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Consumerist reader Mike C. has got quite the sharp eye when it comes to spotting math mess-ups: He sent us this picture of a “free year” subscription offer from Family Circle. Only problem is, there’s absolutely nothing free about this deal.

There are two options on the card. The first, the purported “deal,” gets you two years or 30 issues of the magazine for $15.98 plus $4 in shipping in handling, a set-up they call “2 years for the price of 1.” Option two gets you one year, 15 issues, for $9.99… and no shipping and handling fee.

So, either it’s $15.98 + $4 = $19.98, or $9.99 x 2 = $19.98. Hmm, which to chose? Oh wait, they’re the same price either way you slice it.

Here’s the full-size pic:

There are seven new events on the calendar this week: Head over to Stanford University to learn whether the real-time Web is an imperative or insanity. Check out the Net Prophet conference in Cape Town, South Africa. There’s also the Digital Sport Summit in Melbourne, Australia. And don’t forget to register for ReadWriteWeb Mobile Summit 2010!

How do you like your events guide? You can import individual events into Google Calendar using the link beside each entry, or download the entire thing as an iCal (and Google Calendar-importable) file, or even view it as a world map. Know of something cool taking place that should appear here? Let us know in the comments below or contact us.

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13 – 15 April 2010: Dallas, Texas

PubCon South

PubCon, the premier search and social media conference, features the industry’s biggest names and key players shaping the future of the Web. PubCon South will include cutting-edge panel sessions exploring tracks dedicated to search, social media and affiliate marketing, an intensive professional search and social media training program, and some of the world’s top keynote speakers. PubCon South at Dallas will also hold a one-day, two-track slate of intensive educational training programs led by some of the industry’s most respected search professionals. The event takes place at the Richardson Conference and Civic Center. Register here.

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16 April 2010: Mountain View, California

Under the Radar: Cloud

Under the Radar: Cloud is must-attend event for dealmakers and heads of IT from large enterprises, SMBs, service providers, carriers and media companies who are responsible for helping their companies leverage new technology and innovation in the fast-evolving IT ecosystem. Join us for the 15th Under the Radar conference, featuring a hand-picked selection of the world’s most innovative cloud startups among 350 top tech, media, telcom and finance executives. For ticket and more information, visit http://undertheradarblog.com.

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16 – 17 April 2010: Royal Oak, Michigan

FutureMidwest

FutureMidwest is the region’s largest technology and knowledge conference. Founded by Adrian Pittman, Jordan Wolfe and Zach Lipson, FutureMidwest is the fusion of two successful conferences held in Michigan in 2009 – the Module Midwest Digital Conference and TechNow.

Both conferences highlighted how technology and digital tools have dramatically changed the way we do business and the effect this transition has had on companies. FutureMidwest kicks things up a notch with presentations, group breakout sessions, relationship-building opportunities and influencers who are taking action to redefine business in the digital age. Register here.

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17 April 2010: New York City

Seven on Seven

Seven on Seven will pair seven leading artists with seven game-changing technologists in teams of two, and challenge them to develop something new – be it an application, social media, artwork, product, or whatever they imagine – over the course of a single day. The seven teams will unveil their ideas at a one-day event at the New Museum on April 17.

Seven on Seven Participants include, on the technology side, Ayah Bdeir (artist and programmer), Jeff Hammerbacher (Accel Ventures/ Facebook), David Karp (founder of Tumblr), Andrew Kortina (of Bitly/
Venmo), Hilary Mason (of betaworks), Matt Mullenweg (founder of WordPress), and Joshua Schachter (currently at Google, formerly at Yahoo, and founder of delicious), and on the art side, Tauba Auerbach,
Cao Fei, Aaron Koblin, Monica Narula, Marc Andre Robinson, Evan Roth and Ryan Trecartin.

Conference attendance includes a half-day session where the seven teams will unveil their ideas, followed by a cocktail reception in the New Museum Skyroom. Find registration information here.

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April 19, 2010: St. Louis Missouri

Social Fresh St. Louis

The social media conference for marketers, Social Fresh is not about concept, but focused purely on case studies from the front lines. Learn what social media can really do for business bottom lines. Over the course of the day you’ll hear from 35 speakers from companies like Ford, Best Buy, Scottrade, Hardees, CMT and many more. Register now and use coupon code RWW15 for 15% off.

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19 – 21 April 2010: San Francisco, California

DrupalCon

DrupalCon is the premier conference focused on Drupal, the award-winning open source content management framework that is galvanizing social publishing and web development today. For a registration fee of $195, attendees get three full days of sessions led by the best and brightest Drupal experts.

Drupal has been downloaded over 2 million times since its inception, and project growth has doubled annually for several years. Drupal is used to deliver a wide variety of application types including blogs, wikis, community networks, digital media portals, and web content publishing and management.

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20 April 2010: Palo Alto, California

The Real Time Web: Imperative or Insanity?

The cost of creating, sharing and distributing data in real-time has become essentially zero, leading to an explosion of user generated content. Currently, every minute:

• 500,000 pieces of content are shared on Facebook,
• 25,000 messages are created on Twitter, and
• 20 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube.

Over the last decades, the amount of data created by individuals has doubled every two years. How do we effectively use that data to make decisions that drive value for consumers and businesses? How much data is too much to handle? And what’s the opportunity for entrepreneurs? In this event, VLAB engages with entrepreneurs, investors, and established players to separate reality from hype while examining key business opportunities.

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26 April 2010: San Francisco, California

Future of Money and Technology Summit

The Future of Money & Technology Summit will bring together the best and brightest thinkers around money, including visionaries, entrepreneurial business people, developers, press, investors, authors, solution/service providers, and organizations who work where cash and commerce collide. We meet to discuss the evolving ecosystem around money in a proactive, conducive to dealmaking environment. Featured speakers include Jolie O’Dell, formerly of ReadWriteWeb, as well as representatives from Wells Fargo Bank, Kiva, SharesPost, Jambool, Founders Fund, Outright.com, SoftTech VC, and many more.

Use discount code “rww” to get 10% off registration.

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3 – 6 May 2010: San Francisco, California

Web 2.0 Expo San Francisco

Web 2.0 Expo San Francisco brings together the designers, developers, entrepreneurs, VCs, marketing professionals, product managers, and business strategists – from startups to enterprises – that are building the next-generation Web. Along with a vibrant Expo Hall and plenty of networking opportunities, four main conference tracks cover a spectrum of Web 2.0 topics from business strategy to Web design, user experience, developer hacks, community building, real-time, mobile, cloud computing, user-generated content, and more. Featured speakers include Chris Anderson, Ben Huh, Charlene Li, Kevin Lynch, Hilary Mason, and Brad Stone. Register today.

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7 May 2010: Mountain View, California

ReadWriteWeb Mobile Summit 2010

The ReadWriteWeb Mobile Summit 2010 will be an exploration of the latest Mobile development trends – both the technology and the emerging business applications. Get ready to explore, think and create the future of Mobile with the brightest in the industry, your peers! As in our last Summit, The Real-Time Web, the ReadWriteWeb Mobile Summit is an unconference.

An unconference is a participant driven conference where the agenda is created on the day, in real-time and discussions are lead by conference participants. Read about the history of unconferences.

We will have two main tracks at this Summit – Development and Business – so the Summit will be of interest to managers, marketers, developers, innovators, entrepreneurs and thought leaders alike. Here’s a sample of some of the topics we’ll explore in both of these tracks.

• Geo-location services – what can you do using location as a platform?
• Commerce & Marketing – as more and more consumers use smartphones, how can businesses utilize this channel?
• Content, Publishing & Recommendations – the technologies and best practices.
• Mobile Social Networking – how to tap into communities on mobile devices.
• Internet of Things – the emerging opportunities from sensor and RFID data.
• Augmented Reality – the technology and business applications of AR.
• Native App vs. Browser Based – Including iPhone, Android, RIM, Palm, Windows Mobile and Symbian.

Click here to register now, or to become a sponsor, or to help shape the conference.

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11 May 2010: San Francisco, California

FinovateSpring

FinovateSpring 2010 will again showcase the most cutting-edge financial and banking technology innovations to Silicon Valley and the world. With Finovate’s signature mix of short, fast-paced onstage demos (no slides are allowed) from handpicked companies and intimate networking time with their executives, this conference packs a ton of unique value into a single day.

Come see the cutting edge of banking and financial technology and network with hundreds of the leading financial executives, venture capitalists, press, industry analysts, bloggers and fintech entrepreneurs. Early bird registration rates are available.

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13 May 2010: Cape Town, South Africa

Net Prophet 2010 Conference

Taking place on 13 May, 2010 at the Old Mutual Business School in Pinelands, Cape Town, this is the second annual Net Prophet conference to be hosted by the RAMP Foundation, a non-profit entity created by the RAMP Group as a means for social investment within the local Internet based economy. After a very successful conference last year, where over 400 attendees tapped the minds of leading Internet experts and successful entrepreneurs, Net Prophet 2010 will build on the same format and anticipates on reaching many more people.

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May 17 2010: San Francisco, California

SF MusicTech Summit

The SF MusicTech Summit will bring together 700-plus visionaries in the music/technology space – the best and brightest entrepreneurs, developers, investors, service providers, journalists, musicians and organizations who work with them at the convergence of culture and commerce. We meet to discuss the evolving music, business and technology ecosystem in a proactive, conducive-to-dealmaking environment. Enter the discount code “rww” to get 10% off.

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18 May 2010: Silicon Valley, California

Founder Showcase

On Tuesday, May 18th, 10 companies elected by over 13,500 registered CEO Members of TheFunded.com will present to an audience of 200 investors, founders, and members of the press. A panel of experts will critique the pitches, and voting from those in attendance will determine the grand prize winner, who will receive $2,500 on the spot and a host of other prizes.

Founder Showcase guests will be treated to food and drinks, as well as informative talks by two leading Silicon Valley CEOs. There is also a networking and Pitch Table area for startups, service providers, and investors to convene. Previous investors that have attended include Charles River Ventures, JAFCO, Leapfrog, Polaris, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, First Round, Blue Run, and various angels. Over $250,000 has been raised by presenting companies that met investors at previous Founder Showcase events.

Use discount code “RWW” to get a 10% discount.

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18 – 19 May 2010: Santa Clara, California

Social Media Strategies

Social Media Strategies is a conference on social business, social marketing, advertising and optimization. Social media technologies are fundamentally changing the sales, marketing and operations process. Business are leveraging social technologies to acquire, market, and communicate with customers. This conference features cutting edge topics, keynotes, workshops and discussions that provided strategic knowledge, insights and real world examples on how to successfully plan, implement and manage your organizations social media efforts to achieve your business goals.

Use the code “readwriteweb” when you register and get $100 off.

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19 – 21 May 2010: San Francisco, California

eCommAmerica

Emerging Communications Conference & Awards (eComm) is focused on what’s “Next in Telecom, Mobile & Internet Communications”. It’s designed to accelerate communications technology and business model innovation. Participants attend to be exposed to the latest technologies, research, companies, trends and opportunities.
Day three this year is being dedicated to augmented reality. AR may prove to be as significant as the introduction of the Internet itself, moving computers off desks and out of their separate modality into our lives. Use discount code ‘ReadWriteWeb’ for 10% discount.

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25 – 27 May 2010: Denver, Colorado

Glue

Glue is the only conference devoted solely to exploring the problem-sets facing architects, developers and IT professionals in a “post-cloud” world. Glue focuses on the APIs and protocols (Twitter, Facebook, Websockets, PubSubHubBub, XMPP), formats and standards (RDF/Linked Data, JSON, Microformats, HTML5), platforms and providers (Amazon, Rackspace, Google App Engine, Salesforce.com, Eucalyptus), Identity Protocols (OAuth/WRAP, SAML, OpenID, SPML) emerging NoSQL data models (Cassandra, CouchDB, MongoDB, Riak, HBase), and other mechanisms that are building the post-cloud world.

ReadWriteCloud will be blogging live from Gluecon and CloudCamp, and ReadWriteWeb’s Alex Williams will be moderating the “Managing Complexity in the Cloud” session. Please join us May 25-27 in Denver, Colorado. ReadWriteWeb readers can receive 10% off of registration by using the code “RWW12”.

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27 – 28 May 2010: Beijing, China

Global Mobile Internet Conference

The Global Mobile Internet Conference is designed specifically for entrepreneurs, executives and influencers to understand and capitalize on the growing opportunities in mobile internet. Though focused on opportunities in Asia, much of the conference dialogue is intended to compare and trade best practices across borders, especially between the East and West. Around 1000 industry leaders from Asia, Europe and North America are expected to attend. The conference will be in English, Chinese, Japanese and Korean.

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28 May 2010: Beijing, China

Global Mobile Internet Conference – Innovation Show & Startup Competition

The Global Mobile Internet Conference Innovation Show intends to be a launch pad for innovative mobile internet startups from around the world. Innovation Show finalists will have the opportunity to present their company to an expected 1,000 investors, industry leaders, and press. Finalists will be judged by and receive feedback from a team of respected venture capitalists and angel investors. The judges will choose one company as the GMIC Innovation Show Winner. Startups must apply by April 4.

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15 – 16 June 2010: New York City

Corporate Social Media Summit

The Corporate Social Media Summit is a two day conference focused exclusively on how big businesses can take advantage of social media to enhance their marketing/comms strategy. Featuring:

• Practical and relevant insights from peers who have already used social media successfully
• 20-plus corporate speakers (including PepsiCo, Whole Foods, Dell, McDonald’s, General Motors, Citi, Johnson & Johnson),
• Best practice, benchmarks and practical next steps you can use to take advantage of social media in your business
• A tightly-focused agenda with 14 in-depth, practical workshops giving you knowledge on only the most critical business issues surrounding corporate use of social media

Save $400 if you quote RWW400 when booking. Book here.

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22 – 24 June 2010: Santa Clara, California

Velocity

Now in its third year, Velocity – the Web Performance and Operations Conference from O’Reilly Media – is dedicated to helping people build a better Internet that is Fast by Default. Join hundreds of web developers and experts under one roof from June 22-24, 2010 in Santa Clara, CA Velocity packs a wealth of big ideas, know-how, and connections into three concentrated days. You’ll be able to apply what you’ve learned immediately for high impact results and you’ll come away prepared for what’s ahead. O’Reilly Velocity 2010 is the premier conference dedicated to building industrial strength sites, at internet speed. Velocity“>Register Now and save 25% with discount code “vel10rww”.

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29 – 30 June 2010: London

Cloud Computing World Forum

The 2nd annual Cloud Computing World Forum is the perfect event to learn and discuss the development, integration, adoption and future of cloud computing and SaaS. Building on the success of the 2009 show, this two day conference and free-to-attend exhibition will provide a focused platform for the global cloud and SaaS industry. Show highlights include:

• Co-located with CloudCamp London
• Co-located with Green IT conference
• Free-to-attend exhibition with seminar and scenario theatre
• Free-to-attend evening awards presentation
• Hear from leading case studies on how they have integrated cloud computing and SaaS into their working practices
• Learn from the key players offering cloud and SaaS services
• Evening networking party for all attendees

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7 July 2010: Melbourne, Australia

Digital Sport Summit

Digital Sport Summit is Australia’s premier sport and digital media event. Hear from social media pioneers who are changing the face of Australian sport. Learn how social media and mobile technology is taking fan engagement to a whole new level.

Speakers on the day will cover a variety of topics including:

• iPhone application development for sport
• Convincing management of the case for social media
• How to monetize social media
• Fantasy sports
• Social media from an athlete’s perspective

With speakers representing Essendon Football Club, Cricket Victoria, Herald Sun, Football Federation Australia and more. Digital Sport Summit will take place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

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5 October 2010: New York City

FinovateFall

FinovateFall will return to Manhattan on Tuesday, October 5 to showcase dozens of the biggest and most innovative new ideas in financial and banking technology from established leaders and hot young companies. The Fall event is the original and largest Finovate and features a single day packed with our special blend of short, fast-paced onstage demos (no slides are allowed) and intimate networking time with top executives from the innovative demoing companies.

FinovateFall is a unique chance to see the future of finance and banking before your competition and find the edge you need in today’s market. Early bird registration rates are available.

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Download this entire events calendar in iCal format.

Discuss

Over a month ago, on March 2 against Indiana, Shannon Brown sprained the thumb on his right shooting hand while blocking a shot from Dahntay Jones of the Pacers.

Since then, he’s been playing through the injury, averaging 19.4 minutes per game in March and 25.8 in four April games. The thumb has affected his shooting to the tune of 38.5 percent shooting from the field in March and 28.9 percent in April, but Lakers head coach Phil Jackson still values his contribution.

“If he plays in the game he’s going to give me a good effort, I know that,” said Phil Jackson. “That’s the kind of kid he is. His athleticism and his speed, the things that he can do are things that almost no one else on our team can do but Kobe right now. That reactive quality that he is is very important to us.”

Brown continues to be listed with a “sprained right thumb” on L.A.’s injury report, but is not expected to miss any time.

Filed under: Concept Cars, Motorcycle, Design/Style

Honestly, we don’t know what it means to have a “frame, suspension and steering grown from organic substances,” but whatever it is, you can see it in the image above. Looks kinda cool, no? Designer Michael Smolyanov describes a process of using fluorine to “destruct the organics and process the carbon” of the frame, leaving a strong and lightweight structure. Whatever that means.

In any case, this concept motorcycle is supposed to be eco-friendly, though it’s powered by what appears to be an air-cooled V-twin engine. Perhaps it would run on alcohol fuel? Looking over the design, the M-Org concept also appears to have some sort of mashup between a Cannondale Lefty and a BMW Telelever fork design.

Finally, the John Deer-esque color scheme is complemented by a saddle that you might expect to see on a very old and well-used tractor. Practical, or even possible? No, most likely not. But if you’re gonna go way out there for a concept, might as well go all the way. See for yourself in our high-res image gallery below, and check out some more of Smolyanov’s designs here.

[Source: Cardesign.ru via Two Wheels Blog]

M-Org Chopper Concept is green, organic, hard to describe originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 10 Apr 2010 13:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Little things can mean a lot, as we all know.

So when we hear about the city running deficits of hundreds of millions of dollars and facing billions of dollars in liabilities, we know things have gone badly wrong but why?

The politicians would have us believe it’s the fault of the bad economy but we’ve learned better day after day as we have seen them grapple the problems caused by their years of failed leadership and mismanagement of city affairs.

We see them panic over the DWP withholding $73 million and send out red alerts of imminent financial catastrophe, proclaim city government will shut down 40 percent of the time, gridlock over $6 million in power rate hikes as if we weren’t talking about a city government with nearly $7 billion at its disposal annually and a utility with $4 billion in revenue and $1 billion in cash on hand.

We watch as they talk about 4,000 layoffs but only carry out 33 while transferring hundreds of others to special funds and proprietary departments, some of them getting raises of up to 50 percent instead of pink slips and unemployment checks.

We get the picture clear enough: Things are bad and getting worse.

Let me fill in one small detail that will help bring this picture into focus and help you understand why our parks and libraries are closing and the basic services we all rely on are being slashed and they are imposing fees and rate hikes, planning tax increases and selling assets.

It’s the case of Environmental Affairs Department General Manager Detrich Brown Allen, Council File Number 10-0404.

Unfortunately for Ms. Allen, her department was eliminated as a cost-cutting measure and with it, her $152,299 a year job.

But all is not lost. Ms. Allen has accepted a demotion to environmental affairs officer within the Department of Transportation, a position that pays $122,607. There is upside since she no longer is working at the pleasure of the mayor and now has Civil Service protections and like all other city employees, her pension someday will be based on the highest salary she earned as a city worker.

If you have listened even occasionally to City Council meetings during the last 10 months, you know that for all the occasional lip service paid to the impact of what is happening on LA’s four million people and its hundreds of thousands of businesses, the real work that has been done involved protecting the wages, benefits and jobs of city workers.

That should come as no surprise since our elected officials regard city government as a jobs program, not a services provider.

And so it is with Ms. Allen.

Why should she lose anything just because she was demoted, her responsibilities diminished, her department eliminated?

“In order that Ms. Allen not be harmed by the elimination of the General Manager’s position, it is recommended that her salary be V-rated to maintain her current salary level,” City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana wrote March 10.

“The EERC and the City Council have previously approved V-rates for other employees whose positions were eliminated. The EERC approved a V-rate for Ms. Allen on March 2, 2010.

“Because the class of Environmental Affairs Officer is represented by SEIU 721,
the V-rate must be included in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The V-rate has
already been discussed with the union and they have agreed to include it in the MOU.”

I added the emphasis to make sure you notice that the mayor and City Council leaders not only approved this gift to Ms. Allen but they have “previously approved” the same deal for other city workers whose jobs were eliminated.

And the union that is so strenuously fighting to save the jobs and salaries of the city’s lowest-paid workers agrees to these kinds of deals for six-figure employees even though they are taking money out of the pockets of the people they represent — unless, of course, a way is found as usual to sock it to the public to pay the bills.

Last Wednesday, the Council Personnel Committee approved Ms. Allen’s $30,000 a year gift and sent it to the full Council.

But don’t let this worry you, it won’t add to the $222 million general fund deficit this year, or the $484 million deficit year, or the nearly $800 million deficit the year after, or the $1 billion deficit the year after.

“The cost to the Department of Transportation will be fully funded by the Mobile Source Fund and there will be no fiscal impact to the General Fund,” Santana noted.

I hope this helps fill in some detail in the picture you hold in your mind of what’s happening at City Hall as they juggle the books and raid special funds for special purposes and protect the same old special interests at your expense.

There was never any question but that the nomination of Dawn Johnsen to be head of the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel would be withdrawn. None. Much to the dismay of progressives everywhere who believe in the principals Professor Johnsen has written and stood for, early on in the Obama Administration it was crystal clear Mr. Obama and his Administration had retreated completely from the what has turned out to be empty rhetoric of his campaign and short term in the Senate.

As dday and Sam Stein have already alerted, Professor Johnsen’s nomination has been withdrawn. I want to focus on a later part of Stein’s piece in the Huffington Post, not to pick on Sam who is a fantastic reporter, but to knock back the bullshit meme that is going to be pervasive in the media:

The withdrawal represents a major blow to progressive groups and civil liberties advocates who had pushed for Johnsen to end up in the office that previously housed, among others, John Yoo, the author of the infamous torture memos under George W. Bush.

But the votes, apparently, weren’t there. Johnsen had the support of Sen Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) but was regarded skeptically by Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) — primarily for her positions on torture and the investigation of previous administration actions. A filibuster, in the end, was likely sustainable. Faced with this calculus, the White House chose not to appoint Johnsen during Senate recess, which would have circumvented a likely filibuster but would have kept her in the position for less than two years.

In a statement accompanying Johnsen’s letter, White House spokesman Ben LaBolt said her credentials were “exemplary and her commitment to the rule of law has been proven time and again.”

“After years of politicization of the Office during the previous administration, the President believes it is time for the Senate to move beyond politics and allow the Office of Legal Counsel to serve the role it was intended to – to provide impartial legal advice and constitutional analysis to the executive branch,” LaBolt added. “He will work now to identify a replacement and call on the Senate to move swiftly to confirm that nominee in order to achieve those goals.”

It is indeed a serious blow to progressives; but far more than that, it is a serious blow to the country and its desire to bring common sense, morality and the rule of law back to the tattered United States Department of Justice. No division of the DOJ has more symbolized the rot, moral and legal decay brought on by the Bush/Cheney Administration than the OLC where the sick and despicable opinions of John Yoo, Jay Bybee and Steve Bradbury emanated from. This is why Dawn Johnsen was both symbolically and pragmatically so critical and so welcomed. But it was not to be; it was never to be. (more…)

Why does George Barris continue to ruin perfectly good automobiles? He did it to the new Challenger in 2008, a Toyota Prius in 2009 and now a new 2010 Camaro. I remember seeing the new Challenger at SEMA in 2008. It was the talk of the show and there were no fewer than 30 on display. Then I spied this orange, yellow and black mess and almost fell over dead of a heart attack. Seriously, it was bad.

Fast forward to 2009, and Barris’s version of the Toyota Prius. It looks like old George inhaled WAY to many paint fumes, took a flight to the Bronx, stole a Prius and then bastardized it behind a bodega somewhere. I mean really George, green and gold with chrome wheels? You made this poor little hybrid look like a pineapple that’s been languishing on the jungle floor for far too long.

That brings us to his new rendition of Chevrolet’s redesigned Camaro. Yellow, purple and black with chrome accents. Hmm… I don’t know if it’s the pimp my ride wheels, the purple paint on the side or the grill made from used window molding. In a statement Barris said:

“Today so many custom vehicles have entirely too much work done on them”, says Barris. “I believe we have succeeded in developing a custom vehicle with just the right amount of custom features and keeping it affordable to the automotive enthusiast while being made in the USA.”

George, I hate to break it too you, but your dead wrong. Now please, stop this madness and back away from the spray booth and just relax… it’s over now.

Thai cuisine is known for harmonizing sweet, sour, pungent, salty and spicy flavors into dishes that burst with flavor. Unfortunately, many of the dishes on Thai restaurant menus in the U.S. are weighed down with vegetable oils and sugar, and served with heavy portions of rice and noodles. While we can’t promise that Tara Gravenstine’s “Thai-Inspired Salad of Awesome” (submitted for the Reader-Created Cookbook Contest) will demolish any last hankerings you have for Pad Thai, we can say that it will satisfy cravings for the complex flavors that make Thai food so addictive.

What really makes the flavor in this salad pop are three herbs easily found at any grocery store or farmers’ market: basil, mint and cilantro. Fresh herbs bring surprising flavor to any type of salad, not just this one, and are an easy way to make your daily salad a little more interesting. In Tara’s salad, the trio of basil, mint and cilantro is aromatic and refreshing and brightens the mild flavors of mung bean sprouts, bamboo shoots (or water chestnuts), avocado, snow peas and red pepper. Mango adds bright color and sweet flavor to the salad, but if you prefer tart to sweet, try using a firm, unripe mango instead. Unripe “green” mangoes are often used in Thai salads and can be sliced or grated.

Tara’s Thai-inspired dressing has all those delicious salty, sour, spicy flavors we mentioned earlier. A key ingredient is fish sauce, and while that might not sound appealing, fish sauce is one of those secret ingredients that heightens flavor in a good way. Many Asian dishes call for fish sauce and you should be able to find it at your local grocery store. Although most, if not all, brands have added salt and sugar, the sauce is used so sparingly in recipes (2 teaspoons in Tara’s dressing) that the added sugar isn’t much of a worry. In this dressing, the fish sauce is blended with lime juice, tamari and ginger, creating a lively, light dressing with a slightly spicy kick.

We topped the salad with chopped, grilled chicken breast for protein, although thin slices of steak (hmm…or maybe shrimp….) would be delicious, too. And, as Tara says, “some grated coconut on top of the salad would not be amiss.”

Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch spinach, roughly chopped
• 2 cups loosely packed fresh mung bean sprouts (optional)
• 1 cup snow peas, julienned (i.e. cut into matchsticks)
• 1 small can bamboo shoots (or water chestnuts), julienned
• 1 red bell pepper, julienned
• 1 bunch scallions, julienned or chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/2 cup chopped basil
• 1/3 cup chopped mint
• 1 mango, diced
• 1 avocado, diced
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced

Dressing:

• juice and zest of 2 limes
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 teaspoons fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon soy or tamari sauce
• 2 teaspoons finely minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons ginger juice (or grated ginger root)

*ginger juice can be made by chopping up ginger and squishing it in a mortar and pestle, or in a bowl with a spoon.

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Related posts:

1. 10 Delicious DIY Salad Dressings
2. Asian Cucumber Salad
3. Zesty Lemon-Lime Seafood Salad with Homemade Salsa

Our smarter siblings over at Consumer Reports are really on top of things today: After some digging around, they’ve come up with a list of deals out there this weekend at stores like Walmart, Home Depot and Lowe’s to help you stretch your hard-earned dollars.

Walmart: Check out their Brute lawn mowers, which have improved in CR‘s latest tests, with the BTXPV22700E making the Recommended list. Sick of walking and mowing? The Weed Eater One rear-engine riding mower has dropped in price to $650. Dirty rugs get clean with the Bissell ProHeat 2X9200 8920 carpet cleaner, dubbed “good-performing” by CR, on sale for $178. If you’re in the mood to mix things up, the KitchenAid Classic White 4.5 Qt Stand Mixer K45SSWH can be yours for $181.

Lowe’s: Oooh! Power tools! Take home the Porter-Cable PCL418C-2 cordless tool kit – which includes a cordless drill, circular and reciprocating saws and work light – for $159. Valspar paint scores high with CR on both exterior and interiors, so go for Valspar DuraMax Flat, $33 a gallon. Get your grill on with free delivery of the Weber Genesis E-320, dubbed the top-rated gas grill by CR, for $700. It’s not a price cut, but free delivery on that big guy? Awesome.

Home Depot: Speaking of free shipping, snag the GE GSH25JFX[WW] side-by-side refrigerator, a “standout” according to CR, on sale for $889 and have it delivered for nada. Mowers are also going down, price-wise at Home Depot: the Honda HRX2172HXA is at $699, and Toro Recycler 20330 is going for $300. Both provide “super performance,” CR says.

Sears: It’s appliance-palooza at Sears with 15 percent off all Kenmore products and 10 percent off other appliances. Which makes it even weirder to us that the top-rated Kenmore 4027[2] washing machine, which topped CR‘s washing-machine ratings, is actually selling for $24 more than its suggester retail price. So maybe go for the Frigidaire Gallery GLTF2940F[S] washer at a sale price of $579. Doin’ the dishes with the Kenmore 1374[2] can be your reality for $595, saving you about $100.

Weekend Deals: Walmart, Lowe’s, Home Depot, and Sears drop prices on some of our top-rated products [Consumer Reports]

When we see gadget concepts, they are in some sense finished products, whether they’re prototypes, mock-ups, or shiny computer renders. But what comes before that? As seen in these beautiful sketches for Core 77’s Invitational Design Competition: fantastic, unbridled brainstorming. More »

New official stats from China show that renewable energy capacity is growing faster than coal now.

By the end of 2010, hydro, nuclear and wind power should account for 26% of the country’s electricity generation, providing about 250 GW of capacity. “Thermal power”, largely coal-fired power stations, accounts for about 700 GW of capacity. However, 96 GW of the China’s 178 GW of new power capacity will be from renewables in 2010, compared to 80 GW from thermal power. So, the tide may be changing.

(more…)

Mustard Museum

Over 5000 contemporary and “historic” mustards from around the world are moving to a new location

For many years the highlight of Mount Horeb, Wisconsin was the famous Mustard Museum, run by a local celebrity (Barry Levenson, famous for the mustard museum, naturally) and home to a huge collection of both new and “antique” mustards from all over the world. The museum was small, but delightful, and the collection of antique mustard serving sets was particularly charming. There was also a stream of movies (like “Mustard: The Spice of Nations”) shown throughout the day on a big television in a little seating area known as the “Mustard Piece Theatre.”
Sadly, the mustard museum is leaving Mount Horeb. Not far – just 18 miles away to Middleton – but far enough for Mount Horeb to be concerned. As for the mustard museum, they have been given 1.4 million dollars to help build up a new mustard museum in Middleton, and plans are in place to make the museum bigger, better, and more mustardy than ever before.
The town of Mount Horeb is not without a fallback plan. Besides mustard, the town is full of carved wooden trolls and known (at least locally) as the “Troll Capital of the World.” Surely, there must be a museum in that. “People will still come,” says village administrator Larry Bierke “Mount Horeb has a resiliency that’s going to prove itself.”
The Mustard Museum’s gift shop offers hundreds of mustard’s ranging from fruity to super hot, all of which can be sampled on request. If one is really serious about mustard, the first Saturday of August is National Mustard Day, and cause for a full-on festival at the Mustard museum – wherever it is located.

Read more about Mustard Museum on Atlas Obscura…

Category: Museums and Collections, Unique Collections
Location: Wisconsin, US
Edited by: michelle, Dylan

The global manufacturing index, put together by JPMorgan, hit a new cyclical high in March which we discussed here.

This is great news for the global economy as it represents rapidly expanding manufacturing activity.

Thing is, Goldman Sachs’ wonders whether the rebound could lose some steam going forward, given that much of the recent momentum was driven by companies rebuilding their inventories from what turned out to be overly cautious levels.

Goldman (Global Markets Daily, April 6th, 2010):

Meanwhile, the momentum in the advanced economies was very strong in March as PMIs generally surprised on the upside. However, production in the advanced economies has been playing catch-up with the inventory cycle, as we continue to point out. This driver is temporary, and as mentioned above, the underlying data show that this cycle is coming closer to an end. The jump up in PMIs this month coincided with a large jump up in inventory indices, particularly in the US. As the inventory pendulum begins to swing the other way, industrial momentum may begin to slow.

Our Global Leading Indicator (GLI), released last weak, also confirms this story. While the headline measure improved, pointing to a solid industrial picture, the components generally show that momentum has been slowing. The PMIs are telling us a similar story.

Note that America’s huge Q4 GDP growth was heavily influenced by an U.S.-wide inventory re-stock from overly defensive levels. Thus the global growth slow-down Goldman forecasts will parallel that expected of the U.S..

Join the conversation about this story »

KABUL- They are both presidents and allies fighting a common enemy but in recent months their relationship has been anything but amiable. In fact, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and President Barack Obama have often looked like they are on opposite side of the war on terror.

But after a month in which President Karzai told Afghan lawmakers he might consider joining the Taliban if Western officials didn’t stop pushing him to clean up corruption and President Obama paid a quick, and some say undiplomatic, six hours visit to Afghanistan, both sides appear to be making an effort to reset the relationship.

On Friday, U.S Ambassador Karl Eikenberry hand delivered a personal note from President Obama to President Karzai. The letter thanked President Karzai for organizing last month’s unannounced trip, and reaffirmed America’s commitment to Afghanistan.

“The temperature got needlessly high,” said one U.S. official, “this letter is an attempt to defuse the situation.”

Just one day later, President Karzai made his first trip in more than a year to the NATO headquarters to meet with Gen. Stanley McChrystal. Though the two men meet regularly at the Presidential Palace, this was the first time President Karzai had visited the NATO headquarters since Gen. McChrystal took command last spring.

Deep divisions remain between the Presidents Obama and Karzai, but for now it appears they have both decided to play nice, at least in public.

By Matt Hawes

Livestream is providing coverage of the Southern Republican Leadership Conference.  Watch it below:

Infiniti presentó orgullosamente en el salón de Nueva York una nueva generación del modelo QX que ya está siendo considerado como el SUV más horrendo que existe. Inequívocamente es un modelo dirigido al mercado norteamericano, aunque siendo honestos, tal vez ni siquiera al más acérrimo defensor de los SUV grandes y gastones, le va a convencer este QX.

Menos mal que en España, se han conformado con el FX, un crossover bastante aceptable, pero nunca tan aparatoso como el QX (el público español nunca lo hubiera aceptado). En cuanto al QX, es una sala rodante con un gigantesco V8 como motor y todos los sistemas de entretenimiento y seguridad que se han concebido para un SUV. Por dentro, todo lujo. Por fuera, bastante discutible: parece un SUV chino de esos que copian a las marcas occidentales.

Vía | Nihon Car

A true tragedy and a political crisis in Poland:

A plane carrying the Polish president, Lech Kaczynski, and dozens of the country’s top political and military leaders crashed in a heavy fog in western Russia on Saturday morning, killing everyone aboard.

Television showed chunks of flaming fuselage scattered in a bare forest near Smolensk, where the president was arriving for a ceremony commemorating the murder of more than 20,000 Polish officers by the Soviet secret police after the Red Army invaded Poland.

The irony, noted above, is that they were headed to Russia to commemorate the Katyn massacre. As former President Aleksander Kwasniewski told Polish TV today, “It is a damned place.” The leader of the lower house of Parliament now takes over as President, but must call elections within 60 days.

As you can see, a substantial chunk of the political class was on the plane:

Among those on board, according to the Web site of the newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza, were Mr. Kaczynski; his wife, Maria; former Polish president-in-exile Ryszard Kaczorowski; the deputy speaker of Poland’s parliament, Jerzy Szmajdzinski; the head of the president’s chancellery, Wladyslaw Stasiak; the head of the National Security Bureau, Aleksander Szczyglo; the deputy minister of foreign affairs, Andrzej Kremer; the chief of the general staff of the Polish army, Franciszek Gagor; the president of Poland’s national bank, Slawomir Skrzypek; the commissioner for civil rights protection, Janusz Kochanowski; the heads of all of Poland’s armed forces; and dozens of members of parliament.

Kaczynski has an identical twin brother who runs the conservative Law and Justice Party he represented as President and who used to serve as Prime Minister.

In a statement, President Obama called the loss “devastating.”

 

Filed under: Concept Cars, Convertible, Budget, Sedan, Europe, Crossover, Hatchback, Volkswagen, Off-Road, Racing

Volkswagen will bring a number of creations to this year’s Techno Classica in Essen. While fans of the people’s automaker will get a treat when the company dusts off cars like the Paris-Dakar-winning Iltis, the Tarek and Type 181, the company also plans to turn out another surprise – ketchup. VW will sell a total of 1,000 bottles of Volkswagen Classic Ketchup to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the creation of Volkswagen Spiced Ketchup.

Didn’t know the company was into condiments? Neither did we. As the story goes, VW created its special sauce as a compliment to its unique curry sausage(!), and the ketchup features a thicker consistency and a special flavor compared to your run-of-the-mill Heinz. VW started bottling the stuff en masse in 1997, and it sold 20,000 units the first year. Since then, the ketchup sales have only gotten stronger, and last year, VW sold 425,000 bottles.

The stuff that’ll be available at Techno Classica is based on the original recipe, which means it’ll be quite a bit tamer compared to the current formula. Is anyone else craving Freedom Fries?

[Source: Volkswagen]

Continue reading Volkswagen’s latest tasty treat? Ketchup.

Volkswagen’s latest tasty treat? Ketchup. originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 10 Apr 2010 12:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• The unveiling of Australopithecus sediba was covered by some excellent journalism from Carl Zimmer at Slate, Kate Wong at Scientific American and Brian Switek at Laelaps. Meanwhile, Ivan Oransky covers the embargo farrago that surrounded this story, and I suggest to the world’s journalists that the only acceptable use of the phrase “missing link” is this.
• Grisly video of a hyena eating a giraffe while sitting in it. Not for the squeamish.
• A great piece by Dan Ariely of Predictably Irrational, talking about why businesses don’t experiment and why they should (instead of relying on consultants)
• An incredible story by Abel Pharmboy from Terra Sigillata about a blog reader who was a former homeless addict and turned her life around. Amazing, life-affirming stuff.
• Colin Schultz discusses whether science journalism is caught in a reinforcing cycle of niche reporting, with views from me, Carl Zimmer, Ferris Jabr and more, and a great comment discussion developing
• Crittercam reveals a great fight between a sealion and a giant octopus. I say “great”. I really mean “quick”. Poor octopus.
• The best infographic of all time
• From Lifehacker, a study showing that touching an object for longer increases our perception of its value. It explains why we hold onto our clutter, and also why arrogant people are such w*nkers…
• The always excellent BPS Research Digest tells us that people lie more in email than when using pen and paper and that emailers feel more justified in lying. I choose to believe them.
• Christine Ottery discusses the future of investigative science journalism following interviews with me and other participants at City University’s Science and the Media debate.
• PLoS ONE has an interesting paper about how positive results increase down the hierarchy of the sciences, from physical sciences to social ones.
• The scientific community is abuzz with news that everyone’s favourite black-bellied dew-lover Drosophila melanogaster might have to be renamed. Nature News has the story. Brendan Maher has already set up a #savedrosophila hashtag on Twitter.
• In the Atlantic, Lane Wallace has an excellent piece about the bias of veteran journalists – essential reading for anyone who thinks that journalists are the only people capable of impartial, independent reporting.
• A PNAS paper about beautiful insects preserved in Cretaceous amber prompted a fascinating blog fight between Alex Wild of Myrmecos and the paper’s authors. Alex has since conceded but the entire issue makes for fascinating reading.
• Ever since Titanoboa, the world’s largest ever snake, was discovered, every fossil in the surrounding area became destined to be described in relation to this mega-serpent. As an example, see Wired’s piece about a fossil turtle that had an extra-thick shell to fend off Titanoboa.
• National Geographic has a piece about a rare breed of super-taskers who can juggle driving and using mobile phones without an increased risk of accidents. But can they juggle phones while driving?
• The New York Times had an interesting piece about gay behaviour in animals. Jonah Lehrer gave his take on it, and Vanessa Woods followed it up with a post in Psychology Today claiming that a story about gay sex in animals without bonobos is like an article about big ears without elephants.
• Mind Hacks has a post about how rates of yawning change throughout our lives, which will almost certainly make you yawn.
• Will the iPad change journalism or publishing? Who cares? The big question is will it blend?
• In the NYT, Natalie Angier says that even among animals, there are leaders, followers and schmoozers
• Phil Plait shares one of the most incredible astronomy photos of all time – the International Space Station flying through the aurora
• New Scientist covers research that suggests Archaeopteryx may have been nocturnal
• And finally, I started a Posterous account to mock a piece of hilariously bad PR which suggested that atoms are conscious and that I am Jennifer Ouellette. Neither is true.

2011 Ford Mustang GT vs Camaro SS, Challenger SRT8

The guys over at Motor Trend are always good about bringing us great videos and today is no exception. One of the darlings at last weeks New York International Auto Show was Ford’s new Mustang GT 5.0. It’s not only great looking but a powerhouse as well. The new 5.0 V8 manages to pump out 395 rwhp, which is simply awesome. Because of this Motor Trend wasted no time in getting it together with its two rivals. The Camaro SS and Dodge’s Challenger SRT8. The nice part about the video is that you can tell that the editors were having a blast. We have burnouts, drifting, braking and drag racing, all in the name of testing… go figure. So, feel free to sit back and watch the hoonage commence.

Source: Streetfire.net