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Music by three composers was linked together by a common theme at a Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival concert on Sunday.
Called "Historic Firsts," the program, at the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, consisted of Mozart's Piano Quartet in G Minor, considered the first major piece written for the combination of piano and three strings; Kenji Bunch's "Changes of Phase" for woodwind quintet, which was commissioned by the festival and premiered in 1999, and Louis Spohr's Nonet in F, the first-ever work to call itself a nonet.
Apart from this commonality, each piece was quite different and came about under varied circumstances.
Mozart wrote the Piano Quartet in G Minor for a commission from the publisher Hoffmeister. The publisher feared, however, that the work was too difficult for amateurs (indeed it was) and admonished Mozart to "write more popularly or else I can neither print nor pay for anything of yours." Of course Mozart would not write otherwise, or could not; the contract was canceled. Fortunately, another publisher later issued the quartet.
The quartet is significant not only because of the use of the then-unusual combination of instruments (featuring the piano as an equal solo voice rather than a mere accompaniment), but because it marked a new maturity in Mozart's style. The musicologist Alfred Einstein called the key of G minor Mozart's "key of fate," and you knew from the beginning that the music would be intense, agitated, and unsettling.
With Ani Kavafian on violin, Nicholas Cords on viola, Edward Arron on cello, and Jeewon Park on piano, the playing was stirring and flawless and the interplay of the instruments was captivating.
The facial expressions and body language of Ms. Park and Mr. Arron were especially engaging. They showed their complete immersion in the moment.
The third movement was a rondo, which is typically a lighter, vivacious movement. But in this quartet one could hear more seriousness, at most a carefully qualified joy rather than the more usual jocularity.
We may not know much about what prompted Mozart to write the quartet. We know more about the ideas that prompted Mr. Bunch to write "Changes of Phase."
Mr. Bunch, a native of Portland, Ore., is a violist as well as a composer. He has been commissioned by the English Chamber Orchestra, the Phoenix Symphony, Wolf Trap, and the New Juilliard Ensemble. He was about 26 years old at the time of the premiere of "Changes of Phase" 12 seasons ago, when that term from his high school chemistry class was still in his head.
He wrote, "I always liked the idea of something changing its physical appearance while keeping its chemical integrity (i.e., water to ice to vapor). . . . There are so many ways to musically illustrate a change of phase . . . like metric modulation, reharmonizations, minimalism, and melodic development."
The quintet was made up of Marya Martin, the artistic director of the festival, on flute, John Snow on oboe, Jose French-Ballester on clarinet, Peter Kolkay on bassoon, and Stewart Rose on horn.
I can't say I could pick out which of the methods that Mr. Bunch described applied to which of the four resulting movements, or, quite honestly, that it mattered to the listener, but the results were satisfying.
Though the music seemed to be more about textures and rhythms, there were also some touching moments of melody, especially in the second movement (the movements are unnamed) in the flute and horn.
One interesting effect was produced in several instruments by a technique called flutter-tonguing, made when the player adds a rolled R to the breath, resulting in a light, breathy, trilled sound.
Mr. Bunch cites varied influences in his music in general: Shostakovich and Metallica, Ravel and Sondheim, Ligeti and Stevie Wonder. I was aware of eclectic influences being brought together successfully without any one of them standing out. The music had playful, irregular rhythms with urban humor, and was sonorous, vivid, and sophisticated.
Although Louis Spohr is not a well-known composer today, he was in his time considered more famous than Beethoven, and his music was regarded as equal to Mozart's. He is known largely by a violin concerto, and by the historical tidbits that he invented — the chin rest for the violin as well as rehearsal numbers on the written score — and was the first major conductor to use a baton.
His nonet was the first piece of music to use that title, some say the first piece ever written specifically for nine instruments, and the first to use the combination of four strings and woodwind quintet. This claim to fame, however, seems to be more because of the request for this instrumentation by his benefactor, Johann von Tost, than Spohr's originality.
Von Tost specified that any scores written by Spohr under his contract would become von Tost's property for three years and had to be borrowed from him for each performance, which should happen as often as possible and only in his presence. His stated goal thereby was to meet music lovers who he hoped would then become business partners!
Spohr's desire to satisfy his benefactor might explain in part some general qualities of the nonet: pleasant, inoffensive, and predictably happy. Spohr was a skilled composer, but the music was not profound or impassioned, nor was it intended to be. In fact, if it were given a less than satisfactory performance, it could sound quite banal.
The case on Sunday was quite the opposite. With great attention to expression and ensemble, the nonet was brought alive by Arnaud Sussman on violin, Mr. Cords on viola, Mr. Arron on cello, Jeffrey Beecher on double bass, and the same quintet as in the previous piece.
Even the somewhat darker moments in the music were just temporary clouds before sunshine broke out again. The audience was uplifted with a feeling that all was right with the world. Where else can we find that these days?
The Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival continues through Aug. 21; more information is at bcmf.org. It should be noted that this season's concerts are being recorded for broadcast on American Public Media's "Performance Today."
A new feature of the festival's Web site this year is that you can listen to a short sound file of each work from every concert, just enough to whet your appetite or perhaps help you choose from among the offerings.


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Vatican City, Mar 5, 2013 / 07:35 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The College of Cardinals has agreed to hold a public prayer service on March 6 in St. Peter's Basilica to pray for the upcoming conclave and the process of electing a new Pope.
"Since there is no afternoon meeting, tomorrow afternoon at 5:00 p.m. at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter's Basilica, the cardinals are inviting people to a time of adoration and Vespers," Vatican press office director Father Federico Lombardi announced March 5.
The proposal was made at the end of the March 5 general meeting, which was the third in a series that the cardinals are holding as they prepare for the conclave. It was gladly accepted by the cardinals.
The papal master of ceremonies, Monsignor Guido Marini, said that it will last for approximately one hour and will begin with the recitation of the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary in Italian and Latin.??
This will be followed by the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and a brief time for adoration.
Vespers, the evening prayer of the Church, will then be recited.
The ceremony will close with benediction offered by Cardinal Angelo Comastri, Archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica.
The initiative was announced as a way for the entire Church to gather in prayer as it prepares to make an important decision that will impact its future.
In other news, the cardinals decided to not hold afternoon sessions as they did on March 4. This will allow the newer princes of the Church to get a better grasp of the issues at hand and who the various papal contenders are.
Fr. Lombardi stressed that their arrival is tied to personal commitments that had already been made and that they have been in communication with the College of Cardinals about their travel plans.
Once all the cardinals arrive in Rome, there will be 115 electors who will vote for the next Pope.
Updated at 7:11 p.m. Rome time with more information about the ceremony. The story originally listed Cardinal Angelo Sodano as the presider, but no one will officially preside over the ceremony.

subset: commoncrawl


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JACKSONVILLE, Ill.--The GC women's basketball team could not redeem themselves from yesterday's loss and fell 84-57 to Calumet College in their final game of the MacMurray Classic tournament.
Greenville's Coley Baker led the Lady Panthers in both points scored, with 14, and blocks, earning 2. Emily Gundy also had a noteworthy performance, recording 8 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists. Claire Schmitt added 9 rebounds and a steal for GC.
Calumet was led by Dominique Edwards, Brianna Marble, and Crystal Daniels who had a combined 45 of the Crimson Wave's total 84 points.
Greenville's current record will stand at 4-5 (1-1 SLIAC) heading into Christmas break. The ladies will return to the court on Tuesday, January 7 at 6:00pm when they will take on Eureka on the road.


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Want to remind yourself or a friend about this program? Fill out this simple form and klru will email you a reminder on the day that it will air.
Belfast And The Best Of Northern Ireland
series: Rick Steves' Europe
air date: 4/19/13 3:30 AM
No trip to Emerald Isle is complete without a visit to Northern Ireland. We tour bustling Belfast, sneaking a peek at its politically charged neighborhoods. Then we head for the Antrim Coast and go wild in Portrush, Ulster's Coney Island. We taste-test Irish whiskey, scramble over six-sided rock columns, putter through a world- class golf course, and stomp our feet to Irish music in rough-and- tumble Derry.
WARNING: Email reminders for this program have already been sent out. Your reminder may not reach the intended address in time for this program's airing.
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The Pella High baseball team saw their season come to a close last night with a 7-2 loss to Norwalk in the opening round of the Class 3A District tournament in a game broadcast live on 92.1 FM KRLS.
For three and a half innings the two conference foes were neck and neck with Pella clinging to a 2-1 lead, but a missed opportunity by the Little Dutch in the top of the fourth inning proved to be the difference maker. Pella loaded the bases but was unable to produce a run, opening the door for the Warriors who responded with four runs off five hits in the bottom of the inning, then added two more runs in the fifth off a two run homerun and Pella was unable to mount any comeback in the final two innings. Pella head coach Aaron Reasland said that inning changed the entire flow of the game:
"Baseball is a game of momentum and you gotta keep it in your dugout. Unfortunately going into the fourth inning we had a big opportunity with bases loaded but couldn't get it done, then they (Norwalk) were able to come back in the bottom half and put some pretty good swings on the ball. Our guys got a little bit flustered I think. You gotta bounce back…that's a life lesson people need to learn..you can't let one mistake turn into two"
Schyler Kane was solid on the hill for Pella holding Norwalk to just two hits until that fourth inning. He suffered the loss pitching 4 1/3 innings allowing eight hits including two homeruns while striking out five and walking just one. Jacob Gleason pitched the final 1 2/3 innings allowing just one hit while striking out two. The loss also ends the careers of five seniors Chris Bandstra, Nick Gerdes, Ryan Lanke, Teelan Paulson and Alan Pfadenhauer who Reasland says have been the backbone of the program's success:
"When I started here they were the first group I got to work with and we said all along that they're gonna be the catalyst that turns this program around, they're gonna be the energy that jump starts things and they'll be the leaders that'll show the underclassmen someday how we do things in Pella…Holy smokes have they done that..If you ask any one of our underclassmen they all would agree those seniors have played a huge role in the success we've had"
Pella ends their season 19-15 overall.


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More Battlefield 3 fact crumbs have dripped from the info-mouth of DICE, with a new blog post explaining the shooter's revamped multiplayer classes.
Battlefield 3 only has four classes, down from seven in Battlefield 2. However, roles have been combined, rather than outright eliminated. The Assault class picks up the eliminated Medic's healing abilities, although DICE insists it's still the same old "frontline run and gun class" and players needn't equip life-giving gear if they want more death-dealing tools instead. "It makes sense that the class on the frontline will be able to revive fallen team mates," DICE explains.
Engineers are largely the same as ever, able to repair vehicles, and armed with carbines and RPGs.
The Recon class is still a snipe-o-man, though he's picking up some new toys and tricks DICE isn't willing to reveal just yet. "Recon traditionally has been seen as just a sniper," senior mulitplayer designer Alan Kertz said. "We wanted to change that perception, so we've built several completely new teamplay oriented gadgets specifically for the Recon class so he can be a team player, even if he's sitting on the top of Wookie Mountain."
The light machine gun-wielding Support class, ditched in Battlefield: Bad Company 2, returns with some new mechanics. LMGs can deploy bipods when you're prone or crouched behind suitable waist-high cover, stabilizing the gun to boost accuracy and lessen recoil.
LMGs will also be handy for laying down suppressive fire, a new mechanic usable by all classes, but perhaps most powerful with machine guns. "When you lay down fire in close vicinity to an enemy, the incoming barrage will show up as a graphical blur effect on his screen to stress him and let him know it's not safe to pop out from behind cover," DICE explains. "Just as importantly, this mechanic also affects his character's in-game firing accuracy, making him less of a threat by using real world tactics. Better yet? You get team play experience points for doing so!"
"Supported shooting with Bipods and Suppressive Fire finally allows us to achieve an obvious difference between Assault and Support, since the heavy LMGs are not terribly mobile," Kertz said. "When deployed with a Bipod, they become an incredibly powerful force. Suppressive Fire forces the enemy to keep their head down and lets the Support gunner pin his enemies in place so teammates can flank."
Battlefield 3 is scheduled for release on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on October 25, published by EA. PC is the lead platform, but sadly it won't be getting mod tools.


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National Science Foundation - FY 1998 Testimony
The American Society for Microbiology (ASM), the largest single life science organization in the world, comprising more than 42,000 members, welcomes the opportunity to testify before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on VA, HUD and Independent Agencies and provide comments and recommendations for the fiscal year (FY) 1998 appropriations for the scientific research programs within the National Science Foundation (NSF).
The ASM is made up of scientists who work in academic, governmental and industrial institutions worldwide. Microbiologists are involved in research on problems related to human health, the environment, agriculture, and energy. The mission of ASM is to enhance the science of microbiology to gain a better understanding of basic life processes, and to promote the application of this knowledge for improved health, and for economic and environmental well being.
The ASM welcomes the opportunity to comment on the Administration's FY 1998 budget request for the National Science Foundation. The NSF's long standing record in fostering basic research has provided the critical foundation for advancing the health of the nation's people, environment and economy. Federal support for the NSF is an investment that creates and strengthens the economic growth of the United States and allows the United States to remain competitive in a global market. The President's FY 1998 budget request for the NSF of $3.367 billion is only 3 percent or $97 million, more than was appropriated in FY 1997. Based on the rate of inflation, which is approximately 2.6 percent, the NSF would be level funded for the next fiscal year under the President's request. At the same time, our global competitors have made commitments to increase funding for science and technology. For example, Japan has committed to increase its support for basic research over the next five years by 50 percent. The United States may be in danger of losing its lead in science and technology as the 21st century approaches if it does not increase federal funding for basic research.
The ASM, a member of the Coalition for National Science Funding (CNSF) and its steering committee, supports the CNSF's recommendation of $3.5 billion for the NSF in FY 1998, an increase of 7.1 percent over the FY 1997 appropriation. NSF Director Neal Lane stated before this Subcommittee that the NSF's original budget request was $3.5 billion, a funding level that would allow the United States to remain a world leader in the area of science and technology. The ASM is deeply concerned with the inadequacy of the President's NSF budget request and its impact on the NSF's ability to meet the scientific challenges of the 21st century. The ASM urges this Subcommittee to support the CNSF's recommendation of $3.5 billion for the NSF in FY 1998. New initiatives within the NSF reflect the partnership between research and education and the need to encourage research in new areas of science. The ASM applauds NSF's proactive stance to promote research across disciplines that will lead to the development of information technologies in order to unify experimental and theoretical concepts. A program called Knowledge and Distributed Intelligence (KDI). KDI is an effort designed to realize the full potential of emerging technologies in communications, computing and networking and revolutionize science and engineering and the way people learn and work. The new Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) initiative will spearhead the need to provide graduate students with multi-disciplinary research and educational training opportunities. G raduate students will benefit from IGERT through broader training and greater flexibility in attaining future employment. A focused program begun in FY 1997, Life in Extreme Environments (LExEN), is a critical component in understanding the interplay between microorganisms, plants and animals in earth's environment and how humans impact the microbial world. The study of life in extreme environments can provide important new insights into how microorganisms evolve, and the extent their adaptive mechanisms allow them to function in their environments. Once researchers are able to understand these mechanisms, they will be able to employ them in other capacities such as in bioprocessing and bioremediation.
Members of the ASM, whose activities include research concerned with the impact of microorganisms on the well-being of humans, animals, plants, and the environment, are very supportive of NSF's increased focus on microbial biology and the diversity of microorganisms, an initiative begun in FY 1996 under the auspices of the NSF's Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO). For years, research efforts have concentrated on the study of microbes in human and animal health. The unknown microbial biomass provides opportunities to discover new knowledge about microbial life-forms and their potential application in industry, medicine and agriculture. In addition, microbiological research continues to provide the foundation for today's advances in biotechnology. These advances are based on understanding the molecular basis of microbial physiology and the genetics of viral, yeast and bacterial plasmid vectors. Future accomplishments and their application to increased agricultural productivity (an important by-product of biotechnology) will not be possible without NSF funded basic research.
The NSF is one of the few government agencies that funds basic research. Leadership by the United States in opening new avenues of science and technology will be lost without sufficient funding for basic research. Most of today's scientific achievements in areas such as global warming, bioremediation of oil spills and industrial pollution, new antibiotics and drugs, biopesticides, and gene therapy, are the outgrowths of basic research. The United States is faced today with many challenges that can be met only through the potential of basic research to generate the crucial new scientific knowledge required to advance the welfare of all people worldwide.
New knowledge is required in order to address a broad range of societal problems including those inherent in the emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria, new infectious diseases facing the human population and the agricultural community, and environmental pollution. The NSF plays a critical role in furthering our basic understanding of molecular and cellular processes. NSF-supported research can unravel the basic, molecular complexities of many health issues including cancer, aging, developmental abnormalities, and the body's immune response. There is a long history of outstanding achievements by NSF-funded investigators, namely:
DNA in living organisms is the blueprint for making all the organism's protein. A large portion of DNA, known as "junk DNA," in most organisms is not used for proteins and appeared for a long time to have no function. Recently, however, researchers have determined that junk DNA has a very important function. In certain situations, it is involved in assuring that, when a cell divides into two daughter cells, two copies of each chromosome find their way into each daughter cell. This is the first time researchers have identified a function for junk DNA and it may have far-reaching impacts. For instance, developmental abnormalities, such as Down Syndrome in humans, are caused by the presence of more than two copies of one of the chromosomes. Researchers can now examine the role of junk DNA and define ways to avoid such abnormalities.
Researchers supported by NSF have identified a gene in a common weed that allows the plant to extract iron from soil whenever it is starved for the essential nutrient. This discovery has important implications for both crop yields and human nutrition. Iron deficiency is the leading nutritional disorder in people worldwide. Most people get their daily iron supply in the form of plant foods. By understanding how plants absorb iron, researchers could develop crops that are more efficient users of iron in soil and richer sources of iron in foods.
Plants have a remarkable capacity to filter or metabolize large amounts of particular pollutants. Scientists have used this capacity to clean up contaminated soils, a process known as phytoremediation. Now, with genetic engineering, it is possible to engineer "super-remediators." NSF-supported scientists have isolated and transferred a bacterial gene that converts the ionic form of mercury into a less toxic metallic form. The resulting plants can survive in contaminated soil with a relatively high level of mercury. Studies to expand this research to other toxic heavy metals are underway.
Investing in basic research is an investment in the future. The ASM urges this Subcommittee to support a budget of $3.5 billion, a 7.1 percent increase, for the NSF in FY 1998.


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Ray Wilkins
Football Expert
Man United's work-rate and Sir Alex Ferguson's passion will bring title back to Old Trafford, says Ray Wilkins
A double-figure lead and burning desire makes Man United certainties to win the title, says Ray Wilkins.
Last Updated: 12/02/13 5:31pm
United won 2-0 at home to Everton on Super Sunday, with Ryan Giggs (13) giving the Old Trafford brood the lead, to preserve his record of netting in every Premier League season, and Robin van Persie doubling the tally just before half time.
The triumph over the Toffees, coupled with Man City's 3-1 reverse at Southampton on Saturday evening, has made Sir Alex Ferguson's troop overwhelming favourites to lift a 20th top-flight crown.
And former Old Trafford midfielder Wilkins told Sky Sports HD that the endeavour of the club's players and the passion of their manager will ensure that United seize league silverware in May.
"Mathematics always creeps into it, but the desire and work-ethic they have, which is what beat a dogged Everton side, should pull them through," Wilkins said of United, who squandered an eight-point lead with six games remaining of last term to see themselves overhauled by City.
"They are a very talented group of guys but when they graft like that it makes it very difficult for the opposition - and Sir Alex really wants to wrestle the title back.
"He doesn't want the guys across the road to be the kingpins and, for that reason, I think he classed this game against Everton as more important than the Real Madrid game on Wednesday, though that will be a classic encounter."
Former Man City and Everton manager Joe Royle says Ferguson's charges did not dazzle against David Moyes' side, who earned a 4-4 draw at Old Trafford last April.
But praised the game-plan of United - who lost to the Merseysiders in their opening game of the Premier League season at Goodison Park - and 'difference maker' Van Persie.
"United showed tactical nous," said Royle.
"They nullified Marouane Fellaini, who has been a thorn in their side in the past, and Antonio Valencia stopped Leighton Baines coming forward - though Everton were hamstrung not having Sylvain Distin fit to play.
"United weren't sparkling but they were more than effective and Van Persie, as I thought he would be before kick-off, was the difference; he scored one, hit the post and made a goal, and while he was often on the shoulder of defenders, he also came short.
"He has been the difference all season for United who now, with their goal difference, are virtually 13 points ahead of City and have the luxury of being able to bring on substitutes who don't weaken them.
"The title race is not over but it looks tough for City."
Everton, meanwhile, now lie six points behind fourth-placed Tottenham, but both Royle and Wilkins believe the Toffees are capable of securing a Champions League berth for next season.
However, Wilkins says there will be plenty of drama between now and the end of the campaign and is refusing to rule out Swansea's hopes of earning a spot in Europe's elite club competition.
"Everton's first XI is a top-four side, but they have to keep everyone fit and get their frontmen scoring," added Royle, who managed the Blues between 1994-97.
"Their strikers didn't give then a great deal against United; Victor Anichebe has been having a great time but he couldn't get going, while Nikica Jelavic was a Johnny-on-the-spot last year but it hasn't happened for him this season."
Wilkins added: "I've always fancied Everton to go the whole hog because David (Moyes) preaches to them that they have to keep going, but you cannot write Swansea off.
"They are a good deal of points away from fourth (11) but they are playing some wonderful football and could get in - but there will be lots of twists and turns."


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A local Tae Kwon Do instructor has been indicted on seven felony charges for his alleged inappropriate contact with minors. Police were contacted by the first victim in June 2011. During the course of their investigation a second victim was discovered.
Detectives determined the Tae Kwon Do instructor reportedly had inappropriate sexual contact with the first victim several times between May 2003 and January 2005. The victim was under 18 years of age when the incidents occurred. He reportedly had inappropriate sexual contact with the second victim in late 2008. She was under 18 years of age at the time. These incidents are alleged to have occurred at the Phan University of Martial Arts, located at 9566 Old Keene Mill Road in Springfield, and at the suspect's home.
In October 2011, detectives served several search warrants and recovered additional evidence. On Monday, May 21, 2012, Quyen Vinh Phan Le, 38, of 6015 Larkspur Drive in Springfield, was indicted on seven felony charges: Four counts of Indecent Liberties with a Minor by Someone in a Custodial or Supervisory Relationship [18.2-370.1] and three counts of Possession of Child Pornography [18.2-374.1:1]. He was arraigned on those charges on Tuesday, May 22.
Detectives are not aware of any other victims. However, if anyone has any additional information to provide, they are asked to contact Crime Solvers by phone at 1-866-411-TIPS/8477, e-mail atwww.fairfaxcrimesolvers.org or text "TIP187" plus your message to CRIMES/274637 or call Fairfax County Police at 703-691-2131.


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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A national construction trade group has unveiled a new national plan to address looming workforce shortages as firms add jobs after a lengthy downturn.
The Arlington, Va.-based Associated General Contractors of America released the plan Thursday during a visit to the Washburn Institute of Technology in Topeka.
Group spokesman Brian Turmail says Kansas was chosen as the release site because of a state-funded program that offers high school juniors and seniors free, college-credit technical training in high-demand fields. Turmail says the association wants to nudge other states to do the same thing.
The plan outlines measures to make it easier for schools, construction firms and local construction associations to establish career and technical training programs. It also calls for significant reforms to federal career and technical education programs.


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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Microsoft Corp. jumped Friday on news that CEO Steve Ballmer is planning to retire, which gave a boost to the tech sector despite post-earnings selloffs on stocks like Pandora Media and Marvell Technology.
Microsoft MSFT, -0.10% was up 7.3% closing at $34.75, as the software giant announced that Ballmer will be stepping down within the next 12 months. The stock was the top gainer on the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
"Beyond this, we expect sum of the parts and capital-return scenarios to drive the stock," wrote Walter Pritchard of Citigroup, maintaining a $35 price target on the shares.
The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, -0.21% rose 0.5% to close at 3,656. The benchmark ended the week up 1.5%.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index SOX, +0.56% was flat, while the Morgan Stanley High Tech 35 Index US:MSH rose 0.5%.
Shares of Facebook Inc. FB, -0.37% jumped 5.2% to close at $40.55, topping $40 on J.P. Morgan note that cited "solid trends in overall engagement" among both mobile and desktop users.
In a note, J.P. Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth, citing new data from comScore, said, "We continue to believe that Facebook's strong mobile usage is offsetting desktop declines and that competing services are having only a modest impact on Facebook."
J.P. Morgan has an overweight rating on Facebook with a price target of $44.
Facebook shares have jumped more than 50% year-to-date, after struggling for months to climb past its initial public offering price of $38.
Another sharp gainer in the software sector was Autodesk Inc. ADSK, -0.70% which jumped 7.7% to close at $38.91, a day after the design-software company reported results.
On the other hand, shares of Pandora Media Inc. P, -0.68% fell 12.9% to close at $18.91 after the Internet-radio company posted a disappointing outlook. Stifel Nicolaus and Raymond James downgraded the stock to neutral ratings.
"While Pandora delivered a strong 2Q driven by increasing mobile monetization (mobile revs up 92% year-over-year) and lower content costs, we believe the risk reward on shares is now more balanced with shares up [about] 130% year-to-date and trading above our previous $20 price target," Aaron Kessler of Raymond James wrote to clients.
Marvell Technology MRVL, +2.24% shares fell 5.9% to close at $12.19. The chip maker reported better-than-expected results for the second fiscal quarter late Thursday, though earnings still fell about 34%. Pacific Crest analyst Michael McConnell wrote that the company's margin guidance could be seen as disappointing to some.
"We are cautious on sustainability of Marvell's mobile traction, which may have been driven more by price than technology," he wrote.


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Savage Dragon (Legendary Comic Book Heroes, with shirt)
Price: $24.99
Dragon was found by Lieutenant Fred Darling in a burning lot in Chicago, with no memory of his past. Darling was taken by Dragon and offered his friendship. He knew Dragon's superhuman strength, bullet-proof skin and ability to regenerate would help combat Chicago's criminal gang, Vicious Circle. He attempted to recruit the Dragon into the police force, but he declined. When the Vicious Circle attempted to extort money from Lt. Darling, Dragon leapt into action and easily defeated the gang's thugs. When Fred lost his life in an explosion at the scene, Dragon decided to reconsider the offer to join the police force. He stepped into the role of the city's premiere hero, pitting himself against the Vicious Circle and all other criminal threats, while he searches for details of his past.
Includes the "left leg" of Pitt.


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I wasn't going to write anything about it this year. Halloween, I reasoned, is just for kids. But then I saw a really cool Halloween display and, once again, the mood sort of drifted over me like an afternoon fog.
I wonder why towns don't have house-decorating contests for Halloween like they do for Christmas.
When I was growing up, Halloween was the big night for kids, ranking right behind Christmas and your birthday. It used to be the only time you could load up on candy. Now, you can get candy practically anywhere, which is ironic since so many people are health-conscious these days.
My cousins would come in from the country and, along with some neighborhood kids, we formed our own little trick-or-treat posse, scouring the neighborhood for all the best goodies. Although we didn't think we needed them, our mothers always tagged along at a respectful distance.
When I got too old – meaning too cool – to trick-or-treat, I took my sister. My parents never knew this, but there was a fee for my services: a Tootsie Roll for a small block, a Milky Way or Snickers for a long one. Being my only sister, she got the sibling rate, which was a piece of candy for both sides of the street instead of just one side. Whatever it was, it had to be covered in chocolate. Licorice or, heaven forbid, anything healthy, she was stuck with.
When I was in high school, I would prowl the darkened streets with friends, threatening vengeance on teachers we were convinced had it in for us. (Even if we had known where they lived, we wouldn't have known what to do, but, being teenagers, we just felt the need to be out.)
Over the years, I've spent Halloween in some interesting places. One time a friend and I joined a Halloween parade in New Orleans. We were dressed as normal people. Considering how some were made up, we drew a surprising number of looks.
Many Halloweens I've had to work, but the last couple of years I've been able to stay home. I decorate my front porch a little, then dress up – always tastefully, of course, because I don't want to scare any little kids. Several people in my neighborhood do this. Next door is a young couple with a couple of kids, who can't go out until their mother gets home from work, just after dark. As they wait, the father and children sit on their front porch, handing out candy.
The little girl, about 5 years old, hasn't quite grasped the whole thing yet. Rather than wait for trick-or-treaters to come to her, she dashes out to them, greeting them loudly with her own shouts of "trick or treat." During lulls on our side of the block, she'll shout out to those on the other side: "Hi, ghost!" "Hi, witch!" "Hi, spooky spook!" (Just for that, I always save the biggest pieces of candy I have for her and her brother.)
As an adult, I totally understand why some object to Halloween. But the kid in me doesn't care. Halloween is what you make it. Of course, I can say that because I live in a safe community. Personally, I choose to make Halloween a fun night were you can use your imagination to the fullest. We can be ourselves the rest of the year.


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Guest Message by DevFuse
99 Outback Sport coolant leak and bubbles
Started by crazyeric , Oct 04 2003 02:24 PM
9 replies to this topic
Posted 04 October 2003 - 02:24 PM
just got my 99 outback sport today, after about a 75 mile drive home i pop the hood and notice some coolant on the plastic piece under the engine, then i notice little bubbles in the reservior. not enough to make it foam but a steady stream of bubbles. I checked the lower rad hose because that seems to be where its coming from and it looked alright, could it just be a bad clamp or hose or does my new car likely have a headgasket issue. Its a 2.2 with 74k, i didnt notice any sludge in the tank, and the res tank was almost completely full as well the temp guage was fine the whole ride, its just that leaking coolant on my "new" car thats making me scratch my head.
Posted 04 October 2003 - 03:11 PM
the 2.2 seems to be a very tight engine with few reported (if any) head gasket problems. i'd be more inclined to check over the entire cooling system for a leak. you can have it pressure tested at a radiator shop and they can pin point the source. they can also check the coolant for hydrocarbons (exhaust gasses) to rule out a head gasket...
Posted 04 October 2003 - 05:21 PM
But if it has plastic tanks on the radiator very low pressure. If you have it done at a radiator shop they should know how much to use.
A head gasket test kit would also be a good investment.
Do you have a warranty?
If so take it back to be checked.
I suspect you found out why they sold it.
A head gasket test kit would also be a good investment.
Do you have a warranty?
If so take it back to be checked.
I suspect you found out why they sold it.
Posted 05 October 2003 - 09:03 AM
Maybe some problem with the rad cap coupled with a split in the overflow hose?
Hard to say.
1 Lucky Texan
Hard to say.
1 Lucky Texan
Posted 05 October 2003 - 10:29 AM
I say do a coolant flush. I looked at a 92 Ford Taurus for somebody once (hey it was $500 and basic transporation!) That car was also well-known for head-gasket problems, and I noticed some foam/bubbles in the overflow tank. But I took off the radiator cap when it was cold and told them to start it up. Not one bubble ever emerged from the radiator itself, it behaved normally. And had plenty of power. So there was just some weird crap in the tank that made it do that...
Posted 05 October 2003 - 10:33 AM
many problems won't turn up until the car has reached full operating temperature and the system is up to full pressure. many head gasket problems won't show up until the car is under heavy load, so you won't necessairally see bubbles in the radiator unless the car is very hot, when you typically can't remove the radiator cap. a pressure test is a good way to check out the system while the car is still cool.
Posted 05 October 2003 - 12:11 PM
taking it for a pressure test and exhaust gas test monday, it has a 2 month\2500 mile warranty, but the dealer is 75 miles away so i could be in for some driving\begging\bus taking. At this point all i can do is hope. Also, does anyone know the full details of a lemon law? The state i purchased it in does have a lemon law, i just dont know the stipulations. how much do pressure\compression tests usually run?
Posted 06 October 2003 - 12:12 AM
some places might do it for nothing if they get to sell you a radiator if you need it. Other place around here in SF area you would pay one shop hour.
For a couple of shop hour you can buy your own testing kit, which is how I would go if I had to pay.
I think I paid about $120 for the last one I had.
For a couple of shop hour you can buy your own testing kit, which is how I would go if I had to pay.
I think I paid about $120 for the last one I had.
Posted 06 October 2003 - 04:56 PM
As far away as it is, I'd be inclined to take the vehicle back to where you got it for warranty repair (tell them your symptoms and ask them to diagnose and fix it).
The last thing you want is to find out it is a head gasket, cracked heads, whatever, and then they say you voided the warranty by having other people work on the cooling system.
The last thing you want is to find out it is a head gasket, cracked heads, whatever, and then they say you voided the warranty by having other people work on the cooling system.
Posted 08 October 2003 - 03:56 PM
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Nature Center to hold Garden Munchies on August 5
July 30, 2009The John T. Huston-Dr. John D. Brumbaugh Nature Center will be holding "Kids in the Garden: Garden Munchies" on Wednesday, August 5 from 9 a.m. to noon.
Children ages 8 through 11 are invited to participate in the harvesting and preparation of fresh garden produce. The day will include caring for the Children's Garden, harvesting fresh fruit and vegetables and testing out simple recipes that children can also try at home.
Registration is required. The Nature Center is located six miles south of Mount Union College on Daniel Street, just off of Route 183. For more information, contact the Nature Center at (330) 823-7487.


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The senior scored a career-high 18 points as Oklahoma beat Kansas 85-77 Saturday on the Sooners' senior night.
"I did not want to wait to the end of this just to be like, 'Oh it's over,'" Hartman said. "I made a decision before the game. I chose to jump off the bridge or the cliff, you could say."
Hartman entered the game with a career scoring average of 1.9 points and had not tallied any score in the last four games. In her first start this season, her 137th game as a Sooner, Hartman made OU's go-ahead basket as part of 15 first-half points.
"I was in this fog honestly. I could not get past that until this game. Every senior wants to go out with a bang -- and that was my thing -- just go out with a bang and that is just a decision you make."
Oklahoma's field goal percentage never dipped below 50 percent and the Sooners never trailed in the second half for the team's eighth straight 20-win season.
Aaryn Ellenberg scored a game-high 22 points. Nicole Griffin, Morgan Hook and Joanna McFarland each had 13.
McFarland, OU's only other active senior, added 10 rebounds for her 10th double-double of the season.
Kansas led 35-29 with five minutes to play in the first half before Oklahoma finished the half with an 8-0 run concluded with four straight points from Hartman.
Oklahoma led 39-35 at halftime.
"Some big 3's is how we spread it to 10 points," OU head coach Sherri Coale said. "I thought it was an outstanding women's basketball game. That is this league. I don't know what we are going to finish or what they are going to finish since it is all still up on the air with the last game still remaining but this league is unbelievable - that was a great basketball game.
"We were playing extremely well and they wouldn't go away. I think it was the focus of our kids to try and make sure this night was what it should be for those four seniors and that is the reason we didn't miss a bit when they came charging back and answering everything. We just continued forward."
Kansas cut OU's lead to 4 with two minutes to play. McFarland and Ellenberg answered with back-to-back 3's -- the latter by Ellenberg setting OU's single-season record at 95 -- and then the Sooners made six of eight free throws to seal the victory.
Carolyn Davis scored 18 points to lead Kansas. Monica Engelman added 16 points.
"This senior class," Coale said, "if I had one word to sum them up it would be resilience."
The Sooners close the regular season at Texas Tech Monday at 7 p.m. before preparing for the Big 12 Tournament in Dallas (March 8-11).
Check back shortly for a complete recap, highlights, photos, notes, quotes and more on SoonerSports.com.


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The Last of Us is a grim story about survival well after the fungus-zombie apocalypse has all but wiped out humanity. But before it went down that path, the Naughty Dog team was originally working on a reboot for the studio's significantly more bright-and-chipper Jak & Daxter series.
During a talk at the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) Toronto 2013 conference in September, creative director Neil Druckmann explained how the transition took place. After the launch of Uncharted 2, Naughty Dog created a second team helmed by Druckmann and Bruce Straley to come up with a new project.
"Our task was to reboot this game, Jak & Daxter," he said. "So we spent a long time exploring the world of Jak & Daxter. How would we reboot it? What would it mean to bring these characters back? What are some story ideas that we were getting excited by? And as much as we liked a lot of these concepts and kind of exploring this fantastical world, we found that the ideas we were passionate about were kind of getting away from what Jak & Daxter was."
He said they were ultimately left questioning if they were doing this for "marketing reasons" or if they were truly passionate about the Jak & Daxter series. "We felt like we weren't doing service to what fans of this franchise really liked, even if the reinvented Daxter is pretty damn good-looking," he said. "So we went to our boss, and said, 'do we have to do this?' And he said 'no, I just thought it would be easier for you guys if you started something. But if you want something else, come up with something else.'"
From there the team's focus shifted to a project inspired by George Romero's zombie films, the influence of which on The Last of Us should be pretty obvious. The rest is history, as they say, but there was a time Naughty Dog was considering revisiting its platforming franchise. Check out the talk below.


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SOMERSET, N.J. – Freshman Tim Caton garnered the first major award for the Sacred Heart University men's lacrosse program in the first-ever season of Northeast Conference lacrosse. Caton, a long-stick midfielder from East Rochester, N.Y., was named the NEC Rookie of the Year by the conference's coaches.
Caton was a valuable and versatile midfielder on both ends of the field in his rookie campaign. He caused a team-high 14 turnovers and picked up 43 groundballs, ranking second on the team. As the Pioneers second best in grounders, he helped the team to a league-leading 34.15, which also ranks ninth in the nation. On the offensive side of the ball, Caton scored five goals and dished out two assists for the season. He netted his first career goal and picked up four assists in a 9-8 overtime win over Marist on February 26. His season-high for grounders came in the following game against Dartmouth on March 5, when he snatched up seven loose balls. For his efforts on the season, Caton also earned a spot on the NEC All-Rookie Team.
"Timmy Caton did well matching up the best midfielders in the NEC. He limited their scoring opportunities and on offense he contributed to our team's scoring chances," stated Sacred Heart head coach Tom Mariano. "He made a big difference in league play, which I believe was validated by win winning this award."
In the preseason, senior defender Tim Lewis (Katonah, N.Y.) was named to the Inside Lacrosse All-NEC team. He followed up that recognition by earning a spot on the All-Conference Second Team. Lewis contributed to the team's league leading groundballs per game by scooping up 34, while also causing 11 turnovers.
Joining Caton on the All-Rookie Team are fellow freshmen attackers Bailey Dodds (Eden Prairie, Minn.) and Mike Mawdsley (Innisfil, Ont.). In just nine games, Dodds scored 10 goals, including four multi-goal games. He netted his first career hat trick against Quinnipiac on April 23. Mawdsley was the Pioneers' top scorer, as well as the leading freshman scorer in the NEC, with a team-leading 38 points and 28 goals, to go with 10 assists. He posted four goals, including the OT game-winner, at Marist and tallied a season-high five points, on three goals and two assists at Robert Morris on April 30. For the season, he totaled seven hat tricks, three against NEC opponents.
Robert Morris senior attack Trevor Moore (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) earned the NEC Player of the Year award for the second consecutive season. The NEC awarded post season accolades in 2010, despite the six team's not playing an official league schedule. Between the pipes, Mount St. Mary's senior T.C. DiBartolo (Bowie, Md.) was named Defensive Player of the Year, while the Mountaineers' Tom Gravante was tabbed as the Coach of the Year. Bryan senior attackman Gary Crowley (Scituate, Mass.) earned Offensive Player of the Year honors.
Sacred Heart completed its first season in the NEC, after competing as a Division I independent in 2010, at 4-9 overall and 1-4 in league play. The lone conference win came against Wagner, 18-4, on April 2. In non-conference play, the Pioneers registered wins against Marist, Manhattan (11-6), and Mercer (17-7). SHU also pushed number #19 Denver to four overtimes at Campus Field, before falling 13-12, the second four or more OT game for the Pioneers in the last three seasons.


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Blizzard has unveiled a new "Paragon" system coming in patch 1.04 of Diablo 3, aimed at adjusting the Magic Find system and end-game content. The Magic Find tweaks are engineered to deal with feedback that some users find swapping gear frustrating or unfair, and Blizzard has already been pretty frank about its end-game.
A blog post from game director Jay Wilson details the new system. Once you hit level 60, your experience from killing monsters will go towards Paragon levels. The game has 100 Paragon levels in all, which reward you with extra Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Vitality, along with 3% Magic Find and 3% Gold Find. You'll also get an increasing border around your character portrait to show off your Paragon status. Blizzard says that the time investment to get to the upper Paragon levels is roughly the same as the time required to get to level 99 in Diablo 2.
It will also cap Magic Find and Gold Find to 300% (sans Nephalem Valor), so if you reach Paragon you can keep wearing your Magic Find gear while grinding for higher levels, but won't have to use that special gear once you hit level 100.
Blizzard hasn't outlined a date for the upcoming patch yet, but promises more details soon.


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Thursday, Oct. 31
by, October 31st, 2013 at 05:28 PM (1207 Views)
Swim/SCY @ Sewickley Y with Jim
500 various
2 x 200 @ 3:30, I did backstroke kick
4 x 100 @ 1:40, I did slide a fast 25 all kick
8 x 50 DPS free @ 50
16 x 25 @ :30
odds = fast breast
evens = EZ
8 x 25 burst + cruise on Jimby interval
-- he was doing 250 easy free with restricted breathing. when he hit the wall, I went.
Total: 2350
Just a short workout today. I was tired from all the Rushall type sets of yesterday. Jim and I agreed that the masters recovery mode from USD is different. We also spent a lot of time chatting with our resident Hungarian Olympian and masters WR holder. He is a HIT/Rushall devotee. The bursts I was doing at the end were close to the 1:1 work to rest ratio that Rushall prescribes, but I didn't feel like I could do more than 4 in a row. Something to work on perhaps using his fail/skip method.
My lower left shoulder is really bugging me. I know it's a sign of a weak scapula. I really need to get back to the gym or at least do my RC/scap exercises more regularly.
15 swimmer stereotypes: http://swimswam.com/15-swimmer-stereotypes-fit/. Hmm, the only one that might fit me is the Flipper.


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Roy Stevenson, of Doolittle, was honored by Meramec Regional Planning Commission (MRPC) for volunteer efforts at the MRPC annual dinner held in Hermann on Nov. 8.
Roy Stevenson, of Doolittle, was honored by Meramec Regional Planning Commission (MRPC) for volunteer efforts at the MRPC annual dinner held in Hermann on Nov. 8.
Each year, MRPC honors residents of the Meramec region who give to their communities by volunteering their time, talents and support.
This year, Stevenson was one of 12 individuals to receive an award from MRPC for his contributions to his community.
Stevenson is very active in the Newburg Community Revitalization Project Group (NCRPG) and the Little Piney Community Partnership. Through these organizations he organizes mud runs and music show fundraisers to benefit the Little Piney Community Park and other community projects.
He and his wife, Pat Stevenson, often use their business resources to donate food and other items to community events and fundraisers.
In addition to his commitment to bettering the community of Newburg, Stevenson has served on the Doolittle Board of Alderman for eight years.
"Roy is an energetic worker and a great driver for our community," Doolittle Mayor Paul Smith said.
Smith nominated Stevenson for the award. Award recipients must be nominated by an MRPC board member and then selected by the MRPC external relations committee.
Also at the dinner, Rolla's Volunteers in Police Services (VIPS) was selected for the Outstanding Volunteer Organization Award.
VIPS was nominated by Rolla City Administrator John Butz and Rolla Police Chief Mark Kearse.
VIPS is a group of community volunteers who provide support services to the Rolla Police Department. These volunteers assist RPD by taking on routine patrols such as vacation house checks, patrols of area parks and walking trails and afternoon school patrols.
By taking on these tasks, VIPS allows the city's commissioned police officers to focus on more urgent needs and proactive, community policing.
VIPS volunteers also help to bridge the gap between the police force and the general citizen and assist with administrative duties at the police department. Currently, there are 17 active volunteers in the VIPS program.
Additionally, MRPC presented its highest honor, its annual Eugene E. Northern Award, to a volunteer who demonstrated lifelong community service.
Paul Corbett, of Waynesville, was honored with the award named after Northern, a former Rolla mayor, who also was a Missouri circuit judge that was dedicated to his community and went beyond the call of duty.
Other area individuals who were honored at the dinner included:
• Jimmy Zumwalt, of Belle, nominated by Maries County Presiding Commissioner Ray Schwartze and Maries County Clerk Rhonda Brewer;
• Ronnie Layman, of Crocker, nominated by Crocker Mayor James Morgan;
• Tim Berrier, of Waynesville, nominated by Waynesville Mayor Luge Hardman;
• Macie Kinsey, a Belle youth, nominated by Maries County Presiding Commissioner Ray Schwartze and Maries County Clerk Rhonda Brewer; and
• Dallas Ernst, a Waynesville youth, nominated by Waynesville Mayor Luge Hardman.
In addition, four MRPC staff members were honored with service awards in which they were recognized for five years of service with MRPC: Kris Copenhaver, Amy McMillen and Teri Smith, all of St. James, and Lisa Warnke, of Rolla.
Tammy Rigsby, of Newburg, senior housing coordinator for the Phelps County PHA, was honored as MRPC's Employee of the Year for 2012, a selection made by MRPC staff.
Rigsby has been a part of the MRPC family for 22 years. She coordinates the Housing Choice Voucher program for Dent, Gasconade and Maries counties.
She processes housing assistance payments to landlords, utility companies and other agencies and is known to carry out these tasks with the utmost of care and retains a positive, professional attitude.
Also, Meramec Regional Development Corp., the loan board that works in partnership with MRPC, presented its Lender of the Year award to Phelps County Bank. MRDC Chairman Tom Klebba presented the award to David Connell, of Phelps County Bank. This is the second time Phelps County Bank has received this award.


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Skip to comments.Right rips Rubio as Republican immigration votes slip away
Posted on 06/19/2013 5:35:59 PM PDT by Sub-Driver
Right rips Rubio as Republican immigration votes slip away
By Alexander Bolton - 06/19/13 08:05 PM ET
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is feeling the heat as potential GOP allies are now turning against his immigration reform bill.
Republican colleagues who were previously viewed as possible yes votes are keeping their distance from the 1,075-page measure.
On Wednesday, conservative activists ripped Rubio and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) both sponsors of the bipartisan immigration measure at a Capitol Hill rally.
The crowd, which was protesting the bills effort to put millions of illegal immigrants on a path to citizenship, booed at the mention of Rubios name during the six-hour event.
The rally underscored the mounting opposition to the immigration reform bill among both grassroots conservatives and GOP senators.
Potential Senate Republican backing for the legislation has begun to evaporate because of deep skepticism over its border-security and enforcement provisions.
In recent weeks, senators on both sides of the aisle speculated that 70 members of the upper chamber might vote for the Senate bill. That tally is now seen as unattainable.
Republican Sens. Mitch McConnell (Ky.), Rand Paul (Ky.) and John Cornyn (Texas), who were once viewed as possible supporters of the bill, are now expected to reject it.
Rubio, a possible 2016 presidential candidate, is seen as essential to passing the measure, but his involvement hasnt persuaded many of his GOP colleagues to back it.
Many GOP senators say they want far more border-security provisions in the bill.
Republican Sens. Bob Corker (Tenn.) and John Hoeven (N.D.) met Wednesday with members of the Gang of Eight, who drafted this bill, to negotiate a compromise on enforcement measures.
Corker told The Hill after the meeting that he and Hoeven thought there had been substantial breakthroughs with Democrats.
Corker and Hoeven declined to comment on the details of their proposal.
We had a very positive morning, and were all now talking within our caucuses, and Ill leave it at that, Corker said.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who has strongly defended the border-security language in the bill, said, Im not talking about any specifics.
Senate Republican sources briefed on the talks said Corker, Hoeven and the Gang of Eight are mulling an increase of 20,000 border patrol agents along the southern border. This would nearly double the number of agents along the U.S.-Mexico border.
But the Corker-Hoeven push for allocating thousands of additional border agents appeared to change few minds within the Republican conference.
I didnt see it move many people. Its not going to get me to vote for it, said a lawmaker who attended a meeting at which Republican senators discussed the proposal. Im not going to vote for an immigration bill that doesnt have a metric for securing the border.
There is now growing uncertainty about whether Rubio in the face of sustained criticism on the right will end up voting for the Gang of Eights bill.
Rubio has declined to outline his plans, unlike other members of the Gang of Eight, such as Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who have pledged their support.
Rubio ducked a question Sunday during an interview on ABCs This Week about whether he would vote for final passage.
I dont want to get involved in hypotheticals and ultimatums, he said.
He held to that line on Wednesday, telling a reporter, Ive already discussed it.
Rubio has said he wants to see what kind of improvements will be made to the legislation.
In response to the proposal to dramatically boost the number of border patrol agents, he said, Well have more to say about that later.
Rubio has endured a spate of critical press reports in recent days.
The New Yorkers Ryan Lizza reported that an unnamed Rubio aide told him in an interview that some American workers cant cut it as a rationale for giving visas to foreign workers.
Conservative press outlets who hold significant sway in presidential races have also criticized Rubio. For example, the right-leaning National Review has dubbed the senators efforts as Rubios folly.
Meanwhile, Rubio has distanced himself from other members of the Gang of Eight in recent weeks.
He has opted out of public appearances with them and did not join in Wednesdays meeting with Corker and Hoeven, according to a person who attended.
Rubios staff says he is still aggressively selling the bill to conservatives.
The Florida senator appeared Wednesday morning on a national radio talk show hosted by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and was scheduled to give a television interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Wednesday evening.
Rubio remains popular in his home state, giving him leeway to take a gamble on pushing landmark legislation.
There are also signs the prominence hes taken in pushing immigration reform is doing him some political harm.
A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday showed that Florida voters give him a 51 percent to 35 percent job approval rating.
Only 33 percent of all respondents said they approved of his handling of immigration reform, compared to 41 percent who disapproved.
Republicans, however, approved of his handling of immigration by a margin of 52 percent to 24 percent.
It appears increasingly unlikely the legislation will be able to meet the ambitious goal set by Schumer, McCain and Graham of passing with 70 votes.
Members of the Gang of Eight can now only be sure of 61 or 62 votes for final passage.
Obviously, we want to get as large a vote as possible. Were working on it. I think its clear theres like 61 or 62 votes. What we want to do is grow it as much as possible, McCain said.
McCain said he hoped the 70-vote goal was not overly ambitious.
The danger is that by setting such a lofty target at the outset, the bill may appear to be losing momentum if it barely clears the 60-vote threshold needed for passage.
Striking a deal with Corker and Hoeven on increasing border patrol agents by as many as 20,000 may not bring a flood of Republican votes, but at least it would secure the support of those two lawmakers.
That could, in turn, bring along Corkers home-state colleague, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), a pragmatic deal-maker who leans toward the center.
Senate aides say if the Gang of Eight agrees to Corkers and Hoevens demands to boost federal spending on border security, they will be expected to vote yes.
One critic of the bill called the Corker-Hoeven proposal a desperate Hail Mary to increase Republican support.
The Gang of Eight rejected a proposal by Cornyn to add 5,000 border patrol agents along the southern border during last months Judiciary Committee markup.
Conservatives in states with senators weakening on this abomination need to turn up the heat NOW! Push them into the solid "NO!" column.
I'd like to help but Juan McCain and his little buddy, the Flakester are beyond hope. They're both ready for the loony bin.
This Democrat voter drive bill MUST be defeated!
The good news is that Rubio has clearly shown us what he is so there is no doubt he should NEVER be considered for higher office.
And HOW did Arizona end up with this out and out CLOWN, with the idiot grin?
I know, I know....East Mesa voters.
But the rest of the State can't be that far gone...whatta mistake
"Senate Republican sources briefed on the talks said Corker, Hoeven and the Gang of Eight are mulling an increase of 20,000 border patrol agents along the southern border. This would nearly double the number of agents along the U.S.-Mexico border. "
Oh spare me. More bullshit window dressing on this pig of a bill. The agents will never be hired.
Rubios boat sprang a leak and there's no land for miles. I hope he is not re-elected.
The wetback amnesty bill's future....and Rubio's career prospects (as a Republican,at least).
It's quite clear that Amnesty was the only reason he ran for office.
So now he's prey, and vulnerable to being Primaried.
West is talking about it and that's really great, but I suspect there are others who can displace Mr. Rubio.
Either way, he's on his way to political oblivion.
"Sink it.............."
Could this be Rubios plan all along.
He was pushing the crap in the bill out in the open. Nothing
better than letting the media use a republican to lead the
charge in exposing it. Tact? Maybe.
And the "8" ball says, "Concentrate and ask again"
Damn it!!!
Rubio as president? No. Primary him out of the senate. We do not need this intern to the POS McCain anywhere near Washington.
What is wrong with congress?
Like father, like son. Jake wasn't all that bright either. He pimped the 86 cents a pack tax on Arizona smokers. I imagine he would have gone after a big tax on coffee and Coca Cola if he had stayed around a little longer. And yes about those East Mesa voters.
Good news! Keep up the pressure people!
Absolutely not.
We've got to stop kidding ourselves about these guys.
I can't believe so many Tea Party groups went to bat for this guy during his Senate campaign... the political equivalent of buying a lemon, I guess.
Yes, keep up the pressure. This is too important to not
be involved. Instant citizenship/instant benefits.
Stop this bill/then we can primary the ones who betray us.
Parliment of WHORES.
So may could not stand Charlie Crist.
Rubio betrayed many here in Florida.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.


text:
sperm velocity
Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted)
Tag archives for sperm velocity
tags: evolution, evolutionary biology, evolutionary ecology, plumage color,carotenoid-based colour, carotenoids, lipid peroxidation, oxidative stress, sperm motility, sperm quality, sperm velocity, birds, ornithology, Great Tit, Parus major, researchblogging.org,peer-reviewed research, peer-reviewed paper Great Tit, Parus major. Image: Luc Viatour, Creative Commons/Wikipedia [larger view] In some species of birds, males are more brightly colored than females. This phenomenon…


text: I have a Rails app with two parts. (1) A back end that is accessed from a web browser, and (2) a front end that is accessed by a wireless, mobile PC. The app works perfectly on the other servers I've tested it in. And also, the back end works fine under LiteSpeed. However, when I try to connect with the handheld, I get this message: "Status 400: Unexpected request body 592 bytes for request: <clipped...>" The handheld communicates with the server by sending XML in the request body, and it looks to me like the LiteSpeed server is rejecting the request because it recognizes it as having and invalid body (the XML). I have turned off everything I can find regarding request filtering. Any suggestions? Jon


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LAS VEGAS - IBM announced the opening of its first BlueMix Garage, a shop in San Francisco that will allow cloud application developers to work with IBM professionals.
The first BlueMix Garage is already taking on projects and IBM expects it to be fully up and running by June. The initial location is inside Galvanize, an entrepreneurial campus that predicts it will house 200 startups by the end of 2014.
"I call it a knowledge base," Steve Robinson, general manager of Cloud Platform Services at IBM, said during a press conference. He called the Garage a place that will "actually allow the customer to walk out the door with a working app."
To go with its new physical location, BlueMix gained more than 30 new cloud services up around speeding time to market, data and analytics, and mobility. Specific targets for expanded service include cloud integration, Internet of Things, and end-to-end capabilities geared toward DevOps.
BlueMix is an open-standards, cloud-based platform for building, managing and running applications for web, mobile, and big data. IBM's PaaS handles Java, mobile back end development, application monitoring. In addition to IBM's cloud portfolio, BlueMix also makes available partner and third-party services.


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How many H1Bs will replace them?
I thought that they still relocating entire offices to third world countries, and staffing them with people making $3 an hour to do your tech support calls. You can't get H1B's for that cheap!
What... you still want tech support that can actually understand English and isn't just navigating through a troubleshooting flow chart to "fix" your problem? You better pony up for the Gold level Enterprise support package for $$$$$$ a month.
As for the English speaking, all you have to do is explain to them that you have a hearing problem and need to speak with someone who is accent free in English. They will bend over backwards to get you to a native English speaker (quasi Americans with disabilities act and all).
Now the downside to this is more time on hold. The upside- beside understanding what they are saying- is that the native English speaker will likely by a higher level tech who can go outside the chart without delving into "please insert the restore CD into the computer" or at least be able to warn about backups first. but there is no guarantee. Well, I guess now there is no restore CD, press key combination and select restore?
Or even better just ask around and find which local shop has a good rep and buy from them! I never understood somebody trying to save $20 by buying an HP or Dell "special" only to end up pulling their hair out because the only "support" if a third tier Indian reading from a cue card whose answer to everything is reboot or wipe. you buy from bob's shop down the street and then you can just walk in and say "Hey Bob I have a problem!" and since we small shops live and die by word of mouth? We actually CARE whe
Being an Indian, I understand the frustration when support goes out to some dude in India who barely speaks English. I have been there myself, not only that, I have been asked how I made it to Canada.
Nonetheless, those that do make the H1B cut are not the same that answer those phone calls. H1B may be fresh grads, however most have engineering degrees, at the start of which they had to compete against 500,000 applicants for a under 10000 seats. Further, seats in Computer engineering which are valued more so than others are probably around 1000.
Furthermore, there is a contrast in fee, in US, a student might have to bail out if he cannot afford the education, so not only do you have to be smart, you have to be rich, contrasting that to peanuts, the competition gets very very tough back in India.
So joke all you want, those that do make it to US are rather smart and hard working.
I'm not saying they are not exploited, they are. The solution is simple, the employer has to prove, H1B is needed as local talent cannot be found, if thats the case, do not tie H1B to an employer, let the employee roam free. You will see a drastic cut in H1B and abuse of new immigrants.
The problem isn't Hindi-speakers, it is the US H-1B system that may not have a lot of people totally, but in the relatively narrow market of development and IT, it severely destroys wages.
The threat of a H-1B is like one not seen in any other industry. If you are a lawyer, accountant, or in any other profession, your boss can't threaten (and follow through) with being fired and replaced with someone who works for $16,000 a year, has a full CCIE or MCSE. In
It is the abuse of H-1Bs, and the fact that they seem to be treated by management as the emissaries of $DEITY, the solution for all problems.
As for proving H-1Bs are needed, that is trivially easy to abuse. I've seen places have a "secret requirement" for jobs, where -nobody- fits the requirement, so they get their minimum wage worker. I personally have had to train a H-1B replacement whose only qualification over me was the fact that he was a bargain basement worker, and that if he didn't toe the line 24/7/365, he would be sent back to Mumbai almost immediately.
Another excuse for H-1Bs I've personally seen were job reqs that had three pages of listings. Again, nobody had 12 years of Windows Server 2012, 25 years of OS X, and so on. Again, nobody locally meets those reqs, so the company hits Tata or Infosys and lo and behold, they get a H-1B for that developer position who is willing to work obscene hours for peanuts.
Don't take it personally. It isn't the H-1B who is trying to make life better for themselves. It is the fscked US system and the managers who abuse the process, begging politicians to open the floodgates and entirely destroy work segments, similar to how meat packing and textiles were destroyed as blue collar work.
It is so common, it is obscene. I have seen perfectly competant developer groups tossed and all coding offshored. The result was broken stuff that ended up requiring more money and man-hours to get working than it would have cost in paying some people decent salaries.
So joke all you want, those that do make it to US are rather smart and hard working.
sorry, not my experience at all (20+ years in the bay area and I have tons of experience with indians). they THINK they are good, but the code quality, design quality and attention to detail is far below par.
I hate saying that. I really do, but it tends to be true. indians study by memorizing and they tend to be great at that; but when it comes to thinking things thru, they fall down. the education system encourages rote memorization.
The annual number of H1B visas issued 85,000.
However, the number of H1B visas working in the USA is closer to 750,000 today.
(it was about 650,000 in 2009.
http://cis.org/estimating-h1b-... [cis.org])
There are roughly five million STEM jobs including immigrant labor and native born labor.
So about 1/8 of all these jobs are taken by H1B visas.
Meanwhile, there are almost double the number of native born with STEM degrees.
There is not a shortage of workers. There is a shortage of workers willing to work for low wages.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-G... [breitbart.com]
It's not so much the low wages but being in-servitude. Employers love having workers who will do anything they're asked and that they don't have to worry about them complaining about things like working conditions or going to work somewhere better.
" There is a shortage of workers willing to work for low wages."
which means they should paid more oh, right. Corporation get to maneuver around the free market when it suits them.
How about outsourced people with great English skills, technical knowledge and still being paid around 3 bucks an hour?
Welcome to Romania.
They used to make really cool, quality stuff (Agilent Technologies anyone?) Now they're reduced to selling disposable printers and ink that costs more than vintage Dom. Gee thanks, Carly.
All of my calculators used to be HP, all of my bench equipment was HP or Tektronix. But these days, I no longer own an ink-jet printer, so I don't buy printer ink, so HP has nothing for me.
There are many brands that no longer represent their heritage: Philips, Zenith, Bell Labs, Kodak...
It's sad, but it's life, HP hasen't been a "high tech" company foe several years, they have been a "re-brander" of Chinese consumer products.
All of my calculators used to be HP
Mine still are. I use an HP48gx, and run HP48gx emulators on my Mac and my iThings when my real 48gx isn't within easy reach.
Ironically all of those companies moved plants over seas. Now the owners of the plants have displaced them with copies of the products that made the original companies big. Who needs high priced suits in New York or San Josey? That is why there is so much crying about patent infringement. Once the patents are up, the people you used to bypass giving someone a living wage take over and kick you out.
My HP-97 is still running like a champ.
in fact, even HP can't do a world class calculator anymore. for that, take a bullshit business grade HP calc and reload opensource firmware on it!
http://commerce.hpcalc.org/34s... [hpcalc.org]
I bought a vinyl overlay, a new hp30b and was able to install new firmware, making it the calc that hp can't seem to do on their own, anymore.
when USERS can create calculator firmware that blows away what the vendor, HP, can do, HP has clearly jumped the shark.
There are many brands that no longer represent their heritage: Philips, Zenith, Bell Labs, Kodak...
Philips is still a good, solid brand. The others are HORRIFIC examples.
Kodak is a failed company, who sold their brand in the liquidation sale, to cheap Chinese crap manufacturers.
Zenith failed miserably in the 90s, and was bought out by LG, who make a few products with the Zenith name on them. Hasn't turned to shoveling crap like Kodak and Polaroid, but basically non-existent.
Bell Labs is a sad story, too.
but: the talent that made HP has long ago left!
no one I know aspires to work for HP anymore. its not a choice place of work anymore.
not sure what quality of person still works there. like SGI, it was once a giant and the talent pool was first-class; but like SGI, there's no talent left and its a shell of what it once was.
(funny that they both used to be big unix workstation companies, too)
Agilent still makes cool, quality stuff as far as I know. Expensive as always, though. The modern stuff running linux or windows doesn't feel quite the same as old, hefty CRT stuff... which is all I can afford anyway, but still looks to be built well.
I think of them as HP, and "HP" as the shitty consumer products division that it fled from.
Agilent still makes cool, quality stuff as far as I know. Expensive as always, though. The modern stuff running linux or windows doesn't feel quite the same as old, hefty CRT stuff... which is all I can afford anyway, but still looks to be built well.
The low-end Agilent 2000 series scopes are actually quite affordable, and they give a *lot* for the price. Plus, they're upgradable in every way (except 2/4 channels) so you start with something basic and upgrade as needed.
If you can afford it, the 3000 series
Hewlett-Packard . . . ? A company built up by great engineers, run down by bad MBAs . . .
and they are also reduced to producing shit for handheld dmm's:
http://www.eevblog.com/forum/t... [eevblog.com]
http://www.eevblog.com/forum/t... [eevblog.com]
agilent used to be good. for high end gear, they probably still are; but it seems they have fallen down quite a bit over the years.
HP - they are useless, now. when they were more than a printer-ink company, they were a force to be reckoned with. now, they are a printer-ink and pc whore.
how the mighty have fallen
No longer Agilent anymore since the life sciences division is the big money maker and they spun out the true HP T&M group with the stupid name of Keysight. I dream of HP going bankrupt soon and Keysight buying back their rightful name at auction for a pittance.
I've been waiting for ink prices to follow MP3 players, VCR's, DVD's etc in the price drop. The funny thing is this hasn't happened, so the expectation is not met leaving a market vacuum the same way physical CD's have dried up due to inflated prices. How is the sound track of music for a DVD more expensive to produce and distribute than the DVD?.
The high price for ink is creating alternatives to printing. This is being filled by other companies, and alternatives to hard copy.
Case in point. I have an HP
got rid of ALL the employees!
I suggest they start at the top!
1. Build a product people want to buy. Do not shit on your customers. (HP is now failing here)
2. Support your products to a reasonable degree. (HP is failing here too)
3. Treat employees like valued portion of the business. (Huge HP failure here)
There you have it. The SROP (standard republican operating procedure) is now being followed at HP. HP is on a death spiral into garbage land. A few key wealthy republicans are profiting massively, and working people are getting screwed.
They needed to give each other the money they made selling off DEC IP to each others future patent troll companies before the left.
1) Direct the company to buy IP from another company.
2) Sell the IP off to patent trolls.
3) Leave with a golden parachute to run the patent troll company.
4) Watch the people left behind loose their jobs.
Its funny - the CEO at most corps are one of the few employees with an empoyment contract.
More info here: https://www.adbusters.org/
It proves that if you can give a corporation tax breaks and throw off the shackles of regulation, they will do better and want to hire more people. Oh...wait.
They could totally turn themselves around if they offered exactly what just about everybody wants..
A ROCK SOLID home multifunction office machine. Rock Solid meaning slick bomb-proof drivers as well as a machine that didn't crap out on a black and white report because the yellow ink was low. This machine would also need a paper feed that didn't require the moon to be in proper alignment during a squirrel sacrifice in order to feed mostly whatever you put it in.
Then, offer them like cell
Then, offer them like cell phones. Charge less up front but only a bit less. Quit selling junk and hoping to cheat everybody on ink. Let me sign up for a quality service and ink renewal plan that works like a cheaper version of a smart phone. Make it as trouble free and pain free as your average smart phone. I'll sign up tomorrow.
Yes, just like cell phones. You only get to print 1000 sheets of paper on your current plan and it cost an extra $5 per page printed above that.
And I could go on, but I think everyone gets the point.
> Rock Solid meaning slick bomb-proof drivers as well as a machine that didn't crap out
I'm afraid HP desktops took on the "planned obsolescence" model around the time they bought Compaq. They've done the same for personal color printers, which are _much_ more expensive if you try to make them robust. Instead they make their money on the ink, and they make their deesktop and laptop money on the high turnover.
Unfortunately, similar attitudes seem to have infested their servers, which are no longer the reli
please name 2 environments that actually benefited from using Infiniband
HPC clusters and cloud providers. Several financial exchanges (CME, NASDAQ) appear to be in the process of adopting Infiniband, but every reference I see sounds like a press releases from Mellanox and not yet a demonstrable application.
A ROCK SOLID home multifunction office machine. Rock Solid meaning slick bomb-proof drivers as well as a machine that didn't crap out on a black and white report because the yellow ink was low.
Ok, so current HP cheapo multifunction machines are not garbage at all. Case in point: HP 3070A. Does not crap out on B/W report because the yellow ink was low. Super easy to use. No bugs either on computer driver side or printer firmware. Wireless printing and scanning work flawlessly. You can even choose the scan function on the printer, a list of hostnames pops up on the printer LCD, you select one and press OK, after scanning your My Documents on your computer pops open automatically with the document i
sadly, this is the standard operating procedure for the bay area, at least. it seems every local company is filled with immigrants and to find a local walking in the hallway is a rare sight.
you know the drill and the standard term for it: race to the bottom.
HP is no different from all the rest. respect for employees is non-existent and employees are expected to 'pay' the price for any bad performance of the company.
in fact, standard operating procedure for the bay area is not to even hire fulltime people
More head-wobblers. Just what people need.
Just in case other people notice, the SSL certificate for the Slashdot login page expired today.
It sure did. Working on getting it fixed now. Apologies if it inconvenienced you!
HP is screwed up. Who actually likes their products anymore that has a clue? Even their printers are nothing special anymore. That company has no market. The only time I see HP stuff as at big box stores where they're competing for the least informed computer purchases.
Does the smart money buy HP? When was the last time it did?... Exactly. HP is a dying company.
Current management needs to get the axe and the company needs to be restructured there after.
IBM is nothing to brag about either!
they are 90% offshore staffed. if you are an american, do not even bother applying for a job at ibm anymore.
I would not touch IBM shit today with a 10 foot pole.
Unless you were comparing ancient P-class HP blades to more recent IBM blades, "no contest" and "junk" are both complete and utter BS. I've also managed a variety of blades and rackmount servers for 10+ years and they're on par with each other, each having both advantages and disadvantages. I actually prefer the HP blades (C-class), especially as of Gen8. The old P-class blades were an interesting attempt but not quite there yet. HP discontinuing the P-class and superseding them with the C-class was the
That company has no market. The only time I see HP stuff as at big box stores where they're competing for the least informed computer purchases.
Does the smart money buy HP?
HP still has a market in the enterprise space. They're probably still at the top of the heap in mid-range laser printers, and their servers have certainly been far more reliable than Dell's. Their switches are decent, even though Cisco is eating everyone's lunch.
You're talking about the consumer space, which is low-margin crapola, they'
Why would I buy HP stuff in the enterprise space when there are dozen companies that do it better, offer better support, and generally give their customers less grief?
What does HP actually do well anymore?
You say their laser printers are good? Are they great though? Because honestly, there is a lot of competition there and I'd avoid HP on principle at this point.
However, their laptops look like cheap knockoffs of MacBooks.
The HP Envy machines do look like MacBook Air. Others? No. The common EliteBook, ProBook, and the consumer 6xx/2xx or Pavilion line do not look like MacBooks. They are your basic sleek black machine.
MBA1: We should fire all the workers, look how much money we would save. MBA2: Brilliant!!
She can't outsource American citizens and make things appear better; that is, other than deporting a bunch of people... which was probably in her campaign platform. (No, I'm not saying that would help the country but it would be consistent reasoning.)
So... did HP rob the pensions yet?
How can anybody let her get away saying such extreme BS like that? Corporations and capitalists LOVE to fire employees. That is point of the game; to pay as little as possible and get as much for the shareholders as p
As others have commented, HP used to be a great company. I have a stack of what used to be very expensive electronics test equipment in my home lab, all of it with an HP label, except for a Tektronix scope. The equipment I have is between 20 and 50 (!!) years old but it works flawlessly and accurately.
HP started Silicon Valley.
But Hewlett and Packard died and the bean counters took over.
HP is the poster child for how greed can completely destroy a company. Simple case in point, an "honest broker" would
I discovered the big problem in American business today: Executives can make big money by running a company aground. Enough money so that their grandchildren won't have to work.
Greenspan thought companies would self regulate. His mistake was subtle: He assumed that the leadership of the company needed the company to be healthy in order for the executives to prosper. But a new pattern emerged: executives could engage in behavior which could yield a multiple-lifetime supply of wealth by engaging in practices which ultimately destroyed the company.
And that's what happened to the financial sector in the US. And doubtless other companies which yield this particular prize.
I don't know what the common underlying reason is but this is the common symptom - being able to make the Big Score by running a company aground.
The entire premise of this post is built on stupidity escalation.
Corporations often pass off short-term financial hardship (mainly of the cash flow variety) as a legitimate reason to prune staff—generally fooling no-one, yet successfully biding time in the PR war saying nothing much at all until some new outrage of the moment shifts the spotlight to a different circus ring. Among the best-paid professionals in our society are the engineers of running issues aground against the acidic shoals of going n
It's kind of embarrassing how loudly I lol'd when I read that line.
It might have worked in the past, but now the mediocre crapware market for everything is dominated by Chinese companies.
Executive ability is deciding quickly and getting somebody else to do the work. -- John G. Pollard


text:
The future is bleak for struggling sports car maker Lotus, according to leaked financial documents
The scale of the problems facing Lotus Cars was laid bare this week, with the latest information showing that its Malaysian owner is facing legal action from a number of suppliers over non-payment of debts - said to total ?23m ($45m) - and has asked Britain's Inland Revenue to delay tax payments.
DRB-Hicom, the owner of the Norfolk sports car maker, was not available for comment, but sources close to the company said many of the outstanding issues - including payments to suppliers - relate to the previous management. They added that in some cases DRB-Hicom is challenging some of the arrangements with suppliers over previous contracts where there are concerns over quality control. But they also repeated that DRB remains committed to the plant at Hethel, its workforce and turning Lotus into a self-reliant and global brand.
A final plan to make Lotus self-sufficient should be ready soon following due diligence work being carried out by consultants Ernst & Young and Rothschild.
However, the enormity of the clean-up operation facing Aslam Farikullah, the new Lotus chief operating officer, is clear. According to internal financial results for August, the company owes suppliers up to ?23m at 90 days overdue, and a further ?7m between 30 and 90 days. Suppliers include ARM, Logica and OCS. One person close to the group said: "One petition has already been lodged with the company, and several others are outstanding. But the danger is that someone may sue for winding-up." Losses, after exceptional items, interest and tax, for the past five months to August are shown to be running at ?23.6m.
The document states: "Cash flow: Critical. Overhead base is massively too high for current business, payroll bill for business is too high. Salaries top-end loaded." It also states that there was "insufficient inflow to meet this month's [September] supplier payments and payroll" and that "NO business decision can sustain its own costs or contribute towards group costs. Revenue = ?45m, overheads = ?35m, Cost of sale = ?33m - Loss = ?23m."
DRB-Hicom, one of Malaysia's biggest industrial companies, acquired Lotus following its takeover this year of Proton, another Malaysia company. But after a financial investigation of Lotus, DRB-Hicom sacked the chief executive, Dany Bahar, in June for alleged gross misconduct. Bahar, and the heads of legal and human resources, are suing DRB for wrongful dismissal and other matters.
DRB brought the British-trained engineer Farikullah to turn Lotus back to health. The Government has been supportive of the new owners with Business Secretary Vince Cable attending the launch of the Lotus shop in Regent Street. Lotus was due to receive a 10m grant.
DRB has claimed that 100m of its money has been invested in Lotus since taking over. However, the situation is made all the more delicate because of the way the previous owners had a back-to-back guarantee with the banks based on its cash. Proton had agreed a ?270m loan with a syndicate of six banks to provide a massive expansion programme. Some ?200m of the loan had been drawn down by the previous management, but a DRB spokesman said the new owners had hoped the rest of the money agreed with Lotus 18 months ago would soon be released.
The syndicate had lent the money to Lotus on the basis of a back-to-back guarantee with Proton, which is said to have cash of $400m (?255m). But now it is this guarantee that is said to be troublesome because it could have a domino effect on DRB's own debts.
Production of new Lotus cars has also been fraught with difficulties. According to the document, current and continued engineering delays to the Exige, its latest model, is now "severely impacting the whole business", while the new Esprit has either been delayed or cancelled.


text:
Anne Lovelace
|Boise, Idaho
|High School:
|Boise High School
Collegiate Bests
1000m 3:04.77
3000m 10:13.55
3000m Steeple 10:54.87
High School Bests
800m 2:19
Mile 5:07
3200m 11:09
2k Steeple 7:41
2008-2009: Consistently a top-five runner during the cross country season, including at Heps and ECACs…Indoors ran personal best in 3k at BU Terrier Invitational…Outdoors made top-10 all-time list in 3k steeple.
High School: Captain of the Boise High Track and Field team in 2008...Seven times a top-six finisher at the Idaho State Track meet...Second in the 3200m in 2007...Third place in the 1600m in 2006...Four-time varsity letter winner in track.
Personal: Pierson College.


text:
The mercurial man from Portugal, Jose Mourinho - known in the media, somewhat affectionately, as 'The Special One' - has always been somewhat of a journeyman.
To predict his meteoric rise to the top, from Sir Bobby Robson's 'translator' - still his nickname amongst the Catalan faithful - at Barcelona to footballing giant at the head of the mighty Real Madrid, one would need a touch of Jose's confidence.
From Porto to Real Madrid, via Chelsea and Inter Milan, Mourinho's two defining characteristics have been arrogance and an unshakeable will to win. It was once said of Thierry Henry that you can be cocky if you have the goods to back up the talk. The very best in sport have always been a self-confident bunch, and much like Muhammed Ali, Jose announced to the world that he would become 'The Greatest'.
Yet, despite league titles in four of the most competitive leagues in the world, and a clutch of European trophies, talk inevitably turns to the future. Jose's longstanding friendship with Sir Alex Ferguson has had him touted as the next Manchester United manager. While it is no secret that Chelsea and the blue half Manchester also admire Mourinho's credentials, many would suggest that either club would be a step down from the heights of Madrid.
No one would doubt that Mourinho's future lies in club football, but what will become of his international career?
A stint managing Portugal would be the obvious choice, but what about Jose's adopted nation, England?
The love affair between the Special One and the English media was not always so rosy. Many will remember the headlines regarding Mourinho and Chelsea's allegations against Frank Rijkaard and the media were not quick to warm to Jose's unique brand of self-promotion and confidence. A telling sign of this came when mentor and friend Ferguson suggested that Mourinho enjoyed the pre-match mind games.
Jose, to the media and football fans, was then and remains a Marmite figure: you either love or loathe him. Thankfully, the juxtaposition of the British self-effacing character and Jose's brash arrogance intrigued pundits and fans alike. Mourinho is what we, the British public, wish we could be. In England, Jose is the pantomime villain and the reluctant hero all at once.
And it is for these reasons that in Russia 2018, Mourinho could lead an England side to his special brand of glory.
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text:
SelectScience Members can achieve membership status by writing product reviews. This helps other members to better understand the Reviewer's experience and expertise.
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"Software is unstable and sometimes hangs with several unresolved bugs. Edwards Turbo pump broke down after half a year. Replaced under warranty but there was a long downtime due to slow customer support of Agilent in South America. Now after one and a half year of operation, the spray chamber cooling failed. We also had a leak in the argon tubing inside of the instrument without reason. Would be a very good instrument if the manufacturer would improve material, software and (outside US) support quality."


text:
(Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Ryan Zimmerman's line drive to right-center kept going — and going and going — until it landed in the first row, highlighting another big Fourth of July for the resurgent third baseman and as the NL East-leading Washington Nationals beat the San Francisco Giants 9-4 Wednesday.
Zimmerman missed another home run by inches — he had to settle for an RBI double — on a humid day when the ball carried well at Nationals Park. He is 10 for 20 with four homers and 13 RBIs in six Independence Day games.
Undeterred by an 11:08 a.m. holiday start time that followed a late-finishing game, Washington rallied from an early deficit to move 15 games above .500, matching its season-high.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.