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On the  eve of the meeting of Development Ministers on Monday in Brussels, European Commission Vice President and EU High  Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton (pictured at right) underlined the EU’s  determination to help Haiti in overcoming the consequences  of the devastating earthquake.

Ministers will discuss the EU’s contribution to the short-term relief operation, but also in the forthcoming reconstruction efforts in the disaster area.

On Wednesday next week, VP/HR Ashton will travel  to the United States for meetings at the UN headquarters in New York and  with the U.S. Administration in Washington, DC.

“While we  are making sure that Haiti receives the immediate and urgent support it needs,  we also have to get ready for the very important next step in helping Haiti to  rebuild the country,” said Vice President and High Representative Ashton.

“I am  in close contact with our partners in Europe and beyond to coordinate these efforts. Together with the Spanish Presidency and  [Development and Humanitarian Aid Commissioner] Karel de Gucht we have organized a meeting of development ministers which I will chair.

I am absolutely committed  to helping the people in Haiti. That is what the people of  Haiti expect and they can count on us. Rebuilding Haiti is now a priority for the EU.”

The European Commission has swiftly responded to the crisis by providing immediate assistance through its humanitarian aid department (ECHO), and the Monitoring  and Information Centre for Civil Protection.

The EU Member States are providing  additional significant support. The Vice President/ High Representative continues to coordinate the different activities of the European Union with the EU Member States and the international community.

The  immediate priority of these operations has been to deliver equipment to remove  the debris, to dispatch search and rescue teams and to provide emergency health, water, field hospitals, tents, telecommunication and food supply.

The EU has also indicated that it stands ready to provide other support for other areas.

The extraordinary meeting of Development Ministers will discuss the next steps of  the EU activities in providing and funding additional post-emergency and  reconstruction actions in Haiti.

The  meeting will take place in Brussels from 10:00 am to 12:30 pm and a press  conference will follow.

German supermodel Claudia Schiffer is expecting her third child in May, Grazia Daily reported Friday. The former Chanel muse and her husband, film producer Matthew Vaughn, are already the parents of Caspar, 6, and Clementine, 5. The couple married in 2002.

Article Tags: Tim Ball

There is nothing more frightening than ignorance in action.—Goethe

Extreme cold weather across the Northern Hemisphere drew attention away from the leaked files from the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) that showed how the entire work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was falsified. The cold simply isn’t supposed to happen. As Kevin Trenberth of the CRU gang said on 12 October 2009, “The fact is that we can’t account for the lack of warming at the moment and it is a travesty that we can’t.” It’s true only because they can’t hide the reality.

The cold triggered questions, cartoons and jokes about global warming. It also forced more denial. Those who claim the cold weather alters nothing provided the real laugh. Most ridiculous of these came from the United Kingdom Meteorological Office (UKMO). They were involved in the skullduggery at the CRU through the Hadley Centre. UKMO is a major promoter of the IPCC and their former Director Sir John Houghton left to become a prime mover in the early formation of the IPCC.

UKMO is among the most useless weather bureaus in the world because of totally failed forecasts and blind adherence to false science. This was supposed to be a mild winter. Last summer was supposed to be a “barbecue summer”, and in the previous summer they were equally 100% wrong.

Source: canadafreepress.com

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It’s no secret that a lot of the network neutrality debate has been positioned as pitting online companies — such as Google — against infrastructure companies — such as the telcos. That’s a bit of an unfair characterization, because there are lots of issues at play when it comes to network neutrality, but it’s getting a lot of attention that Google and Verizon filed a joint statement to the FCC about net neutrality. Of course, despite the PR value of this, I wouldn’t read too much into it. The letter itself (pdf) lays out their “common ground” in incredibly broad and vague language that is borderline meaningless at times. And, of course, at the same time both companies filed their own separate statements in which they disagree heavily (Verizon even calls out Google by name). By way of comparison:

• Joint Submission by Google and Verizon: 9 pages
• Google’s submission: 98 pages
• Verizon’s submission: 139 pages

There’s obviously still a lot that they don’t agree on at all. Still, it is nice that they at least tried to come together a bit to find some common ground. That is pretty rare in a political culture often driven by extremes on each end playing tug o’ war and hoping that the end result is somewhere in the middle. It would certainly be nice if this sort of thing became a little more common — with more folks trying to find what the points of agreement are, separate from the points of disagreement.

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HeinOnline, has surpassed their milestone of 50 million pages of legal research material! They have introduced a number of new library modules, added enhancements, introduced new training opportunities, and released some notable news stories regarding Hein and HeinOnline. Below is a recap of everything accomplished in 2009.

New Library Modules

• Selden Society Publications & The History of Early English Law
• Taxation & Economic Reform in America, A Historical Archive
• Law Librarian’s Reference Library
• Bar Journals Library
• New York Legal Research Library

New Content Added to Existing Collections

• World Trials Library – more than 700 new titles
• Legal Classics – more than 120 new titles including the following notable titles: International Legislation, A Collection of the Texts of Multipartite International Instruments of General Interest edited by Manley O. Hudson; The Nature of Judicial Proof: An Inquiry into the Logical, Legal and Empirical Aspects of the Law of Evidence written by Jerome Michael and Mortimer J. Adler; Treatise on the Law and Practice of Receivers by Ralph Ewing Clark; and Civil Law of Spain and Mexico by Gustavus Schmidt.
• Law Journal Library – In April 2009, we surpassed 20 million pages of content in the Law Journal Library. 118 new titles were added including the following notable titles: University of Western Australia Law Review; Waikato Law Review, Insurance Law Journal, Law Practice, The Journal of Psychiatry and Law, Merkourios – Utrecht Journal of International and European Law, Clearinghouse Review, Antitrust Bulletin, SEC Docket, James Cook University Law Review, Journal of Entertainment and Sports Law, and Air and Space Lawyer.
• Code of Federal Regulations – In June 2009 we completed the entire backfile of the CFR, therefore making every title of every year from inception available! This was one of the most sought-after collection development items over the past few years, and we are excited to have made this happen for you!
• Digital Session Laws – The Acts of Parliament of Canada, the Acts of Parliament of Australia, and the state session laws of Ohio, Illinois, Florida, Texas, Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania are available back to inception. The coverage of session laws for all other U.S. States has been taken back to 1990.
• Federal Register is now being updated daily!
• U.S. Federal Agency Documents, Decisions and Appeals – more than 42 new titles including these notable titles: Civil Aeronautics Board Reports, Treasury Decisions (1899-1966), OSAHRC Reports (1971-1975), Decisions of the Federal Labor Relations Authority, Federal Anti-trust Decisions (1890-1931), Decisions of the United States Railroad Labor Board (1920-1925), and more than 30 GPO Best Sellers!
• Added more than 75 new full-text legislative histories to the U.S. Federal Legislative History Library.
• Added more than 485 KAVs and 240 TIAS documents to the Treaties and Agreements Library.

Enhancements & New Features
Click on any enhancement or new feature below to read more about it on the HeinOnline Blog.

• Added a quick link to CFR Indexes & Finding Aids
• Find Bluebook Citation tool added to Law Journal Citation Navigator
• Add notes to your MyHein bookmarks and reorder bookmarks in your MyHein account (view short video demonstration)
• Quickly find a Public Law Number in the U.S. Statutes at Large Library
• New citation locator tool added to the CFR library (view short video demonstration)
  Cross Library Searching
  Search the page or section you are reading
  URLs are now hot-links to the web
• Relocated the printer icon to be more central to the viewer
• Added the NOT operator to the Boolean search options
• Linking full-text legislative histories from the U.S. Federal Legislative History Library & Taxation and Economic Reform in America Archive to the Sources of Compiled Legislative Histories database
• Integrated ScholarCheck features with the U.S. Federal Legislative History Library & Taxation and Economic Reform in America Archive
• Faceted Searching Introduced in the Law Journal Library
• Quick search button added at a title’s volume-level listing

Third and last night at work tonight…and then on Tuesday I get to come back to a normal life! Yes, I am coming to day shift!~
Honestly, I did not like night shift at all. There were some pluses to it, like staying up later even if you had to work the next day, but besides that? Sleeping all day, eating at weird hours, driving to work when everyone else is coming home and winding down? ugh, so isolating!
And I never felt like I got restful sleep compared to my normal schedule. For instance, my body used to wake up at like 6-7 in the morning on it’s own accord on day’s off and I would feel great. Now? I wake up only because my alarm tells me and I still feel like I could sleep 12 more hours, despite the hours I already received.

I am nervous about working days’ only because they are busier with rounds, traveling, and more family, but I think it is better to jump right into that sort of thing instead of hanging around on nights and getting used to  a slower pace.

Alyssa Milano, a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, donated $50,000 to the charity’s Haiti earthquake relief efforts of Friday, and the former Charmed star is making a “Tweet Challenge” imploring corporations to match her donation.

“I challenge any corporation to match my $50,000 donation to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF. 100% of every dollar will go directly to supplies that include tarpaulins, water-purification tablets, oral rehydration salts, family water kits, medical supplies, medical kits, food, shelter, and protection,” the actress wrote in a statement on The Huffington Post Friday.

Filed under: Classics, Convertible, Coupe, Auctions, Ferrari

Crockett and Tubbs sure looked pimpin’ cruising the streets of Miami in their Ferrari Daytona Spyder. Thing is, as big a Ferrari nut as producer Michael Mann is, he wasn’t man enough to get hold of a real drop-top Daytona: the one featured in Miami Vice was a replica. But Mann wasn’t the only American executive trying to get his hands on one. Though his great grandfather may have lost the opportunity to buy Enzo Ferrari’s outfit outright, Edsel Ford II managed to acquire this very rare and highly sought-after Daytona Spyder on his own.

Only 121 examples were officially produced by Maranello – supplemented by a wealth of chop-jobs perpetrated on the more common Daytona coupe – and this one was once owned, among its three pink-slip holders – by Edsel Ford II. One of only 22 made in yellow, this example has recently undergone a full restoration and comes certified by the rigorous Ferrari Classiche program. It’s anticipated to fetch upwards of $1 million when it crosses RM’s auction block on Amelia Island in March.

The Daytona isn’t the only rare, million-dollar Ferrari classic among the early consignments lined up for Amelia Island, though. The RM Auction event will also feature a rare four-cam, alloy-bodied 275 GTB/4. The car was acquired by Luigi Chinetti, the official importer of Ferraris to the United States, and displayed at the 1967 New York Auto Show. The fully restored show car, in a rather striking copper paint scheme, is estimated to fetch between $1,350,000 and $1,750,000. The auction is stillstill several months away, so stay tuned for more key consignments as they’re announced. In the meantime, you can check out these particularly stunning stallions in the galleries below.

[Source: RM Auctions]

Edsel’s Ferrari Daytona Spyder, Chinetti’s 275 up for auction at RM Amelia Island originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pitchers and Catchers to report Wednesday, Feb. 17

The Chicago Cubs today announced the club has invited 19 non-roster players to Major League Spring Training, which begins Wednesday, Feb. 17 when pitchers and catchers are invited to report in Mesa, Ariz.

Their first workout will take place on Thursday, Feb. 18. Position players report to camp Monday, February 22 with the team’s first full workout Tuesday, Feb. 23.

Overall, 12 of the 19 invitees are homegrown players either drafted or originally signed by the Cubs.

Additionally, each of the club’s last four first-round draft picks will be in camp: outfielder Tyler Colvin (2006, now on the club’s 40-man roster), infielder Josh Vitters (2007), righthander Andrew Cashner (2008) and outfielder Brett Jackson (2009).

Seven pitchers – lefthanders J.R. Mathes and James Russell and righthanders Cashner, Casey Coleman, Thomas Diamond, Jeff Kennard and Vince Perkins – have been invited to major league camp, as well as catchers Robinson Chirinos, Steve Clevenger, Blake Lalli and Chris Robinson. Infielders Darwin Barney, Matt Camp, Starlin Castro, Bryan LaHair, Bobby Scales and Vitters have also been invited, along with outfielders Jackson and Brad Snyder.

Darwin Barney, 24, begins his fourth pro season after hitting .293 (136-for-464) with 24 doubles and 49 RBI in 137 games with Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa in 2009. A right-handed hitter and fielder, he was selected by Chicago in the fourth round of the 2007 Draft after helping Oregon State University to the 2006 and 2007 College World Series titles.

Matt Camp, 25, was converted from an infielder to an outfielder prior to last season. Camp spent a majority of 2009 with Triple-A Iowa, batting .282 (98-for-348) with 13 doubles, one triple, two homers and 44 RBI in 99 contests. He opened the season with Double-A Tennessee, owning a .298 (14-for-47) average in 14 games before his promotion. This marks the left-handed hitter’s fifth season in the Cubs organization after being selected by Chicago in the 13th round of 2006 Draft.

Andrew Cashner, 23, was selected by the Cubs in the first round (19th overall) of the 2008 Draft. The righthander went 3-4 with a 2.60 ERA (29 ER/100.1 IP) between Single-A Daytona and Double-A Tennessee last year, surrendering just one home run in 100.1 innings of work. In five June contests in 2009, the TCU product owned a monthly-best 0.93 ERA (2 ER/19.1 IP) with 14 strikeouts, holding the opponent scoreless in four of those five contests. Cashner is ranked by Baseball America as the Cubs’ Number Four prospect entering 2010

Starlin Castro, 19, was signed by the Cubs prior to the 2007 season and begins his fourth year in the organization. He batted a combined .299 (140-for-469) with three homers and 49 RBI in 127 games between Single-A Daytona and Double-A Tennessee. The right-handed hitter was named to the 2009 All-Star Futures Game for the World Team, going 1-for-1 with a run scored in the World’s 7-5 victory over the USA. He hit .376 (38-for-101) with 10 RBI in 26 games with the Mesa Solar Sox of the Arizona Fall League. Castro is ranked by Baseball America as the Cubs’ top prospect entering 2010.

Robinson Chirinos, 25, who begins his 10th season in the Cubs organization, was converted from an infielder to a catcher prior to the 2009 campaign. Chirinos set numerous career highs in his first season as a catcher, batting .294 (77-for-262) with 11 homers and 52 RBI in 81 games between Single-A Daytona and Double-A Tennessee. The right-handed batter and fielder was signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Cubs July 2, 2000 at the age of 16.

Steve Clevenger, 23, batted .290 (89-for-307) between Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa last season, collecting 16 doubles and 36 RBI in 94 games. The left-handed batter has hit .286 or better in each of his first four pro campaigns since he was selected by the Cubs in the seventh round of the 2006 Draft.

Casey Coleman, 22, went 14-6 with a 3.68 ERA (61 ER/149.0 IP) in 27 starts with Double-A Tennessee en route to the Cubs Minor League Pitcher of the Year honors in 2009. The righthander surrendered two or fewer walks in 18 of his starts last season, while tossing 6.0 or more innings 13 times. He is entering his third pro season after being selected by the Cubs in the 15th round of the 2008 Draft.

Thomas Diamond, 26, joined the Cubs September 4, 2009 when he was claimed off waivers from Texas. The righty combined to go 2-3 with one save and a 4.20 ERA (26 ER/55.2 IP) in 38 games (one start) between Double-A Frisco and Triple-A Oklahoma City. In 117 career minor league games (77 starts) in the Rangers’ system, Diamond is 31-17 with two saves and a 4.01 ERA (194 ER/435.0 IP), striking out 487 batters while walking just 241. He was selected by Texas in the first round (10th overall) of the 2004 draft.

Brett Jackson, 21, compiled a .318 batting average (67-for-211) with six doubles, three triples, eight homers and 36 RBI in 53 games between Rookie-League Mesa, Single-A Boise and Single-A Peoria in 2009. Selected by the Cubs in the first round (31st overall) of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft, Jackson batted .303 (146-for-481) with 91 runs scored, 25 doubles, 11 triples, 12 home runs and 85 RBI in 152 career games with the University of California-Berkeley. Jackson is ranked by Baseball America as the Cubs’ Number Two prospect entering 2010.

Jeff Kennard, 28, spent the 2009 season with Triple-A Louisville in the Reds’ system, going 3-1 with two saves and a 2.83 ERA (17 ER/54.0 IP) in 40 games before signing a minor league deal with Chicago this offseason. Kennard has appeared in 338 minor league games, all but one in relief, within the Yankees (2001-07), Angels (2007-08) and Reds (2009) organizations. The righty attended Rend Lake Community College in Ina, Illinois.

Bryan LaHair, 27, spent his entire career in Seattle’s organization before signing with the Cubs this offseason, making his major league debut in 2008. In 2009, Bryan batted .289 (132-for-457) in 121 games with Triple-A Tacoma, while setting a career high with 26 home runs. In 45 major league games, the left-handed hitter is 34-for-136 (.250) with four doubles, three home runs and 10 RBI. LaHair owns a .287 batting average (789-for-2746) with 194 doubles, seven triples, 96 home runs and 461 RBI in 716 career minor league games.

Blake Lalli, 26, was named to the Southern League post-season All-Star team after finishing 2009 with a .314 batting average (117-for-373), five home runs and 52 RBI in a career-high 118 games for Double-A Tennessee. Signed by the Cubs as a non-drafted free agent in May of 2006, Lalli boasts a .304 batting average (339-for-1115), 79 doubles, 20 homers and 159 RBI in 332 career minor league contests.

J.R. Mathes, 28, earned Pitcher of the Year honors for Triple-A Iowa, going 12-8 with a 3.62 ERA (52 ER/129.1 IP) in 26 games (21 starts) last season. The lefty ranked ninth in the Pacific Coast League in ERA. This marks his seventh season with the club after being selected by the Cubs in the 16th round of the 2004 Draft. He is 56-37 with a 4.20 ERA (361 ER/773.0 IP) in 146 career minor league games (129 starts).

Vince Perkins, 28, owns a 33-33 mark with six saves and a 3.69 ERA (238 ER/581.0 IP) in 182 career minor league appearances (89 starts) spanning eight seasons. The righthander combined to go 7-2 with five saves and a 3.02 ERA (29 ER/86.1 IP) in 53 games between Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa in 2009. Perkins, who was signed by the Cubs as a minor league free agent prior to the 2009 season, was a member of Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic in 2006 and 2009 and has spent time with the Blue Jays (2001-06), Brewers (2006-07), White Sox (2007-08) and Cubs organizations.

Chris Robinson, 25, earned Iowa’s Most Valuable Player honors after hitting .326 (101-for-310) with 37 runs scored, 22 doubles, three triples, two homers and 48 RBI in 91 games for the I-Cubs last season. The 2009 Pacific Coast League All-Star attended the University of Illinois, played for Team Canada in the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006 and was acquired by the Cubs from the Detroit Tigers August 20, 2006 for INF Neifi Perez.

James Russell, 24, was selected by the Cubs in the 14th round of the 2007 Draft. The southpaw combined to go 5-6 with a 4.03 ERA (46 ER/102.2 IP) in 37 games (12 starts) with Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa in 2009. He is 11-16 with a 4.63 ERA (123 ER/239.0 IP) in 66 career minor league games (40 starts) and his father, Jeff Russell, pitched for five teams during a 14-year major league career.

Bobby Scales, 32, made his major league debut with Chicago in 2009 following 11 seasons and more than 1,000 career minor league contests. He appeared in 51 games for the Cubs last season and hit .500 (7-for-14) with two homers and five RBI as a pinch-hitter. A switch-hitter and right-handed fielder, he begins his 12th pro season after he was originally selected by San Diego in the 14th round of the 1999 Draft.

Brad Snyder, 27, batted .278 (66-for-237) with 16 doubles, three triples, 14 homers and 44 RBI with Triple-A Iowa in his first season in the Cubs organization, but was limited to just 69 games due to a sprained left wrist. The left-handed hitter and fielder began his career with Cleveland after he was selected in the first round (18th overall) of the 2003 Draft out of Ball State University.

Josh Vitters, 20, begins his fourth pro season after combining to hit .284 (130-for-458) with 19 doubles, 18 homers and 68 RBI in a career-high 120 games between Single-A Peoria and Single-A Daytona in 2009. The 2009 Midwest League mid-season All-Star was selected by Chicago in the first round (third overall) of the 2007 Draft and is ranked by Baseball America as the Cubs’ Number Three prospect entering 2010.

A month ago, Adam Duffy and Sean McCullough were diligently preparing for the acquisition of their Tulsa Oklahoma-based company Ping.fm. ReadWriteWeb covered the Seesmic deal in early January and since then the duo has moved to San Francisco to help get their product inline with the twitter client. ReadWriteWeb caught up with McCullough to find out what’s changed since the acquisition and what early-stage entrepreneurs can learn.

Sponsor

Tell us about yourself and how you decided to start Ping.
I started Ping on a lunch break 2 years ago. I really wanted a way to update my few social networks from one spot instead of wasting time posting the same message over and over. I didn’t ever plan to make it available to the public.  It wasn’t until a colleague at my job suggested it.

Was your company built to flip or does Ping have a longer roadmap?
I didn’t start it with the intention of flipping as soon as an offer came across the table.  I wanted to see where it could go.  The early model of the business had a lot of unknowns, but once user interest and integrations started to expand, a real business model had been established.  I planned on staying open as long as we could, providing a unique service to people who needed exactly what we were doing.

In negotiating your company’s acquisition what points did you have to consider?
One of the biggest internal decision to even consider an acquisition was who was making the offer.  I didn’t want to merge with a company who wouldn’t care about the product we’ve created. I’ve always liked Loic and Seesmic, so the decision was pretty easy once it was on the table.  We’ve had other offers, but the companies didn’t seem as into what we had going as Seesmic did.  Ultimately, you have to think about your users too.  How will this affect your users and what will they think about the whole deal?  Our users are what has kept us going since day one.  We’ve had a substantial number of requests to be integrated into Seesmic clients, and now that we are part of Seesmic, the future of integration is a no-brainer.

What are some tips you can offer entrepreneurs to make the company merger/transition smoother?
Get to know your new team.  Whether it’s by meeting them in person, or Skype chatting or just simply sending an e-mail.  You’re going to be working with these people on a pretty frequent basis.  I was fortunate enough to have spent a lot of time with the Seesmic team prior to our merge, so I was prepared on how it might be to work with them.

How do you plan on monetizing Ping’s reach? (Obviously there’s a good opportunity for a social media-based advertising network similar to Sponsored Tweets)
A few things have been up for discussion, and advertising has come up. Before, we had our own plans for monetization.  Premiums, partnerships etc. Since becoming part of Seesmic, we had to switch up our ideas to accomodate some potential models brought forth by the new team.  I guess time will tell on this one, there’s really nothing set in stone.

How can Ping help startups?
You could use our service to help build a community around your startup or idea. Target audiences that might be outside of the Twitter/Facebook land. There are tons of users that are just dying to try out what you have created.

If you were to push out a message via Ping to help entrepreneurs like you, what would you say?
When in doubt, don’t forfeit confidence…and it always helps to grow a beard and wear a hoodie. (Two pieces of advice that McCullough continues to observe religiously)

Discuss

Frank Gatson will be mentoring on this Saturday’s ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ in the UK. Earlier this morning he appeared on BBC Breakfast where he talked about working with Beyonce. Click here to watch the interview.