text:
The Honda of compact SUVs.
Honda's CR-V was redesigned for 2012, but fans of the cute ute will immediately recognize it as a "Comfortable Runabout Vehicle." As always, interior fit and finish is admirable, and the controls are straightforward and easy to use (although the upper models' navigation system has a rather dated look and feel). The crossover continues to be powered by the same 2.4-liter in-line four-cylinder engine (and five-speed transmission) from the previous generation, but it has been modified to provide better power and better fuel economy. The engine now makes 185 hp, and engineers have eked out between one and three more mpg over the last generation, but the car sacrifices little in the name of saving fuel. It's punchy if not quick, and although the five-speed transmission languishes behind the competition in the number of forward gears, its responsiveness and shift smoothness are still near if not at the top of the segment. Steering and grip are admirable as well. The CR-V's convenience features are its greatest strengths, however. The rear cargo area's load floor is quite low, and drivers can fold the 60/40-split rear seat remotely with levers mounted to either side of the trunk. All in all, the CR-V proves to be a well-thought-out, well-executed mix of sport and utility, something we've come to expect from Honda.
Chevrolet Equinox
GMC Terrain
Kia Sportage
Toyota RAV4
new for 2013
The CR-V is unchanged for 2013 after a full redesign for 2012.
Front, side, and side curtain air bags are standard, as are ABS, a tire-pressure monitoring system, and stability and traction control.
High Mileage
Punchy engine
Good ingress and egress
Great cargo space/folding seats
Transmission has only five gears
Predictable styling
Base Price Range: $23,400–$30,900 (est.)
DRIVE: Front-wheel, 4-wheel
BODY STYLE: SUV/crossover, 5-passenger
ENGINE: 2.4L I-4, 185 hp, 163 lb-ft
TRANSMISSION: 5-speed automatic
CAPACITIES: Towing 1500 lb; cargo (rear seats up/down) 37.2/70.9 cu ft


text:
Main Content
One hundred years after its completion, Indiana's Statehouse underwent a major renovation/restoration which was part of the statewide "Hoosier Celebration 88" announced by Governor Robert D. Orr at his inauguration. The restoration at the Statehouse was one of the most visible elements of this yearlong celebration, which in itself renewed interest in historic architecture in many communities across the state.
It was apparent that the Statehouse had suffered decades of "benign neglect." Dirt and destructive cleaning processes had marred the exterior. Layers of paint on the interior and renovation projects of limited scope had obscured much of the original elegance. Even the magnificent dome leaked. The hundredth anniversary of the building proved to be the perfect time for a facelift.
A thorough cleanup of the stonework was required both inside and out. Marble and granite columns, pilasters, and capitals in the interior were cleaned and polished to a rich luster. Details of the eight Carrara marble statues in the rotunda became visible for the first time in many years during this cleaning.
Woodwork was stripped and repaired, and the finish was restored. Glass entry doors were replaced with reproductions of the original oak doors. Modern-day artisans reproduced handcrafted door moldings and other decorative elements.
A Victorian aura returned to the rotunda and atriums. Three layers of paint-the last applied in 1958 by prison labor-hid original stenciling. Indianapolis artisans spent months on the painstaking restoration. In recreating the original details, one of the architects later noted that "more than four acres of plaster needed to be hand stenciled."
Lighting, too, drew upon the past. The fourth floor still had its original chandeliers; from these, new ones were recreated for the other floors. None of the original sconces remained in the building, but one was found in Indianapolis. The restorers replicated it and mounted the copies where the originals had once hung.
The massive art glass interior dome, a hallmark of the State House, received repairs. To ensure that light filtered evenly through the dome to the floor of the rotunda more than 100 feet below, workers painted the interior surface of the outer dome with highly reflective white epoxy paint and added artificial light behind the glass. As a result, the colors of the interior dome glow richly even on cloudy days.
The work on the Statehouse drew praise, especially for the architectural firm the Cooler Group. According to the juror of one award, "This is restoration at its best. It glows. The vitality of the materials has been brought back." Attention to detail allowed the restoration/renovation to recapture much of the original nineteenth-century ambience.
An equally important goal, however, was to make the building functional for the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Technological improvements, such as computerization of the lighting systems, were central to the plan. Modern informational and security systems were designed to harmonize with the building's historic character. Yet even in such an up-to-date environment, it is still one worker's full-time job to change light bulbs in the building.
While many of the public areas were involved in the restoration, other areas remained virtually untouched. The governor's office is one such room.
Another is the Indiana Supreme Court courtroom, which still looks much as it did in the nineteenth century. It escaped the "modernization" that destroyed details in other parts of the building. When the carpet became worn in 1984, an exact copy was ordered to maintain the historic character of the courtroom.
The chambers of the General Assembly were not restored to their Victorian character. In order for Indiana's General Assembly to continue meeting in the State House, its offices and chambers had been remodeled in the 1960s and 1970s to meet the demands of a functioning legislature. Offices installed around the periphery of the chambers allowed for more efficient use of space. New seating and lighting were added to both the House and the Senate at that time to ensure that these rooms served the lawmakers' needs.
Indiana's Statehouse remains a place of civic activity. Though many supporting offices have moved off-site, all three branches of government continue to work here. In the 1990s, the State Government Center grew to include two new parking garages and a new five-story state office building. The Statehouse no longer contains all of the functions of government, as it did in 1888, but it serves as the working anchor for a 49.5-acre governmental campus.
The revitalized Statehouse has proved to be an engaging public space for civic life. Our representatives take the oath of office in its chambers. Solemn words resonate through the building as Indiana State Police and Department of Natural Resources Conservation Officers are sworn in. Businesses receive Half-Century and Century Awards for longtime contributions to the state's commercial life, and farm families are recognized here with Hoosier Homestead Awards for their role in perpetuating Indiana's agricultural heritage.
People gather at the Statehouse to express their views on a variety of subjects, from capital punishment to the environment to the economy. Indeed, a few members of the Ku Klux Klan brought an uncomfortable memory to the fore with State House demonstrations in the 1990s. And, reminiscent of an earlier era, thousands gathered for a labor rally in 1995 at the State House.
The Statehouse also provides an appealing site for other kinds of activities. Music from symphonies and choral groups swells through the rotunda and atriums during concerts. Children hang ornaments from branches of the state's holiday tree in the rotunda, and couples joyfully take their wedding vows here.
The Statehouse has yielded its share of mysteries. As in many old buildings, rumors of ghosts haunting its halls arise in October as Halloween nears. Treasures have been unearthed, including an old brass cannon and models of monuments found in the basement in 1905, and the seven bars of silver found locked in an old safe in 1995. Discoveries such as these contribute to the lore of the State House.
With all of the activities occurring here, it is easy to see that this is a site where both the past and the present unfold. This is a twenty-first-century working office building with the history and restored grandeur of a nineteenth-century public space.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Health and Human Rights Journal (HHR), a collaboration between the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights and Harvard University Press, is an open access, online-only publication dedicated to scholarship and practice that advance health as an issue of human rights and social justice. Visit HHR »
The economic sanctions imposed on Iraq from 1990 to 2003 were the most comprehensive and devastating of any established in the name of international governance. The sanctions, coupled with the bombing campaign of 1991, brought about the near collapse of Iraq's infrastructure and profoundly compromised basic conditions necessary to sustain life.
In a sharp indictment of U.S. policy, Joy Gordon examines the key role the nation played in shaping the sanctions, whose harsh strictures resulted in part from U.S. definitions of "dual use" and "weapons of mass destruction," and claims that everything from water pipes to laundry detergent to child vaccines could produce weapons. Drawing on internal UN documents, confidential minutes of closed meetings, and interviews with foreign diplomats and U.S. officials, Gordon details how the United States not only prevented critical humanitarian goods from entering Iraq but also undermined attempts at reform; unilaterally overrode the UN weapons inspectors; and manipulated votes in the Security Council. In every political, legal, and bureaucratic domain, the deliberate policies of the United States ensured the continuation of Iraq's catastrophic condition.
Provocative and sure to stir debate, this book lays bare the damage that can be done by unchecked power in our institutions of international governance.


text:
It was one of the tightest races in years for first place at the box office this weekend, though all three movies in contention had fairly mediocre debuts. With actuals reporting, End of Watch wound up less than $1 million ahead of House at the End of The Street and Trouble with the Curve. Without any break-out hit, the Top 12 earned $75 million this weekend, which is off a whopping 29 percent from the same frame last year.End of Watch's $13.15 million start is par-for-the-course for cop movies, as it fits right in between writer-director David Ayer's Street Kings ($12.5 million) and 2010's Brooklyn's Finest ($13.4 million). Unfortunately, both of those titles wound up with less than $28 million, which would be a disappointing final total for End of Watch (it's "A-" CinemaScore suggests it could push past this level). Exit polling indicated that the audience was 54 percent male and 63 percent over the age of 25, and the ethnic breakdown was 39 percent Caucasian and 32 percent Latino. With $12.3 million, House at the End of the Street topped recent "House" horror movies Dream House ($8.1 million) and Silent House ($6.7 million), but was a bit behind Last House on the Left ($14.1 million). The audience skewed young (70 percent under 25) and female (61 percent), and it was also predominantly Latino (52 percent). They gave the movie a "B" CinemaScore.End of Watch and House at the End of the Street are both inexpensive, lightly-marketed movies that wound up at about average levels for their respective genres. They should ultimately be solid singles for mid-range distributors Open Road Films and Relativity Media, and they could each turn a very modest profit.Trouble with the Curve debuted to $12.2 million from 3,212 locations, which was good for third place. That's way behind Moneyball's $19.5 million opening last September, though it does at least rank seventh all-time for baseball movies. Compared to recent Clint Eastwood movies, Trouble's debut was less than half of Gran Torino's nationwide expansion ($29.5 million), but up slightly on recent directorial efforts J. Edgar ($11.2 million) and Hereafter ($12 million). The movie received a "B+" CinemaScore, which suggests neutral word-of-mouth that won't help or hurt in the long run. One could view Trouble with the Curve's middling performance as an indictment of Clint Eastwood's brand following his bizarre chair-talking performance at the Republican National Convention last month. Instead, it's best to view this as a failure of the baseball movie genre, which has an incredibly low ceiling (the top debut ever belongs to The Benchwarmers with $19.7 million). Baseball fans spend 162 days a year (or more) following their favorite team, and so there needs to be something special for them to devote that extra time and money to a baseball movie. Also, thanks to the addition of an extra Wild Card spot in each league, late September is more competitive than ever in Major League Baseball this year, which may have kept more fans at home. Finding Nemo 3D fell 42 percent to $9.6 million. Through 10 days, the movie has made $30.2 million, which is lower than any recent 3D re-release and less than half of The Lion King 3D's $61.5 million 10-day total. After taking first place at the box office last weekend, Resident Evil: Retribution dropped to fifth place with $6.7 million. That's a steep 68 percent decline from last weekend, which is the worst drop so far for a Resident Evil movie. It's now earned $33.5 million, which lags behind its predecessor by more than $10 million. In sixth place, comic book adaptation/remake Dredd bombed with just $6.3 million from 2,506 locations. That's less than one-third of Kick-Ass's $19.8 million, and only a little over half of the original Judge Dredd's $12.3 million (and that movie was considered a flop 17 years ago!). It's at least up on Shoot 'Em Up ($5.7 million) and about on par with April's Lockout ($6.2 million), though those comparisons suggest Dredd is on track for less than $20 million through its entire run. The audience was predominantly male (75 percent) and older (69 percent were 25 years of age or older) and they gave the movie a "B" CinemaScore. A 3D share is not currently available. Dredd's awful performance is the latest example of how the Comic-Con/online fanboy crowd just doesn't make up a large portion of the moviegoers in this country. The movie came out of its Comic-Con screening in July with tons of online buzz and very strong reviews, and it maintained a 100 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes through at least its first 25 reviews (though it ultimately wound up at a more-reasonable 77 percent). As a result, the fanboy audience was very aware of this movie ahead of release, and anticipation seemed to be pretty high among this group as well. Ultimately, though, it's just not a big-enough group to drive strong business. For a good dissection of the hazards of targeting fanboys, check out this piece from earlier this year in The Hollywood Reporter. After one of the best limited openings ever, The Master expanded to 788 locations and earned $4.4 million. That's lower than There Will Be Blood's nationwide expansion ($4.9 million), and Blood took a bit longer to get nationwide. Considering the mixed buzz coming from the movie right now, there's virtually no way The Master winds up matching Blood's $40.2 million total. At four locations, The Perks of Being a Wallflower grossed $228,359. That translate to a per-theater average of $57,090, which is the fifth-highest so far in 2012. It's also the highest average ever for a movie from Summit Entertainment, which plans to expand the movie in to more markets this coming weekend. The audience was 70 percent female and 60 percent under the age of 25.Discuss this story with fellow Box Office Mojo fans on Facebook. On Twitter, follow us at @boxofficemojo, and follow author Ray Subers at @raysubers. This Weekend in Past Years:� 2011 - 'Lion' Remains 'King,' 'Moneyball,' 'Dolphin Tale' Go Extra Innings� 2010 - 'Wall Street' Sequel Yields Solid Returns� 2009 - Blue Skies for 'Cloudy,' Hazy Starts for 'Surrogates,' 'Fame'� 2007 - 'Resident Evil' Infects Top Spot� 2006 - 'Jackass' Slams Into Top Spot� 2005 - 'Flightplan,' 'Corpse Bride' Give Rise to Lively WeekendRelated Charts� Weekend Box Office Results� All-Time Domestic
An company
© IMDb.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Box Office Mojo and IMDb are trademarks or registered trademarks of IMDb.com, Inc. or its affiliates. Terms of Use and Privacy Policy under which this service is provided to you.


text:
Real Estate Expertise
Cindy Gering and David Gering are specialists in the New Westminster Area. Cindy has worked and served her clients in New Westminster as a Real Estate Agent for most of her veteran Real Estate career. Cindy and David, brother and sister team have the expertise in all aspects of New Westminster Real Estate selling condos, townhomes and houses for over 14 years now. Both Cindy and David live in the New Westminster area so they are familiar with the amenities, parks, schools, recreation facilities and shopping venues. Knowing your market and specializing in a market is key to success.
Team Cindy Gering
As Top Producing Real Estate Agents in our Industry, we provide guaranteed Full Service Real Estate services for Buyers and Sellers. Both Cindy and David believe in client satisfaction, focusing on long term relationships, knowing that we are the Realtor you turn to. Serving Greater Vancouver and specializing in the New Westminster area allows us to be the Leader in our Industry. Being an Award Winning Realtor, Top 3% in the Greater Vancouver Real Estate Board and Top 1% in New Westminster Sales is a huge achievement and an honour. Cindy and David continue to exceed your expectations focusing on you. Our business is built on core values of trust, professionalism, respect and hard work allowing our clients to maintain long-lasting relationships for years to come.
Call Cindy or David Gering at 604.779.1292.


text:
RALEIGH � The big salary North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory's administration is paying one of the young Republicans who worked on his election campaign last year outpaces what private employers pay for similar work.
The News & Observer of Raleigh reports that the $85,000 paid to top state Department of Health and Human Services spokesman Ricky Diaz exceeds the $56,000 salary a PR Week survey this year found as the industry average for professionals with less than five years experience.
Diaz worked as McCrory's campaign press secretary last year and for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's campaign before that.
The 24-year-old Diaz is making much more than someone with his experience would earn at a private company, said Rick French, CEO of the Raleigh-based public relations firm French West Vaughan. Most PR workers at that age are earning between $35,000 to $45,000 a year, he said.
McCrory's spokeswoman Kim Genardo said it is not fair to compare Diaz' salary with other PR jobs because he has much more responsibility, including managing a staff.
Matthew McKillip, also 24, is paid $87,500 annually as the chief policy adviser to DHHS Secretary Aldona Wos. He has an English degree and spent 11 months as a policy research assistant at the American Enterprise Institute before joining Gov. Pat McCrory's campaign as policy and research coordinator.
Records show McKillip and Diaz, who has an economic degree, each received raises of more than $22,000 in April. The raises came after a March 8 directive McCrory sent to state agencies instructing them to freeze salary increases, limit purchases and reduce travel to help cover shortfalls in state Medicaid funding.
McCrory said last week both beat out older job candidates for their positions, adding that it would be wrong to discriminate against someone on the basis of age.
An Associated Press review of a database of state government salaries posted online by The Charlotte Observer (http://bit.ly/17Qpj8l ) shows other 20-something former Republican staffers who landed well-paying state jobs following McCrory's inauguration.
Crystal Feldman, a 27-year-old former congressional staffer and ex-spokeswoman for the California GOP, is paid $78,000 a year as the director of public affairs at the N.C. Department of Public Safety.
Ryan Minto, 28, who previously worked for Republicans U.S. Sen. Richard Burr and U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry, is paid $72,000 annually as the legislative liaison for the N.C. Department of Revenue.
Heather Lee Dickson, 29, makes $70,000 a year as the executive assistant to first lady Ann McCrory. She worked as a fundraiser for McCrory's 2008 gubernatorial campaign before moving to the finance staff of the N.C. Republican Party.
Ryan Tronovitch, a 28-year-old deputy press secretary in McCrory's office, makes $65,000 a year. He previously worked as a regional press secretary for the Republican National Committee.
Meredith McCullen, 26, who worked as McCrory's scheduler during his gubernatorial campaign, makes $52,000 a year as an administrative assistant to the governor.


text:
Israeli police arrested Palestinian worshipers on Saturday at the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, after an alleged scuffle erupted during a visit by a group of Jews and Christians to the mosque.
Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told Ma'an that six Palestinians were arrested for throwing stones at groups of Jews and Christians visiting the compound.
Witnesses told Ma'an that police detained ten Palestinians and attacked Muslim worshipers with electric shock batons.
Dozens of Israeli settlers raided the mosque from al-Magharbeh gate, witnesses said. One settler drank wine and another allowed her daughter to urinate near an olive tree in the compound, they said, adding that a guard at al-Aqsa Mosque intervened, leading to scuffles.
Sheikh Azzam al-Khatib, the director of Islamic endowments in Jerusalem, said 200 Israeli settlers had entered the mosque in a provocative way, adding that religious officials had forced Israeli police to close al-Magharbeh gate for the day.
Israel's police spokesman said further visits of Jewish and Christian groups were scheduled on Sunday afternoon and would continue as planned.
The al-Aqsa Mosque compound is one of the holiest sites in Islam. Jews also consider the area, which they refer to as Temple Mount, as imbued with important religious meaning.
Via SyndiGate.info
© Al-Akhbar. All rights reserved


text:
Currently 3.00/512345 Rating: 3.0/5 (Total votes: 3)
Rating: 3.0/5 (Total votes: 3)
You met a cute guy last night, who promised he'd call you this week but so far, you haven't heard from him. Will today be the day?
You open The Amazing Fortune Teller and press the crystal ball. You continue to keep your finger on the ball, watching as it comes to life while you ask the all-knowing, all-seeing Djinn your question. Did you get the answer you were hoping for?
Go ahead, ask the Wise One anything you want. This mystic has all the answers and will offer you a free one each and every day. You know you won't run out of questions and that's okay because the psychic won't run out of answers, either.
This is The Amazing Fortune Teller 3D app. It has remarkable 3D real-time graphics that have been optimized for latest Android tablets and smartphones. It's a high-end fortune telling engine just waiting to let people know their destinies. Simply press and hold the crystal ball while asking the soothsayer your question and the answer will be revealed. It's that easy.
When you first download the app, you get 3 free fortunes. After that, you get one free daily. What more could you ask for? Oh yes, more fortune tellers! You can get those in The Amazing Fortune Teller 3D app, too.
Like the Indian man? Think the Jamaican man can give you the most accurate reading? How about the Santa spirit or the Halloween special? You can quickly and easily download any of these by taking advantage of the in-app purchases that are readily available. You can even buy the whole kit and caboodle to have a stable of seers right at your fingertips. How cool would that be?
Check out some of the features you get when you download The Amazing Fortune Teller 3D:
• Amazing real-time, 3D graphics bring the experience to life
• 3 free predictions upon downloading; 3 per day thereafter
• In app purchases available for easy upgrading
• Optimized up to Android 4.0
• Impressive, high-end engine
• Available in English, French, Italian, Chinese, Spanish and Portuguese
• More languages being added soon
• 3D auto-stereoscopy for HTC Evo 3D and LG Optimus 3D
• 10+ differents fortune tellers!
So, what are you waiting for? Your future awaits you and you can find out about it now, just by downloading The Amazing Fortune Teller 3D.
Follow us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Amazing-Fortune-Teller/111907188919946
Check the device approved list at http;//www.realtech-vr.com/support/android.php
Lost your purchase ? Contact us, and we will recover your purchase via Google Cloud Messaging !
What's New in This Release:· Fixed installation issues
What's New in 1.4.4:
· Support increased: Fixed 'black screen' issue on Nexus 10 and Mali T604 enabled devices.
What's New in 1.4.3:
· Updated facebook integration,
· In case of problem of in-app purchase not working, the 'restore purchase' now also send an email for asking for a refund or for asking for push notification to restore the purchase.
» show more


text:
- Home
- News
- Sports
- Opinion
- Obituaries
- Features
- Special Sections
- Classifieds
- Public Notices
Magistrates reappointed John Detre and Pat Eastridge to the LaRue County Water District Number One board while meeting at the LaRue County Courthouse May 14.
Terms of Detre, chairman, and Eastridge, commissioner, will expire in May 2017.
The court concurred with Land of Lincoln Planning and Zoning's approval to rezone one acre of land at 1493 Weldon Loop belonging to Brenda Johnson from A1 to R1A and an acre at 155 Knob Schoolhouse Road, Garry Hayes owner, from A1 to R1B.
If you currently subscribe or have subscribed in the past to the The LaRue County Herald News, then simply find your account number on your mailing label and enter it below.
Click the question mark below to see where your account ID appears on your mailing label.
|ZIP Code:


text:
Consensus Report
Uranium Mining in Virginia: Scientific, Technical, Environmental, Human Health and Safety, and Regulatory Aspects of Uranium Mining and Processing in Virginia (2011)Board on Earth Sciences and Resources
Each report is produced by a committee of experts selected by the Academy to address a particular statement of task and is subject to a rigorous, independent peer review; while the reports represent views of the committee, they also are endorsed by the Academy. Learn more on our expert consensus reports.
Report in Brief >>
A range of health and environmental issues and related risks are important considerations as Virginia deliberates on whether to rescind its almost 30-year moratorium on mining uranium. Although there are internationally accepted best practices to mitigate most of these risks, there are still steep hurdles to be surmounted before mining and processing could take place within a regulatory setting that appropriately protects workers, the public, and the environment.
Key Messages
- Of the sites in Virginia explored so far, only the Coles Hill uranium deposit appears to have the potential to be economically viable. Extensive site-specific tests would be required to determine the most appropriate mining and processing methods for each uranium deposit. Geological exploration carried out to date indicates that underground mining or open-pit mining are the probable methods of extraction for uranium deposits in Virginia.
- Protracted exposure of workers in uranium mining and processing facilities to radon decay products generally would be expected to represent the greatest radiation-related health risk. Exposure to radon is associated with lung cancer, a link that has been most clearly established in uranium miners exposed to radon. Cigarette smoking increases the risk.
- Other potential health risks for mine workers apply to any type of hard rock mining or other large-scale industrial or construction activity. The inhalation of silica dust and diesel exhaust, to which miners in general can be exposed, increases the risk of lung cancer and silicosis.
- Off-site releases of radionuclides could present some risk of radiation exposure to the general public, depending on how the release occurred and the density of the nearby population.
- Uranium tailings, the solid or semi-solid waste left after processing, present potential sources of radioactive contamination for thousands of years. Modern tailings management facilities are designed to prevent the release of radioactive contaminants for at least 200 years, but longer-term monitoring results from modern tailings facilities are not yet available.
- Virginia is susceptible to extreme natural events, including heavy precipitation and earthquakes, and any uranium mining and/or processing facility would need to take the possibility of such events into consideration during planning.
- Three over-arching best practices should be guiding principles if uranium mining were to be permitted: the need to plan at the outset of the project for the complete life cycle of mining, processing, and reclamation; the need to engage and retain qualified experts familiar with internationally accepted best practices for all aspects of a project; and the need to encourage meaningful and timely public participation throughout the life cycle of a project, beginning at the earliest stages.
- At a more specific level, there are numerous internationally accepted best practices that would contribute to operational and regulatory planning for uranium mining in Virginia. These cover the health, environmental, and regulatory impacts of uranium mining.


text:
Man alive, even Japan's Red Cross Society is technologically savvy. Commuters rushing through Akihabara station recently were treated to an augmented reality campaign urging them to donate blood. Anime girls in short skirts = instant win for the blood bank.
NEC TVs were set up in the Tokyo station and as someone walked past, their image was captured on the screen and superimposed with a blue wig or even a nurse's dress if they were lucky. What the hell blue hair has to do with donating blood is beyond me, but it's an innovative way to turn heads. Perhaps they should trial it in the Western world, where we're not already desensitised to the image of scantily clad cartoon characters. [CrunchGear]


text:
No. 98,705
BLUESTEM TELEPHONE COMPANY, et al.,
1. The Kansas Universal Service Fund was established to provide a subsidy for local exchange telephone carriers in order to replace revenue lost from bringing intrastate and interstate rates into parity pursuant to state and federal law.
2. Although we give some deference to an agency's interpretation of statutes that the agency is charged with implementing, we do not perceive K.S.A. 16-204 (interest on judgments) as such a statute.
3. Any entitlement to postjudgment interest under K.S.A. 16-204 attaches automatically and is not waived by a litigant's failure to previously plead or otherwise request such interest.
4. The loss of the use of money generally ought to be compensated, whether occasioned by delay or default of an ordinary citizen or the State or one of its agencies or political subdivisions.
5. K.S.A. 16-204 authorizes the assessment of postjudgment interest against the State and any agency or political subdivision of the State.
6. A specific amount of money need not be stated in a judgment in order to trigger postjudgment interest liability under K.S.A. 16-204, so long as the judgment is a final determination of the rights of the parties in the action and specifies a readily determinable sum.
7. Under the facts of this case, where there was no final, definite adjudication of the rights of the parties by reason of a prior district court action or this court's review thereof, but rather any finality and definiteness was achieved only upon a subsequent agency action on remand, postjudgment interest under K.S.A. 16-204 was not triggered by the prior judgment of the district court or the mandate of the appellate court.
8. Bluestem Telephone Co. v. Kansas Corporation Comm'n, 33 Kan. App. 2d 817, 109 P.3d 194, rev. denied 280 Kan. 981 (2005) (Bluestem I), is construed and applied.
Appeal from Nemaha District Court; JAMES A. PATTON, judge. Opinion filed February 8, 2008. Affirmed in part and reversed in part.
Patrice Petersen-Klein and Scott Ray Ediger, advisory counsel, and Martha Coffman, chief advisory counsel, of Kansas Corporation Commission, for appellant.
Mark E. Caplinger and James M. Caplinger, of James M. Caplinger, Chartered, of Topeka, for appellee State Independent Alliance, and Thomas E. Gleason, Jr., of Gleason & Doty, Chartered, of Lawrence, for appellees/Independent Telecommunications Group.
Before GREENE, P.J., McANANY and BUSER, JJ.
GREENE, P.J.: The Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) appeals a district court judgment that reversed a KCC order and awarded interest to a group of rural telecommunication companies, which received a restoration of support payments they had lost from the Kansas Universal Service Fund (KUSF) for access line adjustments under K.S.A. 66-2008(e). The restoration of these payments was ordered by the KCC after a mandate from this court that affirmed the district court and overturned the basis utilized by the KCC in calculating the appropriate adjustments to KUSF support for 2003 through 2005 because the KCC failed to consider the required statutory factors for each such adjustment. Bluestem Telephone Co. v. Kansas Corporation Comm'n, 33 Kan. App. 2d 817, 109 P.3d 194, rev. denied 280 Kan. 981 (2005) (Bluestem I). When the KCC decided on remand to simply restore the prior support payments absent any recalculation of the proper adjustments for the subject periods, the companies claimed they were entitled to interest on the restored amounts. We disagree and reverse the district court, concluding the prior judgment affirmed by this court was not a complete and final determination subject to postjudgment interest as a matter of law.
Factual and Procedural Background
The KUSF was established to provide a subsidy for local exchange telephone carriers in order to replace revenue lost from bringing intrastate and interstate rates into parity pursuant to state and federal law. See Citizens' Utility Ratepayer Bd. v. Kansas Corporation Comm'n, 264 Kan. 363, 368-69, 375, 956 P.2d 685 (1998). In determining such support for 2003 through 2005, the KCC made adjustments to these subsidy or support payments on a per-line basis rather than on the four factors set forth in K.S.A. 66-2008(e), i.e., embedded costs, revenue requirements, investments, and expenses. The companies objected to this method of determining adjustments, and when the KCC rejected their claims, judicial review resulted in a district court finding that the KCC had "disregarded" the legislative requirements; the court then rescinded the KCC per-line adjustments and ordered the KCC to examine the costs of all qualified companies to determine KUSF distributions. See Bluestem I, 33 Kan. App. 2d at 821.
On remand, the KCC now claims it faced a dilemma "that the audits necessary to establish embedded costs are time consuming and complex, and were impossible to accomplish in a reasonable time frame." Accordingly, the KCC determined that the only practical solution for compliance with the judicial mandate and the statutory requirements was simply to return or "restore" to the recipients all of the KUSF support that had been reduced as a result of the per-line adjustments. This resulted in rather sizeable restoration payments totaling nearly $3.5 million to the companies.
The companies sought interest on the restored payments, but the KCC found and concluded they were not entitled to interest for two reasons: (1) because they waived postjudgment interest when it was not raised and requested in the initial proceedings; and (2) because the courts had not awarded damages or compensation in an amount "readily determinable" but merely provided statutory interpretation to be implemented on remand. On judicial review by the district court, however, the court agreed with the companies, concluding that the effect of the court's order "resulted in specific sums of money being paid to [the companies]" thus entitling them to interest from the date of the prior district court order (April 30, 2004), relying principally on Greenhaw v. Board of Johnson County Comm'rs, 245 Kan. 67, 744 P.2d 956 (1989).
The KCC appeals the order of the district court, contending it erred in awarding interest under these circumstances.
Standard of Review The standard of review for an agency determination is controlled by K.S.A. 77-621(c), and when an appellate court reviews a district court determination under the statutory scheme, we determine whether the district court followed the requirements and restrictions placed upon it and then make the same review of the agency action as that set forth for the district court in the statute. In re Tax Protest of United Ag Services, 37 Kan. App. 2d 902, 905-06, 159 P.3d 1050 (2007).
To the extent this appeal requires that we construe and apply K.S.A. 16-204 (interest on judgments), we are not bound by the district court's interpretation and are obligated to interpret and apply the statute de novo. Cooper v. Werholtz, 277 Kan. 250, 252, 83 P.3d 1212 (2004). Although we give some deference to an agency's interpretation of statutes that the agency is charged with implementing (see, e.g., Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Kansas, Inc. v. Praeger, 276 Kan. 232, 247, 75 P.3d 226 [2003]), we do not perceive K.S.A. 16-204 as such a statute.
To the extent this appeal requires that we determine compliance with a prior mandate of this court, we have unlimited review. Kansas Baptist Convention v. Mesa Operating Ltd. Partnership, 258 Kan. 226, 231, 898 P.2d 1131 (1995).
Did the Companies Waive any Right to Postjudgment Interest
by Failing to Seek Such Interest From the Outset of these Proceedings?
Before examining the merits of the companies' entitlement to postjudgment interest, we address the KCC's argument that any such claim has been waived. The KCC concluded that postjudgment interest had been waived by the companies because it was not requested in the original action. The district court disagreed, concluding the issue of interest did not arise until the KCC determined amounts owed.
The general rule is that postjudgment interest is not waived by a failure to request it in a pleading:
"[W]here interest attaches automatically until the judgment is paid, interest may be awarded whether or not it is prayed for in the petition, or mentioned in the judgment. Thus where interest is payable by virtue of statute or rule of court and not by virtue of a contract, it generally is not necessary to make a specific claim for interest in the declaration or complaint." 47 C.J.S., Interest and Usury § 137, pp. 172-73.
Other states with statutes providing for postjudgment interest similar to K.S.A.
16-204 have determined that judgments bear such interest automatically. See, e.g., Westport Recovery Corp. v. Batista, 965 So. 2d 1189, 1190 (Fla. Dist. App. 2007); Olcott Intern. v. Micro Data Base Systems, 793 N.E.2d 1063, 1079 (Ind. App. 2003); Office of Attorney General of Texas v. Lee, 92 S.W.3d 526, 528 (Texas 2002).
In addition to these state court authorities, we note that federal authorities generally hold that postjudgment interest accrues automatically in federal courts. See Grimsley v. MacKay, 93 F.3d 676, 678 (10th Cir. 1996) ("Post-judgment interest automatically accrues from the date of judgment even absent an express statutory provision so providing or express inclusion in the judgment itself."); Horizon Holdings, L.L.C. v. Genmar Holdings, Inc., 244 F. Supp. 2d 1250, 1275 (D. Kan. 2003) ("The law is clear . . . that plaintiffs are entitled to post-judgment interest . . . despite their failure to request such an award in the pretrial order.").
The KCC relies on Feaster Trucking Services, Inc. v. Kindsvater, Inc., 460 F.2d 180 (10th Cir. 1972), to support its argument. The companies emphasize, however, that Feaster did not involve a determination of whether postjudgment interest should be automatically awarded, but rather involved a challenge to the interest rate used to calculate an award of postjudgment interest. See 460 F.2d at 184. This is obviously not the issue framed here. Moreover, the only other authority relied upon by the KCC dealt with the issue of waiver in the context of prejudgment interest and, thus, is also inapplicable here. See Clinton v. Joshua Hendy Corporation, 264 F.2d 329, 334 (9th Cir. 1959).
The KCC's argument is wholly unpersuasive to this court in light of the general rule and the inapplicability of the cases relied upon by the KCC. We hold that any entitlement to postjudgment interest under K.S.A. 16-204 attaches automatically and was not waived by the companies' failure to previously plead or otherwise request such interest. Thus, the district court did not err in rejecting the KCC's waiver argument, and we affirm this aspect of the district court's judgment.
Were the Companies Entitled to Interest on KUSF Restoration Payments?
We embrace at the outset the fundamental principle that the loss of the use of money ought to be compensated, whether occasioned by delay or default of an ordinary citizen or the State or one of its political subdivisions. Shapiro v. Kansas Public Employees Retirement System, 216 Kan. 353, 357, 532 P.2d 1081 (1975). It is beyond question that K.S.A. 16-204 authorizes the assessment of postjudgment interest against the State and any agency or political subdivision of the State. City of Lenexa v. Board of Johnson County Comm'rs, 237 Kan. 782, 786-87, 703 P.2d 800 (1985). The statute provides in material part:
"Except as otherwise provided in accordance with law, and including any judgment rendered on or after July 1, 1973, against the state or any agency or political subdivision of the state:
. . . .
"(d) Any judgment rendered by a court of this state on or after July 1, 1986, shall bear interest on and after the day on which the judgment is rendered at the rate provided by subsection (e)." K.S.A. 16-204.
We also embrace the rationale and holding of the court in Greenhaw, that a specific amount of money need not be stated in the judgment in order to trigger post-judgment interest liability under K.S.A. 16-204, so long as the judgment is a final determination of the rights of the parties in the action and specifies a "readily determinable" sum. 245 Kan. at 70-71. We view the ultimate issue in this appeal as whether the judicial outcome in Bluestem I was a final determination of the rights of the parties in the action.
Obviously, the district court also embraced Greenhaw and believed that there had been a final determination of the rights of the parties with "specific sums of money being paid to [the companies]." The error inherent in this finding, however, is apparent from the court's own statements as to the cause of finality; it was not merely the judicial outcome, but rather "the effect of the Court's orders and the actions of the Commission" that resulted in monetary restoration. In other words, it was not until the KCC determined to restore prior payment reductions that its obligations became final and definite. This key aspect of the district court's reasoning is clarified by this excerpt from its memorandum decision:
"The claim of the Commission that [the companies] waived the right to seek interest fails, because the issue of whether interest would be owed did not arise until the Commission elected to return of a fixed amount to the Petitioners. The Court recognizes that there were disputes and disagreements as to the amount due as a refund to some companies. However, refund payments by the Commission made the amounts reasonably clear, definite, and established the rights and obligations of the parties. Since neither the Commission nor the Petitioners challenged the amount of the refunds, this constitutes the final determination of the rights of the parties." (Emphasis added.)
Clearly, the district court recognized that there was no final, definite adjudication of the rights of the parties by reason of the prior district court action or this court's review thereof, but rather any finality and definiteness was achieved only upon the KCC's action on remand. For this reason alone, postjudgment interest under K.S.A. 16-204 was not triggered by the prior judgments of either the district or appellate court.
We believe the lack of finality of the district court's judgment and this court's mandate and remand is also clearly apparent from the language in this court's opinion in Bluestem I. We believe this court made quite clear that the KUSF adjustments were incorrect, but it was contemplated that the KCC should address the proper calculation of such adjustments on remand. The opinion stated in material part:
"We agree with the district court's interpretation of the statute in question; it is unambiguous and directs that these funds are to be distributed based on embedded costs.
". . . [W]e think the Commission needs to reassess the issue of whether the KUSF funds are being distributed on a competitively neutral basis as required by law and, therefore, remand that matter to the Commission for further proceedings.
. . . .
"The district court rescinded the Commission's order allowing a per-line distribution of KUSF funds effective March 1, 2003. The court also ordered the Commission to examine the costs of all qualified telecommunications entities providing local service to determine KUSF distributions. . . .
. . . .
"This subset of LECs must have their KUSF distribution computed on their embedded costs, revenue requirements investments, and expenses. . . .
. . . .
"We believe the Commission must take a look at this matter again especially in light of our ruling upholding the district court's interpretation of K.S.A. 66-2008(e)." Bluestem I, 33 Kan. App. 2d at 818-28.
We agree with the KCC's characterization of our mandate; we reversed the KCC's previous order because the KUSF adjustments had not been based on the statutory criteria. On remand, "[t]he Commission could have approached the courts' determination in two alternative ways: (1) recalculate all the rural telecommunication companies' embedded costs, revenue requirements, investments, and expenses; or (2) simply return the money." Given this latitude on remand, there was simply no finality resulting solely from the judgment of the district court or this court's mandate. The Greenhaw requirement that postjudgment interest is payable if there has been a final determination of the rights of the parties in the action specifying a "readily determinable" sum was clearly not present here. Until the KCC determined which of the two alternate approaches to its obligations would be selected, the rights of the parties were not yet finalized.
We reverse the district court's award of postjudgment interest under K.S.A. 16-204 based on the circumstances presented.
The judgment of the district court is affirmed in part and reversed in part.


text:
- High security, robust construction, resists attack
- Concealed fixing for security and style
- Standard and one way fixing screws supplied
- Suits a wide variety of applications
- Two Whitco keys included
- Key to lock, key to unlock
- Versatile face fix or side fix design
- Ideal for double hung windows
- Strong 8 mm steel bolts provided
- Enables fixed ventilation
- CYL4® one key security - can be matched to most door locks for one key convenience
Not all stores carry stock of this product, but will order it in for you. Please allow up to 14 days for stock to arrive at your selected store.
- Products are available while stocks last
- Please allow up to 14 days for stock to arrive at your selected store
- Contact your local store to check stock availability
- Images are for illustration purposes only
- Price is available to click 'n' collect purchases only.
- Price when purchasing instore may vary.
Free Click & Collect from over 400 Mitre 10 stores.
Find your nearest store
Return Policy
See more details about returning this product
Many of our products come with a guarantee or warranty from the manufacturer. In addition, they come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law. You are entitled to a replacement or refund for a major failure and compensation for any further reasonably foreseeable loss or damage. You are entitled to have the goods repaired or replaced if the goods fail to be of acceptable quality and the failure does not amount to a major failure. Full details of your consumer rights may be found at www.consumerlaw.gov.au
|Product SKU
|Care Instructions
|65 mm H x 24 mm W Body
|Lock Type
|Solid Zinc Diecast Metal Body, Stainless Steel Ferrule
|Number of Keys


text:
I'll confess: I'm a troll. And not because I'm so damn short. It's because, to cite my favored definition, a troll – in online parlance, at least – is someone who enjoys experimenting with the emotions and passions about things that seem, to any reasonable person, silly, superficial and specious. Take sourcing, for example.
Now, your average person would not have an opinion on, say, the irrelevance of Boolean logic as applied to a search engine algorithm for the purposes of researching an individual's digital footprint.
But here in this weird little outpost of the blogosphere, well, them's fighting words. Or corporate culture.
We write reams about how essential it is to retaining top talent, while the rest of the world just goes to their crappy jobs in crappy offices.
My contrarianism stems from nothing more than the idea that this recruiting industry has become unnecessarily complex (there are harder things to sell than jobs, all things being equal) and that it's just one part of the sum of the system of interpersonal interaction meets technological innovation. And stuff like cool hacks and killer apps is kind of cool to even the most garden variety of geeks – only we've got Twitter instead of Tolkein to nerd out on.
I'm often told, and I'm actually not entirely sure what this means, that I "keep it real." While I think that phrase was fresh about the same time as the Prince of Bel Air, I also participated in a panel called "Keeping It Real in HR" at an annual SHRM Young Professionals national conference a few years back, so I'll pour one out for Uncle Phil and own it. I hate taking a compliment, particularly since most of what I do is predicated on pissing people off, which makes me feel way more comfortable (and, frankly, fulfilled) than when people say nice stuff. Which might be why I rarely do, myself.
I was contacted by a friend and fellow recruiting industry observer the other day, who was offended by an anonymous Twitter account which, by all accounts, existed primarily for the purposes of flooding the back channel of an event with vitriolic attacks that, back before social media, used to be called libel. I won't do the dignity of acknowledging that account, or the specific circumstances behind it, but it directly addressed perhaps the fundamental problem, and my biggest pet peeve, with this whole social thing, particularly in an industry as insular as online recruiting and HR. It's the antithesis of keeping it real; it's more or less content cowardice.
Own your voice.
Don't hide behind some silly avatar or snarky handle that only pops up once in a while, like digital herpes, to wreck havoc and disappear until the next hashtag rolls around. If you won't put your name on it, then don't put it out there on social. Period.
Here are the basic rules of engagement for participating in the online HR and recruiting conversation:
1. Don't sell your products or services without first adding value.
2. Disclose any or all agendas, and clearly identify whether or not you're speaking as yourself or on behalf of a company.
3. Don't make personal attacks – attacking products and sweeping archetypes like, "agency recruiters" or "HR generalists," however, is OK. But if you ever actually call someone out, make sure you can back it up.
4. Don't make noise for the sake of being heard.
5. Own everything you do.
That's not hard. But when you choose to eschew a real byline for some silly persona (which, by the way, I can tell you can be done using an actual identify), then you're not being a troll. You're being a douche bag. And for an audience that mostly deals with candidates and hiring managers all day, there's no need for more of that in this corner of the world of work.
I can think of a dozen people I know who do this crap off the top of my head, and the justification across the board is, "this way, I can say stuff I'd never be allowed to say if I revealed myself." That should be your first tip off right there – sure, you can spill the dirt about recruiting in a way that would be highly illegal if you didn't hide behind an avatar, but if it's a violation of what your professional ethics – which is implicit in anonymity – then you should probably stop right there. Because when you go after people who have the cajones to actually use their real identity, you're not only hurting feelings, you're hurting livelihoods. I know of another instance where a completely separate fake account on a hashtag being monitored by a potential employer ended up in a candidate not getting a job offer because of what was likely intended as a joke.
But if you think jobs are a joke, and hide in fear of being found out instead of found online and in person, I'd suggest you're likely in the wrong line of work. You should really consider going into a career in finance.
Views: 368
Dude, can I just say I love this post. Contrarianism, pissing people off, man- isn't that why we do what we do? Rock on Matt. You are no troll my friend, but something this industry really desperately needs See you tomorrow in ATX.
@ Kelly: I hear you. While I sometimes use a big hammer, I try not to publically personally attack someone. Furthermore, Matt brought to my attention a possible explanatory factor in that person's behavior, for which I now have some compassion. I still think that person is a pompous, arrogant, possibly mentally-ill jerk, but I now can understand what may have made that person that way...
Ditto @Keith regarding your entire comment.
Your input here and elsewhere is always constructive and relevant (IMHO) and you provide an essential service by asking questions and pointing things out that otherwise may not occur to other participants.
Thanks, Kelly. Much appreciated.
@ Amy: My sister and I had the "Troll House":
and I still have (though I haven't seen it lately)
a little tiny one about 1" tall including stiff plastic green hair that I can't find a picture of on Google that s probably worth somewhere between $0.10 and $10,000.
Keith "Old School Wishnik" Halperin
I love this post and agree with all the comments. It's one thing to call out crap content and own it - something else entirely to go after someone's character or make assumptions about them as a person based on a single post, picture, etc.
"...Have you noticed a newer obnoxious person running around here recently, i.e., more recently than I've been running around here? You might think you know who I mean, but I couldn't possibly comment...
You can just come right out and say my name, you know.
Paul, why do you think I meant you?
BTW, I looked at your LI Profile and I saw you were a Vietnam Veteran. Would you be interested in blogging about recruiting vets, or how your vet experienced has influenced your recruiting? I'd be interested in reading that...
Hi...I had overplayed my criticism recently here at a post by Kelly B and, as you know from my comments at ERE and here, I tend to speak straightforwardly which is not always endearing....so, being a 'new guy' here and having been cream pied by a couple of people here ("Hello, Amy A!"), it occurred to me I must be that "...newer obnoxious person running around here recently...".
If I am not that person, I prolly should have been since as I said, I was a bit heavy-handed when I recently replied to Kelly B's blog.
I don't think Matt is too happy with me, either.
Frankly, having been a combat medic in Vietnam has zip to do with my being in the executive search business and in fact, I was, at the time, poised for medical school.
I had the medical knowledge of EMS and had garnered a deep expertise in minor surgical procedures, radiology, lab, etc. but while I was working for a physician group, managing their back office staff, it was about then HMO's came to Los Angeles.
Once I had the direct experience of being told I had to cut back on patient care in favor of expenses, I decided to jump ship and go into Industry, instead. HMO's are immoral in nature and although there are [infrequent] times when 'cut-throat' might apply to headhunters, it should never apply in the domain of medicine/healthcare.
It was because after six years of near-perfect hiring non-exempt staff for our production lines that when I left CSL I decided to jump from manufacturing management to HR. This was mostly because my ability to read people, anticipate events and track record for consistently making 'the right hire the first time' seemed like a 'clue' I should give HR a go.
Regarding the 'recruitment of vets', I feel I would have to have that experience to talk/blog about it and I don't.
Once I started in executive search -at the advice of some employment agencies I had visited- I specialized and have been recruiting in specialized niches ever since.
Since I stay in niches where industry is reasonably willing to pay recruitment fees for certain professionals, the issue of vets does not apply unless of course, a recruit happens to be a veteran....which is usually neither here nor there.
I did get into an 'energetic' conversation at the Bronze Star Medal Group at LinkedIn when an industry executive said he was discounting hiring senior NCO's in favor of new grad MBA's but otherwise, the veteran issue is not, for me and as I see it, applicable to much of anything I do as an executive search consultant.
There are recruitment firms that specialize in the recruitment and placement of former military and I believe they would be much more suited to your idea than I am.


text:
Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Meet your fellow owners in our Owners Clubs
Honda S2000 Lease Questions
i'm in the same boat you are. want to pick up an 08 s2k lease in july or august but could not do it in june so i am hoping they have a good lease special in july or august. anyone with info would be appreciated. i think i should be able to get this car in the 300's with nothing out of pocket. i was looking into it a few years ago and was able to get into that ballpark. @ 34k it isn't that much of a stretch to get that car for that payment.0
I've been kicking myself some for not going with the now expired lease program. With a lot of cash going out this month for home repairs and so-called retirement accounts sinking, I just couldn't pull the trigger. FWIW, my local dealer loaned me an 05 S from their used lot for several hours. It had 58K on the clock, and though there was evidence the car hadn't been driven lightly, it was still tight and strong. Later in the week drove a brand new Miata w/ power hardtop to satisfy my curiosity. It was nice, easier ingress/ egress, and more features. It was a GT with handling package, and just didn't feel as connected to the road. The S keeps poking at my brain. Despite an overall record month for Honda in June, there were only 273 S2000s sold across the US -- the worst June ever for the car. It sure would seem there might be more incentives coming, though maybe Honda can afford to let a low volume model just peeter out as with the old NSX.0
what incentives if ANY are going on now for an S2000 lease OR purchase?
my local dealer has a leftover 07 that they are offering at $7000 OFF MSRP.
good deal or not? you obviously can't lease it, but could buy.0
Honda's offering low loan rates 0.9% for 36months and 2.9% beyond that, I believe. No such financing with a leftover 2007. Still, at ~ $27K, depreciation would be about a wash compared to an 08 at invoice, and cost basis is lower. With are no significant differences 07 vs 08, if the 07 is cosmetically new with minimal miles, seems it would be desirable -- especially if one intended to keep it for more than a few years. Some people prefer the more-than-5-spoke wheels on the 07. It's hard not to think, however, that Honda won't offer further incentives as the model year closes. Sales of the S have slowed to a crawl.0
dwynne Posts: 4,018I love how they say "$7k off MSRP" to make it sound like a huge savings. There is about $3,200 in difference between invoice and MSRP, so the price is really $3,800 under invoice. Many dealers will deal down into hold back to sell an S, so figure that the old car would be about $3,300 cheaper than a new 08 should be.
The Edmunds incentives page shows $1k in dealer cash on the 08 if you do AHFC financing and they show rates at 0.9% to 36 months and 2.9% for 60 months. So that should make the 08 now $2,300 more than the left over 07 and less the interest you would have to pay for the loan - higher (used car rate?) for the 07 VS the cheap promo rate.
Down the road, the 08 will always be worth more money than the 07 but the difference gets less as the years go by. I would run the numbers on the 08 with the $1k dealer money and cheap rate VS the 07 with whatever your best rate is and see how it stacks up. If I was not going to save a good bit of money on the 07 I would get an 08, I guess.
Note that for 08 they revised the gauges (no big deal) and they also retuned the suspension for more "high speed stability". My 08 is still new, but I am thinking so far that this change is a bad thing. I did test drive other 08s and mine before I did the deal, but not at 9/10 speed in corners. Now my favorite clover-leaf on ramps that used to be no problem at 40 (not even near the limit) seem to be a challenge for the new car. It is early days for my car though and the 05 I had was wearing 3 to 4 32" tread on the rear tires. So as I get the new car more broken in things may improve. If they don't, I may have to look to see what is involved in "un-retuning" the suspension. But that is just me, it might be no problem for others or be preferable. I have had 3 S2000s now and the 01 was way tail happy and the 05 much less so and the 08 is tuned for more understeer or the tires have less grip (right now) or both.
FWIW, the following admittedly are paper abstract specs, but looking at them, I'd suspect your 08 shold be fine with some tire and chassis break-in.
According to:
http://www.s2000enthusiast.com/sec-models/my-2008 s2000/index.htm,
The 08 vs 07 chassis specs changed like this:
Front springs stiffer by 7%
Rear springs stiffer by 9%
Front damping rate >10%
Rear damping rate > 5%
Front stabilizer > to 27.2 x t5.3 from 26.5 x t4.5
Rear Stabilizer unchanged at 25.4 x t4.5
The 08 is 9 lbs. heavier, likely due to slight changes in seats (increase in seat back height)
so an 08 is stiffer than an 07?0
Yes, according to the specs. The seat of the pants experience can't be much different from previous models from what Dennis has said. The goal appears to have been increased stabilty at speed.0
(im)patiently waiting for september in hopes that they bring back some sort of lease program because i need something in the next few months so if things don't change for this car lease wise i'll be forced to get something else. anyone that has any info or advanced info please keep us updated. i wish i was in a position to get this car in june when the rate was dirt cheap. ugh.0
to qualify for this fantastic lease rate, will a FICO of 680 do? Or do i need something higher?0
not sure someone else can hopefully answer that. i don't even know if the lease programs are gonna be there in sept, that is my main concern. however, even with 680, if they bring the programs back you should be ok0
well, i just got a message from a dealer stating this price:
$29,889 + tax & lic
I might just jump on this..0
lease or buy?0
Hi waynetek. Honda is not currently providing any lease support on the 2008 S2000. Through September 2nd, consumers who want to lease this car through Honda Finance will have to use its standard lease money factor. It is currently .00270 for consumers who qualify for its "Super Preferred" credit tier and pay a security deposit at lease signing. The last time that I checked, consumers needed a credit score of 710+ to qualify for the Super Preferred tier. A score of 680 would fall in Honda Finance's "Preferred" tier, which would have higher money factors.
Prices Paid: Buying & Leasing Experiences Forum0
well i hope it changes this month cuz i wanna get one!
what about other banks for leases?0
ok well this is the deal that a few dealers told me.
looks like the 42 month lease give you the best stuff .00625 on the MF
47% residual
and he is claiming that they are getting $2500 cash back on the car for a lease. so it turns out a payment of like 450 or so for a 42 month lease with the taxes paid up front considering you are getting $2500 under invoice.
i'm a little hesitant to pull the trigger considering a few months ago you could get this car for like $400 a month with taxes and fees rolled in only paying first months out of pocket. not much of a bargain. with everything rolled in you are talking like $500 or so a month which is so stupid for a 35k car with a [non-permissible content removed] residual. not cost effective at all considering the 335i sport bmw sedan is like around the same thing and it rips the s2k apart on the road.
i just always liked the natural driving of the s2000 and the convertible and the look. the bmws are played out however the superior lease rates really make me think twice about this. i have till december to decide and am wondering whether i should roll the dice and see what oct/nov hold for the s2k. the residual isn't getting any better and the cash back may not be there but the money factor i would like to see go down. 270 with tip top credit is rediculous on a 34,000 msrp car.0
I can't follow your lease numbers. With a money factor of .00625 we're talking 15% interest rate (.00625 X 2400 = 15).
Can you clarify?0
hey sorry big typo.
meant .00265
oops lol
please note change0
Hi aramism. Honda did not introduce lease support on the 2008 S2000 in September. However it did introduce a new $2,500 dealer cash incentive on it . That should help you get a much better deal than was possible in August.
Prices Paid: Buying & Leasing Experiences Forum0
Hi to all,
I used the $2500 incentive to buy my new S2000 after months of watching, missed opportunites to lease, waiting and researching. With identical 09s at higher prices coming, I couldn't see a reason to wait. It's a great car. The price for this level of quality, performance and reliability is simply unbeatable.0
ok so the base price for how i want this car msrp is 34,970 with dest.
invoice as per edmunds it $31,725
less $2500 i'm at $29,225 as a base cap cost
with a 42 month lease term @.00265 and 47% residual (which is what the salesman told me has the best residual:MF ratio) i am coming up with a payment of $425 a month without taxes and i will roll in taxes for a payment of $462.
is ther more i can squeeze out of that deal? maybe lower the MF? or lower cap cost. i realize i'm under invoice and was thinking about getting them to chop into holdback but am i correct in saying that holdback does not apply for them after 90 days? i know they have had the car there since the spring the same exact one i want to lease.0
ok i'm in the heat of battle with a few dealers for the s2000 but i guess this is a general car lease question i am hoping someone with knowledge on this can help.
so i'll try to make it as easy as understand as possible. in an effort to lower the cap cost to accomdate my payment comfort zone i was thinking...
since i turned my last car in i have been driving my mothers lease extended 2003 civic lx 4dr sedan. the lease was up last year but she extended it and the extension is due back in december. so whenever she wants it can be returned. the car is pretty under the mileage allowance. so basically the car has positive equity. though there are a few months left the payoff amount for the lease is $5500 and the average i am getting in between kelly blue book and edmunds and seeing a few on sale it is about 7500-8500 as trade in value. so i was wondering why the dealer (same one that leased the car out in the first place so technically it is honda-honda lease) can't buy the car and give me credit for the difference since they can probably sell it for 8k up on their lot once they get it into shape and stuff.
now i thought of this because when i got my last car (infi m45) i had an accord lease at the time and i had like a year left on the lease and was already over the total mileage so they bought out my old car from the bank (i broke the lease) and i swallowed the negative equity ($2500) into my cap cost for the infiniti. so surely the same can be done but it reverse.
so when i ran this idea by the dealer they looked at the car then they were like, we can't do it because it is on an extended lease and if it was on a regular lease it would be different. i asked why what difference does it make and he couldn't really explain so he kind of danced around and changed the topic which lead me to believe he was BSing since logic tells me i should be right with what i am trying to accomplish.
someone help!0
b uy a used boxster. you can get a killer base or S model for about 20k.
blows the s2k away in quality, class, handling.0
toyoman8 Posts: 114Prob. not. Buying at invoice is a stretch already. It's possible to buy under invoice, but not in this case.0
This discussion has been closed.


text:
Light Technician is very similar to another occupation for which we have
a full profile.
Check out our full profile for:
Audio and Video Equipment Technicians
Set up or set up and operate audio and video equipment including microphones, sound speakers, video screens, projectors, video monitors, recording equipment, connecting wires and cables, sound and mixing boards, and related electronic equipment for concerts, sports events, meetings and conventions, presentations, and news conferences. May also set up and operate associated spotlights and other custom lighting systems.
Audio Technician
Audio Visual Technician
Audio-Visual Production Specialist
Audio/Visual Manager
Audio/Visual Operator
Audiovisual Communications Systems Technician
Broadcast Engineer
Broadcast Technician
Communications Technician
Equipment Technician
Instructional Systems Specialist
Light Technician
Lighting Equipment Operator
Master Control Engineer
Master Control Operator (MCO)
Media Technician
Multimedia Educational Specialist
Multimedia Production Assistant
Music Sound Light Technician
Operations Technician
Planetarium Technician
Production Assistant
Production Sound Mixer
Projector Operator
Sight Effects Specialist
Sound Controller
Special Effects Designer
Special Effects Specialist
Stage Technician
Technical Director
Technician, Audio Visual
Technician, Communications
Technician, Communications, Operate Equipment
Television Technician
Theater Technician
Video Control Operator
Video Editor
Video Operator
Video Production Assistant
Video Technician


text:
The LMH groundskeeper is a valuable member to the on-site management team. They are responsible for the overall upkeep of the exterior image. Depending on the size and age of the community, the position consists of a variety of duties. The following qualifications must be met before consideration for employment as groundskeeper:
Must be able to lift 80-100 lbs on a regular basis.
All other duties will be assigned according to their urgency, including but not limited to the following:


text:
Philadelphia Information Locator Service
Agency Information
Urban Homestead Program[Record group 60-107-1]
Agency Function
- Unavailable
- Agency History
- In 1973, Council passed legislation which established a municipal program that would serve as a comprehensive resource center for the rehabilitation of vacant properties by homesteaders. In July 1973, Mayor Frank L. Rizzo signed the Urban Homesteading Bill which permitted the city to acquire and make available to selected homesteaders vacant properties for the purpose of rehabilitating and occupying them for a minimum of five years. The Council ordinance called for the administration of the Urban Homestead Program by an 11-member Board and also provides for the establishment of an advisory council. The Urban Homestead Board disappeared by 1980. It may have become a part of the Office of Housing and Community Development (OHCD - Record Series 60.17).
- Archival Records
- 60-107-1.1 Reports and Publications (1975)
Links to related information...
PhILS Home
-->City Agencies
---->Current Agency Information Sheet. (Graphical version of this page)
Send your comments to email@example.com
Last updated on July 9, 1999


text:
Find hotels & motels in Liberty using the list below. Search for the cheapest discounted hotel and motel rates in or near Liberty, NC for your personal leisure or group travel. Explore the most favored Liberty, North Carolina hotel and motel rooms. Browse the Liberty area hotels to find the perfect lodging! Please use the provided map of the Liberty hotels.
The Liberty center point is about 11 miles southeast of Rod's Art Gallery and 13 miles east of Richard Petty Museum.
How should we direct your call?


text:
Impact Smeal Day connects alumni with students, each other
Impact Smeal Day connects alumni with students, each other
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Last month, the Penn State Smeal College of Business Alumni Society Board hosted its inaugural Impact Smeal Day, an event designed to connect alumni, students and faculty through a full day of activities in the Business Building.
With about 70 alumni attendees, members of the Smeal community came together in sessions on industry trends, faculty research, career development and much more. The event also provided an opportunity for alumni mentors to return to campus and meet with their student protégés.
"One of the event's main goals is to encourage dialogue between alumni and students," said Timmy Garde, a 1978 accounting graduate and member of the Smeal Alumni Society Board, who took part in the day's events.
"Impact Smeal Day is a great way for alumni to see what Smeal students are all about."
-- Timmy Garde, Smeal Alumni Society Board member
This engagement gives students a much-appreciated opportunity to tap into the alumni network's knowledge base, said Marissa Presser, a 2013 marketing graduate.
An ex-officio member of the board this year, Presser said, "I had the privilege of attending several Smeal Alumni Society Board meetings as a student. I built relationships with many of the board members and enjoy seeing them, hearing their stories and learning from their experiences."
But it's beneficial for alumni too, said Garde: "The students are really smart. Impact Smeal Day is a great way for alumni to see what Smeal students are all about."
Throughout the day, alumni also participated CandidCareer filming sessions. CandidCareer is a tool for current students to review short informational videos of alumni discussing their careers. In the video, alumni answer a series of questions about their job and offer career advice.
The Impact Smeal Day agenda closed with the Smeal Alumni Society Board Open Meeting. The Smeal Alumni Society is an impactful way for alumni to stay involved with Smeal and give back to the college in ways that tangibly improve current students' experiences. Membership on its board of directors is by election or dean appointment, but the group holds biannual open meetings that can be attended by all Smeal Alumni Society members.
The next Impact Smeal Day is set for March 28. For more information on that and other events, as well as lifelong learning webinars for alumni, visit www.smeal.psu.edu/alumni/events.


text:
Hollywood's Most Iconic Scream Queens
As Edvard Munch could tell you, a good scream is something of an art form. We've combed through Netflix's "Horror" section to bring you the most bone chilling, blood curdling of the bunch.
Photo:Pyscho-Everett Collection
Premise: A woman investigates the disappearance of her sister at a remote motel run by an odd young man and his shut-in mother.
Scream Queen: Marion Crane (Janet Leigh).
Scary Fact: The film is based on the real-life story of Wisconsin serial killer, Ed Gein (whose relationship with his own mother was complicated, to say the least).
The film's infamous shower scene gives bath time a bad name. Wash away your fears with Soap & Glory Clean, Girls Body Wash ($16).
Photo:ROSEMARY'S BABY - Everett Collection
Premise: A couple moves into a new apartment building and befriend their eccentric, elderly neighbours. When the wife becomes pregnant, she's elated, but soon begins to suspect that her unborn child is not of this world.
Scream Queen: Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow).
Scary Fact: Farrow actually ate raw liver for one of the scenes in the film.
On and off screen, Farrow was a major trendsetter (hello, pixie cut). Channel her flower child sensibility in this Isabel Marant Étoile Drewett Floral-Print Dress ($535).
Photo:THE EXORCIST - Everett Collection
Premise: Two priests must exorcise a demon that has taken possession of a 12-year-old girl.
Scream Queen: Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair).
Scary Fact: Rumour has it the movie was cursed. Several stars sustained injuries on set, a strange fire erupted at one point, and two actors died before the film was released.
If you're going to spend several weeks possessed by Satan, you might as well dress for the occasion. We're partial to this Sea Embroidered Cotton Babydoll Dress ($415).
Photo:HALLOWEEN II - Universal/courtesy Everett Collection
Premise: An escaped killer stalks a pretty high school girl and her friends.
Scream Queen: Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis).
Scary Fact: Director John Carpenter considered a creepy clown mask for his villain but opted for the now iconic Michael Myers version instead.
Bring back the '70s in Seafarer Flared Jeans ($341) like the pair that Curtis wore in the movie.
Photo:THE SHINING - Warner Bros./ Courtesy: Everett Collection
Premise: A family holes up in a haunted hotel that takes possession of the husband, turning a mild-mannered writer into crazed psychopath.
Scream Queen: Wendy Torrance (Shelley Duvall).
Scary Fact: After the music fades over the closing credits, you can hear the ghosts applaud and begin to talk amongst themselves.
Stranded in a drafty hotel during a snowstorm, the Torrance family had to battle the cold as well as evil spirits. Thankfully, you only have to contend with the former. Stay warm this winter in DSquared2 Plaid Checked Jacket ($1132) in Red and Black.
Photo:SCREAM- Everett Collection
Premise: A masked serial killer with a penchant for horror films terrorizes a group of high schoolers.
Scream Queen: Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore). However, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and Tatum (Rose McGowan) also deliver impressive performances.
Scary Fact: To keep Barrymore looking scared and upset, director Wes Craven told her stories about real-life animal cruelty.
A neutral sweater like Barrymore's never goes out of style. This Equipment Asher Cashmere Sweater ($288) in Camel has "wardrobe staple" written all over it.
Photo:THE RING TWO - DreamWorks/courtesy Everett Collection
Premise: A journalist investigates a videotape that kills viewers within a week of watching it.
Scream Queen: Rachel (Naomi Watts).
Scary Fact: The "cursed" video is available as a feature on the DVD. If you click on it, your remote control is mysteriously disabled so you're forced to watch the whole thing.
To battle an undead creature that lurks in wells and bathtubs, Naomi Watt's character dressed accordingly in a trench much like this Mango Puffed Shoulder Cotton Trench Coat ($100) in Navy.
Photo:Carrie - MrX FX
Premise: The 1976 classic about a high school outcast with telekinetic powers is re-imagined in the age of superior special effects.
Scream Queen: Carrie White (Chloë Grace Moritz).
Scary Fact: When male crewmembers didn't invite director Kimberly Pierce to a sporting event she emailed and asked if they left her out because she was the director or a girl. "Girl," they responded. That sexism persists in Hollywood is perhaps the scariest fact of all.
A bucket of pig's blood ruined both Carrie's dress and her prom night. Hopefully, you'll avoid a similar fate in this Topshop Pleat Bodice Midi Dress ($140) in Nude.
- Explore More:
- Films
- Hollywood
- Movie-Inspired
- Scream Queens
- Horror Films


text: Meet Ben Aaron Ben Aaron is the hubby of Good Morning America's meteorologist Ginger Zee. His wife is sure a champ, she beat cancer at age 21 and now has a chance to be the Mirrorball Trophy winner in season 22 of Dancing with the Stars. We know Ben's wife from her Good Morning America gig –a … [Read more...]


text:
LOS ANGELES -- A settlement has been reached in the class-action lawsuit Friedman vs. 24 Hour Fitness USA Inc.
The United States District Court, Central District of California, granted preliminary approval of a settlement on March 29. The case officially closed after a hearing on final approval on July 12.
The lawsuit was first filed on Oct. 2, 2006, on behalf of 1.5 million former 24 Hour Fitness members who claimed that the San Ramon, CA-based company took monthly payments out of member accounts after they had canceled their memberships. The suit claimed 24 Hour violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO), the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA) and state consumer laws.
According to terms of the settlement, 24 Hour agreed to provide either a payment of $20 or a three-month club access certificate entitling settlement class members to use any 24 Hour club for three consecutive months for every claim form submitted by a settlement class member. The value of the three-month pass is at $149.99 to $199.99.
Both parties provided evidence in the case that the average amount charged after cancellation was $25, so the $20 benefit option reimburses about 80 percent of the average class member's actual damages, according to the court's final order and judgment.
24 Hour also agreed to:
- Make incentive award payments to each of the named class representative plaintiffs who brought the litigation.
- Pay the total cost for administering the settlement.
- Pay attorneys' fees and costs. (The court approved $8 million in legal fees and $353,712.32 in total costs, according to the final order and judgment.)
- Stop collecting dues charges for monthly dues after the company receives a request for cancellation or termination of a monthly membership.
The settlement's benefits are for those members who were charged dues between Oct. 2, 2002, and Feb. 28, 2010, for a monthly membership at 24 Hour on or after the day 24 Hour received a notice of cancellation for the membership.
Those excluded from this settlement class include former and current members of the settlement class in the case of Weir vs. 24 Hour Fitness USA.


text:
I believe that one of the most important things to learn in life is that you can make a difference in your community, no matter where you live. I have seen so many good deeds – people helped, lives improved – because someone cared. ~Rosalynn Carter
Ashley Mengoni saw a need in her community and decided she wanted to help. Ashley is the manager of The Essential Baking Company in Seattle's Wallingford neighborhood, nestled five minutes north of downtown and three blocks from our Compendium office.
Inspired by the caffe sospeso ("suspended coffee" in Italian) concept of a "pending" coffee paid for by one customer as an advance donation toward another needy customer, Ashley wanted to implement something similar at the café. She recruited her fiancé Jimmy, and together they went to the hardware store and bought some wooden rods. Jimmy sawed the rods into small rounds, creating 75 tokens that the couple then glazed and painted with hearts and coffee cups. The concept was simple: a charitable customer could purchase a $2.75 token and it would remain in a glass jar near the cash register for anyone in need to inconspicuously use as payment for a cup of coffee.
The 75 tokens sold out at the café in three days. The suspended coffee concept was so warmly received by the community that Ashley and her team decided to expand it to include bread. One token bought a cup of coffee and two tokens purchased a suspended loaf of freshly baked bread.
Ashley and Jimmy have made hundreds more tokens in recent months. Impressed by the success of the tokens, The Essential Baking Company expanded the program to their other three cafés in the Seattle area. Ashley also regularly delivers tokens to Mary's Place and Homeless in Seattle, neighborhood charities that work directly with the homeless.
It never ceases to amaze us the power that one individual has to affect the lives of others. Even if it's a simple cup of hot coffee and slice of fresh bread, the kindness in the gesture is priceless.
Image copyright Rex Hohlbein, Homeless in Seattle.


text:
If the U.S. cotton industry is to survive and prosper through the current economic uncertainty, U.S. cotton producers must be able to harvest more of their crop on the same number of acres, experts say.
In that respect, cotton growers got some good news during the Beltwide Cotton Conferences with the announcement by Monsanto's Delta and Pine Land business unit that it is introducing five new varieties that could increase yields by an average of 5 percent to 8 percent.
The new varieties, which will be marketed as the Deltapine Class of 09, all contain Monsanto's Bollgard II and Roundup Ready Flex technologies and offer improved fiber quality characteristics. The varieties also appear to be more widely adapted to a number of cotton-growing environments.
Monsanto says the 5-percent to 8-percent yield increases, which are significantly higher than the normal year-to-year increases expected with new varieties — were drawn from the experience of on-farm trials conducted by about 100 producers in 2008.
"The excitement with the Class of 09 comes not only from the data showing a new standard in on-farm yield and value performance," said Robert T. Fraley, Monsanto chief technology officer, who met with a group of farmers participating in the company's new product exposure program during the Beltwide Conferences in San Antonio.
"There is also a real excitement around the Class of 09 because more than 100 farmers experienced first-hand the increased yield potential on their farms. We anticipate this excitement continuing, as the Class of 09 is the latest in a series of gains we are driving through breeding and technology as we seek to double yields by 2030."
The new varieties — DP 0912 B2RF, DP 0920 B2RF, DP 0924 B2RF, DP 0935 B2RF and DP 0949 B2RF — showed excellent yield potential across hundreds of test locations during the 2008 season, said Fraley, considered the driving force behind Monsanto's advanced genetic engineering technologies.
The new numbering system is designed to provide farmers with information on the year of the release — 2009 — and the relative maturity of the varieties with the higher numbers reflecting those in mid- to full-season range, said Dave Albers, Monsanto's cotton germplasm development lead.
"In our testing of the Class of 09 varieties, we have captured yield data and followed that through fiber quality testing," he noted. "Across the Belt, these varieties outyielded market standards like DP 555 BG/RR and ST 4554B2RF, which have been cited as the top planted varieties by the USDA.
"Once we got gin receipts and fiber data we saw that crop values were also higher than the market standards of any of the commercial varieties tested."
Innovative new product exposure plots enabled the more than 100 farmers to try the Class of 09 varieties on their farms, said Albers. The growers had large plots and managed them based on their own scouting programs.
Wellington, Texas, farmer Tony Cox looked at four Class of 09 varieties. With yields of 3.5 to 4 bales in each of those varieties, Cox says he looks forward to replanting some of those varieties again in 2009 as they are commercialized.
In Georgia, Tony Lasseter, who farms near Moultrie had three Class of 09 varieties — DP 0924 B2RF, DP 0920 B2RF, and DP 0935 B2RF — beat DP 555 BG/RR, which had commanded the biggest share of Lasseter's farm for the past five years. DP 0920 B2RF and DP 0935 B2RF outperformed "triple nickel" by approximately 200 pounds.
Lynn Mount and Jody Miller in Friendship, Tenn., had four Class of 09 varieties that outperformed ST 4554 B2RF. Mount saw advantages from approximately 100 pounds per acre to more than 350 pounds per acre over the local standard.
The Class of 09 also represents a different approach to seed increase for Monsanto, according to Dave Rhylander, traits manager for the company. Monsanto seed growers were asked to "bulk up" enough seed for the commercial release of nine varieties.
"We found out which varieties yielded the best and provided the highest quality fiber, and we released those as the Class of 09," he said. "We will re-evaluate some of the ones that didn't make the Class of 09, and they may or may not be released in 2010."
Those other varieties will have to perform extremely well, said Albers, because as good as the ones that made the Class of 09 are, other varieties the company is testing again for possible release in 2010 and 2011 have the potential to be even better.
"The merger of Monsanto and Delta and Pine Land is allowing us to do things that most of us didn't think were possible," said Albers, who came up on the Delta and Pine Land side of the company.


text:
According to this advisory on the FrSIRT website, users of the P-News package have two somethings to worry about - a file upload and remote information disclosure vulnerability.
Multiple vulnerabilities have been identified in P-News, which could be exploited by remote attackers to compromise a vulnerable server or disclose sensitive information.
The file upload issue has to do with the ability to upload an Avatar to the system that doesn't validate the file extension and the second is a design flaw for the location of the user information (a text file) inside the document root.
Unfortunately, so official patch has been supplied at this time, but a few quick edits to the code can make these issues go away.


text:
Several of us, Scott in particular, have written about the lawsuits filed by dozens of Catholic organizations, in 12 different actions, challenging Department of Health and Human Services regulations implemented under Obamacare that would require most health insurance plans to include in the preventive services they cover all FDA-approved forms of contraception, including contraceptives that sometimes operate as abortifacients. The lawsuit alleges that the regulations violate both the First Amendment and the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).
Earlier this year, Ed Whelan wrote an excellent analysis demonstrating that the HHS regulations clearly violate the RFRA. I recommend reading Ed's piece in its entirety, in conjunction with Michael McConnell's analysis of the same issue. However, I will summarize briefly what Ed wrote.
The RFRA provides that the federal government may substantially burden a person's exercise of religion only if it demonstrates that application of the burden to the person—
(1) is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest; and
(2) is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling governmental interest.
Accordingly, there are four questions involved in determining whether the HHS mandate violates RFRA:
1. Does a person engage in an "exercise of religion" when he, for religious reasons, refuses to provide health insurance that covers contraceptives and abortifacients?
2. Does the HHS mandate "substantially burden" such exercise of religion?
3. Does application of the burden to the person further a "compelling governmental interest"?
4. Is application of the burden to the person the "least restrictive means" of furthering a compelling governmental interest?
If the answer to question 1 or question 2 is no, then there is no violation of the RFRA and no reason to reach questions 3 and 4. If the answers to question 1 AND question 2 are yes, then questions 3 and 4 come into play; if the answer to either question 3 or question 4 is no, then the RFRA has been violated.
There can be no doubt as to the answer of the first question – plainly it is yes. Ed also demonstrates that the HHS mandate substantially burdens the exercise of religion, under the standards established by the Supreme Court. As he puts it:
The HHS mandate forces Catholic employers to choose between following the precepts of their religion and incurring huge fines, on the one hand, and abandoning one of the precepts of their religion in order to stay in business, on the other hand. Government imposition of such a choice puts the same kind of burden upon the free exercise of religion as would a fine imposed against Catholics for their opposition to contraceptives and abortifacients.
In light of these answers to the first two questions, the HHS mandate violates RFRA unless the burden imposed further a compelling governmental interest AND application of the burden is the least restrictive means of furthering that interest. The interest furthered by the HHS mandate is a marginal increase in access to contraceptives.
That interest does not seem compelling, particularly since the mandate exempts some plans – those that are grandfathered and those of employers of fewer than 50 people – from its requirements. These plans are exempt even if offered by secular employees with no religious objection to the substance of the mandate. And, as Prof. McConnell says, they exempt millions of people.
In any event, Ed shows that there are less restrictive means of furthering the government's interest in providing employees of religious institutions with access to contraceptives. Secretary Sibelius has said that "contraceptive services are available at sites such as community health centers, public clinics, and hospitals with income-based support." Pharmacies and doctors also provide them. The mandate requires employers to subsidize the use of these providers.
A less restrictive alternative would be for the government to compensate the provider outside of any policies provided by the religious employer (note: this is not the so-called compromise President Obama offered, under which contraceptives would still be part of the employer's plan). This alternative would restrict religious liberty less than the HHS mandate because the employer would not be required to sponsor an insurance plan that subsidizes services to which it has religious objections.
Given the existence of this alternative, the HHS mandate violates the RFRA.


text:
All News Releases By Date
Massachusetts Tool Maker Will Pay $227,500 for Clean Water Act Violations
Release Date: 10/11/2011
Contact Information: Paula Ballentine, 617-918-1027
(Boston, Mass. - October 11, 2011) Mayhew Steel Products, a tool manufacturer in Shelburne Falls, Mass., has agreed to pay penalties totaling $227,500 to settle two separate claims by EPA that it violated the federal Clean Water Act.
According to EPA, Mayhew discharged wastewater to the Shelburne Falls sewer system containing more zinc and with a higher acidity than allowed by federal standards. EPA also alleged that Mayhew failed to meet its reporting requirements for discharges to a public sewer system, failed to obtain a permit for stormwater discharges to the Deerfield River, and failed to develop a plan intended to prevent spilled oil from harming nearby waterways.
Mayhew will pay $157,500 for the pretreatment violations and $70,000 for violating stormwater and oil spill (SPCC) regulations.
More information:
EPA enforcement of Clean Water Act in New England (http://epa.gov/region1/enforcement/water/index.html)
EPA oil spill prevention requirements (https://www.epa.gov/ne/superfund/er/oilstor.htm)
EPA Storm Water Permits in New England (https://www.epa.gov/region1/npdes/stormwater)
# # #
Search this collection of releases | or search all news releases
View selected historical press releases from 1970 to 1998 in the EPA History website.