It wasn’t only homes and businesses that suffered a blow from Sandy – VFW Post 3729 on East 79th Street in Beach Haven Crest was among the buildings hardest hit, its members and auxilians soon found out. The community center/headquarters for the organization that helps veterans all year long is in need of help to be restored.
“The damages exceed $100,000, with little more than a homeowner’s policy to cover them,” said Ladies Auxiliary President Sandy Dueben, in making an appeal to the community. “The VFW was not able to carry any sort of flood insurance due to damage history of that area of the Island and that building as well.”
The ocean inundated the lower level, and even crept to the second floor.
“One entire floor containing the beautiful mahogany bar, two large screen TV sets, a pool table, three high tables each with four matching chairs, and beautiful ceramic tile – all less than three years old – all gone,” Dueben said.
“As though the first floor was not enough for the ocean to claim, the second floor had over a foot of water, so we lost an entire commercial kitchen with two big stoves, two large refrigerators, an ice maker and all of our beautiful new cabinets, including an island with butcher block tops. Both of our newly decorated rest rooms are gone. It just makes us heartsick to see all of the damage.
“We can only put it back together as the money becomes available,” the auxiliary president said.
VFW members are still meeting in the building, but access is limited. The third floor holds only about 10 people, and some of the men can’t navigate the stairs, she added.
The post held a doo-wop dance and dinner fundraiser Feb. 10 at the Manahawkin Elks Lodge, and that support is much appreciated, but so much more is needed.
Maritime activities have played such a big role in Hong Kong's history that it seemed a pity the only museum dedicated to this was hidden away in Stanley. On Monday, the Hong Kong Maritime Museum finally took its rightful place - right smack in Victoria Harbour, the heart of the territory's maritime history.
Tung Chee-chen, chairman of the Hong Kong Maritime Museum Trust, said: "Shipping has always been a part of Hong Kong - from a fishing village to an international maritime center, from a simple port of call to one of the world's largest and most efficient container gateway port for not only the Pearl River Delta, but points inland."
Website optimization specialist, SeeVolution Inc., announces their recent increase in their website’s usability and navigation, which provides customers with a quicker, more advanced experience. The Manhattan Beach startup quickly made a name for themselves and their service—which provides webmasters with a site’s real-time analytics, and website heatmaps that show visuals of a site’s user behaviors—with notable accolades from industry trusted blogs like Mashable and Apptiva.
Offering webmasters a covert glance into the minds of their visitors, SeeVolution’s simple, real-time analytics show insights that range from how many people are currently on the site, to stats of the site’s conversion and bounce rate over the last week. These useful analytics are available through the company’s signature toolbar that, once installed, overlays on the current site. This gives busy webmasters one less thing to worry about and login to. Once the code snippet is installed, the tool will start tracking the site’s real-time happenings.
In addition to seeing how many people are on a certain page and where they navigated from, SeeVolution also wants to show webmasters actual images of a visitor’s on-site interactions and navigation behavior. Through a suite of website heatmaps that the toolbar provides access to, mapped out images of high-activity areas are recorded and transparently overlaid atop that specific site. A webmaster then can see how their visitors are interacting with their site using a click heatmap, mouse movement heatmap or a scroll heatmap.
Click maps show where visitors are clicking regardless of what that may be. By showing a webmaster how visitors are navigating through their site, they can customize their experience to create the optimal one for their unique visitors.
Highlighting the mouse movements of a visitor using eye tracking technology, mouse movement heatmaps allow a webmaster to see what their visitors are actual focusing on. Perfect for a blog owner, this heatmaps helps specify key interests of visitors, which can bring an influx of content ideas and featured topics.
Rounding off the collection, scroll heatmaps are an ecommerce business owner’s best friend. These heatmaps identify where the “fold”—the first notable drop off in views—in a website lies. Once that is found, a seller can optimize the location of their purchase buttons to ensure that they are getting seen and not glazed over.
These simple analytics are easy enough for the first time online business owner, and provide the accurate, straightforward results that seasoned webmasters are always looking to use.
Visitor engagement and conversion can increase with even the slightest change. SeeVolution provides results a webmaster can see with a tool that seamlessly integrates into their website. The startup is currently working on a more advance version of the same great tool that should launch in the coming months.
2013年2月28日星期四
2013年2月27日星期三
Play of Georgia's young guards will be key at Vanderbilt
That’s one of the chief concerns for Georgia coach Mark Fox as he introduces Charles Mann and two other freshmen to the funky confines of the Commodores’ home court on Wednesday night. Vanderbilt is, of course, one of the few schools in the country that plays in an arena with a raised court and the only one that does so with the teams’ benches on the baselines.
It’s important that the Bulldogs play well in Nashville as they’re actually still in position to play for one of the four first-round byes in the SEC Tournament. Meanwhile, Vanderbilt (11-15, 5-9) is more vulnerable than usual.
“I’m probably more worried about it this year with such a young perimeter group," Fox said of the Commodores’ court configuration. "There’s a lot of the game they’ll have to manage on their own on the floor. I think it’s natural to talk about how unique (Memorial Gym) is and I think it’s kind of cool that the benches are on the baseline. But I do wish the coaches were allowed to at least move partway up the sideline.”
At Vanderbilt, coaches are not allowed to trek up and down the sideline in a traditional coaches’ box. They, too, must remain on the baseline. Most other arenas where the court is built up several feet above floor seating, such as Minnesota, allow the head coach to be on the sideline so he can communicate with his team at both ends of the floor.
“That doesn’t make any sense to me,” Fox said. “I mean, I think it’s a neat part of Vanderbilt, a neat part of their tradition. Leave the benches on the end. I’m fine with that. But at least let the coaches go up and down the sideline. You’ve got signs on the sideline now; there’s cheerleaders sitting on the sideline. I’m not that fat. I’m not blocking the view of everybody.”
But that won't change before Wednesday’s 9 p.m. tip (FSN), which presents some issues with a young player like Mann playing the majority of the minutes at point guard. The 6-foot-4 Mann is not starting for the Bulldogs – that responsibility is still falling to senior Vincent Williams – but he has slowly and surely been getting more of the minutes at the position as the season has progressed.
In Georgia’s 62-54 overtime win over South Carolina this past Saturday, Mann played 28 minutes to Williams’ 15 and was the Bulldogs’ second-leading scorer with 14 points. He also had back-to-back double-figure games against Auburn and South Carolina earlier this season and has averaged 22 or more minutes in nine of the last 11 games.
On the year, Mann averages 20.8 minutes to Williams’ 20.1. He's Georgia's third-leading scorer at 6.1 points per game and second-leading foul shooter at 73.1 percent.
“I feel like I’ve progressed greatly, like I’ve done a complete turnaround,” said Mann, who starred at Alpharetta’s Milton High School. “I feel more comfortable with the ball. I feel more in command, more vocal. I just feel much better about the transition from high school to college.”
The Bulldogs have two other freshmen learning the ropes on the perimeter, including 6-7 wing Brandon Morris and 6-3 shooting guard Kenny Gaines. They’re all bracing for their first Memorial Gym experience.
“I’ve heard about it,” Mann said. “I know the benches are at the end of the court and that’s going to make it difficult for us to communicate with the coaches while we’re playing. We’re just going to have to play and trust our system and trust each other and just play the game.”
At times, Mann looks like a dynamic play-maker, driving to the basket almost will and distributing the ball when he doesn’t take it to the rim himself. But his decision-making skills have been an issue at times. He leads the team with 80 turnovers – an average of nearly three per game – and has proven a streaky jump shooter.
Nevertheless, Fox feels like Mann will eventually be a great point guard for the Bulldogs. And Fox knows a thing or two about exemplary point play, having tutored eventual NBA players Ramon Sessions and Armon Johnson at Nevada.
“I will say when I first saw Charles play the first person he reminded me of was Ramon Sessions, and Ramon obviously has had a good NBA career,” Fox said. “Charles is big. He’s got a natural instinct to pass. He’s smart. He can score the ball from that position. So he is cut of the mold as those others guys and that’s one of the reasons we liked to him.”
“Yup,” she said, “under 40, given the same fall, you would probably have ripped out the tendon below your knee.” She meant the patellar tendon and explained I had the misfortune of ripping out the quadriceps tendon above my knee. It was partly the way I had landed and partly the result of having beat the quadriceps tendon to death after decades of running.
Over 30,000 miles on various trails had strengthened many of my parts, but scar tissue from micro-tears and too many hits of anti-inflammatories over the decades had weakened the tendon, making it good and ready to rip when I fell.
Just about everyone is training for something in Boulder, where your job, family and politics are important and can carry a conversation for 15 minutes or so. But what we really want to talk about are split times on the last run, ride or swim; the quality of the snow at Brainard Lake; the new drive train for road bikes; or that Gary Neptune just sold his outdoor store.
Rather than age, the issue here is: “Are you out there pushing your body to get better at this activity? Are you enjoying yourself out there with friends? Are you laughing more than you are complaining?”
As for anyone who gets a little over-serious about their activity, there is always someone who is better at it than you, someone who will be happy to reel in you and your ego.
I was four miles out on a routine five-mile run, cresting the hill that leads down to Wonderland Lake, distracted by my usual cosmic thoughts. My right foot hit some ice while my left foot was still under me. In my time I’ve done any number of tumbles, and most struck me as funny and often slapstick. Going down on this one was different. I didn’t hear a pop, but that may have been because I was screaming so loud.
I lay there in the mud and ice for a couple minutes thinking less pleasant cosmic thoughts. When the pain had subsided some, I tried to stand and put weight on the leg. It crumpled under me and I rolled another five feet downhill in a fusillade of bad words.
It’s important that the Bulldogs play well in Nashville as they’re actually still in position to play for one of the four first-round byes in the SEC Tournament. Meanwhile, Vanderbilt (11-15, 5-9) is more vulnerable than usual.
“I’m probably more worried about it this year with such a young perimeter group," Fox said of the Commodores’ court configuration. "There’s a lot of the game they’ll have to manage on their own on the floor. I think it’s natural to talk about how unique (Memorial Gym) is and I think it’s kind of cool that the benches are on the baseline. But I do wish the coaches were allowed to at least move partway up the sideline.”
At Vanderbilt, coaches are not allowed to trek up and down the sideline in a traditional coaches’ box. They, too, must remain on the baseline. Most other arenas where the court is built up several feet above floor seating, such as Minnesota, allow the head coach to be on the sideline so he can communicate with his team at both ends of the floor.
“That doesn’t make any sense to me,” Fox said. “I mean, I think it’s a neat part of Vanderbilt, a neat part of their tradition. Leave the benches on the end. I’m fine with that. But at least let the coaches go up and down the sideline. You’ve got signs on the sideline now; there’s cheerleaders sitting on the sideline. I’m not that fat. I’m not blocking the view of everybody.”
But that won't change before Wednesday’s 9 p.m. tip (FSN), which presents some issues with a young player like Mann playing the majority of the minutes at point guard. The 6-foot-4 Mann is not starting for the Bulldogs – that responsibility is still falling to senior Vincent Williams – but he has slowly and surely been getting more of the minutes at the position as the season has progressed.
In Georgia’s 62-54 overtime win over South Carolina this past Saturday, Mann played 28 minutes to Williams’ 15 and was the Bulldogs’ second-leading scorer with 14 points. He also had back-to-back double-figure games against Auburn and South Carolina earlier this season and has averaged 22 or more minutes in nine of the last 11 games.
On the year, Mann averages 20.8 minutes to Williams’ 20.1. He's Georgia's third-leading scorer at 6.1 points per game and second-leading foul shooter at 73.1 percent.
“I feel like I’ve progressed greatly, like I’ve done a complete turnaround,” said Mann, who starred at Alpharetta’s Milton High School. “I feel more comfortable with the ball. I feel more in command, more vocal. I just feel much better about the transition from high school to college.”
The Bulldogs have two other freshmen learning the ropes on the perimeter, including 6-7 wing Brandon Morris and 6-3 shooting guard Kenny Gaines. They’re all bracing for their first Memorial Gym experience.
“I’ve heard about it,” Mann said. “I know the benches are at the end of the court and that’s going to make it difficult for us to communicate with the coaches while we’re playing. We’re just going to have to play and trust our system and trust each other and just play the game.”
At times, Mann looks like a dynamic play-maker, driving to the basket almost will and distributing the ball when he doesn’t take it to the rim himself. But his decision-making skills have been an issue at times. He leads the team with 80 turnovers – an average of nearly three per game – and has proven a streaky jump shooter.
Nevertheless, Fox feels like Mann will eventually be a great point guard for the Bulldogs. And Fox knows a thing or two about exemplary point play, having tutored eventual NBA players Ramon Sessions and Armon Johnson at Nevada.
“I will say when I first saw Charles play the first person he reminded me of was Ramon Sessions, and Ramon obviously has had a good NBA career,” Fox said. “Charles is big. He’s got a natural instinct to pass. He’s smart. He can score the ball from that position. So he is cut of the mold as those others guys and that’s one of the reasons we liked to him.”
“Yup,” she said, “under 40, given the same fall, you would probably have ripped out the tendon below your knee.” She meant the patellar tendon and explained I had the misfortune of ripping out the quadriceps tendon above my knee. It was partly the way I had landed and partly the result of having beat the quadriceps tendon to death after decades of running.
Over 30,000 miles on various trails had strengthened many of my parts, but scar tissue from micro-tears and too many hits of anti-inflammatories over the decades had weakened the tendon, making it good and ready to rip when I fell.
Just about everyone is training for something in Boulder, where your job, family and politics are important and can carry a conversation for 15 minutes or so. But what we really want to talk about are split times on the last run, ride or swim; the quality of the snow at Brainard Lake; the new drive train for road bikes; or that Gary Neptune just sold his outdoor store.
Rather than age, the issue here is: “Are you out there pushing your body to get better at this activity? Are you enjoying yourself out there with friends? Are you laughing more than you are complaining?”
As for anyone who gets a little over-serious about their activity, there is always someone who is better at it than you, someone who will be happy to reel in you and your ego.
I was four miles out on a routine five-mile run, cresting the hill that leads down to Wonderland Lake, distracted by my usual cosmic thoughts. My right foot hit some ice while my left foot was still under me. In my time I’ve done any number of tumbles, and most struck me as funny and often slapstick. Going down on this one was different. I didn’t hear a pop, but that may have been because I was screaming so loud.
I lay there in the mud and ice for a couple minutes thinking less pleasant cosmic thoughts. When the pain had subsided some, I tried to stand and put weight on the leg. It crumpled under me and I rolled another five feet downhill in a fusillade of bad words.
2013年2月24日星期日
Indianans plant deep new roots in Cordova the Town
Thanks to his job, Ben Gorsuch spent the past 10 years on the road. But he wasn’t traveling on business — he was commuting.
He said, “9-11 threw me for a curve. I worked for United Airlines for 17 years, but they shut down the Indianapolis facility in 2003. I had to find other employment.”
Ben, an aircraft mechanic, worked for a while as an Air Force contractor. From there, job opportunities led him to Cleveland, Ohio, then to Newark, N.J. Meanwhile, he and his wife, Karilyn, maintained their home in Indianapolis.
So even when another job opportunity led Ben to Memphis, he continued making the drive home to Indianapolis on weekends, renting rooms in “crash pads” during the workweek.
“I ended up down here with the intention of being here a little while and transferring back up to Indianapolis,” he said. “The challenge with that was because of the downturn in the economy, the company I work for vastly slowed down hiring. They didn’t hire a single mechanic in Indianapolis for a whole year.”
Ben knew he might be waiting a long time for an Indiana transfer. And after spending a decade in a long-distance marriage, he and Karilyn decided enough was enough.
The couple’s home search was also tough. For nearly two years, the Gorsuches studied the Memphis real estate market in hopes of finding a house that would equal the home they loved in Indianapolis. That house, an older home, was loaded with charm and character.
“I really liked East Memphis, those older homes,” Karilyn said. “We looked in High Point Terrace, in the Central-Poplar area.”
Ben searched in his spare time during the week, and Karilyn made a few trips to the Mid-South to view homes in person. During their hunt, the couple met Realtor Melody Bourell, of Marx-Bensdorf Realtors, at an open house.
With Bourell’s help, the Gorsuches viewed homes from East Memphis to Cordova to Collierville. One neighborhood in particular stuck in Karilyn’s head: Cordova the Town, a walkable community with homes that give a nod to nostalgia.
“Honestly, it was so far outside of our parameters,” Ben said. “It was the exact opposite of what we were looking for. We wanted something old, with character, small.”
When they initially viewed the neighborhood, Cordova the Town contained only existing homes that were too large and too far out of the Gorsuches’ price range to meet their needs. But they kept their eyes on it, and one day, they learned a firm was developing new lots in the neighborhood: J.T. Travis and Ken Klein of Sterling Gate Properties.
“I went in and, what the heck, I went into the model,” Ben said. “I was just amazed by the quality that J.T. puts into these places. Most builders want to get in, build it and get out. J.T. wants to make every home unique.”
They also love their new house — and they’ve put a lot into it to make it home. The couple requested several special features from the builders, including three sets of French doors that span the front faade, marble countertops in the kitchen and a marble master bath with a frameless shower.
“We wanted to put in our own personal touches,” Ben said.
The couple also requested a three-car garage, and Ben stained its concrete floors with eventual plans to turn it into his “man cave.” Between the house and the garage, a courtyard with multiple seating areas can be enclosed with a retractable screen by Southern Screens.
“At the beginning, when we were really starting to move in and get everything done, I spent a lot of time scoring and acid staining the concrete and working in (the garage),” Ben said. “Karilyn said, ‘If you love it so much, you can move your bed in there,’” he laughed. “I figured that was my sign I should spend more time inside the house.”
The home’s floor plan includes a first-floor master suite, a requirement for the Gorsuches, who plan to make the house their “forever home.”
“We’re not going to do this again,” Karilyn said. “We didn’t like the idea of moving; this was very hard on us. We wanted something easy to take care of.”
“That’s why there’s no carpet throughout the entire house,” Ben added.
In the living room, a fireplace flanked by built-in bookcases features a glass-tile surround in hues of gray, black and white. A breakfast bar divides the space from the kitchen, which has dark-stained, tall cabinetry and a marble backsplash the couple installed themselves.
In the formal dining room, the midcentury table, chairs and china cabinet were passed down from Karilyn’s family. Her mother did the needlepoint upholstery on the seats.
Also downstairs is a bedroom used as a home office, a guest bath and the master suite, which features a king-size bed dressed in blue and taupe paisley bedding. The en-suite bath has a retro marble-tile floor, a fully tiled bath and shower and gray and white marble countertops. Upstairs is a loft-style sitting area, a guest bath and two more bedrooms.
The couple have more projects they plan to complete: door screens, garage shelving and additional attic storage. But after a painstaking search and move, the couple are finally settled and happy in their new home.
He said, “9-11 threw me for a curve. I worked for United Airlines for 17 years, but they shut down the Indianapolis facility in 2003. I had to find other employment.”
Ben, an aircraft mechanic, worked for a while as an Air Force contractor. From there, job opportunities led him to Cleveland, Ohio, then to Newark, N.J. Meanwhile, he and his wife, Karilyn, maintained their home in Indianapolis.
So even when another job opportunity led Ben to Memphis, he continued making the drive home to Indianapolis on weekends, renting rooms in “crash pads” during the workweek.
“I ended up down here with the intention of being here a little while and transferring back up to Indianapolis,” he said. “The challenge with that was because of the downturn in the economy, the company I work for vastly slowed down hiring. They didn’t hire a single mechanic in Indianapolis for a whole year.”
Ben knew he might be waiting a long time for an Indiana transfer. And after spending a decade in a long-distance marriage, he and Karilyn decided enough was enough.
The couple’s home search was also tough. For nearly two years, the Gorsuches studied the Memphis real estate market in hopes of finding a house that would equal the home they loved in Indianapolis. That house, an older home, was loaded with charm and character.
“I really liked East Memphis, those older homes,” Karilyn said. “We looked in High Point Terrace, in the Central-Poplar area.”
Ben searched in his spare time during the week, and Karilyn made a few trips to the Mid-South to view homes in person. During their hunt, the couple met Realtor Melody Bourell, of Marx-Bensdorf Realtors, at an open house.
With Bourell’s help, the Gorsuches viewed homes from East Memphis to Cordova to Collierville. One neighborhood in particular stuck in Karilyn’s head: Cordova the Town, a walkable community with homes that give a nod to nostalgia.
“Honestly, it was so far outside of our parameters,” Ben said. “It was the exact opposite of what we were looking for. We wanted something old, with character, small.”
When they initially viewed the neighborhood, Cordova the Town contained only existing homes that were too large and too far out of the Gorsuches’ price range to meet their needs. But they kept their eyes on it, and one day, they learned a firm was developing new lots in the neighborhood: J.T. Travis and Ken Klein of Sterling Gate Properties.
“I went in and, what the heck, I went into the model,” Ben said. “I was just amazed by the quality that J.T. puts into these places. Most builders want to get in, build it and get out. J.T. wants to make every home unique.”
They also love their new house — and they’ve put a lot into it to make it home. The couple requested several special features from the builders, including three sets of French doors that span the front faade, marble countertops in the kitchen and a marble master bath with a frameless shower.
“We wanted to put in our own personal touches,” Ben said.
The couple also requested a three-car garage, and Ben stained its concrete floors with eventual plans to turn it into his “man cave.” Between the house and the garage, a courtyard with multiple seating areas can be enclosed with a retractable screen by Southern Screens.
“At the beginning, when we were really starting to move in and get everything done, I spent a lot of time scoring and acid staining the concrete and working in (the garage),” Ben said. “Karilyn said, ‘If you love it so much, you can move your bed in there,’” he laughed. “I figured that was my sign I should spend more time inside the house.”
The home’s floor plan includes a first-floor master suite, a requirement for the Gorsuches, who plan to make the house their “forever home.”
“We’re not going to do this again,” Karilyn said. “We didn’t like the idea of moving; this was very hard on us. We wanted something easy to take care of.”
“That’s why there’s no carpet throughout the entire house,” Ben added.
In the living room, a fireplace flanked by built-in bookcases features a glass-tile surround in hues of gray, black and white. A breakfast bar divides the space from the kitchen, which has dark-stained, tall cabinetry and a marble backsplash the couple installed themselves.
In the formal dining room, the midcentury table, chairs and china cabinet were passed down from Karilyn’s family. Her mother did the needlepoint upholstery on the seats.
Also downstairs is a bedroom used as a home office, a guest bath and the master suite, which features a king-size bed dressed in blue and taupe paisley bedding. The en-suite bath has a retro marble-tile floor, a fully tiled bath and shower and gray and white marble countertops. Upstairs is a loft-style sitting area, a guest bath and two more bedrooms.
The couple have more projects they plan to complete: door screens, garage shelving and additional attic storage. But after a painstaking search and move, the couple are finally settled and happy in their new home.
2013年2月21日星期四
Smart ATMs Give Consumers More Flexibility
New smart ATM’s allow consumers to do more than withdraw cash in traditional $20 increments. In fact, consumers can take out as little as $1 to as much as $1,000 in nearly any combination.
That’s right, if you need $589, you can withdraw five $100 bills, four $20s and nine George Washington’s. Or if you prefer, you can take 10 $50 bills, 17 $5 bills and four singles. Get the picture?
The machine allows customers to withdraw custom denominations in increments of $1, $5, $20, $50 and $100 bills, depending on the location. Plus, at these new smart ATMs you can also load a pre-paid card and pay some bills.
These new smart ATMs are perfect for the starving student, customers who want to avoid waiting in lines to see a teller or any ATM regular.
Taylor Darden, who works at an Arlington mall right across the street from one of these new machines, called the smart ATM “fancy” and said she likes having more control of what she withdraws.
“You can get a certain amount out that you want exactly,” she said.
Wendy Peyton is a budget-conscious and busy mother of five. For Peyton, the benefits include not having to withdraw any more than she needs and the time she saves.
“I could easily do a transaction in two minutes and be in and out,” said the Mansfield resident. “With five kids, and sometimes waiting in the car, so it makes it really easy to get in and out.”
The screens look like giant iPads and your personal information is protected by a privacy screen if you move from side to side.
Right now consumers can find these machines at two new Chase branches in Arlington and Irving. They’ll also be available at a new branch in Flower Mound opening in March. But Chase plans on adding more.
“We have 400 of these great machines across the country and we’ll be looking at doubling that here within the next 12 months, so before the end of the year,” said Ryan Siegmund, a Chase district manager in Arlington.
There are other banks also using technology to give customers more options. PNC has ATMs that dispense $1 bills. More than half of the banks’ 7,200 ATMs have been upgraded and the rest will be done this year. However, there are no branches in Texas.
In Asia, Citi recently introduced a next-generation banking machine. It allows customers to do almost all their banking without visiting a branch, including opening accounts and applying for loans.
Some banks in other states are using virtual tellers, who help customers via video conference at ATMs. And new software developed by NCR Corporation will soon allow customers to initiate cash withdrawals from their bank accounts via smart phones and complete the transactions when they arrive at an ATM and scan a 2-D barcode.
Fortunately these don’t reflect the majority opinion, but there’s enough there to suggest civic virtue and personal morality are awfully elastic concepts so far as some Melburnians are concerned.
It’s true the system has many failings that disadvantage users and make fare dodging an easier choice. As a matter of policy, those shortcomings need to be corrected to minimise opportunistic (and strategic!) fare evasion.
But the inadequacies of the system don’t provide a moral justification for not paying. For all its shortcomings, the system offers travel way, way below the real financial cost. It’s an absolute bargain.
But even if it weren’t, it’s as unethical to shirk paying the fare as it is to shoplift or drive-off from a petrol station without paying. It’s unprincipled behaviour – it should really be called theft, not evasion.
A big part of the problem is the way the system’s designed. Like many other transit systems around the world, modern technology permits vehicles to operate without stops being staffed.
That saves money that can be applied instead to other purposes, like more frequent services and longer hours of operation. These sorts of improvements attract travellers to transit.
To work, the system has to be designed to make purchasing tickets extraordinarily easy. But it also relies on effective enforcement, primarily by inspectors.
Prospective free-riders have to calculate the risk – the probability of being caught multiplied by the size of the penalty.
A key reason to have a valid ticket is uncertainty about whether or not an inspector will materialise. We know from experience with RBT campaigns that a high probability of detection is a significant deterrent.
I’m disappointed the Public Transport Users Association has again elected to play the populist card by focussing on the inspectors rather than the evaders.
Complaining about inspection “blitzes” shifts the argument to the means and away from the ends. It reminds me of drivers who insist the sole purpose of speed cameras is to raise revenue.
In my view, the Association should’ve loudly condemned fare evasion on the grounds that it’s inequitable and bleeds the public transport system of much-needed revenue. It should’ve supported lawful efforts to detect evaders, not quibbled about a “blitz”.
In his comments to The Age, Mr Morton also argues that putting more staff on stations would be a better solution to the problem. I don’t agree – putting staff on stations to check tickets would be expensive.
This is 2013 – the technology exists to save hundreds of millions of dollars that can be better applied to other more strategically important transit purposes. However getting that benefit relies on effective deterrents to fare-cheating.
2013年2月20日星期三
Indoor air quality solutions take centre stage at Iraq
At the convention, attended by leading dealers, contractors, consultants & ministries from Iraq, Panasonic is showcasing its extensive line-up of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) solutions for ventilation, air purification and energy saving, to create more comfortable, healthy and environmentally friendly living environment.
Panasonic's Indoor Air Quality solutions are designed and engineered to be used across various environments such as residential houses, offices, restaurants, hotels etc.
The convention offers an ideal opportunity to sample and review the wide range of innovative products on display. The key product highlights for the convention comprised of Ceiling Fan - F-56MZ2 with new safety features and Ventilation Fan - FV-25AUF1- Wall Mount Type for kitchen and FV-10EGS1- Wall Mount Type and FV- 15WH3 - Window Mount Type for bathrooms.
In addition to this, other new products like, Range Hood, Air Curtain, Hand Dryer, Air Purifier, Electric Fan and Water Pump were also showcased.
Commenting on the convention, Mr. Kamran Khan, Deputy Managing Director, Panasonic Gulf Fz said, "Iraq's economy has witnessed a manifold transformation over the last few years and the Iraqi government has contributed substantially to this evolution. Diversification of business and appropriate allocation of resources have been vital contributors. Through this convention, we want to showcase our extensive range and tap into this potential market."
Mr. Kiminobu Yamamoto, Group Manager of Fan R&D, Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia Berhad, said, "Panasonic is a leading brand when it comes to the ceiling fans market in Iraq. We foresee this to rise considerably and the solutions we offer are not only of top quality, durability and efficiency; they are extremely eco friendly as well."
Also, Panasonic's ceiling fans are the only fans equipped with a variety of safety features such as 'motor & blade fall off prevention' and 'fire prevention' which could eliminate risk of accidents happening by improper installation.
Similarly, Panasonic's Kitchen Ventilation Fans come equipped with a unique filter option and are a new product range from Panasonic for the Iraqi market. This filter type collects oil effectively and is ideal for kitchen use.
On the other hand, Panasonic's Bathroom Ventilation Fans are compact yet powerful. They are easy to install and help to improve indoor air quality by eliminating moisture and foul smell by using highly performed mechanical ventilation.
Commenting on the association with Panasonic, Mr Riad AlMawy, Managing Director, Al Manzil Electronics Group, said, "We have been a historical and strategic partner for Panasonic in Iraq and the fan & air solution market is experiencing a strong & robust demand that will be addressed by the new line up and range of innovative products in the Iraqi Market, backed by Al Manzil Golden Warranty."
The NRC research team studied the heating season performance of displacement ventilation in several schools and in laboratory tests at their Indoor Environment Research Facility. Volunteers participating in the latter were satisfied with the thermal conditions supplied by DV. However, in the majority of the school studies, it was clear that further efficiency gains could be made with these systems. The most common problem was that the outdoor air flow rates were based on mixing ventilation, without taking into account the improved efficiency of displacement ventilation.
Participants in a recent NRC-sponsored workshop on DV confirmed the need for research into overall system integration and for improved guidelines and standards. NRC researchers, in reporting the results of their findings, confirmed the experience of many of the participants, all of whom had experience with these systems.
The consensus among industry representatives and researchers was that examining the interaction of displacement ventilation and radiant heating/cooling systems was the next step in efforts to enhance efficiency and performance. Participants highlighted the need for detailed methodical research of the type offered by NRC, as they do not have the means to do this on their own.
NRC is currently seeking partners for the next stage of research, so that new DV designs can be implemented with significantly improved performance. This will assist industry to reach consensus regarding the design process and operational requirements of DV.
Due to the lack of working plumbing and sanitation systems on the ship, the petition states, "sewage and/or putrid water filled with urine and feces leaked onto floors, walls, and ceilings. This sewage and/or human waste sloshed around the vessel as the vessel listed while drifting and/or while under tow."
"Conditions became increasingly unbearable each day," the lawsuit alleges, "due to the lack of a working ventilation system on the vessel, leading to noxious odors and gasses that caused numerous passengers to vomit and/or become nauseous."
The lawsuit also charges that Carnival's decision to tow the Triumph to Mobile, instead of to the closer port of Progreso, Mexico, caused passengers to endure more time aboard the disabled vessel than necessary, prolonging their ordeal.
"The primary motivation for that (decision) was money," Winkleman said. "It was much cheaper for Carnival to tow the ship to Mobile where it would be repaired, rather than (have it towed) to Mexico and have another tow (from there) back to Alabama. It's cheaper to put 3,000 people on buses to Galveston than to have to fly them from Mexico."
Panasonic's Indoor Air Quality solutions are designed and engineered to be used across various environments such as residential houses, offices, restaurants, hotels etc.
The convention offers an ideal opportunity to sample and review the wide range of innovative products on display. The key product highlights for the convention comprised of Ceiling Fan - F-56MZ2 with new safety features and Ventilation Fan - FV-25AUF1- Wall Mount Type for kitchen and FV-10EGS1- Wall Mount Type and FV- 15WH3 - Window Mount Type for bathrooms.
In addition to this, other new products like, Range Hood, Air Curtain, Hand Dryer, Air Purifier, Electric Fan and Water Pump were also showcased.
Commenting on the convention, Mr. Kamran Khan, Deputy Managing Director, Panasonic Gulf Fz said, "Iraq's economy has witnessed a manifold transformation over the last few years and the Iraqi government has contributed substantially to this evolution. Diversification of business and appropriate allocation of resources have been vital contributors. Through this convention, we want to showcase our extensive range and tap into this potential market."
Mr. Kiminobu Yamamoto, Group Manager of Fan R&D, Panasonic Manufacturing Malaysia Berhad, said, "Panasonic is a leading brand when it comes to the ceiling fans market in Iraq. We foresee this to rise considerably and the solutions we offer are not only of top quality, durability and efficiency; they are extremely eco friendly as well."
Also, Panasonic's ceiling fans are the only fans equipped with a variety of safety features such as 'motor & blade fall off prevention' and 'fire prevention' which could eliminate risk of accidents happening by improper installation.
Similarly, Panasonic's Kitchen Ventilation Fans come equipped with a unique filter option and are a new product range from Panasonic for the Iraqi market. This filter type collects oil effectively and is ideal for kitchen use.
On the other hand, Panasonic's Bathroom Ventilation Fans are compact yet powerful. They are easy to install and help to improve indoor air quality by eliminating moisture and foul smell by using highly performed mechanical ventilation.
Commenting on the association with Panasonic, Mr Riad AlMawy, Managing Director, Al Manzil Electronics Group, said, "We have been a historical and strategic partner for Panasonic in Iraq and the fan & air solution market is experiencing a strong & robust demand that will be addressed by the new line up and range of innovative products in the Iraqi Market, backed by Al Manzil Golden Warranty."
The NRC research team studied the heating season performance of displacement ventilation in several schools and in laboratory tests at their Indoor Environment Research Facility. Volunteers participating in the latter were satisfied with the thermal conditions supplied by DV. However, in the majority of the school studies, it was clear that further efficiency gains could be made with these systems. The most common problem was that the outdoor air flow rates were based on mixing ventilation, without taking into account the improved efficiency of displacement ventilation.
Participants in a recent NRC-sponsored workshop on DV confirmed the need for research into overall system integration and for improved guidelines and standards. NRC researchers, in reporting the results of their findings, confirmed the experience of many of the participants, all of whom had experience with these systems.
The consensus among industry representatives and researchers was that examining the interaction of displacement ventilation and radiant heating/cooling systems was the next step in efforts to enhance efficiency and performance. Participants highlighted the need for detailed methodical research of the type offered by NRC, as they do not have the means to do this on their own.
NRC is currently seeking partners for the next stage of research, so that new DV designs can be implemented with significantly improved performance. This will assist industry to reach consensus regarding the design process and operational requirements of DV.
Due to the lack of working plumbing and sanitation systems on the ship, the petition states, "sewage and/or putrid water filled with urine and feces leaked onto floors, walls, and ceilings. This sewage and/or human waste sloshed around the vessel as the vessel listed while drifting and/or while under tow."
"Conditions became increasingly unbearable each day," the lawsuit alleges, "due to the lack of a working ventilation system on the vessel, leading to noxious odors and gasses that caused numerous passengers to vomit and/or become nauseous."
The lawsuit also charges that Carnival's decision to tow the Triumph to Mobile, instead of to the closer port of Progreso, Mexico, caused passengers to endure more time aboard the disabled vessel than necessary, prolonging their ordeal.
"The primary motivation for that (decision) was money," Winkleman said. "It was much cheaper for Carnival to tow the ship to Mobile where it would be repaired, rather than (have it towed) to Mexico and have another tow (from there) back to Alabama. It's cheaper to put 3,000 people on buses to Galveston than to have to fly them from Mexico."
2013年2月19日星期二
Top Chef expected to lure ‘foodies’ to Last Frontier
Last Wednesday marked the premiere showing of the last episode produced in Juneau for the popular cooking competition show Top Chef: Seattle.
Crews filmed, or taped cooking segments last August at various locations around the Capital City, including at a waterfront eatery, a salmon bake, on a nearby glacier, and at the Governor’s House.
All of the local residents and officials were contractually-prohibited from saying anything about the production or even acknowledging that it ever happened. At least until now.
It was frequently called Juneau’s “worst-kept secret” when crewmembers, chef contestants, and judges arrived last August for the week-and-a-half production of two episodes of Top Chef: Seattle.
Location scouts earlier had checked out various locations around town. The owner of Tracy’s Crab Shack, Tracy Labarge, said they were told a week ahead of time that producers were coming. But actually being selected as a site for a cooking challenge? That was last minute.
“So, we actually opened for the day. We were getting ready to open and to start serving,” said Labarge.
Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development Commissioner Susan Bell said they reached agreement with producers for the Bravo TV show last March and tried to keep it under wraps since then. Sometimes they quietly referred to it around the office only as TC.
“There had been previous conversations about Alaska before,” recalled Bell. “But I think, recognizing that they were filming in Seattle, gave us an excellent way to leverage the fact that they were close,” Bell said.
The state contributed $190,000 and the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, which gets much of its funding from self-assessment of the commercial fleet, kicked in about $60,000 for the production.
State, ASMI, and Juneau Convention and Visitors Bureau officials all say they helped with location scouting, or tracking down props and set dressings.
JCVB’s Elizabeth Arnett said they also suggested a list of Juneau residents to sample the food during a cooking challenge at the Gold Creek Salmon Bake. She estimates that A Mission Productions from Los Angeles brought in as many as 125 crewmembers and put them up in the Prospector, Aspen, and Baranof hotels.
The four chef contestants were put up at Jorgensen House, a new bed-and-breakfast. An estimated dozen locals were hired to work on set as crew or production assistants.
A handful of local businesses also helped. Tim McDonald of Temsco Helicopters in Juneau said they were approached to take eighty cast and crewmembers up to their dog camp on the Mendenhall Glacier.
“It’s going to be good for the state tourism. It’s going to bring more people up here. And, if there are more people up here, (then) I have the possibility of selling a tour to them.”
Bell is hoping the production reaps further economic dividends with a nationwide, double-exposure of both Alaska’s seafood and tourism industries with a “third-party, unbiased commentary on destinations.”
Juneau, in particular, is featured in roughly two-hours of a top-rated cable television show that’s currently draws over 1.5 million viewers per episode.
“The value of these two shows is about $5.4 million that Juneau would have to spend to get that same sort of publicity,” according to JCVB’s Elizabeth Arnett.
ASMI’s Tyson Fick, meanwhile, calculates the promotional value to the seafood industry at nearly ten-times that, or about $48-million.
“It’s the biggest thing I’ve worked on,” said Fick. “It trends very, very well with our target market: ‘foodies,’ people with enough income so that maybe they’re interested to try Alaskan seafood because it is a for-real premium product.”
They were interviewed on-camera afterward about the salmon and sourdough bread served up by chefs. But Fanning said his comments were severely edited and taken partly out of context. Fanning said producers used the short clip as part of the story that they wanted to tell.
“I was really trying to complement their bread. It came out… kind of sounded a little like food snob which was not my intent,” recalled Fanning.
Fanning and his wife signed non-disclosure agreements preventing them from saying anything about the production until this month, along with a hundred other Juneau participants and handful of business owners like Tracy Labarge.
Local businesses are already capitalizing on the increased visibility. Tracy’s Crab Shack, which is hard to miss next to the cruise ships that dock in the summer, has a Top Chef-themed online sale this month on crab bisque.
“All the judges, chefs, took pictures, signed shirts for us,” said Labarge. “A nice bit of PR for us in the off-season.”
Crews filmed, or taped cooking segments last August at various locations around the Capital City, including at a waterfront eatery, a salmon bake, on a nearby glacier, and at the Governor’s House.
All of the local residents and officials were contractually-prohibited from saying anything about the production or even acknowledging that it ever happened. At least until now.
It was frequently called Juneau’s “worst-kept secret” when crewmembers, chef contestants, and judges arrived last August for the week-and-a-half production of two episodes of Top Chef: Seattle.
Location scouts earlier had checked out various locations around town. The owner of Tracy’s Crab Shack, Tracy Labarge, said they were told a week ahead of time that producers were coming. But actually being selected as a site for a cooking challenge? That was last minute.
“So, we actually opened for the day. We were getting ready to open and to start serving,” said Labarge.
Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development Commissioner Susan Bell said they reached agreement with producers for the Bravo TV show last March and tried to keep it under wraps since then. Sometimes they quietly referred to it around the office only as TC.
“There had been previous conversations about Alaska before,” recalled Bell. “But I think, recognizing that they were filming in Seattle, gave us an excellent way to leverage the fact that they were close,” Bell said.
The state contributed $190,000 and the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, which gets much of its funding from self-assessment of the commercial fleet, kicked in about $60,000 for the production.
State, ASMI, and Juneau Convention and Visitors Bureau officials all say they helped with location scouting, or tracking down props and set dressings.
JCVB’s Elizabeth Arnett said they also suggested a list of Juneau residents to sample the food during a cooking challenge at the Gold Creek Salmon Bake. She estimates that A Mission Productions from Los Angeles brought in as many as 125 crewmembers and put them up in the Prospector, Aspen, and Baranof hotels.
The four chef contestants were put up at Jorgensen House, a new bed-and-breakfast. An estimated dozen locals were hired to work on set as crew or production assistants.
A handful of local businesses also helped. Tim McDonald of Temsco Helicopters in Juneau said they were approached to take eighty cast and crewmembers up to their dog camp on the Mendenhall Glacier.
“It’s going to be good for the state tourism. It’s going to bring more people up here. And, if there are more people up here, (then) I have the possibility of selling a tour to them.”
Bell is hoping the production reaps further economic dividends with a nationwide, double-exposure of both Alaska’s seafood and tourism industries with a “third-party, unbiased commentary on destinations.”
Juneau, in particular, is featured in roughly two-hours of a top-rated cable television show that’s currently draws over 1.5 million viewers per episode.
“The value of these two shows is about $5.4 million that Juneau would have to spend to get that same sort of publicity,” according to JCVB’s Elizabeth Arnett.
ASMI’s Tyson Fick, meanwhile, calculates the promotional value to the seafood industry at nearly ten-times that, or about $48-million.
“It’s the biggest thing I’ve worked on,” said Fick. “It trends very, very well with our target market: ‘foodies,’ people with enough income so that maybe they’re interested to try Alaskan seafood because it is a for-real premium product.”
They were interviewed on-camera afterward about the salmon and sourdough bread served up by chefs. But Fanning said his comments were severely edited and taken partly out of context. Fanning said producers used the short clip as part of the story that they wanted to tell.
“I was really trying to complement their bread. It came out… kind of sounded a little like food snob which was not my intent,” recalled Fanning.
Fanning and his wife signed non-disclosure agreements preventing them from saying anything about the production until this month, along with a hundred other Juneau participants and handful of business owners like Tracy Labarge.
Local businesses are already capitalizing on the increased visibility. Tracy’s Crab Shack, which is hard to miss next to the cruise ships that dock in the summer, has a Top Chef-themed online sale this month on crab bisque.
“All the judges, chefs, took pictures, signed shirts for us,” said Labarge. “A nice bit of PR for us in the off-season.”
Four Seasons are most 'relevant' hotel brands
Brodeur Partners looked into the heart of what really matters when it comes to online conversation about hotel choice and has come up with intriguing answers. “We wanted to go beyond speculation and opinion, and really see what drives online behavior – in this case, conversation – around different hotel brands,” said Brodeur Partners CEO Andy Coville .
The study reveals that Hilton, Marriott, and Four Seasons (in that order) have the highest Conversational Relevance? in online discussions among leisure and business travelers. The conclusion is based on an analysis by Brodeur Partners and MavenMagnet of what is “relevant” in online brand conversation.
The Conversational Relevance? scale is a measure of how much people are talking about a brand and how impactful and positive that conversation is. Brodeur and MavenMagnet parsed more than 18,000 online conversations between May 2012 and October 2012 across social networks, profiles, forums, news websites and blogs.
“We looked not only at practical considerations but at how the brands resonated with hotel guests’ senses, values and social needs, which are the other dimensions of Brodeur’s relevance model,” said Jerry Johnson , Brodeur executive vice president of strategic planning. “When a brand is engaging all four dimensions, it inspires strong feelings and an abiding loyalty in those who experience it.”
“Using our proprietary technology, we tap into the collective intellect of engaged consumers—in this case, consumers sharing their experience about travel and hotels,” said Aditya Ghuwalewala, MavenMagnet founder. “Our zero interference approach eliminates the risk of respondent conditioning thereby delivering actual insights focusing on what’s relevant in the space.”
On a recent Friday night, about 100 cars park in the lot outside The Poker Room in Hampton Falls. Inside, it could be any function hall — well lit, a brightly patterned carpet. Several flat-screen televisions tuned to the Bruins hockey game hang from the ceiling. Players sit at long oval tables playing Texas Hold 'em.
At one end of the long room, there's a blackjack table, roulette wheel and a table for craps. There's another well lit room, strictly for more card games.
The crowd is mostly men in jeans but there's a healthy smattering of women. In one corner, a small bulletin board shows the name of the charity that benefits from the day's action. This evening, it's the American Legion Post 72 Auxiliary in Alton. A solid, dependable cause for a middle-of-the-road crowd.
This is gambling New Hampshire style and no other state has a set-up quite like it. In the last fiscal year, players put more than $33 million on the table, and their eagerness to test the odds generated nearly $1.6 million for the state and almost $4.8 million for nonprofits. Now that Gov. Maggie Hassan has upped the ante by including casino revenue in her budget, charities that count on those dollars have a powerful incentive to weigh in on the casino debate at the Statehouse.
In charitable gaming, state law limits any single bet to $4. In multiple rounds of betting in cards, the pot in the middle of the table can go as high as $200, although $60 to $75 is more typical. In roulette, a player could put as much as $40 down on a single spin of the wheel. Card tournaments run differently. For those, players can plunk down anywhere from $40 to $150 to get into a game, with the option to buy more chips if they run out.
The amounts are not insignificant but come nowhere near the stakes in casinos where thousands of dollars can be in play. This is low-octane gambling.
The state has 10 other licensed places where people can play any day of the week throughout the year, although not all of them are active. The list includes Seabrook Greyhound Park, the River Card Room in Milford, Casablanca Casino in Belmont, the Manch Vegas Poker Room in Manchester, and the largest one of all, Rockingham Park in Salem. Each location partners with about 35 charities each year and gives them 35 percent of the proceeds.
A variety of nonprofits benefit, from the Nashua Symphony to the Miss Keene Scholarship Program; from the Knights of Columbus to AIDS Response Seacoast. There are local hockey clubs, baseball leagues, land conservation trusts, health clinics and countless Rotary, Lions and Elks clubs.
The operators run the games and pick the charities. Some, like the one at Rockingham Park, largely work with the same nonprofits each year. Others, like the Poker Room, mix it up, keeping some but rotating others. By law, no charity can have more 10 days a year of gaming.
“The game operators have a lot of control,” said Paul Kelley, director of the state Racing and Charitable Gaming Commission, which regulates the industry. “They decide who participates and they pick the nights. A Saturday night with lots of players is going to mean a lot more money for a charity than a Tuesday night.”
Looking at the numbers, it doesn't take long to see large differences in the flow of dollars to certain towns and cities. Charitable gaming is not a state program that spreads its bounty equally.
Every gaming center super serves its immediate community. Ed Callahan, president at Rockingham Park, said when gaming began in 2006, he sent invitations to charities in and around Salem for an informational meeting.
“Whoever showed up and was interested, we worked with them,” Callahan said.
He oversees two centers, one at Rockingham and the other at the Seabrook Greyhound Park. Together, they account for nearly 60 percent of all the betting statewide, about $19 million in FY 2012.
Any charity that is on Callahan's roster is head and shoulders above the rest. The average take was $22,000 last year. The typical charity statewide made half as much, $11,000. With such a gap, it's easy to understand why Callahan has a waiting list of about 190 charities.
In charitable gaming as in real estate, location is everything. Looking at the past five years of data gathered by the Racing and Charitable Gaming Commission, Salem's nonprofits received more than $6.2 million. Portsmouth was second with $2.5 million, and Manchester was third with $1.7 million. Taking the number of residents into account, the disparity is even more extreme — more than $200 for each person living in Salem compared to just $16 for each person in Manchester.
The study reveals that Hilton, Marriott, and Four Seasons (in that order) have the highest Conversational Relevance? in online discussions among leisure and business travelers. The conclusion is based on an analysis by Brodeur Partners and MavenMagnet of what is “relevant” in online brand conversation.
The Conversational Relevance? scale is a measure of how much people are talking about a brand and how impactful and positive that conversation is. Brodeur and MavenMagnet parsed more than 18,000 online conversations between May 2012 and October 2012 across social networks, profiles, forums, news websites and blogs.
“We looked not only at practical considerations but at how the brands resonated with hotel guests’ senses, values and social needs, which are the other dimensions of Brodeur’s relevance model,” said Jerry Johnson , Brodeur executive vice president of strategic planning. “When a brand is engaging all four dimensions, it inspires strong feelings and an abiding loyalty in those who experience it.”
“Using our proprietary technology, we tap into the collective intellect of engaged consumers—in this case, consumers sharing their experience about travel and hotels,” said Aditya Ghuwalewala, MavenMagnet founder. “Our zero interference approach eliminates the risk of respondent conditioning thereby delivering actual insights focusing on what’s relevant in the space.”
On a recent Friday night, about 100 cars park in the lot outside The Poker Room in Hampton Falls. Inside, it could be any function hall — well lit, a brightly patterned carpet. Several flat-screen televisions tuned to the Bruins hockey game hang from the ceiling. Players sit at long oval tables playing Texas Hold 'em.
At one end of the long room, there's a blackjack table, roulette wheel and a table for craps. There's another well lit room, strictly for more card games.
The crowd is mostly men in jeans but there's a healthy smattering of women. In one corner, a small bulletin board shows the name of the charity that benefits from the day's action. This evening, it's the American Legion Post 72 Auxiliary in Alton. A solid, dependable cause for a middle-of-the-road crowd.
This is gambling New Hampshire style and no other state has a set-up quite like it. In the last fiscal year, players put more than $33 million on the table, and their eagerness to test the odds generated nearly $1.6 million for the state and almost $4.8 million for nonprofits. Now that Gov. Maggie Hassan has upped the ante by including casino revenue in her budget, charities that count on those dollars have a powerful incentive to weigh in on the casino debate at the Statehouse.
In charitable gaming, state law limits any single bet to $4. In multiple rounds of betting in cards, the pot in the middle of the table can go as high as $200, although $60 to $75 is more typical. In roulette, a player could put as much as $40 down on a single spin of the wheel. Card tournaments run differently. For those, players can plunk down anywhere from $40 to $150 to get into a game, with the option to buy more chips if they run out.
The amounts are not insignificant but come nowhere near the stakes in casinos where thousands of dollars can be in play. This is low-octane gambling.
The state has 10 other licensed places where people can play any day of the week throughout the year, although not all of them are active. The list includes Seabrook Greyhound Park, the River Card Room in Milford, Casablanca Casino in Belmont, the Manch Vegas Poker Room in Manchester, and the largest one of all, Rockingham Park in Salem. Each location partners with about 35 charities each year and gives them 35 percent of the proceeds.
A variety of nonprofits benefit, from the Nashua Symphony to the Miss Keene Scholarship Program; from the Knights of Columbus to AIDS Response Seacoast. There are local hockey clubs, baseball leagues, land conservation trusts, health clinics and countless Rotary, Lions and Elks clubs.
The operators run the games and pick the charities. Some, like the one at Rockingham Park, largely work with the same nonprofits each year. Others, like the Poker Room, mix it up, keeping some but rotating others. By law, no charity can have more 10 days a year of gaming.
“The game operators have a lot of control,” said Paul Kelley, director of the state Racing and Charitable Gaming Commission, which regulates the industry. “They decide who participates and they pick the nights. A Saturday night with lots of players is going to mean a lot more money for a charity than a Tuesday night.”
Looking at the numbers, it doesn't take long to see large differences in the flow of dollars to certain towns and cities. Charitable gaming is not a state program that spreads its bounty equally.
Every gaming center super serves its immediate community. Ed Callahan, president at Rockingham Park, said when gaming began in 2006, he sent invitations to charities in and around Salem for an informational meeting.
“Whoever showed up and was interested, we worked with them,” Callahan said.
He oversees two centers, one at Rockingham and the other at the Seabrook Greyhound Park. Together, they account for nearly 60 percent of all the betting statewide, about $19 million in FY 2012.
Any charity that is on Callahan's roster is head and shoulders above the rest. The average take was $22,000 last year. The typical charity statewide made half as much, $11,000. With such a gap, it's easy to understand why Callahan has a waiting list of about 190 charities.
In charitable gaming as in real estate, location is everything. Looking at the past five years of data gathered by the Racing and Charitable Gaming Commission, Salem's nonprofits received more than $6.2 million. Portsmouth was second with $2.5 million, and Manchester was third with $1.7 million. Taking the number of residents into account, the disparity is even more extreme — more than $200 for each person living in Salem compared to just $16 for each person in Manchester.
2013年2月16日星期六
Good neighbours, industrious immigrants recalled amid remnants
An old fountain stands dry, the well-tended garden is gone and the Fuoco family doesn’t live at 640 Lorne anymore, but the modest house survives as a reminder of the city’s industrious and close-knit past.
The theme of this year’s Heritage Week is Good Neighbours, which could easily apply to Benny and Clelia Fuoco, who came to Kamloops to escape the crushing poverty of southern Italy, 99 years ago.
Their former home, built in 1908 by Joseph Ratchford, is one of 10 city homes so far recognized with centennial plaques. A ’50s-style stucco job belies some finer qualities within — ceramic tile floors, oak paneling and a stain-resistant concrete floor in the basement for winemaking.
“There’s a lot of history here,” said grandson Reg Fuoco. “We’ve had four generations of family living here.”
Next door stands the original Recchi family home, the only other remaining house in what was once the hub of a thriving neighbourhood. In between, there once stood a little laundry business. Benny allowed a Chinese man to live in his yard for free in a laundry shack. The immigrant community tended to stick together, Reg said.
Locked in the garage nearby sits his grandfather’s 1929 Dodge in perfect condition. Talk of the car reminded Reg of a chance encounter almost 50 years ago. It was the year after the B.C. Lions won their first Grey Cup, by which time quarterback Joe Kapp was a household name.
A Mustang convertible — it was the first year of production for pony cars — pulled up. Kapp was at the wheel, wanting to buy the vintage Dodge. Twelve years old at the time, the young Fuoco didn’t appreciate the significance when his grandfather identified the man.
The family rents the house now, and Reg doesn’t think it will withstand development pressure. What happens when the good neighbours have moved away and the neighbourhood is in transition, surrounded by higher-density housing, commercial or industrial properties?
Scarlett describes the luxurious 1650-squarefoot Florence floor plan as "bright and open." The open concept main floor makes hosting guests a pleasure and the natural gas fireplace creates a cosy night by the fire with family or friends.
Large windows in the living area and long rectangular windows in the dining let in tons of natural light. The home also includes a deck off the dining room, another standard feature Scarlett explains.
On the second level, two large bedrooms provide enough room for a double bed in each or a roomy office space instead.
"Some floor plans don't allow room in the extra bedrooms for even a double bed," says Scarlett. "But these are big."
A handy laundry room on the upper level offers a convenient sink and large linen closet for storage.
The master bedroom beams with plenty of natural light and lots of space.
The grand ensuite includes lots of extras, such as his and her sinks, jetted tub, tiled shower and walk-in closet with custom shelving.
This is the first show home for Homes by Montebello. With so many standard bonus features, it will definitely not be the last. Project manager Graham Figg expects to do around 10 homes this year. Last year, the company built several in-fill houses, two duplexes and seven houses.
Looking for the perfect house at the perfect price in the perfect location? Look no further! This newly-completed gem of a home is just inside the city limits of Wolfforth to provide you the utility and efficiency amenities, yet just outside the hustle and bustle that Lubbock can hold. It is located for the most desired schools that the acclaimed Frenship School District has to offer. In the popular subdivision of Preston Estates, 1507 Yorkshire is found on a wide, quiet cul-de-sac street which lends you the privacy you’ve been wishing for.
Whether you’re a single home buyer or one looking for a home to accommodate your growing family, this 1,789 square foot plan should fit the bill. To describe this home as “a three bedroom, two bath, two car garage” would be remiss. The openness of the pillared entry, dining area, living room with corner fireplace, and spacious kitchen with pantry together give you room to relax and to interact with your loved ones and friends. For take-home work, an office nook is an added surprise. The personality-plus master hosts a box ceiling, an oversized shower, a deep and inviting tub, and his-and-her separated closets.
Quality and nouveau style best describe the decorator amenities. From the rubbed bronze lighting fixtures, plumbing fixtures, cabinetry pulls, and doorknobs to the woodgrain offset floor tile and speckled twill carpeting, no extra on your want list will be left unchecked!
The theme of this year’s Heritage Week is Good Neighbours, which could easily apply to Benny and Clelia Fuoco, who came to Kamloops to escape the crushing poverty of southern Italy, 99 years ago.
Their former home, built in 1908 by Joseph Ratchford, is one of 10 city homes so far recognized with centennial plaques. A ’50s-style stucco job belies some finer qualities within — ceramic tile floors, oak paneling and a stain-resistant concrete floor in the basement for winemaking.
“There’s a lot of history here,” said grandson Reg Fuoco. “We’ve had four generations of family living here.”
Next door stands the original Recchi family home, the only other remaining house in what was once the hub of a thriving neighbourhood. In between, there once stood a little laundry business. Benny allowed a Chinese man to live in his yard for free in a laundry shack. The immigrant community tended to stick together, Reg said.
Locked in the garage nearby sits his grandfather’s 1929 Dodge in perfect condition. Talk of the car reminded Reg of a chance encounter almost 50 years ago. It was the year after the B.C. Lions won their first Grey Cup, by which time quarterback Joe Kapp was a household name.
A Mustang convertible — it was the first year of production for pony cars — pulled up. Kapp was at the wheel, wanting to buy the vintage Dodge. Twelve years old at the time, the young Fuoco didn’t appreciate the significance when his grandfather identified the man.
The family rents the house now, and Reg doesn’t think it will withstand development pressure. What happens when the good neighbours have moved away and the neighbourhood is in transition, surrounded by higher-density housing, commercial or industrial properties?
Scarlett describes the luxurious 1650-squarefoot Florence floor plan as "bright and open." The open concept main floor makes hosting guests a pleasure and the natural gas fireplace creates a cosy night by the fire with family or friends.
Large windows in the living area and long rectangular windows in the dining let in tons of natural light. The home also includes a deck off the dining room, another standard feature Scarlett explains.
On the second level, two large bedrooms provide enough room for a double bed in each or a roomy office space instead.
"Some floor plans don't allow room in the extra bedrooms for even a double bed," says Scarlett. "But these are big."
A handy laundry room on the upper level offers a convenient sink and large linen closet for storage.
The master bedroom beams with plenty of natural light and lots of space.
The grand ensuite includes lots of extras, such as his and her sinks, jetted tub, tiled shower and walk-in closet with custom shelving.
This is the first show home for Homes by Montebello. With so many standard bonus features, it will definitely not be the last. Project manager Graham Figg expects to do around 10 homes this year. Last year, the company built several in-fill houses, two duplexes and seven houses.
Looking for the perfect house at the perfect price in the perfect location? Look no further! This newly-completed gem of a home is just inside the city limits of Wolfforth to provide you the utility and efficiency amenities, yet just outside the hustle and bustle that Lubbock can hold. It is located for the most desired schools that the acclaimed Frenship School District has to offer. In the popular subdivision of Preston Estates, 1507 Yorkshire is found on a wide, quiet cul-de-sac street which lends you the privacy you’ve been wishing for.
Whether you’re a single home buyer or one looking for a home to accommodate your growing family, this 1,789 square foot plan should fit the bill. To describe this home as “a three bedroom, two bath, two car garage” would be remiss. The openness of the pillared entry, dining area, living room with corner fireplace, and spacious kitchen with pantry together give you room to relax and to interact with your loved ones and friends. For take-home work, an office nook is an added surprise. The personality-plus master hosts a box ceiling, an oversized shower, a deep and inviting tub, and his-and-her separated closets.
Quality and nouveau style best describe the decorator amenities. From the rubbed bronze lighting fixtures, plumbing fixtures, cabinetry pulls, and doorknobs to the woodgrain offset floor tile and speckled twill carpeting, no extra on your want list will be left unchecked!
Housing that fits in
"Infill housing" is one of those phrases that planning geeks love, shorthand for any residential development that doesn't include cul de sacs on land where crops were farmed last year.
But all it takes to grasp the inadequacy of the term is to visit two recent additions to the San Francisco landscape. One is an eight-story stack of 14 condominiums slid into a narrow lot across from the Giants' ballpark. The other fills two blocks along a streetcar line in a sleepy commercial district, with a grocery store as well as 173 apartments.
They have absolutely nothing in common - except the understanding that infill works best when it's in synch with neighborhood needs, not some formula imposed from above.
The more ambitious of the pair is dubbed Avalon Ocean Avenue: Two long structures of four and five stories stand along a streetcar line on Ocean at Brighton Avenue. It's next to the main campus of City College of San Francisco, at the edge of a retail strip that has struggled for years.
This is a part of the city that few outsiders visit, even though it is well-served by Muni and a short walk from the Balboa Park BART Station. The potential for additional density in 2002 caught the eye of city planners who identified an auto parts store there as the ideal spot for something that would "add to the creation of a cohesive streetwall" and "contribute substantially to the revitalization of this area."
In other words, it would need to fit in but also provide a jolt. And that's what we now have, courtesy of an energetic design by Oakland's Pyatok Architects for AvalonBay Communities, a large national developer.
Capitalizing on scale
There's no effort to hide what exists, two stocky blocks shaped to fit within a 55-foot height limit. Instead, the architects take advantage of the scale by treating each structure as a long cube with moving rectangular parts.
The eastern building, for instance, starts with white stucco as the skin for the basic box. But a two-story portion clad in blue cement board juts out 4 feet, while a three-story section close by wears brick-red tile and is recessed 4 feet from the white frame. Vertical bays are slit by deep windows. The base is a generous 20 feet to make room for Whole Foods, and has a skin of wooden slats to catch the eye.
The colorful collage serves as a transition from the bulk of City College to such offhand wonders as the jaunty neon Beep's Burgers sign across the way. "It's about movement along the street, not a single design," said Pyatok's Marcial Chao. "We wanted to introduce a sense of rhythm without repeating things over and over."
A much different task faced the firm Gould Evans, architects of the condo building at 750 Second St. developed by Manchester Capital.
The 50-foot-wide site is at the edge of the South End Historic District, an area defined by early 20th century industrial structures, some of brick and some of concrete. The south-facing property line is shared with the one-story building that houses Momo's restaurant, which means wide-open views of AT&T Park and the bay, but also an exposed structural wall.
The architects accepted that their building would be part of a larger tapestry where the main threads already exist. Gould Evans responded with a sophisticated extension of the underlying patterns. The structural wall that faces the ballpark wears a rain-screen of red ceramic tiles, while its counterpart to the north is covered by aluminum panels that update the three-story concrete structure next door. Facing the street, the masonry weaves past large metal windows divided by small panes of glass, modern details with a blue-collar spin.
The case could be made that these projects are exercises in urbanism more than architecture, but such a distinction would be unfair.
Here's why: when new buildings are added to a settled city, smarts often count for more than style. Avalon Ocean Avenue is intended as a catalyst, where enticing large-scale design moves signal the addition of residents and retail to an area that can benefit from each. At 750 Second, the transformation has already occurred; this is one more piece in the puzzle, with a level of quality that ups the ante for what comes next.
For all the planning virtues of infill housing, the real-life result is mixed. Look around the Bay Area and you see too many "transit villages" that are business deals wrapped in period dress. The trick is to grow our communities in a way that makes them more enticing. Each of these projects pulls off that deceptively difficult feat.
Set on 5.15 wooded and open acres provides a backdrop for this meticulously maintained custom Colonial in the township. Offering approximately 3,500 square feet of living space, the open 11-room layout provides four bedrooms and two-and-one-half baths. Bob and Pamela Beatty of Weichert Realtors in Clinton are marketing it at $575,000.
Highlights of the floor plan include custom paint colors, generously-dimensioned rooms, gleaming hardwood floors, high ceilings and neutral décor. Recent updates such as a newly paved driveway, a newer gourmet kitchen, new wall-to-wall carpeting on the second story and new recessed lighting show pride of ownership. The scenic acreage presents a large multi-level paverstone patio in the private rear yard, paverstone front walkways, professionally landscaped grounds, colorful perennials and a storage shed.
The home was extensively renovated in 2010 and is in move-in condition. Sunlight streams into the two-story entrance foyer from a large sunburst window set high above the front door. The foyer features lustrous hardwood flooring set on the diagonal, elegant picture frame moldings and a turned staircase with a railed overlook from the second floor. The oversized dining room, has hardwood floors with ornamental inlays, wainscoting, crown moldings and a large bow window. Across the foyer, the private study features crown moldings, hardwood floors and recessed lights.
The great room, kitchen and dining area combine as a very large gathering area at the rear of the home. The focal point in the great room is a floor-to-ceiling raised-hearth brick fireplace, flanked by tall circle-top windows. The recently updated breakfast room and kitchen have contains a center island with a breakfast bar, custom cherry cabinets with some glass-door upper cabinets, Corian counters, a tile backsplash, plus pendant and recessed lights. Stainless-steel appliances include a five-burner Bosch cooktop, double wall ovens, a built-in wine cooler and a bottom-drawer refrigerator/freezer. The 300 square-foot breakfast room has sliding French doors to the rear paver patio. Completing the main floor is a laundry room, an updated powder room and access to the oversized three-car garage with automatic openers.
But all it takes to grasp the inadequacy of the term is to visit two recent additions to the San Francisco landscape. One is an eight-story stack of 14 condominiums slid into a narrow lot across from the Giants' ballpark. The other fills two blocks along a streetcar line in a sleepy commercial district, with a grocery store as well as 173 apartments.
They have absolutely nothing in common - except the understanding that infill works best when it's in synch with neighborhood needs, not some formula imposed from above.
The more ambitious of the pair is dubbed Avalon Ocean Avenue: Two long structures of four and five stories stand along a streetcar line on Ocean at Brighton Avenue. It's next to the main campus of City College of San Francisco, at the edge of a retail strip that has struggled for years.
This is a part of the city that few outsiders visit, even though it is well-served by Muni and a short walk from the Balboa Park BART Station. The potential for additional density in 2002 caught the eye of city planners who identified an auto parts store there as the ideal spot for something that would "add to the creation of a cohesive streetwall" and "contribute substantially to the revitalization of this area."
In other words, it would need to fit in but also provide a jolt. And that's what we now have, courtesy of an energetic design by Oakland's Pyatok Architects for AvalonBay Communities, a large national developer.
Capitalizing on scale
There's no effort to hide what exists, two stocky blocks shaped to fit within a 55-foot height limit. Instead, the architects take advantage of the scale by treating each structure as a long cube with moving rectangular parts.
The eastern building, for instance, starts with white stucco as the skin for the basic box. But a two-story portion clad in blue cement board juts out 4 feet, while a three-story section close by wears brick-red tile and is recessed 4 feet from the white frame. Vertical bays are slit by deep windows. The base is a generous 20 feet to make room for Whole Foods, and has a skin of wooden slats to catch the eye.
The colorful collage serves as a transition from the bulk of City College to such offhand wonders as the jaunty neon Beep's Burgers sign across the way. "It's about movement along the street, not a single design," said Pyatok's Marcial Chao. "We wanted to introduce a sense of rhythm without repeating things over and over."
A much different task faced the firm Gould Evans, architects of the condo building at 750 Second St. developed by Manchester Capital.
The 50-foot-wide site is at the edge of the South End Historic District, an area defined by early 20th century industrial structures, some of brick and some of concrete. The south-facing property line is shared with the one-story building that houses Momo's restaurant, which means wide-open views of AT&T Park and the bay, but also an exposed structural wall.
The architects accepted that their building would be part of a larger tapestry where the main threads already exist. Gould Evans responded with a sophisticated extension of the underlying patterns. The structural wall that faces the ballpark wears a rain-screen of red ceramic tiles, while its counterpart to the north is covered by aluminum panels that update the three-story concrete structure next door. Facing the street, the masonry weaves past large metal windows divided by small panes of glass, modern details with a blue-collar spin.
The case could be made that these projects are exercises in urbanism more than architecture, but such a distinction would be unfair.
Here's why: when new buildings are added to a settled city, smarts often count for more than style. Avalon Ocean Avenue is intended as a catalyst, where enticing large-scale design moves signal the addition of residents and retail to an area that can benefit from each. At 750 Second, the transformation has already occurred; this is one more piece in the puzzle, with a level of quality that ups the ante for what comes next.
For all the planning virtues of infill housing, the real-life result is mixed. Look around the Bay Area and you see too many "transit villages" that are business deals wrapped in period dress. The trick is to grow our communities in a way that makes them more enticing. Each of these projects pulls off that deceptively difficult feat.
Set on 5.15 wooded and open acres provides a backdrop for this meticulously maintained custom Colonial in the township. Offering approximately 3,500 square feet of living space, the open 11-room layout provides four bedrooms and two-and-one-half baths. Bob and Pamela Beatty of Weichert Realtors in Clinton are marketing it at $575,000.
Highlights of the floor plan include custom paint colors, generously-dimensioned rooms, gleaming hardwood floors, high ceilings and neutral décor. Recent updates such as a newly paved driveway, a newer gourmet kitchen, new wall-to-wall carpeting on the second story and new recessed lighting show pride of ownership. The scenic acreage presents a large multi-level paverstone patio in the private rear yard, paverstone front walkways, professionally landscaped grounds, colorful perennials and a storage shed.
The home was extensively renovated in 2010 and is in move-in condition. Sunlight streams into the two-story entrance foyer from a large sunburst window set high above the front door. The foyer features lustrous hardwood flooring set on the diagonal, elegant picture frame moldings and a turned staircase with a railed overlook from the second floor. The oversized dining room, has hardwood floors with ornamental inlays, wainscoting, crown moldings and a large bow window. Across the foyer, the private study features crown moldings, hardwood floors and recessed lights.
The great room, kitchen and dining area combine as a very large gathering area at the rear of the home. The focal point in the great room is a floor-to-ceiling raised-hearth brick fireplace, flanked by tall circle-top windows. The recently updated breakfast room and kitchen have contains a center island with a breakfast bar, custom cherry cabinets with some glass-door upper cabinets, Corian counters, a tile backsplash, plus pendant and recessed lights. Stainless-steel appliances include a five-burner Bosch cooktop, double wall ovens, a built-in wine cooler and a bottom-drawer refrigerator/freezer. The 300 square-foot breakfast room has sliding French doors to the rear paver patio. Completing the main floor is a laundry room, an updated powder room and access to the oversized three-car garage with automatic openers.
2013年2月6日星期三
Anniversary of Fatal Fire at Borough Hall
30 years ago, 22-year old New Milford firefighter, William Entwistle, died while fighting a fire at Borough Hall. Entwistle, who was engaged to be married, was the first New Milford firefighter to lose his life as a result of a fire.
Entwistle, a firefighter out of Company 1, came from a family steeped in service. His father, James Entwistle, was a sergeant on the New Milford police force and his grandfather was the Superintendent of the DPW.
In commemorating the anniversary of the fire, as the Fire Department does every year, firefighter Bill Drew from Company 2 said, "When Bill ran into that fire he answered his final alarm."
According to reports at the time, the fire was caused by a short circuit in the attic storage area on the second floor of the building's south end, where papers and files were kept, and spread quickly north. There were no smoke alarms or sprinkler systems at that time to detect smoke or put water on the fire.
The fire was detected at approximately 1 p.m. on January 17, 1983. It is remembered by firefighters as being "so intense" that it took 75 firefighters four hours to extinguish. In addition to the New Milford Fire Department, River Edge and Oradell also fought the blaze, while Dumont and Bergenfield remained on stand-by at New Milford's two firehouses.
"As we reached the top of the stairs on the second floor, the smoke was so intense, so low to the floor, that we had to crawl to get to the storage closet where the guns and ammunition were kept," Police Chief Frank Papapietro recalled. "We grabbed everything we could carry because we knew we wouldn't be able to return."
Papapietro, a patrol officer working the police desk the day of the fire, said that it was a Borough Hall employee who first alerted them to the smell of smoke.
"At first we didn't detect anything," Papapietro said. "But then the smell of smoke intensified and smoke began to pour down from the ceiling tiles."
"That's when we knew we had a fire on our hands," Papapietro said. "And that's when we knew we had to get the guns and ammunition from the second floor and secure them outside in the police cars."
Former Fire Chief Alan Silverman arrived on the first engine from Company 2 with Drew and two probationary, or "probie," firefighters--Bob Sacchi, a former Explorer, and Jack McEwan.
"Flames were shooting out of the back and southside windows," Silverman recalled. "The probies were itching to go in, but I wouldn't let them--they were too inexperienced."
Sacchi, who went on to become a New York City firefighter, said that despite what he has seen fighting fires in New York, the memory of the Borough Hall fire still haunts him.
"I looked up to Billy," Sacchi said. "All us young guys knew him-- we wanted to be just like him. Losing him was personal."
Drew was one of the first firefighters to go into the burning building and go up to the second floor, leaving only when his air tank was nearing empty.
"I remember seeing Billy climbing the stairs as I was coming down," Drew recalls.
Meanwhile, Papapietro, along with future Police Chief Richie Costello, and two other officers, donned Scott Packs (portable air tanks with masks) and attempted to keep police operations going, even as smoke poured through the ceiling tiles above the desk.
"We had to remove our air masks to answer the phones," Papapietro recalled. "When the smoke became too dense, we called New Jersey Bell to transfer our phone lines to Dumont and we finally evacuated."
According to eyewitnesses, it wasn't immediately determined that Entwistle was in trouble, or even missing. Both Silverman and Drew said that accountability was much different in those days--essentially, if you were eyeballed by an officer you were accounted for.
Silverman said that the fire was so intense that it melted the steel beams causing the upstairs floor to collapse onto the first floor. Although it has never been determined, Silverman thinks that when the roof was vented, there may have been a flashover.
"The best we could figure is that Billy was blown into the corner because that's where we found him--right inside the doorway of what is now my office," Silverman said.
Entwistle's body was found when a firefighter accidentally kicked one of his boots as he was making his way through the smoke with a line.
Hearing that a firefighter was found unconscious on the second floor of the burning structure, Silverman raced into the building and found the body of a firefighter slumped on the floor with his mask off--it had melted. Unable to identify him, Silverman opened the firefighter's turnout coat to find Entwistle's name on his DPW uniform shirt.
Entwistle was pronounced dead at the scene at approximately 2:30 p.m. He is believed to have succombed to smoke inhalation.
Entwistle, a 1979 graduate of New Milford High School and an Explorer in the Fire Department before becoming a member at 18, was laid out at Volk Funeral Home in Oradell and buried at George Washington Cemetery in Paramus.
It was reported that over 2000 people came to honor Entwistle at his wake and funeral. Firefighters from as far away as California and Wyoming came to pay tribute, as well as more than 100 representatives from police departments, ambulance corps and ladies auxiliaries.
Papapietro recalls long lines of people waiting outside the funeral home in the bitter cold to pay their respect to Entwistle. Seeing this, Entwistle's father refused to sit down.
"He said that if all of these people waited in the bitter cold to see his son, he was going to stand and shake their hand," Papapietro said.
"That's the kind of guy he was. Not dwelling on the fact that he had just lost his son, but concerned about the people who stood waiting in the cold to see him."
Entwistle, a firefighter out of Company 1, came from a family steeped in service. His father, James Entwistle, was a sergeant on the New Milford police force and his grandfather was the Superintendent of the DPW.
In commemorating the anniversary of the fire, as the Fire Department does every year, firefighter Bill Drew from Company 2 said, "When Bill ran into that fire he answered his final alarm."
According to reports at the time, the fire was caused by a short circuit in the attic storage area on the second floor of the building's south end, where papers and files were kept, and spread quickly north. There were no smoke alarms or sprinkler systems at that time to detect smoke or put water on the fire.
The fire was detected at approximately 1 p.m. on January 17, 1983. It is remembered by firefighters as being "so intense" that it took 75 firefighters four hours to extinguish. In addition to the New Milford Fire Department, River Edge and Oradell also fought the blaze, while Dumont and Bergenfield remained on stand-by at New Milford's two firehouses.
"As we reached the top of the stairs on the second floor, the smoke was so intense, so low to the floor, that we had to crawl to get to the storage closet where the guns and ammunition were kept," Police Chief Frank Papapietro recalled. "We grabbed everything we could carry because we knew we wouldn't be able to return."
Papapietro, a patrol officer working the police desk the day of the fire, said that it was a Borough Hall employee who first alerted them to the smell of smoke.
"At first we didn't detect anything," Papapietro said. "But then the smell of smoke intensified and smoke began to pour down from the ceiling tiles."
"That's when we knew we had a fire on our hands," Papapietro said. "And that's when we knew we had to get the guns and ammunition from the second floor and secure them outside in the police cars."
Former Fire Chief Alan Silverman arrived on the first engine from Company 2 with Drew and two probationary, or "probie," firefighters--Bob Sacchi, a former Explorer, and Jack McEwan.
"Flames were shooting out of the back and southside windows," Silverman recalled. "The probies were itching to go in, but I wouldn't let them--they were too inexperienced."
Sacchi, who went on to become a New York City firefighter, said that despite what he has seen fighting fires in New York, the memory of the Borough Hall fire still haunts him.
"I looked up to Billy," Sacchi said. "All us young guys knew him-- we wanted to be just like him. Losing him was personal."
Drew was one of the first firefighters to go into the burning building and go up to the second floor, leaving only when his air tank was nearing empty.
"I remember seeing Billy climbing the stairs as I was coming down," Drew recalls.
Meanwhile, Papapietro, along with future Police Chief Richie Costello, and two other officers, donned Scott Packs (portable air tanks with masks) and attempted to keep police operations going, even as smoke poured through the ceiling tiles above the desk.
"We had to remove our air masks to answer the phones," Papapietro recalled. "When the smoke became too dense, we called New Jersey Bell to transfer our phone lines to Dumont and we finally evacuated."
According to eyewitnesses, it wasn't immediately determined that Entwistle was in trouble, or even missing. Both Silverman and Drew said that accountability was much different in those days--essentially, if you were eyeballed by an officer you were accounted for.
Silverman said that the fire was so intense that it melted the steel beams causing the upstairs floor to collapse onto the first floor. Although it has never been determined, Silverman thinks that when the roof was vented, there may have been a flashover.
"The best we could figure is that Billy was blown into the corner because that's where we found him--right inside the doorway of what is now my office," Silverman said.
Entwistle's body was found when a firefighter accidentally kicked one of his boots as he was making his way through the smoke with a line.
Hearing that a firefighter was found unconscious on the second floor of the burning structure, Silverman raced into the building and found the body of a firefighter slumped on the floor with his mask off--it had melted. Unable to identify him, Silverman opened the firefighter's turnout coat to find Entwistle's name on his DPW uniform shirt.
Entwistle was pronounced dead at the scene at approximately 2:30 p.m. He is believed to have succombed to smoke inhalation.
Entwistle, a 1979 graduate of New Milford High School and an Explorer in the Fire Department before becoming a member at 18, was laid out at Volk Funeral Home in Oradell and buried at George Washington Cemetery in Paramus.
It was reported that over 2000 people came to honor Entwistle at his wake and funeral. Firefighters from as far away as California and Wyoming came to pay tribute, as well as more than 100 representatives from police departments, ambulance corps and ladies auxiliaries.
Papapietro recalls long lines of people waiting outside the funeral home in the bitter cold to pay their respect to Entwistle. Seeing this, Entwistle's father refused to sit down.
"He said that if all of these people waited in the bitter cold to see his son, he was going to stand and shake their hand," Papapietro said.
"That's the kind of guy he was. Not dwelling on the fact that he had just lost his son, but concerned about the people who stood waiting in the cold to see him."
Ultrasonic sealing
Rinco Ultrasonics' new FPA series ultrasonic pouch sealing systems enable users to increase seal strength, improve aesthetics, and broaden the processing window versus competitive ultrasonic sealing and heat sealing processes. They are applicable for sealing flexible packaging for dry and liquid foods, personal care items and electronics.
The FPA-4500 was designed specifically for sealing pouches with up to four and a half square inches of seal area while the FPA-4500S was created for use in duplex and triplex applications where a narrow profile is required. Rinco's entire FPA series of ultrasonic sealing systems have been designed to replace existing heat sealing equipment on liquid filled pouch form-fill-seal (FFS) machinery or pre-made pouch systems.
The novel systems incorporate Rinco's patented PPS0145 seal technology that significantly expands what is possible in ultrasonic film sealing. Each FPA system features a highly rigid actuator capable of rapidly generating the clamp forces required to seal pouches with minimal cycle time.
Rinco's unique PPS0145 interlocking film sealing technology permits seal patterns with greater surface area than competitive ultrasonic seals. In addition, it allows production of contour-shaped seals, unlike the straight line seals offered by competitive ultrasonic equipment. These seals can take almost any configuration, offering end users a range of branding options to differentiate their products.
The new ultrasonic film sealing system produces seals with greater surface area than competitive ultrasonic systems and provides the widest processing window of any ultrasonic sealing system currently on the market. Seals anywhere from 2-mm to 25-mm are now possible compared to 1- to 2-mm previously, according to Rinco. With the interlocking design and robust equipment, Rinco can offer wider ultrasonic seals which are more preferable by end users, without the need for follow-up heat sealing, thus saving time and cost.
The patented ultrasonic seal technology also delivers an increase in bond strength over conventional ultrasonics. Depending upon the film used, Rinco has determined that its interlocking pattern can provide a 20 percent stronger bond than conventional ultrasonic seals.
Rinco offers a complete line of actuators, the FPA 4500 series and 2500 series models, for OEMs, co-packers, and end users. These are coupled with Rinco's robust system components including generators, converters, boosters, and tooling. The FPA series actuators are designed specifically for the packaging industry as a drop-in retrofit to convert heat sealing stations to ultrasonics. They are extremely rigid to accommodate the demands of sealing thin films, and various sizes are available to suit any horizontal sealing application.
The AGM series generator features 100 percent digital circuitry for precise control of the sealing process, along with upper and lower process set-up for quality monitoring and sophisticated graphing capabilities for easy troubleshooting.
Summer reminds me of fun, outdoors and adventure, so we travelled to Borneo over summer. It is exactly what I needed. Borneo is an island between Malaysia and Indonesia and it’s divided between these two countries and Brunei. We spent our time on the Malaysian side of the island in the Sabah area.
We climbed Mount Kinabalu, which is 4,000 metres high, to reach the summit at sunrise, and journeyed down the curvy river of Kinabatangan to spot rare wildlife (which paid off with a rare sighting of wild orangutans). Then we visited Semporna, and finished off in the remote rainforest of Danum Valley to stay in an ultra-luxe, peaceful lodge. The experience under the sea on Pom Pom Island was a standout – incredible snorkelling and beautiful white beaches right outside our door – and the inspiration from this experience is already being put to work in the new season.
You should research and plan your trip before you go. As we were looking for an adventure, we expected to be able to show up and travel at our own pace. We were quick to realise how far apart places are and guides are required to accompany you. Who knew? I would highly recommend dining at the Filipino fish markets for dinner. Pick your fish, fresh from the day’s catch in Kota Kinabalu.
I’ve developed a warm-weather holiday uniform over the years of travelling. To save on luggage space, my advice is to bring only your favourite pieces! For me this includes cut-off denim shorts paired with loose-fitting tees for daytime tooling around cities with big dark sunglasses. I bring a couple of bright coloured bikinis and cotton gauze maxi dresses for lazy beach-hopping days. Always wear a wide-brim hat for sun protection. For night it varies from silk mini-dresses with strappy sandals matched with newly discovered market bangles, or silk West 14th camis with silk shorts.
The FPA-4500 was designed specifically for sealing pouches with up to four and a half square inches of seal area while the FPA-4500S was created for use in duplex and triplex applications where a narrow profile is required. Rinco's entire FPA series of ultrasonic sealing systems have been designed to replace existing heat sealing equipment on liquid filled pouch form-fill-seal (FFS) machinery or pre-made pouch systems.
The novel systems incorporate Rinco's patented PPS0145 seal technology that significantly expands what is possible in ultrasonic film sealing. Each FPA system features a highly rigid actuator capable of rapidly generating the clamp forces required to seal pouches with minimal cycle time.
Rinco's unique PPS0145 interlocking film sealing technology permits seal patterns with greater surface area than competitive ultrasonic seals. In addition, it allows production of contour-shaped seals, unlike the straight line seals offered by competitive ultrasonic equipment. These seals can take almost any configuration, offering end users a range of branding options to differentiate their products.
The new ultrasonic film sealing system produces seals with greater surface area than competitive ultrasonic systems and provides the widest processing window of any ultrasonic sealing system currently on the market. Seals anywhere from 2-mm to 25-mm are now possible compared to 1- to 2-mm previously, according to Rinco. With the interlocking design and robust equipment, Rinco can offer wider ultrasonic seals which are more preferable by end users, without the need for follow-up heat sealing, thus saving time and cost.
The patented ultrasonic seal technology also delivers an increase in bond strength over conventional ultrasonics. Depending upon the film used, Rinco has determined that its interlocking pattern can provide a 20 percent stronger bond than conventional ultrasonic seals.
Rinco offers a complete line of actuators, the FPA 4500 series and 2500 series models, for OEMs, co-packers, and end users. These are coupled with Rinco's robust system components including generators, converters, boosters, and tooling. The FPA series actuators are designed specifically for the packaging industry as a drop-in retrofit to convert heat sealing stations to ultrasonics. They are extremely rigid to accommodate the demands of sealing thin films, and various sizes are available to suit any horizontal sealing application.
The AGM series generator features 100 percent digital circuitry for precise control of the sealing process, along with upper and lower process set-up for quality monitoring and sophisticated graphing capabilities for easy troubleshooting.
Summer reminds me of fun, outdoors and adventure, so we travelled to Borneo over summer. It is exactly what I needed. Borneo is an island between Malaysia and Indonesia and it’s divided between these two countries and Brunei. We spent our time on the Malaysian side of the island in the Sabah area.
We climbed Mount Kinabalu, which is 4,000 metres high, to reach the summit at sunrise, and journeyed down the curvy river of Kinabatangan to spot rare wildlife (which paid off with a rare sighting of wild orangutans). Then we visited Semporna, and finished off in the remote rainforest of Danum Valley to stay in an ultra-luxe, peaceful lodge. The experience under the sea on Pom Pom Island was a standout – incredible snorkelling and beautiful white beaches right outside our door – and the inspiration from this experience is already being put to work in the new season.
You should research and plan your trip before you go. As we were looking for an adventure, we expected to be able to show up and travel at our own pace. We were quick to realise how far apart places are and guides are required to accompany you. Who knew? I would highly recommend dining at the Filipino fish markets for dinner. Pick your fish, fresh from the day’s catch in Kota Kinabalu.
I’ve developed a warm-weather holiday uniform over the years of travelling. To save on luggage space, my advice is to bring only your favourite pieces! For me this includes cut-off denim shorts paired with loose-fitting tees for daytime tooling around cities with big dark sunglasses. I bring a couple of bright coloured bikinis and cotton gauze maxi dresses for lazy beach-hopping days. Always wear a wide-brim hat for sun protection. For night it varies from silk mini-dresses with strappy sandals matched with newly discovered market bangles, or silk West 14th camis with silk shorts.
2013年2月3日星期日
Tracking the Pack
It’s rare for the death of an animal to make the news, but wolf 832F was a bona fide celebrity — one of Yellowstone’s most visible and popular wolves — and her death led to a public outpouring of grief. Making her death even more tragic was the fact that she had been wearing an expensive GPS tracking collar, which allowed scientists to follow her every move and gain crucial insight into the lives of gray wolves.
In recent years, there has been much pontificating about how modern communications technologies are changing the way that we relate to other people. Less discussed is the way these advances are reshaping our relationships with other species. By using satellite and cellular tags to track free-ranging animals, biologists are providing us with intimate access to the daily lives of other species, drawing us closer to the world’s wild things and making us more invested in their welfare.
Over the past several decades, the use of wildlife tags has proliferated as the devices have become smaller and more powerful. Today’s tags are capable of collecting months’ or years’ worth of data on an animal’s location at a given moment, and can be used to track everything from tiny tropical orchid bees to blubbery, deep-diving elephant seals. The devices provide crucial information about populations — helping scientists uncover the migratory pathways of Arctic terns or the ocean currents that loggerhead sea turtles like to surf — as well as individuals. Is this particular predator a pack leader or a lone wolf? A dedicated hunter or a mooch? How much time does it spend with its pups? Who are its associates, rivals and mates?
Learning about the personalities and life histories of individual animals can prompt affection for these creatures, even if we never meet them. Thousands of people followed wolf 832F’s escapades online; park visitors posted photos and discussed her on message boards. After she died, Yellowstone officials even received outraged phone calls. (There was nothing the park could have done — Wyoming’s gray wolves were removed from the endangered species list late last summer, opening the door for legal hunting. Sadly, wolf 832F was the eighth wolf with a tracking collar to be killed by ranchers over the course of this hunting season.)
Some scientists are beginning to provide the public with direct access to tracking data. For instance, the leaders of the Tagging of Pacific Predators project, a 10-year tracking study of 23 different marine species, created a Web site broadcasting the movements of their subjects in real time (or close to it). While the project lasted, anyone with an Internet connection could follow the wanderings of Monty, the mako shark, Genevieve, the leatherback turtle, or Jon Sealwart and Stelephant Colbert, both northern elephant seals. The scientists supplemented the data with photos and profiles of some of the animals, as well as online trading cards and Facebook profiles.
Bird lovers can follow the migrations of bald eagles through EagleTrak, run by the Center for Conservation Biology. The group provides detailed updates on the journeys of two eagles, Camellia and Azalea, and people can “adopt” the birds with a donation of $25 or more. Each bird has around a hundred “adoptive parents,” proving how attached we can get to a wild creature when we have a name and a life story to assign to it.
This technology is still evolving, and we’ve only just scratched the surface of what’s possible. In the years to come, perhaps wildlife biologists will take a page from the creators of Teat Tweet, a yearlong project featuring 12 tagged dairy cows and an automatic milking machine. Each cow was given her very own Twitter account, and a program broadcast her milking stats to all her followers. On July 14, 2011, for instance, a cow named Goldwyn Windy tweeted, “I just squirted 18.9 kgs of milk out of my teats in 7:10 minutes. What did you do today?”
Of course, tweeting cows are pretty silly, and we don’t need technology to get to know an animal. Many of those who came to care about wolf 832F simply visited the park and watched her in her natural habitat. But sadly, too few of us have the chance to experience that, and while virtual encounters can’t replace the real-life kind, they may be the next best thing.
What’s more, tracking projects may be our best hope for getting the public to invest in conservation. We may be able to ignore a nameless, faceless mass of threatened creatures, but fill in their personalities and back stories, and it becomes harder to look the other way as their habitats disappear or they are hunted to extinction. A famous animal can become an ambassador for its species, inspiring efforts to conserve the entire population. Indeed, after wolf 832F’s death, the National Wolfwatcher Coalition started a fund-raising campaign in her honor, donating the proceeds to wolf research and education programs.
The social network and photo sharing mobile app has been automatically geotagging users' photos even when they have completely disabled location services.
The bug was discovered by security researcher and hacker Jeffrey Paul who found that Path had geotagged a photo he published from his phone even though his location services had been disabled.
It turns out that the social network had taken the metadata from the photo (information embedded within the photo file that specifies the time it was taken, the location, the device it was taken on etc) and used it to geotag the post.
EXIF data can be removed from images but it's a bit of a pain, especially considering that users' have already asked for their location information not to be published.
The discovery comes about a year after Path was caught publishing users' entire address books and just days after Path paid an $800,000 fine for collecting information on its underage users without parental consent.
In recent years, there has been much pontificating about how modern communications technologies are changing the way that we relate to other people. Less discussed is the way these advances are reshaping our relationships with other species. By using satellite and cellular tags to track free-ranging animals, biologists are providing us with intimate access to the daily lives of other species, drawing us closer to the world’s wild things and making us more invested in their welfare.
Over the past several decades, the use of wildlife tags has proliferated as the devices have become smaller and more powerful. Today’s tags are capable of collecting months’ or years’ worth of data on an animal’s location at a given moment, and can be used to track everything from tiny tropical orchid bees to blubbery, deep-diving elephant seals. The devices provide crucial information about populations — helping scientists uncover the migratory pathways of Arctic terns or the ocean currents that loggerhead sea turtles like to surf — as well as individuals. Is this particular predator a pack leader or a lone wolf? A dedicated hunter or a mooch? How much time does it spend with its pups? Who are its associates, rivals and mates?
Learning about the personalities and life histories of individual animals can prompt affection for these creatures, even if we never meet them. Thousands of people followed wolf 832F’s escapades online; park visitors posted photos and discussed her on message boards. After she died, Yellowstone officials even received outraged phone calls. (There was nothing the park could have done — Wyoming’s gray wolves were removed from the endangered species list late last summer, opening the door for legal hunting. Sadly, wolf 832F was the eighth wolf with a tracking collar to be killed by ranchers over the course of this hunting season.)
Some scientists are beginning to provide the public with direct access to tracking data. For instance, the leaders of the Tagging of Pacific Predators project, a 10-year tracking study of 23 different marine species, created a Web site broadcasting the movements of their subjects in real time (or close to it). While the project lasted, anyone with an Internet connection could follow the wanderings of Monty, the mako shark, Genevieve, the leatherback turtle, or Jon Sealwart and Stelephant Colbert, both northern elephant seals. The scientists supplemented the data with photos and profiles of some of the animals, as well as online trading cards and Facebook profiles.
Bird lovers can follow the migrations of bald eagles through EagleTrak, run by the Center for Conservation Biology. The group provides detailed updates on the journeys of two eagles, Camellia and Azalea, and people can “adopt” the birds with a donation of $25 or more. Each bird has around a hundred “adoptive parents,” proving how attached we can get to a wild creature when we have a name and a life story to assign to it.
This technology is still evolving, and we’ve only just scratched the surface of what’s possible. In the years to come, perhaps wildlife biologists will take a page from the creators of Teat Tweet, a yearlong project featuring 12 tagged dairy cows and an automatic milking machine. Each cow was given her very own Twitter account, and a program broadcast her milking stats to all her followers. On July 14, 2011, for instance, a cow named Goldwyn Windy tweeted, “I just squirted 18.9 kgs of milk out of my teats in 7:10 minutes. What did you do today?”
Of course, tweeting cows are pretty silly, and we don’t need technology to get to know an animal. Many of those who came to care about wolf 832F simply visited the park and watched her in her natural habitat. But sadly, too few of us have the chance to experience that, and while virtual encounters can’t replace the real-life kind, they may be the next best thing.
What’s more, tracking projects may be our best hope for getting the public to invest in conservation. We may be able to ignore a nameless, faceless mass of threatened creatures, but fill in their personalities and back stories, and it becomes harder to look the other way as their habitats disappear or they are hunted to extinction. A famous animal can become an ambassador for its species, inspiring efforts to conserve the entire population. Indeed, after wolf 832F’s death, the National Wolfwatcher Coalition started a fund-raising campaign in her honor, donating the proceeds to wolf research and education programs.
The social network and photo sharing mobile app has been automatically geotagging users' photos even when they have completely disabled location services.
The bug was discovered by security researcher and hacker Jeffrey Paul who found that Path had geotagged a photo he published from his phone even though his location services had been disabled.
It turns out that the social network had taken the metadata from the photo (information embedded within the photo file that specifies the time it was taken, the location, the device it was taken on etc) and used it to geotag the post.
EXIF data can be removed from images but it's a bit of a pain, especially considering that users' have already asked for their location information not to be published.
The discovery comes about a year after Path was caught publishing users' entire address books and just days after Path paid an $800,000 fine for collecting information on its underage users without parental consent.
Pay Taxes On Your Super Bowl XLVII Winnings?
It comes as no surprise to anyone (except maybe eternal optimist Jeff Lurie) that the Eagles aren’t in the Super Bowl this year. And my other “go to” teams didn’t make it either. As a result, I have no real allegiance to either of the teams in the Super Bowl this year, though I do have a favorite: I’m in the 49ers camp because of an odd allegiance for Pennsylvania native Joe Montana.
My kids, however, are rooting for the Ravens. That has everything to do with the fact that they love Harry Potter and were, until somewhat recently, fairly convinced that the team was called the Voldemort Ravens.
It’s slated to be a record-breaking day in Vegas. More than $90 million will be legally gambled away on the game in Sin City. Many more million will be wagered in garages, office pools and bars across the country. This year, you can bet on everything from the winning team to who will score first and which Harbaugh brother – or both – will sport a cap during the game.
What does all of this mean come tax time? The law requires you to report your gambling winnings no matter what the amount – or whether it’s a legal bet. There’s no exception for illegal wagers: income is income so far as the Internal Revenue Service is concerned. Casual gamblers – that means most taxpayers – must report their winnings on line 21 (other income) of a federal form 1040; the form 1040-EZ isn’t equipped to handle gambling winnings or the forms W-2G.
But what if you lose? Unfortunately, while you must claim all gambling winnings on your return, you can only deduct your losses if you itemize your deductions on a Schedule A. If you do not file a Schedule A, you cannot deduct your gambling losses, no matter how much you lose. Thankfully, losses are considered a miscellaneous deduction and not subject to the 2% limit.
If you do itemize your deductions, you must be able to document your losses. You need to substantiate the amount of the loss, the date of the loss and the name and location of the gambling establishment. Be smart and keep a journal of your gambling wins and losses: chances are, your buddies at the office aren’t going to be in the mood to issue you a form 1099-G. Ditto for your extra large bookie in the bar corner.
What if you lose more than you win? Sadly, you’re out of luck. Not only does it stink to keep losing, you cannot deduct more in losses than you report in winnings. If this happens more than you care to admit, consider getting some help. You can start by calling 1800-GAMBLER.
Assuming that you just do it occasionally, playing the odds whether at the casino or as part of the office pool can be fun. Don’t be fooled, however: there are also real tax and financial consequences (and depending on the nature of the bets, also legal) to making wagers. Make sure you understand how bets, no matter how big or small, may affect you. If you can’t stand the heat, just hang out by the chip bowl.
Outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta today became the highest-ranking Obama administration official to admit that the U.S. used torture to help find Osama Bin Laden.
Panetta was responding to a question on the movie “Zero Dark Thirty,” which depicts prisoners being waterboarded by the US in an effort to find out where bin Laden’s is hiding.
“The movie seems to say, to indicate that enhanced interrogation techniques or torture was used to get information to get Bin Laden. Is that true?” asked NBC’s Chuck Todd on “Meet the Press.”
“Yes, some of it came from some of the tactics that were used at that time, interrogation tactics that were used,” Panetta responded.
“The real story was that in order to put the puzzle of intelligence together that led us to Bin Laden, there were a lot of pieces out there that were a part of that puzzle,” Panetta added.
But the former CIA Director dismissed the tactics as playing a key role as the movie depicts in the location of Bin Laden, who was shot and killed in May 2011 by Navy SEALS while he was hiding in a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
“The fact is we put together most of that intelligence without having to resort to that,” Panetta said. “I think we would’ve gotten Bin Laden without that.”
Panetta’s stance is different from that of Bush administration officials, who have called the “enhanced interrogation” methods that were used under them critical to the operation.
Meanwhile, Panetta blamed the nation’s intelligence community for the failure to get the military to Benghazi on Sept. 11 after the consulate was attacked.
My kids, however, are rooting for the Ravens. That has everything to do with the fact that they love Harry Potter and were, until somewhat recently, fairly convinced that the team was called the Voldemort Ravens.
It’s slated to be a record-breaking day in Vegas. More than $90 million will be legally gambled away on the game in Sin City. Many more million will be wagered in garages, office pools and bars across the country. This year, you can bet on everything from the winning team to who will score first and which Harbaugh brother – or both – will sport a cap during the game.
What does all of this mean come tax time? The law requires you to report your gambling winnings no matter what the amount – or whether it’s a legal bet. There’s no exception for illegal wagers: income is income so far as the Internal Revenue Service is concerned. Casual gamblers – that means most taxpayers – must report their winnings on line 21 (other income) of a federal form 1040; the form 1040-EZ isn’t equipped to handle gambling winnings or the forms W-2G.
But what if you lose? Unfortunately, while you must claim all gambling winnings on your return, you can only deduct your losses if you itemize your deductions on a Schedule A. If you do not file a Schedule A, you cannot deduct your gambling losses, no matter how much you lose. Thankfully, losses are considered a miscellaneous deduction and not subject to the 2% limit.
If you do itemize your deductions, you must be able to document your losses. You need to substantiate the amount of the loss, the date of the loss and the name and location of the gambling establishment. Be smart and keep a journal of your gambling wins and losses: chances are, your buddies at the office aren’t going to be in the mood to issue you a form 1099-G. Ditto for your extra large bookie in the bar corner.
What if you lose more than you win? Sadly, you’re out of luck. Not only does it stink to keep losing, you cannot deduct more in losses than you report in winnings. If this happens more than you care to admit, consider getting some help. You can start by calling 1800-GAMBLER.
Assuming that you just do it occasionally, playing the odds whether at the casino or as part of the office pool can be fun. Don’t be fooled, however: there are also real tax and financial consequences (and depending on the nature of the bets, also legal) to making wagers. Make sure you understand how bets, no matter how big or small, may affect you. If you can’t stand the heat, just hang out by the chip bowl.
Outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta today became the highest-ranking Obama administration official to admit that the U.S. used torture to help find Osama Bin Laden.
Panetta was responding to a question on the movie “Zero Dark Thirty,” which depicts prisoners being waterboarded by the US in an effort to find out where bin Laden’s is hiding.
“The movie seems to say, to indicate that enhanced interrogation techniques or torture was used to get information to get Bin Laden. Is that true?” asked NBC’s Chuck Todd on “Meet the Press.”
“Yes, some of it came from some of the tactics that were used at that time, interrogation tactics that were used,” Panetta responded.
“The real story was that in order to put the puzzle of intelligence together that led us to Bin Laden, there were a lot of pieces out there that were a part of that puzzle,” Panetta added.
But the former CIA Director dismissed the tactics as playing a key role as the movie depicts in the location of Bin Laden, who was shot and killed in May 2011 by Navy SEALS while he was hiding in a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
“The fact is we put together most of that intelligence without having to resort to that,” Panetta said. “I think we would’ve gotten Bin Laden without that.”
Panetta’s stance is different from that of Bush administration officials, who have called the “enhanced interrogation” methods that were used under them critical to the operation.
Meanwhile, Panetta blamed the nation’s intelligence community for the failure to get the military to Benghazi on Sept. 11 after the consulate was attacked.
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