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Paying tolls sucks, but what are you gonna do, skip them? Not a good idea, but that's what some people do — usually trucking company employees and rental car customers.
As a matter of fact, the top 12 toll dodgers in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania — the infamous toll booth states — are big corporations. So while $166,000 in tolls and $1.7 million in fines is a lot for anyone to pay, it's probably more manageable for a corporate board and its legal team to handle than, say, Dolores Biassi.
Biassi, lucky 13 on the list, is just some lady from Tuckerton, N.J. She owes the Port Authority $50,650 in fines after dodging $32,897 worth of tolls. A 75-year-old woman named Jean Davis entered scofflaw status when her druggie son repeatedly took her car to the Big Apple to get drugs. He racked up more than $100,0oo in fines after blowing $21,365 worth of tolls.
Here are the top 13 toll scofflaws from the Port Authority's Wall of Shame. The Port Authority has been pretty vocal about its zero tolerance policy, and has sued, and sometimes even pressed criminal charges against the offenders.
Photo credit: Associated Press
1. Ean Holdings LLC/Enterprise — tolls: $166,924, fines: $1,783,288
What's the fastest car in the world? A rental car! Not only do people drive rental cars like maniacs, but it looks like they blow through toll booths in them, too. Enterprise Rent-a-Car tried to address this problem last year, but apparently, their efforts haven't paid off yet. Normally, rental car companies charge customers a fee if they don't pay a toll, but whoever is in charge of tolls seems to have let a whole bunch of them slip through the cracks.
We see this as a combination of people's natural capacity for rental car abuse and corporate inefficiency.
Photo credit: Enterprise
2. Fusella Group, LLC — tolls: $154,055; fines: $271,725
For Gerardo P. Fusella and Vincent J. Fusella, Jr., the owners of this New Jersey-based trucking company, toll violations are the least of their problems. Sure, their company racked up a lot of unpaid tolls, but the brothers Fusella were also charged by a federal court for embezzlement, mail fraud, and tax violations connected to their participation in post 9/11 World Trade Center Cleanup. Sounds shady, but the Teamsters Union was involved, so who knows what was really going on there. Gerardo (pictured above) got a few weeks of house arrest in his parents' Jersey Shore condo for his WTC-related crimes.
Photo credit: Shutterstock/Wordpress
3. Salem Truck Leasing, Inc. — tolls: $104,336; fines: $227,004
Need to rent a truck? No problem. You can call Salem Truck Leasing. Oh, and if you forget to pay your tolls, chances are good that they will, too. Good for you, but not so much for the Brooklyn-based truck rental company.
Photo credit: Salem Trucking
4. Madison 2001, Inc. — tolls: $88,050; fines: $138,905
We're not even sure if this place is in business anymore. Listed as a "business services" company, it has no website, and the number listed for its headquarters belongs to an annoyed-sounding lady who doesn't know anything about Madison 2001, Inc. But then, what can you expect of a business services company that can't even service its own business; such as paying tolls.
Photo credit: Shutterstock
5. Intek Autoleasing, Inc. — tolls: $77,953; fines: $83,750
You can rent anything from limos to X-ray machines from Intek. Although the New Jersey-based company has been around since 1986, it doesn't look like it's come up with a good way to keep track of which truck renting douchebag ditched which tollbooth and when. Who knows if they have some sort of fine for offenders, but they're not doing a good job of connecting with the tollbooth authorities vis-a-vis repayment.
Photo credit: Shutterstock
6. Longhorn Transport LLC — tolls: $56,746; fines: $45,400
Longhorn appears to have paid off some of its toll debt, which stood at $116,000 last April. That was from 2,652 separate violations. They might be hiring, so if you're interested in working for a company that won't fire you for driving through toll plazas without paying, Longhorn would be a good start.
Photo credit: Shutterstock
7. Primetime Delivery LLC — tolls: $53,239; fines: $93,650
This trucking and shipping company is so dedicated to getting whatever it is they're delivering to its destination in a timely manner, they'll run tolls to do it. They company seems to pride itself on punctuality and safety (although not so much on driver fitness). Unfortunately for them, the Port Authority cares neither about timeliness nor pudgy drivers; only about getting paid.
Photo credit: Shutterstock
8. Coach Leasing, Inc. tolls: $47,804; fines: $196,205
Chicago Cubs fans who want to charter a bus to Yankee Stadium to catch a game can take a Coach Leasing, Inc.-owned bus. The ride will be smooth (we hope), the drivers will be polite, but they might not pay their tolls. If you see the driver flip the bird at a toll booth operator, do the wave as the bus sails through the plaza.
Photo credit: newjerseybus.com
9. Velarde Transportation LLC — tolls: $43,743; fines: $104,612
Velarde is, wait for it ... another New Jersey-based trucking and transport company. Their specialty is hauling around dirt. They're hiring, and apparently, they don't teach the newbs about paying tolls from a tall truck window.
Photo credit:
10. Eke Trucking, Inc. — tolls: $41,353; fines: $55,163
Like many of these trucking businesses, information is scant; limited to a few online business profiles. According to one, they do between $1 million and $5 million in business every year (with between one and five employees), so they're either very successful, or they're laundering money for Tony Soprano. Either way, $55,163 in fines is mere pocket change for such an economic powerhouse.
Photo credit: Shutterstock
11. Sun Transport & Logistics, Inc. — tolls: $40,809; fines: $43,425
We are Sun Transport & Logistics Inc., a regional transportation company that for the last 40 years has worked toward one objective: satisfying our customer's needs.
Luckily, the Port Authority isn't one of their customers.
Photo credit: Shutterstock
12. Jilver Munoz Transport Corp. — tolls: $36,067; fines: $43,868
They're licensed, they're bonded, they send things places in trucks. They also don't pay tolls.
Photo credit: gokidsgo.org
13. Dolores Biassi — tolls: $32,897; fines: $50,650
The moral of the story? Maybe all of these companies should just put EZ Pass boxes on all of their trucks/cars/X-ray machines. That way, they can charge the customer directly for tolls and won't have to worry about getting on the Port Authority's bad side. We don't know what to tell Dolores Biassi. She should either stop driving through tollbooths or find someone who can pose as her drug addicted son and pawn it off on him.
Photo credit: silkscreenfestival.org


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Gay couples left out of immigration plan
Immigration Bipartisan Senate citizenship plan gives activists cause for concern
Washington -- Latino and business groups applauded a sweeping immigration overhaul proposed Monday by eight Democratic and Republican senators, but its omission of binational same-sex couples alarmed activists who fear those couples could be used as a bargaining chip to woo GOP votes for legislation later this year.
The framework calls for providing a path to citizenship for the nation's estimated 11 million illegal immigrants; tougher border enforcement, including the use of drones; and an entry-exit system to track foreigners who overstay their visas.
People who entered the country illegally as children, and high-skilled workers and farmworkers, who are of keen interest to Silicon Valley and California farmers, would be given special accommodations.
Heterosexuals are already permitted to sponsor their foreign-born spouse to become a permanent resident. But gay and lesbian couples, even those who are married, were omitted. Gay activists demanded that President Obama include these couples when he lays out his own immigration agenda Tuesday in Las Vegas.
"Based on his inaugural speech, we would expect that," said Rick Jacobs, head of California's Courage Campaign, referring to Obama's groundbreaking demand in his address last week that "our gay brothers and sisters (be) treated like anyone else under the law."
Same-sex, binational couples are a tiny fraction of the immigrant population. A study by the pro-gay Williams Institute think tank estimated that there are 28,500 same-sex couples in the United States in which one partner is a citizen and one is not.
Major issue for gays
Still, their status has become a major issue for the gay rights movement. As same-sex marriage has spread to nine states and the District of Columbia, such couples are denied immigration benefits under the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which bars all federal benefits to same-sex couples. The statute is before the Supreme Court.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, intervened a year ago to defer action in the case of a San Francisco couple, Bradford Wells, a U.S. citizen, and Anthony John Makk, a citizen of Australia, who are married but faced possible deportation because Makk's visas had expired.
Heather Cronk, managing director of GetEqual, a national gay rights group in Berkeley, said Catholic bishops have been lobbying Congress to omit same-sex couples from an immigration bill, and she worried that such couples might become a bargaining chip as legislation is written.
"It's my understanding that there is no explicit mention ... in order to get Republican sign-on on the issue," Cronk said.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops did not respond to a request for comment.
'Going to be included'
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., House author of the Uniting American Families Act, which would extend to committed gay and lesbian couples the same immigration privileges available to heterosexual married couples, said Monday that he is not worried.
"We made it quite clear that gays and lesbians are not second-class people," Nadler said, "and if we have general immigration reform they are going to be included, period."
The framework is seen as the biggest breakthrough in immigration reform since a similar effort died in the House in 2006 under heavy Republican opposition. After Obama won re-election with more than 70 percent of the Latino vote, the GOP quickly began to revise its stance, resulting in the bipartisan Senate deal.
But many Republicans, especially in the House, continue to be strongly opposed to legalization.
The framework lays out principles only; the controversial details of legislation are expected in the spring. The looming political horse-trading worries gay and lesbian activists.
"We're really disappointed the senators did not include specific mention" of gays and lesbians, said Steve Ralls, spokesman for Immigration Equality, a gay rights group that helped Makk and Wells. "We are going to work nonstop to make sure when that bill is written, we are part of it."
Feinstein's promise
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who also helped in the Wells and Makk case, promised to "see that same-sex, binational couples who are married or meet requirements for being in a bona fide long-term relationship ... are included."
Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said Pelosi has been "very clear" that she wants same-sex couples included, adding that the Congressional Hispanic Caucus listed inclusion of same-sex couples prominently in its reform principles. Hammill said those principles "will serve as a guide for House Democrats to evaluate the strength or weakness of any proposal as this process moves forward."
The four Senate Republicans who crafted the framework are John McCain and Jeff Flake of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Marco Rubio of Florida. The Democrats are Dick Durbin of Illinois, Chuck Schumer of New York, Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Michael Bennet of Colorado.
Carolyn Lochhead is The San Francisco Chronicle's Washington correspondent. E-mail: email@example.com


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One of the problems with the Hispanic Pandora's box unleashed by a now insolvent Bankia, which as we noted some time ago, is merely the Canary in the Coalmine, is that once the case study "example" of rewarding terminal failure is in the open, everyone else who happens to be insolvent also wants to give it a try. And in the case of Spain it quite literally may be "everyone else." But before we get there, we just get a rude awakening from The Telegraph's Ambrose Evans-Pritchard that just as the bailout party is getting started, Spain is officially out of bailout money: "where is the €23.5 billion for the Bankia rescue going to come from? The state's Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring (FROB) is down to €5.3 billion."
From here on out, the alternatives have been discussed to death and are clear as day: either the ECB, and the global central bank syndicate, inflates away the debt, which can only happen if Germany gives the ECB a carte blanche to print up the the $3-5 trillion required to backstop the European financial system, or we proceed straight to an instance of "Odius debt"/debt moratorium/write down, which however with trillions in daisy-chained, rehypothecated, partly submerged within the broker-dealer mediated shadow banking system, liabilities permeating throughout the global financial system, the outcome would be a tremor that shakes the very foundations of the financial system, in the process also impairing the $1 quadrillion OTC derivative credit money pyramid. In other words: nobody wants to, pardon, nobody dares to do anything, and the best Europe, and by implication the world, can hope for is to survive day to day, without launching the terminal financial D-Day. Pritchard's summary of next steps is expected: "The result of Europe's policy paralysis is more likely to be a disorderly break-up as Spain – and others – act desperately in their own national interest. Se salve quien pueda." Only it is not only Europe. It is the entire world. But it will start in Europe. And specifically Spain, which unlike Greece is too big to be swept under the rug. It is also a place where the zombies are now congregating.
In an indication of just how surreal the modern financial world has become, none other than Bloomberg has just come out with an article titled "Spain Delays and Prays That Zombies Repay Debt." We can only surmise there was some rhetorical humor in this headline, because as the past weekend demonstrated, the best zombies are capable of, especially those high on Zombie Dust, or its functional equivalent in the modern financial system: monetary methadone, as first penned here in March 2009, is to bite someone else's face off with tragic consequences for all involved. What Bloomberg is certainly not joking about is that the financial zombies in Spain are now everywhere.
Spain is trying to clean up its banks, requiring lenders to set aside more for possible losses on loans deemed performing to developers like Metrovacesa SA (MVC), which hasn't completed a project in more than a year and has none under way. While that represents about 30 billion euros ($38 billion) of increased provisions, it's not enough because many of the loans said to be performing aren't, said Mikel Echavarren, chairman of Irea, a Madrid-based finance company specializing in real estate.
"Spain has engaged in a policy of delay and pray," Echavarren said in an interview. "The problem hasn't been quantified by anyone because there is huge pressure not to tell the truth."
Yes, lying and ignoring reality are truly signs of a stable, mature system. Just look at Bankia, which went from "profitable" to broke in a few days. And at the risk of repeating ourselves for the nth time, Bankia is merely the beginning.
The Economy Ministry says that Spanish banks have 184 billion euros of developers' loans and assets that are "problematic," while the remaining 123 billion euros are performing. The need for more reserves to cover losses on the loans can't be ruled out, Nomura International analysts Daragh Quinn and Duncan Farr said in a May 14 report. If Spain took losses on developer loans like Ireland did, Spanish banks would need 8.9 billion euros under the best case to 76.5 billion euros of additional provisions in the worst scenario, Nomura estimates.
A hole as big as €76.5 billion, plugged with... the €5.3 billion left in the FROB? Good luck. And why is the hole there to begin with? Because of the same lies and same prayers and delays that are now the only policy instrument left in the administration's arsenal:
Many Spanish banks are avoiding property sales so they don't have to make "mark to market" valuations. Instead, they're giving developers new loans to pay debt coming due to prevent defaults, said Ruben Manso, an economist at Mansolivar & IAX and a former Bank of Spain inspector.
"The larger banks have been selling bits and pieces and can absorb the losses," Manso said. "Smaller savings banks are acting in bad faith in their refusal to allow transactions and saying they can't mark to market because there isn't one."
A spokeswoman for CECA, the association for Spanish savings banks, who declined to be identified citing company policy, said the group can't comment on the banks' commercial policies.
While there is virtually no clarity, one case gives us a terrifying glimpse into the murky waters beneath the surface:
Metrovacesa, once Spain's largest developer, is typical of the industry, according to Manso. The Madrid-based company, which once owned HSBC Holdings Plc's London headquarters and had about a 50 billion-euro market value, was taken over by creditors in 2009 after its largest shareholder struggled to service billions of euros of debt.
Metrovacesa has racked up 1.8 billion euros of losses since 2008. It has debt of 5.1 billion euros and property assets valued at 3.9 billion euros.
"The banks have made writedowns in their Metrovacesa stakes, but they haven't taken the full hit," Manso said.
Metrovacesa currently trades at 38 cents a share, valuing the company at about 375.5 million euros. UBS AG downgraded the shares to sell on May 22 and changed its target price to 32 cents. In August, its lenders renegotiated the terms of 3.6 billion euros of its debt, extending maturities on 2.47 billion euros of obligations and granting a five-year grace period for interest payments on 1.12 billion euros of loans.
"Having no controlling stake in Metrovacesa means that its creditor banks don't have to consolidate the company's debt or assets and contaminate their own balance sheets," Manso said. "There are hundreds of cases like Metrovacesa out there, albeit smaller in size, and this distorts the official amount of real estate and bad developer loans that banks profess to have."
Terrifying, because proper accounting treatment would mean that the abovementioned €76.5 billion in max provisions is really orders of magnitude lower than what the final number will be.
Of course, it wouldn't be an article about a ponzi scheme if it didn't have an official refutation. Sure enough:
Metrovacesa isn't a zombie, said a company spokesman, who declined to be named citing company policy.
And That, ladies and gents, just won the prize for the most hilarious denial in the history of denials... to date. As the ponzi unravels more and more each day, the above case will be rather serious compared to what is in the pipeline. But for now, a company spokesman forced to deny that the company he works for is not an undead creature with a penchant for brains does it for us.
Metrovacesa has projects in mind, but the market doesn't allow homebuilding, he said.
Wait, wasn't everything Bush's fault? Or in the worst case: Merkel? Now we get one more culprit for lack of market clearing. Why, the market itself of course.
But if the above hasn't caused blood to shoot out of one's ears yet, the next paragraphs absolutely will.
More than half of Spain's 67,000 developers can be categorized as "zombies," according R.R. de Acuna & Asociados, a real-estate consulting firm. They have combined debt of 180 billion euros that will lead to 104 billion euros of losses that hasn't been fully provisioned for, Acuna estimates.
"They aren't officially bankrupt because they have been refinanced time and time again," Fernando Rodriguez de Acuna Martinez, a partner at the company, said by telephone. "Their assets are worth much less than their liabilities, they struggle to repay loans and they haven't revaluated them to reflect today's prices."
And that, in a centrally planned world, is why no company is allowed to go bankrupt - because the central banks merely allow them to refi into perpetuity, even if, as is admitted, "assets are worth much less than their liabilities" - surely a justification to invoke the Fed's emergency Section 13(3) emergency powers...
In the meantime, the Fed's domestic partner, the Bank of Spain is doing all it can to avoid the realization that zombies walk among us:
The Bank of Spain allows loans that are refinanced before turning delinquent and interest-only loans to be considered "normal" or "performing" on banks' books, according to Manso.
"You won't find that data anywhere," Manso said. "There has been a lot of cheating going on where banks have lent developers new money, classed as new lending, so they can pay off their original loans." That's masking delinquency, he said.
Refinancing the current and future zombie developers will cost 30 billion euros over the next two years, according to Acuna. The depreciation of those developer assets from 2012 onwards will generate a further 20 billion euros of losses in that time, he said.
And saving the absolute farce for last:
Echavarren's Irea brokered the refinancing of a 200 million-euro loan two years ago for a developer. After two more rounds of refinancing, there is about 180 million euros left on the loan and it's classified as performing, he said, without identifying the company.
"The probability that this loan will be paid when it comes due is zero," Echavarren said. "There are dozens of similar cases."
Spain's government and banks need to be more like their counterparts in Ireland and be more forthcoming about loan losses, according to Echavarren. He forecasts that the larger Spanish banks with income from international operations will be able to pay for domestic real-estate losses within two years. The rest can't take such a hit and will have to be nationalized, he said.
"We cannot continue to jeopardize the whole financial system by not telling the truth," Echavarren said.
Who says we can not: why, it is the sole prerogative of every central bank not to fight inflation, not to maximize employment, and lately, not even to keep the Russell 2000 over 800. It is merely to perpetuate the lies, to extend and pretend, to keep the zombies in check, to repeal every law of math, physics and statistics known to man: from the second law of thermodynamics, to simple sine wave oscillations, to prop the insolvent as the liabilities get exponentially bigger than the assets, to change accounting rules, and to pretend that reality matters, until everything finally crashes.
Which at this point is a certainty.
For those of an inquisitive nature, the only question is when. But, frankly, even that is becoming less and less relevant with each passing day.
* * *
Finally, as a courtesy to our readers, with the global zombie apocalypse about to be unleashed in every format possible, here are some hints on defending from the undead, both banks and those whose EBT cards have run out, courtesy of Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland.


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Turkey Trot: Thanksgiving Holiday Airline Travel Projected at 25 Million
Airlines & Airports Thea Klapwald November 07, 2013
More and more Americans will reportedly be using airlines to get home for the Thanksgiving holidays, despite some predictions that fares are up 7 percent compared to last year. Airlines for America (A4A), the trade group representing major U.S. airlines, is predicting that 25 million passengers will fly during the 12-day Thanksgiving travel period.
A4A also is reporting another thing to be thankful for: improving year-over-year financial performance for the 10 largest U.S. airlines, with modest profitability allowing them to reinvest in their product and the overall customer experience.
A4A expects the number of passengers traveling from Friday, Nov. 22 through Tuesday, Dec. 3 to increase by 1.5 percent, or 31,000 travelers per day, from 2012. Planes are expected to be more than 85 percent full on the busiest travel days, which are Wednesday, Nov. 27 (2.42 million passengers), Sunday, Dec. 1 (2.56 million passengers) and Monday, Dec. 2 (2.36 million passengers).
"The good news for customers is that air travel costs less in real dollars today than in 2000, airlines are delivering strong on-time and baggage performance," said John Heimlich, A4A vice president and chief economist. "More seats are returning to the marketplace to accommodate growing demand as carriers are increasing the number of available seats for Thanksgiving travel by roughly 2 percent."
But Heimlich did not comment on a new survey by Travelocity that shows fares during the holiday period are actually up 7 percent. So more Americans are heading home for the holidays – but they are paying more to get there.
Those higher fares may be one reason the airline industry is apparently getting as healthy as a plump turkey. During the first nine months of 2013, the 10 largest U.S. carriers reported net earnings of $4.5 billion, resulting in a net profit margin of 4 percent — up from $312 million, or 0.3 percent, in 2012. Fuel remained the largest and most volatile cost for airlines, accounting for 35 percent of overall operating expenses.
U.S. airlines continue to enhance the travel experience from start to finish, despite generating modest net profit margins. Since 2010, airline capital expenditures have more than doubled from $430 million per month to $965 million per month in 2013 – an increase of 125 percent. Those improvements include new planes, lie-flat seats, Wi-Fi, improved websites and mobile applications with better booking software.
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Help Batman™ save Robin from the villainous trio!
Rescue Robin from 3 notorious villains in a funhouse with trap-doors and moving floors in this suspenseful scene with 5 new minifigures!
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Andrew wrote:Knicks Never Even Offered Minimum Deal To Derrick Rose
Dee4Three wrote:Andrew wrote:Knicks Never Even Offered Minimum Deal To Derrick Rose
Rose was talking max contract halfway through the season, big ouch.
However, when he is playing... he is still has a lot left. He impressed me both in his last season with the Bulls, and this past season with the Knicks. He gets a ton of crap for his injuries, and some of it is do. But in regards to how much basketball he has left... when he is healthy and on the floor... he seems to have quite a bit left.
With the Knicks, he averaged 18 a game while being above 47% from the field, with his lowest turnover per game output of his career.
NovU wrote:This is the new reality.
Rose at 28 year old, averaged 18 points, 4.4 assists, 3.8 rebounds on a team with Carmelo Anthony and yet, no teams wanted to pay him much(much rather give big fat cheque to role players) he had to settle for the minimum-minimum. Those kind of number in the past would have put him in upper echelon of total team salary.
Stats matter more than ever now. Teams caught up a long time ago and smartened up. Monta Ellis awhile back signaled a big change in the league. That guy who was averaging like 20+ points opted out to get a better contract but he hadn't thought about how teams started to value advanced stats and did not want to pay him too much. He fired his agent and had to settle for one year contract, losing shit load of money. It was all downhill for him from there. It was too obvious through advanced stats his 20 points was merely matching league average offense output and undersized for modern SG position. Despite fans thinking he's good because he can score, teams figured out teams were playing better with him actually on the bench.
Rose is no different. He can of course register numbers across the board but is evident he is not the same anymore. While this signing by the Cavs look nice, he needs to be more efficient this time around with them or the team is no better having Rose on the team but rather regressed especially with Irving gone.
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#RSL Tweets of the Day (@RealSaltLake)
Exciting young #RSL players @luisitogil21 & @olmesgarcia13 back at #RioT tonight ... 8p MT v PHI http://instagram.com/p/bTcbR2sFUr/
The #YSA discussion is great and all, but we have a match tonight. BE #RSLTID. Let's bring it tonight. #RSL
Today's @SLTrib sports front talks #RSL youth movement ... Quality stuff from @aaronfalk http://instagram.com/p/bTo6ZoMFSE/
Take a look behind the mic with #RSL broadcaster @OriginalWinger http://ccb1212.blogspot.com/2013/07/behind-mic-brian-dunseth.html …
Please join us in prayer at 12 PM EST to ask God to choose @KyleBeckerman as Captain of the USMNT Gold Cup Team
It's crazy to think back to one year ago when I was here in the stands of RioT. Now I am on the field… http://instagram.com/p/bSShNUCVYh/
RealSaltLake.com: Video Preview: RSL v. Philadelphia Union
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KSL.com: Real Salt Lake fans told to clean up language
Full Volley: Maund hitting his stride for RSL
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RSL Soapbox: YSA: Cooperation, unity needed to combat chant, improve RSL atmosphere
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MLS & Other News and Notes
MLSsoccer.com: MLS partners with EA Sports to give fans a chance to vote for an All-Star forward via FIFA Soccer 13
MLSsoccer.com: MLS Disciplinary Committee suspends Shea Salina, Marco Schallibaum, fines Ben Olsen, Ryan Nelsen
MLSsoccer.com: Eric Avila returns from Guadalajara, expected to remain with Chivas USA for rest of 2013
MLSsoccer.com: Amid personal and transfer issues, Seattle Sounders, Honduran int'l Mario Martinez may part ways
MLSsoccer.com: Gold Cup: Jurgen Klinsmann says he already knows who his USMNT captain will be
Pro Soccer Talk: Pro Soccer Talk's weekly MLS rankings
Pro Soccer Talk: Columbus Crew star Federico Higuain being investigated for passport improprieties
Pro Soccer Talk: Oklahoma City FC to become NASL's newest franchise?
Goal.com: McCarthy's Musings: MLS teams cope with 32 missing players as CONCACAF Gold Cup starts


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(from 2005)
My mother is dead. She died suddenly, just a few months after the diagnosis of "major heart damage" left us reeling. It's ironic isn't it, that in a world filled with danger and disease, we never really expect anyone to die? What I expected was to see her sitting at her word processor banging out her column, or wandering in the garden picking flowers until she was at least in her nineties like her Aunt Martha. I didn't expect to see her in a casket at age 67.
My mother is dead. It has taken me five years to be able to type those words. There is still an ache in my heart and a void in my life that can't be filled by anyone else. But Mother lives on in my life and in the lives of others because she wrote her thoughts and feelings on a blank piece of paper and shared them with the world. I not only have all of the letters that she wrote to me while I was away from 1976 until 1992, but I have hundreds of newspaper and magazine clippings of her articles and columns.
I had forgotten just how much Mother wrote until I began to clean out her things. I laughed and cried, and cried some more as I read her words. She left copies of her newspaper columns, magazine articles, short stories and her notes for the novel we were writing together. Some of the work she left was scribbled on scraps of paper. Some was neatly typed on her old standard typewriter. I have boxes and boxes of her work that I am slowly sorting through.
I'd forgotten how Mother wrote. As I read her manuscripts, no matter what the form, one thing reaches out to me over and over again- mother's own style and personality. She wrote with warmth and sincerity and conviction. Those emotions still live in her words. She loved people and she shared that love in her words.
My mother was a generous woman who shared the ups and downs of her life through her newspaper column. She suffered from serious bouts of depression, but she wasn't afraid to share this information in an effort to help others. She was always interested in the health and well being of others. One of her medical information articles won an award from the American Optometric Association.
We all learned a lot about Mother's childhood from her column. She wrote about her memories of playing in the woods of Oklahoma and learning about nature from her father. She wrote about her brother's death at age nine. She wrote about her grandfather's relationships with the Indians. Sometimes Mother's columns were a revelation to me. I never knew her nickname, or that her mother suffered from depression, or that her grandfather carved wood, until I read about it in her column.
I had also forgotten how many people read Mother's words. The simplest conversation turns to fond memories when her name is mentioned. People tell me how much they enjoyed her work, how her advice affected them, how they looked forward to her next column.
My mother is dead, but her spirit, through her words, lives on. And so it is that I have decided to try my hand at blogging. Perhaps my words will touch someone's life, my views will change someone's mind, my love will change someone's heart. I'm just an old country woman who likes to dig in the dirt and watch other people from her front porch. I'm just a teacher who is really a kid at heart. I'm just a woman who wishes to pass on the blessings she's been given. So…this is the "view from here". I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.


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I cant reach a solution to the next problem:
I have a C program that open a file with the function fopen
fp= fopen( filename , r); In a computer filename could be
However I am trying to run the same C program in a PC Board (FPGA) with a
PowerPC microproccesador, which is capable of run C programs, and the file
that I want to open is in a DDR memory and begins for example in the memory
address 0x10000000.
How could I fill the pointer fp FILE *fp
In order to the program works as in a computer.
thank you very much


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SAN JUAN (Reuters) - Boxer Felix "Tito" Trinidad, who grossed nearly $90 million during his championship career in the ring, is in economic ruin, just like his native Puerto Rico, according to court documents.
The boxer and his father, Felix Trinidad, Sr., who trained him throughout his career, lost some $63 million through investments linked to Puerto Rico government bonds, papers filed on Thursday in San Juan Superior Court show.
Trinidad and his father are seeking an injunction to halt San Juan-based Popular Securities, a brokerage arm of Puerto Rico's biggest bank, Banco PopularBPOPR.UL, from collecting a $2.9 million debt.
The injunction request included a complaint filed with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, in which the Trinidads accused their financial adviser, José "Pepe" Ramos, of making risky investments without their consent or knowledge.
"The accusations by the Trinidad family are false and the truth will come out when this case is aired in the pertinent forum," Ramos said in a written statement.
During Trinidad's glory days in the ring, in which he compiled a record of 20-1 with 16 knockouts in the Welterweight, Light Middleweight and Middleweight classes during the late 1990s and early 2000s, Puerto Rico's economy was growing by as much as 3 percent a year. Its government bonds were rated as investment grade.
But Trinidad, like hundreds of other wealthy Puerto Rico investors, lost millions when those bonds headed south last September as investors became alarmed over the U.S. territory's $70 billion debt load, sputtering economy and inability to balance budgets.
Total capital and assets held in Puerto Rico mutual funds shrank by roughly $6 billion during 2013 and they posted losses totaling almost $2.4 billion, according to the Office of Financial Institutions Commissioner.
The Trinidads accused Ramos of making investments without their consent or knowledge and misleading them about the level of risk involved in the investments, according to the FINRA complaint.
Nearly all of Trinidad's net worth was invested in Puerto Rico government bond funds, according to the documents. Ramos has been the boxer's financial adviser for years while working at many of the largest brokerages in Puerto Rico, including UBS UBSN.VX and Wells Fargo WFC.N.
"It's a difficult situation, and we are addressing discussing the issue in the appropriate forums," Trinidad told El Nuevo Dia newspaper on Friday. "Once again the people of my beloved Puerto Rico have shown me great support and affection."
In a statement, Popular Securities said "we regret this situation has wound up in the courts, and we reiterate once again that we are willing to find a mutually satisfactory solution for both parties. As Puerto Ricans, in Popular we have great affection for Felix "Tito" Trinidad."
Reporting by Reuters in San Juan; Editing by David Adams, Kevin Gray and Dan Grebler
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.


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What's your favorite/least-favorite piece of public art?
Theresa Sirois: "I think the fountain of Trevi in Rome. It's the most beautiful place I've been– it looks alive. My least favorite is the ArtinPlace across from the Donut Connection on Rt. 29. It's extraordinarily ugly. We joke in the law school that Dunkin' Donuts took away their franchise because of that sculpture."
Suresh Raman: "The one on Fifth Street. I think it's a bull I'm not sure what sort of animal it is. My least favorite is that one at McIntire near the recycling center... don't like it so much."
Jason Tyree: "I don't even know. Well, the Lewis and Clark statue. My least favorite would be that tiger-looking thing on Rt. 250."


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Check out Sept News
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The flagship of Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram's lineup, the Grand Cherokee is synonymous with versatility. Capable of handling off-road terrain with ease, this popular sport utility vehicle (SUV) is just at home navigating the busy streets of Bismarck as it is on the trail. For anyone looking for a vehicle that gives you a perfect blend of rugged durability and comfort, we at Eide Chrysler have just the SUV for you.
Three different trim levels available for the 2018 Grand Cherokee mean you can pick the one most suited to your lifestyle: The ferocious Trackhawk, the luxe Summit, or the performance ready SRT. There are five different engine options (some model dependent) that range from being more than capable to outright impressive. The 3.6 liter (L) V6 will get you 295 horsepower (hp), while the 5.7 L V8 nets you 360 hp. A 3.0 L turbodiesel V6 puts out around 420 pound-feet (lb-ft) of torque and if you are all about performance capability, you will love the 6.4 L V8 that churns out 475 hp. The newest trim level, the Trackhawk, comes outfitted with a 6.2 L supercharged V8 that spits out an unbelievable 707 hp and 645 lb-ft of torque.
Regardless of where you will be driving your new Grand Cherokee, fuel economy is important. When equipped with the 3.6 L V6 engine (eight-speed automatic transmission and rear wheel drive), you will get 19 miles per gallon (mpg) city driving, 26 mpg while cruising Bismarck ND highways, and 21 mpg combined. The same engine and transmission in all-wheel drive will provide you with 18 mpg driving in the city, 25 mpg on the highway, and 21 mpg combined.
As a utility vehicle, you would expect the 2018 Grand Cherokee to have all the seating and cargo space you would need. From this perspective, we can confirm that you will most certainly not be disappointed. A rear seat that folds down flat in a 60/40 split lets you manage your cargo capabilities on the fly, and with the entirety of the rear seat folded down you will get 68 cubic feet of cargo volume. With the second row of seats upright, you will have 36 cubic feet of volume. If you are often hauling large, long items, there is an available fold-flat passenger seat so that you can have that extra length to accommodate oversized cargo. When it comes to loading cargo, the Keyless Enter 'n Go and power liftgate features are there to make your life easier, and the silver strips in the back make it much easier to slide things inside. In addition to all of this, the Grand Cherokee has numerous storage bins and cubbies for you and your passengers to stash items, including the center stack bin and center console.
No new vehicle is complete without state of the art infotainment, and the 2018 Grand Cherokee delivers. A 5-inch color infotainment touchscreen is standard with the option of upgrading to an 8.4-inch screen. Uconnect Access lets you have in-car Wi-Fi and you will also get features such as Bluetooth, real-time traffic and weather updates, a navigation system, and voice command functionality. For driver/passenger convenience, there are three easily accessible USB ports and four 12-volt outlets for charging mobile devices.
Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram's 2018 Grand Cherokee is all about accommodating the best of all worlds. Sturdy and capable of handling off-road conditions, this SUV can also adapt to use in a predominantly urban setting. It was designed to exceed at anything thrown at it, and that is why it is one of the most flexible vehicles on the market today. If you want to own a set of wheels you can rely on no matter what, the 2018 Grand Cherokee may just be the perfect fit.
* Pricing - All vehicle pricing shown is assumed to be correct and accurate. Incentives, credit restrictions, qualifying programs, residency, and fees may raise, lower, or otherwise augment monthly payments. Additionally, incentives offered by the manufacturer are subject to change and may fluctuate or differ based on region and other considerations. Unless otherwise noted or specified, pricing shown does not include title, registration, or tax fees and costs.
* MPG - Vehicle information, as well as features and other inclusions, may vary by model and are based exclusively on standard equipment. No claims, warranties, or guarantees have been made related to the accuracy of customer payments, model equipment, or vehicle pricing. Please call with any questions you might have and to reassert the accuracy of any information presented here.


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This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Less than two years ago, Raja Bell was the Jazz's main free-agent signing.
Tuesday, Bell torched an already-frayed rope that had been loosely tying him to Utah for months.
Calling Jazz coach Tyrone Corbin unprofessional and saying his career with the Jazz is over, Bell opened up firing Tuesday during a season-ending media interview and never ran out of bullets.
The 35-year-old guard said Corbin made things personal by not allowing him to take the court during Utah's first-round playoff defeat to San Antonio. Every active Jazz player except Bell recorded minutes. And after working back from knee and groin injuries this season only to watch his teammates be swept by the Spurs without him, Bell left no room for reconciliation. He's done with the Jazz, and has no intention of playing another game in a Utah uniform.
"Ideally for me, I don't want [this] to be the end of my career," said Bell, who's under contract through 2012-13 and set to make $3.4 million next season. "I've had a good one. More than I could ever ask out of this league, and I don't want it to be diminished or leave a sour taste in my mouth for having to deal with a situation like this."
Corbin again refused to go into detail about the duo's fractured relationship, which bottomed out after a heated confrontation in March that saw Bell sent home early from a road trip. Corbin acknowledged, though, the decision not to play the veteran guard was his call.
Informed of Bell's comments, Jazz General Manager Kevin O'Connor sarcastically fired back.
"Gee, that's unexpected," O'Connor said. "I would've never thought that would've happened. … We'll deal with all that stuff behind closed doors."
Bell didn't stand alone Tuesday.
Longtime Utah small forward C.J. Miles said he was proud of what his team accomplished and is open to returning next season. But the seven-year veteran joined Bell in questioning Corbin's communication skills, pointing toward deep-rooted issues that sometimes undercut the team's improved chemistry this year.
Much of Bell's frustration the last two seasons stemmed from a lack of dialogue and understanding. Miles often felt the same, and he could no longer hold his tongue after quietly sitting back and doing everything the Jazz asked of him the past few years. Morevoer, Miles said, communication between Utah and its players was much better when Jerry Sloan coached the team.
Corbin replaced Sloan in February 2011.
"Being able to know what's going on makes everything a lot easier," said Miles, who was drafted by Utah in 2005 out of high school and has spent his entire career in Salt Lake City. "You don't want to have to come in guessing. … I don't even remember us naming a captain. But they wanted leadership?"
Twitter: @tribjazz
See our Jazz blog
I For exclusive news, interviews, video and analysis, check The Tribune's Jazz Notes blog. > sltrib.com/blogs/jazznotes


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IRVING, TX — Blair McHaney first heard the news of James Weaver's resignation as CEO of Gold's Gym International (GGI) at the Gold's Gym Franchisee Association (GGFA) owners' conference last month in New York. Needless to say, McHaney and the rest of the Gold's Gym franchisees were caught off-guard, and according to one source, so was Weaver.
"We were certainly surprised at the change," says McHaney, president of the GGFA. "James did a lot of things that helped us progress. James left things much better than when he came in."
It was a little more than a year ago when TRT Holdings, parent company of Irving, TX-based GGI, appointed Weaver to replace David Schnabel, who had resigned. Now, Gold's has its third president in the span of 12 months. TRT has handed the Gold's keys over to Jim Snow, who had been an executive with Omni Hotels, also owned by TRT. Snow began his tenure at Omni Hotels in 1992 as director of sales and marketing and held numerous roles with the company, including his most recent role as regional vice president of operations.
"We are pleased to have Jim join the Gold's Gym management team," TRT Holdings President Jim Caldwell said in a statement. "He is one of the most respected executives in the Omni organization, and we look forward to his guidance as we continue to execute our business objectives for our well-known brand."
Gold's Gym appeared headed in the right direction under Weaver, whose past companies included Johnson & Johnson and Tecnol Medical Products, which he helped found. In September, after the company's annual convention in July, Gold's announced its Gold's Gym Global Vendor Program, designed to help franchisees and vendor partners strengthen their businesses through large group purchases. TRT also announced that it would be investing more than $20 million into Gold's corporate-owned clubs. Late last month, Gold's began restoring the "Mecca" club in Venice, CA.
"We are thankful for James and all of his contributions to the business made during the last year," Caldwell said. "James helped to re-establish a strong vision for the company, streamline the structure of our organization and launch several major initiatives that will benefit all stakeholders in the Gold's Gym family for years to come."
Those familiar with the Gold's situation say Weaver had a conservative, regimented approach to running the company, which may or may not have led to discouragement within the Gold's ranks. Keith Albright, senior vice president of franchising for Gold's, resigned a few weeks before Weaver's departure, although Albright's reasons for leaving have not been made public. Last month, Chris Finch was promoted to senior director of international franchising, and Paul Summers was promoted to senior director of U.S. franchising.
Despite the changes, the GGFA remains steadfast behind the Gold's brand and TRT's leadership.
"We are eager to engage with the new CEO, Jim Snow, and to help on anything we possibly can," McHaney says. "TRT is finding their way in this, and I respect that they need to do that however they see fit. By the same token, the GGFA has brought a lot of stability to the brand. Our hope is certainly that the new CEO recognizes the stability that the GGFA has brought to the brand."
Still, past Gold's executives question whether a person from the hotel industry such as Snow is the right person to lead a fitness club company. Like Weaver and Schnabel, who had been a vice president at TRT, Snow has no previous fitness club business experience.
"Until they get behind the counter and sell memberships, they're not going to know what it's like to run a gym every day," one past executive says.
Derek Barton, who had served as the director of marketing for GGI from 1985 to 2005, says it's OK for Gold's to look outside the industry for its new leader, as long as he or she has experience in running a successful international brand.
"TRT needs to look for someone at Harley-Davidson, Nike and Apple, brands that embrace their heritage, are cool and respected by men and women of all ages," Barton says. "[Gold's needs] someone who is a visionary and leader and who isn't afraid to stand up to TRT and its franchisees and tell them what they need to hear, not what they want to hear."


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It seems I have been falling a bit behind on updates. Let's see if I can recall some highlights. Last Saturday I pulled the Jeep back into the shop, jacked it up and did the post break in lube change. There was a little bit of gray metal "fuzz" on the magnetic drain and fill plugs, which I considered to be normal. After draining the drain pan into a recycling container I found a few small shinny specs that I am hoping are just remnants that were missed in the cleanout. Not anything I'm going to worry too much about, but I may do another lube swap on a short schedule, just to be sure.
One thing I also wanted to address was the shock mount angle. The PO had a higher lift, so the shock mount angles tended to twist the rubber bushings a tad at ride height. Ideally I would cut the mounts off, turn them slightly and weld them back on. Here, on the passenger side, you can see how the twist left minimal clearance under the end of the shock body, just enough to chafe a bit of the paint off the bottoms of the shocks in normal driving.
This is the driver's side after unbolting the lower portion of the shock; contour sanding the top inboard edge of the mount down using a flap wheel in the 4-1/2 inch grinder; and bolting the shock back up.
I still haven't gotten around to installing the locker air pump; installing/wiring the activation switch in the dash and indicator light for the diff mounted switch that senses when the locker is engaged; or plumbing the air line, but the weather is starting to turn and I wanted to at least plug up the harness connection for the diff switch so that the leads don't get all corroded. Here's the end of the two prong connector.
I stuffed an expanding foam ear plug in the connector sideways to act as a filler…
… then smeared over it with a cap of Ultra Copper RTV sealant.
This way I can easily peel the sealant off and pluck the foam out when the time comes to hook it up. Here is the connector hooked back onto its little mounting tab.
I also attempted to reinstall the rear anti-sway bar, but for some reason it didn't seem to fit. Later after a little research I figured out what I was doing wrong. Should have been obvious, but the dip in the bar goes over the pinion snout (for ground clearance), not under it. Doh. I'll get that back in the next time I'm under there.
Unfortunately I did find a minor lube leak. The inside of the passenger side wheel rim was coated and there were traces slinging out on the inner sidewall of the tire. Closer inspection found wetness around the axle tube brake flange making its way down the back of the brake backing plate. I pulled the wheel and drum and found that there was no wetness inside the backing plate nor dripping from the lip side of the axle seal where it runs on the axle shaft, so it must be going by the outside of the seal between the rim of the seal and the ID of the axle tube, since it is never making it into the drum. I wiped the wheel out and tried to tighten up the bearing retainer nuts a bit to see if that seated the seal any better, but after a few more days I can see that the inside of the wheel is damp again. I'll have to pull the axle, clean things up and attempt to seal the outside edge of the seal with a small smear of sealant.
Next up I swapped the speedo drive gear out from the stock yellow gear (IIRC it was 30 teeth) to the white gear, 37 teeth. The speedo indication seems to be much more appropriate now, but I haven't actually checked it with the GPS yet.
Back to the HPD30 prep work. It took several evenings prepping. I cut a piece of threaded rod that went straight thru the housing from end to end. At each end I put a round piece of 1/8 inch rubber sheet (drops from cutting pipe flange gaskets at work), backed up by what are essential very large fender washers (actually 2-1/2 inch slugs from cutting 1/16 thk sheet with a hole saw) and a couple of 3/8 nuts. This did a great job sealing up the ends of the axle tubes and hopefully keeping the blast media and dust out. I put a cut off bolt shank in a short scrap of vent tubing with a couple of worm drive clamps to seal up the housing vent. With the 3.55 pinion still in place and the diff cover sealed back down, it was sealed up nice and tight.
Next the glass window in the blast cabinet had been broken and replaced, but no one had fished out the broken glass. Now glass bead is a common blast media, but this was shards and chips of glass that would generally just clog up the media feed tube and make ciaos while trying to run the blaster. So I used a sieve to sift thru 5 gals of Black Beauty (coal slag) grit (using my respirator, of course).
Now we ran into a bit of an issue. The bare housing is about 58 inches from tip to tip of the inner C's, and the cabinet is only 50 inches wide. Even on a diagonal the bulk of the housing wouldn't fit, and there would be no room to move it around inside of the cabinet, let alone reach to the ends with the range of the gloves that are integrated into the front wall of the cabinet. So that meant that I had to feed the housing in thru the small side hatch door on the end of the cabinet, make a sheet metal closer plate (with a horse shoe shaped notch to fit over the axle tube) and secure that in the side hatch opening (sense the hatch couldn't be closed with the housing sticking out).
At first I drilled a few holes in the temporary shield and screwed it to the rim of the hatch, but this turned out to be a PITA. The whole upper cabinet normally flips up so that you can load items directly onto the grating easily, but the side hatch has a rim framing the opening so with the housing part way in there the cabinet couldn't be lifted to reposition it.
On top of that, because I was reaching inside as far as I could to get as much coverage as possible w/o having to reposition, the gloves kept popping off of their mounting collars.
Each time I would have to unscrew the side plate, turn the housing to where the pinion snout would fit thru the opening, and drag the heavy housing all the way out in order to lift the cabinet and reattach the gloves. PITA going back and forth, taking several steps to maneuver each nub, bracket and ball joint that wanted to catch on the grate bars and/or lip of the hatch opening.
Eventually I got the gloves sorted out; removed the expanded metal grate leaving just the larger grate bars, making it easier for the pinion snout to swing under while still in the cabinet; and switched to using duct tape to hold the side closer on for quicker changes.
After about 3 evenings (2-3 hrs each session) of juggling the axle housing in and out I declared that I was done with that task.
After blasting you can see the trouble areas better. These probably would have never been a problem if I just chose to ignore them, but I found that thought to be, "unacceptable". After all, I am here, and this axle isn't as much of a rush job as the rear was.
It was kind of strange. Although the front shock mounts each consist of two nested stampings (essentially a shallow 'C' within a deeper 'C' forming a box section with both sets of toes down and flush at the bottom), and the rust only occurred in the side wall of the top piece, it acted like it was two layers rusting; first thru the outer portion and then starting into the inner "layer". I also saw this effect on the spring perch 'hat'. The best I can figure is that this is a result of stress in the metal grain as a result of the deep drawing process when these parts were stamped. It's as if the inner most fibers, that took the least strain when drawn out, were the most susceptible to rusting.
Here is the inside wall of the passenger side shock mount marked for cutting. At the top you can also see the spring perch hat where it rusted thru.
Here's the same area (mirror image) on the driver's side after cutting the bad stuff out.
I used a piece of card stock (scrap toothpaste carton material) and the hammer technique to mark a template for the patch piece. You can just see the faint outline made by holding the oversized piece up and tapping around the opening with a ball peen hammer (or small slug of brass where the hammer wouldn't fit).
After cutting out the template with scissors; transferring that to a piece of 1/8 thk steel stock using a sharpie marker; rough trimming that to shape on the big Do-All vertical band saw; and tediously doing the final fit using the big belt sander, and a file, the plug fits the hole pretty well… snuggly enough to hold itself in place. Yeah there are a few uneven gaps, but, "if I can walk across it I can weld it!".
Here's the other side also ready to weld.
I stuck a couple of magnets on them to help keep me from nudging them thru with the torch or filler wire, just long enough to get a few tacks on.
There were a few areas where the surrounding metal was a bit thinner than the patch… partly due to the stamping draw and partly due to rust… so I made sure to lead and hold the arc on the thicker patch piece, and just weaved over to the edges of the bracket long enough to progress the puddle along (i.e. heat control). Here are the two patches after welding and a little touchup grinding with a flap disc. Nothing crazy, just knocked down the areas that had extra filler; by keeping the heat on the thicker metal I knew I had good weld penetration along the edge.
The spring hat was much thinner material to begin with and I wasn't entirely sure that I could do the repair as well as I would like to hope. The biggest concern was not having enough metal to work with. The second concern was not encroaching on the inside diameter of the spring coil and buggering up how it fits into the pocket (not having a spare spring on hand to check this fit meant that I would have to be super careful). The third concern was that the damage extended around the side of the hat near the steering dampener bracket, which blocked my access to get in there with the TIG torch, even the smaller one. My final concern was whether I had the skill to fit a patch piece that was shaped like a conical banana; the latter was somewhat allayed by the fact that my work had recently purchased a small bench mount slip roll former.
Here's the spring hat marked for cutting. The steering dampener bracket is the one sticking up on the left with the bolt hole thru it.
As with the shock mounts, I cut it out using a combination of a small cutoff wheel and conical rotary file in the die grinder.
Template was first rough cut and hammer transferred, then transferred to some 1/16 bare steel.
Here's the slip roller in action. By varying the gap between the two idler rollers (on the bottom) and the crank roller on top it is easy to form curled shapes. By varying the parallelism between the rollers you can form conical shapes. The trick is to creep up on the shape you want by trial and error.
I'm happy to say that it was more trials and no serious errors!
After a lot of fitting, tedious filing and just kissing the patch piece here and there with the belt sander, then going back and forth to the roller a few times once the piece started to fit well, I had it close enough that it mostly fit and held itself pinched into place, except for the far end… which I was confident could be tapped down into place once I started getting some tacks in place… "heat and beat".
This pic taken during the fit up stage makes the gaps at the closing end look worse than they ended up being in the end. With the piece up out of the hole at one end or the other it didn't quite match the true radius until it was tamped down in at both ends, at which time it grew to fit better.
Here it is after welding. I ended up struggling to get the last little bit behind the dampener bracket, and it was getting late, so I packed it in for the night and came back to it this evening. I moved the housing over to the other welding bench that is setup with the smaller TIG torch and finished that last little bit of welding behind the dampener mount.
I wanted to make sure that there weren't any weld bead nubbies that would poke on the inside edge of the spring creating any stress or chafe points, so I went to the trouble to grind the high points down using a small stone disc on the die grinder.
Then it was two coats of Rustoleum gray primer, followed by a good solid coat of satin black.
What weld repair?
Actually, if you look closely in person you can still find the repairs, and I'm not actually trying to hide anything, but I am quite pleased with how well it has turned out.
Now I can get on with the gear setup and assembly.


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Internal Department of Homeland Security Documents obtained by civil rights groups reveal that, since 2000, Customs and Border Patrol guidelines have been loosened to allow border agents significantly more latitude to question and search travelers entering the United States.
Prompted by travelers' reports of border guards increasingly probing into the political views, religious beliefs, and volunteer activities of border crossers, the Asian Law Caucus and Electronic Frontier Foundation sued the DHS in February, seeking the release of records detailing the policies that govern border searches. In June and late July, the groups obtained over 600 pages worth of documents, of which they recently issued a thorough analysis. They found that as border policies were revised in 2000 and again in 2007, restrictions on the examination, seizure, copying, and sharing of travelers' personal effects and documents were shed.
The 2007 guidelines, for example, stipulated that customs officers "may glance at documents and papers to see if they appear to be merchandise" [emphasis added], and permitted close reading only if "an officer reasonably suspects that they relate to" one of several classes of restricted materials. Probable cause, or the consent of the owner, was needed to seize or copy documents. Under the revised rules, officers may seize or copy papers or digital files for the purpose of performing a "thorough border search" without any need for individualized suspicion.
The "reasonable suspicion" requirement was also dispensed with as a prerequisite for sharing seized or copied information with other agencies for translation. A memo from the Area Port of Anchorage, however, does establish that an officer who uses an imaging device to copy the contents of a digital storage medium should inform a supervisor of the "circumstances and articulable facts" justifying the copy.
Though the procedures to be employed by officers questioning subjects selected for secondary screening were heavily redacted, the groups note that despite their specific request for any policies that would restrain customs officials from inquiring about protected First Amendment activities, no such information was forthcoming. Though one statement of procedure acknowledges citizens have a constitutional right to refuse to answer certain sorts of questions, it provides for further probing in the face of such refusal if "articulable facts" justify an extended interview.
Customs' policies have come under increasing scrutiny since a 2006 appeals court ruling made clear that the traditional "border search exception" to the Fourth Amendment applies to material on any digital storage devices travelers may have with them. As high-capacity data storage media become increasingly cheap and portable, potentially vast quantities of personal data are subject to search and seizure without probable cause.


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It's clear who the losers were when Target (TGT) became the victim of a sophisticated security breach in December that eventually compromised the credit and debit card information of 40 million customers. But were there any winners, beyond the thieves?
It's a question many investors have been asking, especially since Target is hardly alone. The Washington Post reports that federal agents notified more than 3,000 U.S. companies last year that their computer systems had been hacked. Annual spending on fighting cyber-theft now tops $100 billion.
One of the beneficiaries of these cybersecurity fears has been FireEye (FEYE), a U.S.-based network security firm. FireEye's specialty is so-called APT technology, which stands for advanced persistent threat. The company has some of the leading software to identify sophisticated hackers.
Related: Kevin Mandia: Why selling Mandiant made sense
"No CIO wants to be on the cover of the Wall Street Journal for a cyberattack," said Dan Ives of investment firm FBR. He thinks that security concerns will keep companies spending on FireEye's products.
FireEye may be in an even better position in the cybersecurity business after it closed bought Mandiant in January for $1 billion. While FireEye has the protection software, Mandiant is one of the best at analyzing flaws in computing systems.
Ives calls the combined company "the sweet spot" of cybersecurity stocks and likens the newly absorbed Mandiant to a team of Navy Seals who show up on the scene and immediately drill-down on the threat, assess the damage, and offer a solution.
FireEye brings something equally important to the table: the ability to have real-time algorithms defend your network. Prospects for this powerful combination have prompted Ives to forecast a $105 price tag on the stock.
But is FireEye quickly burning out?
The company went public last September and soon after bought Mandiant. Shares of FireEye lit up until it did a secondary offering of 14 million shares earlier this month. Since then, the stock has been a downhill run.
All that choppiness aside, the stock is still up 40% so far this year, and there's been renewed interest in corporate cybersecurity issues with both a Senate hearing and SEC roundtable this week alone.
There are some questions as to whether Target was already using FireEye products when it was hacked. FireEye said it won't comment on issues about customers, but a recent Bloomberg Businessweek article shed some light on what might have happened.
According to the article, FireEye did catch the breach, but Target had "turned off" the FireEye software function that would have deleted the malware. It's unclear why Target's IT team did this, but one explanation is that they were skeptical of the software, even after testing it for months.
So what does all this mean for the stock? Ives says that spending on cybersecurity software is expected to grow 15% annually over the next several years. That's a lot higher than regular capital spending, which is projected to grow at 2 to 3%. That alone could translate into 40% revenue growth for FireEye in the next 3 to 5 years.
Of course, Ives also says that although FireEye is in hyper-growth mode, it still has to execute to be able to pull-off that $105 price target ... especially since the company is not profitable and is expected to report losses in 2014 and 2015.
It's in everyone's best interests to prevent another breach or FireEye could become "Fired" Eye.
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Hybridizer Humidity Control Strips
Hybridizer Humidity Control Strips are specially designed for the Hybridizer instrument, and ensure a controlled high humidity during the in situ hybridization procedure. The strips consist of a special hydrophilic polymer fibre material with high surface area and the ability to quickly adsorb and desorb moisture. The strips should be replaced frequently, every 1-2 weeks, as the performance deteriorates over time and with use.
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Adopt a Fast and Flexible Procurement Suite to Meet an Evolving Industry
Drive Competitive Advantage through Innovative Sourcing and Strategic Management
Consumer power is at an all-time high, and consumer packaged goods (CPG) organizations need to meet customers' desire for new delivery models, specialized products that appeal to their changing tastes, and more. While the digital world is giving CPG companies unprecedented levels of access to consumers, the bar for converting awareness into purchase is higher and requires that these companies produce and source more products. In an environment of such radical change, strategic steps are being taken in the industry to make supply chains flexible enough to match these changes without incurring significant new costs for transformation and change management.
With two decades of industry experience, JAGGAER understands the unique challenges facing CPG enterprises and tailors solutions to help maximize the efficiency of their supply chains. Whether it's procuring direct materials and ingredients; packaging; sourcing indirect materials, transportation, and distribution services; or controlling spend, JAGGAER helps turn complex problems into opportunities to evolve and meet a changing marketplace.
What Sets Us Apart
Facing a host of complexities related to product competitiveness, packaging needs, and large-scale transportation and distribution requirements, companies in the consumer packaged goods industry contend with a number of pressing procurement and supply chain challenges that the solutions in JAGGAER's CPG Suite are made to address.
JAGGAER's Advanced Sourcing Optimizer (ASO) addresses strategic sourcing challenges of CPG manufacturers, simplifying the bidding process and driving cost savings for procurement activities.
Companies using ASO can:
- Increase overall spend under management and achieve greater savings opportunities uncovered through spend aggregation and cost driver optimization
- Obtain supply chain innovations by engaging in a collaborative bidding process with suppliers and transportation carriers
- Increase productivity and allow more time for strategy thanks to product-enabled efficiencies
Spend Director allows organizations to influence buying decisions and improve spend management across their entire employee base.
Spend Director allows CPG organizations to:
- Influence buying decisions among its employees and drive contract compliance with guided buying
- Gain visibility into real-time product availability—both with suppliers and local inventory—to streamline purchasing and inventory management across disparate locations
- Access an intuitive shopping environment, with thousands of active supplier integrations available, in a dynamic and responsive interface
Total Supplier Manager (TSM) helps organizations automate and monitor supplier interactions, avoid duplication of efforts, reduce errors, and systematically reduce risk in the supply base.
Features of TSM include:
- Automated supplier registration and management through a centralized portal, with increased visibility into vendor performance metrics
- Ability to ensure current and potential suppliers have the qualifications and resources to meet organizational standards through the Dynamic Qualification feature and risk compliance
- Management of diverse vendor programs down to second tier suppliers by allowing prime suppliers to self-report on their spending
"We chose JAGGAER based on its intuitive handling of large data sets, the flexibility in defining tender variables and the strong analytical engine to assess and visualize different implementation scenarios."
SAB Miller
"Procurement managers are consistently challenged at the highest levels to extend that success to the greater organization in order to achieve wider strategic initiatives through a data-driven, process-oriented approach."
The Coca-Cola Company
Case Study
A fast-growing, U.S.-based healthy alternative food company sought JAGGAER's help in turning their supply chain into a competitive advantage. They wanted their brands to have first-mover advantage when a new health trend arose—whether it be the demand for foods with or without certain ingredients, or a whole new consumer goods product entirely, they knew that regularly being the first to market would position them as a leader in the space. It would also allow them to better drive revenues from these trends, whose windows of opportunity seem to shrink with each new wave.
JAGGAER's CPG suite of tools empowered the company to streamline its procurement and supplier management, paving the way for a faster turnaround time between identification of a new product to be sold and actually getting it packaged and out the door. This saved considerable costs in the process, but importantly it also put them in a position to react more nimbly to changing consumer tastes.
With a speedy, more efficient bidding process thanks to JAGGER's ASO solution, they are now able to quickly bring new suppliers on (or procure new items from current suppliers) when the market shifts and a new material is needed in response; TSM assures those new suppliers are (and remain) a good fit for the company. Additionally, managing inventory with Spend Director helps them make sure it is optimally efficient in its buying and transportation activities, and doesn't over-commit to a product that will be less in demand when consumer preference shifts –that way it's ready to move to the next hot product when it arrives.
JAGGAER integrates seamlessly with more than 40 ERPs, including Banner, Workday, Colleague, SAP and PeopleSoft.
The Solution Suite
The CPG Suite of solutions from JAGGAER allows organizations to create sustainable sourcing initiatives that respond to changing consumer preferences, master complex logistics across their global supply chain, and centralize strategic sourcing practices to better manage spend. The highly-competitive markets that most CPG companies find themselves in necessitate managing costs efficiently to create competitive advantage, and JAGGAER customers like the one above have seen firsthand the benefits of a streamlined and data-driven procurement process.
Net Results:
- 83% of spend under management
- 30% reduction in number of suppliers under management
- 120% return on investment within the first year
- 160%+ reduction in average processing time from bid to supplier shipment
- 95%+ compliant contracts in place
Packaging Procurement: Three Key Considerations to Advance Your Packaging Sourcing Strategy
Contact Us Today
Fill out the form below, and one of our solution experts will be happy to help you.


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According to the blog Lifehacker, "Facebook is tracking your every move on the Web; here's how to stop it." Some of Facebook's "social web apps all send information to Facebook and can post to your profile or share with your friends whether you want them to or not." And logging out is not enough to stop it, because "it doesn't stop Facebook's cookies from sending information to Facebook about where you are and what you're doing there." The blog post goes on to list three "browser extensions to block Facebook services on third-party sites."
At the end of this article, an update was added noting that after discussions with Facebook engineers, the engineers "agreed to make changes to the way their cookies are stored and handled so your account information is not present when you log out of Facebook." But the cookies still remain on your computer after logging-out, so the author recommends using one or more of 3 browser extensions (mentioned above) to clear your cookies after each time online:
- Facebook Privacy List for Adblock Plus
- Facebook Disconnect for Chrome, and
- Disconnect for Chrome and Firefox
Are you concerned about privacy issues such as this? Why or why not? Tell us!


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- Automotive
- Black banks
- black business
- Black Economics
- Black Food
- black owned
- Black Owned Vegan Businesses
- BlackOutMonth2020
- Body Butters
- California Black Businesses
- Chicago
- Cosmetics
- Farmers
- Feminine Care
- Gas Stations
- Gun Ranges
- Gun Stores
- Hygiene
- JuneteenthBlackout
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- los angeles
- Make-up
- Men's Grooming Business
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- support black businesses
- Toilet Paper
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- Women's Products
Republicans clash with Eric Holder on Fast and Furious
Republicans clash with Eric Holder on Fast and Furious
PETE YOST, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Attorney General Eric Holder clashed Thursday with congressional Republicans seeking more information about a flawed gun-trafficking investigation in Arizona.
Lawmakers at a House Judiciary Committee hearing asked Holder what he knew in advance of public disclosure of a so-called gun-walking tactic in early 2011. As part of Operation Fast and Furious, agents were told to forego immediate arrests of suspected straw purchasers of guns and instead try to track the guns to higher-ups in gun-smuggling rings. Such a tactic is normally barred under Justice Department policy.
Agents lost track of hundreds of guns which flowed south to Mexico, where many were recovered at crime scenes. Two such guns were found in the U.S. at the scene of the killing of border agent Brian Terry.
Holder told the committee he became aware of the gun-walking tactic at the same time as the public and that he found out "about the same time" that guns found at the scene of Terry's death were part of Operation Fast and Furious.
Holder has faced off repeatedly with Issa and other Republicans in recent months over his handling of the aborted firearms investigation. Issa's committee has prepared a contempt citation against Holder but not voted on it yet, applying pressure for more documents on Operation Fast and Furious.
Holder said the Justice Department has cooperated fully with congressional investigators and turned over 7,600 pages of material to Congress about the operation.
"Look, I don't want to hear about the 7,600," snapped Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif. Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that is investigating the operation, Issa has been Holder's frequent sparring partner during recent gun-walking hearings.
Issa said Thursday that wiretap applications in Operation Fast and Furious indicate that a number of key individuals at the Justice Department were responsible for the use of the gun-walking tactic.
"I've read them," replied Holder, adding that he disagreed with Issa's conclusions. The material on the wiretaps is sealed in a federal court, but Issa said the committee obtained the applications from whistleblowers cooperating with his investigation.
Gun-walking has long been barred by Justice Department policy, but was used in the Arizona operation in an effort to dismantle entire arms-trafficking networks and reach kingpins who had long eluded prosecution. Previous law enforcement strategy had focused on prosecuting low-level illicit arms buyers at the bottom of the chain, but that allowed thousands of weapons to reach Mexico. The gun-walking tactic was first used in two similar operations during the George W. Bush administration.
Committee chairman Lamar Smith of Texas asked for the identity of the highest-level official in the Obama administration who knew gun-walking was taking place. Holder replied that the operation began in law enforcement offices in Arizona and that he was not at all certain beyond that.
I don't think anybody in Washington knew about those tactics," said the attorney general.
The Justice Department's inspector general is looking into who knew.
"How many people in Mexico have been killed as a result of the U.S." engaging in the gun-walking tactic? asked Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas.
"I don't know, but I think there would be some," replied Holder. The attorney general pointed to a broader picture: That 68,000 guns recovered by Mexican authorities in the past five years have been traced back to the United States. Operation Fast and Furious involved about 2,000 guns in total, and agents lost track of about 1,400 of those.
At Thursday's hearing, House Democrats placed on record letters urging Issa not to pursue Holder's contempt citation. The letters included notes from Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, the survivors of the mass shooting in Tucson that wounded former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the National Action Network headed by the Rev. Al Sharpton.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
The post Republicans clash with Eric Holder on Fast and Furious appeared first on theGrio.