Mobilize the working class to support New York’s school bus drivers!
The Socialist Equality Party calls on workers throughout New York City to support the nearly 9,000 school bus drivers, matrons/attendants and mechanics who have called a strike to defend their right to decent jobs and safe service for children against the dictates of the city’s multibillionaire mayor, Michael Bloomberg.
The bus drivers, part of the Amalgamated Transit Union, are seeking to oppose efforts by the city to cut costs by accepting contracts from the “lowest responsible bidder” when current contracts with private bus companies expire in July. The city will accept bids for 1,100 of its routes, about one sixth of the total.
The new bids do not require companies picked to observe seniority provisions or pay rates that workers now receive. These rights, which date back to 1965 and which were defended by workers in a 16-week strike in 1979, are known as the Employee Protection Provision (EPP).
Bus companies that pay poverty wages to their drivers will be able to outbid the companies now holding contracts. Senior drivers will either lose their jobs or be forced to accept drastically lower wages. Competitive bidding will inevitably jeopardize children’s safety, as more experienced workers are forced out and bus companies that cut corners the most win the contracts.
The mayor and Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott claim that a court ruling has prevented them from keeping the EPP in place. This is a cynical fraud. In July 2011, the city successfully pressed Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo to veto legislation that would have guaranteed workers the EPP in future contracts with the city.
Now they are forcing a strike. That school children and working parents throughout the city will have their lives thrown into crisis is for them just a minor cost of doing business, as is the inevitable deterioration of safety and service should they succeed in imposing a new system in which the experience of bus workers is sacrificed to cost-cutting.
As always, certain premises are universally accepted by the corporate, political and media establishment, above all that there is “no money” for ensuring that bus drivers and other workers have decent wages and benefits. This in the city that is home to Wall Street, where executives and hedge fund managers routinely “earn” hundreds of millions, even billions of dollars a year!
The attack on bus drivers is part of a bipartisan assault against the working class as a whole, in New York City and throughout the country. Bloomberg’s provocations are part of a well-planned and deliberate effort by the ruling class and its political representatives to make working people—and in this case hundreds of thousands of school children and their parents—pay for the economic crisis.
Everywhere the refrain is the same. Workers are told that they must accept drastic wage and benefit cuts if they are to keep their jobs. In the New York area, nearly 30,000 transit workers in the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) have been without a contract for a year. The MTA is demanding cuts to jobs, services and resources for mass transit in order to meet debt payments to the banks.
Teachers are also under assault by the city, which aims to tie their performance to test scores, and, as with the school bus drivers, to eliminate the most senior and experienced teachers and replace them with younger, underpaid teachers. The aim is to cut costs and, ultimately, dismantle public education.
Nationwide, the share of income going to the working class is at its lowest in decades. Schools are being shut down throughout the country, and hundreds of thousands of teachers have already lost their jobs. The so-called “recovery” touted by the Obama administration is a recovery only for corporate profits and stocks traded on Wall Street.
The trade unions have proven incapable and unwilling to oppose this attack. This is because they are absolutely committed to their political alliance with the Democratic Party and their support for the capitalist system. Instead, concessions contract after concessions contract has been pushed through. When strikes erupt—such as the Chicago teachers strike last year—they are isolated and quickly shut down to prevent them from developing into a political struggle.
Bus drivers must be conscious that the Amalgamated Transit Union has its own interests, which are distinct from those of the workers. To secure its dues base, the union would be perfectly willing to sell out the workers. And the unions reject any effort to mobilize the working class in a united struggle.
If it is to be successful, the bus drivers’ strike must become the starting point for a broader industrial and political offensive of the working class. This requires that the conduct of the strike be taken out of the hands of the union through the formation of independent rank-and-file committees.
Bus drivers cannot fight this struggle alone. The provocative actions and statements of Bloomberg and leading Democratic Party politicians—including blaming bus drivers for endangering students!—make clear that they are not going to back down. And behind Bloomberg stands the corporate and financial elite. An immediate appeal must be made to workers throughout the city, including transit workers and teachers, for joint action to defend jobs, wages and public education.
The struggle of bus drivers and other workers against this assault is above all a political fight. Since the economic crisis first erupted in 2008, the Democrats and Republicans have launched a coordinated effort to force the working class to pay for the crisis. Trillions of dollars were funneled into the banks by Bush and then by Obama, followed by budget-cutting at the local, state and national levels.
Four-and-half years into the crisis, Republicans and Democrats have agreed to massive federal spending cuts that will be worked out in detail during the bipartisan talks on the debit limit next month. Social Security and Medicare, as well as discretionary spending on education and transportation, will be drastically cut.
These attacks are not limited to the United States. Workers everywhere are being told to live with less and less while the bankers make record profits. Austerity measures in Greece and Spain have slashed social spending and raised the level of unemployment to nearly a quarter of the workforce. Unemployment in Europe is at its highest levels since the Great Depression.
The answer to unending austerity and corporate dictatorship is socialism. Workers can defend their interests only through a direct attack on the wealth and privileges of the bankers and corporate executives who control the economy. The giant corporations that dominate society must be nationalized under democratic control and trillions of dollars must be made available for decent jobs, education, and health care.
Contact the Socialist Equality Party today. Visit www.socialequality.com, write to sep@socialistequality.com or call (313)-409-8083.


THIS WEEK, IRAQI federal troops ousted Kurdish military forces from the northern provinces city of Kirkuk.
Crucially, Kirkuk is home to lucrative oilfields that is now under Iraqi government control, having previously been partly under Kurdish control since 2013.
The military action caught the Kurds by surprise, and went almost unopposed.
So, what exactly happened in Iraq this week? And how is it having a global effect?
The Kurds are an ethnic group in the Middle East, occupying regions of Turkey, Iran, Syria and Iraq.
They have a three-province autonomous region in northern Iraq but, from the time of the US invasion in 2003, Kurds supported the Americans and gained control of further lands in the country.
It also helped to fight ISIS alongside Iraqi security forces at the height of that crisis in 2014, which lead to the Kurds laying a claim on the oil-rich, and ethnically diverse, city of Kirkuk.
With the so-called Islamic State largely eradicated from the region, the Kurds planned to build its own separate nation-state.
Four weeks ago, it held its own independence referendum against the advice of the US.
The referendum went on regardless and Kurds chose independence from Iraq.
Less than a month later, Iraqi forces moved in to disputed territory. On Monday and Tuesday, federal troops and allied militias retook the northern province and its lucrative oil fields, as well as formerly Kurdish-held areas of Nineveh and Diyala provinces.
The retreat of Kurdish forces, almost without a fight, triggered recriminations amongst Kurdish politicians and prompted the regional parliament to postpone elections set for 1 November.
In the wake of the successful military operation, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said the Kurdish independence poll was a now “a thing of the past” and its results void.
Kurds now just controls the three-state region it originally owned before the US invasion, but it welcomed the offer of talks from al-Abadi.
This week’s military operation also dealt a severe blow to the autonomous region’s finances, which had relied heavily on revenues from exports of Kirkuk oil.
Baghdad was quick to capitalise on its gains.
Oil Minister Jabbar Luaybi appealed to British energy giant BP to “quickly make plans to develop the Kirkuk oil fields”.
Baghdad signed a consultancy contract with BP in 2013 to help develop the Havana and Baba Gurgur fields.
But it was never implemented as Baghdad lost control of the fields the following year during the chaos of the IS offensive through northern and western Iraq.
On Thursday, the Iraqi oil ministry reacted angrily after Russian energy giant Rosneft signed a production sharing deal with the authorities in the autonomous Kurdish region without its approval.
“This department and the Iraqi federal government are the only two bodies with whom agreements should be reached for the development and investments in the energy sector,” the ministry said in a statement, without mentioning Rosneft by name.
Oil Minister Jabbar al-Luaybi condemned the “irresponsible announcements coming from certain officials in Iraq or abroad, or from foreign companies about their intention to conclude deals with parties in Iraq without the federal government being aware”.
Bloomberg reported that the Kurdish regime was now in financial turmoil, after it made deals for a number of cash-for-oil loans.
Right now, it is not known what retaliation, if any, the Kurds will take.
On Thursday, its regional government said it was open to talks with Baghdad.
“The cabinet welcomes the initiative of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on starting negotiations with the regional government to solve pending issues according to the constitution and principles of partnership,” it said in a statement.
“Kurdistan demands the help and contribution of the international community in sponsoring this dialogue,” it added.
The actions of the Iraqi government were prompted by the referendum, after the two sides left each other fairly unhindered since driving IS out of the country. With the lucrative oilfields in Kirkuk, Iraq would not let the Kurds cede with that region in its control.
The Kurds won few friends in the international community through the independence vote, raising fears that the region could be destabilised again.
From America’s perspective, it sees Iraq as an ally and wants it as stable as possible, particularly with its escalating tensions with Iran.
With Iraq now holding the cards, all eyes will be on what the Kurdish authorities do next.
Read: Turkey is at a crossroads as millions turn out at referendum vote – but what is actually happening?
Email “Explainer: Why Iraq taking back land from the Kurds is a major headache for the US”.
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A short video of a premeditated, cold-blooded attack on a Russian policeman has surfaced online, showing a perpetrator giving the officer a boot and then narrowly escaping the law under an oncoming train.
The footage shows a man speaking on his phone at a railway platform, seemingly waiting for a suburban train somewhere in Russia. A couple of police officers are standing close to him.
The man then suddenly kicks one of the officers up his backside and jumps onto the rails straight under the upcoming train, evading the enraged, yet slow law enforcement.
The man apparently paid good attention to the reminder, frequently broadcast at Russian railways: ‘If you fall on the tracks – lie between the rails, head towards oncoming train and stay still’.
The evasive trick has surely saved the man a lot of trouble, as he seemingly escaped law enforcement unpunished. While in some countries such an unprovoked attack on police is a sure way to get killed, in Russia it can still land an individual up to five years behind bars.
Some users, however, doubted the authenticity of the incident, suggesting that the whole stunt might have been staged. Even if so, the daredevil still might have faced some legal consequences. If someone on the train had been seriously injured due to the abrupt stoppage, the man could have faced a two-year jail term.


Tampering or not, Bryce Harper isn’t backing down from his pitch to Mike Trout.
The Anaheim Angels clearly weren’t happy with Harper’s remarks and contacted Major League Baseball about the potential tampering violation.
Asked about it Wednesday, Harper stood his ground.
"They talked to me a little bit, not MLB or anything like that," Harper said, via The Athletic. "When that time comes, when guys are free agents, we'll see what happens.
"If I didn't mean it, I wouldn't have said it."
Harper began his public recruitment of Trout during his introductory press conference and went a step further Tuesday on 94-WIP.
Trout, scheduled to become a free agent in 2020, didn’t miss Harper’s comments.
"Obviously I saw it,” Trout said, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register. “He’s excited. He’s excited about his team. I have no control what he says."
But MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred does.
"Given our rules, players recruiting other players who are still under contract or under reserve to another club is a rule violation," Manfred told The Associated Press at the Boston College Chief Executives Club. "So, obviously not anxious to see that.
"We're in the process of gathering information about the comments and the context in which they were made. We're talking to both clubs and when we're ready to decide whether it did or it didn't we'll let you know."
According to MLB Rule 3(k), "negotiations or dealings respecting employment, either present or prospective, between any player, coach or manager and any Major or Minor League Club other than the Club with which the player is under contract” is prohibited.
On the field, Harper participated in a simulated game Wednesday and, after a walk and strikeout, homered off Jerad Eickhoff (video below courtesy of NBC Sports Philadelphia).
"It felt good, just getting out there and seeing pitches, seeing spin," Harper told NBC Sports Philadelphia. "Glad Eickhoff was out there. If he's healthy, we're going to be pretty damn good, he's going to be able to help our staff a lot."


The pending revision of Apple's hobby project picks up a faster GPU.
The FCC diagram that outed the new Apple TV update.
Hot on the heels of the 128GB iPad, it looks like there's another low-key Apple product launch that's imminent. FCC documents (and one in particular [PDF]) have revealed what looks to be a slightly smaller revision of the Apple TV set-top box that measures about 3.69 inches squared, down from the current model's 3.9 inches. More sleuthing by AnandTech through the recent Apple TV software update also suggests that the box uses an upgraded Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip from Broadcom, as well as an upgraded Apple A5X SoC rather than the A5 in the current model.
The A5X was a revision of the A5 that retained its dual-core Cortex-A9 CPU but upgraded the GPU to a massive quad-core PowerVR SGX543MP4 from Imagination Technologies. This GPU (and the accompanying memory interface upgrades) were necessary to support the third-generation iPad's then-new Retina Display. Its utility in a new Apple TV is less clear, but it could point the way to running more intensive 3D apps on the set-top box—running App Store apps on the Apple TV has long been on some users' wish lists.
Apple TV's current A5 isn't quite the same as the one used in the iPad 2, iPhone 4S, and iPad mini, but rather a harvested die with one of the CPU cores disabled; selling these harvested chips in some products is a common practice in the tech industry, since the alternative would be to throw out the entire SoC. Whether the A5X in the revised Apple TV has been similarly harvested (and, thus, whether we can expect different CPU and GPU performance relative to the iPad 3) isn't clear from the materials on hand.
Apple has yet to officially announce an updated Apple TV, but it could come at any time—the 128GB iPad took just a single day to go from rumor to fact, after all.
UPDATE: Apple has now claimed that the measurement differences shown in the FCC documents don't actually point to a substantially new product, but a slight component revision that merely required extra FCC paperwork for approval.
Can someone smarter than I explain what the point of a chip upgrade is for the Apple TV? I would imagine that the current model should be powerful enough for what it is tasked to do out of the box.
One possible reason for a chip upgrade is that you're making an assumption that what it is tasked to do out of the box is not changing. If Apple is expanding the scope of AppleTV, a chip upgrade becomes more logical.
For example, the earlier AppleTVs were only 720p. Only the recent models became 1080p, requiring a more powerful chip. There are certainly more functions that Apple could add, such as 3D, 4K, high frame rate, etc.
The other indicator that scope expansion may be imminent is the addition of support for Bluetooth keyboards the other day. I had been waiting for that one, I wish my Roku did that. (I hate entering search text with the remote.) If it's an indicator that future AppleTVs will be able to run iOS apps such as games and graphics apps, then a chip upgrade would naturally be in order there.


All five have busted loose for touchdown receptions of 47 or more yards this season.
Davis (24 receptions for 469 yards and six touchdowns) and Allen Perryman (22-329-7) are featured in a cast that has put Lemoore (5-2, 3-0) in contention to win a second straight West Yosemite League title heading into Friday’s showdown at home against fellow league unbeaten Mt. Whitney (4-2, 2-0).
Ahlin has done his part, too, in three games since returning from a concussion suffered Sept. 4 against Clovis.
He has completed 74 percent of his passes (32 of 43) for 658 yards and 10 TDs while leading the Tigers to routs of Redwood (41-6), Hanford West (42-0) and Golden West (49-13) to open WYL play.
Lemoore, ranked No. 2 in D-II by The Bee, is aiming for at least a second straight No. 2 seed for the Division II playoffs. Last year, the Tigers were upset at home by No. 3 Dinuba (30-22), which went on to lose 16-14 at top-seeded Ridgeview for the title.
Pulliam concedes that the 6-0 Wolf Pack, who owns wins over four D-I teams, deserves the top seed again should it win out as expected in the South Yosemite League. But the second seed appears up for grabs between the Tigers, Tulare (6-0) and Sanger (5-1).
Lemoore has beaten Sanger (21-19), and owns a more impressive victory over Redwood than Tulare (49-41). Sanger also beat Redwood 28-7. The Tigers’ only losses are to D-Is Clovis (6-0) and Buchanan (4-2), teams ranked first and eighth in the section, respectively.
Concussion Symposium Saturday – The Central Valley Concussion Symposium will be held Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the UCSF Fresno Medical Education and Research building (155 N. Fresno St.) on the Community Regional Medical Center campus.
More than 200 Central Valley health care professionals, educators, coaches, parents and student-athletes are expected to gather and discuss diagnosis, education and recovery for patients with traumatic brain injuries like concussions.
No. 16 Stockdale (1-5, 0-1) at No. 3 Liberty-Madera Ranchos (2-3, 1-0): The buzz leading up to this Southwest Yosemite League game revolves around Stockdale coach Brett Shelton, who was suspended early in the week by the Kern High School District for an undisclosed reason. The length of the suspension hasn’t been determined.
No. 6 Clovis West (3-2, 0-1) at No. 8 Buchanan (4-2, 1-0): Must-win Tri-River Athletic Conference game for CW after losing 21-17 in final minutes to Clovis North. Buchanan hasn’t won five games in a season since 2010 (6-5).
No. 11 Edison (2-4, 1-0) at No. 10 Sanger (5-1, 1-0): County/Metro Athletic Conference showdown has Sanger leading 19-15 in a series launched in 1932, according to section historian Bob Barnett.


The Filas Family Home, 710 Shady Ave.
A broad luminary-lit walk leads to this impressive traditional home. The family's vision came to life with an open floor plan, designed by the homeowner, that encompasses comfort and togetherness while also maintaining a high-efficiency standard. Our decorator has chosen a monochromatic theme for this stone and LP SmartSide Green Building sided home, adding emphasis with varied textures. Upon entering the foyer, your eyes are drawn to an impressive Christmas tree. Close by, a unique ottoman is ready for seated poses – perhaps a picture for the holiday greeting card. A signed Leroy Neiman print complements the intricate bookcase that holds a complete set of 1890 Charles Dickens novels; given to the homeowner by her grandfather.
An arched entryway invites you to explore this five-bedroom, 4.5-bath beauty further. Gaze at the 6-foot-high reclaimed natural wood mirrors as you make your way to the master suite that opens off the grand living room. The simplicity of the bedroom calms your soul with earth-inspired hues. Espresso crown molding encircles a 10-foot tray ceiling. Five-and-a-half inch Spanish walnut floors guide you to a crisp, clean style in the master bath with a streamlined wooden maple, coffee-stained vanity and solid-white quartz countertops. The chocolate and Crema Marfil marble floor, found in the large walk-in shower, flows seamlessly with the neutral scheme of the bathroom, adding texture and interest to the space. The oval soaking tub sits back in a small alcove, where a large window allows for natural light to stream into the space. A chrome-and-linen crystal chandelier hangs from the ceiling, adding ambiance to the room.
Accents of teal add an unexpected burst of color to the living room. Herringbone brick surrounds the stone fireplace that anchors the living space. An oversize love seat is the perfect spot to sink, snuggle and wait for St. Nicholas to arrive. Ceiling beams offer a striking visual element. A dusting of snow on the flagstone paved patio makes the home's colors crisper and reflects even more natural light through this extraordinary room.
The spacious, open kitchen invites family and friends to gather for laughter and friendship. The dining table melds shades of dark and light. Draped with hundreds of oversize glass crystals, the chandelier bathes the whole table in a festive glow, with each teardrop and raindrop sparkling in the light it casts. Airy windows provide another view to the patio. The light gray granite makes a statement on this large island adding dimension to the white maple cabinetry. Natural travertine subway tile creates a colorful backdrop to the cooking area.
As you prepare to leave, remain just a few moments more to regard extra touches done on the home. A train inspired blackboard and spacious cubbies keep the family of six on track. Can you find the special place for the seventh member? Allow time to take in the details of a charming powder room and an intricate sapele wood and custom iron railed staircase leading to four bedrooms before you head out to resume your journey.


How about doing this project properly and leave a legacy to the people of Ventura County.
My wife and I attended the Ventura County Planning Commission meeting of Jan. 31 considering the wildlife corridor overlay plan. During the presentation, the state biologist showed many tracking collar images of different species. It showed that these animals do not cross highways or freeways, staying in clusters on either side of these barriers. Later, a planning staffer explained that the county has no authority over highways.
So, all the planning for “connectivity for biodiversity” is virtually for nothing. Until the county decides to work with whatever highway authorities it needs to, to have connectivity, we will have a non-working wildlife corridor. Putting highly restrictive regulations on landowners and still not having connectivity for animal diversity makes absolutely no sense at all.
A project like this should take decades to properly plan and implement. These animals are not endangered. I understand the rush is so that the project will serve as a legacy to two long-term county supervisors.
Is a half-baked plan a legacy?
Is serving the public a reason to have a personal legacy?


The cosmic collision that gave Earth its moon may have also given it the ingredients for life. Researchers have never been able to nail down exactly how and when Earth got its carbon, nitrogen, and sulphur, but a new study suggests they may have come from the object that smashed into Earth and created the moon about 4.5 billion years ago.
A group of researchers from Rice University in Texas used a series of experiments and simulations to test whether these volatile elements – those with low boiling points – could have been the result of such a collision.
They started by compressing alloys containing carbon, nitrogen and sulphur to pressures up to 7 gigapascals and heating it to temperatures as high as 1800°C to simulate the conditions during the formation of a planetary core. They used that experimental data to perform approximately one billion simulations of impacts between various types of volatile-laden object and Earth.
The simulations that matched experimental observations and the geological record best were those with a rock about the size of Mars, full of carbon and nitrogen with a sulphur-rich core.
“It is likely that such an impactor also brought water,” another important volatile compound, says team member Rajdeep Dasgupta. Planets that have undergone more large collisions like this might have had more opportunities to develop life, he says.
Richard Greenwood at the Open University in Milton Keynes says that, while this explanation is plausible, there are others that match what we see now just as well and we do not yet have enough information to tell which is correct.


He's arriving by boat, then spreading jolly cheer, at Nick's Cove.
Santa arrives by boat at Nick's Cove Restaurant, Oyster Bar & Cottages on Sunday, Dec. 6. The food drive and festive occasion treats, cheer, and one-on-ones with Mr. Claus.
CAROLING WITH THE CLAMS: We're fairly certain that if we saw Santa Claus pulling into Tomales Bay on a sleek skiff or kitted-out boat we'd only have one question on our mind: Was the Jolly Ol' Elf just paying a visit to the denizens of the wider ocean? Had he joined the clams for some festive singing of songs? Was he just participating in a gift exchange with the sharks? And do seahorses hang stockings and, if so, where? Upon jagged-edged coral? Santa, of course, must keep his sweet secrets, so when he pulls into the beautiful bay on Sunday, Dec. 6 we will forgo quizzing him as to whether whales leave out cookies on Christmas Eve or if shrimps decorate trees. We will, however, welcome him to the annual to-do at Nick's Cove Restaurant, Oyster Bar & Cottages, one that serves as both a food drive for the Marin Food Bank and as a kick-off to the season alongside the shimmery water. Make that very much alongside; Nick's Cove isn't just steps from the bay, it is on the bay, so much so that Santa'll pull his sleigh, er, boat, up to the property's picturesque Boat Shack.
WHAT FOLLOWS... is some visit time with the man in red, and cocoa and treats, and professional snapshots that are gratis (as is the cocoa and as are the treats). There are some for-sale bites and sips, too, like winter cocktails and menu specials, so you can nosh away while awaiting Santa's grand Tomales arrival. Definitely bring a canned good donation (which also nets you a discount on the non-gratis goodies of the day) and definitely plan to spend a few hours enjoying the Marshall landmark. As for Santa's hours? He'll be on the water, and then in the house, from 3 to 5 o'clock, but the Nick's Cove restaurant'll keep serving hours going from 11 in the morning through 9 at night.


After three days of closed door meetings — so closed that the principals had to sign confidentiality agreements —Star Tribune management and labor just issued a joint statement about the discussions.
Labor is, of course, a major expense. (And, we should note, a major asset.) Strib Newspaper Guild co-chair Graydon Royce said layoffs weren’t mentioned in what he described as “introductory” sessions. But don’t be too reassured, Strib workers: Specific cuts didn’t come up at all. Still, I’m told management is looking for substantial expense cuts throughout the company by early summer.
What is different about the current skein of meetings is that it’s not classic bargaining: The Strib imported Restructuring Associates Inc. as a mediator to find a common way forward before the union’s contract expires this summer. Formal bargaining will commence at some point. Next week, union leadership will meet with Strib employees to assess whether they should participate in this pre-bargaining or go right to the mattresses.
As reported here previously, the cash the Strib takes in from operations is diving below its debt payments. That could put owners Harte and Avista Capital Partners in violation of their agreements with lenders,a problem PiPress owners MediaNews Group is having. Harte and Avista Capital Partners would have to dig into their own pockets (unlikely, given the Strib’s declining asset value) or sell (tough, since like many homes, the Strib may be worth less than its mortgage). Most newspaper experts I talk to say you can’t cost-cut your way out of huge debt — the nut is too big and brand damage high — but it doesn’t mean management can’t try.
Star Tribune Union Leaders and Management Hold 3-Day Business Education Session March 21, 2008 — For the past three days Star Tribune management and union leaders met to discuss the serious financial issues facing the company and the newspaper industry.
Publisher Chris Harte opened the business education meetings by telling attendees that the Star Tribune’s current financial difficulties result from a precipitous drop in revenue while expenses have remained virtually flat.
Harte and six Star Tribune senior managers gave presentations outlining the company’s current market and financial position. Additionally two outside industry experts gave presentations on the state of the industry.
Dan Sullivan, professor of media management and economics at the University of Minnesota School of Journalism, and John Lariccia, a partner at Bain Consulting, said that some of the problems facing the national industry and the Star Tribune are systemic — declining readership and the proliferation of media outlets on the Internet that compete for audience and advertising. Others are cyclical, such as the current economic downturn.
In addition to Harte, Star Tribune speakers included Dan Shorter, president of digital media, Dave Montgomery, chief financial officer, and senior vice presidents David Walsh, advertising; Steve Alexander; circulation; Nancy Barnes, news; and Kevin Desmond, operations.
All the speakers agreed that the Star Tribune is at a crossroads, and they stressed that the company’s brand strength and market leadership are keys to future growth. Harte emphasized that expenses will have to be cut to get through the immediate financial challenges.
— Comparisons relative to other newspaper companies. The Star Tribune compares favorably in terms of reach and market position but unfavorably in terms of production costs.
— The financial obligations of the company, including debt.
— The commitment to future growth. While the immediate challenge is to reduce expenses, the long-term viability of the company depends on growth.
In the next few days the unions will meet as a council or among their memberships to determine whether they will continue to participate in a joint problem-solving process to address issues raised in the sessions.


Reports that army has entered northern city, near oil refinery where troops have been under siege by ISIL for months.
Iraqi military forces have reached the centre of the northern oil city of Beiji to try to break a siege by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on the country's biggest refinery, a colonel and a witness have told the Reuters news agency.
The armed ISIL group captured Beiji city in June during a lightning advance through northern Iraq.
Since then, they have surrounded the oil refinery and halted its production while a detachment of government troops has held out for months under siege inside it.
A military colonel told the Reuters news agency on Sunday that Iraqi troops entered the a city of about 200,000 people from the south and west, and took over the al-Tamim neighbourhood and city centre.
ISIL had placed bombs along roads in Beiji and deployed snipers to keep government forces from advancing, tactics used in other cities held by the group.
"There are IEDs [improvised explosive devices] and snipers that are slowing down the advance, but the presence of the air force has facilitated the process of dismantling the IEDs in order to push forward," said the colonel.
"The areas taken so far are 6km away from Beiji's refinery," he added. He said 12 fighters had been killed.
Beiji resident Sultan al-Janabi told Reuters by telephone from his house that clashes had been raging since the advance, the first time security forces had reached the city centre since launching a new encirclement strategy at the end of last month.
"Violent confrontations are taking place in Beiji right now. I've been hearing continuous fire and loud bangs," said Janabi.
ISIL has captured large swathes of land in Iraq and Syria, declaring what it calls a cross-border Islamic "caliphate" and committing several atrocities in the process.
The US-led coalition's fighter jets have been bombing the group's targets in Iraq and Syria, supporting the ground struggle carried out by the central government and Kurdish forces.
On Saturday, US-led air strikes targeted a gathering of ISIL leaders in Iraq near the al-Qaim border crossing between Iraq and Syria.
ISIL considers Shia Muslims, Christians and members of other religions to be heretics and frequently attacks them.


A promotional material on how to download and use the Bola Raya app.
KUALA LUMPUR: This year, Maxis is proud to bring the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ to more Malaysians on both Astro GO and RTM, making it easier for customers to catch all the action across all screens – whether on television or on their mobile device.
The World Cup is not just about football, but one of the world’s biggest sporting events that bring people together.
Both Maxis and Hotlink customers can purchase Astro World Cup match passes from as low as RM1 per match to watch any, or all, of the 64 matches in LIVE and in full HD anytime, anywhere.
Best of all, data to stream the game will be free so Maxis and Hotlink customers can enjoy it completely worry-free on the country’s No 1 4G network.
Maxis is also proud to be the lead broadcast sponsor for RTM’s coverage of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™. RTM will broadcast 41 matches, out of which 28 will be live and 13 delayed.
Maxis’ head of Consumer Business Dushyan Vaithiyanathan noted that every four years, football fans come together to cheer on their favourite teams at the single biggest sporting event in the world.
“Maxis is excited to bring the World Cup to more Malaysians than ever before with Astro World Cup match passes on Maxis as well as through our lead broadcast sponsorship of the RTM’s coverage of the matches,” he said.
“Whether you’re at home or travelling back to your hometowns for Raya, Malaysians have more choices on how to keep up with all the action and latest matches, together with family and friends,” he added.
To sign up for the Astro GO World Cup Match Passes, customers just need to download the MyMaxis/Hotlink RED/Hotlink Flex app from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store; purchase the match pass of their choice in the app; receive the Coupon Code via SMS and MyMaxis app; and redeem the code on the Astro GO app and start watching.
In conjunction with the Raya and football season, Maxis is also introducing an innovative first-of-its-kind baju raya that also doubles as a football jersey using augmented reality (AR).
Now, customers don’t need to choose between wearing their baju raya or their football jersey this Raya season – they can do both!
To find out more about all of Maxis’ World Cup-related activities, please click www.maxis.com.my/bolaraya.


Six people are dead and a dozen are injured after a packed Metro-North train hit a car on the tracks in Westchester on Tuesday night. A 5:44 p.m. train from Grand Central was heading north on the Harlem line when it struck a Jeep Cherokee at a railroad crossing in Valhalla at about 6:30 p.m. The Jeep was pushed up the tracks about 400 feet, then the vehicle and the first train car burst into flames. The Jeep driver and five people — revised down from six — on the train were killed, making it the deadliest accident in Metro-North’s history. “This is a truly ugly and brutal sight,” Governor Andrew Cuomo said while touring the crash site.
Authorities say the Jeep stopped on the tracks, and the railroad crossing gates came down around it. The driver got out to look at the back of the car, then got back in and tried to drive forward. That’s when she was struck by the train. Ryan Cottrell, assistant director of the nearby rock-climbing gym the Cliffs, said he was looking out the window and saw the accident. “The flames erupted pretty quickly,” he said. According to Cuomo, the explosion made the electrified third rail lift up and pierce the first car, but it didn’t hit anyone on the train.
Stacey Eisner, who was in one of the train’s last two cars, told NBC New York that passengers felt a “jerk,” and it seemed that the train had turned off, though the power and heating were still on in her car. The conductor walked through the train and explained what had happened. About 10 to 15 minutes later, passengers were evacuated from the back of the train and taken to the Cliffs or the Hawthorne Funeral Home.
New York’s Public Transportation Safety Board sent two investigators to the scene, and the National Transportation Safety Board said it’s sending a team as well. Metro-North has been plagued by multiple accidents in the past two years, including a derailment that killed four people when an engineer fell asleep on the job in December 2013. The ensuing federal investigation found a number of “safety-critical shortfalls.” While Metro-North’s president said in October that they had started implementing 85 percent of the safety recommendations issued since the derailment, some big upgrades have yet to be put in place.


Check out 15 ways to grow your business and get it at the top of Google rankings.
SEO and content marketing are becoming more aligned every day. Search engines are increasingly focused on the same user engagement signals content marketers track, and content marketers urgently want the free traffic SEO can bring.
Thinking about using content marketing for your business? Not sure about where to start with SEO? This is for you.
1) Think of keywords more like concepts than fixed phrases.
The days of stuffing keywords into a page in order to rank are over. The days of picking just one keyword and optimizing exclusively for that keyword are about to end, too.
Don’t get me wrong. Keywords still matter, but they’re more flexible than they were in the past. That’s why many SEO experts urge us to think of keywords more as concepts or topics rather than static phrases.
As you’re doing your keyword research, pick one core keyword for each piece of content. Think about how others might search for that keyword and work those variations into your content.
We are the best computer repair shop in Dallas, Texas. If you’re looking for someone to repair your computer in Dallas, call us. We offer reasonable prices on computer repair, lower than any other computer repair shop in Dallas.
2) Promote your content to the right people.
Reach out to “micro influencers” to see if they’ll share or link to your content. This builds the best kind of relevant, high-quality backlinks.
Links, like keywords, are less powerful than they were before, but they still matter, and they can still help. Just one or two links from high-quality, relevant sites for each piece of your content are a great start.
Social media groups like those on Facebook and LinkedIn can also be valuable for promotion because you’re able to reach large numbers of people already interested in your topic.
You should have links to other parts of your site sprinkled throughout your content. These would be links that are in addition to navigation links or “related articles” links at the close of blog posts.
Don’t go crazy and abuse this, but one or two internal links per every 500 words of content is a good goal.
We’ve had great success doing this with our blogs at Wasp Barcode. All of our company blog posts incorporate internal links to our case studies, videos or other blog posts. This deep-dive information not only helps our SEO, it also helps educate potential customers about how our products and services could benefit their business.
4) Page titles are very important.
Webpage titles are created by the title tag. WordPress and many other website building platforms allow you to set up title tags when you create or edit your page. Each title tag should have a core keyword. But again, don’t just write for search engines - write for people.
Title tags function much like headlines. In the example below, the blue line of text is the title tag. In the search engine results, it performs more like a headline.
5) Page descriptions are also important.
Think of these as the sub-heads for your pages in the search results. Page descriptions should include a related keyword or two, but even more importantly, they should be written to entice the reader to click. Don’t start out sounding like a used car salesman with a “Click Here! Click now!”, but do give an accurate, interesting description of what people will find on the page.
How your pages appear in the search results matters for human users, but it also matters to Google and Bing.
Your pages’ click-through rate – how often people click on your listings in the search results – is an important factor in how your pages get ranked.
6) Is your website fast?
Websites need to load quickly to do well in the search results now. You can check your site’s speed for free with the Google PageSpeed Insights tool. If you get a low score, work with your Web developer or designer to improve it.
7) Is your website mobile-friendly?
Roughly half of the traffic on the Web now comes from mobile devices. To make searches easier for mobile users, Google began factoring sites' mobile-friendliness in their rankings. The more mobile-friendly the site, the higher it ranks in the search.
You can check out how your site performs on smart phones and other devices by using Google's Mobile-Friendly tool. A low score may indicate you need to switch to a responsive design that adjusts its layout to accommodate the screen of the device that accesses it.
Bounce rates refer to the percent of people who arrive on your site and then leave without clicking through to another page. This metric, measured as a percentage, is an important marker for search engine algorithms. It demonstrates how engaging your site is.
Digital design and marketing firm GoRocketFuel.com analyzed average bounce rates from 60 different websites and discovered most sites' rates range between 26% and 70%; a rate of 26% to 40% is considered excellent, and anything about 70% is problematic.
To see the bounce rates for your site, log into your Google Analytics account. Go to Behavior > Site Content > All Pages. Look for the column titled “Bounce Rate” in the listing of your most visited pages.
9) Time on site matters, too.
This is another piece of information the search engines use to decide how good your pages are. There’s no real metric for a good time on site or a bad time on site (15 seconds would clearly be pretty bad) – the goal is to improve it.
You can see your website’s average time on site in the dashboard of your Google Analytics account. You can see time on page for individual pages in the same view that you found the bounce rates on.
10) Longer content does better on SEO.
Pages with 1,000 words or more, also known as “long-form content,” do best in search engine results. That doesn’t mean you have to get 1,000 words on every page or that you should write filler copy until you’ve hit 1,000 words.
The idea is to write high-quality, useful, detailed information that’s worth not just reading carefully, but also worth sharing with friends or colleagues. That’s the kind of content that actually generates more business.
11) Make your content easy to share.
Getting shares on social media for your content helps with SEO, but it’s not the magic bullet. Still, this is another little thing to get right if you want better rankings. There are dozens of plugins and sharing buttons available. Social Warfare is pretty good and makes it possible for you to share content on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Google +.
One place where you can use keywords with confidence is in file names. Blog post URLs, image filenames and video filenames should all have relevant keywords in them.
While no one is a fan of the IRS, they do a good job using keywords in their downloadable forms like this PDF of a Form 1040. Notice the URL, https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040.pdf, contains the file name.
Got images on your site? Then include alt tags for the images people might share. Alt tags are another HTML tag you can add words to. Any keywords (and related keywords, of course) in the alt tag will help you rank in the search engine results. It’s not much, but they’ll give you a lift.
The alt tag content will also get grabbed by some social media platforms like Pinterest and become the description for that image when someone shares it.
14) Build content your readers will be interested in.
How does this affect SEO? Well, if you write about what people are interested in, they’re more likely to click your page listing in the search results. That helps rankings. They’re also more likely to stay on your site and read or watch your content, which helps your rankings. And they’re more likely to share your content, which helps even more.
15) Don’t even think about gaming the system.
SEO is all about quality now. Don’t get into a link-building scheme, buying links or letting anyone submit your site to 10,000 directories. Just keep your visitors engaged and coming back, and Google will naturally lift your site higher in the rankings.
You don’t need a degree in SEO to get ample traffic from search engines. Just stay focused on your visitors. The basics of “technical” SEO – title tags, page speed, etc. – are important and relatively easy to get right. The real art is making your website visitors happy.


SUMMIT COUNTY ” Along with the four local towns, Summit County is also a player in the affordable housing game. Assistant county manager Steve Hill said the county’s role is to coordinate efforts among the various entities and to provide an overview of a countywide affordable housing strategy.
“We’re trying to track what different folks are doing,” said assistant county manager Steve Hill. The idea is to make sure that the different entities aren’t shooting at the same target, Hill said.
“We also want to try and factor in what the private market is doing. We’re just a few steps behind,” Hill said. The county’s research could help show exactly what types of units are needed and identify which should have priority when it comes to actually building them, Hill said.
Some of the information is included in a comprehensive housing needs assessment completed by a consultant. But it’s important to “drill down” and be as specific as possible, said Breckenridge town manager Tim Gagen.
If, for example, there are people currently living in Park County who would like to move to Summit County and buy a home, it’s important to know exactly what they want.
“If they’re saying they need three bedroom homes and we’re building one bedroom units, it doesn’t make sense,” Gagen said.
So far, the county has collected about $300,000 from the combination of sales tax and development impact fees. That amount in itself won’t go far to tackle specific projects. But the county will explore potential partnerships with Breckenridge, and may also use the money to help with down payment assistance for affordable home buyers, Hill said.
“I’m pretty excited. There’s going to be more inventory on the ground in the next couple of years,” said Breckenridge Town Councilmember Rob Millisor, who also chairs the Summit Combined Housing Authority board.
Millisor said Breckenridge is ahead of the game primarily because the town has been in the affordable housing business for several years and has banked some hefty chunks of land for new projects. The town is also collecting 5A revenue in a big way ” an estimated $1.085 million annually, according to planner Laurie Best.
Some of that money will go directly toward subsidizing construction of 40 to 50 units on the Valley Brook property, along Airport Road. The town is taking proposals for that development from three final bidders and hopes to break ground this summer, Millisor said. The Valley Brook neighborhood will be mostly townhomes aimed at meeting demand from residents who make between 80 and 120 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI).
Along with building new homes, Breckenridge also wants to address the potential loss of existing local housing, Gagen said.
“We’re going to lose what we do have, what we claim as affordable local housing Gagen said. The problem is a generational one. As people who moved to Breckenridge in the 1970s and 1980s decide to sell their homes and move on, many of those properties will end up as second homes.
“That’s what happened in Aspen and Vail,” Gagen said.
One answer is to use affordable housing funds for a buy-down program to keep those existing homes affordable, Gagen said. Under a buy-down, the town would purchase properties and resell them at prices that stay within the needed price range.
Breckenridge is also grappling with another challenge. The price of some homes built specifically as affordable housing is starting to creep outside the affordable range, as owners add on capital improvement costs and real estate fees to the sale price. Gagen said the new master deed restrictions from the SCHA (used as a guideline by towns) addresses that problem. The new guidelines restrict what can be added to the price, Gagen said.
Given those challenges, Breckenridge’s goal is to maintain the number of locals who live in town at about 45 to 50 percent, he said.
“Every jurisdiction is going to do something different,” said Dillon Town Councilmember Don Parsons.
“In Dillon, we’re land-poor”, said Parsons, who also sits on the SCHA board. With limited land for new development, the town isn’t going to see a big influx of cash from development impact fees. Parsons said the town has collected about $100,00 so far.
That won’t go very far toward the actual construction of affordable units, so the town will find some other way to use the money.
“I suspect what we’ll do is contribute it to downpayment assistance,” Partsons said, adding that it’s policy decision for the town council. “That’s a more viable option, since $100,000 won’t go very far as far as building new units,” Parsons said.
Parsons said the entire county needs to find ways to work together and to include other stakeholders, including the hospital and the school district.
“We’re talking, but we’re not making much progress,” he concluded.


PICTURE SPECIAL: Juan Mata pulls on an Arsenal shirt!
IT'S the picture that Arsenal fans thought they'd never see - a new face in a Gunners shirt!
Here is Chelsea's star playmaker Juan Mata donning the strip for the first time - but don't get carried away Arsenal fans, it's only a Starsport impression!
Mata's dad - who doubles up as his agent - was at the Emirates last night prompting speculation that the Gunners wanted to sign his son.
Arsene Wenger has a transfer kitty of at least £70m to spend and so far he's spent, well, nothing.
The Frenchman yesterday admitted that he was a fan of Mata but Tottenham are also interested in snapping him up.
Chelsea chief Jose Mourinho, however, has insisted his man is going nowhere.
He said: "There is no chance Juan goes."


BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO | The view of downtown Riverhead from Robert James Salon on East Main Street.
JVC Media, which owns local radio stations 98.5, 96.1, 105.3 and 103.9 —the last of which was once in Riverhead — is considering moving its studios to downtown Riverhead, the company’s owner told the News-Review Thursday.
The stations, which operate under the call names WBON, WJVC, WRCN, and WPTY, are currently housed in the company’s Ronkonkoma studio, though owner John Caracciolo said he is considering buying or leasing space in downtown Riverhead. He said he visited the area Wednesday to scout locations and has met with Riverhead Business Improvement District officials.
“I think Riverhead really has a lot of potential,” Mr. Caracciolo said, adding he would be open to buying a building if it was priced right.
His vision for the station includes a large window where passersby could see disc jockeys at work, he said.
Mr. Caracciolo, who purchased the stations in 2009, said the potential move would be for the long term, as it is very difficult to move radio station equipment. His current lease expires in about a year and a half, he said. The move could happen sometime in 2012.
He said he had considered Riverhead, where WRCN’s license is, in years past but was turned off by the beleaguered downtown. He said he recently ran into Riverhead Supervisor Sean Walter, who convinced him to reconsider.
Mr. Caracciolo said he spoke with several landlords years ago and then thought the rent was too high. “I thought they were crazy,” Mr. Caracciolo said of the rent prices.
But he’s since changed his mind.
Riverhead BID president and Robert James Salon owner Ray Pickersgill also deferred comment to Mr. Caracciolo.
Classic Rock station WRCN, the oldest of the four stations, has been broadcasting since 1962. WPTY is a dance music station best known as Party 105, WBON is a Latin music station and WJVC is a country music station.
WRCN was once housed at the Flanders Drive-in on Flanders Road. It then moved to where Digger O’dell’s restaurant is now at 72 West Main Street and then to Route 112 in Medford before moving to Melvillle and then its Ronkonkoma location.


SebenzaLIVE, now part of the SowetanLIVE website, is all about giving these youths a career kick-start by helping them present themselves better and achieve their goals.
Being informed is the key to success, so we will publish practical advice about employment; lifestyle and fashion tips for the young person who has just started working or is looking for a job; and even helpful information about starting or managing a small business.
We’re here for high school pupils; students enrolled at higher education and training institutions; graduates; unemployed youths; and small-business owners or entrepreneurs.
We will share practical information on internships, learnerships, bursaries, apprenticeships and small-business programmes and events organised by government departments and agencies, companies and corporate foundations.
You’ll also find features about the work lives of young people from different industries, to illustrate how they overcame obstacles in their own lives to pursue their dreams.
To celebrate SebenzaLive joining the SowetanLive team, we are giving away spa vouchers for you and your friends.


Oracle has integrated its software into the Sun ZFS Storage Appliance line for a new generation of the systems that also doubles storage capacity and triples processing power, the company said on Monday at Oracle OpenWorld.
The appliances use a hybrid storage architecture that incorporates both hard disk drives and SSDs (solid-state drives) in order to ensure fast access to data. In the new generation, they are also integrated with Oracle's database, applications, Fusion Middleware, Oracle Linux and Solaris operating systems and Oracle VM, in order to provide high performance in enterprise business systems, Oracle said in a press release.
Sun's ZFS storage line has long been built around standard Intel processors with both SSDs and spinning disks, an architecture the company has said can balance performance with cost. Its ZFS (Zettabyte File System) is designed to provide detailed information about the use of the platform.
ZFS was a prize from Sun's storage division, one of the company's smaller divisions, when Oracle acquired Sun earlier this year, according to some industry observers. Oracle is now tying the products of that acquisition to its own offerings in the quest to build highly integrated data-center platforms. It positioned the ZFS Storage Appliance line as part of its portfolio for cloud infrastructure. On stage on Monday at OpenWorld, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison embraced the "cloud" terminology he had once dismissed, calling Oracle's Exalogic Elastic Cloud "one big, honkin' cloud."
Three new data protection offerings for Oracle Applications, included in the new generation of the ZFS Storage Appliance line, are among the fruits of the new integration. Oracle RMAN (Recovery Manager) optimizes backup, Oracle Database Cloning boosts database performance using Oracle Data Guard, and the Oracle Fusion Middleware is designed to simplify disaster recovery, the company said.
The ZFS Storage Appliances include in-line deduplication and compression, which takes place as data is transferred. Oracle claims this can increase storage efficiency by as much as 90 percent. Deduplication eliminates unnecessary duplicate bits to reduce the amount of storage space required. The appliances also make use of DTrace Analytics software for storage analytics.
The systems can connect with other data-center resources using all major protocols, Oracle said. These include InfiniBand, Fibre Channel, iSCSI (Internet Small Computer System Interface), NFS (Network File System) and CIFS (Common Internet File System).
The four new models of Sun ZFS Storage Appliances range in configuration from one with just 12T bytes to systems that can include more than 1P byte of storage capacity. Most of the new products will ship within 30 days, but Oracle did not provide pricing or other availability details on Monday.


Ordinary mortals might not be able to own a real Bugatti supercar but the new Lego version is just as much an engineering marvel.
Billund in Denmark has no business having an international airport. The tiny town has a population of just six thousand people and yet there are four flights a day to the UK alone. There is one reason, and one reason alone, for this: Lego. Billund has been dedicated to the manufacture and promotion of Lego bricks ever since they were first invented in 1949, and the town now houses not only the company’s headquarters and the majority of the world’s Lego factories but also the first Legoland theme park and the newer Lego House – a cross between an activity centre and a museum.
It’s there that the world’s press were invited late last week, to unveil the company’s latest collaboration with a fellow household name: car maker Bugatti.
Lego’s business may seem like child’s play but they last year regained the accolade of the world’s most powerful brand, denied to it by Disney in 2016 but taken from Ferrari in 2015.
Wherever Bugatti stands in that list it’s outside the top 10, which helps explain the earnestness with which the various execs praised Lego and the excitement with which they unveiled Lego product 42083 – a Bugatti Chiron made out of 3,599 pieces of Lego Technic.
As any parent (and many others besides) will know there are three main lines of Lego: the more familiar ‘System’ bricks, the Duplo toys for younger children, and the more complicated Technic. All the lines are cross-compatible, with the Chiron using a number of System pieces where necessary, but the Technic line specialises in moving parts, at the cost of a more impressionistic exterior.
And so it was that Bugatti’s president (a dapperly-dressed silver fox who looks exactly like how you would imagine) explained, with a mixture of awe and mild amusement, that the Lego Chiron has a working 8-speed gearbox, moving rear spoiler, and a recreation of the W16 engine where all 16 pistons move just as they should.
It’s an insanely impressive feat of engineering and while the whole press conference should have felt more than a touch absurd the fact that there was a real Bugatti Chrion sitting in the middle of the conference room floor almost went unnoticed as everyone admired the smaller, but just as perfectly formed, Lego version.
Of course, all this comes at a price, and Lego Chiron has a wallet-choking UK price point of £329.99. That’s a lot for a Technic model, and yet barely half that of the System model Millennium Falcon released last year, that is composed of a staggering 7,541 pieces and costs an almost inconceivable £649.99 (not to mention 33” by 22” of storage space). And yet it’s proven so popular Lego can barely keep it in stock on their online store, and the Chiron is likely to be the same.
After the official unveiling, we’re given a chance to talk to two Bugatti designers. They seem surprisingly amiable, for car design experts that have been drafted in to talk about a plastic toy for the day, and both admit to having played with Lego before now.
‘There are, of course, big differences between Bugatti and Lego, but the attention to detail, the passion for engineering and design… that is very similar’, says director of design Achim Anscheidt.
For it’s part, the Lego design team is composed of a multinational group, many of whom are ex-fans who were able to prove their love and expertise for interlocking bricks long before they attended any job interview. As it happens though the lead designer for Lego Technic is Briton Andy Woodman, who was able to enthuse about why Technic has always been his favourite kind of Lego.
‘It helps you learn about how real machines works’, he says.
‘As well as being able to build a functioning cool toy you actually learn to understand how it functions. Which in design and engineering terms really comes back to you later’.
After the interviews we’re invited on a guided tour of the Lego House, starting with the ‘Tree of Creativity’ whose branches and leaves are filled with examples of all the various themes and uses of Lego, from a space setting to the pastel-coloured Friends line. The tree itself is the world’s largest single Lego structure, with six million pieces that took three years to assemble.
Ascending the stairs that wrap around the tree you enter a room dominated by three life-size Tyrannosaurs Rex models, each created using a different Lego line: Duplo, System, and Technic. These were all suggested by fans and the incredibly complex designs that line the display cases around the room are also fan-made and include everything from recreations of scenes from famous video games, to impossibly realistic looking nature scenes, and surreal subject matter such as insects made from instrument parts.
You then move through other rooms filled with children furiously concentrating on their creations, as they build whatever comes into their mind or attempt to complete challenges such as building the best car for rolling down a jump ramp or designing a fish that is then scanned in to swim in a virtual fish tank.
As we all wander past a rainbow waterfall made of Duplo bricks, into a room filled with dioramas of impossibly detailed cityscapes, mountains, and sandy beaches, it’s impossible not to think of Willy Wonka and his fantastical factory.
And it’s at this point it becomes clear that, rather than having taken their leave as soon as their interviews were done, the Bugatti designers have actually elected to go on the tour themselves. Their faces plastered with the same guilty grin of indulgence that’s affixed to every other adult in the building.
The comparison to Willy Wonka would be almost literal if the actual Lego factories and offices, just a few streets away, weren’t very much closed to visitors. Lego is secretive by nature, but despite all their peculiarities it’s hard to argue with the level of success they’ve built for themselves.
As Bugatti’s Achim Anscheidt muses, ‘Lego is such a different world, such a different expertise, you can only admire how much passion the team has for their work and how much enjoyment it brings to others’.


It comes as no surprise to me, an old man by any measure, that women are standing out as profiles in courage on the current political scene. Heidi Heitkamp, U.S. senator from North Dakota, bucked the prevailing public attitude in her state by voting against a Supreme Court nominee whose public display of injudicious temperament and whose lack of candor in nomination hearings seemed inappropriate for the nation’s highest court. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, both Republicans, have been willing to buck their party’s leadership by working across the aisle and taking more moderate positions on issue after issue.
Randy Hultgren, representing Illinois’ 14th Congressional District, has been a good and faithful soldier for the Trump Republican party, siding reliably with the President despite avoiding being identified as a blatant trumpeteer.
His only noteworthy reach across the aisle was an apparent greenwash effort partnering with a democratic colleague to join the Climate Solutions Caucus while simultaneously voting for a measure to prevent the government from funding any such solutions.
His opponent, Lauren Underwood, I predict, is going to be part of the political year of the woman. Women in droves are responding to the insensitivity of the current government to women and their issues.
Underwood is firmly on women’s side, which puts her squarely on everyone’s side. People are waking up to the fact that women tend to be more compassionate and caring, more nurturing and collegial, less competitive, bullying, and acquisitive than men in politics. What’s good for women turns out to be better for everyone. It is well past time women took their rightful place as equal partners in governing this country. Lauren Underwood will prove a great asset in getting this government working for everyone again.


Pet-friendly places under $350K near parks.
Why: This Clydesdale Co-op one-bedroom charms with details like a built-in cocktail bar and striking hardwood floors. The small kitchen packs in a dishwasher and generous cabinetry, and opens into a bright living room with space for dining. Walkable to Michelin-starred Tail Up Goat, Safeway, and Meridian Park.
Why: Live across from National Cathedral in this Cathedral Court condo, which includes a dining nook in the update kitchen and parquet floors throughout. Take Bosco to the private community garden while you grill out, and walk to nearby Solidcore and Cactus Cantina.
Why: Enjoy the fenced in backyard or take Stanley to nearby Fort Totten park for some fetching. This sun-filled condo has 1.5 baths and a den that can also be used as a second bedroom, plus hardwood throughout.


Kicks of the Day: CLAE Strayhorn "Tan Camouflage"
CLAE's latest release of the Strayhorn showcase a nice Tan camouflage spread. The mid-top kicks have been comprised of canvas and also note a strip of leather utilized at the heel. Matching laces accompany the casual offering, which you can grab today through the brand's online store for $95.


To Help During Shutdown, Man Mows Lawn Around Lincoln Memorial : The Two-Way Chris Cox said he was not making a political statement. "At the end of the day, we are the stewards of these buildings that are memorials," Cox said.
Chris Cox of Mount Pleasant, S.C., pushes a cart near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, on Wednesday.
Because of the partial government shutdown, most of the monumental core in Washington, D.C. is not being maintained.
That means that icons like the Lincoln Memorial and its Reflecting Pool look a little less majestic.
But, today, a South Carolina man, took matters into his own hands and made news by doing what the government won't do.
As The Washington Post reports, Chris Cox, 45, bought an old lawn mower and a leaf blower and got to work, making sure the lawn was nice and kempt and some fallen tree limbs were moved out of the way.
"These are our memorials. Do they think that we're just going to let them go to hell? No," Cox told All-News 99.1. "If they shut down our memorials, we're still going to take the trash out, we're going to clean the windows, we're going to cut the grass, we're going to pull the weeds, we're going to do the tree work."
Cox told the Post that he was not taking a political position by keeping up public lands.
"The building behind me serves as a moral compass, not only for our country but for the world. And over my dead body are we going to find trash pouring out of these trash cans," he said. "At the end of the day, we are the stewards of these buildings that are memorials."
The Post reports that U.S. Park Police told him to stop mowing the lawn.


I can't read the news anymore…I gave up on watching it many moons ago. I have a tendency to get angry and throw things. Frankly I have several pairs of shoes that consist of only one shoe as the other has never been recovered from the appliance at which it was hurled. It hurts the appliances, too.
As if the headline were not enough to incite a shoe toss, the introduction was fail-safe.
"Dalila and William Timal look like any other couple signing a home mortgage. They've picked out paint colors for their new four-bedroom house in Indianapolis and can't wait for their 18-month-old son to play in the yard.
But they differ in one way from many others you'd see at a loan officer's desk: Neither is a U.S. citizen or legal resident. The Timals came to this country from Guatemala in the late '90s and illegally overstayed their visas."
Aww, isn't that sweet? The ickle Timal family from Guatemala just overstayed their visas—like, for ten years —and lucky day; we're letting them, although illegal aliens, buy property (with our money) in the United States.
Were there some other immigrants who overstayed their visas…who was it now…I think they had an affinity for flying?? Oh yeah, Mohammed Atta comes to mind! Think tall buildings, no longer there, in New York, ring a bell?
This is thanks to a new program by Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bank which bases a mortgage on an individual taxpayer identification number, or ITIN. You know, rather than a Social Security Number.
Not to worry, say Latino lobbyists such as Harry P. Pachon (e mail him) President of Los Angeles based Tomas Rivera Policy Institute.
"Critics often overlook the fact that many households with an undocumented immigrant also include a legal permanent resident or U.S. citizen, frequently a child who was born here"
"Everybody likes to think of this as a dichotomy where you're legal or you're illegal; it's really a pipeline," Pachon said. "Today's illegal immigrant is tomorrow's legal resident."
I would argue that it is neither a dichotomy nor a pipeline. It is a simple status: You are legally in the U.S. or you are not.
Dan Stein, President of FAIR (Federation for American Immigration Reform) had a response to this madness.
"It is a threat to national security and public safety and is morally bankrupt," said Dan Stein "It breeds ultimate contempt for laws."
Can I get an amen for Mr. Dan?
Banks "ought to be part of the solution in insuring that people who apply for mortgages and conduct other business are here legally," Stein said. "They went down the road of making a fast buck in a way that is frankly, in our view, inconsistent with the spirit of patriotism and federal law."
The Newhouse article exemplifies the illegal immigration problem in America.
"The growth of ITIN mortgage programs is an example of how day-to-day life in America has adapted to the reality of as many as 10 million undocumented immigrants. The IRS accepts their tax payments, employers recruit them, and companies seek them out as customers."
Right—the employers, the IRS and blood-sucking companies looking for a fast buck—I say penalize the lot; shut them down if necessary.
"…they have no legal right to work or remain in the United States, and are denied full benefits afforded to citizens. To buy homes, many have used a borrowed or false Social Security number, jeopardizing their legal right to the property. Without access to the traditional banking system, they have been easy targets for predatory lenders charging excessive interest."
What if the Timals or one of these other illegal families turns out to be terrorists? I am not suggesting that they are, but consider the logical possibility. What then?
If they were to be such persons, the above paragraph would become known as Exhibit A in U.S. stupidity court.
Many have used borrowed or false social security numbers, jeopardizing their legal right to property… oh, please. Breaking the law by providing fraudulent information would not be the trigger for deportation. Illegally entering the country should be the punishable offense.
Now that I have vented a bit I feel better…Hell, no I don't. However, I do have an amusing anecdote to share about a family of illegal aliens who bought a house in southern California.
It was a nice, quiet neighborhood until a family of 14, yes 14, moved in. Within two weeks, they built a fence around their front yard. A week later, they moved a couple of goats and a plethora of chickens into their fenced, front yard.
Believe it or not, the residents could do very little because the CC&R's did not restrict farm animals (small numbers) from property in the neighborhood. It was a cultural difference. You see, it never occurred to the author's of the homeowner's association that language about prohibiting farm animals needed to be included in the rules.
It may not be an accurate portrayal of all foreigners buying property in the U.S. but it threw a little humor into an otherwise terrifying article.
VDARE.COM addendum: Quite apart from the moral aspect of the bending of regulations to convenience illegals, there is an economic consequence too, which is adverse to many native-born Americans. Property owners, builders, and asset-seeking financial institutions may benefit: those seeking to acquire shelter face more competition and higher costs. Typically these are younger and less well off: so this is yet another case of the regressive wealth redistribution of uncontrolled immigration. And these lenders are not angels either: the article Bryanna cites quotes a bank explicitly saying the loans are attractive because, not being easy to re sell, there is less competition to make them and therefore higher rates can be charged.
Furthermore the ability of many of the borrowers to service their loans (in cash, as the article naively notes) stems from the notorious fact that many members of these households are working off the books and not paying taxes. And they are shunting their medical costs via Emergency Rooms onto the reeling Health Insurance plans of their native born neighbors.
These banks are accomplices to larceny.


The Miz Ronda Trash Talking WWE ... is a GOOD Thing!!
Ronda Rousey giving a big middle finger to her employer is exactly what she shoulda done ... so says The Miz, who tells TMZ Sports her anti-wrestling rant was MONEY.
She also went off on fans, her coworkers, people from Ohio ... basically anyone she could think of, Ronda put in a metaphorical body bag.
The whole rant was crazy ... and some people think Ronda went TOO far ... but The Miz says it was perfect.
"She's making noise, she's making headlines and you're talking about her, so everything's working about it," The Miz says ... adding that it's great hype leading into the year's biggest event.
"It's WrestleMania season. You do whatever you have to do to get people watching ... right now, she's doing exactly that."
The Miz says all signs point to Ronda being part of the main event at WrestleMania 35 ... and the rant certainly helped generate buzz.
We also asked about Ronda's hubby getting in on the action at 'Monday Night Raw' earlier this week ... and while he gives props to Travis Browne, Miz ain't ready to call him WWE material just yet.


DUBAI (Reuters) - A deadly assault by Shi’ite Houthi rebels on a Salafi Islamic school planted in their mountain heartland could ignite wider sectarian conflict in Yemen, where instability has already helped al Qaeda militants to take root.
The Houthis, who belong to the Zaydi branch of Shi’ite Islam, have bombarded the sprawling Dar al-Hadith seminary in Dammaj village for two weeks, killing at least 100 people.
Late on Tuesday, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsular (AQAP) pledged revenge for the assault.
Political rivalries may have helped to start the violence, but the struggle over a Salafi outpost deep in Houthi territory is also part of a regional contest between Shi’ite Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia that has been sharpened by the war in Syria.
Zaydis have for years been alarmed by young Sunnis flocking to Dar al-Hadith, in the northern province of Saada, to study ultra-orthodox Salafi doctrines that cast Shi’ites as heretics.
Houthi militants, whose rebellion is fuelled by the accumulated grievances of many Zaydis, dominate Saada after fighting government forces on and off for nearly a decade.
They detest Dar al-Hadith, proclaiming on October 30 that the Salafis had “turned Dammaj into a launch-pad for their criminal actions and a training centre (for) thousands of armed foreign elements from more than 120 countries”.
Dar al-Hadith’s leaders, who deny any such activities, have condemned al Qaeda, but some militants, including the “American Taliban”, John Walker Lindh, have been through the school, and its founder was linked to a 1979 Islamist uprising in Mecca.
The Dammaj fighting is one of many crises besetting Yemen, where state failure could further empower an al Qaeda wing that has targeted Western ships and airliners in the past.
Yemen’s best hope may lie in national reconciliation talks begun in March to draft a new constitution and defuse threats from Houthis, southern secessionists and Islamist insurgents.
That effort followed the negotiated removal of veteran President Ali Abdullah Saleh after mass protests against his rule that began even before a wave of Arab revolts in 2011.
Under the deal, interim President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi must hold elections next year and try to reach a workable compromise among Yemen’s myriad tribal and political factions.
The Houthis’ onslaught on Dammaj may be a gambit to strengthen their bargaining power before any such deal.
Houthi-Salafi strife could further poison the once-relaxed relations between Shi’ites and Sunnis in Yemen, already strained by Iranian-Saudi rivalry and feelings heated by the sectarian hatred that now imbues Syria’s struggle between Sunni Islamist rebels and a president whose Alawite sect derives from Shi’ism.
Saleh, the former president, exploited sectarian sentiments during his successive wars with the Houthis, according to Ibrahim Sharqieh, a Yemen expert at Doha Brookings think-tank. “This conflict did not start last week,” he said.
Zaydis dominate the rugged highlands of Yemen, which their Imams ruled for 1,000 years until a 1962 military coup.
They are well-represented in Yemen’s political, military and tribal elites, but have generally kept their faith out of national politics - even as Salafi influence began to rise in mosques funded by Saudi Arabia and other Gulf neighbours.
The Houthis emerged in the north in the 1990s in response to economic deprivation and waning Zaydi political influence, as well as Salafi inroads in the area, symbolised by Dar al-Hadith.
Saleh’s military attempts to crush the Houthis from 2004 to 2010 prompted Iran to adopt their cause as fellow-Shi’ites, albeit from two very different branches of the sect, although Tehran denies Saudi accusations that it armed them.
In 2009 Saudi Arabia even fought a brief war with the Houthis, who control territory just over its southern border.
Riyadh’s links to Yemen go deep. It has long subsidised the government, as well as funding unruly tribes in a complex quest for influence in its impoverished and more populous neighbour.
Wealthy and often well-connected donors from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations have bankrolled Sunni religious centres in Yemen, including Salafi ones such as Dar al-Hadith.
The seminary’s founder, Sheikh Muqbil al-Wadi’i, studied in Saudi Arabia in the 1970s after converting from Shi’ism.
He fell in with radical preacher Juhayman al-Otaybi, who led the two-week seizure of Mecca’s Grand Mosque in 1979 by militants seeking an Islamist revolution. Otaybi and dozens of his followers were beheaded after the revolt was crushed.
Sheikh Muqbil, who did not take part in the attack but was accused of writing a statement for Otaybi, was deported to Yemen, where he set up Dar al-Hadith. Within a few years it began drawing thousands of Yemeni and foreign students.
According to Mohammed al-Ahmadi, a Yemeni expert on Salafis, up to 7,000, including hundreds from the United States, Canada, Europe and southeast Asia study there, some living with their families on the compound in Dammaj, a complex of white-washed concrete buildings in a lush valley surrounded by mud houses.
Former students describe a monkish lifestyle of memorising the Koran and studying the sayings of the Prophet Mohammad.
The books of medieval theologian Ibn Taymiya, those of the founder of Wahhabism, Sheikh Mohammed ibn Abd al-Wahhab, and of Sheikh Muqbil himself, fill the seminary’s library.
While many students pay for their education, donations by Gulf businessmen helped fund Dar al-Hadith, although these were curbed after the September 11, 2001, attacks on U.S. cities.
Gulf backing for Sunnis and Iranian support for Shi’ites may suggest outright sectarian conflict, but Salafis and Houthis represent radical ideologies in Islam’s two main wings, not mainstream Sunnis and Shi’ites, and they share some views.
Both advocate a return to the early teachings of Islam guided by sharia law and both call for a restored Caliphate, a single entity ruling the whole Muslim world.
“They may be enemies, but they both reflect the hardline creed of their faiths,” Iryani said.


Avoiding malware on our smartphones and computers is pretty easy: just don’t install apps or visit suspicious sounding and looking websites. Granted this isn’t a guarantee that you can’t get infected, but usually practicing such habits can help. Unfortunately for owners of certain Alcatel handsets, their phones actually came with malware preinstalled.
This is according to a report from ZDNet who obtained a report published by a UK mobile security firm called Upstream, found that a weather app named “Weather Forecast-World Weather Accurate Radar” actually had malware in it, in which it subscribed owners of devices the app was installed on to premium phone numbers without their knowledge. What’s even more damning is the fact that the app seems to have been developed by TCL who actually makes the Alcatel phones.
Now to TCL’s credit, the app was not created with malicious intent and it seems that at some point in time, it managed to get compromised and infected with malware. Prior to that the app had actually been available via Google’s Play Store which means that Google’s own protection should have detected it, so like we said it is unclear at which point in time it managed to get infected.
It has since been theorized that it managed to get infected via a TCL developer who might have his/her system compromised. Google has since removed the app from the Play Store after being notified by Upstream, who also notified TCL.
Filed in Cellphones. Read more about Alcatel, Android, Hack, Malware and Security.


Fixed deposit or FD interest rates of SBI or State Bank of India range from 5.75 per cent to 6.85 per cent.
Senior citizens get FD interest rate of 7.20% on deposits below Rs 1 crore for 1 year from SBI.
Fixed deposit (FD) interest rates paid by SBI or State Bank of India range from 5.75 per cent to 6.85 per cent. However, small finance banks such as Jana Small Finance Bank, Equitas Small Finance Bank and AU Small Finance Bank provide interest rates up to 9.1 per cent on FDs, much higher than their larger peers. Consider this: on amounts below Rs 1 crore, SBI offers an FD interest rate of 6.70 per cent to general citizens for one year. However, on the same amount and maturity period, Jana Small Finance Bank and Equitas Small Finance Bank pays an interest rate of 8 per cent each while AU Small Finance Bank pays 7 per cent to the general public.
Senior citizens with fixed deposit accounts in SBI earn an FD interest rate of 7.20 per cent on deposits below Rs 1 crore for one year. However, Jana Small Finance Bank pays 8.6 per cent, Equitas Small Finance Bank pays 8.5 per cent and AU Small Finance Bank offers 7.5 per cent on fixed deposits below Rs 1 crore for one year.
Most small finance banks have a niche customer base. Higher FD interest rates and doorstep banking helps them garner more customers.
Senior citizens will get an additional 0.6 per cent interest over and above the FD card rate, according to the bank's website - janabank.com.
An FD interest rate of 0.5 per cent extra is paid to senior citizens. However, it is not applicable to NRE/NRO deposits, said the bank.


Review Tod's answers to staff and reader questions.
Deborah and I will celebrate our 24th wedding anniversary this year. We met in College at Kent State University and were married one week after we graduated. We are blessed with two wonderful children - a sophomore daughter and a 7th grade son. My wife is a 8 year U.S. Army Vet and is a current local elementary school teacher.
My education is a precise fit for my role as Your County Commissioner. I have a bachelor's degree in Business Management from Kent State University (1990) and a master's degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Tennessee (1994).
Currently I work as your County Commissioner. In addition, I own a small private practice firm in Port St. Lucie specializing in Land Planning and Landscape Architecture.
Prior to my private sector work, I provided close to 10 years of service in Michigan and Florida working as both an assistant city manager and a city manager. My Michigan municipal experiences taught me how to work through very tough economic conditions in both urban and rural environments. While in Jupiter, I coordinated the successful $670 Million effort to attract the Scripps Research Institute to Northern Palm Beach County and Jupiter.
During my time in Michigan, I also served as a private consultant to cities, counties, villages and townships across the State, providing services in economic development, municipal management, recruiting, and municipal planning.
Between the time of my undergraduate and graduate degrees, I served as an economic development director in Tennessee. My graduate thesis focused on the public / private partnerships that helped to shape the City of Chattanooga, TN into a successful downtown and partner in the Atlanta Olympics.
I also served overseas where I spent time in both Geneva, Switzerland with the United Nations and in Zambia, Africa with a nondenominational missions organization.


UWF's Chandler Blanchet won the Division II men's golf individual national championship on Wednesday.
Call it fate. Call it karma.
Whatever it was, Chandler Blanchet has added his name to a very short list in the University of West Florida record books.
The Argos' junior standout won the Division II men's golf individual national championship on Wednesday at Reunion Resort in Kissimmee, becoming just the second person in school history to accomplish that feat.
"He's had an incredible year and is one of the best I've seen in college golf," said UWF head coach Steve Fell in a press release. "It's just phenomenal what he's done this season. ... To be a national champion you have to be a special player and he is. He’s a different kid and has the mentality and demeanor of a tour pro and it shows out there."
Blanchet joins Orjan Larsen as the only Argos in school history to win the men's golf individual national championship. Larsen won the 1998 title by eight shots.
Trailing by three strokes with three holes to play, Blanchet faced winds that reached nearly 30 miles per hour as he strode up to what would become a decisive 17th hole.
All three players in contention pulled their tee shots wide on the par-5 17, but only Blanchet's managed to stay in bounds. He pared the hole while the other two recorded double bogeys.
Carrying a slim 1-stroke lead — his first of the tournament — into the final hole, Blanchet split the fairway with his drive before hitting an approach shot within 8 feet.
After two more putts, Blanchet's dream was realized.
"It must have been fate," said Blanchet in the release. "I've said that if you win and there's something that happens that you can't explain, you don’t question it. Just be happy that it happened. My ball stayed in bounds and I was able to gain two shots on 17 that gave me the opening to win it."
Blanchet — who currently leads the Golfstat Cup competition, which crowns the nation's top collegiate golfer from NAIA to Division I — shot a 1-under 209 (70-66-73) over three rounds.
His 3-over final round included 14 pars and was enough to edge Florida Southern's John Coultas, who paired an opening round 65 with a final round 76.
After the win, Blanchet received the NCAA individual national championship trophy and the Division II Arnold Palmer National Individual Champion Award and was named a First Team All-American by the Golf Coaches Association of America.
The junior rallied after a slow start to the tournament. His opening round 70 necessitated a big second day and Blanchet responded with a 66, Tuesday's low round.
He entered Wednesday trailing by two shots to Coultas, whose brilliant opening round kept him at the top of the leaderboard all week before Blanchet's late move.
No. 1 UWF finished stroke play tied for third overall as a team. The Argos will face the sixth-seeded Newberry in match play quarterfinals beginning at 7:20 a.m. Thursday.
The top eight finishers from the opening three rounds of stroke play advanced to the match play portion of the competition.
Barry finished first after stroke play, shooting a 298 in the third round for a 850 total. Florida Southern was second with a 853 total, one shot ahead of UWF. Lynn's 290 — the second-best of the day — moved them into fourth with an 866 total.


The industrial action will affect Northern services in Yorkshire on Wednesday May 9 and a limited timetable is likely to be running.
Staff have walked out several times over the past two years and the issue is now Britain's longest industrial dispute.
They are objecting to plans to reduce the number of guards on services and switch to a driver-operated system.
Why is more not being done to end strike action on Yorkshire's railways?
“Yet again the intransigence of private rail companies operating in England over the key issue of the guard guarantee means that we have no option but to announce further strike action in the separate disputes on Arriva Rail North, Greater Anglia and South Western Railway.
“With RMT members protesting outside Parliament today we are drawing attention to the ludicrous situation that means we are able to reach agreements in Wales and Scotland on the guard guarantee but not on a raft of key franchises in England. If it’s good enough for Wales and Scotland to put rail safety first then it should be good enough for the rest of Britain.
“We have long detected the dead hand of the Government interfering to stop us reaching negotiated settlements in the current disputes and it’s about time Chris Grayling stopped playing politics with passenger safety and started taking the issue seriously.


Titan infielder Brody Rich makes a break for first base as the Roadrunners first baseman Luke Rappe catches a pass during Friday's Lane versus Linn-Benton match-up at PK Park on April 1. Rich, a 5' 10” sophomore from West Weber, Utah, had four times at bat, one hit, and one RBI in the first game. The Lane Titans would go on to win with a one score shutout in the bottom of the fifth against the Linn-Benton Roadrunners 1-0.
Titan pitcher Cooper Webster winds up and fires a pitch during Friday’s Lane versus Linn-Benton match-up at PK Park on April 1. Webster, a 5′ 11” freshman from Milwaukie, Oregon, had five innings pitched, two strikeouts, and one walk in the second game. The Lane Titans would go on to win by one point in the bottom of the sixth against the Linn-Benton Roadrunners 2-1.
Titan outfielder Skyelor Ishikawa anxiously waits in the bullpen for his turn at bat during Friday’s Lane versus Linn-Benton match-up at PK Park on April 1. Ishikawa, a 5′ 9” freshman from Maui, Hawaii, had only one time at bat in the second game. The Lane Titans would go on to win by one point in the bottom of the 6th against the Linn-Benton Roadrunners 2-1.
Titan shortstop Cam Russ swings and ultimately misses the ball during Friday’s Lane versus Linn-Benton match-up at PK Park on April 1. Russ, a 5′ 9” freshman from Portland, Oregon, had three times at bat, two hits, and two runs in the second game. The Lane Titans would go on to win by one point in the bottom of the 6th against the Linn-Benton Roadrunners 2-1.
Titan pitcher Kyle Keith winds up for the pitch in the first game against Linn-Benton at PK Park on April 1. Keith, a 6’ 1” sophomore from Casper, Wyoming, pitched for seven innings with six strikeouts and was the winning pitcher. The Lane Titans would go on to win with a one score shutout in the bottom of the fifth against the Linn-Benton Roadrunners 1-0. As of April 2, the Lane Titans are on a 2 game losing streak with a total 12-6 record in the current regular season and will play against LinField JV in McMinnville.
Titan infielder Brody Rich makes a break for first base as the Roadrunners first baseman Luke Rappe catches a pass during Friday’s Lane versus Linn-Benton match-up at PK Park on April 1. Rich, a 5′ 10” sophomore from West Weber, Utah, had four times at bat, one hit, and one RBI in the first game. The Lane Titans would go on to win with a one score shutout in the bottom of the fifth against the Linn-Benton Roadrunners 1-0.