Category: News

“Fuk em”

That was the immortal email response from LA Community College District Chancellor Mark Drummond 13 months ago when Assemblyman Kevin de Leon raised questions on behalf of the Northeast LA community about betraying the commitment to build a badly-needed satellite campus in the old Van de Kamp’s bakery site in Glassell Park.

Drummond’s contemptuous words are set to become official policy of the LACCD board when it meets Wednesday to approve the centerpiece of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s political agenda for job creation, anti-gang programs, clean energy — a strategy that tramples on the rule of law, makes a mockery of public policy and benefits the few at the expense of the many.

On the 365th day after the contemptuous response from Drummond (who was axed for misconduct last summer), Deputy Mayor Larry Frank told the LACCD Board of Trustees exactly what the site was going to be used for.

“This is the holy grail of all our new jobs…that is 1,000 jobs at the DWP that would be IBEW Local 18 jobs,” Frank said.

These workers would do the “solar and all the municipal, commercial and residential retrofit work that happens in the city of Los Angeles,” he added.

In other words, the monopoly on local solar installation and energy efficiency work would be achieved by the DWP despite the defeat of Measure B last year. It will be paid for by raising the Energy Cost Adjustment Factor by the full 20 to 30 percent despite the “meltdown” over the hike in the City Council, Frank declared.

In a deal negotiated over the last three years with the IBEW union boss Brian D’Arcy, these unemployed workers, many of them current or former gang members, would be hired after training at the Van de Kamp’s site as $16-an-hour “green doctors” in a pre-Civil Service capacity. After a two-year probation period, they will become full-time, permanent employees at much higher salaries.

It’s all part of what the mayor calls his job creation program, which is nothing more than taxing the public to create more jobs on the city payroll at inflated costs

How the Van de Kamp’s site came to be used for this purpose is far worse than even the abuse of the DWP and its ratepayers, particularly home owners and businesses that are being stuck with the bills.

Under two bond measures voters approved for LACCD, $60 million was promised specifically for turning the historic Van de Kamp’s building into classrooms and building a ew building for LA Community College classrooms for the educationally under-served Northeast LA.

In one of several “no-bid” arrangements, the LACCD Board flipped the new state-of-the-art building over for use as a technology charter school although paid for out of college bonds. Although architectural designs were approved by the state and structural reconstruction of the Van de Kamp’s building already was completed,  construction of new classrooms was suddenly halted.

Instead of classrooms, the second floor of the building was rebuilt as executive offices for LACCD officials and the DWP/IBEW work force development program.

So instead of a college, the Northeast Valley got a high school and training program that served no local community need.

What it served was the mayor’s plan to give jobs on the public payroll for hoodlums or reformed hoodlums who will some day come to your home or business and advise you how to reduce your energy use or install solar panels — jobs that could be done cheaper, faster and with a more positive economic impact by the private sector.

The Van de Kamp Coalition formed by Northeast LA residents who want the college campus they were promised put out an email blast Monday urging the public to email the LACCD Board to reject the “no-bid sweetheart lease” of the facility before Wednesday’s 3:30 p.m. meeting at West LA College.

The mayor’s message, the email says, is that “executive offices for my programs are more important than your access to educational opportunity.”

The email accuses LACCD of “giving a no-bid sweetheart lease to the City of Los Angeles after $6.3 million” in bond fund “to illegally convert classrooms into executive suites for unemployment programs funded by federal economic stimulus funds directed by the mayor.”

Here is the draft letter of protest and the email from the Van de Kamp Coalition to send to these emails:

[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

CUT AND PASTE THIS LETTER INTO THE BODY OF YOUR E-MAIL (EDIT AS NEEDED FOR YOUR COMFORT WITH THIS ISSUE) AND ADD YOUR NAME AT THE END:

May 24, 2010

RE: Reject City Lease Of Van de Kamps Building; Return the Van de Kamps Campus to Community College Purposes Promised to Voters for A Decade

Dear LACCD Trustees and Mr. Mayor:

I am writing in opposition to Com. No. FPD3 on the Wednesday agenda of the Los Angeles Community College Trustees for the following reasons:

LACCD used $72 million of taxpayer bond monies to build the brand new community college satellite campus for students, not commercial office space.

For more than a decade Trustees such as Sylvia Scott-Hayes, Kelly Candaele, and Mona Field have promised voters that they would DELIVER a Northeast Satellite campus to address the unequal access opportunities for young adults in Northeast Los Angeles.

The State of California gave $3 million to this campus for the restricted purpose of a Satellite Campus of LA City College, and this action takes away the Satellite Campus.
 The voter approved Measures AA and J that allocated $60 million of new taxes to develop this high priority community college access opportunity.

LACCD staff have ignored two economic feasibility studies showing Van de Kamps can be initiated as a successful campus with both profit-oriented and traditional community college classes.

These studies mean that the Board has no substantial evidence to support its proposed “finding” that that the Northeast Campus buildings are NOT NEEDED for community college purposes.  They are needed now!

The City funded unemployment classes may properly be included among the possible profit-oriented classes offered at Van de Kamps, but the placement of executive administrative offices in 60% of the school building is highly offensive to the core mission of the Los Angeles Community College District.

LACCD and City of Los Angeles joint actions improperly discriminate against the historically underserved and predominately minority communities.  The action tells our young adults they are not deserving of a community college.

For the above reasons, the LACCD must begin offering as many community education classes (non-credit fee-based classes like computer skills, artistic endeavors, conversational foreign languages, creative writing, etc.) and contract classes (employer paid skills training) as possible.  This is the positive path to establish the Van de Kamps campus as a financially self-sustaining Satellite of LA City College.

I join the Van de Kamps Coalition and urge you to halt ill-conceived efforts led by your former Chancellor to abandon promises you made to open Van de Kamps under LA City College supervision.  The effort to hand this $72 million new campus over to tenants of the Mayor’s Office, instead of maintaining City College stewardship, will be an action remembered by voters at the next election.  If there is a vote to approve this ill-conceived LACCD staff proposal, I know I will not forget how the LACCD Board helped Mayor Villaraigosa literally steal this campus away from the community it is intended to serve.

Most sincerely,

Here is the Board Resolution:

ADOPT RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING LEASE OF SPACE TO THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES

WHEREAS, Education Code Sections 81430 -81432 authorize governing boards of community college districts to enter into leases with another public agency on a long term basis without the need for public bid if the space is not needed by the community college district for school classroom buildings; and

WHEREAS,  the Los Angeles Community College District (“Districf’) desires to lease 13,900 square feet of space located in the Van de Kamp Innovation Center at 3020 San Fernando Road in Los Angeles to the City of Los Angeles for the operation of a work force/work source center providing classes, job training as well as advisory, education and other job placement services to students and the community from June 1, 2010 through June 30, 2014; and

WHEREAS, City of Los Angeles shall pay the District an annual base rental rate of $250,000 for lease of the space plus $150,000 to cover the costs of tenant improvements for a total annual rental amount of $400,000. The District shall allow the City of Los Angeles to sublease its space to tenants approved by the Chancellor; and

WHEREAS, the space is not needed by the District for any school classroom building and shall be subject to the terms and conditions as the Chancellor may agree; and

WHEREAS, The District has given notice of the action to adopt this resolution once a week for three (3) weeks in a newspaper of general circulation prior to execution in accordance with Education Code Section 81432(b).

RESOLVED, the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees adopts this resolution authorizing lease of 13,900 square feet of space to City of Los Angeles for purposes of operating a work force/work source center to support the education, advisory and job placement needs of students and community participants in and around the Van de Kamp Innovation Center from June 1, 2010 through June 30, 2014.

IN WITNESS, of the unanimous passage of the foregoing resolution, as prescribed by law, we, the members of said Board of Trustees, present and voting thereon, have hereunto set our hands this 26th day of May 26,2010.

Here is the email exchange between Assemblyman De Leon and Drummond’s vulgar response: 

From: Drummond, Mark [[email protected]]
Sent:                      Thursday, April 16, 20092:58 PM
To:                            Moore, Jamillah K
Subject:                 RE: Satellite Campus Issues
Flag Status:           Red

fuk em

From: Moore, Jamillah K [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thu 4/16/2009 8:05 AM
To: Drummond, Mark; Barrera, Adriana D.
Subject: FW: Satellite Campus Issues

Hello,

This is just an FYI I will be following up with her directly I will keep you posted.

From: Moore, Jamillah K
Sent: Wednesday, April 15, 2009 12:17 PM
To: Moore, Jamillah K
Subject: Satellite Campus Issues

Dr. Moore,
I wanted to get some clarity on a couple of issues that come to my attention this morning:

1. Alliance Charter School – Members of the community informed me that they are to occupy the entire first floor of the Van de Kamps facility. Is this correct? They have also informed me that there is a fitness room that was made possible by funding from Congressmember Becerra’s office which is also located on the first floor. Does this mean that the community will not have access to this fitness room.
2. Community Room – Is this located on the first floor and if so, will the community have access to it if this entire floor is to be loaned out to Alliance Charter. If it is not on the first floor please let me know where it is to be located.
3. Can you please clarify how much money it costs to apply for center status?
4. Did LACC hire a consulting firm to apply for center status for the Van de Kamp site? If so what is the name of this firm consulting firm and how much was paid to them? Can you send me any documentation indicating this amount?
5. Please remind me again as to why center status was not pursued? I am hearing that Glendale City College protested against the Van de Kamps site getting center status and I would like to know if there is any truth to this and why they would protest this?
6. Is it possible to review the minutes of the Shared Governance Committee meetings online? If not can you please forward me the minutes of the meeting in which the Shared Governance Committee allocated funding to apply for Center Status for the Van de Kamps campus and the meeting in which they turned over the campus to the Los Angeles Community College District Office.

Alana Yanez
Field Representative
Assemblymember Kevin de Leon
45th Assembly District

By now, we all know that the federal government is pretty much impotent in the face of the seafloor gusher that’s been spewing unknowable amounts of oil into the Gulf of Mexico for a month, reliant instead on BP to clean up the mess it’s made. But why the oil giant has also been empowered to dictate where along the Gulf journalists can travel is another thing altogether.

Mother Jones reporter Mac McClelland spent two days recently trying to get out to the Elmer’s Island Wildlife Refuge, “stymied at every turn” by law enforcement officials who claim they’re getting their marching orders from BP.

In an excellent piece published Monday, McClelland describes the hurdles that she and John Hazlett, a former professor of hers at the University of New Orleans, encountered before they finally made it out to Elmer’s.

The blockade to Elmer’s is now four cop cars strong. As we pull up, deputies start bawling us out; all media need to go to the Grand Isle community center, where a “BP Information Center” sign now hangs out front. Inside, a couple of Times-Picayune reporters circle BP representative Barbara Martin, who tells them that if they want passage to Elmer they have to get it from another BP flack, Irvin Lipp; Grand Isle beach is closed too, she adds. When we inform the Times-Pic reporters otherwise, she asks Dr. Hazlett if he’s a reporter; he says,  ”No.” She says, “Good.” She doesn’t ask me. We tell her that deputies were just yelling at us, and she seems truly upset. For one, she’s married to a Jefferson Parish sheriff’s deputy. For another, “We don’t need more of a black eye than we already have.”

“But it wasn’t BP that was yelling at us, it was the sheriff’s office,” we say.

“Yeah, I know, but we have…a very strong relationship.”

“What do you mean? You have a lot of sway over the sheriff’s office?”

“Oh yeah.”

“How much?”

“A lot.”

Martin goes on to tell McClelland that BP is dictating who can visit Elmer’s because “it’s BP’s oil.”

“But it’s not BP’s land.”

“But BP’s liable if anything happens.”

“So you’re saying it’s a safety precaution.”

“Yeah! You don’t want that oil gettin’ into your pores.”

“But there are tourists and residents walking around in it across the street.”

“The mayor decides which beaches are closed.” So I call the Grand Isle police requesting a press liason, only to get routed to voicemail for “Melanie” with BP. I call the police back and ask why they gave me a number for BP; they blame the fire chief.

I reach the fire chief. “Why did the police give me a number for BP?” I ask.

“That’s the number they gave us.”

“Who?”

“BP.”

McClelland’s piece goes into much greater depth, so read the whole thing, and then get her updates here.

Meanwhile, at least there are no questions about who’s really running the show.

Vlingo Corporation has formally announced the availability of their first Android widget application today.  Called Vlingo for Android, it lets users speak to their handset in order to get it to carry out commands.  For example, one could press widget button and send a text message, email, or tweet.  Other options include searching Google Maps, Google Search, or simply dialing contacts.

Another great feature of Vlingo for Android is SafeReader,  an option which lets users hear their incoming text messages and emails while driving or otherwise occupied.  This too is as simple as pressing a button.  Once activated, all incoming messages are read out loud to the user.

Vlingo for Android runs on handsets with 2.0 or higher and is available in the Android Market for a one-time $9.99 purchase.   According to the company, this price is a limited time offer.  It’s not know what the cost will be once the introductory period is over.  Look for Vlingo to arrive later this year as a pre-loaded feature on a number of devices!

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We’ve been using Vlingo during its brief beta process, and now you can too, as it’s finally in the Android Market. In a nutshell, Vlingo takes the place of Google’s built-in voice-to-text service, but it goes even farther (and dare we say, at times works better). In addition to allowing you to dictate just about anything to your heart’s content, it also will read incoming text messages and e-mails, which is great for when you’re driving. (Though let’s hope we get some better voices for that in the near future.)

Vlingo’s available now in the Android Market [link] for $9.99. Check out video of it in action after the break.

This is a post by Android Central. It is sponsored by the Android Central Accessories Store

Who’s nailed peer-to-peer live streaming video on smartphones such as iPhone and Android? It’s not Qik, Ustream or Justin.tv, it’s Knocking Live, an application by bootstrapped Point Heads Software. Interestingly enough, Knocking Live reached 1 million users faster than Foursquare or Gowalla did (see graph).

Pointy Heads released Knocking Live in December in collaboration with Sourcebits, and have since amassed 1.6 million downloads. They’re here at TechCrunch Disrupt’s Startup Alley, among a plethora of other great companies.

The app has all sorts of uses, but one crazy guy decided to strap their iPhone to an RC Airplane and stream a live feed of the view from the sky. It’s as cool as it sounds. Hit the jump for the video.

Knocking Live is the first (and only, to my knowledge) peer-to-peer video sharing. You can use it to stream a live video feed from your iPhone’s camera to another iPhone (or Android) anywhere in the world. You don’t need an iPhone 3GS, you can have a 3G.

Here’s the video of streaming video from hundreds of feet up using an RC Airplane and an iPhone with Knocking Live:

[JURIST] The Netherlands District Court of Rotterdam [official website, in Dutch] on Tuesday commenced [press release, in Danish] the first European trial of Somali pirates [JURIST news archive] under charges of “sea robbery” for hijacking a cargo ship registered in the Netherlands Antilles. The five accused Somali pirates were arrested last year during an attempt to forcibly board the cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden after a Danish navy frigate sunk the pirates’ boat. One defendant wept during his testimony, claiming [AP report] that the severe poverty in Somalia had driven him to piracy. The trial is scheduled to last five days, and the judgment is scheduled to be handed down in June. If convicted, the pirates could face a maximum of 12 years in prison.

The international community is supporting actions taken against piracy. Yemen’s Ministry of Defense announced last week that a Yemeni court sentenced six Somali pirates to death [JURIST report] and six additional pirates to 10-year jail sentences for the hijacking of a Yemeni oil tanker in April 2009. Earlier this month, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) [office website] announced that the island nation of Seychelles will create a UN-supported center [JURIST report] to prosecute suspected pirates. This will be the second such court established for the prosecution of pirates, following only Kenya. Last month, the UN Security Council approved a resolution [JURIST report] calling on member states to criminalize piracy under their domestic laws and urging Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official website] to consider an international tribunal for prosecuting piracy. The Security Council resolution came the same week the UN announced that a trust fund established to combat piracy will be funding five projects [UN News Centre report] aimed at piracy committed in the waters around Somalia.

Filed under: Government/Legal, Humor

If you’re thinking about taking to the highways of Venezuela any time soon, here’s a little tip for you: don’t speed. Evidently the country’s roads are known for the kind of highway craziness that would make Miami look conservative. While recently driving his own personal motorcade, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez was harassed by a pickup truck whose driver thought Chavez was going too slow. The driver blew his horn and flashed his lights before passing the president on the shoulder.

According to reports, Chavez proceeded to personally chase down the driver and reprimand him for being such an ass behind the wheel. The whole incident caused el Presidente to address the nation’s lawless road system on his weekly broadcast, and to charge the South American nation’s police with doing a better job of enforcing the local traffic laws.

[Source: Fox News | Image: Juan Barreto/AFP/Getty Images]

Venezuela president Hugo Chavez joins the highway patrol? originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 25 May 2010 10:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony Computer Entertainment America announced that programming from HBO, the premium cable television network, is available starting today in the USA on the PlayStation 3 (PS3), making it the first gaming system to offer HBO original television programming.

“The HBO library of premium original content is a perfect example of how PS3 has become the most content rich entertainment platform in the living room,” said Peter Dille, senior vice president, marketing and PlayStation Network, SCEA. “When you combine the iconic programming from HBO with the existing TV, film, live sports and original programming available on PlayStation Network, our customers have access to the content they want, when they want it, at home or on the go with the PSP.”

The following popular shows from the award-winning cable network are available on the HBO section of PlayStation Store (navigate to the HBO section by selecting TV Shows> Networks> HBO), with more titles and additional seasons to be added each week:

• True Blood (season two in addition to season one)
• Big Love (seasons one through three)
• Entourage (seasons one and two)
• Eastbound and Down (season one)
• Multiple seasons from HBO signature shows such as The Sopranos, Sex and the City, The Wire, Rome, Da Ali G Show, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Flight of the Conchords.

“We’re extremely pleased to offer our premium programming on Sony Computer Entertainment’s PS3 system,” said Henry McGee, president, HBO Home Entertainment. “This premier gaming system will offer an exciting new way for consumers to purchase HBO’s award-winning programming.”

“HBO’s innovative and popular programming rounds out Sony’s premium TV content offering and enables consumers to enjoy an even wider array of award-winning mini-series and episodic content,” said Michael Aragon, general manager, Global Digital Video Distribution and Operations for Sony Network Entertainment.

U2 frontman Bono has been released from Ludwig Maximilians-University Hospital in Munich after doctors say the rocker experienced temporary paralysis brought on by the onset of a sudden illness. The band has cancelled their headlining slot at Britain’s 40th anniversary Glastonbury Music Festival this weekend after the singer was told to rest for at least two months following emergency surgery on his back last Friday.

Bono — an devoted humanitarian — is devastated to have to “let down” his British fans.

In a statement on the band’s website, Bono said: “I’m heartbroken. We really wanted to be there to do something really special – we even wrote a song especially for the festival….”

U2 has also been forced to postpone 16 shows on the North American leg of their forthcoming U2360 Tour.

Yesterday, I talked about an alternative hydrogen refueling infrastructure for cars and today I would like to talk about a “standard” hydrogen refueling infrastructure for long-haul trucks.

A couple of weeks ago I went to the NHA Conference and took a look at the Vision Tyrano hydrogen fuel cell hybrid class-8 truck firsthand. The idea at that point for Vision was to introduce a zero emissions heavy duty vehicle into the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, Ca in order to help clean up emissions.

Over a year ago I talked about Asemblon’s plans to introduce Hydrnol, a hydrogen rich liquid chemical carrier that can be used to produce pure hydrogen and that is easily transported and recycled. Now, I’ve learned that the two companies have teamed up in order to establish a nationwide hydrogen refueling infrastructure for trucks. In fact, Vision Industries has signed an agreement in an exclusive licensing agreement to sell Hydrnol to the trucking industry from coast to coast.

Vision and Asemblon don’t see the rollout of a nationwide hydrogen trucking infrastructure anywhere as daunting as one aimed a passenger cars. According to Vision, “While that may be the case for an infrastructure rollout for fuel cell passenger vehicles, Vision looks at the big rig market from a different perspective. In 2006, the U.S. consumed 180.2 billion gallons of transportation fuels, of which 23.8 billion gallons (or 13.2-percent) were diesel consumed by combination highway trucks. There are approximately 1,200 diesel truck stops in the U.S., with Pilot Travel Center and Flying J established as the two largest truck stop chains, each utilizing approximately 300 stations to cover the U.S. from coast-to-coast and border-to-border.

“Since Hydrnol is an easy-to-handle liquid, an infrastructure roll-out utilizing existing fueling equipment is very straightforward. Installing Hydrnol storage and dispensing infrastructure at an existing truck stop is estimated at $200,000 to $300,000 per station. Therefore, a 300 station, nationwide Hydrnol infrastructure rollout, accessing 13.2-percent of the U.S. transportation fuel marketplace can be completed for less than $100 million.”

The pairing of these two partners may not be perfect but it’s pretty close. Vision Industries needs a hydrogen solution for propelling long haul trucks 650 miles at highway speeds before refueling and Hydrnol provides this. Asemblon needs a commitment from a major hydrogen vehicle maker in order to manufacture, distribute and recycle its product and Vision Industries provides this.

Like I’ve stated before, the national hydrogen car infrastructure may be the last domino to fall. Before it does, hydrogen powered forklifts, trucks, boats, planes, UAVs, trains, motorcycles and other vehicles may already have been commercialized and provided adequate H2 refueling infrastructure. A nationwide hydrogen truck refueling infrastructure and the reduced emissions and reduced dependence upon fossil fuels that it would provide will certainly be a giant leap for mankind in the right direction.

This is exactly the sort of thing we hoped would happen when Google announced GoogleTV: according to The Candler Blog, Boxee, beloved makers of Home Theater PC software, is working on an Android app. More »










Boxee – Google – Android – Home Theater – Handhelds

Michael Giberson

At Constructive Economics, Abe Othman discusses a purported manipulation attempt in Intrade’s Health Care Reform bill market.  The nut of the story is that early on March 17th a trader apparently poured a bit of money into the market, briefly driving the price from around 60 down to 35.  After a few hours the price bounced back into the 60s; if it was manipulation, it failed.  But Othman speculates about a future in which manipulation would work.

Because the Intrade price can be interpreted as an estimate of the likelihood that the bill will pass, a sharp fall in the price could indicate new information reaching the market suggesting the bill will fail.  In the manipulation story presented by Othman, a new perception the bill is failing could be used to pressure the weakest members of the coalition supporting the bill to drop out (Maybe the argument goes, “Why go down with a sinking ship, when you and your constituents never wanted the ship in the first place?”).  As support actually falls, the likelihood the bill passes drops with it.  The manipulated price becomes, with a little lobbying, a correct prediction.

While Othman recognizes that the purported manipulation failed this time, he wonders whether prediction market prices will become sufficiently trusted that such a manipulation will work.  In fact, he predicts, “It’s only a matter of time, a couple years I would guess, before the kind of manipulation I’ve described actually works.

I disagree.

While it is true that a trader can often move the Intrade price relatively cheaply, because the markets often are thin, it is well known that a trader can move the Intrade price.  No half-way sophisticated interpreter of Intrade price data would take a sudden sharp move based on a few trades as proof of changing fundamentals, at most it might inspire the viewer to scan for new news.  It was only a few hours after the March 17 episode before bloggers were calling “manipulation!“  Are observers going to become less willing to call “manipulation!” in a couple of years? No.

While it is true that a trader can often move the Intrade price relatively cheaply, because the markets often are thin, holding the market to the manipulated target price can get expensive.  A manipulator can’t buy the price signal, he just rents it for a while.  And the rental rate will tend to rise over time because the mis-pricing will attract informed traders to trade against the manipulator.

Maybe this gets interesting.  So long as the markets are thinly traded then the market signal can be rented cheaply, but observers treat the signal as cheap talk.  What if talk is not cheap?  Can a deep pockets manipulator actually buy the market price?  That is to say, can the manipulator rent the signal long enough to overcome the “cheap talk” dismissal and change the likelihood of the outcome? I’d say this would work only in a world in which enough market observers  trust the market price summary more than all of the other information available about the subject of the prediction market, but this is unlikely to be the world we live in.

I predict: this kind of manipulation will not happen within the next several years.

Top Gear Track Virtual Tour

Have a couple of minutes to kill before you go on your lunch break? Take a little tour of the famous Top Gear track “hosted” by none other than – The Stig.

The tour features Google Maps type functionality allowing you to get a birds-eye view of the track and the Stig’s view from a vehicle.

Check it out here.

– By: Kap Shah

Redlight and speed camera provider Redflex is not having a great year. The company’s revenue has taken a hit due to massive opposition to these cameras, leading it to lose a major contract in the state of Arizona, while having many of its camera programs declared illegal. But things may be getting even worse. Reader Pwdrskir points us to some news coming out of a lawsuit that Redflex is dealing with from competitor American Traffic Solutions (ATS). The details of that aren’t all that interesting. However, as a part of that lawsuit, Redflex had to admit that its radar/speed cameras, despite claims to the contrary by Redflex were not certified by the FCC until 2008. That calls into question every ticket issued by those cameras from 1997 to 2008. And, as the article notes, it sounds like a lawsuit is already being planned in response to challenge the validity of those past tickets.

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The Khaki suit is a definite must have for summer when you’re required to show up in some kind of formal wear. Ralph Lauren Rugby ups the “formal” part by creating this cotton tuxedo suit. The jacket features contrasting silk twill detailing, notched collar with contrasting skull-and-bones embroidered silk twill lining, silk twill lapels, embroidered cuffs, welt pockets, and more. The pants have a standard-rise clean waistband that is adjustable. It has a flat front, straight leg and features silk twill taping at the side seams and is completed with unfinished cuffs. Both available at Rugby.

The AP says that thousands of pieces of undelivered mail from the early ’90s were recently found in a shed in Michigan, and a ex-mail carrier is now charged with stealing mail — the punishment for which is up to 5 years in prison.

There were 544 pieces of first class mail and about 3,000 pieces of junk mail in the shed, says the AP.

Apparently the man became overwhelmed sometime in the early ’90s and started hiding the mail instead of delivering it, according to investigators.

Piles of undelivered mail found in Mich. shed [MSNBC]

Every 25th day of May every year, Towel Day is celebreated in memory of Douglas Adams (1952-2001). Adams wrote “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy“, a comedy series originally broadcasted on BBD Radio 4 in 1978.

The tribute was mostly based on the original quote that made a reference as “the greatness of towels” in Adams’ work.

According to Douglas Adams, there are 42 ways to use a towel. This was the first idea on which the date of the celebration be made. The first idea was 42 days after the death of Adams.

Interestingly, one of ways in which you can use a towel is to avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal, said to be a stupid animal that assumes if you cannot see it, it cannot see you.

People around the world are getting involved by carrying a towel on the 25th. Spreading the news would also be a good idea by uploading and tagging pictures.

The website TowelDay.org was established by Adams’ friends to spread news around the world. Fans worldwide are reminded annualy to bring their towels.

After the recognition of Towel Day in May 25, 2001, it immediately became a success and sites dedicated for the said event like IsItTowelDay.com immensely popped out.

Related posts:

1. Amy Adams Welcomes her Baby Girl
2. Amy Adams First Child
3. Oil Rig Explosion in Louisiana Coast

From the Banking Committee, they are Sens. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), Jack Reid (D-R.I.), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and Judd Gregg (R-N.H.).

From the Agriculture Committee, they are Sens. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.).

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) is heading the conference committee to reconcile the House and Senate financial reform bills. The House plans to announce its conferees after the Memorial Day holiday.

After failing to phone home one last time, we knew that the Mars Phoenix was through. NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter gives us one last look at the little guy. More »










Phoenix – Mars – Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter – Space – Technology

This week on TreeHugger, how ants and other animals will change our computers, cars and commute, we visit Maker Faire, buildings shaped like Nintendo DS, showers that heat their own water, and more! More »










TreeHugger – Nintendo DS – Games – Maker Faire – Best of Treehugger