A reader helpfully pointed out this video from the Rainforest Action Network taking Chevron to task for greenwashing itself with its solar panel testing facility, Project Brightfield. Chevron was ranked No. 1 on today’s Top Ten Players in Green Energy, in part, for opening Project Brightfield.

The hosts of Greenwash of the Week, say that “The Energy produced by project Bull$*#@ will go directly to… the Kern River Heavy Oil Extraction Facility.” They find this appalling.

So, Chevron isn’t moving into solar?

Of course not. That’s not the point of the test facility nor was Chevron advertising itself as a green energy company.

As Chevron’s Jerry Lomax told us in March,

We are looking for technology that we can integrate into our different operations, refineries or oil and gas fields and support our core oil and gas businesses.

 The point is not for every oil and gas major to become a green energy company. The point is for them to use their R&D to find different models to make green energy work.

Perhaps it goes without saying that prior to the installation of solar panels at this facility, Chevron was powering this extraction with… fossil fuels!

Spy photographers finally headed elsewhere to catch a glimpse of the models ready to invade the Asian markets and they managed to capture the 2011 Buick Excelle compact sedan. The commuter based on the highly successful Opel Astra Platform was caught undisguised in China.

From what we see it features a waterfall grille, distinctive headlights, hood-mounted porthole vents, and controversial taillights. On the inside the 2011 Buick Excelle appears discreetly similar to the Astra minus the badge on the steering wheel. The Chinese model of this automobile shall be showcased at the Beijing auto show while the US aspirers of the Buick Excelle will have to wait a little longer. It is noteworthy that Buick has already released a hatchback version of this car — Excelle XT hatchback in China only and that variant looks utterly different that this sedan.

Attaining New Heights
Arv Voss, Canadian Auto Press

Mazda’s “fun-to-drive” rotary-powered, four-door, four-seat RX-8 sports car first bowed in 2003, and has since won 52 global awards. To date, nearly 158,000 RX-8s have been sold around the world.

The RX-8 for 2009 evolved further, receiving a freshened exterior and interior design as well as enhanced performance. Add to those improvements a new R3 model aimed at the true driving enthusiast.

The design continued to reflect an athletically sculpted exterior with a unique sense of originality, but with restyled front and rear bumpers and front fascia, sporty, LED headlights and taillights and larger exhaust pipes. A new 10-spoke wheel design was offered in a motif that symbolized the rotary engine. The “freestyle” four-door design remained with its unique “suicide” rear doors. The muscular lines maintained overall classic sports car proportions, while displaying a bold, athletic stance.

Unchanged however, was the core of the RX-8 – a high-powered, lightweight and near perfectly balanced machine powered by the world-renowned 1.3-litre, twin-rotor RENESIS rotary engine, delivering 232 horsepower at 8,500 rpm and 159 pound-feet of torque at 5,500 rpm when mated to the six-speed manual gearbox. RX-8s equipped with the six-speed automatic transmission continue to deliver 212-horsepower and come with steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters for a Formula 1-style driving experience. Both automatic and manual transmission cars also feature power windows, mirrors and door locks, cruise control and an AM/FM/CD audio system with six speakers, but it should be mentioned the R3 has never been available with an automatic. You’ll need to step up to the GT for that, as last year’s base GS model has been discontinued.

The 2010, RX-8 sports structural reinforcements for improved body rigidity with the rear suspension geometry reconfigured for better handling performance. Driveshaft rigidity is also improved. Performance benefits from a change in final gearing for the manual transmission. The 2010 Mazda RX-8 remains the only mass-produced rotary-powered passenger car in the world.

The rotary engine efficiently performs the four processes of intake, compression, combustion and exhaust by turning a triangular rotor in a cocoon-shaped combustion chamber. The RENESIS engine is both smooth and high revving — all the way to 9,000 rpm (7,500 rpm on Sport A/T–equipped models) — while offering a smaller engine footprint than traditional internal combustion engines (some 60 percent smaller and lighter than a comparably powered V6, and 40 percent smaller and lighter than a four-cylinder). The RENESIS engine features side intake and exhaust ports with nearly 30 percent more intake area and twice as much exhaust area than its predecessors. The efficiencies gained through larger intake and exhaust ports exclude the need for forced induction.

The interior consists of a comfortable and intelligently designed cabin with a driver-oriented cockpit. Enhancements to the interior include a redesigned steering wheel, front and rear seats, and center instrument panel and a new LCD touch-screen navigation system. A variable red zone was also added to the tachometer. The rotary design element is incorporated throughout the interior of the RX-8 in creative ways, appearing in the seats, centre console, shift knob and emergency brake, mirroring subtle exterior detailing in the same rotary motif. Soft blue lighting is used in the RX-8’s instrument cluster, which has been found to reduce eye fatigue and strain.

My RX-8 R3 tester provides the ultimate in rotary-powered motoring by adding a sport- tuned suspension with Bilstein shock absorbers and front suspension cross members filled with urethane foam for better ride comfort. A rear spoiler, side sills, fog lights, Xenon headlights and sportier front bumper are added to enhance the R3’s appearance along with 19-inch forged aluminum-alloy wheels shod with high performance tires. Inside, the R3 model adds a Bose audio system, Bluetooth hands-free phone system, front Recaro sport seats with leather side bolsters, leather-wrapped parking brake and Mazda advanced proximity sensing keyless entry and start system, complete with credit card-like remote.

Active safety features include the use of large ABS-equipped disc brakes on all
wheels as well as precise steering and suspension systems, and Dynamic
Stability Control with TCS; standard across the two-model range. Passive systems include front airbags, seat-mounted side-impact airbags and side-curtain airbags.

My test 2010 Mazda RX-8 R3 (a US example) was finished in Aurora Blue Mica (no longer available in Canada) with a Gray and Black interior. The R3 base sticker is set at $41,995, which includes an impressive inventory of standard equipment and features. Destination and PDI fees of $1,595 bump the final total to $43,590.

While rear headroom is surprisingly good for those up to six-feet, the RX-8, though technically a 4-door, four-seater, really doesn’t allow a lot of back seat legroom, especially behind tall front seat occupants. Front seats are highly supportive and firm, however, while managing to provide a satisfactory level of comfort.

The 1.3-litre RENESIS rotary engine is most responsive in the higher rev ranges, where it seems happiest. Changing gears goes smoothly when paying attention to the side spring load, otherwise, it comes across as a tad on the notchy side and selection of the desired gear may be missed.

The ride quality of the R3 is stiffer than other RX-8 models due to the specially tuned suspension, but the greater stability gained really doesn’t sacrifice comfort to an objectionable level. Handling is crisp, giving the R3 an admirable athleticism. The R3 model definitely takes the RX-8 to new heights.

Like every other tech blogger, I’ve been flooded with press releases about apps that are now available for the iPad. I’ve been underwhelmed, on the whole, with “news” of app updates for iPad compatibility but word came to me recently that BugMe had been approved for the iPad. That got me thinking about my review of BugMe for the iPhone.

My chief complaint in my review was that trying to write on the iPhone screen was too limited. That complaint vanishes completely with the iPad’s ample screen space. Also, the latest version of Bug Me includes an on-screen keyboard for both iPhone and iPad, so that you can type notes rather than handwrite them. Progress! This might be a useful little app for families sharing an iPad in the living room: no longer do you need to put a sticky note on the fridge, instead just jot down your note on the iPad and leave it out!

BugMe! for iPad is in the app store.

BugMe is also available for Android and Blackberry.

UPDATE: word just came in that the next version of BugMe for the iPad will include push notifications of the sort enjoyed by the iPhone.

Get out your anaglyph glasses, because this Flickr gallery of 3D-ized Apollo landing sites (and more) is something special. Also, for those of you without red ‘n blue shades, is there no joy in your life? [Flickr via Bad Astronomy] More »

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has made an startling revelation today: The US has long-range missiles armed with high-power-but-non-nuclear explosives ready for a global strike. The (big) problem: China and Russia won’t be able to distinguish between nuclear and non-nuclear ICBMs. More »

Filed under: Technology, Videos, Nissan

The gang at SoundMan Car Audio was the first to install an Apple iPad into an automobile when they dropped one into the dash of a Toyota Tacoma pickup the very day the device was officially released. That install was pretty slick, but required a bit of customization to the dash and a relocation of the controls. Now that they’ve had more than a week to think about it, SoundMan has once again done a car install of the wündertablet, this time sticking it into the dash of a 2004 Nissan Maxima.

Follow the jump to see how the follow-up install went, but know that SoundMan has taken a remarkably different tack with this configuration, making a simple notched slot for the tablet to slip into, with a single plug leading to the existing audio system’s aux jack. Slipping the iPad out of its holder reveals that the Max’s stock navigation and back-up cam screen are still functioning in their original locations. Assuming glare isn’t an issue, this install is very trick.

[Source: YouTube]

Continue reading Video: Second-ever iPad car installation keeps it simple, maintains factory tech

Video: Second-ever iPad car installation keeps it simple, maintains factory tech originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 15 Apr 2010 14:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Maybe I spoke too soon about Greece:

One official said Athens now hopes to raise between $1 billion and $4 billion from U.S. investors, and could cancel the sale if demand continued to sink. Greece had previously hoped to sell up to $10 billion of bonds.

Euro-zone countries on Sunday made an effort to persuade investors that the pledge was for real, saying they could make up to €30 billion ($40.1 billion) in loans this year and going so far as to detail the formula for the interest rate charged. That relieved markets–but only for a few days. As investors fretted about the procedural difficulties of putting the bailout in place and about Greece’s longer-term prospects, Greek borrowing costs climbed back up.

Midday Thursday, investors were demanding 4.20 percentage points more in interest than ultra-safe Germany pays for a 10-year loan. That spread was practically as high as levels seen last week, before the unveiling of the €30 billion package, all but dashing the hopes of those who thought Greece could skate through a spring of heavy debt repayments without a bailout

When it comes down to it, investors are right to anticipate a bailout, and probably right to anticipate some form of eventual default.  Maintaining these sorts of structural adjustments while lashed to the monetary policy of less indebted, and more prosperous nations, is going to be very tough.   No surprise that Greece is opening up talks with the IMF–though it’s not clear how much that will do to get down the outsized bond yields.  Ultimately, borrowing more money, even on good terms, will not do much besides papering over the nation’s problems.  Unless Greece can find the political will to make horrendous cuts in salaries and services, they’ll just find themselves in the same spot in short order.

Not to let its sister company Nissan get away with all the electric car press, Renault has also been busy finalizing its plans for releasing electric cars to Europe and Israel early next year.

Today Renault showed off the finalized designs of its Fluence electric sedan and its Kangoo small commercial electric delivery van. In addition, the company also announced a “pre-reservation” list, which will give potential customers a chance to get their name in line to order one of the upcoming electric cars.

(more…)

Ning, el servicio para crear “redes sociales verticales / comunidades” anuncia un cambio de modelo importante: cierre del servicio gratuito y sólo permitirán que sigan funcionando los proyectos de los clientes de pago. El comunicado oficial (vía Paid Content) es bastante claro, los actuales usuarios del servicio gratuito de Ning tienen dos opciones: o pasar a ser de pago o migrar “fuera de Ning”, para lo que plantean formas de exportación de datos, todavía por ver.

El freemium no ha funcionado para Ning. Parte del problema es que la aproximación “a lo social” de Ning en su momento parecía lo razonable: comunidades por afinidad temática con un valor muy interesante al añadir segmentación temática al potencial publicitario de las redes sociales. Sin embargo vamos a un escenario en el que “lo social” no tiene tanto que ver como una web destino (aunque también, pero con concentración en Facebook) como con ser una característica “transversal” de toda la red.

Cuando han dado este corte es porque el coste de las versiones gratuitas era superior a los ingresos por publicidad, y en coste no sólo apuntaría a mantenimiento, servidores y ancho de banda, sobre todo pienso en el distinto coste por complejidad gestionando dos millones de redes frente a tener 20000. Para los usuarios, a falta de ver cuán fácil es llevarse los datos y continuar en otro servicio (herramientas de migración, redirección automática), toca tomar nota de lo que puede suponer utilizar un servicio gratis con el que se aceptan condiciones de uso por las que de repente te encuentras en la disyuntiva: o pasas a pagar o se acabó la fiesta.

Relacionado: Ning frente a Google Friend Connect

Found under: Windows Mobile, HTC HD2, Customization, Sense, Manila,

Co0kies Home Tab which is a modification of HTC Sense 2.5 UI of HTC HD2 phone is getting speed and is loved by the community at FreewarePocketPC. For a day it gets about 4k download and rating of 4.85 based on 84 votes cast. And for top of that almost every comment is something like amazing on my HD2 from Levi or Wow is this an awesome and easy to use mod by Mike DalBon. And what this mod does is to make your home items movable and customizable along with appointment and quick link row

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Read more in mobile format

Ning, in a dramatic about-face, is shuttering its free social networking platform to concentrate solely on fee-paying networks and cutting 40 percent of its staff. Jason Rosenthal, who became CEO in mid-March after Gina Bianchini left, said in an email to employees that he’s “taken a hard look at our business in the 30 days since I became CEO, and I’ve decided to focus the company 100 percent on our paid networks business.” Rosenthal said that the free part of Ning would be phased out “soon,” and that existing networks would either have to convert to paying for the premium service or “transition off Ning.”

The shift from mostly free to 100-percent paid is a major strategic shift for Ning, which gained a lot of media attention not just because of co-founder and ex-CEO Marc Andreessen, whose former company Netscape Communications helped usher in the modern web era, but also because — in contrast to the “walled garden” approach taken by Facebook — Ning’s free platform provided a place where anyone could build their own social network. But Ning’s recent move is also a sign that the much-hyped “freemium” model might not be the road to riches many seemed to think it was.

The obvious implication from both the shutdown of Ning’s free offering and the staff reduction — not to mention the speed with which Rosenthal is making the change, and without communicating it to the company’s networking users beforehand — is that Ning couldn’t sustain its business at that level. Is that a sign that the “social networking for all” phenomenon was simply not workable? If nothing else, it suggests that providing free services (in the hope that some users will pay) doesn’t scale at the rate Ning and its investors were hoping it would. And there’s no question that some big bets have been placed on the company: last year, it raised another round of financing that gave it valuation of $750 million.

Rosenthal said that Andreessen and his venture fund Andreessen Horowitz would “work diligently with everyone affected by this to help them find great opportunities at other companies.” The Ning CEO alsosaid that within the next three months, the company would launch “the next generation of Ning, which will include a range of new premium features and services for our Network Creators, a new mobile experience, and a new set of APIs.”

The response from network creators has not been pretty, to say the least. The first comment on the Ning Networks blog post about the changes says:

What the hex!? This better be a late April Fools joke! I thought I found something great and now I have to cancel all my networks because Ning wants MONEY! I’m not made of it and Ning’s the only platform that actually gives you your own social network. In plain English, this idea sucks, and I hope it’s just a bad joke!

Below is the full text of Rosenthal’s letter to employees:

Team,

When I became CEO 30 days ago, I told you I would take a hard look at our business. This process has brought real clarity to what’s working, what’s not, and what we need to do now to make Ning a big success.

My main conclusion is that we need to double down on our premium services business. Our Premium Ning Networks like Friends or Enemies, Linkin Park, Shred or Die, Pickens Plan, and tens of thousands of others both drive 75% of our monthly US traffic, and those Network Creators need and will pay for many more services and features from us.

So, we are going to change our strategy to devote 100% of our resources to building the winning product to capture this big opportunity. We will phase
out our free service. Existing free networks will have the opportunity to either convert to paying for premium services, or transition off of Ning. We will judge ourselves by our ability to enable and power Premium Ning Networks at huge scale. And all of our product development capability will be devoted to making paying Network Creators extremely happy.

As a consequence of this change, I have also made the very tough decision to reduce the size of our team from 167 people to 98 people. As hard as this is to do, I am confident that this is the right decision for our company, our business, and our customers. Marc and I will work diligently with everyone affected by this to help them find great opportunities at other companies.

I’ve never seen a more talented and devoted team, and it has been my privilege to get to know and work with each and every one of you over the last 18 months.

We’ll use today to say goodbye to our friends and teammates who will be leaving the company. Tomorrow, I will take you through, in detail, our plans for the next three months and our new focus.

Post and thumbnail photos courtesy of Flick user Darren Hester

Remember….

This is from CNN in 2003:

For those who have ever wondered why the sky was a lurid red in “The Scream” — Edvard Munch’s painting of modern angst — astronomers have an answer. They blame it on a volcanic eruption half a world away.

In the first detailed analysis of what inspired the painting, an article published Tuesday in Sky and Telescope pinpointed the location in Norway where Munch and his friends were walking when the artist saw the blood-red sky depicted in the 1893 painting, and offered an explanation for why the sky seemed to be aflame.

It’s not unrealistic that if this ash plume doesn’t go away soon, and it continues to snarl air traffic and it does affect agriculture, this could have an impact on eurozone GDP.

See the range of possible impacts here >

Join the conversation about this story »

Below are links to news stories of interest from newspapers that came up during a search today.  These links were active at the time of this e-mail, but should you want to save a story, printing it or cutting and pasting the entire article and saving it to your computer is recommended.  

Rally Day is April 21.  IEA has partnered with several other organizations and rally day is proving to be a fairly large event. We’re encouraging everyone to wear pink to the rally in support of those who have been RIF’d.  Click here for a list of things to keep in mind as you’re planning your trip:

The tentative schedule of events for the day, which is subject to change:

9 to 11 a.m.   Buses arrive at IEA HQ-visit legislators (time permitting)

11 to 11:30 a.m.   Walk to rally staging point at 2nd and Capitol

11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.   SOS rally speakers at 2nd and Capitol

12:15 p.m.   Beginning of march

1 p.m.   Visit legislators (time permitting)

(Lunch will be availble at noon and served throughout the day. Members may eat at their leisure.)

 

State News

Get the facts on teacher pensions
Arlington Heights Daily Herald – Instead of Social Security, teachers and administrators receive a pension through the Illinois teachers’ Retirement System, established by the state in 1939

Gov. Quinn signs pension reforms into law
Springfield State Journal Register – and prohibiting someone from drawing a public pension while working another public job. The changes affect all five of the state-funded pension systems — for state employees, downstate teachers, university workers, lawmakers and judges Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno, R-Lemont, supported the changes in the bill, but said the state should do more.

Gov signs pension reform legislation
Chicago Sun Times – Gov. Quinn signed pension-reform legislation Wednesday that will require new state workers to stay on the job until age 67 and deprive incoming employees of the same blue-chip retirement package

Quinn signs pension revamp
Chicago Tribune – the new law doesn’t address Illinois’ $77 billion shortfall in the government employee pension systems, it is expected to save taxpayers money in the coming decades on retirement costs for teachers, lawmakers and many public servants throughout state government, universities, cities, counties and park districts. “It’s imperative to show the taxpayers we’re serious about saving money,”

 Quinn signs pension overhaul, cautions against changing it
Chicago Daily Herald –  It’s imperative that we have this reform to show the taxpayers we’re serious about saving money.” The new law raises the retirement age for new teachers, state and local government workers to 67, bans so-called double dippers and restricts how much salary goes toward pensions. The proposal was rammed through the General Assembly in one day

 Ill. Law Trims Future Pension Benefits For Savings
Chicago WBBH (CBS) 2 -he said it bolsters his case for an income tax increase to help whittle down a $13 billion deficit. “It protects taxpayers and it protects the retirement of thousands of public employees and teachers,” Quinn said after signing the bill in his state Capitol office, surrounded by Republican legislative leaders as well as those from his own Democratic party.

Union argues pension reform doesn’t address current problem of unfunded liability
Decatur WAND (NBC) 17 – Quinn made law changes to public employee pensions. They trim future employees’ benefits and raise the retirement age to 67 from 60. The Democratic governor says the changes will save $220 billion over 35 years.  But the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees says the law doesn’t do anything to address the pension systems’ $80 billion in liabilities that have not yet been paid.

U-46 teachers’ contract negotiations begin Thursday
Chicago Daily Herald – The first of five contract negotiation sessions between Elgin Area School District U-46 and its teachers union will take place Thursday. With significantly fewer items up for discussion, Elgin teachers Association President Tim Davis said officials hope to have a contract in place

WREX.com – Rockford’s News LeaderLocal teachers getting ready to …
WREX-TV – About 90 public school teachers and support staff from Winnebago, Boone, and DeKalb Counties will travel from the Illinois Education Association office at 4949 Harrison in Rockford to Springfield to tell legislators their stories of economic hardship created by state’s budget crisis.  55 Sycamore High School students will also be going with them. 

Wheaton Dist. 200 OKs 1-year teacher pay freeze
Chicago Daily Herald – discretionary spending reimbursement, which generally covers materials teachers buy for the classroom. In a statement released by the district after the contract’s approval, Wheaton Warrenville Education Association President Bryce Cann expressed support for the agreement. “As education funding from Springfield becomes increasingly less dependable, it becomes even more 

Litchfield Board Recognizes Several Students
Hillsboro Journal News – Superintendents Report – Allison made several reports to the board. He said the district had submitted a letter to the Litchfield Education Association, asking them to make concessions in their contracts for the coming year.  “It may or may not happen, but we feel this is in the best interest of the district,” he said. 

D204 parents, students protest in Springfield :: Bolingbrook Sun :: News
Suburban Chicago News – Because of her concerns, Emily decided to forgo class for the day and join her mother, Cathy, and brother, Alex, on the “Caravan to the Capital,” organized by a group of District 204 parents. Sporting black T-shirts with “Restore Education Funding” printed on the back, approximately 30 parents and students left from the Fox Valley mall early Wednesday morning. 

Fees going up in area schools
Chicago Tribune – suit up for sports as many cash-strapped schools raise their participation fees. Faced with dwindling state revenues and property taxes, dozens of local districts have cut expenses and laid off teachers. Now many are asking students to pay more when they register for class or sign up for after-school programs that were free a generation ago — driving up the cost of a public education 

Harsh words for state as Mattoon school district seeks preschool grant outside of cooperative
Journal&Gazette Times-Courier – Administrators Tuesday labeled the state as untrustworthy and a “bad business partner” while encouraging the Mattoon school board to insulate the district from having to cover more of the state’s unpaid bills.The board voted unanimously to go solo in applying for a state Early Childhood Grant 

Budget cuts earn Dist. 209 some respect
Forest Park Review –  The district eliminated 37 other support positions and cut 15 operations and management positions. Among the positions eliminated were 10 part time teachers’ aides, five 12-month secretaries, seven full time security workers and two teen pregnancy counselors. 

With state funding in doubt, Proviso lops 58 teachers
Forest Park Review – of poor performance while the other 38 teachers are being released as a cost cutting move given the uncertainty about the level of state aid next year said Chris Welch, president of the District 209 school board. “The first criteria was performance,” Welch said. “There were some non-tenured teachers, we believe the number was 20 non-tenured teachers, who were released for performance based 

Ikenberry, other university presidents grilled in Senate
Champaign News Gazette – Tough budget times translated to tough questioning of three public university presidents in the Illinois Senate on Wednesday, and no one faced more difficult questions than Stanley 

Political News

Edgar: ‘Sometimes you have to deliver bad news’
PioneerLocal.com –  Edgar said. “We got into this when the economy was going pretty well. But we overspent. For 10 years, we lived beyond our means.” Edgar gives Gov. Pat Quinn credit for having the courage to call for higher taxes. “I don’t think he’s going to get it,” Edgar said. “I would have told him he should have talked about cuts first.” 

Senate committee to vote today on bill to let schools to build wind farm
Chicago Daily Herald – Things are finally looking up for three suburban school districts aiming to build a wind farm downstate and save millions on their energy costs. A bill that would allow the districts to do just that passed the Illinois House in late March and is set for a Senate committee vote today. Last year, Carpentersville-based Community Unit District 300, Keeneyville Elementary District 20 in Hanover Park

A gang of thieves and Gov. Blagojevich
Chicago Daily Southtown – Blagojevich’s defense team likely will claim that this was just business as usual in Illinois. Sadly, they are probably right. The teachers Retirement System pension fund is mentioned quite a bit. This is the fund that governors and lawmakers have dipped into time and again to finance the operation of this state. Instead of  

Blagojevich sought ‘good gig’ in return for Senate appointment, document says
Springfield State Journal – was convicted in June 2008 of fraud, money laundering and bribery in connection with an alleged $7 million scheme to shake down a contractor and money managers seeking to do business with a state teachers pension fund. But his sentencing has been postponed indefinitely and he is believed to be cooperating with prosecutors as they prepare for the Blagojevich trial. 

Feds detail ex-gov.’s thirst for cash
Crystal Lake Northwest Herald – was convicted in June 2008 of fraud, money laundering and bribery in connection with an alleged $7 million scheme to shake down a contractor and money managers seeking to do business with a state teachers pension fund. But his sentencing was postponed indefinitely and he is believed to be cooperating with prosecutors as they prepare for the Blagojevich trial. 

Cellini left a ‘nervous wreck’ by Blagojevich fundraising, document says
Springfield State Journal Register – The charges relate to an alleged attempt by Blagojevich fundraisers Antoin “Tony” Rezko and Christopher Kelly, along with Stuart Levine, then a member of the teachers’ Retirement System board, to get a $1.5 million donation to Blagojevich’s campaign or a $2 million finder’s fee from a principal in a firm that wanted to manage TRS funds. 

Quinn kills plan for new DNR canoe czar
Journal&Gazette Times-Courier – Gov. Pat Quinn quickly dumped a plan Wednesday to hire a longtime aide as the state’s $85,000-per-year canoe czar.Just hours after the hiring of Claude Walker was made public in a story first reported by the JG/T-C Springfield Bureau, Quinn’s administration cut him loose, saying the state’s financial problems are too large to take on new programs

National News

Afghanistan: A Tale of Soldiers and a School  It was, in fact, a no-brainer, a perfect metaphor. The Taliban closed schools; the Americans opened them. That this particular school was located deep in the enemy heartland, in a district — Zhari — that was 80% controlled by the Taliban, an area the Russians called the Heart of Darkness and eventually refused to travel through, in a town that will be strategically crucial when the most important battle of the war in Afghanistan — the battle for Kandahar — is contested this summer, made it all the more perfect.
Inside the Battle for Hearts and Minds

TIME.com Today’s Top Stories

 

Palin Rallies the Tea Party Ahead of Tax Day Protests

Before flooding the nation’s capital, thousands of supporters of the burgeoning anti-government movement journeyed to this liberal redoubt — which they invoked as its ancestral home — for a raucous rally on the Boston Common

 

Russia’s War on Terror: A Crackdown By Popular Demand

In the North Caucasus, Moscow goes in hot and perhaps brutal pursuit of the alleged organizers of the subway bombing

 

In India, a Celebrity Wedding Nearly Derailed by Scandal

When a scandal almost derailed a wedding between a Pakistani cricketer and an Indian tennis player, Hyderabad’s media shifted their attention from the real problems of the city

 

Syrian Saber-Rattling Has U.S. Concerned

Damascus is determined to recover the Israeli occupied Golan Heights, whether through diplomacy or proxy warfare. And that is raising the danger of a regional war

 

Britain’s Election: Raiding the Obama Playbook

The U.K. election campaign is looking a little American this year, from the “Change we can believe in” rhetoric to the TV debates. But will President Obama’s strategies help convince a dubious British public?

Battle over financial regulation heats up
The battle over reshaping the country’s financial regulation escalated on several fronts Wednesday, with President Obama stepping up his personal efforts to win Senate passage of an ambitious bill while senators from both parties fought to claim the anti-Wall Street mantle.
(By David Cho, Brady Dennis and Scott Wilson, The Washington Post)

Treasury polls public on housing plan
Nineteen months after the government seized mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in what has become the costliest bailout of the financial crisis, the Treasury Department on Wednesday began the process of overhauling them.
(By Zachary A. Goldfarb, The Washington Post)

W.Va. governor asks coal mines to stop work for a day
West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin III (D) asked all underground coal mines in his state on Wednesday to halt production for one day, so that workers can review safety issues in the wake of the April 5 explosion that killed 29 miners south of Charleston.
(By Steven Mufson and Ed O’Keefe, The Washington Post)

Embattled Holder stands his ground at hearing
Senators challenged Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. on Wednesday over the Obama administration’s long-delayed pledge to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay and its plans to try alleged Sept. 11 co-conspirators. But Holder conceded little and emerged from the session mostly unscathed.
(By Spencer S. Hsu, The Washington Post)

Chesapeake blue crabs are back in the black
GRASONVILLE, MD. — And now for something completely different: good news about the Chesapeake Bay.
(By David A. Fahrenthold, The Washington Post)

Word of the Day for Thursday, April 15, 2010

pelf \PELF\, noun:

Money; riches; gain; — generally conveying the idea of something ill-gotten.

iPhone HD, 4G, 3GSS…whatever you want to call it, talk about the fourth generation iPhone is heating up.  After reporting on it a few days ago, leaked pictures have surfaced on the internet.  I’m not sure about you, but I’m digging the way the case looks.

The question remains: Apple dropped the aluminum casing on the iPhone 3G and 3GS, with rumors that poor reception (cellular and Wi-Fi) was to blame.  Then again, we’re in 2010, and it’s possible that Apple has worked out the kinks.  At any rate, this summer is going to be a great one for those looking for a replacement smartphone.  Who’s excited?

Via BGR, iClarified

There’s been a lot of press lately about EV launches and pricing strategies of big auto companies, like Nissan with their LEAF. But out of the shadows, practically unknown Envision Motor Company has emerged and announced that they will be launching not one, but three EVs this summer, all with a price tag under $30,000, once the $7,500 federal tax credit is applied.

The all-electric vehicles will include a seven-passenger wagon, a utility van and a small pickup truck.  All models will be sold at a selection of dealerships across America.

The vehicles will be outfitted with 24kWh sodium nickel chloride batteries and AC motors.  The company states they’ll have a max speed of 75 mph and a 200-mile range.  They have onboard chargers and can juice up at home on a 110V circuit in six to eight hours.  The vehicles have already passed crash testing.

The EVs will make their debut on a test-drive tour around the country that starts in May.

via Autoblog Green

We’ve seen the supposed front of the iPhone 4 (which, according to the ol’ mill of rumors, will be called the “iPhone HD”). In fact, we’ve seen it twice. Now we’ve got the other half of the supposed-sandwich: the totally unconfirmed back of the device.

The 3-image series, which first popped up on MacRumors, is… questionable, at best. It appears that this back is made of all aluminum – a serious no-no, when you’re messing with radio waves that you actually want to get anywhere. We’ve heard shaky whispers amongst our own circles that the next iPhone will be aluminum and aesthetically similar to the iPad — but it’ll almost certainly need the same black plastic section at the top of the device as found on the iPad 3G.

More points of curiosity: the Apple logo is suspiciously small and, as MacRumors points out, the meta data within the image indicates that this has been passed through Photoshop at least once. In our own snooping, it certainly appears that the FCC ID at the bottom has been manually blurred; whether that’s because it’s a sham or to keep the leaker’s identity safe is a mystery.

What do you think? Real? Fake? Rake? Feal? Let us know in the comments below.

The hunt is heating up for US-born terror suspect and cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. 

In its strongest statement yet, a diplomat for the Yemen government told Fox News it considers Awlaki a “fugitive” and wants him for questioning regarding “recent ties with Al Qaeda figures.”

The diplomat also told Fox Yemen Yemen is “addressing the findings linking Awlaki” to last year’s Fort Hood shootings and the Christmas bombing attempt. 

It is believed Awlaki is hiding in southern Yemen.

The White House has reportedly signed off on a “kill or capture “ order targeting Awlaki for his terror associations.

A western diplomat in Sana’a has revealed to Fox News Awlaki is now considered to be fully “operational” as a terrorist, and that he is involved in “the recruitment of volunteers, the conception of acts, and their implementation.”

Awlaki is thought to be, according to the diplomat, in the “upper tier” of Yemen’s Al Qaeda chapter, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

Now, it appears, both the US AND Yemen have put Awlaki in the “upper tier” of their “Most Wanted” lists.

Hope you’ve already taken care of the unpleasant chore of federal income taxes. If you want to see some frazzled people, head to the largest post office branch in your city or town between around 10 p.m. and midnight to see all those very last minute filers. Of course with electronic filing that little bit of yearly Americana is probably heading toward extinction.