Author: Serkadis

CHICAGO (STMW)  — A Northwest side man has been charged with murder in the death of a two-year-old boy. Officials are investigating an allegation of death by abuse in the case.

Jesus Rico, 29, of the 6000 block of W. Melrose, was charged Saturday afternoon with one felony count of first degree murder in connection with the toddler’s death, according to a release from police News Affairs.

Salvador Sanchez, 2, who pronounced dead at 6:19 a.m. Friday at Our Lady of the Resurrection Medical Center, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Police and emergency officials responded to a call of a non-responsive two-year-old around 5:50 a.m. Friday at Rico’s address, the release said. The child was transported to the hospital and was later pronounced dead, the release said.

A Saturday autopsy revealed that Sanchez died of multiple injuries and blunt trauma due to child abuse, and ruled the child’s death a homicide, according to the medical examiner’s office.

Police re-classified the incident from a death investigation to a homicide following the autopsy results, and an investigation is ongoing, the release said.

The Illinois Dept. of Children and Family Services (DCFS) is investigating an allegation of death by abuse against the live-in boyfriend of the boy’s mother, according to department spokesman Kendall Marlowe.

“DCFS has had no prior allegations concerning this child or this mother. We have had prior indicated investigations of abuse against this alleged perpetrator concerning one family in 2002 and another family in 2005,” Marlowe said.

“We also provided services to the alleged perpetrator’s family in 2002 and 2003 following the death of his own child in 2002. There was no allegation of abuse or neglect concerning this death reported at that time,” Marlowe said.

The child at the center of the 2002 indicated investigation of abuse was not the same child that died that year, he said.

Two other children at the Melrose Street home are now in the care of relatives, Marlowe said.

Police responded Friday to a home in the 6000 block of West Melrose Street after receiving a call at 5:50 a.m., police News Affairs Officer Laura Kubiak said. It was not immediately clear who called police.

The Medical Examiner’s office, however, listed the boy’s address as 5732 W. Melrose St.

Grand Central Area detectives are investigating.

Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.

Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services

CHICAGO (WBBM)  — The Supreme Court Sunday is set to hear a long-standing case regarding discrimination in the Chicago Fire Department.

A federal court found in 2005 that Chicago’s 1995 test for aspiring firefighters discriminated against minorities.

City officials did not disagree but, the City of Chicago did not settle the case, but instead appealed the ruling in 2007 on the ground that the suit was not filed in time.

A lawyer for the city said the law requires that something should have been filed with the Equal Employee Opportunity Commission within 300 days of days of when the discriminatory practice occurred. The suit was filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1998.

The case stems from July 1995, when 26,000 applicants took tests for entry-level Chicago firefighter positions.

In January 1996, applicants were informed of their test results.

Twelve percent of all the white applicants made it into the well-qualified group, compared to only 2 percent of all African-American applicants. Seventy-six percent of the highest group was white, as compared to only 12 percent black applicants.

Although the numbers indicated whites were more likely to be offered employment, and although the trial court determined the questions and methodologies of the test to have been discriminatory, the impact of the test on hiring decisions remained unclear until May when Chicago first hired firefighters who had taken the test. Once hiring began, Chicago used the list over time.

The African-American Firefighters League consulted attorneys in April 1996 to determine whether they had a discrimination case. Title VII requires that such a claim be filed within 300 days from the date of the discriminatory action.

The lawyers said there would be no timeliness issue as they assumed the clock would reset each time the city hired a firefighter based on the test scores. When the attorneys finally filed the claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in March 1997 on behalf of Arthur L. Lewis Jr. and a class of approximately 6,000 other black firefighter applicants, it was more than 400 days after the test results were first announced.

The federal district court looked to the merits of the discrimination claim and ruled that the test had a disparate impact on African-Americans. Chicago did not challenge the discrimination adjudication, but rather appealed on the basis that the claim was not filed on time.

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with Chicago, ruling the clock started when the test takers were informed of the scores and the three qualification categories and not when hiring decisions later were made based on the tests. The court said the plaintiffs’ attorneys’ made a “fatal mistake” in assuming the discriminatory action amounted to a continuing violation that reset the clock each time a hiring decision was made.

The U.S. Supreme Court will decide: Did a discriminatory employment practice occur each time Chicago hired a new firefighter from its list of well-qualified applicants, thus resetting the time period for filing a claim each time? Or instead did a single discriminatory act occur when the applicants learned of the results of the test and of Chicago’s policy of hiring from the list, starting the 300-day filing period from that date?

Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.

Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services

Is it possible that the future economics of the NFL could be influenced by the FCC ? Absolutely.  Does the NFL and all professional sports leagues have something in common with the Sub Prime mortgage mess and the collapse of home prices. Absolutely.   Could both of these, along with the recession impact whether or not you will be able to watch your favorite professional sport in 2011 ? Absolutely.

Sports fans probably are not paying attention to what is happening with broadcast television.  The over the air broadcast networks, all of which are the biggest customers of the NFL (CBS, NBC, Fox and ABC/ESPN) are now pushing TV Providers (cable, telco and satellite), to pay retransmission fees. In other words, the broadcast networks want to be paid for every TV Provider subscriber, just like cable networks get paid.  It’s a reasonable request in many ways. But there is a flip-side.

The ability to send their network signal over the air to TVs (to be received without paying a TV Provider) is a right that is regulated by the FCC. The FCC is also in charge of the Broadband Initiative in the US.  Whats the connection ?  The same spectrum that the broadcast networks use to send their digital tv signal over the air to TVs could be re-allocated to the broadband initiative.  Which is more important to US Citizens, over the air TV stations or more wireless broadband bandwidth  ?  Its a simple question with no simple answer.  What is absolutely certain is that a very convincing argument could be made that wireless bandwidth is more important than over the air TV.

If this argument wins, the amount of spectrum to TV stations could be minimally cut, impacting the picture quality of their signal. It could be reduced substantially, severely impacting the quality, leaving just enough for a basic Standard Definition quality signal, or it could be cut 100pct with a subsidy being provided so that that the formerly over the air signals could be received over the broadband bandwidth or from an existing TV Provider. In any of these scenarios. it could be a big problem for the NFL. All NFL regular and post season games are currently broadcast on over the air stations.  If the business and delivery of those over the air stations changes substantially, the economics of the NFL could change substantially.

Do you think the NFL and the NFL Players Association are building this scenario into their models as they negotiate their new CBA (collective bargaining agreement) ? They should, it has a far better than zero chance of occuring in the next 5 years.

Which leads us to the most prolific problem that all professional sports leagues currently have, they are HORRIBLE when it comes to managing risk.

Lets continue with the NFL.  The hardest job in professional sports is the assessment of  player skill. The second hardest job is determining how to allocate salary to players in a manner that builds a  championship team. The difficulty of talent assessment and salary is amplified for rookies.  No professional sports league has been smart enough to negotiate the ability to work out and play potential rookies against existing league players. Why not ?

In the case of the NFL rookie draft pick salaries and bonuses are basically a function of what was paid for the same draft position in previous years.  Thats stupid. Rookie signings are 100pct risk, yet their guaranteed salaries are often higher than established all stars at the same position. Even worse, much of that amount is paid up front in the form of a bonus.   Again, poor risk management by the league when they negotiated their Collective Bargaining Agreement.

I have written in the past about the  significant problems inherent with the CAP based system that the pro sports leagues use.  Its a killer for small and medium sized markets. Combine the problems of a CAP system with the significant risk of rookie and overall player evaluation and salaries and pro sports leagues actually face a better than zero chance of having teams go out of business. We have seen bankruptcies in the NHL. If pro sports leagues don’t do a better job of risk management, it could get worse.

What about the players side ?  They have kicked ownership’s ass in every league. Contrary to what some agents have said, professional athletes have taken advantage of leagues inability to manage risk and their desire to win.  Agents like to argue that pro sports should be an open market like the film industry. Well guess what, it is.  Im sure players would love it if all the agents in pro sports pooled the money they made from the players and started their own pro leagues.  If the economics were great and players were underpriced, in any league,  how fast would savvy businesspeople rush out to start new leagues and pay the star attractions of every league more ?

Instead, when leagues like the UFL start, they work to complement the NFL by taking players that are no longer in the league or trying to get there.  Basketball and hockey leagues arent formed in the US to compete, they survive overseas where a significant source of revenue and profits is in selling players to pro sports leagues here in the US. Again, another example of the inefficiency of how players are paid and how risk is assigned in professional sports in the US.

The same could be said about buying a team. You dont see agents buying teams in cap driven leagues.

If you want to understand more about value and athletes, look no further than Mixed Martial Arts.  I met with a lot of people who repeatedly told me that the UFC underpaid their athletes.  That by paying the best fighters more,  you could draw the same size crowds to arenas and buyers to PPV. It was an expensive lesson to learn how wrong they were.  Pro sports are just one of an unlimited number of entertainment options.  To get MMA fans to pay to watch a fight or to get them to the arena  is not just about having the best fighters, its about great marketing. Its about making a very significant investment in brand building and showmanship. Its about understanding how to connect to fans.  Its a lesson in recognizing that while the leagues or in this case the UFC enable their best to become big stars, they recognize that the business behind the stars must be vibrant and profitable before anyone can be successful.  The same can be applied to the big 4 professional sports.  Unfortunately it doesn’t appear that many in the big 4 sports leagues, whether agent, player, management or owner have come to recognize this fact.

A word of caution to  NFL players and their agents as they negotiate a new CBA. As I wrote about 5 years ago, up till the current recession, the only time I had seen a group self inflict a loss of  more than 1 Billion Dollars was when NHL players locked out of an entire season and lost more than that in salaries and benefits. Money they will never , ever get back.  The amounts of money at risk for players this time around will be far greater.  Ownership may lose some money in a lockout. Players lose all their earnings.  As owners in the NFL and NHL recognize that they have taken on too much risk in the past, the likelihood of a lockout increases. Players and their agents should be very careful how they balance the risks and rewards they ask for in a new deal.

Which makes all of this analogous to the Sub Prime Mortgage mess that helped put us in this Great Recession.

There was so much money being made in banking and syndicating loans that everyone who had money at stake ignored the risk involved.  They modeled their finances thinking that there was no way housing prices could drop 30pct. They modeled their businesses thinking there was no way 10pct or more of the loans they bought could default.  They bought bonds in companies they thought could never go out of business.

All of these things that never happened until they did,  in hindsight,  were not complete surprises. The surprise was that the ratings agencies, the bankers, the brokers, the mortgage syndicators, every one involved with the buying and selling of money ignored things they never should have ignored.

That is what the NFL and other pro leagues need to remember. You cant ignore risk. Nor can you assume 100pct of the risk and hope the real bad stuff never happens.  The NFL and its owners, since we are using them in our example, are assuming 100pct of the risk of the economy falling again. They are assuming 100pct risk of their bigggest TV customers having their primary delivery systems eliminated. They are assuming 100pct of the risk of trying to convey money from big markets to small markets to try to compensate for an irrational cap system. They are assuming 10opct risk on the capital invested in their franchises, PLUS capital they may have to add to cover any losses.

The players side ? While individual NFL players take on significant risk, the players as a whole take on ZERO risk.  If their membership just shows up for games, 53 guys on each team are getting paid.  They never have to give the money back or  contribute capital to make up losses.

The solution ? Its a system where risks and rewards are allocated properly. Owners should take on more risk than players because they have more upside from franchise appreciation. They shouldnt take on all the risk. Nor should players be excluded from sharing in the upside of equity appreciation. Im not saying that for example players earn a share of the sale price when an NFL franchise is sold. There are a variety of ways to track or index appreciation of franchises that rewards players that can work better and more efficiently.  When the index appreciates the economics available to players appreciate. When the index depreciates, the amount available to players should be reduced as well.

The bottom line of the bottom line is that its time for a new model for professional sports.  Merely changing the values of the current model is a recipe for potential disaster.  Black Swan events happen in professional sports and always will.

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Article Tags: Joe Daleo, John Coleman, Richard Lindzen, Willie Soon, YouTube

Four YouTube’s originally on KUSI

The experts explain the global warming myth: Richard Lindzen

Richard Lindzen, PhD, is an atmospheric physicist and the Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Meteorology at Massachusetts Institue of Technology.

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Filed under: Sedan, Europe, Crossover, Infiniti, UK, Diesel, Luxury

It has taken 20 years, but Infiniti is throwing its dice down on the diesel table. Well, in Europe at least. The V9X engine, developed with Renault, is a 3.0-liter narrow-angle V6 with 234-horsepower and 405 foot-pounds. It will first be placed in the EX30d and FX30d models, then later will come the M, making its first appearance in Europe at all with the M30d and a petrol-powered model.

After a year of European sales the brand has its eye on growth, and it knows a good oil-burner is a good way to goose the numbers. The crossover models will go on sale this summer, the M following at some point. Prices haven’t been announced yet, but you can find out all about the new engine in the press release after the jump.

[Source: Infiniti]

Continue reading Infiniti brings twin-turbodiesel to Europe

Infiniti brings twin-turbodiesel to Europe originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 21 Feb 2010 17:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ron Paul appeared on Fox News today to talk about his surprising victory at this year’s CPAC poll and how he decisively defeated front-runners Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin. The Congressman also revealed whether he is thinking about a 2012 run for the presidency, and what steps we need to take to rein in out-of-control spending, return to sound monetary policies, end the welfare state and combat terrorism.

Channel: Fox News
Date: 02/21/2010

Transcript coming soon

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Article Tags: Headline Story, Piers Corbyn, You could not make it up

THE CLIMATE LIARS HANDBOOK

There will be more of these straw debates.

This is a sign of the desperation of the proponents of Man Made Climate Change (MMCC). They cannot engage in real debate.

The BBC NEVER now interviews actual scientists properly critical of MMCC. We have to force MMCCers into real debate.

Whatever they say ask for OBSERVATIONAL evidence of their claims; AND attack them for their dishonesty.

It has recently been revealed that the GWers have an official handbook on how to brainwash.

It is Orwellian and evil. See: The Rules Of The Game

ALL politicians must be confronted with his Goebbellesque monstrosity for which we are paying and demand it be withdrawn from use.

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Article Tags: Selwyn Duke

At one time, some would call them “deniers.” The more generous called them “skeptics.” But now, increasingly, it appears that they can be called something else: sane. Yes, the climate has certainly changed.

Even in the mainstream media, the less liberal organs are waking up. There is now a never-ending barrage of articles on the climate scam, with The Washington Times, The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post firing some recent salvos. And these inconvenient truths are just adding to a case against the Climateers that has become dizzying.

Really, those issuing Chicken Little warnings had a tough sell from the get-go. We’re told that our world has seen at least five major ice ages, but then again, I’ve also heard four. It has experienced numerous minor ones, although I’m not sure if anyone knows precisely how many. In fact, we hear that the pattern is to have 100,000-year glacial periods followed by 12,000-year interglacials, with 1,500-year cycles of warming and cooling embedded within them. We’re told that during part of the Cryogenian Period — otherwise known as “Snowball Earth” — the world was completely blanketed with snow and ice, and that during another period, glaciers were almost or completely gone. Furthermore, we’re informed that during the latter, there was still, believe it or not, dry land and creatures to tread upon it.

Source: americanthinker.com

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Aside from the new ultra-compact concept cameras with APS-C sensors, Sony also showed off several “alpha” DSLR bodies with new features. These prototype cameras have the new Exmor APS HD MOS sensor, which is a general APS-C sized sensor (24mm x 16mm) that is larger than the usual Micro Four Thirds system. It also will have the ability to take 1080P AVCHD video. Sony representatives were mentioning that one of the models (presumably on the left) would be the successor to the A700. Could this be the A750 we’ve heard murmurs about in the past from the usual rumor mills? It’s hard to tell, but we do know that you should see a a DSLR with these capabilities sometime soon.

We were surprised to see another model to the right of the A700 successor (enlarged above), which looks like a more budget-friendly version without several features such as a LCD panel on the top of the camera. Could this be a sub-$750 DSLR with AVCHD capabilities? Hard to tell, but it wouldn’t surprise us. Here are some pictures courtesy of Digital Camera Review of the two new DSLR’s:

Apparently there have been some complaints about the linearity of Final Fantasy XIII. He may not pay a lot of attention to critics, but the game’s director, Motomu Toriyama, recently took to the UK FFXIII website to post

Some of you already know about my other little venture, Moderncat Studio. This is a place where I get to put my passions for crafting and cats to good use by creating fun stuff for cats who appreciate good design. Through the studio, I bring together different designers who believe that well-designed cat products can make living with cats a stylish and positive experience. We create products that are beautiful and functional — appreciated by cats and the people who love them. Our handcrafted, high-quality cat products, made using environmentally friendly and cat-safe materials and finishes, offer an alternative to low-quality, mass-produced items.

The actual studio is located in downtown Phoenix, Arizona and is open for special events and on the first Friday of each month for the First Friday artwalk.

I’m pleased to announce that the Moderncat Studio Esty Shop is now open for those of you who can’t make it to Phoenix. The shop features goodies for you and your cat, with new items being added all the time. You can also stay up-to-date on the latest studio news by signing up to receive Moderncat Studio email updates or by becoming a fan on Facebook.

Here are a few of the items currently available in our Etsy shop:

Collin’s Critters

These little critters will keep kitty company while you’re away. Each toy is handcrafted with care and stuffed with only the best organic catnip. Collin’s Critters are made with Eco-fi felt from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic water bottles. Designed by Collin Smith.

$7 each or $18 for a set of three.

Natural Texture Toys

Cats love to chew on course, natural textures and these two little toys are the perfect combination of texture and fun.

Sally Sisal Mouse

Sally Sisal Mouse is a toy for eco-conscious cats. This little mouse is made of 100% natural sisal rope, a texture that’s meant for chewing and rubbing! And Sally is just the right size and weight for tossing about. Kitty can grab Sally’s ear or tail and send her flying across the room, only to pounce on her moments later. Sally Sisal Mouse’s body measures about 3.5 inches long. Each one is a little different, since they are handmade.

Jute Bombs

Our Jute Bombs will have kitty leaping and pouncing all over the place! Each natural jute sphere has a rocket tail to help it sail through the air. The kitty-sized spheres are the perfect size for tossing and carrying around plus kitty will love rubbing her gums on the course jute rope. I guarantee this toy will be in a different place when you wake up in the morning! Each sphere is approximately 1 inch in diameter and the rocket tails measure about 1.5 inches.

Sally Sisal Mouse is $5 and the Jute Bombs are $3 each.

Flying Saucers

Flying Saucer felt cat toys will have kitty sailing through outer space! These little toys are just the right size and weight for launching into orbit, plus the dangling ribbons make perfect “handles” for grabbing and tossing. And the organic catnip inside is cosmic! Each toy measures about 2.25 inches, plus the length of the little ribbons.

$3 each or $7.50 for a set of three.

Cut Paper Modern Cat Silhouette Greeting Cards

Looking for the perfect card to send to your cat-loving friends? These cut paper greeting cards feature four different raised cat silhouettes. Each card measures 5.5 inches square and comes with a 5.75 inch square envelope. Beautiful quality papers and heavy card stock give these cards a high-quality feel. Cards are blank inside and require extra postage. Designed by Kate Benjamin.

$20 for a set of four cards with envelopes.

A young woman, possibly a teenager, was struck and killed by a freight train in Lombard Saturday night, Union Pacific Railroad officials confirmed.

Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis said a freight train traveling from Chicago to North Platte, Neb., struck the woman at 10:55 p.m.

The name of the victim is being withheld pending notification of family, officials at the DuPage County Coroner’s office said Sunday.

Davis said the accident is under investigation by railroad officials and the Lombard Police Department. Calls to police for more information were not immediately returned Sunday.

Davis wouldn’t speculate on how fast the train was going when the woman was hit. He said data on the onboard event recorder will be studied.

Lombard paramedics responded to the emergency on the tracks near Grace Street and St. Charles Road, according to Battalion Chief Ron Rakosnic.

The incident happened about a half-mile east of the Metra train station at 20 S. Main St.

Rakosnic said paramedics transported the victim to Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downer’s Grove.

Rakosnic said the woman was alone at the time and couldn’t speculate on what happened.

Metra spokesman Tom Miller said trains were delayed immediately after the incident, but have returned to normal. The tracks are shared by Metra and Union Pacific.

Read the original article on DailyHerald.com.

Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services

You can always count on the ESRB for some spoilers. It’s not just the game descriptions too, but uunannounced releases as well. Going by the ratings board’s listings, it looks like a new PixelJunk game is in the works.

The Pharos 565 is the newest in rugged Windows Mobile device to make it out of Pharos world. The device meets the Industrial IP54 standard, which means if you feel like dropping your device 4-5 feet from the ground, no biggy, it can handle it.

The device has the regular Windows Mobile 6.5 software pre install with a 3.5 inch TFT QVGA display. The a 624mhz processor and 512mb ROM, 256mb of SDRAM which means it is not lacking in memory. The specs of the device does not end there with the usual Wifi, bluetooth, 3G, 3.5mm headphone jack and to power it all a 1880mah battery. If you work in the construction industry and need a new device this could be your future.

The device is priced at $529.95 and you can check out the details at Pharos site

Read more:WMExperts

Filed under: Spy Photos, Coupe, Performance, Ferrari, Luxury

The Ferrari 599 Gran Turismo Omologato – or something that everyone has given that moniker to – has been snapped in varicolored glory outside the Ferrari factory in Maranello. Taking turns in red-and-black, blue and black the car is disguised in the same way as the previous surreptitiously-caught 599 that everyone wants to be a GTO.

A keen spotter on Teamspeed even pointed out the fact that the tape over the rear bumper appears to be hiding vents as on the original GTO. Otherwise, save for the black roof and diffuser, things don’t look like they’ll change much if this is anything close to the final version. Of course, a 700-horsepower engine could be all the change anyone needs…

[Source: Teamspeed via Daily Derbi]

Spy Shots: Ferrari 599 GTO, is that you again? originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 21 Feb 2010 15:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve heard of universal remotes that can control a variety of household devices. Sony’s heard of them too, of course, but what they’ve recently patented is something that does the same thing for consoles. In short, a

Beyonce was spotted at 3am in Miami Beach last night after Jay-Z performed the opening leg of his BP tour in Fort Lauderdale earier that night.

02.20 – Out & About in Miami Beach