Category: News

(DOE, April 28, 2010) Washington, DC — Secretary Steven Chu testified today before the Senate Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development on current energy policies and future energy goals.  His opening statement is as follows:  Chairman Dorgan, Ranking Member Bennett, and Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you to discuss our nation’s energy policy.  We are driven to change our energy habits by several serious challenges.  America is highly dependent on oil.  Our climate is changing as a result of our carbon emissions.  In order to mitigate the considerable risks of climate change, the world must transition to a sustainable energy future, which will require nothing short of a new industrial revolution.  America’s future jobs and prosperity may well depend on whether we lead or follow in this transformation.  The leaders in China now recognize that if the world continues on its current path, climate change will be devastating to China and to the rest of the world.  They acknowledge that China’s growth in carbon emissions is environmentally unsustainable and are working hard to lessen their emissions growth.  Click here to read more…

By Mark Harden

(Denver Business Journal, April 27, 2010) The University of Colorado at Boulder has received another large contribution toward construction of the Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnology Building on the university’s East Campus — this one from the federal stimulus initiative.  The university announced the $15 million grant Tuesday. The funds are distributed under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  It is the latest of several large donations and grants in recent years for the research and teaching facility, whose construction began last September.  The 266,400-square-foot Caruthers building is going up on CU-Boulder’s east campus, at Colorado Avenue and the Foothills Parkway. It will house the university’s Colorado Initiative in Molecular Biotechnology, the department of chemical and biological engineering, and the biochemistry division of the department of chemistry and biochemistry.  Click here to read more…

It’s not a surprise but it’s what Joe Biden would call a “big deal”.

Florida Governor Charlie Crist will keep his political career alive by announcing his run for senate, not as a Republican, but with no party affiliation.

He’s been calling Republican and non-partisan donors alike asking for help in his independence.

His wife Carole is estimated to be worth $50 million. Recent Sunshine State Senate races have topped out around $15-16 million for big spending winners.

The governor could need that and more because he’ll lose the ground game and organization of the Republican Party of Florida.

The GOP establishment is about to turn against Crist in earnest. It could hinder his effectiveness as governor.

In the months ahead he will use his office to concentrate on the people’s business, put himself in photo ops highlighting his leadership, and decry the partisan sniping he will identify at every opportunity between his two rivals. He will cast them as hopeless captives of party influence and bickering.

Race has a small but real role in this three-way Florida race. Democrat Kendrick Meek, a four-term congressman from Miami Dade County is African American, Republican Former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio is Cuban American, and Crist a moderate, now calling himself independent, is white.

Rubio and Meek have both scheduled media availabilities to react to Crist’s move, but that will be just the beginning. In the next few weeks, as reaction pours in, all three candidates will begin to reposition for the long seven-month campaign. It will take some time for the candidates and strategists to sort out new ways of explaining their differences in a three-way race.

Crist starts his new career outside a major party with polls suggesting it’s a three way statistical tie.

Some will say Crist was driven out of the Republican party by conservative purists, or that tea party support for Rubio was the big factor. Both points have merit but are often overstated.

Charlie Crist has always been a moderate. He was a tough on crime attorney general, but otherwise “Chain Gang Charlie “ has always been a soft-touch centrist. Crist seemed to have a perfect political pitch only a couple years ago with stratospheric approval ratings. But for the last year in the GOP primary he has seemed tone deaf.

But that’s the point: he’s no longer in that party, and outside it, he is more popular.

NSF/DOE Partnership on Thermoelectric Devices for Vehicle Applications – The Directorate for Engineering at the National Science Foundation has established a partnership with the U.S.Department of Energy Vehicle Technologies Program in order to address critical fundamental and applied research challenges associated with harvesting waste heat in vehicle applications. The goal of the partnership is to leverage the complementary missions of deployment and commercialization (DOE) and fundamental research and education (NSF) to address issues of national importance that impact our reliance on foreign sources of oil. The Directorate for Engineering seeks proposals with transformative ideas that will impact national needs and priorities in energy conservation and climate change, specifically as pertains to novel thermoelectric devices and systems for harvesting waste heat in vehicle applications. Proposals must meet the detailed requirements delineated in this solicitation. Total Funding: $1M to $1.5M.  Eligibility: All.  LOI Due Date: May 21, 2010.  Full Proposal Due Date: June 22, 2010.

Posted Date: March 23, 2010

Solicitation Number: 10-549

————————————————————————————-

FY2010 Vehicle Technologies Program Wide Broad Agency Announcement – The Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) intends to issue, on behalf of the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Vehicle Technologies Program, a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “FY2010 Vehicle Technologies Program Wide Broad Agency Announcement.” The FOA will involve near and mid-term projects in technology areas that support the vehicle technologies mission and goals. (See link: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/).  The FOA may include the following Areas of Interest with specific subtopics: 1) Advanced Fuels and Lubricants Technologies; 2) Lightweighting Materials; 3) Hybrid and Electric Systems R&D for Advanced Energy Storage and Electric Drive Technologies; and 4) Advanced Thermoelectrics and Enabling Technologies for Energy Efficient Powertrains.  DOE envisions awarding multiple financial assistance awards in the form of cost-shared grants/cooperative agreements. The estimated period of performance for each award will be approximately two to three years in duration.  Non-federal cost share will be required for all recipients.

Posted Date: December 2009

Solicitation Number: DE-FOA-0000239

Charlie Stross has been writing a series of enlightening posts about the fiction industry. Today, after a volcano extended killer road trip, he unloads on the joys of being a professional writer …

… I’d like to point you at this 2005 paper by the Author’s License and Collecting Society, titled “What are Words Worth?, describing the findings of a study organized by the Centre for Intellectual Property Policy & Management (CIPPM)I, Bournemouth University. ..

… In addition to being a wildly unstable, lonely occupation with an insane income spread, there are other drawbacks to being a writer. Many American writers are forced to rely on a day job, or a spouse with a day job, for health insurance: health insurance for the self-employed is prohibitively expensive, especially for the self-employed poor. Those who don’t have a job that provides healthcare, or a partner with family benefits, are never more than one accident away from bankruptcy. As the median age for publishing a first novel is around 34 because it takes a lot of life experience before you know enough to write something worth publishing, most authors are in the age range 34-70 — old enough that they’re likely to develop chronic health conditions or need expensive treatments. (To be fair, it’s not just authors who get the short end of this particular shitty stick: I suspect the US health insurance industry is actively suppressive of entrepreneurial start-up ventures by older folks in general.)…

…So here’s the truth about the writing lifestyle: it sucks. It is an unstable occupation for self-employed middle-aged entrepreneurs. Average age on entry is around 34, but you can’t get health insurance (if you’re American)…. As a business, it’s a dead-end: you can’t generally expand by taking on employees, and the number of author start-ups where the founders have IPOd and cashed out can be counted on the fingers of a double-amputee’s hands…

I applaud Serious Eats for attempting sous vide in a beer cooler, but the adventurous article didn’t convince me that the mass sous vide revolution would come via Coleman or Igloo. More »

Support Services for the TFHRC Hydraulics Laboratory – The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has a requirement for engineering and technical support services for the J. Sterling Jones Hydraulics Laboratory (the Laboratory) at Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center.  The contract involves support for the FHWA Hydraulics Research Program in the following areas: 1) Developing intelligent remote sensing systems and rapid deployment sensing systems to capture hydraulic/aerodynamic parameters during storm events; 2) Working in five areas to improve durability: smart, resilient, durable countermeasure materials; hydrodynamic bridge systems to resist flooding, overtopping, scour, surge and wave damage; analytical and modeling capabilities for assessing countermeasures; scour analysis capabilities & countermeasures; multi-hazard (Flood/Seismic/Wind) modeling; multi-hazard experimental work, in and with, FHWA Structures and FHWA Aerodynamics Laboratories; 3) Developing retrofits/designs that facilitate fish/wildlife passage through hydraulic structures; tracking tools for climate-change impacts (e.g. Flooding); and, examining alternative energy generation/transmission concepts; and, 4)Development of intelligent piers/abutments/bridge deck shapes using biomimetic concepts (smart materials) with scour countermeasures for shallow foundations. A tour of the J. Sterling Jones Hydraulics Laboratory (located at Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center in McLean, VA) is planned for May 6, 2010 at 10am.  Advance registration is required.  Registration Deadline: May 4, 2010.

Posted Date: April 27, 2010

Solicitation Number: DTFH61-10-R-00024

Just a few days after Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry vetoed two restrictive abortion measures, calling them "unconstitutional intrusions into citizens’ private lives and decisions," the state senate voted to override the vetoes, meaning the bills will become laws without the Democratic governor’s support.

One of the measures forces pregnant women to undergo an ultrasound and receive a detailed description of the fetus just an hour before deciding whether or not to have an abortion, the Washington Post reports. The second bill prohibits expectant women from seeking damages in court if their physician withholds information regarding their pregnancy.

The second measure, which was overwhelmingly supported in both the state House and Senate, is designed to prevent women from discriminating against fetuses with disabilities.

"State policymakers should never mandate that a citizen be forced to undergo any medical procedure against his or her will, especially when such a procedure could cause physical or mental trauma," Henry said. "To do so amounts to an unconstitutional invasion of privacy."

The Oklahoma governor, who vetoed similar legislation in 2008, also criticized the bills for not allowing exemptions for victims of rape and incest.

Despite the Federal Reserve’s pronouncements that inflation is under control and holding steady at just above 2 percent, some experts believe the true figure is much higher than that.

According to Jeffrey Nichols—senior economic advisor to Rosland Capital, a California-based precious metal asset firm—the consumer price index , which is the government’s main inflation indicator, is flawed and causes the actual inflation to be significantly underreported.

In his view, the true level of general price increases is between 6 percent and 7 percent.

"Recent statistics paint a rosy picture of the United States economy emerging from recession with inflation subdued," Nichols said.

However, he added that "anyone who does grocery shopping, pays the utility bills, writes a tuition check for their child’s education, uses public transportation or flies across the country knows the truth about inflation."

Nichols also said that although the price of gold fell last week after the news that the investment bank Goldman Sachs had been charged with securities fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission, "prices in the $1,130 to $1,140 range are certainly attractive entry points for long-term investors."

Chelation therapy is an artery cleanout alternative to bypass heart surgery. Since bypass surgery is the most profitable income to hospitals, a big propaganda effort by orthodox medicine against chelation therapy is ongoing and has been for many years.

Medical doctors who practice intravenous (I.V.) chelation keep a low profile because of pressure and harassment from the medical establishment.

Oral chelation is a safe and noninvasive way to boost circulation and reduce plaque and toxins in your circulatory system. It can work miracles over time. It is usually taken by mouth in capsule form. The basis of oral chelation is most often a simple acid ethylene-diamine-tetraacetic acid (EDTA).

Chelation was originally created to remove heavy metals that accumulate in the arteries from the industrial use of paints and other materials. It was discovered that workers who had heart trouble got much better while taking EDTA (chelation therapy) to remove heavy metals. The chelation therapy would bind to organic molecules and purge the arteries clean naturally, renewing the artery system. The long history of efficacy is proven and the benefits well-known, but often controversial with the conventional medical establishment.

(Article continues below…)

I.V. and oral chelation, even with medical blackout, have become strong alternatives to surgery over the past 60 years. Chelation is inexpensive and noninvasive and works all over your body.

Clogged arteries seem to come with aging. Oral chelation has been the answer for improved circulation for millions of people.

Enhanced Oral Chelation™ from Health Resources™ is a product I’ve used personally for many years. This powerful nutritional formula helps support cardiovascular health and promote healthy circulation by supplying much-needed nutrients to your circulatory system. So Enhanced Oral Chelation™ is a powerful source for heart nutrition. There is no history of risk.

The American Medical Association has approved I.V. EDTA chelation for the removal of toxic metals. But we have the history to prove that chelation helps promote peripheral circulation which is basic to life, health and longevity.

The American College of Advancement of Medicine (ACAM) estimates that at least a
million patients have received more than 10 million I.V. chelation treatments without a single fatality.

The record for oral chelation is even more exciting since it is safe, inexpensive, easy and something you can do in your own home without needles or doctors.

According to a recent study presented at the 2010 Experimental Biology meeting in Anaheim, Calif., a high intake of vitamin D may help preserve physical function in older adults.

For the study, Denise Houston and her colleagues from the Sticht Center on Aging at Wake Forest University assessed the relationship between nutrient intake, long-term health conditions and mobility in seniors.

Over a four-year period the researchers monitored 2,788 healthy seniors with a median age of 75. At the beginning and end of the study they analyzed each participant’s blood level of vitamin D and examined their physical function using a variety of strength and endurance tests.

At the conclusion of the research the investigators found that while physical function declined with every respondent, those with consistently high levels of the nutrient experienced a more gradual deterioration in strength and endurance.

"Those with adequate or optimal vitamin D status [the highest group] had approximately 5 percent higher physical performance scores and 5 percent faster walk speed on the 400-meter walk compared to those with insufficient vitamin D status at the four-year follow up," Houston told WebMD.

The pending retirement of Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens gives President Barack Obama an opportunity to shape court decisions for many years to come. Let’s hope he makes a wise decision.

Unfortunately, his radical leftist views that the United States Constitution is a “charter of negative liberties” and his prior choice of Sonya Sotamayor—who as an appellate judge ruled that the New Haven fire department’s promotion test was discriminatory because no minorities scored well enough for promotion—to the Supreme Court don’t augur well for liberty.

Liberals like to say the Constitution is a “living, breathing document,” because that allows activist judges to create “rights” out of thin air in order to advance an agenda. But what is needed are strict constructionist justices who are willing to go back and see what the Founding Fathers intended when they wrote the document.

“On every question of construction,” wrote Thomas Jefferson, “carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text or invented against it, conform to the probable one which was passed.”

The Founders understood that government could easily become the enemy of the people. So they wrote a Constitution that put restraints on the government.

If we are to remain free we need to watch closely the people Obama nominates for the courts—the Supreme Court most importantly. They must be people who recognize the role of government. They must understand that the Constitution was written to protect the citizens from its government, not the government from its citizens. They must recognize that all men are created equal, and that no group or class is more equal than another. If not, we must do all we can to block them.

Because, as Samuel Adams said, “[W]ithout liberty and equality [under the law], there cannot exist that tranquility of mind, which results from the assurance of this to every citizen, that his own personal safety and rights are secure … it is the end and design of all free and lawful Governments.”

Just a few days after Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed into law a historically aggressive immigration bill, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon indicated that the city may soon file a lawsuit challenging the legislation on constitutional grounds.

Gordon told Fox News the bill is not only unconstitutional, but also makes the state less safe, as police would be forced to spend an exorbitant amount of time focusing on this "unenforceable" law.

"It tramples civil rights," Gordon told the news source. "Now everyone has to show and prove that they’re a legal resident or citizen." He also warned that the new law may create "a division within the state that could lead to violence."

The Phoenix mayor also attacked the author of the bill, state Senator Russell Pearce, by comparing him to late Alabama Governor George Wallace, a well-known segregationist leader in the 1960s, KTAR.com reports. He said that Pearce is more concerned with making headlines than battling the real problems that face Arizona, such as violent crime and the drug trade.

Gordon indicated that he will ask the Phoenix City Council later this week to join him in his fight against the law.

The state budget process just got more difficult.

On Wednesday night, the state employee unions rejected the Rell administration’s offer to help balance the state budget by offering an early retirement incentive program to as many as 8,000 state employees.

The two sides had different versions of what happened at the contentious meeting. The unions said that Rell’s representatives “stormed out” of the meeting, but Rell’s supporters said that the administration’s budget director, Robert Genuario, has built a reputation over the years for being a mild-mannered negotiator who has never been known for storming out or even raising his voice.

“The governor is extremely disappointed that SEBAC – the coalition of state employee unions – tonight summarily rejected any consideration of an early retirement plan to save $65 million in state budget costs,” the administration said in a statement shortly before 10 p.m. “She is also disappointed that SEBAC would not allow the administration to put alternative cost-saving measures on the table. Governor Rell believes it is a time for renewed respect and cooperation, not intractability and hyperbole.”

Thirteen minutes before Rell issued her statement, the union coalition issued an e-mail that said that Rell’s agents had stormed out “after failing to produce” an analysis of the costs to the state pension plan of the early retirement incentive plan, known as an ERIP. Republicans have said that an estimated 8,000 state employees would be eligible, and an estimated 2,000 employees would take the offer. A projected 1,000 positions would be re-filled, and the state would thus eliminate 1,000 positions at an annual savings of $65 million.

A Capitol insider said the union leaders made it clear that they would not talk about anything but the ERIP, even though Rell’s negotiators wanted to breach other ideas. After a while, Rell’s negotiators said it was clearly obvious that nothing was going to be accomplished at the meeting.

The next move remained unclear late Wednesday night. House Republican leader Lawrence Cafero of Norwalk said recently that the state does not need approval from the unions to move ahead with the ERIP because the program is not a concession. He added that case law has allowed the practice. Rell, however, said recently that the easiest way to enact the ERIP was with union agreement.

Through spokesman Matt O’Connor, SEBAC issued statements from various union presidents in the coalition.

“We’re terribly understaffed already,” said Carmen Boudier, president of New England Healthcare Employees Union, District 1199/SEIU. “We have healthcare workers and corrections officers struggling through mandatory double shifts, and the state trooper force is below its statutory minimum. When bridges are found to need repairs, we don’t even have enough maintenance professionals to repair them,” she said.

Dave Walsh, president of the American Association of University Professors – CCSU, said in a statement: “College students are struggling to find courses they need to graduate, and we have backups and waiting lists for workers needing job services, and for businesses needing permits to create jobs. Why would the governor want to make a bad situation worse?”

The unions have details on their budget positions at www.InThisTogetherCT.org

A few weeks ago I said Farewell Palm. Now HP has paid $1.2 billion in cash to acquire Palm ($5.70 a share).

It’s good news for those who bought Palm stock in the past few weeks, but it’s no reason to consider buying a PalmOS device. Whatever Palm was yesterday, it’s now being digested by a very average large publicly traded company. Palm is now HP.

An average PTC like HP can compete effectively against other clumsy but powerful PTCs like IBM, Dell, RIM, and Microsoft. HP is capable of turning out devices that are every bit as good as Windows Mobile phones of 2008.

Except it’s not 2008, and the competition is not RIM or Microsoft or Dell. The competition is Google and Apple.

Google and Apple are also publicly traded companies. They are not typical however. They are very deviant. Google has an underestimated two tier ownership structure that gives great power to its founders. Apple has Steve Jobs, who in addition to being an insane genius with mind-control powers is also Apple’s founder and has cult like authority over the company and its shareholders. Both Google and Apple behave like privately held companies with public money.

Palm is still dead. I don’t know why HP did this deal. Maybe it was all IP, but they paid a lot for IP. I think they hope to stay in the only game in town. It won’t work; there’s no room for them at the table.

This is about Google and Apple. Microsoft will take 3rd place. RIM will fall by the wayside within three years. HP won’t last a year. They can’t compete.

The IFPI has put out its latest report on the state of the music business (sent in first by Nastybutler77). There aren’t too many surprises. Some of the data in the report (such as the growth in the UK and elsewhere) were already covered a few weeks ago in a presentation by Will Page, the chief economist for PRS in the UK. But there were some interesting points in the report that suggest the industry is still in quite a bit of denial. Thirteen markets saw “a return to growth” in music sales — though, amusingly, the IFPI chooses to highlight two of them — South Korea and Sweden — both of which passed ridiculously draconian anti-piracy laws, mostly due to pressure from folks like the IFPI.

Not surprisingly, the IFPI credits the “improving legal environments” in those countries for the increasing sales. Similarly, it notes that sales declines happened in Spain and Canada — two of the countries most regularly singled out by the entertainment industry for having consumer friendly copyright laws. Of course, that’s not how the industry describes it. They talk about how those countries’ laws are “out of touch” or not in line with “international standards.”

Of course, what the IFPI totally ignores (not surprisingly, since they only represent record labels) is that while the sales of music directly may have declined in some markets, the overall market for music grew tremendously. In other words, the decline in sales of recorded music has not done harm to the music industry, but just to a few record labels. This new report is really just an attempt to pretend (yet again) that the “music industry” is really “the recording industry.” And, of course, what this report doesn’t come close to acknowledging, is that in putting in place these “legal environments” in places like Sweden and South Korea, it has cut off many more efficient and effective ways for musicians to create, promote and distribute their works.

That’s what this report really shows. It shows that the IFPI wants to be the gatekeeper to make sure that more of the money going through the music ecosystem goes to its labels, rather than to others. It doesn’t care if the overall market for music is smaller, just as long as more of the money goes to its members.

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story

While we won’t expect Elevation Partners to say anything about it until the sale is complete, it looks like they’re about to walk away from Palm with a small profit. This flies in the face of sensationalist claims of partner Bono (yes, of U2 fame) being “the world’s worst investor,” though we imagine he, Roger McNamee, and the rest of Elevation Partners had hoped to make a bit more off the deal. Just how much is Elevation set to get when all is said and done? $485 million, according to Venture Beat.

That amounts to 40% of the $1.2 billion that HP is set to lay down to snap up Palm. The story of how Elevation’s getting more than their 30% share of Palm is an interesting one. Elevation’s initial investment in Palm in 2007 was to the tune of $325 million, which wrapped up 25% of the smartphone maker under Elevation’s control. Elevation has twice in the intervening years invested in Palm stock, upping their total investment to $460 million.

So luckily for Elevation Partners and all their investors, they didn’t lose money on this deal. Of course, if they’d sold their shares late last year when Palm stock was trading over $18, they could have brought in close to $1.5 billion. Yes, you’re reading that right, a third of Palm used to be worth more than what HP is paying today. That’s what happens when expectations are tempered by reality.

If you live in the United States of Mexico(Okay, America,) you should know about a fun game for Xbox that includes the coolest droid ever. Well we can have the great looking Fallow out theme on our WVGA devices. Created by horrorview, its a new theme that’s capable with CHT Mod, and comes with many icons for you to get the full experience.

We have made several different packages for the theme, making it totally customizable!

[StarView] Fallout Theme.cab
This is the entire theme WITHOUT Icons and Wallpapers. (Run as any install, but you’ll need to manually install Wallpapers and Icons as detailed below)

[StarView] Fallout Icon Pack.rar
70 icons for the theme covering most of the widely used apps and base programs! Use your favorite icon editor to set them.(we recommend JWMD)

[StarView] Fallout Wallpapers
Three different wallpapers – Home, Lockscreen, and Landscape home. We have decided to give you them as the raw jpg’s so you can set them in whichever way you prefer, be it HDWall, Voldeus Transparent Mod, BG4All or just as normal.

This is a FIRST release, so, while Star and myself haven’t experienced any major bugs, we must warn you that you install this at your own risk, we’re not responsible for any explosions or deaths that may occur as a result, and, please, for the love of god, don’t take the brown acid.

(Compatible With CHT)

You can Download this new Theme over at XDA

Here’s the nicest thing we can say about Trevor Hoffman’s(notes) blown save on Wednesday: This time, Ryan Doumit’s(notes) homer didn’t travel quite as far.

Tuesday’s grand slam was an absolute bomb, but Wednesday’s game-tying blast traveled only the necessary distance down the right-field line.

Unfortunately for Hoffman, his manager doesn’t seem to consider shorter home runs to be a sign of progress. This from MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy:

Ken Macha suggested that his struggling closer was due at least a
one-day break.

"That’s two days in a row for him," Macha said. "[On Thursday], if we
have a chance to win it, perhaps it will be somebody else at the end of
the game."

Just to be clear, this is not an official loss-of-job event. Macha was only discussing his Thursday plans. McCalvy expects LaTroy Hawkins(notes) to get the save chance if an opportunity arises. Hawkins has been a bit unsteady this year as well, but he’s pitched clean innings in three of his last four appearances.

Meanwhile, Hoffman has blown saves on consecutive days, and he’s already up to four this month. He’s allowed six home runs in just nine innings, which cannot be attributed to mere bad luck. Take action tonight if you want tomorrow’s save. 

A pitcher with Hoffman’s credentials clearly gets a long leash, but it’s worth noting that Macha has been meeting with anyone who might have any insight. It feels like a plan is coming together:

After Tuesday’s loss, Macha had chats with pitching coach Rick
Peterson and general manager Doug Melvin about the struggling closer.
On Wednesday morning, Macha spoke with assistant GM Gord Ash, who thinks
the problem is mostly location, and head athletic trainer Roger
Caplinger, who assured that Hoffman is in top physical shape, as usual.

Then Macha met with Hoffman himself, behind a closed door in the
manager’s office about an hour before the Brewers-Pirates series finale.

…and then Doumit got him again. And tomorrow, Hoffman sits.

—

Photo via AP Images

Adobe may have stopped bothering with iPhones, but they certainly didn’t hesitate to finally give us a tolerable Flash experience on Macs by incorporating Apple’s new video acceleration API in a Flash Player preview release dubbed “Gala.” More »