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Sara Lee (NYSE: SLE) is a leading retailer of packaged meats and baked goods both domestically and internationally. Sara Lee's operations are organized around six business segments: North American Retail, North American Fresh Bakery, North American Foodservice, International Beverage, International Bakery, and International Household and Body Care. The Company's customers include mass retailers and supermarket chains in both the United States and Europe.
While operating margins have improved for the packaged foods industry due to lower commodity prices, Sara Lee remains more vulnerable to any potential upswings in prices than its competitors. Moreover, as a significant but non-dominant player in many of its markets, Sara Lee lacks the pricing power of some its competitors.
Sara Lee's Food services are marketed to hospitals, restaurants and entities that serve food. Sara Lee's other businesses market their products to supermarkets and other retailers. Wal-Mart Stores (WMT), which is responsible for 15% of the company's sales, is Sara Lee's largest customer. No other customer is responsible for more than 10% of the company's sales.
In the packaged goods industry a company's ability to increase it sales are driven by population growth and product innovation. Given that Sara Lee's businesses are based primarily in North America and Europe regions, of the world with relatively modest population growth, the company is placing a strong emphasis on product innovation.
First Quarter 2010 Results
Sara Lee reported first-quarter earnings of $284 million, or 41 cents a share, compared to $230 million, or 32 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Sales fell to $2.59 billion compared to $2.79 billion in the first quarter of 2010.[1]
Sara Lee's operations are organized around six business segments—North American Retail, North American Fresh Bakery, North American Foodservice, International Beverage, International Bakery, and International Household and Body Care.
North American Retail sells a variety of packaged meat and frozen bakery products to retail customers in North America. Products include hot dogs and corn dogs, breakfast sausages, breakfast convenience items, including breakfast sandwiches and bowls, smoked and dinner sausages, premium deli and luncheon meats, bacon, cooked hams and frozen pies, cakes, cheesecakes and other desserts. Brands include Hillshire Farm, Ball Park, Jimmy Dean, Sara Lee and State Fair. The North American Retail segment also includes the results of the corporation's Senseo retail coffee business in the U.S.
Sales are made in the retail channel to supermarkets, warehouse clubs and national chains. The primary raw materials for the segment's products include pork, turkey, beef and chicken, which are purchased almost entirely from independent farmers and vendors. The meats business is highly competitive, with an emphasis on product quality, innovation and value. New product innovations are a key component to success.
North American Fresh Bakery sells a wide variety of fresh bakery products and specialty items to retail and institutional customers in North America. Products include bread, buns, bagels, rolls, muffins, specialty bread and cakes. Significant brands include Sara Lee, Earth Grains, Colonial, Rainbo, Holsum, IronKids, Mother's, Sunbeam, Sun-Maid, San Luis Sourdough and Heiner's. Certain brands are used under licensing arrangements; however sales of products sold under licensing arrangements represent less than 10% of total North American Fresh Bakery sales.
Sales are generated in the U.S. are made in the retail channel to supermarkets, mass merchandisers and warehouse clubs, and to restaurants, schools and other institutional outlets. The North American Fresh Bakery segment offers delivery directly to retail customer stores and warehouses through its direct store delivery system, which maintains approximately 4,400 delivery routes.
North American Fresh Bakery's primary raw materials include wheat flour, gluten, yeast, sugar, corn syrup, butter, fruit, eggs and cooking oils, which are purchased from independent suppliers.
North American Foodservice sells a variety of meat, bakery and beverage products to foodservice customers in North America. Products include hot dogs and corn dogs, breakfast sausages and sandwiches, smoked and dinner sausages, premium deli and luncheon meats, bacon, ham, beef, turkey, bread, pastries, bagels, rolls, muffins, refrigerated dough, frozen pies, cakes, cheesecakes, roast, ground and liquid coffee, cappuccinos, lattes and hot and iced teas. In addition, private label refrigerated dough products are sold to retail customers in North America.
Sales are made in the foodservice channel to distributors, restaurants, hospitals and other large institutions and, in the retail channel, private label refrigerated dough products are sold to grocery stores and mass merchandisers. The primary raw materials for North American Foodservice's products include pork, turkey, beef, chicken, wheat flour, sugar, corn syrup, butter, fruit, eggs, cooking oils and green coffee beans, which are purchased from independent vendors and farmers.
International Beverage sells coffee and tea products in major markets around the world, including Europe, Australia and Brazil. In Europe, some of the more prominent brands are Douwe Egberts, Senseo, Maison du Café, Marcilla, Merrild and Pickwick. In South America, significant brands include Café do Ponto, Café Caboclo, União and Café Pilão.
In fiscal 2009, 78% of the segment's sales were generated in Western and Central Europe, 16% in Brazil and 6% in Asia/Pacific. Sales are made in both the retail channel to supermarkets, warehouse clubs and national chains, and in the foodservice channel to distributors. The International Beverage segment also offers direct delivery to restaurants and warehouses through its direct delivery system.
The most significant cost item in the production of coffee products is the price of green coffee beans, which are purchased from farmers and coffee bean vendors in various countries around the world.
International Bakery sells a variety of bakery and dough products to retail and foodservice customers in Europe and Australia. Products include a variety of bread, buns, rolls, specialty bread, refrigerated dough and frozen desserts. The major brands under which International Bakery sells its products include Bimbo, CroustiPate, Ortiz, BonGateaux and Sara Lee.
During fiscal 2009, 87% of the segment's sales were generated in Western Europe, while the remaining sales were generated in Australia. Sales are made in the retail channel to supermarkets, warehouse clubs and national chains, and in the foodservice channel to distributors and institutions.
International Bakery's primary raw materials include wheat flour, sugar, corn syrup, butter, fruit, eggs, milk and cooking oils, which are purchased from independent suppliers.
International Household and Body Care sells products in four primary categories: body care, air care, shoe care and insecticides. Body care consists of soaps, shampoos, bath and shower products, deodorants, shaving creams and toothpastes, which are sold primarily in Europe under brands such as Sanex, Duschdas, Radox, Monsavon and Zendium. Air care provides air fresheners under the Ambi Pur brand in Europe, Australia, Africa and certain Asian countries. Shoe care includes polishes, cleaners, wax and insoles sold primarily under the Kiwi brand in many countries around the world. Insecticides are sold primarily in Europe and Asia under brands such as Vapona, Catch, GoodKnight, Bloom and Ridsect.
In fiscal 2009, 68% of the segment's sales were generated in Western and Central Europe, 22% in the Asia/Pacific region, 5% in Africa and 5% in the U.S.
In May 2010, Sara Lee sold of its 51% interest in Godrej Sara Lee joint venture to Godrej Consumer Products Ltd. In September 2008, Richelieu Foods, Inc. announced that it acquired the sauces and dressings business from Sara Lee's Foodservice segment. In March 2009, Farmer Bros. Co. acquired from Sara Lee its United States direct-store delivery (DSD) Foodservice coffee business.
Sara Lee's businesses depend on a wide range of raw inputs ranging from corn to hogs. The prices for these inputs are subject to volatility and can be affected by a number of factors including demand, governmental agricultural programs and weather. A drought could for instance reduce the quantity of green coffee beans available, increasing green bean prices. Oil Prices are another major input which can affect both packaging and deliver costs; SLE delivers baked goods directly through customers.
Although Sara Lee hedges commodity prices, this hedging is relatively minor and does not fully shield the company from volatility. Commodity prices have mostly fallen over the last 25 years but from 2002-2005 the packaged food industry saw dramatic increases in commodity prices resulting in a nearly 80 basis point drop in profit margins. Government programs can also affect commodity prices as certain commodities benefit from government subsidies which are subject to change. Any increase in cost resulting from lower subsidies may be passed on to companies like Sara Lee.
Because Sara Lee operates in highly competitive markets, the company has very limited pricing flexibility. While it may be able to pass on higher commodity costs to its customers, in many cases its ability to do so is limited, as any increase in price may result in lower sales volume and or defection of customers to competitors.
Sara Lee and its competitors are subject to health concerns related to their products. This is particularly true of its meat businesses. Over the last several years there has been increasing media attention on mad cow disease. Any future outbreaks have the potential to negatively impact the sales volume and profitability of its beef sales. Health concerns also have the potential to spark increased government regulations. Any substantial change in regulations can increase the cost of compliance and reduce operating profitability.
In recent years consumers have begun placing an increased emphasis on eating healthier. This trend has been reinforced by both media and government attention on the rising obesity epidemic and the increased prevalence of largely preventable illness such as diabetes and heart attack. It is not surprising therefore that consumer demand for healthier packaged foods alternatives has shown robust growth.
This trend is being driven in part by baby boomers. About 30% of Americans in the 50+ age range consume healthier foods as opposed to 19% for those 19-34. As the former population ages and it experiences more health problems, eating healthier becomes a top priority.
Sara Lee is a significant but non-dominant player in many of its markets. As such it is at a distinct disadvantage when compared to some of its competitors, many of whom are concentrated in a single market. McCormick for instance holds over 50% of the US market for spices giving it significantly greater purchasing power than Sara Lee. In this case McCormick would be able to negotiate better prices with its suppliers given that it orders greater quantities. Sara Lee also operates in markets that are relatively fragmented - no dominant player exists. Within these markets Sara Lee is often neck and neck with its competitors with no appreciable advantages in terms of scale.
As seen from the chart below, Sara Lee is trailing its competitors in terms of pre-tax margin. While the company has divested several non-core and non-performing business it will still be some time before it is clear whether this will be enough to close the gap. Sara Lee's marketing efforts have also been lack luster. As a percentage of revenue Sara Lee spends the least on marketing. These factors combined with very low sales growth over the last two years put Sara Lee in a decidedly unfavorable competitive position.
|General Mills
|Campbell Soup
|Sara Lee
|Marketing as % of Revenue
|2yr Sales Growth (%)
|Revenue ($MM)
|Pre-Tax Margin (%)
Both within the US market and internationally Sara Lee's operating margins have also lagged behind its major competitors.


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Any thoughts on his rank in the military based on his uniform would be greatly appreciated.
Italian records are outside my experience, but here are a few considerations from my research efforts in the WWI era :
- maybe there was a memorial service recorded in the burial records of his hometown church
- pinning down the date can help correlate the campaigns and battles being fought and his possible death location
- re-examine the provenance of the death information to determine if "Austria" is today's country or Austria as it was in 1918 (which included South Tirol and a lot of Balkan territory)
- many countries have War Grave organizations or veteran's groups that might be able to help
His WWI record of death from the military archives of Italy is here: http://www.cadutigrandeguerra.it/Albo_Oro/Archivi/5%5C643.jpgReplyDelete
Hi, accidentally I found this post. I'm from Italy and I'm a student and researcher in WW1 history of Royal Italian Army. I check the list of soldier fallen in action, which were from the province of Benevento, and I found this datas:
"TAVINO (surname) Palmiero (name), first lieutenant of the 141th Infantry Regiment, Brigade "Catanzaro", born on March 26 1897, in Sant'Angelo a Cupolo. Killed in action on 29 September 1917 in the Carso area." His regiment, in those days, fought in the area of San Giovanni di Duino - Aurisina, where it suffered many casualties. Probably, lieutenant Tavino was buried, after the war, in the Redipuglia war cemetery, near Gorizia. I hope I helped you, bye, Niccolò
Dear Niccolo,
My great great grandfather died in WWI. I am not related to the Tavino family, but my ancestor is from an area near by: S. Angelo dei Lombardi, Avellino. I'm desperate for any information about him. His name was Pasquale Pizzirusso and I suspect he died in about 1918. I would be so grateful for your help.
Kindest Regards,
Carla Grillo
HI, how can I find a grave which belongs my ancestor, austro-hungarian soldier who died 1915 and buried in central cemetery in Gorizia.Delete
Thanks so much for your help Niccolo!
That's a pleasure! A notice: in the two photos, Tavino wears the uniform of "Bersaglieri" officers', so he served also in this corps. You can suggest to your friend to write a letter to "Onorcaduti" (Ministero della Difesa, Commissariato generale onoranze caduti in guerra, Direzione situazione e statistica - Ufficio estero, Via XX Settembre 123/a - 00187 Roma. Mail: firstname.lastname@example.com ) asking informations about the burial of his relative.
Niccolò Figundio
Mille grazie a tutti! Thank you all so much for the information. I obviously did not know my great uncle but had heard stories that his father (my great grandfather), every year on the anniversary of his eldest son's death, would disappear into the woods in mourning so I always remembered his name and wondered where he was buried. I notice that the date of his death, above, is 1917 but the letter to his parents is dated 1918. I will do some writing.

subset: commoncrawl


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Here are the best of the Spring 2010 YES! cartoon caption submissions.
- "I'm not sure this whole 'living building' thing is all it's cracked up to be."
Britta Anderdaughter
- Tired of so much excitement, Alice married a quiet man, retired from
Wonderland, and spent her social security checks on a top-of-the-line
sprinkler system.
Jennifer Dnomaid
- "I find there is just no end to the benefits of a 'green' roof!"
- "Who needs indoor plumbing?"
Alisha S.
See other reader submitted captions for :


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hey thanks for all those great full res pics. how did you expose those images? do you think you could expose them a little more and then recover highlights or not? (shadow noise doesn't look to bad but for the very deep shadows, it looks like there isn't much left)
Hi Juan,Thanks for sharing those images. I'm impressed with the overall sharpness and pretty large DOF for apertures as large as f/5 or f/5.6. Were these hand held or on a tripod? All the images look great, but I'm curious about something I saw in one of them. In Segovia VIII the clouds in the far background - they are purple and green. Is this from highlight recovery or what happened? Regards,Eric
Hi Juan,Consuegra and Segovia shots look great, but can I see banding in the sky of the first colour Consuegra shot? I like to photograph Spain a lot and particularly like the heavy blue skies you can get there, I also like to post process the skies a lot to get the most out of them. I'm hoping the banding issues with the Sigma aren't going to bug me. Can't tell until I get back to Spain.
Thanks Peter, you're right, in the first Consuegra shot I also see bands in the sky but are not easy to see
Yes the banding issues w/the sky - I see them too, but on one of my monitors and not both??? But I also see a lot of purple/magenta in the sky too that doesn't look right and I see that in both screens.Hmmm...
Eric. All valid points. I was limited by my room light. Tomorrow I will do a test under day light with the lens stopped down. Although the Hassey was properly focused. I was surprised at the result so I re did the shot many times at different focal lenghts (from 1.5-2M), and the image I posted was the accurate focus. Mirror was locked up as well


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Feb 23, 2006
Assuming HIV is the cause of AIDS (and assuming the CDC didn't botch the HIV=AIDS definition), then what is the cause of HIV-Negative AIDS (idiopathic CD4 lymphocytopenia)?
Response from Dr. Frascino
"Idiopathic" by definition means the disease has no known cause. If it did, it would no longer be idiopathic! What we do know about idiopathic CD4 lymphocytopenia (ICL) is that it's not caused by an infectious or transmissible agent. I'll reprint a question from the archives that discusses ICL.
Dr. Bob
THIS IS NOT IN THE ARCHIVES!! Nov 17, 2005
Youve ignored this before and im asking again because i know its not in the archives. Simple question! Can someone have symptoms of HIV infection and then develop ICL? or is ICL independent of HIV like symptoms?
Response from Dr. Frascino
O.K., here's the scoop on what we know about Idiopathic CD4 Lymphocytopenia (ICL). By definition, it's a syndrome characterized by low CD4 counts (less than 300) that are not caused by HIV or other medical conditions (Sjogrens Syndrome, Sarcoid, Radiation therapy, atopic dermatitis, steroid therapy or lymphoma). Transient unexplained decreases in CD4s can occur in healthy folks. Several important observations have been made about ICL:
1. There is no evidence it is caused by an infectious agent, as there is no clustering or evidence of spread from contact evaluations.
2. The most common opportunistic infections associated with ICL are cryptococcosis, molluscum and histoplasmosis. In general, folks with ICL have fewer OIs than HIV/AIDS patients for any given CD4 level. Infections, such as PCP, Candida and KS (HHV-8), are unusual for ICL.
3. ICL patients generally have a relatively good prognosis and their CD4 counts remain stable.
Presently ICL is being treated with IL-2 and gamma interferon, but since cases are relatively rare, treatment experience is limited. Cases of ICL should be reported to local and/or state health departments for follow-up.
That may be more information than you or our readers wanted to know, but at least you won't accuse me of ignoring you any longer, right?
Dr. Bob
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VENICE, Italy (AP) — The Italian film "Sacro GRA," a documentary about life along the highway that circles Rome by director Gianfranco Rosi, won the Golden Lion for best film at the 70th edition of the Venice Film Festival on Saturday.
Rosi called the award a breakthrough for documentaries, which were included this year for the first time in the main competition.
"I didn't expect to win such an important prize with a documentary," Rosi said. "It was truly an act of courage, a barrier has been broken. Now finally documentaries are being seen alongside fiction, therefore documentary is cinema."
Rosi , who spent two years in a minivan circling the ring road filming conversations with such diverse subjects as a count, a paramedic and a botanist tending the highway's palm trees, dedicated the prize to the characters in the film "who allowed me to enter in their lives. Some of them became involuntary protagonists, without knowing it."
It was the first time an Italian film has won the top prize at Venice in 15 years, when Gianni Amelio won for "The Way We Laughed" in 1998.
"Sacro GRA" won a standing ovation during its official world premiere, but mixed international reviews.
"Without trying to make a big point or push a political agenda, he taps into the everyday life of society's fringe dwellers in a series of sketches," the Hollywood Reporter wrote, saying the film "holds its own" in competition, while Variety said Rosi's "idea remains more absorbing than the final product. Docu fests await."
The Silver Lion for best director went to Alexandros Avranas of Greece for "Miss Violence," a disturbing look at sexual violence and abuse perpetrated by a grandfather, played by Greek actor Themis Panou, who won the best actor prize.
Best actress went to Italian actress Elena Cotta, who didn't utter a word in director Emma Dante's "A Street in Palermo," about two women blocked in a standoff when their cars meet on a narrow street, but managed to use facial expressions to portray intense emotions throughout the film. Cotta dedicated the award to her husband, with whom she recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.
Tye Sheridan, 16, won the best young actor award for his role opposite Nicolas Cage in David Gordon Green's "Joe" as a boy who looks to Joe, an ex-con played by Cage, for guidance as he struggles with an abusive and drunkard father. Sheridan has appeared previously in Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life" and Jeff Nichols' "Mud."
The Grand Jury Prize went to Tsai Ming-liang's "Stray Dogs," about a father and two children living on the margins of modern-day Taipei. The director, who won the Golden Lion in 1994 for "Vive L'amour," thanked the Venice audiences "that slowed their pace to watch my movie."
"Philomena" won best screenplay for Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope. The film by Stephen Frears stars Judi Dench in the real-life role of an Irish woman who was forced by nuns to give up her son for adoption, and keeps it secret for nearly 50 years until she sets off on an unlikely journey to the U.S. with a jaded journalist to search for her son.
The Special Jury Prize went to German director Philip Groening's "The Police Officer's Wife," about violence between husband and wife and a mother's efforts to protect their child's innocence.
Oscar-winning director Bernardo Bertolucci headed the nine-member jury that screened 20 movies in competition, and read out the winners from a wheelchair on stage. He told reporters at the start of the festival that he hoped to be "surprised" by the winners.
Colleen Barry reported from Milan.


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ARS310 Visual Language I
An in-depth inquiry into a particular aspect of visual language. Topics vary each time the course is offered. May be repeated for credit with instructor permission. FEE FOR MATERIALS.
- 3 (may be repeated for credit)
- Must be enrolled in the following level: Undergraduate
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- May not be enrolled in one of the following classes: Senior, Freshman


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After all we know Amy's pretty much going to be around the rest of the season, despite having just taken a shot at a little girl. With prior Doctors having ditched companions for lesser crimes it just seems kinda...odd.
*Doctor sits in the Presidents chair with guns pointed at him*Something along the lines of: I broke into the most secure office in Ameirica and parked a big blue box on the carpet and you think you can shoot me?*River song bursts in*"They're Americans!"
Fuck the rules of tv and open the damn door. Shit Rory.


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Curbing poaching, managing the impacts of gold mining and staving off agricultural encroachment are among the challenges facing the people who manage Côte d'Ivoire's Taï National Park World Heritage site.
Taï National Park (Parc National de Taï) in south-western Côte d'Ivoire contains one of the last areas of primary rainforest in West Africa, harbouring rich biodiversity and many threatened species. Among them are 145 species of mammals, representing 93% of the mammal species found in West Africa's forest zone. Among them are the pygmy hippopotamus, forest elephant, forest buffalo, Jentink's duiker and Diana monkey.
The Taï Forest reserve was created in 1926 and promoted to national park status in 1972 covering an area of 536,000 ha. It was recognized as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1978 and added to the list of Natural World Heritage Sites in 1982.
"There are many challenges to address," says Youssouph Diedhiou, IUCN's focal point for World Heritage in West and Central Africa. "We need to strengthen the role of local authorities in conservation of the park, involve local people in monitoring activities, safeguard the park's boundaries from encroachment and work more closely with the forestry administration. We also need to find ways of achieving sustainable funding for the park and set clear performance indicators for the activities implemented."
Despite the work that lies ahead, many important steps have been taken. A management plan for the period 2006-2015 is being implemented and regular progress assessments are carried out to make sure that this is on track. The park has had in place for several years an efficient monitoring system that includes regular resource inventories. And because of the transparency of its management, Tai still enjoys the confidence of donors who want to continue their conservation support.
IUCN, through its Programme on Protected Areas in Central and West Africa regularly carries out assessments of the management effectiveness in Tai. These evaluations have identified various difficulties encountered in managing this property and propose measures for improvement. IUCN also carries out regular training for staff working in the park on areas such as environmental monitoring, ecotourism, wildlife inventories and the development and implementation of management plans.
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Geoffroy Mauvais: Regional coordinator, Protected Areas Programme in Central and West Africa.
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Youssouph Diedhiou: Programme Officer, World Heritage Protected Areas Programme in Central and West Africa.
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Hats Off For Dumbledore!
Nov 12, 2008
Thanks to Oclumencia who owled regarding new scans from a sticker book they have, which show some new images from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Among items of interest is this rare photo of Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) without his hat, a shot of the Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement, Hermione (Emma Watson) and another photo of Quidditch Ron (Rupert Grint).
UPDATE: More stickers are online today, such as this of Slughorn, Draco, Hermione, Luna, and Ron.
Thanks Thiego!


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New cardinal gets warm welcome in ManchesterBy SHAWNE K. WICKHAM
New Hampshire Sunday News March 22. 2014 9:36PM
Cardinal Gerald Cyprien Lacroix walks down the aisle at the start of Mass at Saint Anthony of Padua Parish in Manchester Saturday. (Mark Bolton/Union Leader)
MANCHESTER - "Bienvenue, my son."
With those words, the Rev. Richard Dion welcomed Gerald Cyprien Lacroix, the newly elevated cardinal of Quebec, back to his home parish of St. Anthony of Padua Saturday afternoon.
It felt like a true homecoming, the church filled with old friends, former classmates and members of Lacroix's large extended family, including his beaming parents, Raymond and Brigitte Lacroix.
The night before, the cardinal's mother had prepared his favorite salmon dish for about 35 members of the family.
The church brought in extra seats to accommodate about 900 people, but it was still standing room only by the time the 4 p.m. Mass began.
The cardinal celebrated Mass alongside Bishop Peter Libasci, retired Bishop John McCormack and some priests from the diocese. Libasci told Lacroix his visit is "an occasion of great joy and a blessing to us all."
Later, Lacroix returned to his alma mater, Trinity High School, for dinner and a reception.
And the celebration continues this morning, with Cardinal Lacroix celebrating Mass at St. Joseph Cathedral at 10:30 a.m.
In an interview before Saturday Mass, Cardinal Lacroix said he's proud to return here as a French-Canadian "immigrant." For while he was born in Canada and has found his religious vocation there, he said he considers Manchester home.
Lacroix's elevation to cardinal came just five years after he was chosen by Pope Benedict to be auxiliary bishop. Asked why he thinks Pope Francis chose him, he demurred: "You'd have to ask Pope Francis for that."
But he said, "I am so touched by the confidence, the trust, that the Holy Father has manifested in calling me to become bishop, archbishop and now cardinal. And I'm happy to serve where the church needs me.
"I've noticed throughout my life that saying yes to the Lord brings a lot of joy."
Early in his religious vocation, Lacroix spent time in Colombia as a missionary. He said he still considers himself a missionary because much of his time is spent visiting families and parishes in small towns around Quebec.
He noted that his home parish in Canada has only 101 residents: "It's the only town in Quebec that can boast and say 1 percent of our population is a cardinal."
Lacroix called Pope Francis "a breath of fresh air."
"His life is a witness to what he preaches. He's so simple - like Jesus, I imagine, was. He's so close to the people, and he has that special touch with the poor, those who are suffering, those who feel outcast. He goes to them right away."
Indeed, Lacroix himself seems part of a new spirit reinvigorating the Catholic church. Asked about that, he said, "I'm a firm believer that the Holy Spirit brings us the pastors and the Popes we need each time in the history of the church.
"We needed a John Paul II to go out to all the world and do what he did. We needed a Pope Benedict XVI with his solid teaching rooted in the Gospel and the teachings of the church...."
And the church needs a Francis at this time, he said.
"He looks at us and says you have to be, where you live, a saint. You're called to be a disciple and a missionary ... wherever you are.
"And he's putting the whole church in movement in a new way. ... Everybody has a responsibility in this big family, and he's helping us to discover more what it is."
Lacroix was 8 years old when his parents moved here from Canada; his father's first job was as a night janitor at Bee Bee Shoe.
The young Lacroix attended St. Anthony grammar school and junior high and went on to Trinity High School and then Saint Anselm College. Ask about Trinity and he at once declares, "I am a Pioneer."
Trinity students Michael Toomey, Joseph Lamontagne and Liam Quinn served as flag bearers outside the church yesterday, holding the U.S., Canadian and papal flags.
Toomey said Lacroix's elevation is a source of pride for Trinity students. "To say a cardinal came from your school isn't something a lot of people can say," he said.
Ovide Lamontagne was a classmate of Lacroix at Trinity. During a reception Saturday afternoon at St. Anthony's rectory, Lamontagne handed over his 1975 Pioneer yearbook, their two senior photos side by side. "You never signed my yearbook," he told him.
The cardinal promptly did so.
Lacroix has been a frequent visitor to St. Anthony Church when he comes home to see his parents, and he sometimes celebrates Mass in French, parishioners said.
But this visit was "historic," said usher Bill Cote. "This is a big event here."
"When he made bishop, we were ecstatic," said Mike Arnts, a member of the choir at St. Anthony. "Then he made archbishop, and he'd keep coming back from time to time to see his folks."
Now that Lacroix is a cardinal, Arnts wonders whether Lacroix could someday become Pope. "He's very real, down to earth," he said. "Very genuine.
"The gentleman is just outstanding, what can I say?"
Arnts sees a resurgence in the church and senses that both Pope Francis and Cardinal Lacroix are part of that new spirit. "The good Lord has his ways, and he's got his reasons he allows things to happen," he said.
The Archdiocese of Quebec will have a chance to return the hospitality in July, when Lacroix will welcome Catholic pilgrims from New Hampshire during the 350th anniversary celebration of the founding of the first parish in Canada.
Lacroix encouraged Granite Staters of French-Canadian heritage to attend those festivities. "It's always good to come back to your roots," he said.


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By Jack Kelly
"This is more of a 'happening' than just shopping experience," said one visitor as she entered the DuPage County Fairgrounds for the First Annual Wheaton, Ill., Haunted Halloween All-Niter Market Oct. 29.
Promoter Bob Zurko pulled out all the stops as he offered a fairgrounds full of vendors with collectable goodies along with a varied schedule of attractions including a costume ball, live bands, hay rides, a beer garden, a pumpkin carving contest, a costume contest, an autograph table stocked with movie/TV stars and WWF wrestlers.
Many shoppers and vendors were dressed for the event, with witches, goblins, ghouls and zombies roaming the fairgrounds. It was the first time setting up at Wheaton for Katheryn Burgess, who – dressed like a black cat – traveled nearly 10 hours from Ely, Minn.
Many stopped to admire her 1910 Roseville Mostique jardinière and pedestal set, priced at $900, while others rested in her refinished 1870s mahogany Merklin twist chair with brass lion's heads on top-end pieces, priced at $795. She said the chair was rescued from a farmhouse by her father, who stripped six different colors from the unusual piece.
Another first-time-dealer was Jerry Runge of Rockford, Ill., who offered an oddball early 1900s cast iron 8-foot-tall railroad whistle-stop-post sign that he estimated weighed "200 to 250 pounds." It was found an estate sale and offered at the show for $900. The dealer also offered a 1930s machinist toolbox that he said "opened like a puzzle" with multiple intertlocking trays. "I've seen lots of toolboxes but never one like this," Runge said as he attached a price tag of $150.
Youngsters did a double-take as they passed the booth of Casey Lewandowski of Berwyn, Ill., because the vendor was dressed in a full Santa Clause outfit including a long white beard. The youngsters checked out his table full of collectable 1950s cap guns bargain priced from $12 to $17 each. Adults looked over a selection of more than 200 both sterling silver and silver plate items offered by "Santa."
It was a short drive to the fairgrounds for Randy Meyers of nearby West Chicago, Ill., who said, "Refurbishing is my life."
The dealer pointed with pride to a 28-inch-square ceramic tile top table that was constructed with a cast iron 1950s base. The table top was framed with mahogany trim once used as hand rails in a turn of century Chicago mansion. The "new-old" piece could taken home for $200. "I try to monopolize on different stuff," he said, while also showing a 1960s solid teak 24-inch-tall stool shaped like a human foot.
Costume jewelry filled the booth of Ann Bemis of Fort Atkinson, Wis. She said her favorites included a 3 ½-inch blue rhinestone brooch with three-color aurora borealis stones for $40 and a 16-inch malachite necklace for $30. Bemis said she was a regular dealer at the Zurko Promotions Grays Lake Ill. Market held the second Sunday of each month "and Saturday before."
Vintage jewelry dealer Andrea Brooks of Schaumburg, Ill., said, "I'm always at Wheaton," adding with a chuckle, "sometimes I think I live here." Her selection of "sparkling things" from the 1950s and '60s are priced at $10 to $50 each. She also had a 1950s Stetson men's hat for $24.
Those with a taste for more expensive collectable timepieces were drawn to the booth of Chicago watch dealer Richard Ellison. Pocket watch collectors checked out his 21-jewel 1928 Elgin railroad timepiece for $335. Still others were drawn to a 1910 salesman's sample 21-jewel Hamilton pocket watch with visible mechanical works priced at $380.
Some came to the big event in costume, while others just enjoyed watching others. Janice Sloan, who recently moved to Chicago from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., with 7-year-old daughter Makenzie said, "We just came to look, but I collect antique jewelry and like what I've seen so far." Makenzie was a successful shopper, purchasing some antique feathers.
As the show closed at the strike of midnight, under giant floodlights, show promoter Bob Zurko beamed and said, "Awsome," adding, "It was one of our best crowds to date and many said it was a real scary fun time." Zurko has already set a date for next years Halloween Party at the Dupage County Fairgrounds for October 27, 2012. For more information visit Zurko Promotions.
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Couple ties knot at Bengals game
'We're not traditional,' bride says
Couple ties knot at Bengals game
'We're not traditional,' bride says
Among the many fans at Sunday's Cincinnati Bengals home game was a very special couple who joined their Who Dey hearts.
Surrounded by friends and family, Liza and Justin Windle shared their vows at Longworth Hall.
"We were both married before and we're not traditional; we're anything but traditional," Liza Windle said.
However, the couple did cut a cake, tossed a bouquet and had a first dance to some AC/DC.
"Whatever she wants, she gets," Justin Windle said.
For these lovebirds, the best way to kick off a lifetime of bliss was at another Bengals game.
Photos from the wedding


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NEW YORK (AP) — Stock futures were mixed Thursday as a pair of U.S. retail giants posted better-than-expected profits, but revenue that fell just short.
The Labor Department also reported a surge in unemployment benefit applications due largely to the havoc from Superstorm Sandy in Northeast states.
Dow Jones industrial futures fell 3 points to 12,541. The broader S&P futures dipped 2.2 points to 1,350.80. Nasdaq futures have added 5.75 points to 2,535.25.
Before the opening bell Thursday, shares of Wal-Mart fell more than 3 percent. Its expectations for the current quarter fell shy of Wall Street expectations. An investigation into bribery allegations in Mexico also may be expanding to a number of other countries.
In a filing with the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission Thursday, Wal-Mart said that "Inquiries or investigations regarding allegations of potential (U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act) violations have been commenced in a number of foreign markets where we operate, including but not limited to Brazil, China and India."
Superstorm Sandy drove the number of people seeking unemployment benefits up to a seasonally adjusted 439,000 last week, the highest level in 18 months, the Labor Department said.
The storm struck the East Coast on Oct. 29 and left wide swaths of damage from North Carolina to Maine. The storm also cut power to roughly 8 million homes and businesses, and some are still without power.
Retailers in the region were also affected and most closed stores at some point.
Target reported a higher profit for the third quarter, but said that comparable store sales rose 2.9 percent, which was a slower growth rate than last year.
Sears and the Gap post their quarter earnings after the bell Thursday.


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FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Deutsche Telekom followed its three main rivals and revised its German mobile charges on Monday as the turf war intensifies Europe's biggest national market.
KPN's E-Plus, Vodafone Germany and Telefonica Germany's O2 have already changed their prices as German consumers catch up with the rest of the continent by switching to smartphones from basic mobiles.
Deutsche Telekom said it would offer customers who already own a mobile device a 20 percent discount and add free data access to all packages.
From May 22, it will raise prices at the low end of its range, upgrade mid-range packages, cut prices on high-end mobiles and offer unlimited voice and text services from 49.95 euros ($65) per month to 99.95 euros.
"Compared with Vodafone, we believe Deutsche Telekom is now very competitive, in particular in the mid-range, which could well inspire a response," said Jefferies analysts in a note to clients.
Until only a few months ago Germany was seen as a haven of growth and high margins in a sector struggling to grow in France, Britain, Spain and Italy because of regulatory pressure, price wars and recession.
Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone are Germany's largest mobile players, each taking 34 percent of 2012 mobile services revenues from about 114 million mobile subscribers, while KPN and Telefonica Deutschland share about 32 percent.
(Reporting by Harro ten Wolde; Editing by Louise Ireland)


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The New age movement is a large collection of differing beliefs and practices, which all share a desire for spiritual growth and personal development. Practices often include a mixture of astrology, reincarnation, tarot card reading, crystal ball gazing, acupuncture, meditation, Eastern mysticism, and many others. An early influence on the growth of the New Age movement was the founding of the Theosophical Society by Madame Blavatsky in 1875, but it gained most popularity in the 1960s, when its followers looked forward to the dawning of the Age of Aquarius.
The New Age Movement does not use strict dogmatic teachings. Jonathan Adolph says that the New Age Movement "has no religious doctrine or teachings of its own."[1] A notable characteristic of New Age is it's drawing of cross-religion and cross-culture elements - a typical New Age believer can sometimes comfortably mix Christian crosses and/or angels with ancient Egyptian, Wiccan, Native American, Greek or Celtic symbols making no distinction between them.
The Stanford Research Institute estimates than as much as 5 or 10% of the population identified themselves as New Agers.[2]
- ↑ Jonathan Adolph, "What is New Age?" New Age Journal (Winter 1988)
- ↑ Jonathan Adolph,"What is New Age?" New Age Journal (Winter 1988)
External link
Holy Order of MANS - Wikipedia article example of an esoteric New Age Christian order (no longer in existence)


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Sun Bear
Key Facts
Common Names
Sun bear, Malayan sun bear
Scientific Name
Helarctos malayanus
Vulnerable (A2cd+3cd+4); CITES appendix I
How many?
There are no reliable population figures.
The sun bear can be clearly distinguished from other bears by a white or yellowish patch on the chest. Sun bears are excellent climbers and spend considerable time in trees. They feed on sweet fruits, small rodents, birds, termites, and other insects.
Length: 120-150cm
Weight: 35-80kg
Southeast Asian tropical forests, including tropical evergreen rainforest, montane forest and swamp habitat.
Range States
Bangladesh; Brunei Darussalam; Cambodia; China; India; Indonesia; Lao People's Democratic Republic; Malaysia; Myanmar; Thailand; Viet Nam
Population and Distribution
The Sun Bear was formerly widespread in the lowland forests of South East Asia. However, it has mostly disappeared in recent decades from most of its former ranges. Nevertheless, Sun Bear is still found widespread in a few protected areas in Cambodia 's Mondolkiri province and Virachey National Park. It is thought that the population fallen by more than 30% in the last 30 years.
What are the main threats?
Like other bears in Asia, Sun bears are hunted for their gall bladders and other body parts for medicinal uses that have been proven by scientist to have no medical value at all.
Female nursing sun bears are sometimes killed and their cubs are captured to be sold in the pet trade.
Habitat destruction caused by clearance for plantation development and illegal logging is also another major threat to the small remaining critical population of this species.


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Tudor Sport's York Jersey is a timeless classic likely to find popularity with a new audience loving retro chic but loathing boutique prices, while retaining its traditional touring and club market. For all its classic charms, the simple cotton/nylon mix lacks the climate control of modern fabrics so a good base layer is essential-it's not water-repellent either and will take a good couple of hours at room temperature to dry from saturated but in fairness, getting to this state demanded ninety minutes in the pouring rain.
Available in four colours (Black, Red, Blue and Yellow) and in a wealth of sizes from small to extra large its intended to be a snug, as opposed to figure hugging fit. Broad across the shoulders relative to my frame, I found our XL sample a fraction too large but conversely a good fit were I looking to wear a base layer and a jersey beneath, net effect converting it to a jersey cum jacket for really cold, dry winter rides.
Detailing is simple yet elegant with three capacious rear pockets capable of devouring three 750ml trade team bottles, energy bar, patch kit, multi tool, mini pump and even keys without flinching and they're sufficiently deep so as not to eject wallets, compact cameras and other valuables at the first bump. Talking of bumps, I've been taking the scenic routes through narrow lanes with overhanging foliage- even the most vengeful brambles have made little impression and it machine washes beautifully-although just remember not to pop it in the drier afterwards.
Elsewhere elasticated cuffs and waistband with world champ rings prevent it riding up, thus keeping blustery, biting winds firmly on the outside. However, climate control isn't remotely comparable with more technical fibres – hence the need for a good base layer – but thankfully, the full-length zip provides some welcome airflow when hammering along on bright spring mornings-especially since it doesn't pack very small into a pannier.
Classic jersey with nice detailing but best for cool, dry weather.
If you're thinking of buying this product using a cashback deal why not use the road.cc Top Cashback page and get some top cashback while helping to support your favourite independent cycling website
road.cc test report
Make and model: Tudor Sports York jersey
Size tested: L
Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?
TS104 "YORK" Top with three open back pockets
Full Zipped Jackets with 'World Champ' Ribbing at Neck, cuffs and Waistband.
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?
Cotton/nylon mix, three rear pockets, full length zip, elasticated cuffs,neck and waistband.
Very well made.
560g (XL)
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
The York is a jersey cum jacket in the classic tradition and none the worse for it, so long as you're prepared to accept the fabric's limitations in terms of climate control so wear a good base layer and make use of the full-length zip in milder conditions.
Warm and tactile on cold early season's runs, it looks perfect with the plusses and/or full retro ensemble. Elasticated cuffs and waistband keep it firmly in position, protecting the lower back from chill. However,pop a lightweight shell jacket along with you on longer rides as it's not waterproof.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
Classic,durable and moreover, practical design with a very keen price tag.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
Wicking prowess/climate control can't compete with modern fibres.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes
Would you consider buying the product? Yes
Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes, in the main
About the tester
Age: 36 Height: 1m 81 Weight: 70 kilos
I usually ride: Rough Stuff Tourer Based around 4130 Univega mtb Frameset My best bike is: 1955 Holdsworth Road Path and several others including cross & traditional road
I've been riding for: Over 20 years I ride: Most days I would class myself as: Experienced
I regularly do the following types of riding: cyclo cross, commuting, touring, fixed/singlespeed, mtb,
Shaun Audane is a freelance writer/product tester with over twenty-eight years riding experience, the last twelve (120,000 miles) spent putting bikes and kit through their paces for a variety of publications. Previous generations of his family worked at manufacturing's sharp end, thus Shaun can weld, has a sound understanding of frame building practice and a preference for steel or titanium framesets.
Citing Richard Ballantine and an Au pair as his earliest cycling influences, he is presently writing a cycling book with particular focus upon women, families and disabled audiences (Having been a registered care manager and coached children at Herne Hill Velodrome in earlier careers)


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NEW YORK (AP) — Stephen Baldwin untangled a traffic case Monday that got him arrested as he was trying to get coffee in the city this summer.
"The Usual Suspects" actor became a defendant in real life when police pulled him over in Harlem in August and said his license was suspended. He pleaded guilty Monday to unlicensed driving — a traffic infraction, not a crime — and was ordered to pay a $75 fine.
"He's cleared up his license. It's all a misunderstanding," his lawyer, Richard Southard, said outside court. Baldwin, dressed in a gray suit and toting a roll-aboard suitcase, declined to comment.
The 46-year-old actor told the Daily News of New York in August that police stopped him while he was heading for a Starbucks with his daughter. He said he hadn't been notified that his license was suspended.
State Department of Motor Vehicles representatives didn't immediately return a call Monday.
The youngest of acting's Baldwin brothers, Stephen Baldwin was one of the stars of the 1995 whodunit "The Usual Suspects." He also appeared in 1989's "Born on the Fourth of July" and television's "The Young Riders," and he played Barney Rubble in 2000's "The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas."
Earlier this year, Baldwin faced off in a New Orleans civil courtroom with fellow actor Kevin Costner. Baldwin said Costner and a business partner duped him out of their fair share of a lucrative deal related to the cleanup of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The actors and others had formed a company that marketed devices that separate oil from water.
Baldwin and a friend sought $17 million in damages. A federal jury sided with Costner and gave them nothing.
Outside acting, Baldwin co-hosts a radio show with conservative talk figure Kevin McCullough. Baldwin lives in suburban Rockland County.
Follow Jennifer Peltz at http://twitter.com/jennpeltz


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Fighting Cholesterol With Fewer Drug Side Effects
Recent scientific evidence suggests a form of vitamin B-5 can lower cholesterol with few side effects. The results suggest the dietary supplement could be useful in people who can't tolerate the side effects of cholesterol-lowering drugs, but cardiologists say more research is needed.
Pantethine is a derivative of vitamin B-5 sold as a cholesterol-lowering drug in Japan. It is available in the U.S. from a variety of companies as a dietary supplement. More than two dozen small published studies have shown it appears to lower blood cholesterol, and last year, a 120-person North American study boosted its credibility.
How it works isn't known, but some scientists point to the fact that it is a building block for coenzyme A, a molecule important in fat burning.
Pantethine represents "an interesting new approach in an era in which we are looking for alternatives for people" who can't tolerate commonly prescribed cholesterol drugs, called statins, says Vincent Bufalino, an American Heart Association spokesman and senior medical director of cardiology at Advocate Medical Group, a large Chicago physician practice. But the 120-person study, while "well done," is too small to draw firm conclusions and much larger studies are needed, he says.
Another weakness is that so far no major published study has tested pantethine with statins. If the two work well together, physicians say, it might be possible for patients to add the dietary supplement in order to take a lower dose of statins.
Some scientific literature suggests that pantethine, like statins, inhibits an enzyme important in cholesterol synthesis, in addition to boosting levels of coenzyme A. This effect is likely to be much milder than statins and is probably not the primary way it works, says Danielle Citrolo, a pharmacist and manager of technical services for Kyowa Hakko USA, a unit of Japan's Kirin Holdings . Kyowa Hakko manufactures the Pantesin brand of pantethine, which is available in supplements sold by 38 U.S. companies. The company funded the 120-person study.
Level Best
Here are the benefits or risks of different levels of total cholesterol:
- Less than 200 mg/dL: This level puts a person at lower risk for coronary heart disease.
- 200 to 239 mg/dL: Borderline high level of cholesterol.
- 240 mg/dL and above: High blood cholesterol. A person with this level has more than twice the risk of coronary heart disease as someone whose cholesterol is below 200 mg/dL.
Source: American Heart Association
Cholesterol is a waxy substance that can clog the arteries and increase the risk of heart disease. Some 98.8 million Americans over age 20, or 44% of that age group, have blood cholesterol over 200 milligrams per deciliter, the level over which risk of heart disease increases, according to the American Heart Association. Exercise and diet changes are among the typical ways to treat cholesterol. Statins, a class of cholesterol-lowering drugs, are sometimes prescribed. But 10% to 15% of people cannot tolerate their side effects, which include muscle soreness and fatigue, says Dr. Bufalino.
Pantethine, studied for years in smaller trials—many outside the U.S.—got a boost last year with the publication of the 120-patient North American study in Nutrition Research. The four-month study, conducted by researchers in Florida and Canada, tested Kyowa Hakko's Pantesin in patients with mild-to-moderate elevations in cholesterol.
Subjects taking Pantesin tablets daily, in addition to a healthy diet, saw their total cholesterol fall 3% more than control subjects getting the same diet plus a placebo pill. Low-density lipoprotein, or "bad" cholesterol, dropped 4% more in the subjects getting Pantesin.
"Our numbers are not dramatic, but they are consistent," says co-author John Rumberger, a cardiologist at Princeton Longevity Center in Princeton, N.J. Initially skeptical, Dr. Rumberger says he now tells patients—particularly those with only mild-to-moderate cholesterol elevation—that pantethin is "safe and may be beneficial."
Pantethine, at least so far, appears to have minimal side effects. In a 2005 review of 28 clinical trials encompassing 646 subjects, pantethine was found effective in lowering cholesterol on average, and 1.4% of patients experienced side effects, mostly mild gastrointestinal issues. "It has the same risk as pepperoni pizza," says Richard A. Stein, a professor at New York University School of Medicine in New York.
But the average study length in the review was only 13 weeks. Longer studies of six months to a year are needed to test long-term safety, says Dr. Stein, an AHA spokesman.
Gastrointestinal side effects of pantethine often go away within a couple of weeks, Kyowa Hakko says.
Many companies sell pantethine alone, often with suggested doses ranging from 600 to 900 milligrams a day, typically two pills. It costs about $10 to $20 for a month's supply.
Other companies, such as Pharmavite, a Northridge, Calif., unit of Japan's Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., sell blends. The company's Nature Made CholestOff Complete soft gels contain a blend of Pantesin and plant compounds that the company says help lower cholesterol. The blend, which costs $38.99 for a 20-day supply, hasn't been tested in a clinical trial.
—Email firstname.lastname@example.com
Write to Laura Johannes at firstname.lastname@example.com


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Once again, Jeff Bzdelik would entertain no questions about his future, only about Thursday's game. Unfortunately, Wake Forest's 84-55 loss to Pittsburgh in the second round of the ACC tournament wasn't much fodder for conversation.
After the Senior Night upset of Duke earlier this month, Bzdelik said, "It ain't about me." It wasn't then. It is now.
He's 51-76 in four years at Wake Forest, 17-51 in the ACC, 2-32 in conference road games. A transition period was expected when he took over, tasked with changing the personality of the program. The Deacons finished above .500 this season at 17-16 and won an ACC tournament game for the first time since the late Skip Prosser was the coach, but Wake fans expect more than 29-point losses to NCAA tournament bubble teams.
Bzdelik has one year left on his contract, but athletic director Ron Wellman is under pressure from every quarter to make a change. The speculation has lingered over the program like a dark cloud for years, never more than now.
"I've been hearing that since before I even got here, since I was a senior in high school," Wake Forest sophomore guard Codi Miller-McIntyre said. "Whatever happens to him, especially if he's not here, it's our fault. Simple as that. …
"It would be different if we were losing a lot of games by one point, two points, we blow a lead. We never have a lead to blow. We lose by 20 points, 30 points, that's not a coaching thing. He tried everything he could. He tried different defenses – 3-2, 2-3, press back to a zone, press back to a man. That's just us. It falls down on us, not the coach."
Wellman has been exceedingly patient with Bzdelik, just as he was with football coach Jim Grobe, but Wellman didn't try to talk Grobe out of resigning this fall after five straight losing seasons. After Dave Clawson replaced Grobe, Bob McCreary, one of Wake Forest's most distinguished football alumni, made a $7.5 million donation to the program.
Instead of donating to the basketball program, for the second straight year, Wake Forest boosters bought billboards in Winston-Salem during the tournament demanding Bzdelik's ouster.
Pittsburgh moves on to face North Carolina on Friday. Wake Forest faces an uncertain future. Asked if Wake Forest would consider paying to play in the CBI to prolong its season, Bzdelik admitted he wasn't in the loop.
"That's for the administration to decide," Bzdelik said.
It's not the biggest decision the Wake Forest administration faces now.


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14 Products found for this category
14 Products found for this category
It's fair to say that scooters are the coolest form of transport for kids. They're a great way to get your child outside, and they certainly help to make walks more fun!
As well as a great range of kids' scooters, we've got a selection of stunt scooters built for doing tricks, which are absolutely perfect for bigger kids!
If you want to go even further, electric scooters will make them the envy of all the kids on the block. Simply charge the battery at the mains, then watch them whizz around at the push of a button.
We have plenty of cheap scooters for sale, with models to suit every budget and trend. From three-wheeled scooters for wobbly tots, up to premium stunt scooters for the daredevils, you're bound to find what you're looking for at Halfords.


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Ignore Obama. Change the EU.
by John Bolton
Hubris is definitely one of Barack Obama's strong suits. Having broadly retreated in the global war on terror, failed to stem nuclear proliferation and watched the Middle East descend toward chaos, his Administration has nonetheless found time to lecture the United Kingdom on the finer points of its relationship with the European Union. Even Obama admirers have noticed that, as the New York Times columnist David Brooks wrote recently, ". . . sometimes he governs like a visitor from a morally superior civilization". Now you know first-hand how many Americans feel.
And while Britain has been a particular target for Mr Obama's disdain, it is hardly alone. Just ask Israel. Or Poland and the Czech Republic, after they supported US missile defense plans. Or the people of Iraq, trying to build a representative government to stand against Tehran's encroaching influence. Or Afghans who fear that America's withdrawal inevitably means the Taliban and al-Qaeda will return to power. The list is depressingly long. Under Mr Obama, being a US ally is obviously not what it once was.
In fact, re-evaluating Britain's approach toward the listing EU ship is entirely sensible. But the White House decision to opine publicly before David Cameron's impending speech is both diplomatically ham-handed and divorced from the EU's worsening governance crisis. America's State Department has been a stuck record on European integration since the Marshall Plan, heedless of changing, post-Cold War circumstances, or the EU's many failings.
But this is more serious than simply asserting the default EU position. Challenges to the West continue to grow, and our adversaries — proliferators and terrorists among others — have not waited graciously while we revive our flagging economies. Instead, they have measured our distraction and weakness and recalibrated their policies to exploit our inattention to security requirements.
On both sides of the Atlantic, politicians supporting "ever closer union" in Europe proclaim endlessly that America needs a "strong European partner". America does indeed need a strong Europe, but that is most assuredly not the same thing as a strong EU. While it has been a sustaining, post-Cold War myth that the EU could be an independent pole in a multi-polar world, that myth has been shattered time and again. The EU has utterly forgotten de Gaulle's vision of a "Europe des patries", creating instead the opposite: a weakening Europe of weakening nations.
Europe today is less than the sum of its parts. The very nature of consensus-based decision-making drives it toward hesitancy, timidity and ultimately ineffectiveness. And the EU's cumbersome decision-making mechanism — slow, awkward and rigid — subtracts from the influence its individual member states could project, acting on their own or in concert with others.
Mr Obama's placid acceptance of, or even enthusiasm for, declining US global influence plainly accelerates the West's enervation. He was deadly serious when he vowed in 2008 to "fundamentally transform" America. Only a president who sees national security as distracting from his primary agenda of moving the United States toward European-style social democracy could admire the EU's trajectory. Mr Obama has repeatedly shown his lack of interest in traditional alliances and partnerships as fundamental building blocks for US security and, now safely re-elected, his discomfort with national sovereignty is free to flower.
Debates about America's domestic direction during the next four years will be highly contentious. Similarly, in international affairs, Mr Obama's impact is already profound negative, with more of the same ahead. Whether or not budget sequestration takes effect on March 1, his first term has already brought massive defense cuts of nearly a trillion dollars, while domestic Federal budgets have ballooned. And even Leon Panetta, the Defense Secretary, laments that another $500 billion of reductions through sequestration will be devastating.
Unfortunately other NATO countries already know what Mr. Panetta means. With few exceptions (until now, at least, Britain and France), European military budgets for decades have foreshadowed Mr Obama's path. Reducing defense outlays in favor of social welfare spending was easy for Europe, because ultimately the US nuclear umbrella and conventional forces provided shelter for its collective retreat from responsibility. As America undergoes its own retreat, however, no one will provide us with shelter and most certainly won't shelter the EU either.
It is simply wrong for Washington to say that Britain (or any other EU member) has no choice but to accept the EU as is, or face isolation. In fact the logic is compelling that the EU has grown increasingly sclerotic precisely because its members have accepted this false dichotomy. The internal political dynamic would change fundamentally if EU proponents truly believed that Britain and others were in fact negotiating a substantially different kind of relationship, not leaving the EU but restructuring it. That would be good for Britain and actually also stimulating for the rest of the EU. And the State Department should remember that Thomas Jefferson, its first Secretary, once wrote: "It cannot be to our interest that all Europe should be reduced to a single monarchy."
In any event, restructuring is already under way because of the euro crisis. If eurozone members really want to cede fiscal as well as monetary policy to Brussels, and thus even more of their core national sovereignty, so be it. Not everyone else in the EU must follow suit. The idea of European co-operation proceeding at several different speeds is hardly the exclusive preserve of misty-eyed traditionalists.
Until America once again has a president prepared to deal effectively with global threats to US interests, there is obviously little that those of us in opposition can do to support a United Kingdom determined to preserve some measure of democratic sovereignty. But rest assured, you are far better off making up your own minds than having Barack Obama make them up for you.
John Bolton is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a former US Ambassador to the United Nations. This article was originally published by the Times of London.


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Ryan Tannehill thought the field goal try was good.
After all, Caleb Sturgis had never missed.
But the Miami Dolphins' comeback bid came up short because their rookie kicker was wide left on a 57-yard try with 33 seconds to go, and they lost Sunday to the Baltimore Ravens, 26-23.
Sturgis had been 10 for 10 this season, including three field goals earlier in the game.
"Bad time to miss," he said. "I wanted to make sure I got it there. Unfortunately I hooked it pretty good."
"I thought it actually went in," said Tannehill, who watched from the sideline. "I saw the referees hesitate and look at each other."
Sturgis' attempt came after the Ravens' sixth sack — this one by Elvis Dumervil — pushed Miami to the edge of field-goal range.
Poor pass protection sabotaged a frantic fourth quarter for the Dolphins, who erased a 23-13 deficit by scoring twice in 95 seconds.
The Dolphins (3-2) lost their second game in a row, and coach Joe Philbin said they must find a way to protect Tannehill better. He came into the game with 18 sacks, the most of any NFL quarterback.
"It's hard to function offensively when you're going backward," Philbin said. "We're going to fix the problems we have. We're not going to sweep them under the rug."
The Ravens (3-2) rediscovered their ground game, bounced back from a loss last week at Buffalo and won on the road for the first time this season.
Justin Tucker kicked a 44-yard field goal to put Baltimore ahead with 1:42 left. Then Tannehill, under pressure all day, scrambled to his left before completing a 46-yard pass to Brandon Gibson on fourth down to keep the Dolphins' hopes alive and give them a first down at the 34.
Dumervil pushed them back to the 39.
"We had good coverage, and I was able to make the play," he said.
Baltimore's Joe Flacco passed for 269 yards and had one interception after throwing a career-high five interceptions last week. He had three completions of at least 40 yards, and each set up a score.
Miami also allowed the Ravens to rush for a season-high 133 yards. But despite being outgained and outplayed, the Dolphins mounted a furious rally after trailing by 10 points with 10 minutes left.
Reshad Jones tied the game at 23 by returning an interception 25 yards for a touchdown. Flacco was throwing from the goal line on third down when his right arm and the ball were hit by Dion Jordan, and the pass fluttered to Jones, who ran untouched for the score.
"We felt we had the momentum," Miami receiver Mike Wallace said. "We felt it was our time, time to make some plays. Obviously we didn't."
Flacco moved Baltimore 34 yards to set up Tucker's tiebreaking field goal, his fourth of the day. The score triggered a roar, with perhaps 10,000 Ravens rooters in the crowd of 68,342.
"How many fans did we have here?" Baltimore coach John Harbaugh said. "It seemed like half the stadium. They were loud the whole game."
Flacco led drives of 80, 73 and 94 yards on the Ravens' first three possessions of the second half, each resulting in a score to transform a 13-6 deficit into a 23-13 lead.
Tannehill couldn't quite keep up. He finished 21 for 40 for 307 yards with one touchdown and no turnovers, but the Ravens' sacks cost Miami 35 yards.
"We knew coming in they had a good pass rush," Tannehill said. "Especially when you get behind 10, we knew they were going to be teeing off. As a unit we just all need to step up and do everything we can to handle the pass rush."
The pressure was fiercest in the fourth quarter, when Terrell Suggs had three sacks.
"My wife told me, 'Bring mama home three sacks,'" he said. "It came down the stretch and it was time to get going."
Notes: Dolphins DE Cameron Wake, nursing a left knee injury, started but played only briefly. Miami LB Dannell Ellerbe hurt his shoulder in the second quarter. CB Nolan Carroll left the game in the third quarter with a rib injury. ... Ravens G Kelechi Osemele was sidelined by back spasms. ... An interception by Baltimore's James Ihedigbo was overturned, with the replay judge determining he was out of bounds. ... Bernard Pierce had a 28-yard run, the Ravens' longest this season. ... Wallace had seven catches for 105 yards, but also dropped at least two passes.
AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL
Follow Steven Wine on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Steve_Wine


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Class of 1999 (UK - DVD R2)
Gabe likes vengeful teach-bots, and parties like it's...well, you get the idea.
This review is sponsored by
Director Mark L. Lester has languished in the DTV market in recent years, but '80s action fans will always love him for two reasons: Class of 1984 and Commando. I was fortunate enough to see Class of 1984 for the first time relatively recently when I reviewed Anchor Bay's R1 release. I liked it, and while writing my review I did a quick imdb.com search for Lester. Besides Commando one title stuck out at me— Class of 1999. If you hadn't guessed yet, Class of 1999 is the semi sequel to Class of 1984. Images of the Terminator ripping VHS cover sprung into my mind, and I realized, despite a general craving, that I'd never seen the film. Lucky for me it was made available in the UK last year on DVD.
Things have gotten worse since we left the 'futuristic' world of 1984, when a young and idealistic teacher tried to find good in the worst of the worst, only to find himself brutally murdering them after they raped his wife. In 1999, schools have become war zones ruled by 'youth gangs', and police refuse to enter. The school board is forced to seek outside assistance from a freelance weapons and defence company. The company crafts unstoppable android teachers and test their destructive abilities one particularly tainted Seattle school. Things go a bit funny when the teachers decide to impose a little retroactive punishment on the students.
Class of 1999 is an interesting follow up to Class of 1984 in that not only does Lester make the general problem of violence in schools worse, but he reverses the roles of the protagonists and antagonists. In the first film we root for the good teacher as he fights off the bad students. This time around we root for the bad students who fight off the worse teachers. Unfortunately we don't have honestly likeable characters on either side of the conflict this time around, unlike the previous film, which had a tragic lead villain and a personable everyman hero.
What Class of 1999 lacks in class it more than makes up for in sleaze. I'm not saying Class of 1984 was a particularly poignant film, but it did have a general moral message, and Lester seemed to have wanted to make a serious picture. In some ways this was the films downfall, in that it didn't quite embrace its exploitation nature until the final reel. Class of 1999 starts off silly and exploitative, and continues undaunted until its rollicking finale. If forced to pick one film over the other, I may have to choose 1999. If forced to state which film is the 'better' of the two, I call 1984, but would not find myself watching it again any time soon, especially not with a room full of rowdy friends.
Though the genius of Roddy McDowell is missed (the man can bring dignity to anything, even garbage like the lesser Planet of the Apes sequels and Fright Night), his absence is more than made up for by B-Movie staples and classic character actors including, but not limited to Malcolm McDowell (no relation), Patrick Kilpatrick, Pam Grier (who really looks like she'd rather be anywhere else), John P. Ryan, and the immortal Stacy Keach, whose white, rat-tailed flat-top steals every scene it appears in. With this many solid adults cast, it's no wonder all the kids seem so flat. Lead teen Bradley Gregg comes off pretty well (kind of a likeable version of every character Stephen Dorff ever played) but the others are painfully unable to transcend the fact that the late '80s and early '90s were an awful time for fashion.
My big regret is that the final twenty minutes of the film are so damn good (in a very low-brow way) that I can't help but look down my nose at the rest of the film. The teachers reverting to their more robotic selves is a blast, and for the most part based on very successful practical make-up effects. Even if they don't look 100% convincing, they look cool, especially Kilpatrick's half man/half machine that survives until the finale. It kind of rips off Stan Winston's Terminator design, but you can only do so much with a flesh covered android, and frankly, the blatantly borrowed elements are some of the film's best. For an estimated 5.2 million dollar budget, Lester gets his money's worth (though according to imbd.com accounts, the film made back less than half its budget at the box office).
The overall image quality of this disc is a hair on the undefined side. Everything has a sort of blurry look. Black levels are nice, and dark spots discernable. The comic book colouring of the film is effectively vibrant, and skin tones appear accurate. There's some digital blocking during explosions and quick camera moves, but nothing too noticeable. The 1.78:1 framing is inaccurate, but this is only obvious during the film's opening credits, some of which are cropped off. Head and toe room looked fine throughout, so I'm guessing the original ratio was something like 1.66:1.
The Stereo surround soundtrack is fine, but lacks audio discrepancy. Everything is basically on the same volume level, and had the sound design been more aggressive there may have been some muddling. Dialogue is clear and discernable. Surround effects are few and far between, but bass is surprisingly punchy (pun intended). A 5.1 mix may be unnecessary, but might have been nice all the same.
The box art claims that the disc contains a trailer and biographies, but unless they're really well hidden Easter Eggs, neither is present. Zippo, in other words.
Class of 1999 is a fun bit of mindless and dated sci-fi action, not afraid to spill some blood. This is, by all accounts, the uncut version originally rated 'X', and released 'unrated' on US video in the early '90s. Though extras are absent, the A/V is adequate, and if this sounds like your bag based solely on the description, give it a go. I went in with specific expectations and I was not disappointed.
You can purchase this and other imports from my friends at Xploitedcinema.com
Review by Gabriel Powers
Suitable only for persons of 18 years and over
Disc Details
Release Date: 9th October 2006
Discs: 1
Disc Type: Single side, single layer
RCE: No
Video: PAL
Aspect: 1.78:1
Anamorphic: Yes
Colour: Yes
Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo English
Subtitles: None
Extras: None
Easter Egg: No
Feature Details
Director: Mark L. Lester
Cast: John P. Ryan, Pam Grier, Malcolm McDowell, Stacey Keach, Joshua Miller
Genre: Action
Length: 90 minutes
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Your privacy is important to us.
Carlsbad Ford Lincoln takes your privacy seriously and does not rent or sell your personal information to third parties without your consent. Read our privacy policy.
Actual rating will vary with options, driving conditions, habits and vehicle condition.
The standard features of the Ford Fiesta S include 1.6L I-4 120hp engine, 5-speed manual transmission with overdrive, 4-wheel anti-lock brakes (ABS), side seat mounted airbags, curtain 1st and 2nd row overhead airbags, driver knee airbag, airbag occupancy sensor, air conditioning, 15" steel wheels, ABS and driveline traction control, AdvanceTrac electronic stability, power mirrors.
Starting at: $13,660
|City/EPA-Est Hwy mpg
|S Search New
|120-hp 1.6L 4-cyl
|5-spd man.
|27 / 35
|SE Search New
|120-hp 1.6L 4-cyl
|5-spd man.
|27 / 35
|Titanium Search New
|120-hp 1.6L 4-cyl
|6-spd auto with auto-shift
|27 / 37
With the base engine and fine 5-speed gearbox, it takes some work to be happy with the performance; you have to keep the revs up because there isn't a lot of torque. But at least you can find that happiness, at least, if you can ever be happy with ten seconds from zero to sixty miles per hour. But don't forget, it's an engine that can get 36 highway miles per gallon.
For us, it's harder to be happy with the higher-tech 6-speed twin-clutch automatic manual transmission. It doesn't always downshift promptly or upshift as smoothly in the lower gears as an automatic transmission. We'd say it does a poor impression of an automatic, with these clunky and poorly timed shifts.
Not unlike the original Mazda Miata, the Fiesta's good steering and suspension tuning makes it feel hotter than it really is. The electric power steering is just right, in its weight and feedback. The Fiesta is nimble, responsive, and secure on the highway.
At least it's secure on a smooth highway. With a short wheelbase, the Fiesta tends to hop over rough pavement, and the nose dives under hard braking.
If 120 horsepower and 36 highway mpg is okay with the base engine, 123 horsepower (with more torque) and 43 highway mpg seems worth $1000 extra for the three-cylinder turbo. It has a distinctive exhaust note, to boot; three-cylinder engines tend to howl. You still have to shift a lot to run with the fast guys, but it's fun.
But for real fun, it's the 197-horsepower, 1.6-liter turbocharged Fiesta ST. And since it comes with a standard six-speed manual transmission, there's no twin-clutch downside (but there's also no upside, for those who would like an automatic). Its 214 pound-feet of torque comes at just 1400 rpm, so response is always there. When you add a lowered and stiffened suspension, rear disc brakes, quicker steering ratio, and torque vectoring to minimize if not erase torque steer, the ST can easily take on the Mini Cooper S, Hyundai Veloster Turbo, and Volkswagen GTI.
The Fiesta five-door has a crisp profile, with a wedge shape and arched roofline. The headlamps sweep back into the fenders, while a wide mouth with low fascia makes it look almost mean, for a subcompact.
The proportions aren't the same with the sedan. Definitely not crisp. Its long body and short greenhouse make it look tall and narrow from every angle.
The ST brings it all together, emphasizing the confident lines with an aggressive air dam and black mesh grille, along with a low stance on chunky wheels, and cross-patterned rear diffuser with twin exhaust tips.
The cabin hasn't changed much since the Fiesta joined us seven years ago, and it shows. The plasticky feel lingers, and the infotainment screen isn't integrated. Other subcompacts have managed to find more interior room with their redesigns, but the Fiesta still feels cramped and busy inside, with too many switches and knobs on the dash.
The S model seats are flat and unsupportive, although we can't think of any subcompact with good seats in their model that's stripped for the sake of low entry cost. And the driving position itself is excellent. The SE seats have better fabric and contours, but still feel like bar stools. And like in a bar, you might be rubbing elbows with the person next to you. The optional $2000 Recaro seats on the ST are great, but for two grand we expect no less than greatness.
In back, legroom and headroom are very tight; three adults don't fit. And the 60/40 rear seats don't fold flat.
There isn't anywhere near the amount of cargo space in the rival Honda Fit, for example. The Fiesta offers 26 cubic feet, while the Fit has twice that. At least the sedan has a good-sized trunk, with 12.8 cubic feet.
Thank heaven for small things. The soft-touch materials on the dash and doors, around the plastic, are fine. And the Sync 3 system, with its 6.5-inch touchscreen, is a feature you might expect on a more expensive car. The cupholders are well placed, and there are plenty of small storage bins. The cabin is also fairly quiet for a subcompact, with a sound blanket under the hood to dampen the coarse-sounding engine, and a laminated windshield.
The ST goes the other way, with piped-in intake noise. In that car, we like it.
Each Fiesta hatchback model has its virtues. The ST offers superb value in a pocket rocket. The 1.0-liter three-cylinder turbo offers superb value in a spirited high-mileage car. But we say avoid the 6-speed twin-clutch transmission with its problematic shifting, which leaves you with a standard manual. And the interior is tiny.
Sam Moses contributed to this report.
The 2017 Ford Fiesta comes in S, SE, Titanium, and ST models.
Fiesta S sedan ($13,660) and hatchback ($13,960) are very basic, with rollup windows and 15-inch steel wheels with hubcaps, but at least they have air conditioning, and Bluetooth, a 6-speaker sound system, and adjustable steering wheel. The 5-speed manual is standard, and three-cylinder engine costs another $1000. (Prices are MSRP and do not include destination charge.)
Fiesta SE hatch ($15,190), comes with fabric upholstery but of a higher quality, while adding power windows, cruise control, keyless ignition, ambient lighting and theft alarm.
Fiesta Titanium ($18,950) adds leather, heated seats, automatic climate control, heated side mirrors, a Sony audio system, and the more sophisticated Sync 3 infotainment system.
Fiesta ST ($21,140) is equipped like the SE, except with all the sporty things, such as sport seats, black interior trim, aluminum pedals, black headlamp rims, a tall spoiler, special bodywork, and 17-inch alloy wheels. This in addition to the mechanical upgrades to the engine, suspension, steering and brakes. Options include Recaro seats.
Seven airbags are standard, but, stunningly, a rearview camera is only available on the Titanium, as an option.
Your privacy is important to us.
Carlsbad Ford Lincoln takes your privacy seriously and does not rent or sell your personal information to third parties without your consent. Read our privacy policy.


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Haircuts to Flatter Your Face Shape: Part III, Long and Oval Faces
You may covet your favorite celeb's hairstyle, but if the 'do doesn't fit your face shape, you're likely to be disappointed. Hence, our four-part series on the haircuts that best flatter your face. Welcome back for our third installment: oval faces. To read last week's advice on round faces, click here.
If you were born with an oblong or oval-shaped face, you share your facial structure with Sarah Jessica Parker, Kate Hudson, Jessica Alba, and Jada Pinkett Smith. This extremely versatile face shape allows you to pull off almost any look: short, long, straight or wavy. It's not so much the length you choose that matters; it's more about the feature you want to emphasize. If it's your cheekbones, for instance, try layering chin-length hair so that it falls right at your cheeks and chin, like SJP's at left. This will create the illusion of width, which waves and curls will only emphasize.
If you want to draw attention to your lips and chin, try a choppy bob or a shoulder-skimming straight shag. For other styling ideas,
To emphasize your shoulders and neck, you'll want longer hair that falls below your collarbone. Make sure to cut your hair in long layers, especially around your face. Long bangs are also great for you because they create more width to your longer face. The only style that you'll really want to avoid is super-short layers on the top of your head. This style isn't the most flattering and will make your face appear too long. If your hair is really thick and curly, try to stay away from a blunt bob or you may end up looking like a pyramid.