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A Win-win-win-win Industry for the Tropics
Coffee, if grown right, can be one of the rare human industries that actually restore the Earth's health.
Take a deep breath.
If you are in a coffeeshop-or you've just brewed your own java-you are inhaling microscopic particles of coffee, which carry some of the 800 naturally occurring chemicals that give coffee its seductive aroma. These are the same chemicals, by the way, that can jumpstart your central nervous system-caffeine being the most famous one.
When these molecules enter the nostrils and stimulate the olfactory nerve, it may be hard to think about much more than getting that first swallow. Drinking coffee quickens the heartbeat and makes a person more energetic and alert. Regular coffee drinkers can even experience withdrawal symptoms, if they don't get their fix at the expected time. So if you're starting your day and just want that first cup, it may be hard to muster much interest in where the coffee actually comes from.
But where it comes from has surprising importance for the future of life on a destabilized planet. Coffee is one of those tropical exports that are produced exclusively in the Third World and consumed almost entirely in the First World. (Cocoa, vanilla, and bananas are some other examples.) The beans that are brewed for people in Geneva, Los Angeles, and Tokyo all grow in that waistband of tropical rainforests that girdles the planet between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. At this point, there are basically two ways to grow coffee-in a manner that helps to preserve and restore rainforest, or in a manner that destroys rainforest. And as biologists have stressed, rainforest happens to have disproportionately high value to the Earth's ecological health.
Until a few decades ago, most of the world's coffee was grown in the understory of rainforests, with farmers looking after the rainforest trees as a natural part of managing their coffee. But now, more and more coffee is produced in what was rainforest-clear-cut tracts of land without shade, that give off the dry, burning scent of ammonia fertilizer. Over 40 percent of the coffee area in Colombia, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean has been converted to "sun" coffee, with an additional one-quarter of the area in conversion. It's a pattern that is emerging everywhere coffee is grown.
In the short term, this conversion may boost yield because larger numbers of coffee plants can be crowded together in the space where great wild fig trees once stood. But the long-term effect is another story. From an ecological point of view, this conversion is simply another form of tropical deforestation, along with the slash-and-burn clearing by settlers, or the bulldozing by cattle farmers looking to expand grazing range. When a shade coffee farm is converted to full-sun cultivation, the diversity and number of organisms in the area crashes. The various orchids, mosses, frogs, salamanders, and birds that inhabit a rainforest nearly all need a shady and moist area to build their homes, get food, and survive.
Ornithologists have found that in full-sun plantations, the number of bird species is cut by half, and the number of individual birds is cut by as much as two-thirds. Most rainforest birds reside in the canopy of trees, rather than on the ground near the coffee plants. The Mot mot, a brilliantly colored bird with a feathered knob at the end of its wire-like tail, which the bird swings from side to side like the pendulum of a clock, lives on berries and insects found in the upper canopies of wild fig, avocado, and coral trees. The insects, in turn, depend on the nectar produced by plants living on the surfaces of these trees-orchids, bromeliads, and cactus. Insect larvae develop in the pools of rainwater captured and stored by these plants, which also happen to be the water source for salamanders, frogs, snakes, and other rainforest animals. But if the highly complex rainforest system is reduced to just a field of coffee shrubs, all these interdependent organisms disappear.
According to Jeffrey A. McNeely, Chief Scientist at the World Conservation Union (IUCN), "The widespread conversion to sun coffee is particularly troubling considering that 13 of the world's 25 biodiversity hot spots-those areas that are unusually rich in species and highly threatened-are in coffee country." But what's at stake is not just the inherent worth of the rainforests and the species for which those forests are home. There are also some major benefits for people, both in the places where the coffee is grown and in places like the one where you live:
- These rainforests sequester a large share of the world's carbon, and as our atmosphere gets more and more saturated by carbon, that capacity to keep the carbon locked up in plants, and out of our atmosphere, becomes more and more indispensable. When a forest is burned or cut, the carbon is released into the air and becomes a contributor to global warming. Shade coffee helps keep the carbon where it should be.
- The forests-and the shade coffee farms that help preserve them-are essential to the protection of freshwater resources in tropical areas. The vegetative cover and roots of the shade system help to store more water, reducing the incidence of flooding and landslides, and helping to recharge aquifers. Coffee growers in the hillsides surrounding San Salvador, the capital city of El Salvador, are now being encouraged to bring trees back to their farms in order to help the city alleviate its water shortage.
- Shade coffee requires less pesticide (sometimes none), because undisturbed rainforest is home to birds and insects that devour coffee-plant pests.
- Shade coffee also requires less (or no) chemical fertilizer, because many of the plants that comprise the complex ecosystem of a natural forest add nutrients to the soil. Similarly, the natural system requires less (or no) application of irrigation water, because the greater soil cover and shade reduces water loss through evaporation.
- The biodiversity found in shade coffee farms is a critical asset to people all over the world, because of its potential for developing new medicines, foods, and other resources. The benefits begin with the coffee farmer, who benefits far more from a shade-grown than from a sun-grown crop. On shade coffee farms in Peru, farmers derive nearly 30 percent of their income from sales of firewood, timber, fruits, and medicinal plants found in the shade system-all products which are also consumed by their own households. And these farmers do not have to be constantly working around pesticides.
Coffee farmers have another incentive, too, to restore the forests on their farms, because when coffee is grown in the shade, it brings a premium price. Coffee companies and drinkers are willing to pay more for beans grown with some consideration for sustaining the forest, which generally means not only creating space for other species but also farming without reliance on toxic agrochemicals. And there are some coffee labels that guarantee growers a minimum price that is generally much higher than the world price. The aid group Oxfam is encouraging Americans and Europeans to seek out and buy this "fair trade" coffee, as "a small but significant way for you to contribute to fighting poverty."
To coffee farmers in Kenya, Colombia, or any other poor country, this premium now means more than ever. Worldwide, the average coffee farmer earns less than $3 a day. For the price we happily pay for a latte, the farmer has to pay for his house, food, clothes, and kids' education. As a result, with commercial coffee prices at their lowest in several decades, many small growers are abandoning their crops. In Mexico, 300,000 coffee farmers have left their farms. When fair trade is practiced, coffee drinkers become involved in improving the lives of distant coffee farmers.
One reason fair trade can pay more is that it offers better long-term economics. The coffee farm that resembles an intact forest costs less to maintain. The pesticides and fertilizers that are essential in a plantation setting are expensive substitutes for the free services once provided by the birds, insects, fungus, and other organisms of the forest understory. The coffee plant evolved in the shade of forests in what is now sun-blasted Ethiopia and the Sudan. Remove the forest and you're left with "coffee plants on life support," according to Robert Rice of the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center. "You've done a number on the soil and the supporting cast of biodiversity," so the plants sooner or later wear out and fall prey to disease.
Most of the world's "ethical" coffee-certified as organic, protecting the rainforest, and giving the grower a fair wage-currently comes from Central America and the Caribbean, but the concept can be easily extended to the whole world. The tree and bird species that are protected will vary, as will the languages and cultures of the small farmers that maintain the farms. But the bottom line is that the world's tropical heritage will be preserved.
Exactly how much forest can be preserved? Of the 11.8 million hectares sown to coffee worldwide in 2001, virtually all of it (except the 2.3 million hectares planted in Brazil) is in current or former rainforest. In other words, a global conversion to ethical coffee production would safeguard about nearly 10 million hectares of rainforest. Considering that fires and clear-cuts claim roughly 15 million hectares of rainforest each year, this could be a major move toward actually reversing rainforest destruction. It won't happen immediately, of course. In places where the natural forest has been completely cleared, it would take five to ten years to establish a durable stand of trees. The big question is whether there is enough demand for this "ethical" coffee to keep growers on the land and to encourage them to grow more than just coffee.
At a recent meeting of the International Coffee Organization, major coffee producers and buyers from around the world agreed to limit coffee production in order to boost the world price and help growers around the world stay in business-a move that some analysts think points to a paradigm shift in how coffee companies think about the crop. Ernesto Illy, president of illycaffe, a premium quality coffee company based in Italy, says that the industry understands that coffee drinkers care more and more about the quality of the coffee. "If you want to have beautiful, ripe, and mature, hand-picked cherries [coffee beans], then you have to assure the farmer a decent living," he says. Illycaffe often pays its growers double the world market price to assure such quality.
In some ways, this presents a "chicken-and-egg" dilemma. On one hand, major coffee companies often argue that even if they wanted to sell shade-grown or fair-trade coffee, there is not enough currently produced and certified to assure a reliable supply. On the other hand, most growers are unlikely to convert until someone shows them the money.
A few major European and American coffee houses, including Starbucks, have now joined the many smaller shops that are offering ethical coffee, triple-certified to be organic, grown in the shade, and fairly traded. These shops represent just a small fraction of the market compared with the major buyers worldwide, Proctor and Gamble (Folgers), Philip Morris (Maxwell House), and Nestle (Nescafe). In terms of the ethical coffee discussion, the big players-known as "the cans" in industry lingo-haven't even come to the table.
Which points to another chicken-and-egg dilemma. Coffee companies are generally unwilling to begin selling shade-grown coffee without some assurance that customers will buy it, and perhaps pay a bit more for it But there's precedent for thinking that with the help of a reasonable boost from promotion and advertising, a serious shift in demand is possible. With other products, consumer awareness of ethical or environmental implications has brought major changes in the market. Around the world, growing numbers of people are asking questions like, "Am I buying diamonds that financed warlords in Sierra Leone?" "Did kids in a sweatshop stitch together my T-shirt?" "Have these fresh-cut flowers been doused with banned pesticides?"
Humanitarian considerations aside, there may be some other very good reasons to care how your coffee is grown. "Coffee grown in the shade matures more gradually," says Ernesto Illy, "which makes it more aromatic and gives it a more powerful flavor." Ted Lingle, executive director of the Specialty Coffee Association of America, notes that "organic, shade-grown coffees are beginning to win a disproportionate number of cupping [tasting] competitions around the world."
Brian Halweil is a research associate at the Worldwatch Institute. He is author of "Farming in the Public Interest," in State of the World 2002 (Washington, DC: Worldwatch Institute, 2002). s that sell it , and the endangered tropical environment in which it grows.


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For years industry analysts have been predicting the "death" of radio. Satellite radio – Sirius XM has about 21 million subscribers – was supposed to be its demise in the first decade of this century. But one of the great benefits to predicting the future is that there's rarely a cost to being wrong; when events disprove a past prediction, simply move on to the next bit of sage prognostication.
The latest suspect in radio's impending extinction is Internet music services such as Spotify and Pandora that promise to offer a level of personalization and user control that commercial, or terrestrial, radio can't match. But radio stubbornly lives on: According to the research firm Arbitron, 190 million Americans ages 12 and older listen to radio on a weekly basis. What's more is that for musicians, despite the utility of YouTube, Twitter, or iTunes, the mass reach of radio is still the easiest way to break out big as an artist.
So what's happening in the strange new world of Internet music, and will the prognosticators ever be able to see their prophecy fulfilled? And what will be the effects for musicians?
Gone are the days when a few programmers could throw a music-streaming service online and be blithe about the legal consequences. Streaming music services such as Spotify and Rdio are now expected to make the necessary licensing deals before they enter the marketplace. These negotiations aren't always easy – Spotify came to the United States several years after launching in Europe in part because of difficulties nailing down licenses – but they are cheaper than the costs of litigation.
Licensing deals signal a new era of cooperation between Internet music services and record labels and artists agencies, who, in most cases, no longer view sites like Pandora as a threat to the bottom line.
"In all cases, we've managed to negotiate royalty deals without litigation," says Richard Conlon, a senior vice president at BMI, one of three organizations that collect royalties for US songwriters and publishers.
Companies like BMI keep an eye out for emerging music start-ups, but these new music services often seek out the necessary partners, both to establish legitimacy in the eyes of users and record companies and to signal to venture capitalists that they're deserving of investment. "For the vast majority of major entities, they've come to us," says Mr. Conlon, adding that BMI, in 1995, became the first company to establish a license covering the usage of music on the Internet.
For now, streaming services are largely divided into two arenas. First, there are algorithm-driven Internet jukeboxes – Grooveshark, Pandora, Last.fm – that play songs based on users' tastes. Second, there are on-demand services – Spotify, Rhapsody, MOG, Rdio – that allow users to play any song in the service's library. Pricing plans, ranging from free of charge to $9.99 a month, determine the number and kind of ads a user faces. In some cases, a free subscription limits how many hours of music users may listen to per month. Finally, all streaming services promise access to enormous catalogs of songs that, while containing some notable omissions, are far larger than any listener's purchased music library.
For users of jukebox services, the main complaint is often a lack of control – i.e., a listener can determine a song style or genre but cannot make a playlist. For services like Spotify, the criticism is the opposite: a lack of Pandora-like randomness.
But some users are stepping up to solve that problem. Recently, Andy Smith, a programmer, built a Web application called Echofi, which essentially uses a Pandora-like algorithm to give Spotify users recommendations. The result is something like a merging of the two services: Pandora's recommendation features with Spotify's on-demand capabilities. Expect streaming services to jump on Mr. Smith's innovation (in fact, iTunes "genius" playlist function already has).
The streaming music landscape is heavily populated but without a clear ruler. Each Pandora or Spotify is heralded as a game changer, but no one service has proved ascendant. While the overall trend is toward the consumer being the curator of his or her own experience (and sharing that experience through social networks), the magical balance – if there even is one – remains elusive.
This lack of an industry kingpin means many radio stations aren't worried about Internet streaming encroaching on their territory. "I think they're complementary media," says Conlon. "You're going to go to radio for an experience that's different."
Jennifer Ferro, general manager of KCRW, a public radio station in Los Angeles, agrees. "In a land of automation and algorithms, nothing can replicate the passion of a DJ talking about music they love," she says. "Curation is even more important now that technology and services such as these have provided an overwhelming amount of access to music."
Radio stations adapt to the Web
Still, it's now rare to go to a radio station's website and not be able to download episodes of shows or to listen to a live stream of that station. In many ways, terrestrial radio is moving toward the polestar of Internet streaming. KCRW offers online streaming, an iPad app, and a 24-hour music broadcast that uses some familiar elements but with the KCRW imprimatur. Such hybrid sites indicate that the cross-platform future of radio may be more collaborative than competitive. "We would love to partner with any of [these] services and are always looking for compelling reasons to do so," says Ms. Ferro.
Clear Channel, the biggest player in commercial radio, has jumped directly into the streaming market with iHeartRadio, which allows users to listen to live terrestrial radio stations or to create custom stations based on an artist or song. Given Clear Channel's industry dominance, iHeartRadio may have the resources to take off, but it may be threatened by its own insider status – does Clear Channel want to innovate itself out of business? – and by the fact that early adopters of streaming services gravitate toward Web-native entries like Spotify and Turntable.fm that have found heavy support among music bloggers and other online tastemakers.
While music lis-teners now benefit from a raft of choices, the losers may be the musicians themselves. Agreements between labels and Internet music providers can be opaque, if not secret. Some companies remain diffident about what kind of service they want to be. For example, Turntable.fm – which allows user DJs to "spin" tracks for a room full of listeners who then vote on what they like, earning points for the DJs – initially claimed it didn't need to negotiate licenses, arguing that they fell under an exception for "noninteractive" services. With their audience exploding and more venture capitalists expressing interest, they changed tack.
While in most cases streaming services have established agreements with labels and artists organizations, the payouts can still be meager, which has earned pungent criticism from musicians and groups such as BASCA, which represents British artists. A number of independent labels have removed their music from Spotify, arguing that the payments are insufficient.
It can be difficult to tell how much musicians will get paid – the money has to go from the streaming service to the rights organization and then to the songwriter and publisher; record companies may also earn a cut – but the consensus is that it's not much. In early September, the indie band Uniform Notion posted on its Tumblr blog a now widely shared post explaining how much they earn from purchases – from sites like eMusic, Amazon, and iTunes – and from streaming. For a single play of a song on Spotify, the band would earn about $0.004. Listening to the entire album would earn them 4 cents.
Bruce Houghton, president of booking agency Skyline Music and editor of the music-technology blog Hypebot, argues that patience is in order. "While many wish there were more transparency, most understand that we're in the early stages of music streaming and are optimistic that enough will become willing to pay for subscriptions so it becomes a significant revenue stream."
BMI's Conlon offered similar thoughts, saying that "the royalty payments when you get to the end of a quarter might be small. The good news is that they're there."
Streaming revenue for musicians
Spotify and other such services have created revenue sources for some musicians who previously could only count on their music being pirated or never heard at all. "I think it's done an amazing and wonderful job with flattening the playing field," says Conlon. "We get e-mails every quarter from writers who've never seen money before. The long tail is alive and well," he says, adding that rates may be negotiated upward in the future.
For now, that's good news for commercial radio, whose industry power remains significant. Only a few car companies offer access to in-dash streaming services – and only on a few models. According to Arbitron, the number of drivers streaming music in-car tops out at about 6 percent (for Pandora). Eighty-four percent of drivers still listen to radio.
But many streaming services didn't exist just a few years ago, and they're especially popular with young consumers. Auto companies are sure to find a way to satisfy the demand to bring Spotify or Rhapsody on the road, and cellular companies will be expected to help. Says Conlon, "When we have pervasive Wi-Fi" – omnipresent 4G or faster connections – "I think we're going to see some very cool stuff."

subset: commoncrawl


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Reunion Blues has been making the world's best gig bags for almost 40 years, and the new RBX gig bag line represents a fusion of our passion for quality and the desire to make an affordable, lightweight, and protective gig bag perfect for musicians on the go. The essence of this passion is represented in its sleek aesthetic design, from the Quilted Chevron exterior to the padded Blue Luster lining. The RBX protection system features a lightweight multi-layer foam surround with strategically placed impact panels, and a dense foam neck cradle, and endpin rest that keep the guitar safe and secure. Padded backpack straps, an integrated subway grip, and Reunion Blues signature Zero G handle make getting around town a breeze. A large but low profile pocket includes a cable loop and organizer and provides ample storage without adding bulk. And best of all, the RBX gig bag features Reunion Blues Limited Lifetime Warranty.
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What started as a simple string and pedal sales catalog has grown exponentially over the past thirty years. The early days were a time where catalogs didn't have much of a presence in the industry, but what began as a college dorm room operation grew rapidly. In 1986 we moved to a full product offering and 64-page catalog, which over the years has grown to 162 pages. Join the AMS family and get your free catalog now!
Copyright © 1996-2019 American Musical Supply, Inc. All rights reserved. American Musical Supply reserves the right to correct pricing and/or product specifications in the event of typographical errors found in our print catalog or on our website. If a product is listed at an incorrect price due to such errors or because of inaccurate information received from a supplier, American Musical Supply shall have the right to refuse or cancel any orders placed, whether or not the order has been confirmed and your credit card charged. If your credit card has already been charged for the purchase and your order is canceled, American Musical Supply will issue a credit to your credit card account in the amount of the charge.


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As you may have read in my mini-course the correct descending body position involves standing and staying centered with your weight on the pedals (not getting way back), legs relaxed and bent (not squeezing your seat) and arms bent in a half push-up position. Remember, I didn't invent these skills I have been fortunate enough to learn from the best (World Champions Marla Streb, Greg Minnaar, etc.) and learn from the great riders that I coach (Ross Schnell, Mitch Ropelato, etc.). I am simply passing on what I have learned.
New Video!
In these videos taken by a student in my Philly mountain bike camp a few years ago you can really see one huge reason (there are many) why centered is good and getting back is bad.
In this how to mountain bike video, it shows me riding off a curb with my weight back and arms extended. Notice how I get "pitched forward" as my arms are yanked down the curb. Also notice how my entire body weight drops the same height as the curb, Ker plunk! Imagine if the obstacle was a little bigger and I was on steep hill! Imagine how much worse this would of been if I was squeezing the seat with my thighs. Have you ever had the feeling of being pitched forward on a descent?
In this video, I am centered on my mountain bike with all my weight on my pedals and my arms bent, ready to extend my arms and legs so my entire weight doesn't drop off the curb. I simply extend my arms and then my legs and the bulk of my weight (from my hips up) just keeps moving forward on the same plane. This is a much smoother, in control and in balance way to descend. Again, imagine if it was a steep hill and bigger drop.
Here is a shot of me staying centered on a much bigger drop in Moab in 2004.
Now go out and do the same two drills yourself and compare the results!


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The Celebrity 100
#66 Derek Jeter - The 2009 Celebrity 10006.03.09, 06:00 PM EDT
Jeter's contract status promises to be a hot-button issue with Yankee fans over the next year; the Yankee captain will earn $21 million next season in the last year of his 10-year, $189 million contract.
|Previous: Larry David
|Next: Serena Williams
© Ed Betz/AP
Jeter's contract status promises to be a hot-button issue with Yankee fans over the next year; the Yankee captain will earn $21 million next season in the last year of his 10-year, $189 million contract. Baseball's top endorser added Gillette last year to an impressive roster of corporate partners that includes Nike, Gatorade, Avon and Upper Deck.
Sort list By: Rank | Name | Pay | Web Hits | Press Mentions | TV Mentions
Celebrity 100 Videos
Jolie: Most Powerful Celebrity
Angelina Jolie's fame goes unchallenged, even by Oprah.
Jeff Dunham: Beyond Stand-Up
Comedian on his rise to stardom and expanding empire.
Brand It Like Beck
Glenn Beck on his cross-platform success and the state of punditry.
Being Diddy
The hip hop mogul on the power of branding and selling a lifestyle.
Natalie Portman: Hollywood 2.0
The Star Wars actress on how the internet will shape the movie industry.
How To Be A Celeb
Forbes Reporter Quentin Hardy caught the eye of the Paparazzi. You can, too.
Earnings estimates are for June 2008 to June 2009. Includes dollars earned solely from entertainment income. Management, agent and attorney fees have not been deducted. Figures rounded off where appropriate. Sources include Billboard, Pollstar, Adams Media Research, Nielsen SoundScan and Nielsen BookScan. Rankings are generated by combining earnings with other metrics: Web mentions on Google press clips compiled by LexisNexis; TV/radio mentions by Factiva; and number of times a celebrity's face appeared on the cover of 25 major consumer magazines.
Intelligent Investing | Data | Knowledge | Insight | Wisdom
CEO Book Club
Book Review Jacqueline Novogratz' 'The Blue Sweater'
Book Review
Kapferer and Bastien's 'The Luxury Strategy'
Lauren Sherman
Jean-Noel Kapferer and Vincent Bastien's ''The Luxury Strategy.''


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Two Florida businessmen didn't think it was possible that the Cubs might relocate their Spring Training site from Arizona to here until they looked the team's new owners, the Ricketts family, in the eyes.
Now, Craig Bouchard and Gary Price have partnered with others in this southwest Florida coastal city in an effort to convince the Cubs to make Collier County their new home.
"I thought we were a long shot," Bouchard said in an interview in his Hinsdale, Ill., home last week. "But in my heart, as we sit here today, I believe we are the favorite, because it makes business sense in the long term."
If the Cubs did move to Florida, they would be reversing a trend. Since 2003, four teams have relocated their spring base from Florida to Arizona, and the Cincinnati Reds will become the fifth when they join the Cleveland Indians in Goodyear, Ariz., next year. The drawback to Florida is the long drives between sites. If the Blue Jays play the Cardinals in Jupiter, they have a 4-hour, 45-minute bus ride from Dunedin. The longest trip in Arizona? It's 2 hours, 55 minutes from Goodyear to Tucson.
The idea that the Cubs would leave Arizona, where they've trained since the 1950s, was initially considered a negotiating tactic. The Cubs' contract with Mesa, Ariz., and HoHoKam Stadium allows the team to buy out of its deal after 2012.
"As a businessman, the first conversation I had with [Cubs team president] Crane Kenney was, 'Hey Crane, we want to make a great offer, but we have to be more than a bargaining chip,'" said Bouchard, co-founder of Esmark, Inc., who splits time between the Chicago area and Naples.
"[Kenney] said, 'Craig, you're not a bargaining chip,'" Bouchard said. "[He said,] 'Make your best offer. We'll consider it.' That's fair, that's honest, I believe it, and that's how we began the conversation."
Why would the Cubs leave the Valley of the Sun for the Sunshine State? Check the stats.
"The best answer I can give you," said Price, a Naples city councilman, "is I got the feeling from the meeting we had with the Ricketts family and Crane was that they want to win a World Series. Sixteen out of the last 19 World Series winners train in Florida."
Think about that, Cubs fans.
"I'm a numbers guy," Price said Tuesday. "If 16 out of 19 are World Series winners that train in Florida, that's a compelling argument. There are a lot of esoteric reasons behind why they'd be in Arizona or Florida, but if I'm starting from the beginning -- and I look at it this way for the Cubs is that, 'We have a tremendous history in Arizona for 40 years. What does the next 40 years look like?'"
Which is what the Ricketts family is doing.
"We're going to be open-minded," Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts said on Oct. 30 when his family was introduced at Wrigley Field. "We're going to look at some options. We're going to look at what's the best solution for the team."
They're looking ahead and trying to decide what's best for the Cubs and their fans for the next 30, 40, 50 years.
"If you have a chance to push a reset button, whether that's to stay in Arizona or come to Florida, those statistics are not insignificant," Price said of the lopsided number of World Series champs who prep in Florida.
"I also believe that we have a significant advantage in the family experience and what's here besides baseball," he said. "One of the conversations, or jokes I make, and it's not disrespectful of Arizona, but when you look at what's available there, how are the beaches?"
Some would say Arizona is one big beach without an ocean.
"I think [Naples] is the best location in Florida," said Price, a family wealth adviser at Fifth Avenue Advisors. "The message I'd send out to Cubs fans is this is the most remarkable place in Florida to visit in terms of the beaches and everglades. We're a little over three hours to Disney [in Orlando]. It's amazing what you could do if you came for a week besides baseball, which is why we want them here. We're in a unique place and a very special place."
The list of possible sites for the Cubs in Florida has been trimmed to three locations in Collier County. All are near Interstate 75. None are in Naples proper; the city is only 12 square miles. The proposal requires about 120 contiguous acres to build a 15,000-seat stadium, six practice fields, an upgraded training facility and parking. There would be room for hotels and restaurants. It would be a Wrigley Village with beach access close by.
"The Ricketts family is a true family in the best sense of the word, and they're thinking about 'What does our fan base want?' and the fan base is families," Bouchard said. "They want the family to come down and have a comfortable vacation, watch the Cubs and have fun in all the other things that you do."
The Cubs set a Cactus League home attendance record this spring, drawing more than 195,000 to HoHoKam. They held the old mark, set in 2005. The team also has the longest stretch without winning a World Series, last doing so in 1908. Despite that, Cubs fans are passionate and loyal, and those are the folks Bouchard and Price hope to lure to Florida with the team.
"Tom Ricketts, if I were him, and I think he's like this, thinks of his brand and his franchise as No. 1 in the game," Bouchard said. "The Cubs are the kings of the hill, and that's the way they should think about it."
The other top teams in baseball? According to Bouchard, it's the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. And where do they train? Just up I-75 from Naples in Tampa and Fort Myers, respectively.
Bouchard said the Ricketts family should want to build on the Cubs' brand, strengthen the fan base created by generations who grew up watching on WGN-TV, and, ideally, win more games and reach the playoffs on a consistent basis. If you want to be the best, you should compete against the best.
"What do you do then in the spring if that's the overall objective?" Bouchard said. "You plant yourself somewhere near the highway that connects the Yankees, Red Sox and Cubs. You hang with the other top guys. You don't play the White Sox in the spring -- and nothing against the White Sox. You play the Yankees and Red Sox."
The Cubs are worth fighting for. A recent survey by Arizona officials showed they bring $52 million to the state each year.
Price said they are looking at funding the project privately, and not relying on municipal support. Those details are still being finalized, and they are the opposite of what is being proposed in Arizona, which is counting on municipal backing in tough economic times.
The Cubs aren't looking for someplace to set up camp for six to eight weeks for Spring Training and then bolt. They want to build a year-round operation that will provide state-of-the-art facilities for the Minor League system in hopes of improving player development.
Bouchard and Price were competitive athletes. Bouchard, 55, played baseball at Illinois State. Price, 44, played baseball and football in high school and competed in fencing at Ohio State. Both are competitive businessmen, both want to win, but both are quick to say they will not get into a bidding war over the Cubs.
"Arizona needs to be respected here," Bouchard said. "They've done a fantastic thing for the Cubs for 50 years. They're going to try their best and if they make the best offer, they should win. This is all honorable and fair. We're all Cubs fans, so it's a good place to start."
There is a black-and-white vintage photo of Wrigley Field, circa late 1930s, in the conference room of Price's offices on tony Fifth Avenue in downtown Naples. The Florida group says the numbers will show there are more Chicagoans -- and Cubs fans -- in the Naples area than there are in Mesa. They come for the golf, weather, restaurants, art, the philharmonic and, of course, the beaches.
"The demographic right now for the person visiting [Naples] is 29 to 54," Price said. "We're not all 70 years old -- and there's nothing wrong with that.
"You talk about having a Major League team come into an area, and you wonder if you'd have a base to support your team -- this is a terrific base," he said. "Not only is there a bias in favor of Chicago, from what I've seen, but you have a very active group of people who have money to spend, and they're very inviting of tourists."
The Naples group has created a Web site, floridacubs.com, to garner feedback. The response has been fast and supportive. Price admits that when he first met Bouchard to talk about the possibility of bringing the Cubs to Collier County, it seemed like a "dream." Neither had even considered such a thing.
And now?
"It's turned into something very real, very exciting," Price said.


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What No Warlock Twinking Post?
It's in the works.. but I am really looking forward to your Warlock Twink battleground strats… I mean Destro Locks and Fire Mages have to share the love around right?
Anyway, on with today's post…
When I blogged about my Hoarding Alliance character, I was asked where my Quest log screen shot came from.
The short answer was out of a website that specialises in WoW character "profiles", in this case rpgOutfitter.
Since then it has occurred to me that it is probably worth discussing in more detail the various character profilers I have used, as well as asking you about those you recommend and why.
So over the coming weeks, I will be reporting in on the following character profilers.
and of course WoWArmory (and it's offshoots)
I am interested in hearing from you about others, either premade/3rd party, or self hosts. This can either be in the form of recommendations to try one out (3rd party) or a blog post of you own. If you want to tell me about a self hosted character profiler, then you will definitely need to write the post yourself, either shoot me a file to post, or giev me a link to your own blog.
That's it for the Introduction, stay tuned for the next installment when I give you some meat around rpgOutfitter.
Gnomer & Out!


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This record was released to much fanfare and, sadly, mixed reviews a couple of months back by Temporary Residence. I must admit I don't absolutely love this record either, but one thing we can all agree on is the exquisite, lavish artwork and packaging for the vinyl version — 'A Super Deluxe 2 x LP featuring stunning quadruple gatefold packaging with a massive fold-out poster, postcard, vinyl etching & free mp3 download. See for yourself in the pics below
Four years is a long time to wait for a new EITS album, and we've pulled out all the stops to make it as worth the wait as possible. Aside from being a strong contender for their best album, it's packaged in the most outrageously deluxe artwork we've dared since the Eluvium box set. Housed (literally, it's a house) in a 10-panel quadruple gatefold cardboard jacket, with an enormous 18-panel full-color double-sided poster, and a full-color double-sided postcard – then all of that is tucked neatly inside of a full-color double-sided slipcase! The CD and vinyl versions are packaged identically, only differing in size. Both CD and vinyl come in THREE different artwork variants – the interiors of artwork are different colors. While supplies last, there are 3 different colored vinyl variants that match the corresponding colors of artwork. There's also a killer engraving on Side D. Words can't express how over-the-top beautiful this thing is, so soon enough we'll have to make a video to show everybody. Trust us, it's bananas.
Source: http://temporaryresidence.com/
Check these pictures out to see for yourself


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Battleground Poll: Hike taxes on rich
An American appetite for tax hikes gives President Barack Obama leverage in fiscal cliff negotiations.
A new POLITICO/George Washington University Battleground Poll finds that 60 percent of respondents support raising taxes on households that earn more than $250,000 a year and 64 percent want to raise taxes on large corporations.
Story Continued Below
Even 39 percent of Republicans support raising taxes on households making more than $250,000. Independents favor such a move by 21 percentage points, 59 to 38 percent.
Only 38 percent buy the GOP argument that raising taxes on households earning over $250,000 per year will have a negative impact on the economy. Fifty-eight percent do not.
( Also on POLITICO: Options narrow to avert fiscal cliff)
"Democrats really have a winning issue here, and we should drive it hard," said Celinda Lake, the Democratic pollster who helped conduct the bipartisan poll. "We're in an era now where there's a lot of cynicism about trickle-down economics."
Congress and the White House are currently battling over whether to allow the George W. Bush tax cuts — on middle-income and wealthy Americans — to expire at the end of this year, at the same time that massive spending cuts might occur. The so-called "fiscal cliff" could spark a recession just when the economy is beginning to recover.
During the 2012 elections, Obama campaigned on making the wealthy pay their fair share and has since claimed a mandate for raising taxes on the rich.
According to the poll — taken from from Dec. 2 to Dec. 6 — 69 percent of respondents oppose raising taxes on small businesses that earn more than $250,000 — a group that the GOP is trying to protect with its push to extend the Bush tax cuts.
( Also on POLITICO: Battleground Poll: No obvious 2016 GOP leader)
Republican pollster Ed Goeas, who also helped conduct the poll, sees a contradiction among those who say they don't want to raise taxes on small businesses yet don't think raising taxes on those earning over $250,000 will hurt the economy.
"Voters understand the problem, but they have come to no conclusions or solutions," he said Sunday. "If there's any belief on the part of Obama that he has in any way a mandate, … this data would show that he does not."
For the first time, after the fiscal cliff dominated the conversation during the month following the election, government spending and the budget deficit narrowly edged out "the economy" as the most important issue to voters.
( PHOTOS: Fiscal cliff's key players)
Three in four voters want to "cut government spending across the board," but 59 percent oppose making significant cuts to the defense budget and 46 percent support ending foreign aid.
The slightest majority backs reducing Social Security and Medicare benefits for seniors that have higher incomes, but 64 percent oppose raising the retirement age to begin collecting Social Security benefits.


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There was something for everybody at the sixth-annual Taste of Lee event at the First Baptist Church in downtown Fort Myers on Saturday.
Whether it was standard tropical fare such as pineapple and coconut, or something out of the ordinary such as lychee or sapote, or if you just wanted herbs or honey, there was something for the nearly 2,000 people who packed the gymnasium.
The best thing? It was all grown in Southwest Florida.
Article Photos
Chuck Ballaro
The First Baptist Church in Fort Myers was packed for the sixth annual Taste of Lee Saturday.
"It was started to give a gift to the community so we could educate them on what grows in Southwest Florida, and we bring the unusual that nobody has seen or tasted before," said event chairperson Rachel Singletary.
And although Mother Nature cut down on the amount of fruit the event offered, there was still plenty of interesting edibles to go around.
The $2 admission gave people numerous free samples of many home-grown fruits and vegetables. A long line of people waited on items like mango ice cream, black beans and collard greens.
It also gave people the chance to bring home some rare fruit trees and grow their favorite fruit at home.
Ellett Johnson of Fort Myers bought a guava tree so she could grow the fruit she used to eat when she lived in Jamaica.
"This is a great opportunity and I wish more people would come out. They need to make this a bigger event," Johnson said.
This event was a collaboration between the University of Florida/IFAS Lee County Extension and the Caloosa Rare Fruit Exchange, which brought much of the uncommon fruits and taught many of the visitors about what they grew.
Among the local growers was Suncoast Estates in North Fort Myers, which brought herbs grown from its garden at the community center that numerous volunteers helped in the growth of.
"People are finding out they can grow herbs in Florida all year round, not just in the winter," said Bobbie Robertson, director of the Suncoast garden.
Suncoast had a variety of herbs such as celantro, dill, rosemary, peppermint, oregano, thyme, basil and much more, Robertson said.
They also brought small peppers which are grown on a bush in Brazil. East Fort Myers resident Karen Bell hesitated to try one, thinking they would be hot.
Volunteer Bridgette Robbins convinced her to try and was impressed by what she tasted.
"It's not hot. It's very sweet," Bell said. "This whole thing is wonderful. I love what they do."
Farmers and fishers brought their edibles for sale including cheese, honey, herbs, fruits, vegetables and seafood. Free classes were also offered by experts in herbs, making teas, growing tropical fruits, food preservation, growing tropical fruit trees, edible natives and more.
The event featured hourly raffles and a Carmen Miranda look-alike contest, won by Debbie Parramore who wore her headpiece of fruit like a crown, extolling the virtues of this event.
"I was here last year and I enjoyed it so much I decided to enter the contest. I really liked the avocado and mango ice cream," Parramore said. "I had no idea this could be grown locally and native to Florida. I bought seeds and look forward to using them."


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Fraud prevention
We value our customers and we take pride in delivering a quick secure and reliable service and take all possible steps to protect our customers where possible. However, it is important that as a customer you protect yourself from fraudsters who will use many different tactics to get your money.
We're a great way to send money to those that you trust, not to someone that you don't know.
- Only send payment to persons that you have verified including companies that use Money Transfer Services such as ours.
- Remember you are responsible for verifying the identity of the intended beneficiary or the person to whom you are making the transfer to.
- MAYZUS FS strictly recommend to send money only to the person you know and can not accept responsibility for loss of funds as a result of a scam or fraud.
- Whatever the type transaction you are making through our services it is your responsibility to verify the legitimacy of the beneficiary to whom you are transfer money to. eg. the seller of a product or the provider of a service.
- MAYZUS FS can not accept responsibility for failure of your chosen beneficiary for the non delivery of goods or services nor for the quality of the goods or standards of the service from the beneficiary.
- MAYZUS FS is not responsible if you transfer money to a wrong person or a wrong account. There may be individuals trying to commit crime using fraudulent schemes using money transfer service companies and we recommend that you check before you send money or before making a transaction as 'if the proposal is too good to be true, it probably is'.
10 Things to help you avoid being a victim of fraud:
Don't allow yourself to be pushed into a hurried decision.
No matter what you're told to the contrary, the reality is that at least 99 percent of everything that's a good deal today will still be a good deal a week from now! The other one percent isn't generally worth risking your money to find out.
There may be times when you'll want to make a prompt decision, but those occasions shouldn't involve an irrevocable financial commitment to purchase a product or make an investment that you're not familiar with from a person or company that you do not know.
Always request written information, by mail (not email) about the product, service, investment or charity and about the organisation that's offering it.
For legitimate firms, this wouldn't be a problem but swindlers, however, may not want to give you time for adequate consideration, may not have written material available, or may not want to risk a run-in with legal or regulatory authorities by putting fraudulent statements in writing.
Don't make any investment or purchase you don't fully understand.
Economy has the diversity of investment vehicles and other products available but it's a diversity that includes the bad as well as the good. Unless you fully understand what you'd be buying or investing, you can be badly burned. Swindlers intentionally seek out individuals who don't know what they are doing! They often attempt to flatter prospects into thinking they are making an informed decision.
Check out the company or organisation. Never assume a firm wouldn't provide you with information, references, or regulatory contacts unless the information was accurate and reliable, that's precisely what swindlers want you to assume. They know that most people never bother to follow through.
Most victims of fraud contact a regulatory authority or law enforcement agency or the bank/financial institution after they've lost their money in other words when it's too late. It's far better to make the contact and obtain whatever information is available while they still had their money.
If an investment or major purchase is involved, request that information also be sent to your accountant, financial advisor, banker, or attorney for evaluation and an opinion. Swindlers don't want you to seek a second opinion. Their reluctance or evasiveness could be your tip-off.
Even small amounts are such as retainer or deposits to secure an investment proposal, hold the offer while you think about it, or for the product to be put on hold or for postage costs so you don't miss out on that 'Great Deal' is a target for swindlers. Think of it like this if 1000 people send $30 to a criminal that's $30,000.
Ask what recourse you would have if you make a purchase and aren't satisfied.
If there's a guarantee or refund provision, it's best to have it in writing and be satisfied that the business will stand behind its guarantee before you make a final financial commitment. Remember swindlers will tell you all the things you want hear, they need to convince you to hand over your money and have no intention of standing behind any promises or guarantees they offer you.
Beware of testimonials or reference provided to you specially ones that seem rehearsed or that give no way of checking out. They may be fictitious or involve nothing more than a member of the criminals network or simply be someone paid a fee to speak well of the company or individual and the product or service being offered to you.
Don't provide personal financial information over the phone unless you are absolutely certain the caller has a bona fide need to know. That goes especially for your credit card numbers and bank account information. The only time you should give anyone your credit card number is if you've decided to make a purchase and want to charge it.
If someone asks for payment via 'money transfer' as it's faster than to their bank account (chances are they don't have a bank account) cash is anonymous and criminals don't want any paper trails or electronic banking tracing the criminal activity back to them.
Many business offer online systems to take payments on their behalf so check with the company there using as if this is a swindler they would have lied to the company that they are using too and your information could help catch them.
If necessary, hang up. If you're simply not interested, if you become subject to high-pressure sales tactics, if you can't obtain the information you want or get evasive answers, or if you hear your own better judgement whispering that you may be making a serious mistake, just say good-bye.


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Babel Fish Needed
You know that optical illusion that looks like an old woman one way, and a young girl the other?
Well, this cake is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike that.
So far I've assembled a list of 42 different words that this might be, including "@Loehoe," "Soekuc,"and "Slartibartfast." And yes, so far as I know, this is supposed to be "English."
Anyway, I've given up.
In fact, I can't help but be impressed by this individual's cryptography skills. Hey NSA, I've got your next Enigma machine right here! Think about it: for the cost of a piping bag and some chocolate, you'll never have to fear Wikileaks again. Eh?
So long, Jackie W., and thanks for all the fish.
Achtung!!! Es tut mir leid; Ich bin eine Sachertorte! Fahrvergnügen! Neenër neenër!


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The U.S. Department of Energy finally approved Minnesota's "Trade In & Save Appliance Program" (aka Dollars for Dishwashers, Cash for Appliances, etc.) with a target start date of March 10, 2010.
Part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the program will offer approximately 25,000 rebates for consumers who buy an Energy Star-rated replacement for the following appliances:
- Refrigerators ($200 with proof of recycling; $100 for purchase only)
- Freezers ($100 with proof of recycling; $50 for purchase only)
- Clothes washers ($200)
- Dishwashers ($150)
Energy Star appliances use 20 percent less energy than the standard model. As shown above, refrigerators and freezers must be recycled to receive the full rebate amount. The reason for this is to encourage consumers to take these energy-suckers completely off the grid, rather than using them as spares or selling them. A fridge purchased in the 1990s carries more than double the energy costs of a new Energy Star model.
Warners' Stellian recycles (and delivers) appliances for free with minimum purchase ($499).
Rebates are limited to one per household and cannot be applied to previous purchases. Check the Energy Star Web site and the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE) for additional rebates.
Don't overlook the money saved by replacing sooner. A refrigerator, washer and dishwasher bought in the '90s cost $207 more per year in utility costs than current, energy-efficient models.
Warners' Stellian has officially partnered with the state Office of Energy Security to offer in-kind services that help keep administrative costs down to ensure the maximum amount of rebates for the approximately $5 million our state will receive.
Sign up for our "Cash for Appliances" e-mail list and we'll keep you informed of the latest state and federal news about the rebate program.
To sign up, simply e-mail me at firstname.lastname@example.com with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line.


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sunfly brauchte ein neues Logo Design und hat einen Wettbewerb auf 99designs gestartet.
Aus 127 Designs von 48 Designern wurde eine Gewinner gewählt.
Sunfly is the largest provider of high quality karaoke CDG and DVDs. We need a new logo that exudes the fun, excitement and entertainment that only karaoke can provide without being cheesy and while portraying the high standard of quality that Sunfly represents.
Desired Color Scheme:
Charcoal and Yellow prefered, but not required.
Desired Style:
Fun, Clean, Quality - something with an iconic functionality, where we end up representing the brand with only the icon.
Accepted File Formats:
Vector Formats (.eps, .pdf or .ai)
Sunfly's image must appeal to more than just the karaoke enthusiast. It must be fun, entertaining and have the look and feel of high quality.
Let yourself be creative and get quality feedback frequently. Sunfly has been creating high quality and has the largest library of karaoke music tracks with vocals, lyrics and full motion background videos for the past 16 years. Sunfly is expanding into new digital and international markets and needs a fresh new look that illustrates the fun and excitement of karaoke without the corny stigma that Karaoke can often have attached with it.
Sunfly sponsors events and was the key sponsor in the Karaoke World Championships. If your logo is chosen, it will be seen by a large international audience. The logo must be internationally friendly and recent fades and trends should be avoided so that the logo isn't quickly outdated.  The Sunfly logo must be easily attributed to a high quality and almost prestiguous image. This being said, it does not mean that the logo should look overly corporate. The ideal logo would have an iconic look that would distinguish the brand and could be seperately identified as being Sunfly without the name attached.
 The colour suggestions are dark charcoal grey and yellow, but otherwise creativity is welcomed.
 Logos will be expected in high resolution Vector formats There is the opportunity for further artwork development for the Sunfly website, marketing materials and product packaging.
Please don't hesitate to contact for any further information or clarification.
Finden Sie heraus, wie ein Designwettbewerb funktioniert, oder lernen Sie mehr über unsere Logo-Design-Angebote.


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The last two races were incredibly testing for you, do you think you have driven better this year than last year because in a way you've not had the best car all season?
Sebastian Vettel:
I think, first off, I said it many times, but I'm not bothered by the fact that people look back to last year and say it was easy, because it wasn't and it wasn't straightforward. The results suggest maybe it was, but it wasn't always straightforward. We didn't go to the track expecting to win and of course there was only the chance not to win because everything was so good. We had to work very, very hard for our success last year. This year obviously it was closer with the other teams, so instead of finishing second, third or fourth you then sometimes we finished fifth or eighth and it means you to look back and say that every single point really matters, even the times when you're not competitive to win. I think overall we had a very competitive car, we won the Constructors' Championship, so Mark and myself collected more points than any other team, we secured that with a race to go. But surely I can see that there was more excitement, there was more excitement inside the car as well, if you come from the back of the field and you have to overtake people, last year we started the race always from a great position, and didn't have to overtake so many people.
Christian said earlier that he was praising your mental strength given that people try to get under your skin - could you tell us what he was talking about?
Sebastian Vettel:
I said on Sunday after the race that in a way the hardest thing is to win after you have won, so winning after winning because you get the attention and the pressure can mean you are likely to focus on how to win again, rather than focusing on the small steps it takes to win in the first place. Obviously we won he Championship last year after 2010 and won it this year again, so I don't want to praise ourselves but I think we have done a couple of things right.
Has that attention ever become too much?
Sebastian Vettel:
Well if there wouldn't be attention, then you would not be here! So of course there's the element of pressure in that regard and on top of that obviously it's always getting more and more tense at the end of a year depending if you are fighting for the Championship. Sometimes it's hard to be focused but I always try really to go step by step. Sometimes there are rumours going around, but the most important thing is that you focus on yourself and remain yourself - you don't try to be something that you are not because I think it just distracts and that takes energy away. I just focus on doing the best job I can.
How is it to come back to the factory today?
Sebastian Vettel:
It's really fantastic. When you go around the factory and meet everyone involved with the team today and think about what they have achieved as one big force working together, then it's very special. All the hours that everyone works and the effort that goes in from every single person - many spend a lot of time away from their families at the factory and the track. It's great to be able to come back here and thank everyone for everything they have done and achieved as a group together. It's still not been many hours since we were in Brazil - it was only on Sunday - but many of the team are back working, still pushing hard and it's incredible to see.


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Sandy Hook students get chance to smile at Sikorsky airport
STRATFORD -- The students visiting Sikorsky Memorial Airport on Friday looked like any bunch of students on a school trip.
As they toured a hangar looking at classic aircraft, they raced under a plane's wings, acted as if they were pilots and looked a little bored as a volunteer explained the history of one of the planes.
But this wasn't just any school group.
Two weeks after a shooting massacre at their school left 26 dead, about 20 Sandy Hook Elementary School students visited the Bridgeport-owned airport for what organizers hoped would be a break from the sadness still palpable in Newtown.
Some of the students were wearing yellow T-shirts with an image of a green ribbon and the declaration, "Love is louder than violence."
"If we can provide an hour with a big smile on their faces and one happy memory at the end of this year, then it's all worth it," said Drew King, the executive director of the Connecticut Air and Space Center, who helped put the event together.
King pointed to his 11-month-old son sleeping in a stroller next to him, saying the boy made him all the more appreciative of being able to help out in some way.
Inside the hangar, the students took turns pretend-piloting an old Hiller helicopter. At one point, some parents gently encouraged one boy to give up the controls to a trio of girls waiting patiently outside the cockpit.
On the tarmac, a silver 1940s-era Beechcraft Model 18 landed. "I see it, I see it, I see it!" one boy shouted, as others dashed from inside the hangar to get a better view.
Once the plane stopped, the kids and parents went over for a closer look. The students took turns crowding into the eight-seat plane.
"That's what it's here for," said Nick Tramontano, the owner of the plane, who flew it down from Oxford so the students could see it.
"As long as they don't take any of it home," he added with a laugh.
In a different hangar, the students and their parents gathered around a table covered with craft supplies, drawing airplanes and building paper airplanes.
"It's a wonderful way to focus on something and to give them an opportunity to see something they haven't seen before," said Becky Samberg, a Newtown parent who helped coordinate the event.
As she spoke, her sons -- one a second-grader at Sandy Hook and one a sixth-grader -- threw their paper planes to see whose went farther. When the planes landed, the boys hurried to pick them up and launch them again.


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Canada's Car Culture Isn't as Bad as the Danish Tourists Think
This week, two European tourists complained about the Canadian car culture after a brief stint in the 10 million square kilometer nation of over 35-million people. The British and Danish complainers now reside in Aarhus, Denmark. While I support criticizing a country, it is also good to have the facts in order. To that end, here are some stats Chabowski should have taken into account before making rush judgments on Canadian society.


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Rapper Chris Kelly of the 90s duo Kriss Kross has died at age 34 | Fox News
Authorities in Georgia say Chris Kelly, a member of the 90s rap duo Kriss Kross, has died in Atlanta.
Investigator Betty Honey of the Fulton County Medical Examiner's office said the 34-year-old Kelley was pronounced dead around 5 p.m. Wednesday at the south campus of the Atlanta Medical Center.
Honey said authorities are unsure of Kelly's cause of death and that an autopsy has yet to be performed.
Kelly, known as "Mac Daddy" performed alongside Chris Smith, known as "Daddy Mac," in the early and mid-90s. The duo might be best remembered for the song "Jump" from their 1992 debut album, "Totally Krossed Out."
Read more: Rapper Chris Kelly of the 90s duo Kriss Kross has died at age 34 | Fox News


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Stuck in mediocrity for two seasons, cap-strapped Pittsburgh must make smart decisions—especially on Lamarr Woodley and Jason Worilds—if it's going to get out of the rut
As we count down the days to the start of the new NFL league year and free agency on March 11, one of the more intriguing teams to watch will be the Steelers. Two consecutive 8-8 seasons left Pittsburgh out of the playoffs for two consecutive years, something the Steelers hadn't experienced since they were idle in January three seasons from 1998 to 2000 under Bill Cowher.
"It's huge for our franchise," general manager Kevin Colbert said of this offseason at the scouting combine. "You go 8-8 in back-to-back years, it's a huge disappointment, not only to our fans but to the organization. We feel it every day. But we have to fight through it, and hopefully we're not talking about that next year."
To break the cycle in 2014, Colbert is going to have to navigate another tricky offseason. No team has restructured more contracts in the past three years than the Steelers. While that provides more room under the salary cap in the short term, it pushes more money out into the future—which is fine if the players you restructure are on the field and productive, but that hasn't always been the case with the Steelers, and it has dented them a little. They were squeezed by the flat cap since the 2011 collective bargaining agreement and had to part ways with several starters last offseason. While it didn't hurt the final record, that's hardly a comfort when you go 8-8.
At this point the Steelers are about $6 million over the projected $133 million cap. That should be mitigated in short order by the release of tackle Levi Brown, and restructures/extensions for a few players. Those aren't necessarily bad—unless you choose unwisely.
Tight end Heath Miller will be a test. His cap number this season, the final year of his contract, is $9.5 million. Miller was still a good player last year after returning from knee surgery and would be in line for an extension, but he will turn 32 next season. How much and for how long do the Steelers extend themselves given that it's time to start getting younger at the position?
Overall the Steelers are in good shape offense. They'll lose receiver Emmanuel Sanders, but Antonio Brown and Markus Wheaton are ascending players, and steady Jerricho Cotchery should be back. Expect an addition or two from a deep receiver draft. Running back Le'Veon Bell had a productive rookie season, and the offensive line should get a boost from improved health and the addition of line coach Mike Munchak.
The defense, once the backbone of great Steelers teams, is where Colbert is going to have to do some work, starting with the two highest-paid players on that side of the ball: outside linebacker Lamarr Woodley and cornerback Ike Taylor.
Taylor, who has a cap number near $12 million entering the final year of his deal, has been or is on his way to being supplanted by Cortez Allen as the No. 1 corner. The Steelers are going to need Taylor to take a pay cut, or to release him outright and draft or sign a cheaper replacement.
Woodley is the most interesting of the Steelers' dilemmas, because it also involves pending free agent Jason Worilds. TheMMQB.com rated Worilds the 12th-best available free agent on the strength of serious buzz from teams that would be beyond excited to see a rising, versatile (he could also play end in a 4-3) and young (he'll be 26 soon) defender become available on the market. For 3-4 teams looking for impact outside linebackers, the options are basically Worilds and Washington's Brian Orakpo (if he even makes it to the free-agent market).
Worilds has said he'd like to stay with the Steelers, but he's not going to be a backup again. Pittsburgh has 2013 first-rounder Jarvis Jones at right outside linebacker. Worilds flourished the final six games last season when Woodley missed time for the third straight season.
Woodley hasn't been the same player since his 13.5-sacks season '09. Despite conventional wisdom, his contract does not preclude him from being released. Cutting Woodley would wipe big numbers off the Steelers' caps in '15 and '16, and while they would take a significant hit this season ($14.2 million), that would basically be a wash with what they were due to pay him. Or they could designate him a post-June 1 cut and take a $5.6 million hit this season and $9 million in '15.
This is one of those crucial decisions for the Steelers. They can't have both Woodley and Worilds. Do they chose the 29-year-old Woodley, who hasn't been able to stay healthy and could be on the decline? Or do they go with the younger Worilds, who isn't quite a known commodity yet?
That decision could very well determine if Colbert is talking about missing the playoffs again at next year's combine.
1. Love that the Eagles invested in retaining their own players by signing LT Jason Peters, WR Riley Cooper and C Jason Kelce to contract extensions, and there's optimism that they'll also bring back WR Jeremy Maclin. Continuity is an underrated factor (by fans, mostly) in the NFL, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Defense is more about playing your assignment, while offense is all about trust, from a quarterback knowing how a receiver is going to react to a defensive look, to how fellow offensive linemen are going to pick up a stunt. Coach Chip Kelly obviously thinks those players are a fit for his system and sees them only getting better in Year 2.
2. Jason La Canfora reported this week that teams were reaching out to the Buccaneers about the possibility of trading for cornerback Darrelle Revis, and those teams thought there was a "good chance" Revis could be had. I could see why teams would think that. Revis's pay-as-you-go contract makes it easy for Tampa Bay to deal him (there's no signing bonus to be accelerated), and the new Lovie Smith/Jason Licht regime doesn't have to prove that the Revis trade, which came under GM Mark Dominik, was a good move.
Smith is known for running the Tampa 2 defense, which is mostly zone but minimizes the need for top corners. Still, a year away from football has allowed Smith to realize that it's hard to win in this league just playing Cover 2—the quarterbacks and the spread offenses are just too good. That's why Smith told Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune, "We're primarily going to be a man team. Whether we win or lose is going to be based on how we play man coverage." If that's the plan, why would the Bucs trade Revis now? I just don't see it. Maybe in another year.
3. That the 49ers would be willing to part ways with coach Jim Harbaugh was the dirty secret the team never wanted to get out. It's interesting that the prevailing sentiment is that San Francisco would choose general manager Trent Baalke over Harbaugh, considering that many in the NFL would contend that a good coach trumps all. Perhaps the 49ers think they could replace the grating Harbaugh with someone just as good but more pleasant to be around. My No. 1 pick would be Stanford coach David Shaw. Considering the proximity of both places, that might be the only NFL job Shaw would contemplate.
4. It was tough to see a gentleman and a leader like D'Qwell Jackson get released from the Browns this week, but it's probably best for both sides. Jackson wasn't worth his $9.43 million cap number—he's played his best football in a 4-3, not in a 3-4 like Cleveland has used and will continue use—and now Jackson gets to pick his own destination. Here's hoping one of the most underrated and respected NFL players has a soft landing in a better situation.
5. We're already getting daily analysis on high-profile prospects like Jadeveon Clowney and Johnny Manziel, and it's not even March yet. The draft isn't until May 8. March Madness can't get here soon enough—so that people have something else to talk about.


text:
U.S. retail investors wringing their hands over the Chinese and Brazilian stock marketsduring the past couple of years might have looked closer to home for an emerging market to ride.
Mexico. Yes, Mexico. And though its violent crime problem has scared away visitors, it has been an inviting location for investors.
Year to date, the Mexican IPC Index has matched the S&P 500, gaining slightly more than 8 percent while easily outpacing the Shanghai Composite and San Paolo Bovespa.During the past two years, Mexico's outperformance is more stunning.
"It's pretty dramatic," says Alec Young, international equity strategist at S&P Capital IQ. "Mexico has been crushing Brazil for a long time."
Mexico has long benefited from the NAFTA trade pact,its huge trade relationship with the United States and a steady flow of U.S. foreign direct investment. But portfolio managers cite a litany of additional positives.
"It's a confluence of a lot of things," says Geoffrey Pazzanese, co-manager of the Federated InterContinental Fund, which counts nine Mexican stocks in its portfolio.
Recipe for success
Among Mexico's fundamentals: a diversified economy, solid GDP growth, competitive labor costs and favorable inflation and unemployment rates.
Fund managers also cite pluses at the government level: a strong central bank and stable currency, healthy federal balance sheet with low debt-to-GDP and current account ratios, plus large foreign exchange reserves.
"The government is very transparent and it's a very open economy, especially compared to its Latin American peers," says Richard Hoff, who co-manages the Euro Pacific Latin American Fund, which has been adding to its Mexican holdings in the past six months and is now over-weight. "An open government breeds stability."
Portfolio managers, who had pulled out of the Mexican market in the past decade, jumped back in during recent years. (More:How to Get a Piece of Mexican Stocks)
"I had been negative on Mexico for some time, then about two years ago when Brazil had reached a secular peak, sentiment was extreme and valuations difficult to justify, (and) I noticed that a lot of Mexican companies had become quite cheap and the cost competitiveness of the country had improved a lot," says Adam Kutas, portfolio manager for Fidelity's Latin American Fund , which has a weighting of about 24 percent.
Mexico, Brazil, China
Comparisons to China and Brazil come up frequently among analysts, who cite labor costs, valuations and even non-performing loans at banks.
"Mexico competes head to head with China on labor prices — they're about equal — but when you start factoring in shipping costs, China's are probably higher," says Hoff of the Euro Pacific Latin American Fund. Mexican exports, on the other hand, are truck oriented, which "works a lot better for just-in-time manufacturing," he adds.
As a result, companies that previously outsourced work to China are now considering relocating to Mexico.
Mexico, not Brazil, say analysts, is the export engine of Latin America, thanks to dozens of trade agreements.
"Manufacturing competitiveness with China helps," notes Luis Carrillo, co-portfolio manager for the JPMorgan Latin America Fund , which has 15 Mexican companies in its portfolio. "The main advantage is more sustainable. All the trade agreements make it easy to export."
What's more, Mexico, unlike Brazil and other emerging economies, is not dependent on trade with China and thus is immune to the economic giant's current slowdown — which may help explain why it is an outperformer.
Young of Standard & Poor's notes the earnings outlook for Mexican companies on a 12-month forward basis is 21.1 percent, versus an average of 10.2 percent for emerging markets in general.
What's the NAFTA affect?
NAFTA pays off
If Mexico has been spared China's trouble, it has clearly benefited from America's relative strength in the dicey world economy, giving it what Hoff of the Euro Pacific Latin American Fund calls "a defensive quality."
Though the U.S. share of Mexican exports has fallen from 90 percent to 77 percent in the past two decades, the health of the American economy — which some describe as fragile and subject to another recession in 2013 — will have a lot to do with how long and far the good times roll.
The rebound in the auto sector, for instance, has been a boon for Mexican suppliers and manufacturers. (Mexico is on the verge of becoming the world's fourth-largest auto sector producer.)
"The outlook is mixed," says Kutas of Fidelity. "Mexico is still very tied to what's happening in the U.S., especially housing," adding that the many Mexicans employed in the sector send money back home.
For all of its progress since the 1994-1995 peso crisis, Mexico needs to undertake more structural reform, say analysts.
Though hopes are high for new president Enrique Pena Nieto, like his predecessors he will be challenged in pushing through much-needed land and labor reform, which should foster growth and investment.
That includes a public stock offering for the state oil company Pemex, which would require a constitutional amendment to allow non-Mexican owners.
The government also needs to facilitate more initial public offerings in general, increasing the pool of stocks for both domestic and international investors. (The recently announced IPO of Grupo Financiero Santander, a unit of Spanish bank Santander, has created a stir.)
Supply problem
Fund managers often refer to a "scarcity" of stocks, limiting investment choices for individuals and institutions.
For fund managers, there are basically "20-25 companies to choose from", says Pazzanese of the Federated InterContinental Fund. (More:Is This the Right Time to Invest in Mexican Real Estate?)
"There are many sectors that are not represented," says Carillo, noting that utilities fall into that category.
That scarcity, say analysts, is one reason why some consider the Mexican market frothy at this time.
"The market's had a very strong run," says Kutas of Fidelity. "Valuations are very expensive."
Other fund managers counter that quality companies in a favorable corporate structure as well as a positive economic outlook make Mexico a place to be in the years ahead.
"It depends on your time horizon," says Carrillo of JPMorgan. "We tend to take longer term views. For us, Mexico has been 15 years of consistent management."
Follow me on Twitter @albertbozzo


text:
Friday, September 5, 2008
Old Minetta Tavern
Soupy Sales and Minetta's owner.
Joe Gould, Joseph Mitchell.
Old New York rulers...Party time..!
35 comments:
- EV Grieve said...
A) I believe the interior will be left as is when I see it. (Or something.)
B) I want that framed photo of Eva Marie Saint
- September 5, 2008 at 11:06 AM
- Laurie said...
Oh... I LOVE this! I know it is known for being a beat hang-out, but I can imagine Dorothy Parker there.
Are the pictures going to come back? It really needs those pictures...
- September 5, 2008 at 11:41 AM
- Virginia said...
these are just great. Thanks for showing us so many! Gabby Hayes??? I haven't thought about him for many a year. I want Eva too. My granddaughter's name is Eva! Go back when it's been renoed and let us see what they did.
- September 5, 2008 at 11:42 AM
- ken mac said...
Gabby Hayes is in there? I hope the pics will be there. I peeked in a while back and saw them all boxed up, then gone. Eva Marie rules!
- September 5, 2008 at 12:00 PM
- babooshka said...
A real slice of nostalgia. The days when glamour mean something and clebrities were not z listers.
- September 6, 2008 at 9:28 AM
- • Eliane • said...
I confess shamefully that I don't know any of these people. But I like vintage photographs and the whole nostalgia that goes with it.
- September 6, 2008 at 7:20 PM
- Ming the Merciless said...
Like Eliane, I don't know most of the people in the photos.
Eva Marie Saint looks a lot like Faye Dunaway.
- September 6, 2008 at 8:11 PM
- ken mac said...
you kids! This is old 1960s New York showbiz royalty. Eva Marie Saint starred in On the Waterfront with Brando. Soupy Sales was a popular comedian. Joseph Mitchell was perhaps the most popular writer at the New Yorker, Joe Gould was a well known Village crank. This is the problem, NY history is being erased...and replaced with chain crap you can get in any city in america...
- September 6, 2008 at 9:52 PM
- Chris said...
I LOVED Soupy Sales. Is he still alive?
- September 6, 2008 at 10:10 PM
- Sherry said...
Gee, reminds me that we all have our time, and then we leave. We all feel invincible at some time, but age happens, as unlikely as it seems in youth.
- September 7, 2008 at 5:20 AM
- • Eliane • said...
Er, I do have a little excuse. Wait till I quiz you on French cinéma. ;)
- September 7, 2008 at 9:10 AM
I now have the lyric from Lloyd Cole's "Rattlesnakes" looping through my head: "She looked like Eve Marie Saint/In 'On The Waterfront'..."
Great stuff.
- September 9, 2008 at 1:40 PM
- sonia a. mascaro said...
Great post, Ken Mac, The Minetta Tavern looks a nice place! I would like to be there...
- September 9, 2008 at 4:00 PM
- Dave Gilbert said...
What google will uncover these days. I was looking up Joe Gould and ended up finding a never-before-seen photo of him. Thanks!
I went to the reopened Minetta the other day and was quite disappointed to find that the Joe Gould portrait did not make the transition. I asked the host about it and he told me that it's now collecting dust in the owner's "private collection." Oh wells.
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text:
Natsu (Soul Calibur 5) – Cosplay of the Day
This character is an energetic young kunoichi who was taught by the gravity-defying Taki. Let's take a look at the sorta-lazy-but-talented ninja from Soul Calibur 5, Natsu!
Not much is known about Natsu since she doesn't appear very prominently in the game's story, but we do know that she's possessed by an evil spirit, has blonde hair that's unique among most of the characters in the series from Asia, is a bit cocky and spirited, but has a very kind heart and is often cheerful. Since she was taught by Taki, she uses a lot of her master's moves and can dart around the battlefield and hit you several times before you hit the floor.
Here's one of our favorite cosplayers, ivettepuig, as the young ninja. She paid great attention to the details in Natsu's outfit and even worked on recreating the look of her multiple ponytails. If you've kept up with this feature, then you'll know how much we appreciate accuracy when it comes to cosplay, and ivettepuig seems to have nailed every detail. Her cosplaying skills are so nice, that we featured her twice!
Come check out the rest of her amazing outfits and jawdroppingly accurate portrayals of great characters across all mediums on her deviantART! Let us know what you think of this talented model!