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Gender equality: A game changer for nature
Despite the fact that women play such a critical role in the conservation of ecosystems, their contribution is often overlooked, undervalued, and sadly, undermined
In Fiyoaree, Maldives, Leena wakes up every day just a little before sunrise for her morning prayer. She prepares breakfast for her family and gets her two children, 9-year-old Fathimah and 5-year-old Ahmed, ready for school, which starts at 7:30 a.m.
Once she returns home, she tidies her house and takes care of the laundry, before she heads out to her parents' farm, located 1.5 km away, to help water their vegetables. Approximately two hours later, Leena returns home to prepare lunch for her children.
Throughout the day, she juggles other household duties, including tending to her 4-month-old baby, Moan, while her husband, a fisherman, is out at sea.
At night, after she tucks her children in, Leena spends three hours making mats out of reeds that grow in nearby marshlands and wetlands. Along with 30 other women in her village, 30-year-old Leena sells these multi-coloured woven mats to a cooperative in the capital, Male.
The co-op then sells the handicrafts to high-end tourist resorts. If the women weave on a regular basis, they can earn up to MVR 1000 (US$ 65) per month from the activity approximately 30% additional income to the average household income in Fiyoaree.
Like many other women in her village, and many parts of the world, Leena is the primary caregiver for the family, while her husband goes out to work. Most of the time, these women also take on the responsibility of collecting water and firewood, as well as growing and harvesting crops.
Even though the past decades have seen huge changes for women in many communities in terms of employment, there are still many women who simply cannot have a job away from their villages because of their duties at home. This is why home or village-based income-generating opportunities, such as Leena's weaving, are so important.
Leena is a beneficiary of a regional coastal conservation initiative spanning 11 countries in Asia and the Indian Ocean that aims to empower women economically by training them in the traditional Maldivian art of Thun'du Kunaa weaving.
Implemented through Mangroves for the Future (MFF), a partnership- based coastal programme co-chaired by International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and UNDP, this income-generating initiative also helps women better understand the value of wetlands – and the fundamentally important services they provide, such as the supply of reed for their weaving.
With their traditional knowledge of sustainability at the household and community level, women can play a critical role in the conservation of natural resources. Coupled with the fact that they are instrumental in running the household, they also hold the key to positively influencing and shaping their husbands' and children's views about the importance of safeguarding nature.
They, in turn, then go on to positively influence their peers, creating ripples of change.
Empowered with more knowledge on the sustainable use of natural resources, these women can become strong advocates for nature-based approaches to sustainable development. Numerous studies have indicated that women also play a crucial part in building resilience: from ensuring that fragile ecosystems are protected, to helping their families become more resilient in the face of natural disasters.
Additionally, the United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has made it crystal clear that a commitment to gender equality is necessary to secure a better future for all. This is explicitly evidenced in Sustainable Development Goal No. 5 "Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls".
Unfortunately, in many nations, gender-based discrimination and inequality are still deeply woven into the social fabric. And despite the fact that women play such a critical role in the conservation of ecosystems, their contribution is often overlooked, undervalued, and sadly, undermined. The recent World Economic Forum predicts that the gender gap won't close entirely until 2186.
Though Asia's unprecedented economic growth has brought many benefits to its communities through higher incomes and a better quality of life, it has also exacerbated threats to the region's ecosystems through natural habitat degradation and biodiversity loss, due to commercial, agricultural and industrial activity. Rates of mangrove, wetland and forest loss in Asia are among the highest in the world.
All is not lost, though. Thankfully, this is the 21st century, and the vital role of gender equality, equity and inclusion in conservation and environmental protection has been receiving increasing attention from both the scientific and political community.
Since its inception, 38% of MFF's projects have directly contributed to addressing women's needs. Through the provision of education and skills development training to women and their families, more than 80% of these projects resulted in measurable increases in women's incomes, and went hand-in-hand with improved management of natural resources.This year's theme for International Women's Day is "Be bold for change".
As increasing numbers of women are empowered through conservation projects that systemically mainstream gender equality into programmatic outcomes, collective efforts in sustainable development become more impactful, and can indeed secure a better future for all.
Kabraji is Regional Director, IUCN Asia


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Science fiction, Action138 Mins1998PG-13
During a nuclear test, the French government inadvertently mutates a lizard nest; years later, a giant lizard makes its way to New York City. Dr. Niko Tatopoulos (Matthew Broderick), an expert on the effects of radiation on animals, is sent by the U.S. government to study the beast. When the creature, dubbed "Godzilla" by news outlets, emerges, a massive battle with the military begins. To make matters worse, Niko discovers that Godzilla has laid a nest of 200 eggs, which are ready to hatch.
- Spectacular
- Brash
- Incredible

subset: commoncrawl


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Note from Linda Cureton:
I appreciate the opportunity to contribute to the goals of President Obama's administration as it relates to improving how IT is managed in the Federal Government. We support the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 25 Point Plan with many activities from NASA's stellar IT program. I also volunteered to Co-Chair the Architecture and Infrastructure Committee with Michael Carleton, the CIO from the Department of Health and Human Services focusing government-wide activities by supporting the creation of practical architectures.
Along with all of our CIOs, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center CIO, Adrian Gardner is also answering the call.
Today's NASA CIO Blog is written by guest blogger John Hopkins, Chief of Staff in the NASA's Office of the Chief Information Officer
I remember in high School one of the coaches used to tell us that when the going got tough, the tough got going. The CIO Council has certainly got going early and with vigor to undertake a reshaping of the Federal IT environment which is indeed tough going. The undertaking is sometimes daunting. I can almost hear Calvin and Hobbs cartoonist Bill Watterson saying his favorite quote, "God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now I am so far behind that I will never die."
The truth is that the "To-Be" vision of the Federal IT environment in our minds-eye is actually similar from one agency to another. No matter how hard the going gets, it is critical that we have a plan to get there. OMB's 25-Point Plan and the TechStat reviews make participation a 'no-brainer'. The activities in the plan and the TechStat reviews help propel us toward our goal of a more efficient and effective IT enterprise.
NASA was an early adopter of a key element in the plan, the "cloud-first" approach. NASA became one of the first federal agencies to have a Cloud implementation. Tuesday, September 15, 2009, Vivek Kundra, the Federal Chief Information Officer, toured the NASA Nebula Container and the Security Operations Center (SOC) at NASA Ames Research Center in California. He commented on the NASA Nebula Cloud project as he announced the launch of the Apps.gov platform, an online storefront for Federal agencies to browse and purchase cloud-based information technology (IT) services at a significantly lower cost to the Government. Nebula now serves dozens of customers with centralized services. In addition, NASA has expanded cloud availability with a second instance at Goddard Space Center in Maryland, and is actively adding new customers. This "Cloud-First" philosophy is central to our department's strategic plan.
NASA held their first Tech Stat session on March 24, 2011 for the Integrated Collaborative Environment (ICE), a program that provides a common repository for authoritative data from the Exploration System Mission Directorate (ESMD). ICE is a web-centric environment designed for use by industry, academia and government for sharing, collaborating, integrating, accessing and controlling management information and product data definitions for all ESMD products.
The key outcomes included requirements to develop performance metrics, consolidate applications. It also included a discussion of investment opportunities, lifecycle costs, and customer usability. The next TechStat will review the Enterprise Service Desk (ESD), a major component of NASA's IT Infrastructure Integration Program (I3P) which is designed to transform NASA's IT Infrastructure services from a Center-based model to an enterprise-based management and provisioning model. The scope of I3P is broad, entailing consolidation and central management of IT Services.
In addition, NASA's participation and performance under the Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative (FDCCI) has resulted in the closing of 13 data centers since February 2010 with plans to close one more by the end of calendar year 2011. The remaining 54 NASA data centers will be reduced to 25 by 2015, which actually exceeds the OMB requirement under FDCCI. NASA plans to continually assess data center requirements as these consolidations evolve and after current and future data center requirements become better understood.
We intend to not only meet, but to exceed our tasking to, "…drive business process improvement, investment management, and technical decisions."
John Hopkins, Chief of Staff, Office of the NASA Chief Information Officer


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Top 10 Wines of the Week
Napa Valley and particularly Mount Veeder star on this week's list, which also features a pair of Pinot Noirs. As always, you'll find my complete scores and reviews in upcoming issues of Wine Enthusiast. Have a great weekend!
Mount Veeder 2006 Reserve (Napa Valley). $80, 3,000 cases, 14.5%. A big, tannic, vital wine for the cellar.
Diamond Creek 2008 Volcanic Hill Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley). $175, 490 cases. 14.1%. Also Gravelly Meadow and Red Rock Terrace. All three of Diamond Creek's 2008s are big, tough, substantial wines packed with youthful tannins and bright fruit. All three need serious time in the cellar.
Robert Mondavi 2008 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley). $135. 7,715 cases, 15.5%. Made in the ripe style that Mondavi's been seeing lately, this Cab will nonetheless develop over the decade.
Brandlin 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon (Mount Veeder). $90, 500 cases, 14.5%. Hard mountain tannins make this Cab chewy and astringent. Needs plenty of time.
Robert Craig 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon (Mount Veeder). $70, 846 cases, 14.8%. They knocked the heck out of those Veeder tannins and as a result the wine is softly drinkable on release. But it will age.
Fess Parker 2009 Bien Nacido Vineyard Pinot Noir (Santa Barbara County). $50, 596 cases, 14.9%. Fess Parker and Bien Nacido make for a great combo in this richly voluptuous Pinot.
Franciscan 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley). $27, 110,000 cases, 13.5%. What a great value. This wine sneaked into a blind tasting with other Cabs on the list and did just fine.
Alexander Valley Vineyards 2007 Cyrus (Alexander Valley). $60, 2,900 cases, 14%. I've always been a fan of Cyrus despite its dry herbaceousness that makes it lean compared to Napa. The wine is a Bordeaux blend based on Cabernet Sauvignon.
Alpha Omega 2008 Proprietary Red Wine (Napa Valley). $88, 1,500 cases, 14.1%. It's a rich, softly delicious Bordeaux blend that shows well now.
Lucienne 2009 Lone Oak Vineyard Pinot Noir (Santa Lucia Highlands). $50, case production not revealed, 14.5%. Flashy, but a bit disjointed. Needs 2-3 years to come around.


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Platform Specific Information: Finding a Good JVM
Jython is 100% Pure Java and should run successfully on any bug-free fully 1.1 or 1.2 compliant JVM. Unfortunately, such a beast can sometimes be hard to find. The following is a collection of notes for getting Jython to run (and run well) on specific OS's and JVM's. Since performance can also vary considerably across JVM implementations, this page will also contain information regarding Jython's performance on different platforms.
This list of platform specific information is clearly incomplete. If you find this information to be incorrect for your particular platform, or if you have tips for running Jython on a platform not mentioned on this page, please send that information to jython-dev. If your platform is not included in the list below, you might be able to get useful information from SUN's list of third-party JVM's.
Operating Systems
Java Development Environment 3.1.1 from SGI
Jython will work with the 3.0.1 version of the JDE (which is based on the 1.1.3 JVM), but there are a number of significant known bugs in this release. I strongly recommend using to the 3.1 release on this platform.
www.blackdown.orgFollowing blackdown versions have been used with jython.
Tower Technology CorporationThe TowerJ VM have shown impressive performance figures for some Jython application. TowerJ is still a not a complete java environment, but for some server type applications it can make performance around 2.6 times faster than the IBM and Blackdown JVM's. TowerJ is a commercial product that also runs on WinNT, Irix, HP, Solaris and others.
A guide for installation on Macintosh is available here
Mizutori Tetsuya has made available an application called JPython Runner to make it easier to use JPython on this system. More details on this system can be found at JPython Runner for Macintosh. This link also contains pointers to the latest JVM for Macintosh.
Hopefully, future releases of Jython will be able to incorporate either this technology or something like it to make life easier for Macintosh users.
JRE/JDK from SUN
Windows NT, 95, and 98, Windows 2000
JDK/JRE 1.3 from SUN (My recommendation for this platform)
This is amoung the fastest of the JVM's for Windows, and it also the most compatible with the official Java specification. I'd strongly encourage people to start with this VM, and only consider trying alternatives if they find performance to be a serious problem for their application.
JView from Microsoft
If you have IE 4.0 installed, you almost certainly already have this VM. Type "jview" at a command prompt to be sure. Note: if the copyright dates you see when you type "jview" do not include 1998, you have an older VM. Either download a recent version of IE 4.0, or download the VM directly from the site above.
If you want to write Jython code that takes advantage of Windows specific functionality (using win32 api's, interacting with COM objects, ...) then this VM will give you all of the platform specific functionality you could desire.
Cross-Platform JVM's
Jython does not work with the current version available from transvirtual. This appears to be both due to some small incompatibilities between this Java VM and SUN's version, as well as at least one serious issue which is the lack of a java.math.BigInteger class -- this lack will be a problem for any VM that only implements the PersonalJava subset of the full Java spec. It should be possible to get Jython working on this VM if someone has the time to invest, please let us know if you have any success here or need any help.


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Parisian artist Eric Lambert desired a career in the field of advertising. He studied at the Ecole Professionnelle de Dessin Industriel for four years and then worked as an infographics artist for the NCD COM communication agency. He was co-founder of another agency (TOUNSE) in 1992, but his ambitions eventually led him to comics. He replied to an advertisement by Zone Créative to participated in the collective BD Clip No. 2. The project was never realized, but it did result in him meeting scriptwriter Jean-Luc Istin. It was in 1999 when Lambert and Istin embarked on their first joint comics effort, the heroic fantasy series 'Merlin', that was published in ten book by Nucléa and Soleil until 2010.
Le Dernier Cathare
Together with Éric Stalner, he is responsible for the artwork of 'Flor de Luna', a series co-scripted by Stalner and Pierre Boisserie since 2007. He also drew the 11th book in Stalner and Boisserie's 'Voyageur' series in 2010. In the same year, he created the historical series 'Le Dernier Cathare' with Arnaud Delalande, published by 12bis & Grasset. Lambert participated in a collective comic book about the city of Toulouse in 2011.
Flor de Luna


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UN chief raises alarm over Rohingya in speech before Suu Kyi
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The United Nations chief expressed alarm over the plight of Rohingya Muslims in remarks before Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders from a Southeast Asian bloc that has refused to criticize her government over the crisis.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said late Monday that the unfolding humanitarian crisis can cause regional instability and radicalization. He met with leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on the sidelines of its summit in Manila.
"I cannot hide my deep concern with the dramatic movement of hundreds of thousands of refugees from Myanmar to Bangladesh," Guterres told the ASEAN leaders. Suu Kyi sat close to him but looked mostly at a wall screen showing the U.N. leader.
Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have fled Myanmar's Rakhine state since late August, when the military launched what they called "clearance operations" in response to insurgent attacks. The refugees say soldiers and Buddhist mobs attacked them and burned their villages to force them to flee.
In its most forceful denial so far, however, Myanmar's military issued a statement late Monday saying security forces did not commit atrocities during "clearance operations." It cited an internal investigation that it said had absolved it of any wrongdoing in a crisis that has triggered Asia's largest refugee exodus in decades.
The report contradicts consistent statements from Rohingya refugees now in Bangladesh — some with gunshot wounds and severe burns — who have described massacres, rapes, looting and the burning of hundreds of villages by Myanmar's army and civilian mobs.
Suu Kyi does not have the power to stop Myanmar's military, but has defended it from international condemnation, drawing harsh criticism and damaging her image as a democracy activist and human rights campaigner.
Gutteres said at the United Nations in September that the attacks against the Rohingya appeared to be "ethnic cleansing." He said Friday that it was "an absolutely essential priority" to stop all violence against Rohingya Muslims, allow them to return to their homes and grant them legal status. But his remarks were more measured in front of his ASEAN audience and he did not use the word "Rohingya" itself, a term that angers people in Myanmar who do not consider them a recognized ethnic group.
"It is a worrying escalation in a protracted tragedy and a potential source of instability in the region, and radicalization," Guterres said, welcoming ASEAN efforts to provide humanitarian aid.
Since the crisis began, Guterres said he has called for "unhindered humanitarian access to affected communities and the right to safe, voluntary and dignified return of those who fled, to their places of origin."
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also raised the Rohingya issue in a meeting with the ASEAN leaders, including Suu Kyi, in Manila on Tuesday. Trudeau said he has deployed a special envoy to find out how Canada can support the Muslim minorities and pledged to support ASEAN efforts to help resolve the problem.
"This is of tremendous concern to Canada and many, many other countries around the world," Trudeau said of the Rohingya crisis at a news conference. "Again, we are always looking at not how we can sort of shake our finger and yell at people, but how we can help, how we can move forward in a way that reduces violence, that emphasizes the rule of law, that ensures protection for all citizens."
The conservative ASEAN, which includes Myanmar and other countries critical of its handling of the Rohingya crisis like Malaysia, has refused to formally discuss the crisis as a bloc in a strongly critical manner. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's spokesman, Harry Roque, however, said at least two leaders raised the issue Monday during the bloc's annual summit.
Founded in 1967 in the Cold War era, ASEAN has a bedrock policy of noninterference in each of its members' domestic affairs and decides by consensus, meaning just one member can shoot down any initiative by other members. Those principles have allowed erring governments to parry criticisms while being involved in an internationally recognized regional grouping.
In a draft of a post-summit communique seen by The Associated Press, the leaders included a brief line on the issue, praising an ASEAN disaster-response center for the delivery of relief goods to recent flood and landslide victims in Vietnam, displaced Filipinos in the southern Philippine city of Marawi and "affected communities" in Rakhine in Myanmar.
Associated Press writer Teresa Cerojano contributed to this report.


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Sports, Recreation, & Lifestyle, Flowers & Flower Gardens, Vancouver, British Columbia, Spring, Tulips, Tourism / Ecotourism Industry, Flower Gardens, Southwestern British Columbia, Canada
architecture, attraction, BC, beauty, Bloedel Floral Conservatory, blooming, blue sky, British Columbia, buildings, Canada, canadian, city park, color, colour, contemporary, cultivated, day, environment, flora, floral, flower bed, flowers, garden, geodesic dome, geodetic dome, growing, growth, icon, image, landmark, landscape, Lower Mainland, North America, outdoor, Pacific Northwest, park, people, photo, picture, Queen Elizabeth Park, scene, scenery, scenic, sightseeing, sightseers, Southwestern BC, spring season, sunny, tourist attraction, tourists, trees, urban park, Vancouver, view, visiting, visitors, vista, West Coast, Western Canada, horizontal


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A British jury convicted two men on Wednesday of plotting to rob and kill soul singer Joss Stone.
Junior Bradshaw, 32, and Kevin Liverpool, 35, were found guilty at Exeter Crown Court on charges of conspiracy to murder, to cause grievous bodily harm and to rob. They had denied the charges.
Liverpool was given a life sentence and ordered to serve a minimum of 10 years and eight months. Bradshaw will be sentenced at a later date.
"You intended to rob her and kill her and dump her body in the river, according to your words, and then leave the country with your accomplice Junior Bradshaw," said Judge Francis Gilbert in sentencing Liverpool.
After the verdict, Grammy award-winner Stone expressed gratitude for support and kind wishes during the ordeal.
"I am relieved the trial is now over and that these men are no longer in a position to cause harm to anyone," she said in a statement.
Bradshaw and Liverpool were arrested in June 2011 close to Stone's home in southwestern England after suspicious neighbors reported them to the police. They never reached her house.
Prosecutors said the pair set off from their home in Manchester to Stone's home in Devon armed with a samurai sword, knives, a hammer, black bags and gloves.
They were involved in a crash on their journey, and at one point got lost, asking a postman for directions to Stone's home.
Handwritten notes found in their car made reference to "decapitate." Another read "Jocelyn RIP" and a further note said: "Once Jocelyn's dead ... find a river to dump her," according to prosecutors.
Other notes indicated that the pair disapproved of Stone's being invited to Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding.


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In case of emergency: new technologyand new threatshave businesses reexamining how they cope with disaster
John Goff
BY ALMOST ANY YARDSTICK, PRAIRIE STATE BANK is not what you'd call a major financial institution. With a handful of branches scattered in south-central Kansas, the bank maintains a small retail business in the GWMA (Greater Wichita Metropolitan Area). How small is small? On its corporate Website, the company's management proudly proclaims that Prairie State "is the 24th largest bank in the state of Kansas."
Still, the concerns of the top executives at tiny Prairie State are probably not unlike those of high-powered bankers who run global banking giants. High on that list: how to keep computer systems up and running in case of an emergency. While it's not especially likely that terrorists will strike Augusta, Kansas (site of the bank's home office), the Sunflower State does get its fair share of tornadoes. And in 1999, an overflowing Whitewater River swelled clear up to the steps of the main office. "We had to sandbag the front doors," recalls Chip DuFriend, network administrator at the bank.
Until recently, Prairie State backed up its 16 servers to individual, onsite tape drives. But last year, the bank's Microsoft Exchange server went down and DuFriend was unable to restore the system with a tape backup. Unsettled by the experience, management at Prairie State decided to try something different, eventually signing up for a subscription service provided by StorServer Inc., in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The service enables the bank to store the data from its servers on one server at an offsite location. DuFriend says he can go online and easily recover lost or deleted data files–a revelation for managers used to working straight from tape backups. Says DuFriend: "This system is a paradigm shift for us."
Paradigm shift aptly describes what's going on in the world of disaster recovery these days. Spurred on initially by Y2K and, more recently, 9/11 and the great blackout of 2003, corporate executives are focusing on data protection like never before. According to Stamford, Connecticut-based research firm Meta Group Inc., companies spent just 3.2 percent of their IT budgets on security (employee education, business continuity, and disaster recovery) in 2001. Last year, the outlay was more like 8.2 percent–a dramatic increase.
This newfound interest in security goes beyond increased spending. Advances in technology–and a wider array of threats–have corporate executives rethinking their whole approach to disaster recovery. The days of the onsite, raised-floor room, with rows of clunky tape machines and droning cooling units, are fast disappearing. In their place: remote hot-sites, fail-over systems (backup networks that can be brought online instantly), and Web-based file storage and retrieval. Says Gregg Therkalsen, vice president of business continuity at Hopkinton, Massachusetts-based vendor EMC Corp.: "The idea of backing up info on tape, having human beings put that in a truck, and driving it away…. Well, every customer wants that to go away."
Ellen Christy can attest to that. Christy, director of information technology at Boston-based private-equity specialist HarbourVest Partners, says the firm used to back up its data to tape onsite. Then, at the end of each day, an employee would lug the tape home and store it on some high shelf. "But small companies grow," she notes, "and one tape becomes two, two become three…."
In early September 2001, after a six-month process, management at HarbourVest ditched its in-house tape backup, choosing instead to send the data from its 15 servers over the Internet to a remote site. The company stores 100 gigabytes of data at the site, and about half of that is base data; that is, financial records, agreements, and the like. The information, which is backed up nightly, is retained for several months. In case of an outage necessitating a massive restore, Christy says vendor AmeriVault could cut the data to tape and get it to her in around two hours.
The real selling point of the Web-based service, however, is that employees can retrieve lost or zapped data simply by going online. "The most common problem we have is people deleting files," explains Christy. "It takes 50 percent longer to restore a file using the tape-backup method." Scrambling through reams of old tape can certainly be a laborious process. Worse, tapes and other backup media are notoriously unreliable. Experts say data gets easily corrupted, and often tape backups just plan fail. "Half the time, zip drives and tapes don't restore," insists Wally Beddoe, vice president of operations in the Stamford, Connecticut office of Telekurs Financial. "They can be a big waste of time."
To address that issue, management at the Swiss-owned supplier of financial data hired a Framingham, Massachusetts-based vendor called Connected Corp. It provides a back-up service that safeguards Telekurs Financial's distributed data–information not stored on network servers. While Telekurs does back up its commercial data to a remote site in Hartford, employees rely on their PC hard drives to store tons of information–contracts, E-mail, even application code. "All the stuff to support our business is on PCs," says CFO Mike Stisi. Moreover, Telekurs has an increasing number of employees, including programmers, who work remotely. "The stuff they have on their PCs is scary," notes Stisi. "It's hundreds of man-hours' worth of work."
The finance chief can attest to just how valuable the company's new retrieval system is. In December 2002, Stisi came to the office only to discover that the hard drive on his computer had failed. "When my hard drive died, I almost had a heart attack," he recalls. "Duplicating the information, including customers and contracts, would have been a huge headache."
Using the retrieval service, Stisi recovered his files in a matter of minutes. Since signing on with Connected, he says he hasn't had to worry about failed hard drives and flat-line laptops. This, of course, raises the obvious question: Why is the company finance chief involved in such mundane matters as lost Excel files–matters usually left to CIOs and system administrators? "As the CFO, I'm responsible for protecting our assets," explains Stisi. "My neck and the CEO's are on the line."
Before Y2K and 9/11, most finance chiefs were woefully ignorant about the value of digital assets. Even today, few know the difference between a Bernoulli Box and a Bento Box. But with new threats–including terrorist attacks, computer viruses, and infrastructure failures–many CFOs are beginning to at least sit in on disaster-recovery meetings. "Some CFOs perceive disaster recovery as a sunk cost," says Gary Foster, CTO at Boston-based trade-management services provider Omgeo LLC. "But you have to think worst-case once in a while."
At Edgar Online, a $15 million (in revenues) supplier of public-company data, CFO and COO Greg Adams is doing more than that. He reviews his company's written disaster-recovery plan in detail each year. Adams is also apprised of changes in the plan before he files the company's 10-Qs. "Disaster recovery is critical for us," notes Adams. "If we're down, a lot of money is lost."
After the events of September 11, management at the South Norwalk, Connecticut-based company decided to construct a remote hot-site in Rockville Center, Maryland. The site, which has a backup generator, can restore the company's main systems in a matter of hours. Edgar Online also maintains a New York-based fail-over for its Website (as the name implies, the fail-over immediately kicks in if the Website fails).
The system was put to the test last August, when the huge power outage knocked out the electricity at Edgar Online's Rockville office. "During the blackout," recalls Adams, "we had no downtime."
Other companies were not as fortunate. Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines, which maintains an extensive disaster-recovery and business-continuity plan (including backup generators for its main and remote sites), was able to keep its planes running and its ticket systems operational during the power outage. But according to Keith Hansen, manager of emergency-response and business-continuity planning at the airline, Delta passengers at a number of airports couldn't board their flights after the power went out. The reason? Unlike the well-prepared Delta, some airport security systems didn't have backup generators. "We're now looking at hub and major airports," notes Hansen. "If they don't have a backup [power] system for security, we try to convince them to get one."
The summer blackout exposed shortcomings in other disaster-recovery plans, as well. Many businesses, for example, discovered that their remote sites simply weren't remote enough. "It's all right to have a backup center," says Lance Travis, vice president of core research at Boston-based consultancy AMR Research. "But if you're in the same power grid, it doesn't do you any good." Moreover, a fair number of companies found that their uninterrupted power sources were designed to run for only a few hours. Now, says Travis, some corporations are looking for remote sites that are so far away they can avoid almost any blackout.
Such a strategy, while prudent, can constrain the amount of data that gets backed up. Delta, for one, performs synchronous backups from a mainframe to a remote site. That's a massive dumping of data–and one that limits the distance between the company's remote site and its main data center. As Ray Shepherd, coordinator for business-continuity planning at Delta, explains: "You can push that amount of data only so far."
Experts believe that increased bandwidth and better compression technology will ease the problem. Already, Connected can shoehorn the information from 15,000 PCs onto one NT server, a fairly remarkable achievement. But supply is barely keeping up with demand. The fact is, companies are producing prodigious amounts of data these days, a trend that shows no sign of abating. "Ten years ago, people were running businesses off what you can get in a laptop today," says Omgeo's Foster. "Now we've got terabytes of data."
And while the price of storage technology has come down in recent years, backing up mountains of data can be an expensive proposition. Some companies, in fact, are choosing to discard data after a short time. Haynsworth Baldwin Johnson & Greaves LLP, a Greenville, South Carolina-based law firm, sends new of changed files to a co-location site each night. After 14 days, earlier versions of files get deleted. Skip Lohmeyer, information systems director at the firm, says he's able to retrieve files, which come across in an encrypted format, using a password and a built-in decryption code.
The cost: $4,400 a month to store 140 gigabytes of compressed data. "When you look at it from a mid- to small-company perspective, it may seem expensive," grants Lohmeyer. "But [the reality is], you're going to have a disaster."
The growing number of nasty computer viruses almost guarantees it. Ten years ago, few corporate risk managers and contingency planners worried much about malicious code. "People thinking about disaster recovery were thinking about a catastrophic fire," says AMR's Travis. "They weren't thinking about viruses."
They are now. Peter Tippett, chief technology officer at Herndon, Virginia-based TruSecure Corp.'s ICSA Labs, reckons that the average cost to corporations from viruses and worms has been growing at a 70 percent annual clip for the past seven years.
In fact, Tippett claims that well over a third of U.S. companies had moderate to major damage from last year's Slammer attack. The worm, which essentially swamped corporate networks with traffic, knocked out a portion of the ATM machines in the United States. Continental Airlines went to manual reservations and check-in, and flights were canceled or delayed. All told, Trend Micro Inc. estimates that malicious code cost global businesses $55 billion in damages in 2003.
That number is likely to go up in coming years. It's not overly surprising, therefore, that CFOs are giving the OK for more spending on network security. And while few finance chiefs are going down into the trenches, some are at least helping draw up the battle plans to stave off disaster. Adams of Edgar Online says he now has periodic discussions about viruses, Trojan horses, and worms with the company's operational staff. "It's the CEO's job to run the company," Adams says. "It's the CFO's job to make sure there's a company to run."
FLIRTING WITH DISASTER Average
spending on business continuity, 2002.
In $ millions
General Manufacturing $0.8
Automotive 0.9
Wholesale Distribution 1.0
Health Care 1.6
Pharmaceutical 1.7
Transportation 1.7
Retail 1.7
High Tech 2.2
Aerospace & Defense 2.7
Oil & Gas 2.9
Chemicals 3.4
Financial Services 4.1
Telco Services 4.6
Source: AMR Research
Note: Table made from bar graph.
RELATED ARTICLE: Beyond the raised floor.
COLD BACKUP. Basically, an empty room in a building. Once a disaster hits, computers, routers, and telephones are moved into the room. Cold backups, while cheap, require a fair amount of time–often days–to restore full operations.
WARM BACKUP. A room with computers that replicate a company's existing data center or network. After a disaster, an offsite tape backup is used to boot the computers. Then the hard work of recovery–a process that can take up to 24 hours–begins.
HOT BACKUP. A mirror image of an existing data center or network, with preconfigured systems. Like a warm backup, a tape backup from an offsite is delivered to the data center in case of an emergency. Unlike a warm backup, it takes only a few hours to get these preconfigured systems up and running.
FAIL-OVER. The fastest–and most expensive–backup option. If a primary system fails, a fail-over automatically switches to a standby database, server, or network. A fail-over site redirects requests from the failed system to the backup system. Websites are big users of fail-over.
MOBILE BACKUP. A trailer, replete with computers, routers, and telephones, that can be rolled up right next to a company's main building or offsite backup. A mobile backup provides additional capabilities in times of emergency, but frees companies from having to invest in permanent office space.
ONLINE/OFFSITE BACKUP. Backing up data or systems to an offsite location via the Internet. With increases in bandwidth, and advances in technology, online backup could be the wave of the future for disaster recovery.
REMOTE BACKUP. Offsite backup locations that are typically 50 to 75 miles distant from a company's main data center or operation. Since the blackout of 2003, the definition of remote has changed, with some companies investing in backup sites on different power grids. * J.G.
Sources: AMR Research, Webopedia
RELATED ARTICLE: The long, long trailer.
MENTION CALGARY, the city of 400,000 in western Canada, and civil unrest doesn't spring to mind. This quiet outpost in Alberta is better known for the Saddledome, all-season skiing, and the annual rodeo roundup called the Stampede.
But in 2002, the prospect of civil unrest was worrying managers at Calgary-based Canadian Pacific Railway. At the time, Calgary was getting ready to host a Group of 8 summit, and reports began circulating that protesters were going to try to shut down parts of the city. Recalls Paul Cammack, a manager of the railroad's contingency-planning management group. "We were concerned employees might not be able to get into the building."
The civil disobedience never materialized, and the railroad kept running. But other dangers remain, including fires and car or truck accidents in the city center. "A main line runs right by the office," explains Cammack.
To keep its operations center operating, the $3.7 billion company has invested considerable resources in disaster recovery. In 1999, it constructed a state-of-the-art, remote hot site. Interestingly, the company has also poured money into an empty lot that abuts the site.
Rocky Mountain fever? Hardly. In case of a catastrophe, the company plans to park two large trailers on the lot. The trailers are deployed complete with computers, desks, and telephones, courtesy of Agility Recovery Solutions, in Mississauga, Ontario. They are connected via "hitching post" to the hot site for instant connectivity. During an emergency, the railroad's management plans to house up to 80 additional workers in the trailers, mostly to handle customer inquiries.
Until the recent train bombing in Spain, a mobile site next to a hot site might have qualified as disaster-recovery overkill. But such a view ignores the herculean coordination necessary to run a transcontinental railroad. "If we can't throw switches," says Cammack matter-of-factly, "we're out of business." * J.G.
COPYRIGHT 2004 CFO Publishing Corp.
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group


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Greeetings from the Windermere Foundation,
Many people in our communities struggle each day to have their most basic needs met. But thanks to contributions from Windermere owners, agents, staff and our community partners, the Windermere Foundation has been able to donate $1,359,000 so far this year to organizations that provide services to low-income and homeless families throughout the Western U.S.
Windermere offices throughout the Western U.S. partner with organizations in their local communities to help with fundraising and support of their programs. One such organization is Tree House in Tacoma, Washington, which welcomes families who need a place to stay while a loved one is in the hospital. Tacoma-based Windermere Professional Partners has been a supporter of Tree House since 2007 when the organization was merely a concept. Since then, they have donated nearly $75,000 through the Windermere Foundation to help make Tree House the incredible organization that it is today. Over the years, the Windermere team has filled the Tree House pantry shelves with non-perishable food. They were also the very first organization to cook a hot meal for the families that stay at Tree House—families like Will and Carmenita. Here is their story:
New parents, Will and Carmenita, are among many of the Tree House guests. They welcomed their baby boy William at 25 weeks, which was extremely premature. Since his birth, baby William has had multiple surgeries to repair a collapsed lung, a brain bleed, and a hernia. He recently received a shunt to help relieve the pressure put on his brain. In the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Tacoma General Hospital, progress is often incremental, with setbacks that could occur at a moment's notice. It is critical that parents and loved ones stay close by these vulnerable babies. Recognizing the need for families to be near their loved ones in a time of serious illness, MultiCare offers families a place to stay at Tree House. Carmenita and Will have been able to stay at Tree House since William's birth.
As Carmenita recently expressed, "We're both very thankful for everything the Tree House has done for us. To be able to be so close and being able to see William whenever we want has meant so much. All of the families and staff have been great; it's nice to know that we are not alone and that other people do care. The Tree House has really felt like a home away from home for us."
"We are big fans of Windermere Professional Partners and the Windermere Foundation," says Cindy Niemi from MultiCare. "As a side note, while they were doing all this for Tree House, they sponsored five of our seven Rock the Foundation events to help with critical care needs at Tacoma General and Allenmore Hospitals."
Another organization that the Windermere Foundation supports is the Children's Justice Center (CJC) in Vancouver, Washington, which is one of 600 nationally accredited Children's Advocacy Centers in the U.S. that provide a safe and supportive place for child victims of crime and their non-offending family members. The center's multidisciplinary professional team comes together from across a network of both public and private agencies to provide a comprehensive and skillful response that includes safety, justice, healing and support for child crime victims.
The Windermere Stellar offices in Vancouver have supported the Children's Justice Center over the years by hosting an annual auction on their behalf. From 2012 through 2014, they have raised and donated a total of $163,300. At this year's auction in October, they raised an estimated $125,000 which will help the CJC multidisciplinary team provide more for the children they serve. The monies raised will help fund an expansion of the center's family outreach and support program.
"I am very impressed with the talent, heart and professionalism of our local Windermere group. Over the years, it shows how well they have done to improve their fundraising. They are a winning team for sure." ~ Mary Blanchette, E.D., Children's Justice Center
These are just a couple of examples of how Windermere offices donate their time and money through the Windermere Foundation to support local non-profit organizations in their community. If you'd like to help us continue to support these and other programs, please click on the Donate button.
Thank you to everyone who supports the Windermere Foundation. Your generosity is truly making a difference in the lives of many families in our local communities.
To learn more about the Windermere Foundation, visit http://www.windermere.com/foundation
Christine Wood
Executive Director
Windermere Foundation


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Global Agave Syrup Market Size, Share, Price, Trends, Growth, Analysis, Key Players, Outlook, Report, Forecast 2022-2027
The new report by Expert Market Research titled, 'Global Agave Syrup Market Size, Share, Growth, Analysis, Report and Forecast 2022-2027', gives an in-depth analysis of the global agave syrup market, assessing the market based on its segments like types, natures, distribution channels, applications, functions, and major regions. The report tracks the latest trends in the industry and studies their impact on the overall market. It also assesses the market dynamics, covering the key demand and price indicators, along with analysing the market based on the SWOT and Porter's Five Forces models.
Get a Free Sample Report with Table of Contents: https://bit.ly/3JsWrxA
The key highlights of the report include:
Market Overview (2017-2027)
- Forecast CAGR (2022-2027): 4%
As more individuals seek healthy alternatives to refined sugar, the global market for agave syrup is likely to rise. Organic agave syrup has a low glycemic index and is reported to provide additional health benefits, such as prebiotic fibres, improved intestinal transit, lower cholesterol, and no gluten. The demand for agave syrup is predicted to rise as a result of these perceived advantages. Agave syrup is expected to see profitable opportunities across the globe as a result of the growing demand for clean label products. The growing demand for bakery products, such as coffee cakes, waffles, pancakes, bread rolls, and others, is one of the key drivers for the growth of the agave syrup market. The increase in demand for transparency and rising lifestyle diseases, along with increasing consumer awareness, has increased the demand for food labels. Therefore, the producers focus specifically on the label claims and the agave syrup present as a very striking product with these claims.
Industry Definition and Major Segments
Agave is a genus of plants that can be found in abundance in Mexico and the Southwest United States. Tequila is made from agave as well. Agave syrup or nectar (made from the sap of the agave plant) is a popular sugar replacement. Agave in its natural state, free of chemicals and high fructose corn syrup, is referred to as organic agave (HFCS). The low glycemic index (GI) and low-calorie count of organic agave makes it appealing.
Read Full Report with Table of Contents: https://bit.ly/3StRc4P
By type, the market is segmented into:
- Light Agave Syrup
- Dark Agave Syrup
By nature, the market is classified into:
- Organic
- Conventional
By distribution channel, the market is divided into:
- Hypermarkets and Supermarkets
- Convenience Stores
- Online Channels
- Others
By application, the market is segmented into:
- Bakery
- Beverages
- Confectionery
- Others
By function, the market is classified into:
- Emulsifiers
- Sweeteners
- Flavour Enhancers
On the basis of region, the market is segmented into:
- North America
- Europe
- Asia Pacific
- Latin America
- Middle East and Africa
Market Trends
Agave syrup manufacturers are making advancements in order to provide consumers with healthier options by offering a wide variety, thereby raising product awareness. As a result, the agave syrup market is expected to rise rapidly over the forecast period. Consumers are increasingly seeking preventive healthcare as a result of rising health issues linked to poor dietary choices and growing health concerns. Demand for natural or organic and clean label products is rapidly increasing, particularly in the United States and European markets, as a result of a shift in customer preference for natural and healthier products. The increasing demand for natural sweeteners is thus anticipated to be a key driver of the use of agave syrup.
Key Market Players
The major players in the market are The IIDEA Company, The Agave Sweetener Company, Best Ground International, Noushig, Inc. (Amoretti), Malt Products Corporation, NBF Distribution Inc., and Sisana Sweeteners, among others. The report covers the market shares, capacities, plant turnarounds, expansions, investments and mergers and acquisitions, among other latest developments of these market players.
About Us:
Expert Market Research (EMR) is leading market research company with clients across the globe. Through comprehensive data collection and skilful analysis and interpretation of data, the company offers its clients extensive, latest and actionable market intelligence which enables them to make informed and intelligent decisions and strengthen their position in the market. The clientele ranges from Fortune 1000 companies to small and medium scale enterprises.
EMR customises syndicated reports according to clients' requirements and expectations. The company is active across over 15 prominent industry domains, including food and beverages, chemicals and materials, technology and media, consumer goods, packaging, agriculture, and pharmaceuticals, among others.
Over 3000 EMR consultants and more than 100 analysts work very hard to ensure that clients get only the most updated, relevant, accurate and actionable industry intelligence so that they may formulate informed, effective and intelligent business strategies and ensure their leadership in the market.
Read More Reports:
Global Non Ionizing Radiation EMF Detection Measurement and Safety Market – https://hightimbertimes.com/business/global-non-ionizing-radiation-emf-detection-measurement-and-safety-market-to-be-driven-by-growing-expansion-of-the-major-end-use-industries-in-the-forecast-period-of-2022-2027/137389/
Global Network Traffic Analyser Market – https://hightimbertimes.com/technology/global-network-traffic-analyser-market-to-be-driven-by-increasing-network-traffic-and-complexities-in-the-forecast-period-of-2022-2027/167422/
Global Humanised Mouse and Rat Model Market – https://hightimbertimes.com/business/global-humanised-mouse-and-rat-model-market-to-be-driven-by-rising-demand-for-personalised-medicine-in-the-forecast-period-of-2022-2027/138361/
India Electric Passenger Cars Market – https://hightimbertimes.com/business/india-electric-passenger-cars-market-to-be-driven-by-the-improvements-in-the-automotive-ecosystem-in-the-country-in-the-forecast-period-of-2022-2027/138442/
Global Water Heater Market – https://hightimbertimes.com/business/global-water-heater-market-to-be-driven-by-the-emerging-e-commerce-industry-in-the-forecast-period-of-2022-2027/138502/
*We at Expert Market Research always thrive to give you the latest information. The numbers in the article are only indicative and may be different from the actual report.
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Last week saw the induction of the Mercedes-Benz 450 SEL 6.9 into our rapidly filling Fantasy Garage. While the detractors were loud and squawking, just over 83% of you saw the beauty of a bored-out German bullet train. However, Jalopnik is never one to let the tyranny of the majority drum out the feelings and opinions of the minority. One of the major complaints with the 6.9 write up was the absence of the 6.3. We hear you. In fact, while composing last week's screed, I was quite close to putting the matter to a vote. In the end, I determined that while the 6.3 is indeed an über-hot potato, presented with a choice between the two, any clear-thinking pistonhead would opt for the more-buff 6.9. I will not be making that mistake this week. BMW's M5 is the stuff of legend, dreams and I would argue fantasy. Thematically related to the 6.9 (big engine, four-door saloon), the Bavarians upped the ante by adding serious, sportscarlike handling and (usually) a manny-tranny. Gentlemen — and however many lady friends we've got — an M5 is going into the Garage, please let us know which one.
The first modern Q-Ship, the E28 M5 had no competition when it was nonchalantly introduced at the 1985 Amsterdam Auto Show. BMW claimed to have produced the car in response to customer demand for a fast, sporty four-door; a niche that had been vacant since Mercedes ceased producing the 6.9 in 1981. True, AMG would fire back at BMW's high-performance salvo with the lust-worthy Hammer a bit later, but that rodded Mercedes was much more a muscle car than the E28 M5, which really was a proper sports car with two extra doors.
Consider the vitals: The E28 M5 weighed just 3,153 pounds. Its engine, derived from the awesome M1 supercar, was a 3.5-liter inline-six, produced 286 horsepower in Europe — and a choked 256 hp for us Yanks (for context, the M1 sports car produced just 277 hp) — and featured six separate throttle butterflies for quick response. The E28 was hand built and is the rarest M-badged BMW, save for the M1. Factory zero-to-60 times were quoted as 6.2 seconds (6.5 in the US) but this was only because BMW didn't want the M5 to outshine its more expensive (and way heavier) M 635csi. The actual time was 5.9 seconds. Top speed was 153 mph, making the E28 M5 the fastest sedan in the world at the time.
The E28 is also the best looking M5 — by far. The E28 is both sinister (North American version only came in black) and sleek, but also quite stealthy. The only hints to the ferocious heart beating under the hood are a pair of M5 badges, found on both the grill and the trunk. Otherwise, it's just a shiny 535i. Not that it matters, but the European models could be had with water buffalo leather. That kinda rules.
Last week we told you the 6.9 was the camera car for C'était un rendez-vous. The only reason Lelouch didn't use an M5 was because BMW hadn't invented the car yet. We also discussed the 6.9's appearance in Frankenheimer's Ronin. More than one of you argued that these two cinematic appearances were all the arguing needed to convince them that the 6.9 was indeed Fantasy Garage material. Well, then, like, watch this:
Hooned around Paris with vicious aplomb by "Dee-dree," we know the only reason De Niro, Reno and the wimpy Peugeot caught the E34 was because she ran out of road.
True, the E34 seriously plumped up compared to the E28 (3,788 vs. 3,153 pounds), but power was also up. The engine was initially a tweaked version of the 3.5-liter mill from the E28, with a new crankshaft and revised cams raising the output from 286 hp to 315 hp. When the E34 was refreshed in mid-1991, the engine was bored out to 3.8 liters and power rose to 340 meaty horses. Zero-to-60 occurred in just 5.6 seconds, a slight improvement compared to the E28, but top speed (once the pesky 155 mph was killed) was a very fast 170 mph. Can I get a damn?
More important, these suckers were still handmade. In fact, BMW test drivers claimed they could tell from the handling responses which BMW tech had built a particular car. By the time the E34 finished production, BMW had fitted it with a six-speed manual, 18" wheels and mondo brakes. Autocar even clocked the E34 M5 to 60 mph in 5.4 seconds. Finally, as under the radar as the E28 looked, the business suit tailored E34 was even more so. Damn, indeed.
I play poker. A lot of poker. One of the fundamental principles to profitability is controlling your emotions. If you're holding big slick and the flop comes AAA, it's better to quietly check than wildly push all in. But this is a learned skill, not exactly a natural inclination. I mention this because a few years back a red E39 M5 pulled into my neighbor's driveway during an open house. I've never moved so fast, nor spazzed so hard, in my life. There I was, a working auto journalist who had just returned from Maserati camp, drooling like teenager in the beer aisle. Embarrassing? Sure, but if you spend five minutes a week on Jalopnik you know damn well you'd do the same. That's the kind of car the E39 M5 is.
Released in 1998, the E39 was a crack to the jaw of all other manufacturers. Its performance rivaled Ferraris of the time, trumped most Porsches and embarrassed everybody else. Tipping the scales at over two tons (4,024 pounds), the E39 achieved its remarkable agility based on the strength of its engine. Still hand built (thought the car itself was now built on the same Dingolfing line as every other 5-Series), the motor was now a bored and stroked version of the BMW's 4.0-liter V8. For M5 duty, displacement was increased to 4.9 liters and featured Double VANOS. The latter is variable timing for both the input and exhaust valves. This gave the E39 M5 a 7,000 rpm redline, 394 horsepower and 369 lb-ft of torque.
Performance? How does zero-to-60 in 4.7 seconds, zero-to-100 in 11.4, the quarter-mile in 13.2 @ 107.4 mph and a limiter-deleted top speed of 186 mph strike you? And remember, this was in 1998. A while back we talked about how the cliché, "Darth Vader's Ride" was popularized by the Buick GNX. Auto journos turned to a new meme for the E39 M5, "What would God drive?" We've driven this particular M5 and to paraphrase Homer Simpson, it was like how God must feel when he's driving an M5. For the record, Darth Vader would totally rock a black E39 M5.
Chris Bangle, iDrive, more electronic au pairs than a robotic pre-school, the first M car without a manual gearbox, horrendous ride, horrendous gearbox. The litany of doom and gloom leveled at the latest M5 is almost never ending. We know, we know. However, we've also driven the E60 hyper-sedan around a track a few times. All we can say is 5.0-liter, F1-derived, 507 horsepower V10 with an 8,250 rpm redline. Seriously. You have to experience it to believe it. Still don't believe me? Watch this, and don't say a word or think a thought until 1:07 in:
We know the E60 M5 has as much chance of getting into the Garage as Killdozer does winning a popularity contest against Linkin Park. But it doesn't mean Killdozer's not the better band. Anyhow, the curb weight barely ticked up compared to the E39 (an M5 first), with the E60 coming in at 4,087 lbs. This means zero-to-60 happens in 4.5 seconds (though Road & Track did the deed in 4.1), zero-to-100 in 9.4 seconds, and the quarter-mile in 12.5 seconds @ 118 mph. Oh yeah, without the limiter the E60 M5 will do an honest 205 mph. Am I saying that I'd personally rather have am E60 M5 than all the others, even the E39? I'm not going to answer that here, but I will say that I agree with Mr. Clarkson completely:
In the end, as long as one of these wonderful cars gets in, I'm content. Because really, strong cases can be made for all of 'em. Happy Voting.
[The Jalopnik Fantasy Garage appears every Wednesday at noon. Readers vote the cars in or out. The idea is that we'll have 50 cars in our Fantasy Garage, the world's greatest mechanic and endless wads of cash. Would you like to nominate a car for the Fantasy Garage? Write email@example.com with the subject line "Fantasy."]
The Jalopnik Fantasy Garage, So Far:
RUF RT12 | 1978 Aston Martin V8 Vantage | Honda 1300 Coupe 9 | 1931 Daimler Double Six 50 Corsica Drophead Coupe | Ferrari 288 GTO | Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 | 1970 Buick GSX 455 | First Generation BMW M Coupe | Bugatti Veyron 16.4 | Ford GT | Citroen SM | Porsche 928 | Jensen FF | DeTomaso Vallelunga | Audi Quattro S1 | Buick GNX | Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R | Honorary Fantasy Garager: The LS1 Powered Rotus | Lamborghini LM002 | Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe | Ferrari 250 GTO | Bentley Speed Six | Talbot-Lago T150C SS Figoni et Falaschi Raindrop/Teardrop Coupe | Porsche 917 | Audi RS4 Avant | Maybach Exelero | Lamborghini Miura | Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9


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Children with Diabetes, You Are My True Inspiration
Jay Hewitt is 41 years old and has lived with type 1 diabetes since 1991. He is an elite Ironman triathlete (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, 26.2 mile run) and three-time member of the U.S. National Team for Long Course Triathlon. He is a lawyer, the father of a 16-month-old daughter, and a motivational speaker. He speaks to people with diabetes and others all over the world on fitness, nutrition, and achieving goals in life and business. Jay is also captain of Team Joslin at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, MA. Visit Jay's website at www.jayhewitt.com.
I was diagnosed with type 1 relatively late in life, at age 24. People sometimes remark to me, with genuine kindness, that it must have been harder on me. Perhaps they think I recall what it was like to be a "normal" child and young adult, to do and eat what I wanted without insulin, checking blood sugar, or worrying about highs and lows or long-term complications. I appreciate their sincerity, but I always correct them. Diabetesis not harder for me. It is hard on everyone. Whether you were diagnosed as a child or an adult, it complicates your life and the lives of your family.
Nevertheless, children with diabetes and your families, you are my true inspiration. I meet and speak to thousands of you every year through my racing and motivational speaking around the U.S. You inspire me much more than I could ever inspire you. Trying to understand the changing world as a six-year-old child is hard enough. But having to check your blood sugar, inject insulin, and understand nutrition and exercise, when none of the other kids in school knows or cares what acarbohydrate is-Now that is impressive! You are a role model for other kids. They may never admit it, but they look up to you. It is impressive that you keep going, keep playing, and keep taking care of all the things you must, things that they never have to think about.
I have a two-year-old daughter. If she hurts, I hurt, and I will do anything to prevent it. Just keeping up with the normal child items, diapers, clothes, bottles, and food is a challenge. But parents who must approach their child multiple times a day with a syringe or make sure that an insulin pump stays on, who keep up with the meters and strips, who bring extra supplies and nutrition even for that quick errand, and who wonder in the middle of the night if their child is going low or high-they have to handle a whole other level of parenting.
Parents, you inspire me.
I am a big fan of diabetes camps. Each summer I am honored to spend time at Camp Joslin for boys (www.joslin.org), and the neighboring Camp Clara Barton for girls (www.bartoncenter.org) in Massachusetts. What fantastic places for a child with diabetes. Kids can be kids, play sports and activities, eat, learn, and make friends with other kids with diabetes, all under the 24-hour watchful eyes of doctors, nurses, and counselors from the world-renowned Joslin Diabetes Center and other medical centers in Boston. These kids get to feel that they finally fit in. They gain confidence that they can play sports, do anything, even be an Ironman triathlete, because they see others with diabetes doing it by controlling their diabetes in the right way. I've seen the nervous faces of parents dropping their child off, and their amazed faces when they pick them up days later. "This is not the same child," they say.
Each year at Camp Joslin I host a real swim-run biathlon, sponsored last year by the makers of the Omnipod insulin pump. Last year a six-year-old camper named Josh participated, a boy who had never imagined that he could swim, or run, or do anything like that. He was nervous. But on race day I watched him swim a quarter mile right next to me, then run a mile and cross the finish line to the cheers and roar of the crowd and his fellow campers. His life, and my life, was changed that day.
Another fantastic organization is Children with Diabetes (CWD) (www.childrenwithdiabetes.com), an online community for organizing events and sharing information and support for kids with diabetes and their parents. Each year, the makers of OneTouch glucose meters sponsor my appearance at CWD's Friends for Life conference. Last year 3,000 parents, kids with diabetes, and their brothers and sisters met in Orlando to make friends, attend theme parks, hear great speakers and doctors, and learn about the latest diabetes products and best practices. It is a great deal and wonderful atmosphere for kids to be kids and the whole family to relax, have fun, learn, and be inspired. I'll be there again this year from July 7th to 12th at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort, and I would love to see you there.
Racing the Ironman with diabetes can be hard, and some days in a long workout or race I start to wonder if I can keep going. But I think about the kids with diabetes who may be watching me, and their parents who do so much to take care of them, and I am inspired. Thank you, kids and parents, for inspiring me. You are my heroes.


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We're here at the end of Chappelle's Show proper, ladies and gentlemen. I'll be looking at "The Lost Episodes" next week as a way to wrap up the series, but these are the final two with Dave's blessing and in-studio presence. The penultimate episode hints at some of the drama that would unfold over the next two years, but the finale itself shows little sign that it would be a series, not season, finale. There's plenty to analyze this week, so let's forgo lengthy introductions and get into the second season's strong ending.
"Episode 2-12" (season 2, episode 12; originally aired 4/4/2004)
Intro: In a departure for the Chappelle's Show, this episode opens up not with the opening credits but a scene in which Chappelle complains to two Comedy Central executives that he's burned out from the demanding schedule of the program. When the executives note that the industry already expects a third season, an exasperated Chappelle threatens to quit. The executives (Lou Wallach and Jessi Klein, playing themselves) are okay with this, noting all the season's sketches have already been filmed. "At this point in the season, you're replaceable," notes the female executive. Chappelle is skeptical that anyone could replace the titular lead of Chappelle's Show. Cut to a brand-new title sequence introducing Wayne Brady's Show, after which Brady himself appears in-studio to announce the regime change. "Nothing makes me happier than to be able to take another black actor's job," he exclaims, before noting he has to burn off some unaired sketches before the third season of this newly christened program can actually start. (There's plenty to analyze here, but later sketches really flesh out what's happening.)
Fear Factor: Up until a few months ago, you could have called this sketch dated. Then NBC, in a desperate attempt to have anyone watch anything they actually put on the air, revived Fear Factor. This newest version ofthe series didn't exactly light up the Nielsen ratings, but its premise (and that of the Chappelle's Show sketch it inspired) is elegantly simple. The joy in Fear Factor, if any truly exists, lies in watching the gross-out elements inherent in its many challenges. So what happens if you have a contestant without fear? No, I'm not talking about Matt Murdock. I'm talking about Tyrone Biggums.
Joe Rogan appeared in the first season of Chappelle's Show, after Chappelle haphazardly ran into him in Times Square while filming segments such as "New York Boobs" and "Ask A Black Dude." Here, Rogan appears on the set of Fear Factor to host a typical episode of the show. He plays the straight man to Biggums' outlandish behavior, and it's a smart move: When Chappelle is playing Biggums, it's best to get out of the way and let him take center stage. Biggums effortlessly wins every challenge, whether it is lying in a coffin filled with worms, walking across hot coals, or eating elk penis. For Tyrone, this isn't an episode of a reality show so much as "a typical Tuesday". He wins the $50,000 cash prize, which he shares with his crack-smoking girlfriend. If I told you the "rock" he buys her with the cash isn't a diamond, would you be surprised? Of course not. The sketch's gross-out humor isn't in my particular wheelhouse, but it's well within the realm of both Fear Factor and each Biggums sketch to date. Biggums' matter-of-fact approach to the challenges ("You know, Joe Rogan: This is not the first time I've tasted penis.") are uniformly hysterical, and serve as an excellent start to this unique episode.
Back from commercial break, we see Dave at home watching Wayne Brady's Show. He calls up Outkast's Big Boi to hang out, but apparently Chappelle is already uncool without his own show, so Big Boi blows him off. Seeking to let off some steam, Chappelle leaves the house to find his son hanging with Nick Cannon. Holy continuity, Batman! Pivoting off "The 3 Daves" from the second season's third episode, we see Chappelle's son living the dream of being raised by the "hilarious" Cannon. Cannon notes that Chappelle's kid needs a "working" father, which prompts Chappelle to infiltrate his studio, chloroform the two executives, and punch out co-creator Neal Brennan. Onstage, Brady tries to play it cool, asking Chappelle if the two can co-host. Chappelle is skeptical, reminding Brady of what happened the last time the pair hung out. What happened? Glad you asked!
A Night Out With Wayne Brady: If you ranked the popularity of a Chappelle's Show sketch by the number of times it's quoted by viewers, this has to be in the Top Five. (Anecdotally, I'd rank them as follows, from first to fifth: the Rick James "True Hollywood Stories," "Player Hater's Ball," "A Night Out With Wayne Brady," "Fisticuffs," and "every Lil Jon sketch" lumped in as a single entry.) In the DVD commentary for this episode, Chappelle and Brennan both praise Brady for his courage in deconstructing his image in the service of the sketch's premise. And their praise is not unfounded. In this homage to Training Day wrapped inside karmic payback for the "Negrodamus" sketch earlier in the season, Brady's performance is almost unnervingly strong. While Chappelle's ability to inhabit characters is remarkable, Brady's acting in this sketch is what elevates it to the heights it achieves.
The premise is simple: Brady picks Chappelle up for dinner and leads him into deeper levels of Hell throughout the evening. Each stop along the way defies the audience's expectations of Brady's inoffensive persona and serves to scare the living shit out of Chappelle. The drive-by shooting that kicks off the night establishes the tone quickly. "Oh shit, it's Wayne Brady, son!" screams Donnell Rawlings before being riddled with bullets. It's one of the funniest lines of the sketch, but also quickly establishes a world in which Wayne Brady is a man you simply don't cross.
From there, Dave is repeatedly intimidated by Brady at every turn, and becomes increasingly fearful for his own life and the lives of everyone around him. When Dave asks to go to an ATM to get some money, Brady simply pulls over to a corner and gets cash from prostitutes for whom he pimps. Brady is cordial upon introducing them: "Hoes, Dave. Dave, hoes." Chappelle, already curled into the corner, murmurs, "Evening, bitches." It's an insult but somehow a polite one. (It makes no sense how the sketch squares that circle, but there you have it.) When one streetwalker comes up a bit short, Brady unleashes a line that he was loathe to utter yet became the standout excerpt of the sketch: "Is Wayne Brady gonna have to choke a bitch?" Again, it's a repugnant line on the surface, but within the context of the sketch, it's every bit as funny as anything Chappelle said as Rick James.
The explosive laughter in the audience confirms the aforementioned comparison. After Brady shoots Rawlings, the crowd is into the sketch's premise. At this point, Brady has them in the palm of his hands. The crowd is so into Brady that when Chappelle tries to save the prostitute's life ("Run, bitch! Run for your life! Get some help!"), it's a bit shocking. We've already somewhat forgotten that Chappelle is even in the sketch. That's how overwhelming Brady's presence here is.
At this point, it's worth noting that while it's brave for Brady to come on and go against the grain of his typical brand of comedy, it's also pretty brave/generous of Chappelle's Show to allow Chappelle to look weak, foolish, and mentally outmatched by Brady. Sure, this is all a hyper-real environment that doesn't represent reality in any way, shape, or form. But years before Louis C.K. hashed out his issues with comics such as Dane Cook and Marc Maron on Louie, Chappelle and Brady are working out issues that arise within the small community of black actors in Hollywood. Cannon's presence in this episode highlights the constant struggle between solidarity and competition that exists within this group of performers. Onscreen, we see these men both support each other and then feel wounded when that solidarity is somehow betrayed. It could be something as big as Cannon taking over parental duties from Chappelle, or something as seemingly slight as Paul Mooney taking a crack at Wayne Brady in the second season's fifth episode.
Of course, that's not slight: A throwaway joke inside an episode of TV isn't a dialogue. In an earlier commentary this season, Chappelle and Brennan note that every celebrity that they mock had an open invitation to appear on the show and "defend" themselves. R. Kelly took umbrage to Chappelle's impersonation, but never came on the show. Brady did, and not only turned in one of the highlights of his career but a highlight of Chappelle's Show as a whole. And yet, watching this episode unfold, it's remarkable how prescient and yet unaware it is. On one level, Chappelle and Brennan own up to some truths in this episode: They were both exhausted, and both had gone through fights with people such as Wallach and Klein about the show's future. But it still stings to hear Chappelle state on the commentary, "I'm still replaceable now, that's what's so crazy about show business." On one level, he was correct: The show managed to produce three episodes in a manner similar to the fictional take-over by Wayne Brady. But on another level, Chappelle was in fact the furthest thing from replaceable. Not only could they not replace him on Chappelle's Show, but no network has yet to find a suitable replacement for this type of show, doing this type of comedy. It's only now that he's truly emerging from his self-imposed hiatus, and while there have been some good sketch comedy shows in the past decade, there's been only one Chappelle's Show.
"Episode 2-13" (season 2, episode 13; originally aired 4/11/2004)
Profiles In Courage: They can't all be winners, however—even this late in the game. Chappelle notes in the opening monologue that it's never good to be the first black person to do anything. We then watch the tale of Cyrus Halloway, the first black man to take a dump in a whites-only toilet. Chappelle's love of fecal-based humor is on full display here, but watching "the nation's first shit-in" just doesn't sit well after the genius of the last episode. Then again, I know these sketches aren't for me. And I know that you know this as well by this point in my coverage of the show this season. So while there are small pleasures here (especially in the form of Charlie Murphy's preacher), it's a sketch I've definitely viewed for the last time.
A Moment In The Life Of Lil Jon: With the premise of this sketch largely overplayed at this point, Chappelle's Show does the only thing it can in the lifecycle of this concept: Bring in Lil Jon himself to send the entire endeavor through the looking glass. There are few actual jokes here (aside from the one about giving oneself "a stranger," a.k.a. masturbating with a numbed hand), leaving the comedy to come from the editing of the conversation itself. The back-and-forth exchanges are great, as both versions of Lil Jon oscillate between eloquent pain and monosyllabic joy. A shout-out to a previous sketch involving Oprah Winfrey (who is pregnant again here, this time with Lil Jon's child) rounds out a short but very funny final installment of this recurring sketch.
Black Bush: Ah, the final Chappelle's Show sketch with Chappelle's actual blessing. End of an era, an era that ended too quickly but probably couldn't have lasted any longer. That's easy to say in hindsight, of course. And it's not as if I'd be opposed to reviewing the next season of Chappelle's Show here this fall were it still on. Here we get to that age-old argument about whether or not it's better to burn brightly for a short period of time or have lesser success over a greater period of time. I'm not arguing for one or the other. But I do wonder if we'd look at the first two seasons of Chappelle's Show differently if they weren't the only two true seasons of the show.
In "Black Bush," Chappelle tackles politics in a way that he rarely did on the show. He owns up to this fact in the introduction to the sketch, focusing less on what President George W. Bush did in the early '00s and more on what a black president might have done (or more specifically, be allowed to do) under similar circumstances. The overriding premise is that a black version of President Bush would have been under more scrutiny than the actual version. As such, each decision is greeting with a gauntlet of questions probing each and every decision that Black Bush makes.
From there, the sketch pinpoints key moments in the lead-up to the Iraq War. Not only is the president black in this world, but all major domestic and international politicians are as well. Jamie Foxx plays Tony Blair, and Mos Def returns one last time as the Black Head of the CIA, brandishing "yellow cake" from Africa, "the cradle of fucking civilization" according to long-time Chappelle's Show bit player Anthony Berry. Black Bush is simultaneously honest and deceptive, owning up to his desire to kill Saddam Hussein out of loyalty to his father yet still dismissing claims that oil has any primary, secondary, or even tertiary reasons for the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
While the scripted parts of the sketch are strong, it's the clearly improvised elements that shine here. Giving Chappelle lines to read isn't a bad idea, but letting him riff for a while and editing out all but the best parts gives Chappelle's Show nine out of every ten highlights. Extended riffs on Kofi Annan and the composition of his "coalition of the willing" absolutely kill, not only for their content but the gleam in Chappelle's eye when he conceives of the joke a half-second before uttering it. It's that gleam that truly made the show stand out: It's a gleam that betrayed the comedian's intelligence as well as the pure joy he had at the peak of his powers. Even if I never enjoyed toiled-humor-based sketches, there was never a single doubt about how much Chappelle enjoyed performing them. Chappelle's Show was always many different things springing from a single source. The various sketches comprised the various aspects of his persona, his comedic stylings, and his worldviews.
That's why, ultimately, despite his claims to the contrary in the DVD commentary for the Wayne Brady episode, Chappelle himself was never replaceable. Putting the show on without him was simply impossible. That makes his final lines to the in-studio audience that much sadder: "We shook up the world! I'm out!" He didn't know what would happen to his show after this taping, but it seems unlikely that he could have anticipated how things would develop. Next week, we'll look at what did.
Stray observations:
- "You got a Daytime Emmy, you shouldn't be doing shit like this!" I bet people say that to Dr. Oz all the time.
- Wayne Brady serenading the cop before breaking his neck feels like the best scene Whose Line Is It Anyway? never aired.
- The standing ovation at the outset of the 13th episode makes the episode that much more bittersweet.
- My favorite part of "Black Bush": trying to blow off the question about oil before spilling some water and fleeing the congressional hearing.
- Next week: We'll look at all three of "The Lost Episodes".