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Fate of live dealers hinges on state House
The quest to bring live table games to Harrah's Cherokee Casino faces a final political hurdle.
Both the Governor and N.C. Senate have given live table games their blessing, with the N.C. House of Representatives now the lone hold-out.
Harrah's Casino is limited to video-based gambling only. Adding live table games like roulette and poker would attract a new clientele of player, and in turn more money and jobs flowing through the entire region, according to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
"We aren't going to see a big influx of industry coming in to Western North Carolina, so we have to do what we can to ensure we have economic development," said Rep. Roger West, R-Marble. West sees the casino, which could employ more than 2,000 if it gets live dealers, as a key economic pillar that spins off in the region.
Whether the Eastern Band has the requisite votes to get the measure passed is unclear at the moment, however. But West is hopeful.
"I think the votes are there. If they aren't, it is just a matter of getting them," said West, who represents Macon, Clay, Graham and Cherokee counties.
Related Items
However, many of the House legislators who are opposing live dealers cite moral and religious grounds, and convincing them to relinquish their convictions in the name of economic development might not be easy.
"My opposition stems from my longstanding belief that state sanctioned gambling has a corrosive effect on our society," said Rep. Ray Rapp, D-Mars Hill.
Rep. Phil Haire, D-Sylva, said the good the casino has done in the region outweighs any negatives.
"I remember the days before they had Harrah's — it has brought a whole lot of prosperity to the Eastern Band," Haire said.
Haire said the jobs provided by Harrah's are significant, not only the salaries but the health insurance. And Haire personally enjoys going to the concerts at Harrah's major performance venue. He saw Diana Ross recently, and is headed to see Natalie Cole this weekend.
Haire hopes Cherokee's casino operation won't be held hostage to personal ideology.
"I think some people want to put a moral tag on it, but nobody makes you go to Cherokee to gamble. It is all voluntary," Haire said.
Rapp was willing to go along with live table games for the existing casino campus, since gambling was already going on there. But Rapp is not comfortable with the prospect of Cherokee opening more casinos in the region on their land holdings.
The deal initially inked with the governor would have permitted Cherokee to open more casinos anywhere on land holdings it owned currently.
However, in an attempt to assuage legislators uncomfortable with expansion of gambling onto some of Cherokee's more recently acquired holdings, new language was added. The new language limits the Eastern Band to a max of four more casinos, and they can only be built on land under the tribe's domain as of 1988 — making newer land acquisitions off the table.
Live table games passed the senate last week by 33 to 14. All four state senators from the mountains voted for it: Sen. Jim Davis, R-Franklin; Sen. Ralph Hise, R-Spruce Pine; Sen. Tom Apadoca, R-Hendersonville; and Martin Nesbitt, D-Buncombe.
The tribe has hired lobbyist Steve Metcalf, a former legislator from Asheville, to shepherd live table games through the General Assembly. Metcalf declined to comment for this article.
A vote could come as early as next week. If it doesn't come, it could be a bad sign.
"You never go to a vote unless you have the votes," West said.
The General Assembly will only be in session for about six weeks.
Education fight resolved
It took years of lobbying and negotiations for the tribe to reach where it is now. In an historic agreement signed with Gov. Bev Perdue last November, the tribe agreed to give up a cut of its revenue from the new table games — on a sliding scale starting at 4 percent and maxing out at 8 percent over the next 30 years. In exchange, the state would grant live dealers and a guarantee that no other casinos would be allowed to encroach on its core territory, namely anywhere west of Interstate 26.
While Perdue and Republican leaders in the General Assembly had agreed in theory to live dealers last fall, they had locked horns on a seemingly obscure sticking point. Perdue wanted the state's cut of casino revenue to go directly to schools, bypassing the General Assembly. That way, lawmakers couldn't be tempted to tap the money for other uses.
The Republican leaders, however, said casino revenue couldn't legally be put in a lockbox and earmarked for future years. One set of lawmakers today can't impose mandates on how future lawmakers can spend money.
A compromise was reached that places the money in a special "Indian Gaming Education Revenue Fund." The General Assembly can tap the fund at will — so it does put legislators hand in the till — but they have to hold a special vote to get money out. Otherwise, the money will be disbursed quarterly to school systems across the state based on their student body population, and can only be spent on "classroom teachers, teacher assistants, classroom materials or supplies, or textbooks."


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NOME, Alaska (AP) — A rare blue-colored red king crab was part of a fisherman's catch earlier this month in Nome, Alaska.
KNOM reports (https://is.gd/NQ1wSP) Frank McFarland found the blue crab in his pot when fishing on July Fourth off Nome. The blue crab is being kept alive at the Norton Sound Seafood Center until McFarland can have it mounted.
The rare crab has become a rock star of sorts, with people showing up at the center to have their photos taken with it.
Scott Kent, with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Nome, says he has no idea why the red king crab is blue, but suspects it's just a mutation.
Kent says a blue crab "turns up once in a blue moon."

subset: commoncrawl


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WATCH: James Franco Drops New Art Video For Justin Bieber's 'Boyfriend'
Polyglot actor-cum-performance artist James Franco has struck again, releasing yet another of his multitudinous side art projects unto the world for dissection and intense theoretical analysis, and — nah, just kidding! Here's a video of Franco lip-synching to Justin Bieber's "Boyfriend" in full Biebs gear, mop top and pubescent cherub-grin and all, as he and Spring Breakers co-star Ashley Benson writhe around in a brunette wig like they're in the world's worst American Apparel ad.
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Join us for a weekend of vinyl worship: WFMU's 2014 Record Fair throws down at the Armory at Lexington and 26th St (68 Lexington Ave) in Manhattan THIS Friday, Saturday, and Sunday!
Friday, May 30th
- Early Admission 4-7pm ($25, with unlimited re-entry all weekend)
- Regular Admission 7-10pm ($7)
Saturday, May 31st: 10am - 7pm ($7)
Sunday, June 1st: 10am - 7pm ($7)
Just print or show this coupon at the door to get $2 off admission.
- Dan Melchior (Sat 3:30pm)
- The Flatmates (Sat 4:30pm)
- Laura Cantrell (Sun 2pm)
- Ubu Sings Ubu Band (Sun 5pm)
- Michael Shelley (Sat 11am-1pm)
- Fool's Paradise with Rex (Sat 1-3pm)
- Cherry Blossom Clinic with Terre T (Sat 3-6pm)
LIVE VIDEO (watch Record Fair madness on our Ustream feed)
- Clay Pigeon of the Dusty Show interviews revelers at the Fair (Sat 1pm & 6pm, Sun 1pm & 6pm)
- Dan Melchior and The Flatmates perform live (Sat 3:30pm)
- Live set by Laura Cantrell (Sun 2pm)
- Ubu Sings Ubu Band performance (Sun 5pm)
FOOD & DRINK (all beer sales benefit WFMU)
- Two Boots Pizza
- Dub Pies
- Sierra Nevada
- Brooklyn Brewery
See you at the Fair!


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Dwayne Ferguson an African American community activist and vehement anti-gun campaigner who worked tirelessly for New York's gun grabbing SAFE Act was arrested last week for carrying a concealed weapon into a grade school. He said he "forgot" he had the gun on him and wants to be given a pass on the violation.
Last week, Ferguson, the leader of the extremist anti-gun group MAD DADS, was the cause of a lockdown of Harvey Austin Elementary, in Buffalo, New York. Police responded to a call about a man with a gun on school grounds with their search ending when they found Ferguson's handgun.
The activist, who helps run an after-school program, was arrested and charged with two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, including having a loaded weapon on school grounds–charges now enhanced by the anti-gun SAFE Act. He could be sentenced to up to four years in prison for the violation.
He pleaded not guilty to the crime saying he should be given a pass because he merely "forgot" that he had his pistol on him and since he has a legal concealed carry permit he thinks he should be let off the hook.
But this isn't the rule he fought so hard to enact. Thanks in part to his own efforts, it is currently illegal to bring a gun into a school unless you are an on-duty policeman. Period. There are no other exceptions.
Naturally, Ferguson's anti-gun pals are crying to have him released from his crime. Why, he should be let go because, heck, he means well, dang it!
Take for instance, the pleads from Reverend James E. Giles in the pages of the Buffalo News.
"I'm sure Dwayne went into the school not thinking he had the gun on him," said Rev. James E. Giles, a friend of Ferguson and president of Back to Basics Outreach Ministries. "We know this for a fact, that he called out to a Buffalo police lieutenant asking why the school was in lockdown, and that they were looking for a man with a gun.
"Dwayne's reaction was to get his kids – he had about 50 of them – and make sure they were safe," Giles explained. "He led them into the cafeteria and closed the doors."
Yeah. Ferguson was protecting the kids… from himself? He was the one with the evil, evil gun, after all.
Of course, the whole thing of the matter is that anti-gun extremists don't care about the individual and his well-meaning ideas. Guns are evil and anyone that has one is instantly assumed to be a murderous criminal. Ah, but when it's one of their own, why the rules should be set aside because, gosh darn it, they are the good guys.
The Rev. Giles isn't the only hypocrite coming to the aide of this criminal. George Johnson, president of Buffalo United Front, dismissed the whole thing saying that "mental lapses happen" and that Ferguson should be let off because, "things happen."
Now, as a supporter of the Second Amendment, I see absolutely no reason why a law-abiding citizen shouldn't be allowed to carry his legally carried weapon into a school. In fact, I encourage it to serve as a way to prevent mass shootings in areas that are usually deemed an absurd "gun free zone" where murderers can roam hallways killing indiscriminately and without worry of being opposed.
Further, I am sure that Ferguson did nothing wrong in essence. However, he did violate ethics and morals, not to mention hypocritically violating the very law he pushed so hard to have enacted. By being an anti-gun activist who carries a gun is hypocrisy in and of itself.
The full weight of the law should come down on this creep's head. If he is cut a break even in the smallest of ways, it will prove that the "law" is not the rule. It will show that anti-gun nuts will be given breaks while Second Amendment supporters will be unfairly prosecuted.
Dwayne Ferguson must be sentenced to the maximum jail time… or the law should be vacated for everyone.


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Polysilicon in oversupply until 2018 but does high quality polysilicon (Poly-Si) supply remain tight?
Polysilicon spot prices easing after a 10 GW (GigaWatt) solar module inventory build up and may fall below long-term contract prices in 2011.
Solar Polysilicon Oversupply until 2013? has been a popular post since last year as polysilicon spot prices jumped in response to photovoltaic (PV) module demand driven by planned or expected Feed-in Tariff reductions and maybe even the original 2010 expiration of the US Treasury Grant Program. However, the polysilicon supply demand forecast dating from July 2009 is begging for a refresh.
At the Jefferies 11th Global Clean Technology Conference, OCI Company Ltd. (SEO:010060) presented the Global Poly-Si Demand Supply slide shown above reconciling overall polysilicon oversupply with elevated spot prices. OCI said demand for high quality polysilicon, 9N (nine nines) purity or better, is out of balance with supply. High efficiency cell production and aggressive capacity expansions were driving the demand for high quality polysilicon and encouraging top tier polysilicon suppliers to expand.
Two months later in the OCI Q1 2011 Financial Results presentation (available here), OCI's updated Polysilicon Demand & Supply and the short term Market Perspective said:
- Price throughout the value chain will be affected by Feed-in Tariff cut in Germany and Italy
- Mid-stream players-wafer, cell, and module- maximized the utilization level and built up inventory with the expectation of strong demand in Germany in Q1, 2011
- Mid-stream players will trim down purchasing from spot market rather than long-term based purchases when lowering utilization to control stock, resulting in driving the prices down
On cue, May 2011 polysilicon spot prices have eased to $60 per kilogram ($60/kg) in China per DIGITIMES. "China spot market prices for poly-Si fall to US$60/kg, say Taiwan makers" also asserts the spot price is:
lower than contract prices of US$65-68/kg signed by South Korea-based OCI with most of its clients in Taiwan and China in the first quarter of 2011, according to industry sources.
These high $65 to $68 per kg OCI polysilicon contract prices are counter to widely reported long-term polysilicon contract prices in the $50 per kg range. Perhaps the cited polysilicon contracts were short term or for lesser volume commitments with PV wafer, cell, and module manufacturers preferring to play the polysilicon spot market. Bloomberg reported Wednesday, May 24, 2011, that "Shares of OCI Fall 9.3% on Polysilicon Price Speculation, Analyst Says".
With OCI trying harder, Long-term Contracts signed in 1Q11 (first quarter of 2011) are sketched out:
Total Amount: approximately $7bn
Period: 7 years
Prepayment: around 10% of the contracted amount
Fixed price with -/+10% adjustment
Price scale down for 7 years
But what happens in the event of price inversion when polysilicon spot prices fall below contract prices for an extended period of time? I understand newer long-term polysilicon contracts have eliminated the Take-or-Pay clause but the trigger mechanism and process for fixed price contract renegotiation is unclear. Polysilicon price inversion looms near with a later DIGITIMES report of polysilicon dropping to $50 per kg by 2H11.
In the Q1 2011 – ROADSHOW PRESENTATION, Wacker Chemie AG (ETR:WCH) touts new polysilicon contracts and prepayments without elaborating how long-term polysilicon contract pricing will help their customers achieve ongoing cost reductions.
Record Inventories
The declines in polysilicon spot prices are a mere symptom of PV module production in excess of demand through a seasonally weak 1Q11 and extending into April and May. "Solar module inventories reach a massive 10GW, says IMS Research" by Mark Osborne at PV-Tech.org said:
An incredible 8GW of modules are said to be in the supply chain, while a further 2GW is sitting in PV manufacturer warehouses, waiting to be shipped.
IMS Research said the inventory levels "represents an increase of only around three to four GW over 'normal' levels" and predict declining PV module prices will cause an elastic demand response and inventory decline in 3Q11. PV module inventory stress has already led to lower capacity utilization, layoffs, and reports of record low wafer, cell, and module prices on a per Watt basis. Will the German PV market recovery begin in June as IHS iSuppli claims or the third quarter of 2011 per IMS Research?
Polysilicon Market Share Madness
The Competitive Landscape slide captures OCI's global #1 ambitions and polysilicon production estimates through 2014 based on announced capacity expansions by industry leaders Wacker Chemie AG, Hemlock Semiconductor Group, GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Limited. (HKG:3800), and LDK Solar Co., Ltd (NYSE:LDK). The table appears to be missing the Samsung Fine Chemicals and MEMC Electronic Materials, Inc. (NYSE:WFR) Polysilicon Joint Venture (Intellectual Property and trade secret giveaway?) and recent announcements by Tokuyama Corporation (TYO:4043) while "REC Silicon considers expansion" in Moses Lake pending a power sales contract.
"Silicon oversupply coming in 2012" by Jeremy Herron for PHOTON International summarizes PHOTON's 9th Solar Silicon Conference including predictions the "Big Four" producers, OCI, Hemlock, GCL-Poly and Wacker, will extend their cost leadership with supersized 10000 plus metric ton capacity polysilicon plant expansions and "re-establish their oligopoly in 2012."
Even with polysilicon price inversion, I don't think spot or long-term contract prices need to crash to force non-economic polysilicon producers to halt production when marginal costs are no longer recovered. Polysilicon prices in the $40 to $35 per kilogram range will already have a profound impact. German PV market saturation in 2011 or 2012 is the only potential catalyst for a near term crash in polysilicon prices.
At the other end of the spectrum, Upgraded Metallurgical Silicon (UMG-Si) has not gone away. "Oversupply ahead" by Johannes Bernreuter, head of Bernreuter Research, for Sun & Wind Energy 5/2011, pp. 218-220, reports Elkem Solar sold 2000 MT (Metric Ton) of UMG-Si in 2010. Elkem AS is now a China National Bluestar Group Co., Ltd (Bluestar) company. I think if Calisolar can finance, build, and ramp a 16000 MT (Metric Ton) UMG-Si production facility next year, they may be able to establish the benchmark price for solar grade silicon used to manufacture the lowest cost multicrystalline silicon PV modules. Given the above scenario, UMG-Si would need to be priced at a 20 to 30 percent discount to polysilicon to be a compelling cost reduction option.
Excess inventory is a heavy weight for undercapitalized companies to bear in any industry. PV companies desperate for cash flow may need to liquidate their PV module inventories at unsustainable bargain prices to stay afloat over the next few months.
As a parry to IMS Research, 10 GigaWatts of PV module channel and manufacturer inventory represents about half of the nominal 20 GW PV installation forecast for calendar 2011.
It's time to put the pedal to the silicon metal!


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These Curriculum Vitae sample templates will benefit you in order to get the attention of the recruiters that are doing the selection for your dream job. Make good use of these CV samples, in order to improve the writing, layout or appearance of your Curriculum Vitae.
Please note not every Curriculum Vitae sample is applicable for the position that you are applying for. It will be always good to ask at least two friends to give feedback on your crafted CV before sending it to the HR or recruitment department of the company you are applying for. Besides these CV samples, also look for cover letter templates to finish your job application.
AllBusinessTemplates.com understands the importance of having a professional CV when you are applying for a new job or project, and you really need to make a strong impression. The Curriculum Vitae sample below will give you a head start.


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Arizona Dream – 1993 – dir. Emir Kusturica
"But what's the point of breathing if somebody already tells you the difference between an apple and a bicycle? If I bite a bicycle and ride an apple, then I'll know the difference." That's one of the first of many philosophical musings from Axel Blackmar, the searching twenty-something protagonist of Emir Kusturica's willfully strange 1993 film Arizona Dream. It's a statement that prepares the audience for all that comes next. That is, at least well as the audience can be prepared for all that comes next.


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Militants from the Islamic State are battling ferociously to control one of Iraq's most vital resources: water.
Fighters with the group launched a three-pronged attack over the weekend in a drive to capture Haditha Dam, in western Iraq, a complex with six power generators located alongside Iraq's second-largest reservoir. At the same time, they are fighting to capture Iraq's largest dam, Mosul Dam, in the north of the country.
Seizing the dams and the large reservoirs they hold would give the militants control over water and electricity that they could use to help build support in the territory they now rule by providing the scarce resources to residents. Or they could sell the resources as a lucrative source of revenue.
They could also use the dams as a weapon of war by flooding terrain downstream to slow Iraq's military or disrupt life. They have done that with a smaller dam they hold closer to Baghdad. But with the larger dams, there are limits on this tactic since it would also flood areas that the insurgents hold.
On Friday, the fighters unleashed a powerful attack from three sides on the town of Haditha in western Anbar province. Suicide attackers tried but failed to detonate an oil tanker and several trucks packed with explosives. The aim was to obliterate the final line of defense between the militants and Haditha Dam on the Euphrates River, Lt. Gen. Rasheed Fleih, the commander of Anbar Operations Command, told The Associated Press.
For a brief moment, it seemed all was lost. The Sunni militants seized the army command headquarters in town, with very little stopping them from reaching the dam. But some local Sunni tribes who oppose the militants and feared for their livelihoods if the dam were captured sent fighters to reinforce the 2,000 soldiers guarding the town, allowing for a narrow victory. At least 35 militants and 10 soldiers were killed in clashes on Friday, Fleih said.
But the militants have been fighting every day since trying to take the town, according to four senior military sources in Anbar province. They spoke to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak with the media.
Only 10 kilometers (6 miles) remain between the militants and the dam.
The jihadis are also closing in on the Mosul Dam — or Saddam Dam as it was once known — located north of Iraq's second-largest city Mosul, which fell to the militants on June 10. Fighting intensified in the region Sunday after the nearby towns of Zumar and Sinjar fell to the militants.
Kurdish forces, known as peshmerga, have managed to hold the fighters off for now, but the growing strength and savvy of these Islamic militants is raising grave concerns.
The peshmerga are "under a great deal of pressure now" as they defend a 150-kilometer (80-mile) frontline against the Islamic State group along the edges of the Kurdish autonomous zone in the north," Maj. Gen. Jabar Yawer, the official spokesman of the Kurdistan Region Guard Forces, told The Associated Press.
He said late Sunday there were fierce battles ongoing in towns and villages near the dam on the Tigris River. Fearing the worst, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki commanded his air force to reinforce the peshmerga Monday in a rare show of cooperation despite deep political divisions between al-Maliki and the Kurds.
"God forbid, if something happens that results in the destruction of the dam, it will be very, very dangerous," Yawer said.
Earlier this year, the group's fighters captured the smaller Fallujah Dam on the Euphrates when they seized the nearby city of Fallujah. Repeatedly, the militants have used it as a weapon, opening it to flood downriver when government forces move in on the city.
Worst hit has been the area of Abu Ghraib on the outskirts of Baghdad. In May, some 12,000 families lost crops and many fled their homes, worsening Iraq's growing crisis of internal displacement. The Special Representative for the U.N. Secretary General in Iraq called the incident a "water war," and called on Iraqi forces and local tribes to team up and take back Iraqi waterways.
Doing that with Hadith and Mosul Dams is more problematic, since militant-controlled lie downstream. But damage to either could be disastrous, particularly in the case of the Mosul Dam. It has millions of cubic meters of water pent up behind it on the Tigris River, which — some 370 kilometers (220 miles) downstream — runs through the heart of Baghdad.
"Everything under it will be under five to 10 meters (yards) of water... including Baghdad itself," said Ali Khedery, head of the Dubai-based consultancy Dragoman Partners and a longtime adviser to the U.S. military, government and companies in Iraq. "It would be catastrophic."
Dams are critical in Iraq for generating electricity, regulating river flow and providing irrigation. Water is a precious commodity in this largely desert country of 32.5 million people. The decline of water levels in the Euphrates over recent years has led to electricity shortages in towns south of Baghdad, where steam-powered generators depend entirely on water levels.
Water has been used as a weapon in the past. After Shiite Muslims rose up against then-President Saddam Hussein after the 1991 Gulf War, he retaliated by drying out parts of wetlands in the south of the country that had once generated farming revenues for its Shiite inhabitants.
Water is not the first resource the Islamic State group has narrowed in on as it swept over much of northern and western Iraq and parts of neighboring Syria the past months. The group has captured oilfields and pipelines in Syria and has sold off crude oil, helping fund its drive across both countries.
If it captures the dams, the militants are likely to try to use its electricity and water resources to build up support in nearby areas it controls, where residents often complain of shortages. Or it could try to snarl electricity service elsewhere.
Any disruption to the Mosul Dam "would destabilize the electricity system of northern Iraq," added Paul Sullivan, an economist and Middle East expert at National Defense University in Washington. "This station is an integral part of the entire electricity grid of Iraq."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.


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LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – The final PGA Tour event of the year is a lot like the final stage of Q-school, one last chance for so many players to earn their full cards for next year. The field at Disney looks like Q-school, too.
The only player from the top 50 in the world ranking is Robert Garrigus, who checks in at No. 42.
Only five players from the top 50 on the PGA Tour money list are at Disney — Garrigus (26), Ben Curtis (30), Jonas Blixt (35), Brendon de Jonge (39) and Charlie Wi (45). And six players have won on tour this year — two against weak fields in the Fall Series (Blixt and Tommy Gainey) and two against even weaker fields at opposite-field events (Scott Stallings and George McNeill). The others are Curtis at the Texas Open and Ted Potter Jr. at the Greenbrier Classic.
For sheer entertainment, the best bet might be at one of Disney's theme parks.
For the pressure of trying to perform with so much at stake, few regular PGA Tour events can match the tension of a golf tournament held on the expansive property of a resort that bills itself as the "Happiest Place on Earth."
The Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Classic gets under way Thursday on the Palm and Magnolia courses at Disney, with the opening two rounds a pro-am format.
The top 125 on the money list keep full exempt status on the PGA Tour next year, with Billy Mayfair smack on the bubble at No. 125. He has a lead of $2,665 over Trevor Immelman, who already is safe next year from his five-year exemption for winning the 2008 Masters. Mayfair is only $3,504 clear of No. 127 Gary Christian, a 41-year-old rookie from England.
"It's kind of nice to get to that stage now where you have to perform," Christian said Wednesday. "This is it. You've got one more chance, and do good or you go home."
Or in his case, go to the California desert at the end of the month for Q-school.
Christian felt remarkably relaxed. His wife and children were joining him Wednesday night and planned a week at the theme parks. Christian, who once held a job selling knives door-to-door, took a long time to reach the big leagues. He was on the Dakota Tour for six years, and the Nationwide Tour for seven years. He still appreciates the perks of the PGA Tour, from the courtesy cars to the pristine condition of golf courses like Pebble Beach and Bethpage Black.
The highlight of the year was playing a practice round with Tom Watson at The Greenbrier, and playing the third round with Tiger Woods at The Barclays. The lowlight? He couldn't think of anything, except for the usual aggravation that golf can cause on any level.
No stress?
"I'm sure there is if you've been on tour for 10 years," he said. "I can understand if you've been used to making seven figures every year and you're on the outside look in, or on the inside hoping to hang in there. I've really got nothing to lose. If it all goes wrong, I assure you my wife still loves me and the kids still love me. And it just allow me to go and play with hopefully a lighter heart and go play great.
"I think it makes a man of you if I come through this and get into that top 125," he said. "Then I think going forward, you use that as something very positive to fall on where you have one opportunity to perform and you did."
These guys on the bubble have had more than one opportunity.
The players from No. 120 to No. 130 on the money list averaged 25 starts this year, and their own play put them in this predicament. Everyone through No. 122 — that would be 48-year-old Jeff Maggert — have enough of a cushion that they should be safe. That's not the case for Kevin Chappell at No. 123 or Rod Pampling at No. 124.
And that's certainly not the case for those beyond No. 125, such as Justin Leonard.
Leonard is one of the more under-appreciated players on tour. He got his card out of college without ever having to go to Q-school, and he has never come particularly close to losing his card. Despite being a peashooter in an era of bazookas, his 12 wins include the British Open and The Players Championship, and he lost two majors in playoffs.
But this has been a year to forget, and Leonard finds himself at No. 138 going into the last tournament.
Leonard had to be told that.
"I've made it a serious effort not to look," he said. "I don't know where I am. I don't know what I need to do — just go out and play and do the best I can every day."
Asked for his thoughts on the week, the Texan smiled.
"The kids are having a blast," he said. "Usual Disney week, shuttling between the parks and the golf course."
Leonard found himself consumed with the money list in the late spring, when he wasn't getting much out of his game. He stopped worrying about results and tied for fifth at the Reno-Tahoe Open and tied for 19th at Greensboro. But when he returned six weeks later and opened with a 64 in Las Vegas, he again was consumed of trying to make the most out of a good start and stumbled.
"I got caught up in what I needed to do," Leonard said.
He's not that bad off. If he loses his card, Leonard is No. 9 in career earnings at just over $31 million, and he can use a pair of one-time exemptions for being in the top 25 and the top 50 on the money list. He plans on using only one of them, and that depends on this week.


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New Car/Review
The Honda Passport EX |
by Larry Weitzman
Honda Full Line factory footage (16:28) 28.8, 56k, or 200kThe Passport is Honda's first foray into the true sport ute category of motor vehicles. The smaller four cylinder CR-V is a refined sport cute of unibody construction, whereas this Passport is a body on frame, V-6 powered 4X4 brute, designed for going anywhere. A real sport ute.
The V-6 is a modern design. It is a 75-degree, double overhead camshaft (DOHC) 24 valve unit that puts out oodles of power. 205 hp at 5,400 rpm and a strong 214 lb-ft of torque at a low 3,000 rpm. This engine can be driven through a 5-speed manual (LX model only) or a 4-speed automatic. However, if you want the luxury features of leather and other touches, you must choose the EX model and that only comes with automatic.
Perform is what the Honda does best. It runs with the best of them. The Passport knocks off 0-60 mph in 8.9 seconds. Not a world beater, but certainly respectable and it actually feels more responsive than the times would indicate. Its passing times indicate this obvious responsiveness. 50-70 takes an average of 5.6 very quick seconds. Going up a steep freeway grade slows the Honda to 9.0 seconds. These are excellent times for a 4,000 pound midsize sport ute. The engine's low rpm torque curve really makes itself felt.
Fuel mileage I obtained was better than the EPA predicts. I averaged approximately 20 mpg during my test period in El Dorado county with two runs to Sacramento and a lot of time spent burying the left pedal. Free revving, quick motors like this are hard to stay out of. The EPA estimates are 16/20 mpg, but 20 mpg is easily approachable in El Dorado County. The Passport comes with a 21 gallon fuel tank which gives you plenty of range for going far off road and great long distance cruising.
Okay so it quick, but what about the rest of the truck. The Passport has a rugged look to it, with fender blisters, cleans lines, standard fog lights and a roof rack. The forward slant of the "C" pillar and rear glass gives an aggressive stance to an otherwise muscular body. It sits up high on some huge 245/70X16 Goodyear Wranglers on a set of 16X7 good looking 8 spoke alloy wheels. The view of the road is commanding from the driver' seat.
The overall size is 184.1 inches which puts it 4 inches smaller than an Explorer, about two inches longer than a Grand Cherokee, nearly identical in size to a Blazer and a few inches bigger than both a Forerunner or Pathfinder. Cargo capacity is 81 cubic feet, again smaller than the Explorer and slightly larger than the rest of the mid size sport utes. The spare tire resides outside on the rear tailgate. This gives a large flat area available for storage and cargo behind the rear seats.
Inside, the Honda is all business. Not as plush as some other sport utes (at least in the non leather EX model I tested), the Honda provides comfortable seating for five. The front buckets are large and firm, maybe a little too firm, but not uncomfortable. they are manually adjustable with a recline feature for the seat back.
The rear 60/40 split bench is also reasonably pleasant, with plenty of leg room. The center section is a comfortable perch for the middle passenger and there is almost no center tunnel to get in the way of feet. Both passengers get grab handles and the operation of dropping the rear seats to make a flat floor is an easy ten-second job. The rear tailgate is a two piece affair. The rear window lifts up and the lower portion opens as a door from the right. It allows direct access without a drop down tailgate getting in the way, but hauling plywood or long objects don't get the benefit of a tailgate as well as a tailgate's primary use as a seat when camping.
The entire interior is covered in a durable, thick soft cloth, which is warmer in winter and cooler in summer. The door panels also get the same material, but with little padding to make the door panels soft.
The dash is straight forward and well laid out. The pod in front of the driver contains a large tach (red line is 6,250 rpm) and a 125 mph speedo with a smaller temp and fuel gauge left and right. The tach and speedo are split by a gear indicator, a nice feature. To the left of the pod are three switches, one for electronic control of the four wheel drive shift on the fly system, the other two are for cruise control and the fogs. To the right are three switches for the rear window wiper, washer and defroster.
In the center of the dash and vertical part of the console are the A/C vents with the simple to understand controls underneath. Below is the am/fm stereo cassette with six speakers. The center console has the gearshift and to the right another shifter for the 4 wheel high/low. Underneath the center armrest is storage and cupholders. This sport ute comes standard with power windows (the rear windows go all the way down), locks, adjustable steering column and even lighted vanity mirrors.
The purpose of a sport ute is to be a go anywhere, reasonably good handling machine. The variable assist rack and pinion steering is predictable, with moderate understeer. Turning circle is a tight 38 feet. Maneuverability is the key word.
The Honda is suspended with independent double wishbone in front and a live axle with coil springs in the rear. The ride is firm but smooth. Ponderosa Road was not unpleasant with little jarring and a reasonable job was done absorbing the washboard surface and bumps. I was expecting worse. The rear end stayed planted in the bumpy corners.
Green Valley Road was a breeze. You can push this sport ute hard in the corners. Understeer will become apparent, but the handling is nimble and sure. The twisties of Apple Hill offered no problem for the Passport. It is fun to drive.
The freeway ride does not exhibit any of the bobbing and weaving that you might expect from a sport ute with big tires and wheels. It is smooth and tar strips are not felt.
Off road, the Passport handled steep gravel dirt roads with plenty of ruts with ease. Shifting into four-wheel drive wasn't even necessary as the rear axle has standard limited slip. The traction was excellent. 4X4 traction will probably become necessary only when in mud, snow and ice, otherwise two-wheel drive limited slip will probably do the job.
The brakes are front and rear discs with antilock. The pedal feel was excellent and the stops were sure and straight.
The Passport is sold without any factory options. The dealer can do some customizing with brush guards or in dash 6 disc C/D changer but the Passport I tested stickered for $29,515 with destination. It had everything but a C/D changer and leather. A leather model is available for a $1,000 more.
A two wheel drive LX with a five speed, which comes standard with power windows and locks and other niceties lists for $23,265. A LX four-wheel drive automatic lists for $27,565.
The Passport presents Honda's alternative to the popular world of sport utes and acquits itself well with the competition.
SPECIFICATIONS Price $23,265 to $30,515 Engine 3.2L DOHC, 24 valve 205 hp @ 5,400 rpm 75 degree V-6214 lb-ft of torque @ 3,000 rpm Transmissions 5 speed manual 4 speed electronically controlled automatic Transfer Case 2 speed with electronic shift on the fly. Maximum speed in 4 wheel high is 65 mph. DIMENSIONS Wheelbase 106.4 inches Length 184.1 inches Width 70.4 inches Height 68.8 inches Ground Clearance 8.2 inches Curb Weight 3926 pounds Fuel Capacity 21.1 gallons Tow Capacity 4,500 pounds PERFORMANCE 0-60 8.9 seconds 50-70 5.6 seconds 50-70 uphill 9.0 seconds Top Speed Faster than you will ever want to go, but well in excess of 100 mph Fuel Economy EPA 16/20 mpg city/highway. My estimate is near 20 in El Dorado County and 22 plus on the highway


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The Thursday Playlist: A Nightmarish Hannibal Finale, Wilfred Returns
A chill wind blows onto your TV screen as summer beckons, with one last ghoulish chapter in the artful and macabre saga of NBC's Hannibal, Bryan Fuller's deliciously suspenseful and deeply unsettling twist on the Thomas Harris franchise. If we weren't in a boom time for quality drama featuring such an array of complex, morally ambiguous and compellingly portrayed male leads, the performances of Hugh Dancy as the psychologically broken profiler-for-the-FBI Will Graham and Mads Mikkelsen as his mentor/secret tormentor Hannibal Lecter would be slam-dunk Emmy bait.
For now, it's enough to celebrate the happy miracle of NBC's renewal of Hannibal for a second year. The finale (Thursday, 10:01/9:01c), like so much of this season, powerfully sustains a tone of surreal nightmare, as Will is plunged into a Kafka-esque abyss of Lecter's diabolical making, with many of Will's allies facing their deepest fears that they may have been abetting a serial killer in their midst. (In fact, we know they are, but they're looking at the wrong guy.)
In the wake of Abigail Hobbs' disappearance last week (and nearly certain death at Lecter's hands), Will becomes a prime suspect in this and other murders, with a staggering amount of incriminating forensic evidence. "I wanted to be certain about who are you, but you can't even be certain with yourself," says crime-scene analyst Beverly Katz (Hettienne Park), as she sorrowfully processes her colleague. A disoriented Will can only respond, "I thought I would get better." In a blistering confrontation with his boss Jack Crawford (an appropriately somber Laurence Fishburne), Will's only defender is agitated psychiatrist Alana Bloom (Caroline Dhavernas): "Abigail's blood is on all of us. So is Will's."
Everyone is at the top of their game as the season reaches its pivotal and haunting climax, especially the leads: Mikkelsen shedding crocodile tears of remorse — could it be real, or just another psycho gambit? — over Abigail's and Will's messy fates in sessions with the cool Dr. Du Maurier (a stunning Gillian Anderson), while continuing to baldly lie and set his traps; and Dancy making painfully tangible Will's despair, confusion and slowly dawning awareness that he may be the greatest victim yet in this entire scenario.
By the final scene, echoing iconic images from the cinematic Lecter catalogue, you know this can't be the end of the story. Thankfully, it doesn't have to be.
Want more TV news and reviews? Subscribe to TV Guide Magazine now!
DOG DAYS: Will Graham isn't the only basket case plagued with disturbing visions from the animal world. But at least the mightily antlered stags of Hannibal keep their mouths shut. As FX's Wilfred begins a third season of shaggy-dog antics with back-to-back episodes (10/9c), there's no shutting up the incorrigible title mutt (Jason Gann) who hounds nebbishy Ryan (Elijah Wood) into a perpetual goggle-eyed panic. As the new season begins, Ryan tries to convince himself, if not Wilfred, that "the part of you that no one else can see ... is only in my head." Wilfred counters that he's a "magical being," and the existential debate leads them to track down the actual dog's former owner — which leads to the introduction of a second Wilfred (just what this show doesn't need), a bizarro version who's spoiled and posh and wealthy, with The Office's game Angela Kinsey as his caretaker.
The second episode features Zachary Knighton (the least funny member of the for-now-defunct Happy Endings ensemble) as an irreverent mailman befriended by Ryan despite Wilfred's insistence that the postal worker is a "Satanist," spurring the pooch's rapid conversion to godliness. It's more frantic than funny, and the one-joke premise wore thin for me a long time ago, although I was amused when Wilfred comes to a profound understanding about death and realizes, "Marley & Me is a really sad movie. God, why was I laughing the whole time?"
THE THURSDAY GUIDE: The big draw: the NBA Finals on ABC (9/8c), as the Miami Heat forces a seventh and decisive game against the San Antonio Spurs. ... The top repeat: CBS' The Big Bang Theory (8/7c), in an episode from February that gave us the first signs that the tentative romance between Raj and the even more socially backward Lucy (a very funny Kate Micucci) was not going to go smoothly. At least not as long as there's a way for Lucy to make a quick exit. ... The action shifts to the Dominican Republic on USA Network's Burn Notice (9/8c) as Sam and Jesse help Michael on a mission involving a bomber, while back in Miami, Fiona takes on a bookie who's trying to shake down Maddie. Pity the bookie. ... TNT's 72 Hours (9/8c) drops three teams on the beautiful but treacherous Hawaiian island of Lani'i. While I'm sure their three-day ordeal is grueling, I've just watched the first episode of Discovery's Naked & Afraid survival challenge, premiering this weekend, and by comparison, this is a piece of cake. ... Beefcake alert: Man of Steel Henry Cavill guests on BBC America's The Graham Norton Show (10/9c). The campy possibilities are endless.


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Project Description
Cubic feet added
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Project Details
Location: | Clifton, NJ |
Roof Square Footage: | 180,000 |
Clear Height Before: | 18 feet |
Clear Height After: | 27 feet |
Building Use Before: | manufacturing |
Building Use After: | warehouse |
Owner: | Tulfra Realty |
General Contractor: | |
Subcontractor: |
Project Description
Project Location
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When we're working with an incumbent building, height restrictions can sometimes prevent us from utilizing the full capabilities of our equipment. Finally there's a way to avoid the capital costs of reconstruction or a new building.
I was speaking with a real estate agent who was bemoaning the fact that he couldn't sell an industrial building because of its low ceiling, …and one thing led to another.
One of the reasons companies are moving is they're looking for modern buildings elsewhere, with greater height underneath the joists. If we can persuade a company to raise the roof to allow for more warehousing space, so they don't need to relocate outside Toronto, then we've saved jobs and taxes.
If we were to turn that whole building into rubble and start fresh, it would cost a whole lot more money than it's costing to just raise the roof and fix it up. We're just lifting the roof and adding steel.


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Max featured in a LA TIMES Column One story by the great writer John Glionna.
Read the article here or Click here to read there and watch Max's trick shot video on the LA Times website.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
1:59 p.m. PDT
Max Eberle is a billiards pro who has played in pool tournaments throughout the world and now makes Las Vegas his home. He's seeking to revive flagging interest in the game.
A billiards pro who sinks them all
Max Eberle picked up the sport from a bygone era, coached by his grandfather and learning the secrets of the game. As others abandon the sport, he leans in.
April 30, 2013
The billiards joint is hazy with cigarette smoke as fans on metal bleachers lean in toward the action. Max Eberle stands over his shot, oblivious to the buzzing crowd and wandering waitresses, his mind's eye focused on the miniature cosmos before him.
The veteran pro player views the pool table as his own universe, its colorful planetary orbs propelled across a green-felt solar system. His break is the Big Bang, the sheer force of the stroke bending the maple cue stick into a cartoonish curve.
Just hours before, Eberle eclipsed a fellow pro known as King Kong, harking back to an old moniker, "No Mercy Max," running 54 balls straight while his opponent never touched his cue.He paces the 7-foot-long table, mentally assessing the physics of spin and the geometry of angles crucial to running a rack. There's a grace to his movements as he sets up a series of bank and spin shots, the cue stick's follow-through pure and straight, commanding the cue ball to stop dead, careen sideways or strike with premeditated violence.
His present foe, a player in a baseball cap and graying beard, is faring no better.
Another break, another run in this first-to-win-six-games nine-ball match. Like a spectator, the other guy can do nothing but sit and watch.
Then Eberle hits a difficult spin-rail shot. The crowd hushes as someone whispers: "Whoa."
Today, pool's popularity in America is on the wane. The number of fans who play at least twice a year has fallen from 46 million in the late 1990s to 36 million, with half as many pool halls nationwide, according to Inside Pool Magazine.
Many pro pool players are abandoning the sport for televised poker, a realm where they can still employ their powers of concentration — but for significantly more money. The players who are left must scramble for sponsors among a blur of competing, sometimes shady, promoters.
But Eberle makes do. The 40-year-old Ohio native grew up in a bygone era of billiards, when expert players moved unrecognized through small-town bars and pool halls — hit men sizing up suckers for a big cash out. They'd throw a few games, up the stakes and then move in for the kill.
That era was captured by such film classics as "The Hustler" starring Jackie Gleason and, later, "The Color of Money" with Tom Cruise, each bringing a new generation of Americans to the game.
In recent years, coverage of the sport has been demoted from ESPN to the Web, where matches are streamed live to laptops and smartphones. Pool fans now have at their fingertips the back stories, match statistics and pictures of top pros. The Internet has essentially blown the cover off the pool hall hustle, making it nearly impossible for an enterprising pro to take advantage of cocky amateur players.
Unlike Minnesota Fats, the game's late, colorful icon, Eberle is lean. A vegetarian and nonsmoker, he once boycotted professional pool's prestigious U.S. Open Tournament because it was sponsored by a tobacco company.
Eberle never took to the hustle. He wants to find his own way, to become the sport's straight-up best player. He's harnessing technology to restore interest in the game that's long been his obsession. He's produced self-help books, including "Zen Pool," instructional DVDs and webinars and — with the help of Robert Bissett, a nationally known dome designer — he's drafted 3-D architectural renderings for smoke-free, eight-ball-shaped pool domes he hopes to build around the globe.
Eberle relocated to Vegas in 2011 after years as the resident pro at Hollywood Billiards. His passion for the game remains old-school, and his hero is Willie Mosconi, a post-World War II pool wizard who once ran a record 526 straight shots without a miss.
He's single and makes his living exclusively through pool. He enters half a dozen major tournaments each year and a host of minor events, adding to his take with his entrepreneurial projects and by giving lessons.
At this local bar tourney, he was a favorite to claim the $6,000 first prize. He recently won the straight pool division at the Derby City Classic in Louisville on the most difficult, 10-foot-long tables, earning $2,500 by besting three past world champions.
Eberle has his own quirky style. Pro players call him "Mad Max," a nickname he picked up as a teenager. His now short-cropped head has been clean-shaven; other times he has sported a straight-up explosion of hair. In his spare time he's an artist whose pointillist portraits include Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King Jr.
Unlike Minnesota Fats, the game's late, colorful icon, Eberle is lean. A vegetarian and nonsmoker, he once boycotted professional pool's prestigious U.S. Open Tournament because it was sponsored by a tobacco company.
He's also a night owl. The centerpiece of his living room is a table played at all hours by a monk-like purist who sees pool as meditation.
Many pro pool players are abandoning the sport for televised poker, a realm where they can still employ their powers of concentration — but for significantly more money. The players who are left must scramble for sponsors among a blur of competing, sometimes shady, promoters.
Under low-slung, operating-room-bright lights, Eberle wields his cue stick with a surgeon's precision.
He's now ahead five games to none on the guy in the baseball cap and bends to deliver the dagger — a long, difficult shot into the far-left corner pocket, the cue ball jammed against the rail — his movements streaming cialis online, a color commentator whispering just steps away. Though he wins the match, he falters the following day, taking seventh-place prize money of $1,800. Pool junkies are still impressed.
"The guy has amazing mechanics, so much focus when he gets down to shoot," says webcaster Daniel Busch, whose POV Pool streams of the tourney reach 50,000 viewers over three days. "With Max, you know he was schooled by some very good players at a very young age."
Eberle's grandfather could run 100 balls straight. A bricklayer by trade, Charles "Pop" Eberle spent much of the Great Depression roaming the country, playing pool against strangers, sending his winnings back to his family.
His finest project was his own grandson, a kid with an uncanny knack to make shots. He taught his protege the secrets of the game and the elation of a shot well struck.
The old man outdid himself, eventually helping launch his grandson's professional career. Today Mad Max never hits a single pool ball without thinking of Pop.
Rob Eberle, Max's father, could play the hustler as well as anybody.
At age 15, Eberle even beat his grandfather in a tourney, an event marked by a newspaper headline: "Eberle beats Eberle."
As a boy in Dover, Ohio, he so coveted a vintage pool table at the youth center, he concocted a story that billiards drew hoodlums to the place. He persuaded the center's operators to sell him the table for $100.
Pop Eberle knocked down a basement wall to fit the 9-foot-long Brunswick Commander, the table where the young Max would develop his game. He'd visit his grandfather's house, picking up pointers at the weekly game among Pop's cronies.
Pop showed Max how to control the cue ball, and Rob convinced the kid he could do anything in life, even become a pro pool player.
The 12-year-old was hooked. At school, he used a pencil as a miniature cue to practice his pool bridge and woke up at night with his right arm instinctively following through on the perfect stroke. He had a key to the local pool hall, the Velvet Rail, so he could practice at any hour.
He got insight from Garten Bierbower, a top regional player and former hustler who often stopped by the Velvet Rail to show Max techniques that impressed even Pop.
"The guy has amazing mechanics, so much focus when he gets down to shoot," a pool expert says of Max Eberle. "With Max, you know he was schooled by some very good players at a very young age."
Max's mother, Estelle, also encouraged her son. Once, as he left to compete in a nine-ball tourney, she stressed focus, saying, "Zen pool, Max. Zen pool."
When his parents divorced, Eberle moved with his mother to northern Virginia, but he'd spend summers with Pop. Soon he was beating the guys in the weekly pool games. At age 15, Eberle even beat his grandfather in a tourney, an event marked by a newspaper headline: "Eberle beats Eberle."
The older Eberles took the teen to bars looking to make some money by whipping a few locals. Max was nervous, but would do anything to please his mentors, winning games against much older men. Rob died when Max was 16, but Pop lived on. For years, his favorite pastime was watching his grandson practice, and the boy would feel the pressure of his gaze.
For Eberle, success came early: He won the Billiard Congress of America's National Junior Championship in 1991, beating out pool prodigy Chan Whitt Jr., and was twice the National Collegiate billiards champion.
Eberle has traveled the world as a pro player. He set up a website, maxeberle.com, to promote the game. He's also developed a 700-member social networking site for pool players and has ideas for TV shows and a movie he hopes will lure new fans to the game.
When Eberle was young, Pop had always stressed the discipline of practice. "The best players live on the pool table," he said. "If you ever hope to beat them, you have to live there too."
Pop died in 2000, but the old 9-foot Brunswick Commander still sits in the family's Dover house, waiting for Eberle to come practice again. Someday he'll be there, facing off against his hero Willie Mosconi, with Pop by his side, silently rooting him on.


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