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There were calls to close it in the wake of the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School, and there were more calls to close it in 2007, following the shooting massacre at Virginia Tech. But so far, Congress has done nothing to address the gun show loophole, which allows unlicensed gun vendors to sell firearms without performing background checks on the buyers. And the inaction hasn’t gone unnoticed by some of the victims’ families.

Take Tom Mauser, whose son Daniel was killed 11 years ago tomorrow at Columbine. He’s got a letter running today in both the the Denver Post and Boulder Daily Camera urging Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) to put his weight behind the Senate proposal that would close the gun show loophole.

“Shortly after the tragedy at Columbine, 70% of Coloradans voted to close this dangerous loophole, but in many other states the loophole remains — including every state surrounding Colorado,” Mauser writes. “That means that Coloradans can still easily be victimized by guns brought here from other states. We need a federal law to close the Gun Show Loophole for good, just like we have in Colorado.”

Sen. Michael Bennet, Colorado’s other Democratic, has endorsed the proposal, but Udall has so far resisted. A call to Udall’s office requesting comment was not immediately returned.

He’s not the only Democrat being targeted today. Six voices related to the Virginia Tech tragedy — including a survivor, and parents of both survivors and those killed — have a letter of their own in today’s Richmond Times Dispatch, calling on Sens. Jim Webb and Mark Warner, both Democrats of Virginia, to sign on to the same bill.

“Everyday in the United States, 35 people are murdered with guns — that’s a Virginia Tech sized massacre every single day,” the parents write. “We have seen first hand the incredible toll that gaps in the federal background check system have on public safety … Don’t let another day go by.”

Calls and emails to Webb’s and Warner’s offices were not immediately returned.

Under current law, licensed gun dealers are required to do background checks to ensure that prospective buyers are legally eligible to own firearms. Felons, illegal immigrants and the severely mentally ill, for example, are prohibited from owning guns. These guidelines apply to licensed dealers in all contexts, including gun shows. But unlicensed dealers at gun shows — or anywhere else — are under no obligation to follow them.

The Columbine shooters bought three of their guns by exploiting the loophole. More recently, last month’s Pentagon shooter did the same, purchasing at least one of his firearms at a Nevada gun show despite a history of severe mental illness that might have prevented the sale had the vendor done a background check.

Gun reform has been a thorny issue for the White House and Democratic leaders in Congress. And the reason is clear. Although Democrats hold significant majorities in both chambers, they owe those gains largely to more moderate members, who in recent elections have won seats in a number of conservative-leaning, historically Republican districts. Indeed, when Attorney General Eric Holder last year announced his support for renewal of the assault weapons ban, 65 House Democrats wrote to the White House attacking the proposal. And that was in a non-election year.

“Law-abiding Americans use these guns for all the same reasons they use any other kind of gun — competitive shooting, hunting and defending their homes and families,” the Democrats wrote.

But don’t accuse Congress of doing nothing in the area of gun reform. This week, the House is expected to pass a D.C. voting rights bill that also includes language gutting the District’s strict gun control laws.

CHICAGO (CHICAGOPRESSRELEASE.COM) — Police who were called to an apartment Sunday afternoon for a domestic incident got more than they bargained for when 12 sticks of homemade explosives resembling dynamite were discovered — prompting a response by the bomb squad, police said.

Marcello DelCarlo, 36, of 1645 W. Ogden Ave., who identified himself as a assistant professor in biochemistry, was charged with felony possession of an explosive or incendiary device and misdemeanor domestic battery, according to police who said DelCarlo was arrested at his workplace.

DelCarlo is expected to be in Cook County Court later Monday for a bond hearing.

A person named Marcello DelCarlo is listed on the Rush University Medical Center’s Web site as an Assistant Professor assigned to the biochemistry department, 1735 W. Harrison St.

Police were called to the Ogden Avenue address about 3:50 p.m. Sunday when a woman called police to say she needed assistance in retrieving her belongings from her ex-boyfriend’s apartment, police said.

Inside his apartment the police found 12 “improvised explosive devices’’ which were rendered safe by two police  bomb squad technicians, according to a police report.

DelCarlo allegedly  admitted he had purchased aluminum powder and potassium chlorate over the internet and allegedly admitted the he mixed these chemicals together to make “flash powder,’’ which he filled at least 14, 8-inch long cardboard tubes with before capping the ends of the tubes with plaster, the report said.

DelCarlo told police he exploded one of the tubes by inserting a fuse and lighting it in south suburban Lansing and also allegedly admitted the he made the devices to explode for July 4th, according to the report.

Ogden Avenue was blocked until at least 8:30 p.m. in both directions near Ashland Avenue, according to police.

Read the original article from WBBM News Radio.

Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services

Management to Host Conference Call Today after Close of Market

HOUSTON, April 19 /CHICAGOPRESSRELEASE.COM/ — Best Energy Services, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: BEYS) announced today its results for the year ended December 31, 2009. The results reported herein reflect continuing operations only. In the fourth quarter of 2009 Best discontinued operations in its housing division, geological services and at Bob Beeman drilling division. Accordingly, these results reflect only the operations of our wholly owned Liberal, Kansas-based subsidiary Best Well Service (“BWS”).

Revenues declined 73% from $16,905,372 for the eleven months ended December 31, 2008 to $4,502,555 for the year ended December 31, 2009. The decline reflects the significant decline in workover activity that in January of 2009 resulted in the Company’s 25 rig workover fleet decreasing from 100% utilization on January 1 to less than five rigs by the following month. This decrease was in line with an industry wide decline precipitated by significant declines in commodity prices and the general turmoil in credit markets and markets in general.  During 2009, as a result of Best successfully implementing a strategy to increase market share in the Hugoton Basin, activity levels increased gradually but meaningfully with fleet utilization growing from 15% at the low point of the first quarter of 2009 to 45% by yearend.

Direct operating expenses decreased in line with revenues from $9,166,375 in 2008 to $2,498,611 in 2009. Direct operating expenses include direct labor, fuel and materials. During 2009, Best’s gross margin improved from 22% in the second quarter of 2009 to 61% by the fourth quarter.

Indirect operating expenses for 2009 were $1,729,341, a $347,877 decrease from $2,077,218 in the short year 2008. Indirect operating expenses include all other costs associated with operations at BWS.

Corporate G&A for 2009 decreased 56% from $5,314,916 in 2008 to $2,356,277 for 2009. G&A for 2009 also included non-cash stock based compensation expense of $930,794. Cash G&A for 2009 was thus $1,425,483. During the year Best continued to decrease its cash G&A, which is now less than $80,000 per month.

Interest expense for 2009 totaled $1,610,467, a $1,444,221 decrease from 2008. Cash interest expense for 2009 was $1,486,074, with non-cash interest of $124,393 in amortization of deferred financing costs and of the discount on convertible debt.

Cash net operating loss was $1,184,794 in 2009. As a result of significant cash G&A reductions, strict cost management at BWS and growing revenues in the third and fourth quarters of 2009, cash EBITDA loss was trimmed from $693,062 in the second quarter of 2009 to $160,994 by the fourth quarter of 2009. Based on preliminary results of the period January through March of 2010, Best believes it will report a positive cash EBITDA from continuing operations for that period.

The Table below summarizes results for the years ended December 31, 2009 and the eleven month ended December 31, 2008.

The table that follows reconciles Best’s 2009 Net Operating Income to Cash EBITDA from continuing operations.

As noted above, impairments and discontinued operations in 2009 totaled $12,683,961.  Included in this total are: write-down of assets at its Bob Beeman Drilling facility $4,569,824; write-down of housing assets $797,770; and an impairment of goodwill at Best Well Service $5,638,327.

Best began undertaking a program of deleveraging its balance sheet in late 2009 with the sale of equipment from discontinued operations. To date those sales total $1.3 million. Best believes it will realize proceeds from the sale of discontinued assets equal to their current reduced book value.

Also during the fourth quarter of 2009 and the first quarter of 2010 Best embarked on several new revenue generation mechanism for 2010 which are further described in the company’s Form 10-K for the yearend December 31, to be filed shortly after the date of this announcement.

Commenting on the results of 2009, Mark Harrington, Chairman and CEO of Best stated, “This past year was an extraordinarily difficult one for Best and its shareholders. Operationally, we have made it through what appears to be the worst of the down cycle through significant reductions in corporate G&A, discontinuing lines of business that could not carry their own weight, improvements in our gross operating margin, and increasing revenues through our program of building market share in the Hugoton Basin.  Of at least equal importance is the support we have received from our shareholders and our senior lender, PNC. Over the last nine months, our shareholders have added $2.4 million in equity and sub-debt to our Company. During the same time, PNC has increased its exposure by $2.25 million. We are truly fortunate to have the support of our shareholders and our lender, and to have turned the corner operationally.”

Commenting on the year ahead, Mr. Harrington continued, “Our core business at Best Well Service provides us a solid platform to now build on. BWS has always been a customer-focused group. By continuing to provide our customers value pricing in up and down markets, an exceptional safety record, and performance in the field we have a base to begin to build values for our shareholders. We are undertaking new initiatives in seeking out basins where our reputation, customer connectivity and value pricing will provide us a good entry point. We are undertaking other initiatives that will be made public in the near future to further expand our customer-centric focus.”

Mr. Harrington concluded, “Neither our survival through an incredibly challenging 2009 nor our new initiatives for our customers would be possible without our people. BWS enjoys the lowest turnover rate in employees in the industry at less than 5% versus a norm of 35%+. Our shareholders and our lender have placed their bet on the right group of people to build Best in the coming years.”

About Best Energy Services, Inc.

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Best Energy Services, Inc. is a leading well service/workover provider in the Hugoton Basin. For more information, please visit www.BEYSinc.com.

Certain statements contained in this press release, which are not based on historical facts, are forward-looking statements as the term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and are subject to substantial uncertainties and risks in part detailed in the respective Company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings, that may cause actual results to materially differ from projections. Although the Company believes that its expectations are reasonable assumptions within the bounds of its knowledge of its businesses, expectations, representations and operations, there can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially from their expectations. Important factors currently known to management that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include the Company’s ability to execute properly its business model, to raise additional capital to implement its continuing business model, the ability to attract and retain personnel – including highly qualified executives, management and operational personnel, ability to negotiate favorable current debt and future capital raises, and the inherent risk associated with a diversified business to achieve and maintain positive cash flow and net profitability. In light of these risks and uncertainties, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking information contained in this press release will, in fact, occur.  

SOURCE Best Energy Services, Inc.

http://www.BEYSinc.com

Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services

DUBAI Thousands of stranded air travelers here in Dubai are hopeful Monday as it appears the air travel restrictions in Europe due to the Iceland volcanic ash cloud are easing. 

Over 80,000 passengers for the region’s biggest airline, Emirates, have been effected by the disruption.   Emirates management says it has been losing $10 million dollars a day during this period.    That includes covering hotel and food costs for 6,000 travelers here in Dubai caught out in the first days of the crisis.

The combination of successful test flights over the weekend by European carriers and the lessening and dissipation of the ash cloud has led to the improvement in the travel picture.

Close to a third of air traffic was allowed to operate Monday in Europe.   And air flight bans in the UK, France and Germany will be eased starting Tuesday.  

Still, the crisis is far from over.   Total lifting of air travel restrictions in Europe has not happened yet.   And it’s estimated it will take days before the thousands impacted will make it to their destinations.

In the meantime, stuck travelers are making the most of it in warm sunny Dubai.

Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, Crossover, BMW

A volcano in Iceland has caused a world of hurt for European airliners and travelers alike, as thick ash in the atmosphere has caused the cancellation of an estimated 63,000 flights. A new report from BusinessWeek suggests that even the auto industry could be affected by the hazardous ash if airlines continue to stay grounded. BMW spokesman Mathias Schmidt has told BW that the German automaker may need to shut down its Spartanburg, South Carolina, which produces the X5 and X6 crossovers if planes remain on the ground more than two additional days.

So, how does the April 14 eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano control the fate of manufacturing in South Carolina? BMW ships transmissions and other components from Germany to its sole U.S. plant via air. If BMW can’t get parts to Spartanburg soon, the plant will be temporarily shut down. A bit of good news has come in the past 24 hours, though, as scientists say the volcano currently isn’t shooting any ash into the atmosphere, though seismic activity in the area of the eruption is still said to be very high.

[Source: BusinessWeek]

Report: BMW could hault U.S. production due to ash cloud originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 19 Apr 2010 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A study by The Diffusion Group has found the PS3 to have the most number of consoles connected online in the US. According to Microsoft, that’s no biggie. What matters is “the level of activity”, and in

A joint U.S.-Iraqi raid near Tikrit decapitated al-Qaeda’s Iraqi affiliate on Sunday. Two of the country’s most wanted terrorists, Abu Ayyub al Masri and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, who have been responsible for thousands of U.S. and Iraqi deaths since 2006, were tracked by U.S. and Iraqi intelligence and special-operations forces to a hideout near the Sunni Iraqi enclave.

Gen. Ray Odierno, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, called the successful raid “potentially the most significant blow to al-Qaeda in Iraq since the beginning of the insurgency.” Well, military leaders said the same thing after the June 2006 killing of al-Masri and al-Baghdadi’s predecessor, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and the insurgency intensified for another year, requiring the abandonment of al-Qaeda by Iraqi Sunnis, the successful ethnic cleansing of Baghdad during the broader sectarian war and the U.S.’s shift to a counterinsurgency strategy to tamp down violence beginning in late summer 2007. Odierno’s boss in that latter effort, Gen. David Petraeus, issued a more measured statement:

The deaths of these two leaders represent significant blows against extremism in Iraq. While we recognize that AQI retains the capability of carrying out periodic extremist attacks, Iraqi leaders have vowed to press the fight against Al Qaeda and its affiliates in Iraq. In accordance with the Iraq-U.S. Security Agreement, U.S. forces will continue to assist and enable our Iraqi partners in that effort.

The timing of the departure of Palm Inc.’s senior vice president of Software & Services, Michael Abbott, likely indicates that an acquisition is not pending, according to UBS. Mr. Abbott led development of the smartphone maker’s WebOS application platform and services.

“We believe any potential acquirer would likely want (and need) the WebOS development team, UBS analyst Maynard Um told clients.

Palm was also downgraded to underperform at Morgan Keegan.

The company implemented a retention program for certain key employees, including CFO Doug Jeffries and five senior vice presidents. Palm issued 1.15 million restricted shares and US$250,000 cash bonuses to Mr. Jeffries and senior vice president of Global Operations Jeff Devine.

“We note that many companies will likely take a look at Palm (no downside to examining a competitor), though we believe interest is likely to be tepid at current levels,” Mr. Um said in a research note. “With customer discussions likely now focused more on Palm’s future rather than its products, we see potential rising risk of WebOS product de-emphasis.”

UBS continues to rate Palm at Sell with a US$4 price target.

Jonathan Ratner

Since last Friday’s announcement  by the SEC, much has been discussed regarding the accusation of fraud against Goldman Sachs (GS).

As is the case in the media’s world of sound bites, some of the press accounts have been misinformed and many of the opinions have had little relationship to the facts of the case and/or are being offered by individuals without any legal experience or background.

At the core of the complaint is that Goldman Sachs sold a $2 billion synthetic collateralized debt obligation (CDO) product, Abacus 2007-AC1, which was linked to the performance of a package of subprime residential mortgage-backed securities. The SEC has alleged that Goldman failed to disclose to investors important information about the CDO — most importantly, that Paulson & Company, a hedge fund that bet that the pool of mortgages would decline in value, helped design the product (with ACA Management) in late February 2007 and took a short position against the CDO.

The best and most straightforward summation of the case being made by the SEC was detailed in an article written in the Wall Street Journal over the weekend by former TheStreet staffer, lawyer and friend, Jamie Heller.

I have no clue how the case will be decided or how it should be decided. I am not a lawyer, and I suspect that it is a far more complicated suit than many have stated or assumed.

I am more concerned with the direct and indirect market and economic ramifications.

The announcement already has had an immediate market impact. Time will tell whether the market is much more vulnerable to Friday’s news. I really don’t know, but, gun to my head, I think it has already been discounted. I do feel strongly and I can say with some confidence that Friday’s SEC charges will not have any bearing on near-term economic growth expectations.

What I believe to be significant is that the Goldman suit reminds us how different conditions were in the last cycle of credit and why, in its aftermath, it will be so different this time.

Goldman Sachs’ Abacus product and similarly structured unregulated derivative products, such as the sprawling shadow-banking industry and the rapidly growing securitization markets that proliferated in the past decade, were symptomatic of a moment in time. The liberal extension of credit over the past 15 years was unique in history and had never previously been so munificent, but it was followed by the sharpest recession since the Great Depression. With the deep recession, lower stock and home prices and rising unemployment, it shouldn’t have been surprising that a populist backlash against the wealthy and large corporations ensued. We witnessed the electorate’s primal scream in the Presidential election in 2008, in the Massachusetts Senatorial race, in the Tea Parties of 2009-2010 and with the SEC accusation on Friday.

The death of shadow-banking, securitizations and structured products ushers in the age of populism.

So, what are my specific observations and takes from Friday’s SEC move against Goldman Sachs?

Firstly, both the subprime mortgages that were originated and packaged into a synthetic CDO as well as Abacus itself should never have existed. The mortgages and the CDO were at the tail end of the past cycle’s acid trip on credit. They were cycle-ending events that wreaked havoc on the economy and the capital markets and nearly bankrupted the leading financial institutions around the world.

Similar to other structured products, Abacus was the outgrowth of a steroid-induced world of financial and economic make-believe. Worldwide economic growth (especially of a consumer kind) was exaggerated and likely borrowed from future growth. Among many other culprits, this hyperbole was abetted by:

    * an unregulated shadow-banking industry (e.g., Countrywide Financial);

    * a permissive, complicit and conflicted ratings industry (Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s);

    * Wall Street (in its “heads I win, tails I win” compensation programs), which stuffed financial weapons of mass destruction into municipalities, insurance companies, other countries and down its own throat;

    * the government, which liberalized the wide scope of activity and leverage of bankers; and

    * a too-generous Fed.

Secondly, the SEC suit is another example of the type of public outcry we should continue to expect in the years ahead. This outcry stems from the growing perception of an ever widening schism in the U.S. between the haves (the Goldmans) and the have-nots (the rest). Never before have the wealthy and large corporations been held in such contempt by the average American. This holds with it huge implications for further populist policy initiatives and even (as we witnessed on Friday) litigation. The gloves are now off and the outgrowth of populism is higher taxes and more burdensome and costly regulation (likely aimed at hedge funds, banks, Wall Street, etc.).

All these factors hold the promise, in the fullness of time, of reducing the upside to equities and of containing economic growth.

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Nissan announced today that it will begin taking reservations for the 2011 Nissan LEAF starting tomorrow, April 20. Nissan said that in the United States alone, more than 115,000 people have formalized their interest in driving a Nissan LEAF or have signed up for more information at NissanUSA.com.

“Early interest in the Nissan LEAF has been highly encouraging,” said Brian Carolin, senior vice president, sales & marketing, NNA. “People from across the country have raised their hands to be among the first to drive home a Nissan LEAF. Consumers are pledging broad support for the first affordable electric vehicle for the mass market.”

The reservation process, which will give priority to the 115,000 registrants first, will be the first step in securing a place to purchase or lease the LEAF when it goes on sale in December in select markets. To reserve a Nissan LEAF, consumers will be asked to pay a $99 reservation fee, which is fully refundable. After placing a reservation, a customer will be able to indicate a preferred dealer.

The Nissan LEAF will be widely available in 2011. Prices for the 2011 Nissan LEAF will start at $32,780 but with a federal tax-credit prices will come in as low as $25,280, or for a lease payment of $349 a month.

Click here for more news on the Nissan Leaf.

Refresher: Power for the Nissan Leaf comes from a 107-hp electric-motor that runs on power supplied by lithium-ion cells. On a full-charge, the Nissan Leaf allows for a driving range of 100 miles with a top speed of 87 mph. A full charge takes up to 8 hours on a standard 200V outlet. Buyers can opt for the DC 50kW quick-charger, which recharges the battery up to 80 percent in under 30 minutes.

2011 Nissan Leaf:

Press Release:

NISSAN LEAF RESERVATIONS BEGIN APRIL 20

– Pool of 115,000 registrants gains first priority –

In response to strong consumer demand, Nissan North America, Inc. (NNA) will begin taking reservations for the Nissan LEAF zero-emission, all-electric vehicle on April 20. The reservation process is a first step in securing a place on the list to purchase or lease a Nissan LEAF. The Nissan LEAF begins rolling out to select markets in December, and will be widely available in 2011.

In the United States, more than 115,000 people have formalized their interest in driving a Nissan LEAF by signing up for more information on NissanUSA.com. These registrants will be given priority in the reservation process. Consumers must be registered on NissanUSA.com by the end of today in order to be eligible for the early reservation process. Reservations will open to the general public on May 15.

RESERVATIONS

* Priority reservation instructions will be sent to early registrants by email between 1-6 pm EDT on April 20. The email will include an exclusive link enabling each person to start the reservation process.
* Through the link, the customer will create an account, configure his or her vehicle, and answer questions to complete a driving profile.
* Consumers will be asked to pay by credit card a $99 reservation fee, which is fully refundable.
* After placing a reservation, a customer will be able to indicate a preferred dealer.
* Consumers who reserve a Nissan LEAF will receive confirmation numbers. Nissan will provide individual updates for their reservations by June 30.
* Reservations are limited to one per household.
* Consumer inquiries about the reservation process can be answered at the Nissan LEAF call center, 1-877-664-2738.

April 20 also marks the date for the debut of a new website on NissanUSA.com to support the launch of the Nissan LEAF. The website will continue to serve as a resource about the most up-to-date information for the Nissan LEAF, including upcoming special events.

Including the $7,500 federal tax credit for which the Nissan LEAF will be fully eligible, the consumer’s after-tax net value of the vehicle will be $25,280. The Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price *(MSRP) for the 2011 all-electric, zero-emission Nissan LEAF is $32,780. Additionally, there is an array of state and local incentives that may further defray the costs, and increase the benefits, for owning and charging a Nissan LEAF. For example, a $5,000 statewide tax rebate is offered in California; a $5,000 tax credit in Georgia; a $1,500 tax credit in Oregon; and carpool-lane access in some states, including California. The lease price for the Nissan LEAF begins at $349 per month.

In North America, Nissan’s operations include automotive design, engineering, consumer and corporate financing, sales and marketing, distribution and manufacturing. Nissan is dedicated to improving the environment under the Nissan Green Program 2010, whose key priorities are reducing CO2 emissions, cutting other emissions and increasing recycling. More information on the Nissan LEAF and zero emissions can be found at www.nissanusa.com.

MSRP excludes applicable tax, title and license fees. Dealer sets actual price. Prices and specs are subject to change without notice.

– By: Kap Shah

The finance, revenue and bonding and appropriations committees have a 3 p.m. start time today. Both committees have lengthy agendas.

The finance committee is set to take up several issues that are important to cities and towns. The bills, which are supported by the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, include a measure that would give cities and towns the option of adopting a local hotel tax.

The committee could also discuss whether to tax marijuana and controlled substances.

The appropriations committee is expected to vote on a bill that deals with domestic violence. The bill would ensure that money from the marriage license surcharge is given to the Department of Social Services and the Department of Public Health. The departments split $19 between shelter services for domestic violence victims and rape crisis services. The bill would require those funds to be distributed in a timely manner.

The bill would also allow tenants who are domestic violence victims to defer one month’s rent without violating their rental agreement, and it would allow domestic violence victims to terminate leases with five days’ written notice if they provide documentation of domestic violence.

Also on the appropriations committee agenda is a bill that would require everyone, regardless of age, to to take a novice motorcycle training course before getting a motorcycle endorsement. Successfully completing such a class would allow the Department of Motor Vehicles to waive the road rest for someone applying for such an endorsement.

Currently, only 16 and 17 year olds are required to take a training class before applying for a motorcycle endorsement.  

The state Department of Transportation’s beginner Connecticut Rider Education Program cost $200 for a minimum of 15 hours of instruction. Classes are held throughout Connecticut, including Tunxis Community College in Farmington and Naugatuck Valley Community College in Waterbury.

Rep. Timothy Larson, D-East Hartford, proposed the training requirement being considered by the appropriations committee today after talking with Stephanie Pelletier. Pelletier’s 19-year-old son, Nicholas Cohen, died in May 2008 after he collided with a minivan.    

CNN writes that Indian architect Manit Rastogi wants to transform “filth-filled, age-old drains” of New Delhi into scenic waterways lined with walkways and bicycle infrastructure. Rastogi believes using bio-remediation technologies, the 350-kilometer network of dirty streams that feed household sewage into the River Yamuna could be turned into green infrastructure.

According to CNN, New Delhi, a city of 17 million, uses nullahs, a centuries-old system of channels, as stormwater management systems. However, recently, the nullahs have been inefficiently transporting untreated waste. Given that almost five million residents walk to work each day, often passing the nullahs, the stink makes commutes unhealthy and unbearable. Additionally, there’s no housing near the channels because of the smell, missing opportunities for housing in a city in need of new apartments.

Rastogi sees renovating the nullahs as an opportunity to apply green infrastructure. CNN writes that he has identified three locations to be sites for experiments. Using bio-remediation technologies, enzymes can be used to attack contaminants. “We can treat sewage at its source with the help of mini-equipment before it flows into the nullahs,” Rastogi told CNN.

While the enzymes are breaking down the sewage and cleaning the water, tracts around the channels can be turned into “landscaped passages.” Rastogi said: “The city will then be interconnected with an eco-friendly and safe transport network.” Given the network is already some 350-km long, the system could really become city-wide multi-use infrastructure.

Rastogi identified the main challenge preventing this from occuring: the local bureaucracy. ”The main challenge of a project like this surprisingly is not funding, it’s not technology either. The main problem that a project like this faces is a multiplicity of agencies and the fact that our city has no CEO, the fact that there is no one person accountable for the city of Delhi.”

Read the article and see a brief video. Also, check out Rastogi’s DelhiNullah Web Site.

Image credit: Delhi Nullah.org

Ernst & Young reminds us in a recent global infrastructure report that the U.S. is expected to add 30 million people to its economy, each decade, right through 2050.

At first this seems terrifying. It means the U.S. will have to generate 30 million net new jobs per decade just to break-even on its employment rate.

Yet while this population growth is a challenge, it’s much more likely to be a huge and highly dependable economic driver for the U.S. going forward.

Particularly, it will be a constant economic tail wind for companies, investors, and workers in the U.S. who align themselves with infrastructure needs. 

One strong example of this is rail, as shown below. The U.S. remains horrendously underinvested in rail, even after recent stimulus plans, thus we should expect substantial spending increases in this transportation space over time as economic pressure on the U.S. transportation system builds.

Another long-term no-brainer area for business growth based on demographics is water. Ernst & Young shows how the Western U.S. could face serious water supply challenges by 2025, and remains one of the world’s least efficient water hogs. Expect substantially more U.S. investment here as well whether on the public or private side:

Energy and other transport are another obvious contenders for profiting from future U.S. demographics, and the list goes on.

The point is that there will be a powerful demographic driver for the U.S. economy regardless of where everything else in the world goes, and substantial profits will be available to those who can find and solve the pain points caused by population growth. So good hunting.

You can find the complete infrastructure report here.

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WASHINGTON–The Securities and Exchange Commission sued Goldman Sachs and one of its vice presidents for allegedly misstating and omitting key facts about a financal instrument called a collateralized debt obligation.

Here’s what I wrote on Oct. 8, 2008 about a 2007 private dinner then Sen. Barack Obama had with Goldman Sachs executives with Tom Brokaw:

WASHINGTON–On May 3, 2007, Barack Obama attended an event at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan that was not on his public schedule and is only now surfacing–a private dinner for Goldman Sachs traders with a discussion on issues moderated for the Wall Street firm by NBC’s Tom Brokaw.

Brokaw is the moderator of Tuesday’s second presidential debate between Obama and John McCain at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn.

The dinner was not a fund-raiser for Obama, then in the early stages of his Democratic primary campaign launched February, 2007. Brokaw interviewed Obama for about 45 minutes on mostly international issues. Brokaw received an honorarium, donated to charity. The Obama campaign called the event a “moderated conversation” when I inquired on Monday.

Brokaw’s appearance was arranged through Goldman Sachs–not the Obama campaign. It was the only session Brokaw did for Goldman. Brokaw’s honorarium was given to a charity.

The employees of Goldman Sachs collectively would go on to become the top contributors to the Obama campaign.

For Goldman Sachs and Obama complete post, click here.

Very interesting idea and useful from a number of perspectives — as a snapshot of public interest at  set point in time, marketing, historical archive … well, you get the idea.

From the link:

Realizing the historic value of these commentaries and first-hand accounts, Google has begun archiving every tweet in what it calls “Replay”—a search function that presents in bar-chart-form the popularity of tweets through a period in time and lists associated tweets for you to browse chronologically.

To access Replay, perform a Google search, choose “Show options…” This reveals a toolbar on the left; click “Updates.” A graph will appear denoting the popularity of that phrase or keyword at that point in time. By hovering over the graph, you can zoom in to a more specific time of day and read the tweets that were sent in that time period.

Customers Gain Enterprise Version Control and Automated Deployment Capabilities for Compliance and Audit Needs

RADNOR, Pa., April 19 /CHICAGOPRESSRELEASE.COM/ — QlikTech, a provider of business intelligence software and NOAD, a leading provider of high-performance, enterprise platform management software for BI applications, today announced NOAD’s EQM product suite support for QlikView. NOAD’s EQM product suite provides QlikView customers with solutions to cost effectively control change management, automate and monitor business intelligence life cycle processes, conserve resources, and control costs on an enterprise scale. With businesses becoming more regulated, NOAD EQM4 will help these companies move toward mandatory compliances such as Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPPAA, Basel II and GxP.

“As QlikView is increasingly deployed across the enterprise, it’s important for IT departments to have control over its use within their organizations,” said Anthony Deighton, Senior Vice President of Products, QlikTech.  ”Business users enjoy using QlikView for their ability to gain quick answers.  By adding NOAD’s capabilities to an organization’s use of QlikView, IT can gain the same quick answers on matters of consistency, compliance and security.”

Whether deployed in one department, across several geographies or across the enterprise, QlikView customers who take advantage of NOAD EQM can leverage:

• Change Manager – automatically track all QlikView instances within a company, including originator and listing of all changed versions with associated authorizations.  This tracking provides a means to easily keep compliant, from design through release to production, so passing an IT audit is never a problem. For each application, management can define a process to ensure that components automatically pass through the defined phases, and that company policies and government legislation are enforced. NOAD EQM4 Change Manager’s security features provide powerful authorization and authentication. Users are grouped into roles, and are granted varying levels of authority, providing more control over access usage.

• Deployment Automation – automatically distributes QlikView components or other QVD files to designated target locations at each stage of the development lifecycle. NOAD gathers, distributes, and installs the components as specified by an organization’s IT policies and protocols. This eliminates the security concerns and inconsistencies of manual file transfers, and coordinates arrival regardless of location or system type, logging all application objects and content. Development managers and auditors can review distribution history, analyzing project productivity, failure recovery and compliance with technology change regulations.

“NOAD EQM4 will allow QlikView customers to expand their business intelligence needs to the enterprise level by providing greater control with confidence supported by easily produced evidence,” said Andre Grift, CEO and President of NOAD.  ”In QlikView’s spirit of simplicity, NOAD EQM4 can be deployed within days, have users trained in hours and bring control, quality and security instantly.”  

About NOAD

Founded in 2000, NOAD has become the leading provider of software solutions that enables companies to manage business intelligence (BI) securely, guaranteed and effectively. With more than 250 customers in over 19 countries and across all industry sectors, NOAD has established a blue chip, worldwide customer base. NOAD with its dual headquarters in the Netherlands and New York, NY, is working with worldwide partners and resellers, supported by an experienced and certified field force. For more information about NOAD and NOAD EQM4 or becoming a partner, please visit www.noadbi.com.

About QlikTech

QlikTech’s powerful, accessible business intelligence solution enables organizations to make better and faster decisions. Its QlikView product delivers enterprise-class analytics and search with the simplicity and ease of use of office productivity software.  The in-memory associative search technology it pioneered makes calculations in real-time enabling business professionals to gain insight through intuitive data exploration. Unlike traditional business intelligence products, QlikView can deliver value in days or weeks rather than months, years, or not at all. It can be deployed on premise, in the cloud, or on a laptop or mobile device—from a single user to large global enterprises. QlikTech is headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania, with offices around the world and a network of over 1,100 partners to serve more than 13,000 customers in over 100 countries worldwide.  

SOURCE QlikTech

http://www.noadbi.com

Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services

If you’ve watched our exclusive interview with CNBC anchor Maria Bartiromo, you know that she’s written a motivational book outlining the keys to achieving professional success.

Business Insider has signed copies to give out to 10 lucky readers.

Here’s how to win Maria Bartiromo’s The 10 Laws Of Enduring Success:

1.    Register for a Business Insider account and enter your email address.  This is not as sketchy as it sounds, we just need a way to contact you if you win.  Rest assured, Business Insider will never sell your information to any third party.

2.    Log-in to Business Insider and leave a comment on this page, telling us you want to get a book. One entry per person, please. Hint — your name will appear in blue when you leave a comment if you have registered and logged-in correctly.

That’s all there is to it. At 5:00pm ET on Thursday, April 22, Business Insider will close comments on this post and use our handy number generator to pick a winner.

If you don’t win a copy of the book, you can still check out Business Insider’s interview with Maria where she reveals how she became the most famous financial journalist in the world.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• How Maria Bartiromo Became The Most Famous Business Journalist In The World
• Maria Bartiromo: Here’s Why I Don’t Sucker-Punch My Guests With Brutal Questions
• Lou Dobbs Told Maria Bartiromo That Going To CNBC Would Be The Biggest Mistake Of Her Life

For those eagerly awaiting Samsung’s latest QWERTY-equipped featurephone, the Samsung Reality is about to be a reality (pun intended).  Featuring a 3.0-inch WQVGA touchscreen, it’s a step down from the Rogue’s 3.1-inch AMOLED display, though it offers a 3.2-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, full QWERTY keyboard, a microSD card slot, and a minor design revamp to mesh with Samsung’s current offerings.  The phone will be available in “Piano Black” and “City Red.”

The Reality will be available on Thursday for $79.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate and new two-year customer agreement.  What’s more, since the device is a 3G “multimedia” device, it will require a $9.99 (or higher) data plan at the time of purchase.  The full press release is below for your viewing pleasure.  So, in light of the new device, I have to ask you: are you going to go Rogue, push through the Intensity, Sway your friends to join you, and make your new phone purchase a Reality? 

(Ok, ok – that’s the last Samsung pun.  I promise.)

 

SOCIAL CONNECTIVITY GETS REAL WITH THE SAMSUNG REALITY™ FROM VERIZON WIRELESS
 
Touch Screen Display, QWERTY Keyboard, Next-Generation Messaging and Social Networking Features Keep Customers Connected On the Go
 
BASKING RIDGE, N.J., and DALLAS – Verizon Wireless and Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile), today announced the Samsung Reality™ will be available on April 22.  The sleek and stylish Samsung Reality, available in two color options – Piano Black and City Red – sports a three-inch touch screen display, full horizontal slide-out QWERTY keyboard, customizable widgets, and multiple messaging options.
 
The Samsung Reality supports Samsung’s unique TouchWiz interface, which offers specially designed widgets that allow customers to customize and personalize their phones.  The Communities widget allows customers to update social networking sites, post pictures and upload videos to YouTube™ and other Web sites instantly.  The Samsung Reality also features one-touch widgets, which provide instant access to favorite Web sites on the phone’s full HTML Web browser.
 
Key features and specifications:          

• 3 inch WQVGA (240 x 400) full touch screen
• Horizontal slide-out QWERTY keyboard
• Full suite of messaging options, including text, picture, video and voice messaging; Mobile IM; Mobile Chat; Mobile Email; and Mobile Web Email
• 3.2 megapixel camera with Night Shot Mode; single, multi, panorama, mosaic and frame shot modes; and video capture capabilities
• Photo editing features, including Dynamic Canvas, which supports flash animations in pictures
• Bluetooth® technology with support for headset, hands-free, Dial Up Networking, stereo, phonebook access, basic print, basic imaging, object push for vCard and vCalendar, File Transfer and serial port
• Corporate Email (formerly RemoSync) support for Microsoft Office Exchange so customers can synchronize corporate e-mail, contacts and calendars from their office e-mail
• microSD™ card slot with support for up to 16 GB (card purchased separately)

 
Lifestyle features:

• Access to social networking services
• VZ Navigator® capable – Receive audible turn-by-turn directions to more than 15 million points of interest and share the directions with others
• Visual Voice Mail – Delete, reply and forward voice mail messages without having to listen to prior messages or voice instructions
• Media Center – Access downloadable games, ringtones, wallpapers, location-based services and more
• Personal organizer and tools with calendar, calculator with currency converter, notepad, alarm clock, world clock and stop watch

 
Price and availability:

• The Samsung Reality will be available on April 22 at Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online at www.verizonwireless.com for $79.99 after a $50 mail-in rebate with a new two-year customer agreement.  Customers will receive the rebate in the form of a debit card; upon receipt, customers may use the card as cash anywhere debit cards are accepted.
• To get the most from the Samsung Reality, customers will need to subscribe to a Nationwide Talk or Nationwide Talk & Text plan, as well as purchase a data package that begins at $9.99 per month for 25 megabytes with Mobile Email.
• For additional information on Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go to www.verizonwireless.com.

 
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Media can access high-resolution images of the Samsung Reality in the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.)
 
About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s most reliable and largest wireless voice and 3G data network, serving more than 91 million customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 83,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ) and Vodafone (LSE, NASDAQ: VOD).  For more information, visit www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.
 

Harvard, Harvard, how does your garden grow?

With plenty of rain.

At the dedication of the Harvard Community Garden on Mt. Auburn Street on Sunday (April 18), well-wishers huddled gratefully under a blue tarp noisy with rain. Nearby, green lawn chairs sat empty.

But the garden at 27 Holyoke Place offers sunny messages: that food can grow in an urban backyard; that a garden is a living laboratory for diverse academic pursuits; and that an open garden encourages community.

The plot in front of Lowell House — 560 square feet of growing space — is a lesson in local food and sustainability that matches the University’s environmental ethic, said Zachary Arnold ’10. “Our tagline is: a beautiful and productive space.”

The Eliot House senior is one of a dozen or so undergraduates who helped to organize a new club, the Harvard College Garden Project, a year in the making.

The garden, consisting of 25 raised beds spaced along stone-dust patios, is supervised by the Center for Health and the Global Environment (CHGE) at Harvard Medical School. Collaborators include the Office for Sustainability (OFS), the University Planning Office, Landscape Services, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and the Food Literacy Project, a division of Harvard University Hospitality and Dining Services.

Food harvested from the garden — lettuce, onions, peas, and other traditional New England kitchen crops — will be used in on-site tastings and demonstrations, consumed at undergraduate dining halls, sold at the Food Literacy Project’s two farmers’ markets, or donated to the Greater Boston Food Bank.

Within a year, organizers say, the garden will expand. On the wish list are trellises, more raised beds, work stations, storage, and a system for harvesting rainwater.

The site will also serve as an outdoor classroom and as a gathering place. Arnold called the new garden a “multiuse space.”

This summer, two full-time interns will tend the garden, said the project’s acting director, Kathleen Frith, who is assistant director at CHGE. They also will develop protocols for how the garden might be used in current Harvard courses.

In the fall, she said, faculty will be invited to a forum on ways to bring the garden into the classroom. The hope is to get faculty to use the garden in existing courses, said Frith, not just in the sciences, but for poetry, languages, and the arts.

Over time, courses will emerge that are specific to the garden, said Frith. Lessons in urban agriculture will include growing on vertical surfaces, composting, and water-conservation strategies.

“When you look out here, you see a garden,” said botanist Donald Pfister, who made brief remarks from the shelter of the tarp. “I see a whole lot of thesis projects.”

He said there is academic work to be done, for instance on integrated pest management, urban habitats, and the microbial composition of the garden’s soils.

Pfister, an authority on the biology of fungi, is Harvard’s Asa Gray Professor of Systematic Botany and acting director of the Harvard University Herbaria. He told the small crowd, “I want you to think about this as your laboratory.”

Pfister is also dean of the Harvard Summer School, which runs during a peak season for studying plants. “To be able to be out in it,” he said of the garden-as-classroom, “is the great thing.”

Six decades ago, Harvard had a full-scale botanical garden at Garden and Linnaean streets. “That was the ultimate,” said Pfister, and included classroom space, plant displays, greenhouses, and outdoor growing beds.

But the intent of the Harvard Community Garden is wider than plant science, making it a kind of first at Harvard. “Our center works at the intersection of human health and environmental issues,” Frith said. “For me, growing food locally fits right in that intersection.”

It will be a boon to social well-being, she added, and has already brought students, faculty, staffers, and neighbors together. “That’s going to be the healthiest part of this garden: learning and getting to know and working with everybody.”

Ilana Cohen stood nearby. She was one of eight landscape architecture students at the Graduate School of Design who helped to design the garden. (The others were Erin Kelly, Rebecca Bartlett, Amy Whitesides, Dorothy Tang, Abhishek Sharma, Xue Zhou, and Athens Qin.)

The project — including a design charrette this winter — brought the benefits of community and collaboration, agreed Cohen. “It’s been great to meet people from other institutions within the University. We wind up in our separate silos quite easily.”

Evelynn M. Hammonds, dean of Harvard College, spoke from under the tarp, with a crimson-striped umbrella furled at her side. “It’s really a great start for Harvard and the College,” she said of the garden. “This will be the first space, but it won’t be the last space.”

Afterward, in a raised garden bed nearby, Joshua Wortzel ’13 scattered radish seeds. It was the new garden’s first planting. In another raised bed, seeds were scattered for arugula and rhubarb chard. Helping out was Jaclyn Olsen, assistant director at OFS.

“It’s amazing to see the students come together for something’s environmental, community, and social benefits,” she said. “It shows that Harvard is really trying to apply what the students are learning and what the faculty are teaching.”

Designing the garden came with challenges, said Cohen, who graduates this year. For one, the garden could not be planted in the lawn soils, so raised beds were a necessity. And those raised beds had to be accessible, even to gardeners in wheelchairs.

So the designers drew up flat pathways and settled on varied heights for the beds: 34, 20, and 16 inches, a “stepped condition,” said Cohen. “You wind up with these very dynamic spaces.”

The garden also had to encourage social interaction. So seating was built into some of the beds, which are arranged to create nooks. Visitors can “gather,” said Cohen, “and be surrounded by growing.”

And the garden probably will be expanded someday, so it was important to create an expandable design. “It’s a very modular system,” she said. “You could always add beds in the future and still have them fit with the same design language.”

Arthur Libby and Ryan Sweeney of Landscape Services started working at the site March 18. They installed the patio first, with its border of wood and surface of stone dust. Then they put in a fresh asphalt access walk. They framed the 25 garden beds off-site, and installed them last Friday (April 16). “It’s a job,” said Libby, who took a moment to shelter from the rain in his truck.

On Sunday morning, Libby, Sweeney, and a group of students filled the raised beds with heavy dark soil, shoveling them full and raking the surfaces flat.

The soil is made from compost seasoned in windrows at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University in Jamaica Plain. It’s a loamlike mix of what was once food waste, grass clippings, leaves, and other organic matter.

The garden dedication, hurried by intermittent rain, wrapped up fast. “Soggy cookies?” Frith asked, holding out a plate to students walking by.

“See,” she added, “we’re feeding people already.”