means. Because part of what makes sports great, part of what makes March Madness great, the NFL playoffs great, is every once in a while something happens during the playoffs that shows the character of a team."
On throwing out a baseball first pitch: "It is about the most stressful thing. ... You've got to wear this bulky vest, and what happens is, they just hand you the ball. They say, 'Here,' and you walk up. If you had three tries, you'd be fine. You'd throw a fast strike somewhere in there. But if it's that first ball, each time I go up there my thinking is, All right, I'm just going to blaze this thing in. And then I'm thinking, Man, if I throw a grounder that's going to be a problem. So then I end up kind of lofting it up a little bit."
On his pick for Michael Jordan as greatest NBA player: "You've never had a combination of talent and fierce will to win and longevity and rising to the occasion. I haven't seen it. You've got guys who are comparable in terms of talent. I mean, I think LeBron [James] is as talented as Michael is. I think you've got guys like [Larry] Bird who had that — Bird or Magic [Johnson] who had that same will to win. But combining that package, and then just always being there at the moment, very rarely not — hitting that shot like Utah right at the end, right?"
On advice for Blake Griffin he gave Chris Paul recently: "I said, man, Blake Griffin is unbelievable, and you guys seem to be really clicking. I said, the only thing is you got to tell Blake to just take that 12-, 15-footer when he gets it because he's got a good stroke, but he always looks like he's hesitating a little bit because he wants to go inside. And if he starts getting that shot like Karl Malone, he'll be unstoppable. I will point out that I think he's been taking more outside jumpers. That's good. He's got to work on that shot, and he's going to be — he could be the best power forward ever if he develops it."
You can read the full transcript here.
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The war for Middle Earth may have ended in The Lord of the Rings, but the scars left by the Dark Lord Sauron run deep. The epic tale of swords, sorcery, kings and kinship are renowned, and while that adventure is done it's not quite time to turn the page just yet...
The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest takes place 15 years after the events of the original story, transporting you to the peaceful Shire of the Hobbits. Samwise Gamgee, loyal friend to the story's lead character Frodo Baggins, is now Mayor of the Shire. Taking a break from preparing for a visit from King Aragorn, Sam retells the eventful journey across Middle Earth to his children, focusing on how Aragorn became king.
Sam takes you through some of the adventure's most memorable scenes, putting you in control of Aragorn in his quest to stop Sauron. From Flight to the Ford (which has you protecting Frodo from the Black Riders and other agents of the Dark Lord) to the deadly mines of Moria (where the awe inspiring Balrog lurks), you embark on a grand expedition, as seen through the eyes of a humble Hobbit.
Think you know the epic and immensely popular The Lord of the Rings saga? Turns out you only know some of the whole story. Why not grab a cup of your favourite hot drink, sit down with one of the brave souls who experienced it and live the adventure yourself...
The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest takes its cues from the massive Peter Jackson movie trilogy, featuring varied and memorable settings and the actors' likenesses that have become synonymous with their respective characters. A cartoon style is used for the nicely animated visuals which gives the game a refreshingly distinct look while remaining faithful to the style of The Lord of the Rings.
An attractive pencil interpretation of the story draws you into the game and brings you up to speed on the events of the films, accompanied by some of the Academy Award winning score that helped make the movies so emotionally powerful. From there you're treated to a brilliant array of flashy graphics and atmospheric music which changes dramatically when you're set upon by Sauron's evil allies.
The superb sound effects also recreate the intense mood of the movies, with the chilling wail of the Dark Riders, howling wolves, battle cries of lumbering trolls and the metallic ring of clashing swords in battle making you feel like you're right in the middle of an epic and thrilling quest.
The fight for Middle Earth is in your hands. The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest thrusts you into a massive war between good and evil. Taking control of Aragorn through the exciting events of the trilogy, you're given a pleasing range of tasks to keep you on your toes. One moment you'll be fighting through an impressively large battlefield full of combatants, the next you'll be using the heir apparent's tracking skills to hunt down herbs to save Frodo's life.
If you have a PlayStation Move motion controller, PlayStation Eye camera and PlayStation Move navigation controller you can take your sword wielding experience to the next level as your physical thrusts and slashes are translated into the relevant attacks on-screen. It's a wonderfully empowering experience, giving you a range of assaults to fend off the likes of trolls, spiders, wolves and other deadly foes. Tactics are also important when using the PS Move motion controller, as you're forced to time your attacks against some of the wilier or more powerful enemies such as the guarded and fearsome Uruk-hai orcs.
There are many techniques, items, weapons and power-ups to aid you in your battles, increasing the variation of how you approach each fight. Some of these advantages can be gained by completing side quests or exploring off the beaten track, while others are picked up as rewards for finishing an important mission. It all makes for an engaging and lasting voyage.
If you don't feel like storming the path to Mount Doom by yourself, a friend can join your quest either with a Wireless Controller or another PlayStation Move motion controller and PlayStation Move navigation controller to help chop down orcs and trolls.
By taking control of Gandalf, your partner can use the wizard's special abilities and spells to wreak havoc on Sauron's forces, which is the perfect way to mimic the camaraderie of The Lord of the Rings. When placed side by side with other computer-controlled allies, such as Legolas and Gimli, Aragorn's Quest is an entertaining experience which is true to its source material and has you feeling like a king seasoned in the fires of battle with the Fellowship watching your back with every step.


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Shah Gilani is considered one of the world's foremost experts on the credit crisis.
He not only called for the implosion of the U.S. financial markets, he also predicted the historic rebound that began in March 2009. Shah's open letters to the White House, Congress, and U.S. Treasury secretaries outlined detailed policy options that have been lauded by academics and legislators alike.
His experience and knowledge uniquely distinguish Shah as a "trader's trader." Shah ran his first hedge fund in 1982 from his seat on the floor of the Chicago Board of Options Exchange. When the OEX (options on the Standard & Poor's 100) began trading on March 11, 1983, Shah was working in the pit as a market maker. And along with other traders, he popularized what later became known as the VIX (volatility index). He left Chicago to run the futures and options division of the British banking giant Lloyd's TSB.
Shah went on to originate and run a packaged fixed-income trading desk for Roosevelt & Cross Inc., an old-line New York boutique bond firm, and established that company's listed and OTC trading desks. Shah started another hedge fund in 1999, which he ran until 2003, when he retired to develop land holdings with partners.
Today Shah is the editor of Money Map Report, The 10X Trader and Straight Line Profits. He also writes our most talked-about publication, an e-letter called Total Wealth, where he reveals how Wall Street's high-stakes game is really played, and how to win it.
Shah studied economics and psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles.


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BOSTON (MarketWatch)—If all this fiscal-cliff and debt-ceiling talk hasn't given you a headache yet, now might be the time to get out the aspirin. Consider: There are now five different definitions of income affecting seven different tax areas as a result of the new fiscal-cliff law and the changes that go into effect this year under the 2010 Affordable Care Act.
To be sure, those most affected by the fiscal-cliff deal—the American Tax Relief Act of 2012—are those with taxable income exceeding $400,000 for single tax filers and $450,000 for married filing joint tax filers.
But all else being equal, people with employment or self-employment income of any amount—with limited exceptions—will pay more tax in 2013 than they did in 2012, according to recent blog from Bob Klein of the Retirement Income Center.
Read Klein's blog, "The 2013 Tax Law Schizophrenic Definition of Income."
Read also Klein's summary of summary of the 2013 individual federal income-based tax law changes, which compares each one with the law in effect in 2012.
According to Klein's post, the five different definitions of income are, with dollars amounts depending upon single vs. married filing joint tax status with the exception of the first definition, which applies to everyone with earned income with limited exceptions, as follows:
- Earned income of between $0 and $113,700
- Earned income and modified adjusted gross income exceeding $200,000 or $250,000
- Modified adjusted gross income exceeding $200,000 or $250,000
- Adjusted gross income exceeding $250,000 or $300,000
- Taxable income exceeding $400,000 or $450,000
"The biggest challenge I see out of this new law is the almost 'whack-a-mole' approach to different types of income, thresholds, rates, phaseouts, and the like," said John Kilroy, a CPA in Pennsylvania. "Taxpayers of all ages and situations should be aware that anything they do to knock down one issue may spring up another one."
So given that, what's a retiree or retirement saver to do?
Time to analyze types of income
According to Kilroy, the key to effective income-tax planning in light of the new tax bill, or ATRA, and the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, is to know the ingredients that are likely to make up your tax return for a given year.
"The amounts and types of income, deductions, exemptions and credits that may normally be expected to apply to a taxpayer should be estimated and projected in order to determine where a taxpayer may lie in terms of marginal rates and potential phaseouts of itemized deductions and personal exemptions," he said. "Once that is estimated the taxpayer would be advised to evaluate which ingredients he or she may be able to control."
Portfolio construction
And one of the things that you can control may be your portfolio construction. "Is the taxpayer's portfolio constructed in an organized fashion to include a focus on tax efficiency?" Kilroy asked. "Most probably are not."
So, for instance, if your projected tax return suggests that you might be in a high tax bracket (say 28% or above) and you are projecting anything greater than a nominal amount of taxable interest income or non-qualified dividend income, then a valuable exercise may be for you (hopefully with professional help, Kilroy added) to project the tax return removing the taxable interest income and non-qualified dividend income and compare it to the projection that includes both of those income sources to identify the true tax cost of those sources of income.
"It may prove to be an eye opener, and perhaps could lead to an evaluation of the taxpayer's portfolio construction, again, hopefully, with professional help," said Kilroy.
What to consider
Robert Keebler of Keebler & Associates also thinks it's wise to consider using tax-efficient investments, accounts and strategies in light of both the tax law, or ATRA and the Affordable Care Act, or ACA.
And it will be especially important to put the certain types of investments in the rights types of accounts; putting investments that will generate capital gains in taxable accounts and those that will generate ordinary income in tax-deferred accounts for instance.
According to Keebler, investments that make more sense than others in light of the ATRA and ACA, for instance, include master limited partnerships or MLPs; real-estate investment trusts and partnerships; low-turnover index funds; investments that produce qualified dividends; investments that provide return of capital dividends (dividends paid by corporations out of their capital gains); real estate or leveraged real estate; oil and gas investments; tax-exempt bonds; land investments followed by 1031 exchanges (selling farm land to buy an income-producing real estate for example); and wind, biofuel and solar investments.
And don't buy just any of tax-efficient investment. "Make sure you are relying on top-quality analysts, not brokers, who specialize in the investments you are considering," Keebler said.
Tax-efficient strategies to consider, according to Keebler, include:
- Buy and hold blue-chip stocks.
- Buy life insurance. If you are a healthy 50-year-old and you don't need the income from your investments consider life insurance. While living you get to take out your basis tax free and if you die your family gets the death benefit tax free. It really makes sense if you think you might lose half your income to taxes when investing in bonds that generate interest income, Keebler said.
- Buy an annuity. It's not as good a strategy as buying life insurance, but you do get tax deferral. Consider buying an annuity if you are a high income earner now but expect to be in a lower income tax bracket when you retire. "It's a way to leap frog over your high-income years," said Keebler.
Keebler also suggested that taxpayers consider using the following types of accounts and trusts over other types: IRAs, Roth IRAs, nondeductible IRAs; profit-sharing plans; defined benefit plans; charitable lead trusts; charitable remainder trusts; and charitable remainder retirement trusts.
Small-business owners will typically have a large capital gain in the year in which they sell their business. One way to reduce the possible tax hit would be to use a charitable trust, where the income from the sale of a business could be taken out over time instead of all at once.
In practice
Others agree that now is the time to review whether you have the right types of investments in the right types of accounts (capital gains in taxable accounts and ordinary income in tax-deferred accounts, for instance), and that you have the right types of accounts.
Due to the ATRA and ACA, the biggest difference involving retirement income planning for our higher-income retirees and soon-to-be retirees has to do with tax allocation, specifically those who may be subject to the 3.8% investment income penalty, said Reginald "Regi" A.T. Armstrong, president of the Armstrong Wealth Management Group.
(According to Klein's post: "If your modified adjusted gross income exceeds $200,000 if single or $250,000 if married filing joint, and you have investment income, you will be subject to the new Medicare investment income tax. The tax is assessed at a rate of 3.8% on the lesser of net investment income or MAGI in excess of the specified threshold amounts. Net investment income includes taxable interest, dividends, and capital gains.")
Given the investment income penalty, Armstrong is now shifting his client's portfolios. "While we have preferred to have certain taxable bond funds in our portfolios due to their total after-tax return characteristics, we are shifting where possible," he said.
For example, Armstrong is now investing—for purposes of diversification—in a strategic income bond fund (multisector bonds) and a foreign bond fund in his client's portfolios. And where possible, he places those funds in IRAs. "For our more core bondholdings, we will either place those in the IRA as well, or use a municipal bond mix in order to not add to taxable investment income," he said. "So far this has been the largest impact of those laws."
Robert Powell is editor of Retirement Weekly, published by MarketWatch. Learn more about Retirement Weekly. Follow his tweets @RJPIII.


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Nancy Grace's moves on the dance floor improved over last week, but unfortunately her performance was overshadowed by an uncooperative dress.
The 51-year-old HLN host kicked off the second week of competition with an impressive quickstep routine, but as she stood awaiting judgment, the top of her dress slipped down. The "Dancing With the Stars" crew quickly cut away, but the damage was the done and the screengrabs are everywhere.
Judge Bruno Tonioli, who never met an opportunity for an inappropriate comment he didn't immediately seize, called Grace's performance "top heavy." Of course, he did praise her for being "vivacious and lively."
U.S. & World
Despite all seeming evidence to the contrary, Grace insisted no wardrobe malfunction took place.
"There was a little tiny movement, but it did not equate to a wardrobe malfunction," she told People. "I would be mortified."
She said it would be impossible because of her "industrial-strength bras, gaffer tape, you name it."
As for the rest of the field on Monday, Ricki Lake, Chynna Philips, and J.R. Martinez continued to be strong, while last week's surprise contestant Chazz Bono saw his standing take a tumble as aching knees crippled his quickstep attempt.
Rob Kardashian and Elisabetta Canalis improved slightly, but both are still considered on the block for elimination.
Selected Reading: MSNBC, Entertainment Weekly, MTV, People


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How do I add reCaptcha to the Email button
The Email button is great, and you can make it even better by adding a Captcha to the submission form:
To add the Captcha to your site, follow these steps:
- Start by registering on this site. Upon registration, you will receive a Public and a Private key.
- Open your site's
wp-config.phpfile in your favorite text editor, and add the following constants with both reCaptcha keys right before
/* That's all, stop editing! Happy blogging. */:
define( 'RECAPTCHA_PUBLIC_KEY', 'XXXXXXX' ); define( 'RECAPTCHA_PRIVATE_KEY', 'XXXXXXX' );
- Voila! Your email sharing buttons are now protected against spammers!


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Melody (romia doll)
- Add feedback:
- Availability: None
The Romia art doll is made of cotton and filled with polyester fibrefill. The face is hand painted with acrylic paint.
The doll is approximately 22 inches (55 cm) tall, has flexible joints and cannot stand on its own.
All clothes are removable and washable.
The doll is not suitable for children under 3 years due to small parts.
Colours: cream, pink, white.


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Serious Reads: Maman's Homesick Pie, Donia Bijan
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.
Donia Bijan was just fifteen when, during a vacation to Spain, her family realized that they could not return to their home country of Iran. During their month-long travels, the Iranian Revolution had brought Khomeini to power, and her activist mother was at risk of being captured as a political prisoner. The family was eventually forced to relocate to the United States, which Bijan soon came to call home. She explores how food played an important role in helping her piece together questions of identity, culture, and family, and also to cope with her mother's death, in her memoir Maman's Homesick Pie: A Persian Heart in an American Kitchen.
Bijan's parents were productive and important members of their community in Tehran. Her father was a doctor who knew everyone, and her mother a women's rights activist and nurse. They were well-to-do and respected, which made their abrupt transition to the United States much more difficult. In the wake of reports of violence, unrest, and destruction from Tehran, the family moved to California. Bijan enrolled in UC Berkeley and tried to adjust to American life. She found it hard to blend in as an Iranian woman and was still unsure how to act in such a liberal culture. She spent weekends with her family as a refuge.
Bijan found comfort in learning and preparing her mother's traditional recipes. The more time she invested in the kitchen, the more she realized that she didn't want to be a doctor—she wanted to be a chef. The decision drove a wedge between her and her father, who couldn't get behind a life of cooking. But regardless of her parents' hesitations, Bijan left for France and began her culinary career.
She attended culinary school and worked through a number of stages, eventually accumulating enough skills and confidence to return to San Francisco and open her own restaurant. She ran L'Amie Donia for ten years, during which time she fell in love, married, and had a son.
Bijan introduces and closes this book by talking about her mother's death. She speaks eloquently of her grieving process and shares many recipes from her mother's kitchen. These recipes connected her to her Iranian heritage and family even when thousands of miles separated them from their homeland. This all makes for a beautifully written book, and Bijan possesses a unique ability to bridge the cultural gap between herself and the reader. I couldn't put it down.
About the Author: A student in Providence, Rhode Island, Leah Douglas loves learning about, talking about, reading about, and consuming food. Her work has also been featured in Rhode Island Monthly Magazine.
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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Now it is stylish design time for big size mens clothing, shoes and accesories. We have started our journey in 2008 with our motto "Wear what you like, not what you find" and since then, we design and manufacture modern products in Turkey by using highest quality Turkish fabrics and their alternatives under our brand ModeXL. We take firm steps forward towards our goal to become the most preferred big size mens clothing brand worldwide.
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Posted 9 years ago
(34 items)
I have three of these plates. They are marked in red and green on the back.
Red--TV inside a bell. Blakely ET Co and Chicago under
Green --T&V in a box w/ France Depose below.
They are 9" in diameter and I suspect dessert plates. I always thought the decoration was polka dots but they are actually more angular and look somewhat Moorish.
I think they are Limoges or Haviland (or both?) but not marked as such.
Can anyone tell me more about these plates?


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land wants the United States to impose sanctions on the planned Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in a newspaper interview published on Monday. Source: Reuters
GEFIRA provides in-depth and comprehensive analysis of and valuable insight into current events that investors, financial planners and politicians need to know to anticipate the world of tomorrow; it is intended for professional and non-professional readers.
Yearly subscription: 10 issues for €225/$250
Renewal: €160/$175
The Gefira bulletin is available in ENGLISH, GERMAN and SPANISH.
The European Union is backing former Nigerian finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to head the World Trade Organization, sending a signal of trust in Africa, an EU official said on Monday.
Okonjo-Iweala and South Korean trade minister Yoo Myung-hee are vying to be the first female leader in the WTO's 25-year history, replacing Brazilian Roberto Azevedo, who quit a year earlier than expected at the end of August. Source Reuters
The US State Department on Oct. 20 widened the scope of sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline and warned companies involved in the final installation that they face sanctions if they do not wind down activities within 30 days. Source Spglobal
Whether or not S&P Global Ratings downgrades Italian debt this week is a coin toss, according to Deutsche Bank AG.
"We think it's a 50-50 call as both an unchanged outlook as well as a downgrade could be justified," wrote Ioannis Sokos, a strategist at Deutsche, citing S&P's outlook criteria from April. Source Bloomberg


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The wireless spectrum, and the way it's regulated by the FCC, can be a little confusing to the novice, but gaining a layperson's understanding of the national airwaves isn't graduate-level stuff.
We're guessing you know the basics of radio communication, so we don't need to spend much time on the science the upshot is that the range of frequencies useful to us for radio communication is somewhat limited. Very low frequencies can't carry as much information as higher ones, and you need a big antenna to capture their outsized waves. Very high frequencies don't propagate well through the Earth's atmosphere, giving them limited range.
+ ALSO ON NETWORK WORLD Crowded U.S. airwaves desperately in search of breathing room | Wireless timeline: 2013 (and a bit) in the world of spectrum +
Given that, the U.S. government regulates radio communication via the Federal Communications Commission, with the aim of minimizing interference between the huge array of different services using the busiest parts of the spectrum. The FCC currently regulates the spectrum between the frequencies of 9KHz and 275GHz.
In particular, the frequencies between 700MHz and about 3GHz are highly sought-after for their utility in providing mobile data and voice services. A handy dashboard, provided by the FCC, offers an overview of that and more besides.
It's important to note that the government, technically, owns the airwaves what Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile are all paying billions for is a license the exclusive right to operate on a given set of frequencies in a given area.
Licenses range in geographic size and spectrum reach. The 2008 auction for the 700MHz block divided the lower 48 states into just six mega-licenses, while other spectrum is sold in more than 700 individual metropolitan statistical areas (MSA). Auction 96, for the licenses to 10MHz worth of spectrum in the 2GHz range, is happening as of this writing, and uses still a third system "economic areas," which are larger than MSAs and smaller than full regions to subdivide the country into 176 pieces.
So yes, it's complicated no question but it isn't hard to grasp the general principles.
Read more about anti-malware in Network World's Anti-malware section.


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|Previous Page | Table of Contents | Index | Next Page
Chapter 8
Permissible distributions.(p13)
Retired public safety officers.(p13)
Distribution for active reservist.(p13)
Minimum Required Distributions(p14)
Check with your employer, plan administrator, or provider to find out whether this rule also applies to pre-1987 accruals. If not, a minimum amount of these accruals must begin to be distributed by the later of the end of the calendar year in which you reach age 75 or April 1 of the calendar year following retirement. For each year thereafter, the minimum distribution must be made by the last day of the year. If you do not receive the required minimum distribution, you are subject to a nondeductible 50% excise tax on the difference between the required minimum distribution and the amount actually distributed.
No Special 10-Year Tax Option(p14)
|Previous Page | Table of Contents | Top of Page | Index | Next Page


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But, who doesn't want long legs? In the past few years, especially after leggy Korean popstars like Girls' Generation (above) hit it big in Japan, long limbs have definitely been in. For those who want added proportions, there's an easy answer: Head on over to your local Japanese video game arcade.
Twitter user Tanichan101 uploaded this image below, which has since been retweeted over 40,000 times. The text written on the image points out how recent sticker pictures are "deceptively" giving girls thinner legs.
"Here!" the text continues. "Look at this." As proof, the arrows point out to the elongated face of https://twitter.com/tanichan101Tanichan101's friend, showing how the software powering the sticker picture booth can makes one's body longer and slimmer.
For years now, sticker picture booths have been employing all sorts of camera and software tricks, whether that's fancy lighting and a high res digital camera or software to make one's eyes bigger (or even one's irises bigger) or even add hair extensions and digital make up.
今、あなたに伝えたい [Togetter]
(Top photo: Yuri Arcurs | Shutterstock)
Kotaku East is your slice of Asian internet culture, bringing you the latest talking points from Japan, Korea, China and beyond. Tune in every morning from 4am to 8am.


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In building the 3D remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the mandate for the developer Grezzo was to preserve fans' memories of the original as much as possible. That meant, where possible, that bugs from the original Nintendo 64 game were intentionally left in.
"As programmers, we wanted to get rid of bugs," Grezzo's Shun Moriya said in the latest Iwata Asks roundtable discussion with the Nintendo president, "But the staff members who had played the old game said the bugs were fun!
"It wouldn't be fun if your friends couldn't say, 'Do you know about this?' So we left them in if they didn't cause any trouble and were beneficial," Moriya added.
Iwata asked if Grezzo "implemented them as you would specs, rather than treating them like bugs." Yes, Moriya said.
"If something simply could not be allowed to stand, we begrudgingly fixed it, so some bugs don't appear," he said. "But we left in as many as we could, so people will grin over that."
Iwata Asks: Ocarina of Time [Nintendo]


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If Joe Hockey was actually determined to broaden the base of the GST he wouldn't start by including food, he would start by imposing it on private school fees and private health insurance. Not only would he collect billions in revenue, he would raise it primarily from high-income earners. While the poorest Australians spend a relatively large share of their budget on food they rarely send their kids to expensive private schools.
Of course, the fact that such a shift would collect significant revenue from the well-to-do voters of Mr Hockey's seat and virtually nothing from the low-income electorates represented by the National Party is precisely why he won't do it. While the Treasurer talks a lot about sharing the pain, as last week's budget shows, he clearly doesn't mean it.
Business groups and CEOs have always preferred consumption-based taxes, such as the GST, to income-based taxes like corporate tax and PAYG for the simple reason that companies don't pay the GST.
Indeed, having spent a decade telling us that tax is bad and that we should pay less of it, it is no accident that the representatives of corporate wealth and power are now fully supportive of the idea that the tax they don't pay is the tax that needs to rise. But does it?
If the federal government wants more revenue there are lots of ways that it could raise it. To put it into context, applying the GST to food would collect about $6 billion while tax concessions for superannuation cost about $40 billion a year. The Prime Minister has told us that the questions of increasing the GST, curbing the tax rorts in the superannuation system and everything else will be answered in a forthcoming white paper on tax. The problem for Tony Abbott, however, is finding someone silly enough to chair it.
According to most economists, and according to John Howard when he was designing the GST, a tax should be evaluated against the three criteria of efficiency, equity and simplicity. The problem is that by those criteria the Abbott government's current policy agenda is a disaster. Consider the following.
Economists usually think that the most efficient taxes are the ones that distort behaviour the least. That is, if you assume that individuals know what's best for themselves then the less the tax system changes their minds, the better. There is, however, a big exception. When we want to discourage people from doing things that harm themselves, or harm others, the tax system can be deliberately used to change behaviour.
When Abbott was health minister he raised the tax on tobacco in order to discourage smoking. However, as prime minister he is determined to scrap the tax on carbon dioxide emissions. Bizarrely, even economists who are climate sceptics agree that a carbon tax is a better way to discourage emissions than a taxpayer-funded grants scheme like Direct Action.
A carbon tax raises revenue which can be used to fund services or reduce other taxes. The subsidies paid out under Direct Action need to be funded by cutting other services or raising taxes. Ironically the best way to fund Direct Action policies would be through a carbon tax but the downward spiral of our political process is way past the point where options like that could be considered.
Of course, we can't raise all of the revenue we need by taxing products with ''negative externalities'', which is why economists also like the idea of taxing the ''resource rents'' or ''super profits'' of the miners.
The vast majority of economists believe that imposing high taxes on extraordinarily profitable activities, such as mining in the middle of a mining boom, is an efficient way to raise revenue for the simple reason that, while the companies will squeal, they will keep on mining on the basis that half a windfall is still a windfall.
Abbott has, of course, built his prime ministership on his determination to rip up two of the most efficient taxes we have.
The second criterion is equity. While it is hard to get widespread agreement about what ''fair'' looks like, it's a lot easier to get consensus about what is unfair. And in the past 10 years the top 10 per cent of income earners have received more benefit from income tax cuts than the bottom 80 per cent combined.
Apologists for inequity like to highlight that the wealthiest Australians are paying a growing share of income tax but what they like to conceal is that the wealthy are paying more tax because they are gobbling up a larger and larger share of national income. In a progressive tax system as the gap between rich and poor grows so too must the amount of tax they pay. That's why the CEOs are such big fans of increasing the GST and cutting income taxes.
Of course, the most obscene inequity that any inquirer into our tax system must grapple with is the tax rort that superannuation has become. While the original idea of forcing people to put aside some money to boost their retirement savings was a good one, the system, like Frankenstein's monster, has taken on a life of its own.
The problem with super these days is not encouraging people to put money in; it's finding ways to keep it out. From the moment that Howard made withdrawals from superannuation completely tax free, the wealthy have been desperate to find ways to pour as much of their wealth into super as they can.
The Australian Tax Office tells us that there is at least one self-managed super fund with a balance of $100 million. Fairfax reported this week that there are about 9200 self-managed funds with more than $5 million.
Let's put those figures into perspective. The average Australian will retire with less than $200,000 in super. At a 7 per cent rate of return a $5 million superannuation balance would generate a tax-free income of $350,000 a year. If someone with $5 million in super received a return of only 4 per cent then they would receive more income in one year than the life savings of most Australians.
Treasury estimates that more than one-third of the $40 billion annual cost of superannuation tax concessions goes to the wealthiest 5 per cent of Australians, a group who are so wealthy that they were never going to be eligible for the age pension that the tax concessions are allegedly taking pressure off.
And finally there is simplicity. The best way to simplify the tax system is to scrap the tax concessions that give the miners cheap fuel, the share traders a 50 per cent discount on the tax they pay on capital gains and to close down the family trust perks. It's simple to simplify the tax system, and it raises lots of money too.
Abbott doesn't need a white paper to reform the tax system; he needs to resolve to take on the sense of entitlement among many of the most wealthy and politically connected people and industries. Any self-respecting economist would find it impossible to write a review of the tax system that ignored the need to tax pollution, ignored the need to tax resource rents, and ignored the need to fundamentally reform the superannuation system.
But while finding an economist willing to do so might be difficult, Abbott will probably find it easy to find a business person whose determination to preserve their own interests outweighs their concern about being laughed at for ignoring evidence. I know, maybe Tony Shepherd could do it?
Richard Denniss is executive director of The Australia Institute: tai.org.au
Dr Richard Denniss is chief economist at The Australia Institute, a Canberra think tank.


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Less than 5 percent of Texas remains in either extreme or exceptional drought status following recent beneficial rainfall.
But reservoir levels remain below 50 percent capacity, according to the latest drought monitor report from the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB).
Two relatively small areas, in far West Texas and across the state on Texas/Louisiana line, show no drought.
If you are enjoying reading this article, please check out Southwest Farm Press Daily and receive the latest news right to your inbox.
Latest report shows 94 percent of the state remains in some stage of drought, mostly moderate. That's up a point from last week but down from three months ago when 99 percent of the state was rated in drought status. Last year at this time, 83 percent of the state was considered in drought. One of Texas' current hot spots, west of Wichita Falls over to Vernon and up to the Oklahoma state line, has been extremely dry. The Southwest corner of Oklahoma, the Altus area, remains in extreme to exceptional drought and Lake Lugert, from which farmers receive irrigation water, is at 12 percent of capacity. The water district has not released any irrigation water for the district the past two years.
Weekend rainfall dropped significant amounts of moisture over much of Texas, but amounts in the High Plains was hit and miss according to local sources. Some reported as much as 1.5 inches and others report no significant rainfall.
Also of interest:
Most of Texas cited as winner because of tropical storm rain
Drought relief for most of New Mexico


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Often called simply Sao Tome, the island country of Sao Tome and Principe is situated off the west coast of Africa. A former Portuguese colony, it was once a major producer of sugar, coffee, and cocoa. You can fly to Sao Tome and Principe with TAP Air Portugal, enjoying great in-flight services and facilities, such as tasty meals, good entertainment, and access to the digital magazine, UP, via the TAP mobile app.
Some highlights of this island nation include:
Renting a car or joining a tour is the best way to enjoy the country. Book your flights to Sao Tome and Principe with TAP and go somewhere different!


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Kyle Busch (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
By Mike Mulhern
BRISTOL, Tenn.
Kyle Busch and Kasey Kahne look like a good quinella for Sunday's Food City 500. But don't count out Denny Hamlin, who would like to put that NASCAR brouhaha behind him.
That's putting it mildly.
What's wrong with NASCAR? What's going on inside the heads of the men in Daytona who run this sport?
NASCAR executives -- apparently in a decision ordered by CEO Brian France -- dissed this sport's hard-core fan-base, and many casual fans too, with the $25,000 penalty on Hamlin last week.
Now, here, drivers aren't saying much about anything, and what they do say is so Pollyanna-puffed up they could be auditioning for cartoon roles at DisneyWorld.
Crews, on the other hand, are angry and grumpy, to say the least, about whatever NASCAR may be doing behind the curtains this month.
NASCAR officials have been warning teams for months not to criticize anything, and Hamlin's penalty showed teams the sanctioning body is serious. Now nobody here really wants to talk to anybody about anything, except maybe the weather (cold rain is in the forecast).
And the mood in the NASCAR garage is sullen. That's being generous.
While drivers, with multi-million-dollar salaries, may freely kiss away huge fines, crewmen -- typically very underpaid these days, because of a huge surplus of the unemployed -- are almost frozen in fear at getting tagged by NASCAR.
And NASCAR executives -- as USAToday's Nate Ryan pointed out so eloquently Here -- appear increasingly, and disturbingly, unable to relate to this sport's many fans. (Expect Ryan to get a call to meet with officials over that.....)
The frightening disconnect between NASCAR-Daytona and stock car racing's fans was brought vividly to the public eye on social media Twitter and Facebook the past 10 days.
So, instead of a bright, exciting kickoff to the 2013 season, NASCAR finds itself trying to reverse a huge PR disaster.
Maybe one of those classic 'Hot-damn!' Bristol races can turn it all around.
Danica Patrick: Crashed at Phoenix. Six laps down at Las Vegas. Woefully 41st in Bristol qualifying (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
Certainly nobody is counting on Daytona darling Danica Patrick to make anything much happen. Since Daytona Patrick has fared poorly, and here she qualified a dismal 41st in the 43-car field. Patrick's big news -- she's not interested in going Formula 1.
Other than dealing with huge packs of disgruntled crews and too many seemingly tranquilized drivers, little happened here Friday.
Busch, though, had an eventful moment in practice: "I was just trying to clear him, but he kept racing me, and we made contact and spun," Busch said about a practice run-in with David Gilliland. Door to door. But it apparently didn't mess up Busch's car too much; he set a track record, 129.535 mph.
"As rough as the bottom is getting, and the top being smoother now, that may make the top faster than we'd expected," Busch said of the variable banking, which was three grooves wide until track owner Bruton Smith started grinding the concrete last summer after a disappointing spring 500.
The last three weeks the Sprint Cup tour has been dogged by complaints that the new 2013 stockers aren't yet up to snuff. Daytona and Phoenix were noticeable weak shows, but in last week's Las Vegas 400 the new car did show promise.
Still, there hasn't been a great race yet this season.
With Bristol's reputation, this could be the first good one. However since the track was redesigned a few years ago, the classic bump-and-run to pass hasn't been part of the game here.
How the layout will workout this time seems unclear to the teams.
Kahne and crew chief Kenny Francis outfoxed the competition last summer, until a big melee took them out.
This time, well Kahne and Francis have been tough at all three tracks so far.
How much pressure is there on this sport to have a good race here, a spicy event?
Some figure there's increasing pressure as the weeks go on, considering the hype NASCAR has created around these 2013s.
One plus is that this high-banked half-mile shouldn't test aerodynamics nearly as much as Daytona and Las Vegas.
Another plus is the new car is lighter, by 150 pounds, and has better balance on the four tires.
One question, though, is that the tires here are the same tires used last August, while the car itself has changed considerably, particularly in the chassis.
Pressure to perform? Busch says nah: "We put on a good show in Vegas. Good racing throughout the field. It was a good show. So I don't think this race needs to be a savior at all."
Careful now, Kasey: That cell phone cost Brad Keselowski a $25,000 NASCAR fine, remember. Uh, isn't this series sponsored by Sprint? What in the world is going on inside NASCAR these days? (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)
I stopped coming to Bristol last season after attending for years. Frankly, the racing was boring. I could always depend on exciting racing at Bristol, Talladega, and Daytona, but NASCAR has made these races parades. I don't want anyone injured, but I do like an actual "race" where somebody passes. At the last Bristol race I attended, I turned around and a woman sitting behind me was reading a book! That tells you everything you need to know about the state of racing nowadays.
When Bristol went to progressive banking it made what was the worst track this side of Darlington back into a respectable racetrack again - the Southeastern 500s of 2010 and 2012 had actual battling for the lead instead of the demolition derbies the joint was producing since it went to concrete. Bruton grinding it down from 36-degree progressive banking to its present 28-degree progressive banking was a mistake.
As for NASCAR's overall efforts, it did hurt Daytona and Talladega with their stupid hatred of tandem drafting; yanking off the roof blade after 2001 - a panic move - was a colossal blunder as well because the roof blade works (shown when NASCAR brought it back for the Nationwide cars 2004-10) and NASCAR supposedly was going to phase it onto more tracks. The irony is the tandems (plus new pavement at both tracks) brought the racing back to the level of ferocity the sport needs. The sport can use the roof blade again, big time.
What! Danica is not interested in going to F1? Can you imagine the heartbreak in Maranello? OK Red Bull. stop the phone calls. McLaren has just announced that if Danica won't drive for them they may quit the sport. The only happy person in the paddock is Schumy. For now his records are safe.
I have been a long time fan of racing of all sorts, being an old-time Indy car fan and a Nascar watcher. The years and controlling organizations have not been kind to either.
Nascar has become a dictator-controlled show of cookie-cutter cars, all alike. The rules are ridiculous, with lucky dogs and such taking away from skill and real racing. Nascar is boring; too much politics, like what has ruined F-1. I long for the good old days when they raced real stock cars with realistic rules. The young Frances have ruined the racing.
Thankfully there are a lot of good small tracks around with real racing.
Ha, so Busch doesn't think this race needs to be a "savior" because the race at Vegas was good? Hmm, well, doesn't that sound like a PC comment to you - after all if Busch had said anything else, he'd probably get fined. NASCAR has it's head so far up where the sun doesn't shine, that it has become a joke.
NASCAR absolutely DOES need to start having good races. According to a tweet I had from a writer, even bad publicity is good as far as NASCAR thinks since it brings eyeballs to the sport. Is it really? However if there doesn't start to be decent racing on a regular basis fairly quickly, I don't think that will help the sport in the long run. I have plans tomorrow afternoon and don't plan to stay home to watch the race. Once upon a time, I'd have passed up things so i didn't miss a race, especially one at Bristol. Now, with the rather poor TV broadcasts and loads of commercials, I can catch up in replay.
Danica's not going to F1, gee, that's a shame.
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Infrastructure Management
Infrastructure Management
Businesses today do more with fewer resources than ever before. For companies looking for ways to cut costs, improve existing assets, optimize service levels and satisfy ever-stricter compliance requirements, Vensai can help make your infrastructure investments smarter. You can rely on Vensai's experts to automate your processes and fine tune your IT infrastructure to even higher levels of performance to keep ahead of your growing business demands.
Our Infrastructure services ensure the performance of clients' underlying infrastructure, including desktops, servers, storage, databases, application servers and web servers. Vensai's comprehensive technical expertise allows our teams to skillfully manage critical IT infrastructure at predictable cost and allows the client's IT staff to focus on business critical initiatives. Our aim is to provide clients with well-organized and flexible IT infrastructure management services that enable efficiency, effectiveness and innovation.


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Remember the Droid 2 Global? Well Verizon has made the device official in a very odd manner. Verizon customers who called the their helpline and were kept on hold heard the advertisement of the new Droid 2 Global. The ad only mentions that the Droid 2 Global will feature both GSM and CDMA's antennas and will work in 221 countries.
Yea, you read that right 221 countries! Either my geography is extremely bad or Verizon goofed up the number of countries present in this world. The Droid 2 Global is rumoured to be running on a 1.2GHz OMAP processor. The rest of the specifications of the device is similar to the Droid 2.
The device will feature the same 3.7-inch LCD screen with 854*480 resolution, 512MB of RAM and 5MP camera with an LED flash. The Droid 2 Global is also expected to be available in the white color.


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Tungsten carbide ring.
|Sample Image | Spin Video | QuickTimeVR Rotation
|Tungsten carbide ring.
Ed Pegg found a great source in China that makes and sells tungsten carbide rings, including custom-made shapes, for ridiculously low prices.
Source: Ed Pegg Jr
Contributor: Ed Pegg Jr
Acquired: 4 September, 2007
Text Updated: 3 September, 2007
Price: Donated
Size: 1"
Purity: 97%


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07 March 2013 | News | By BioSpectrum Bureau
OxySure signs distribution deal with Aero for Australia, NZ
Aero will purchase a minimum combined quantity of 4,500 units of OxySure Model 615 during the first two years subsequent to CE Marking and TGA approval
Singapore: OxySure Systems, a medical device innovator of life-saving, easy-to-use emergency oxygen solutions with its 'oxygen from powder' technology has entered into exclusive distribution agreements with Aero Health Holdings in Australia and the UK to distribute its products in Australia and New Zealand, and the UK.
Aero is a manufacturer and distributor of first aid and healthcare products, including automated external defibrillators (AEDs), with locations in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Germany and the US. The agreements provide Aero the exclusivity to market and sell OxySure in Australia, New Zealand and UK markets. In return, the agreements provide that Aero apply for and obtain CE Marking for OxySure's Model 615 and related disposable cartridges, as well as approval from the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), a division of the Australian Department of Health and Aging.
The agreements also provide that Aero purchase a minimum combined quantity of 4,500 units of OxySure Model 615 during the first two years subsequent to CE Marking and TGA approval.
"Aero has been fortunate to have become one of the most significant sellers of AEDs in our markets, and the addition of OxySure to our portfolio of products is very exciting and compelling for us," said Mr Tim Ovenden, managing director of Aero Australia. "We are rather selective of the products we take on because we put significant resources behind our go-to-market activities, and OxySure was a no-brainer for us in that regard."
Mr Mark Gilmore, managing director for Aero UK, said: "Our UK regulatory team is delighted to be able to move forward with the CE Marking approval process for the OxySure products. By teaming up with OxySure, we believe we are able to serve our customers better, be more competitive and enhance our market leadership in the UK."
"We are pleased to be partnering with Aero, and we look forward to working with Tim, Mark and their very capable teams in serving the key Australia, New Zealand and UK markets," said Mr Julian Ross, CEO of OxySure. "We are especially pleased to partner with Aero regarding the obtainment of CE Marking and TGA Approval for OxySure."


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Additional Navigation
August 31, 2012 : By Drew Menard
|A student of the Liberty University School of Engineering and Computational Sciences examines models created with the university's new 3D printer.
The Liberty University School of Engineering and Computational Sciences announced this week it has received accreditation from the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) for its Electrical Engineering and Industrial & Systems Engineering programs.
ABET is the recognized accreditor of college and university programs in applied science, computing, engineering, and engineering technology.
"This gives our engineering and technology students some serious additional validity, preparing them for graduate studies and making them more appealing to potential employers," said Dr. Ron Godwin, Liberty's provost and senior vice president for academic affairs.
The accreditation extends retroactively for the two programs from Oct. 1, 2010.
"This is especially significant as the university had its first graduates from these programs in May 2011," said David Donahoo, dean of Liberty's School of Engineering and Computational Sciences. He said each program seeking accreditation must have at least one graduate to be eligible so Liberty's programs received accreditation at the earliest point possible.
Receiving this accreditation culminates a process of evaluation by faculty and staff that started more than four years ago, Donahoo said. The final 18 months of that process included the preparation and submittal of a comprehensive self-study for each program under evaluation. This was followed by a campus visit by an ABET Program Evaluator and ended with the Accreditation Commission's final decisions in June.
Accreditation is a voluntary, peer-review process that requires comprehensive, periodic evaluations. A key element is the requirement that programs continuously improve the quality of education. Programs must set specific, measurable goals for students and graduates, assess their success at reaching those goals, and improve based on the results. The accreditation criteria are developed by technical professionals to assure every program meets the demanding standards that prepare graduates to enter their engineering professions.
Engineering and computing students at Liberty are offered opportunities to participate in meaningful undergraduate research projects, allowing them to work hands-on with state-of-the-art equipment. Liberty's top-notch equipment includes an electron microscope, thinfilms printer, circuit board printers, inverted microscope, and a 3D printer with Computer Aided Drafting software.
The newly acquired 3D printer produces fully functional models out of plastic. These models have movable parts and are valuable in testing and examining products before manufacturing. Recently, the school took on a project where they will "print" a 3D air foil that the School of Aeronautics will be using in wind tunnel testing.


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Dir/scr: Hanne Myren. Norway. 2013. 75mins
A gently engaging and delightfully performed drama, Hanne Myren's fiction feature debut Love Me (Elsk meg), which had its world premiere at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival (and also screens at CPH:DOX), may well be slight in term of running time and dramatic tension, but it is a delicately handled film brought to life by a charming lead performance by Julia Wildschut.
Hanne Myren prefers to move briskly on to her positive climax and not linger on film clichés.
She plays Maria, a 20 year-old young Norwegian woman whose ability to move on with her life has been hampered by a fear of rejection, all stemming from her intense – but intensely complicated – relationship with her freewheeling father (Petrus Wildschut), who saw little of her after he divorced her mother, but who parachutes back into her life when it suits him.
It is a rather familiar story, but experienced documentary maker Myren crafts some rather poetical images – and is helped by cinematographer Øystein Mamen's excellent work – often using plenty of handheld close-up shots to linger on the confusions and contradictions held on Maria's face.
Maria is in a sweet and happy relationship with genial boyfriend Adam (Ahmed Wasty), gets a part-time job in a café and practices dance by herself…but is unable to fully commit to any of these things, and when her father Paul suggests they go off on a short holiday in Spain on his motorbike she drops everything, all for the hope that she can get to the bottom of their complex relationship and be assured that he truly loves her.
Initially their time together is fun, breezy and happy and they finally get to talk about why he left and what she has missed from him growing up, but after a while his need to be alone is clear, and while they part warm friends there is a real sense that Maria is growing. The only question is whether she can move on with her life and embrace the love that Adam has to offer.
The final scenes are beautifully played, after she and Adam have a fight and he moves out. Alone in her flat she takes a phone call – initially we don't know if it is Adam or her father – and explains that she will have to not see the person for a while. It is a sequence that could have been held longer and played for more dramatic effect, but Hanne Myren prefers to move briskly on to her positive climax and not linger on film clichés. And rightly so – she has made a delicate (though perhaps too brisk and slight for its own good) film that will likely find a welcoming home on the film festival circuit.
Production company: Motiys AS
Sales contact: Norwegian Film Institute, www.nfi.no
Producers: Brede Hovland, Sigve Endresen
Cinematography: Øystein Mamen
Editors: Christian Siebenherz, Wibecke Ronseth
Music: diskJokke & Torgny
Main cast: Julia Wildschut, Ahmed Wasty, Petrus Wildschut