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Three years into government control of California’s prison health care system, prisoner deaths are dropping, but preventable deaths are still too high. And one report pins some of the blame for the crisis on uncontrolled overtime for prison nurses, who were more likely to earn overtime than any other state employees in 2008.

The Sacramento Bee reports that California spent $60 million on overtime for nurses in 2008, and another $111 million for the guards that protect medical workers during procedures. All of this in a year when 66 prisoners died of afflictions that could have been prevented or treated had they been diagnosed.

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They didn’t win the grand prize, but three Cal undergraduates in Senior Lester Center Fellow John Danner’s Entrepreneurship to Address Global Poverty class came back with $20,000 after the judges of the Movers & Changers competition in New York made a surprise announcement that the two finalist teams would receive prize money.

»Read the entire article from the Haas NewsWire.

Danny Westneat’s global-warming agnosticism

Editor, The Times:

Danny Westneat’s column “Climate change stirs much heat” [NWSunday, Dec. 13] was very discouraging.

He claims he is a global-warming agnostic, dismissing scientist’s concerns as political. He argues there is no way to know what is going on, given all the confusion. Yet when he interviews Dennis Lettenmaier, whom he describes as a moderate from the middle, Lettenmaier says global warming is happening, and that it’s untenable to pretend we can keep pumping CO2 into the atmosphere at the current rate and assume it’s not going to make a difference.

So where is the confusion? How soon will it all collapse? When will the rainfall pattern change enough that we have water rationing and power shortages in the Northwest? How many decades before ocean acidification causes such a biological collapse that our food supply is diminished?

These are details that may never have absolute answers, but do we really want to keep on with business as usual to find out?

The confusion is being heavily funded by a few corporations making billions off the status quo. Unfortunately, The Seattle Times is helping keep people confused. While the specific consequences may be in question, the cause of the problem is not. The longer we wait to make changes, the more drastic the changes will need to be.

The problem is not a political question, but a fact of physical reality.

The response is where politics and money come in to play. Do we really want to explain to our grandchildren that we destroyed their future because we were too shortsighted, lazy or cheap to make the necessary changes?

— Crispin B. Hollinshead, Port Townsend

Mohamed Axam Maumoon: a role model to all 15-year-olds

The Republic of the Maldives sent a 15-year-old boy as their ambassador to the climate summit in Copenhagen [“The people lead on climate change,” Opinion, Amy Goodman syndicated column, Dec. 11]. That island nation would be inundated with a sea-level rise of just a few feet if the climate continues to warm.

Though he is just 15, Mohamed Axam Maumoon understands the impact these changes will have on his home, and urged leaders to act now to head off climate disasters.

How many 15-year-olds in the U.S. have such a realistic grasp of the situation and are urging action now? Climate changes are subtle in most parts of the U.S., except in the Arctic where permafrost is melting and villages have been flooded.

Environmental science needs to be a required course in the high-school curriculum. Young citizens and future leaders must be aware of how natural systems work and how humans are disrupting those systems.

Some high-school courses may need to be combined or eliminated, but budget should not be an issue. Preservation of the Earth’s natural systems, and the future of mankind, should not be an elective issue, but a matter of survival.

— Sharon Sneddon, Edmonds

Krauthammer’s Copenhagen shakedown

In “Shakedown in Copenhagen” [Opinion, syndicated column, Dec. 12] Charles Krauthammer veils his true intent of defending the right of industrialists to pollute behind fictitious us-versus-them scenarios.

His first scenario is the crusade of the Third World to transfer the First World’s rightfully earned wealth into its corrupt coffers. The Third World has, in Krauthammer’s eyes, jettisoned the old phony egalitarian doctrine of socialism with the new soak-the-rich scheme of environmentalism.

Nice trick, equating the vanquished economic theory of socialism with a social movement whose aim is to preserve the livability of our planet. Not mentioned in Krauthammer’s piece is that the U.S., European Union, Russia and Japan account for 44 percent of global carbon emissions. Doesn’t this suggest some level of responsibility by the West to put its resources toward solving this global problem?

Krauthammer’s second scenario is the usurpation of the people’s power as represented by Congress to regulate carbon emissions by that wicked bastion of the leftist, the EPA. No way does Krauthammer give a fig for constitutional decency when it comes to the rights of the Democratically controlled Congress.

Rather, he knows this is the branch of our government most closely controlled by industrial interests and open to Republican chicanery.

— Timothy R. Nelson, Seattle

Blizzard’s World of Warcraft is hands down the biggest MMO in the world right now, and everybody wants to take on the king of the hill. Square Enix is getting into the ring with Final Fantasy XIV,

Just as a heads-up to anyone planning on being in Geneva (or in a nearby European location) in early May: I’ll be speaking at the 2010 Lift conference. The theme is “What can the Future do for you?”

Generations and technologies

How to go beyond the usual clichés on generations, with Seniors unable to benefit from technology and Millenials ruining their future careers on social networks?

The redefinition of Privacy

What is privacy in the 21st Century? Is personal security threatened by the massive collection of personal data?

Communities

Since 2006 Web 2.0 has celebrated the so-called “amateur revolution”. What did we learn in the past 5 years? Are we reaching the limits of Web 2.0?

Politics

Beyond the much talked-about political campaigns on Facebook, how to turn users into engaged citizens in public action?

The old new media

Newspapers are struggling, TV is not sure of what the future holds. What is at stake nowadays when informing, reaching and involving people?

It’s shaping up to be a good group of speakers, and I’m definitely looking forward to it. Do let me know if you’re going to attend!

Tiernan Ray at Barron’s flags a particularly unsettling exchange that occurred during Bernanke’s re-appointment hearing.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke this morning, shortly before being nominated for another term by the Senate Banking Committee on a vote of 16 to 7 in favor, rebuffed worries over an asset bubble globally along the lines suggested by NYU bad-boy economist Nouriel Roubini.

Pressed by Committee chairman Chris Dodd on the matter of the carry trade, the cheap dollar being used to buy higher-returning assets, Bernanke responded that it’s only a problem for the U.S. if you think the economy is going down again, which is not the Fed’s view.

Ben, have you seen all this?

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• FedEx Completely Screwed Up Their Guidance… But Check Out Their V-Shaped Recovery
• New York Manufacturing Tanks In December After Four Months Of Recovery
• The Recovery Is Faltering

There have been a bunch of companies popping up lately that have allowed bands to help “pre-finance” an album, by getting fans to commit to pay up in exchange for some sort of added benefit. We’ve covered in great detail how Jill Sobule successfully used just such a method (on her own, not with a startup) to finance her last album. Earlier this year, though, the concept got a lot of attention when the group Public Enemy signed up with the company SellABand to try to raise $250,000 by the end of the year to finance its latest album. While we were impressed by such a well-known act trying such a system, we did note when it was announced that the “benefit” given by the group didn’t really seem that compelling. The pricing seemed quite high for what people were getting, and there was little effort to actually “connect with fans.” It was really just a very high-priced way of getting people to fund the next album.

So it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that Public Enemy is struggling to reach its goal. It has raised over $70,000, which is nothing to complain about, but that’s well short of the $250,000 goal.

There are definitely some important lessons to be learned from this. These sorts of models require a lot more than just putting it out there and expecting fans to automatically support you, no matter how big an act you might be. Jill Sobule worked really hard to cultivate and connect with her committed fanbase, and that’s what helped her hit her goal. Public Enemy didn’t seem to put much effort into that at all. Second, pricing really does matter. In giving people a “reason to buy” something, that doesn’t mean you just slap a price on stuff. The price needs to be reasonable and make sense to people. Public Enemy’s offerings just seemed pricey all around, even to fans of the group. At $100 you got a CD and a chance to buy a second CD at 50%, along with your name in a booklet? Eh. What’s so exciting about that. At $250 they add in a t-shirt? That’s $150 just for a t-shirt? You had to go all the way up to $500 before they would even autograph the CD. Sure, $1,000 for a 3 year unlimited backstage pass could be cool if you were going to see the band a lot, but that was the first offering that really seemed potentially worth the money for a serious fan.

So, I think there are some important lessons here. We’ve mainly focused on pulling lessons from the success stories, but the lessons from failures can be just as valuable. And, in this case, it goes back to our standard formula of Connect with Fans (CwF) and give them a Reason to Buy (RtB). Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like Public Enemy really did much of either. They just expected the fans to come to them, and they priced everything too high, without giving really compelling lower end options. Because of that, they certainly got some people to pay up — and, again, raising $70,000 is nothing to put down — but it fell well short of the goal. In some ways, what they did is like a cargo cult: copying all the superficial aspects of what worked before, but not the really important stuff.

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Northern Ireland, Tony Timmins Associates

Wind Farm Development Manager – Ireland
 

This company is one of the largest & most successful renewable energy companies in the world with experience in every aspect of wind farm development, construction and operation.
Due to continued expansion in the sector, they are looking to recruit a Development Manager to cover Irealnd.   Role will be based at my client’s offices in Northern Ireland.

Key Responsibilities:

The role will involve project managing the development of wind farm projects & controlling project budgets, assisting with all aspects of the Company’s wind farm development activities in Ireland including; site selection, EIA , liaison with consultees and local communities, planning and consents, public relations, landowner meetings & land lease negotiations, input into the project design process, liaison with other company departments and handover from Development to Construction, ensuring compliance with internal procedures, including safety, quality & environment.
 

The Person
 

The ideal candidate will have a relevant qualification in planning, science, engineering or other numerate subject. Experience in any of the following areas would be advantageous: project development, wind energy or renewable sector and experience in the planning process and EIA regulations.
 

In return, you can expect to be rewarded with a highly competitive base salary + bonus + Car allowance + fully comprehensive benefits package as befits working with a leader in the wind energy sector. Interested candidates are kindly invited to send their CVs in Word format please to Tony Timmins, Executive Search Consultant OR call him on +44 (0) 118 945 1025.
 

Filed under: Etc.

Trend-setting. Far-reaching. Record-setting. In a word: Important. Use whatever descriptors you’d like, what we’re looking at today are some of the most forward-thinking cars of the last decade.

Some of our choices are hugely successful in terms of sales while not being all that interesting or important to the advancement of the automobile. That’s fine, we need those kinds of vehicles, and many of us drive them on a daily basis. There are other cars, though, that are so advanced, radical or just plain significant in their segment that other automakers sat up and took notice. These are the models we’ll look back at in another ten years and remember as vehicular landmarks. To qualify for consideration, a car had to either be introduced between the year 2000 and 2009 or at least receive a major redesign during that time period.

Interestingly, this list was extremely difficult for us to agree upon. Some of our team members pushed very hard for models that ultimately didn’t make the list while others argued vehemently that some of our choices didn’t belong at all. Ultimately, we compiled a diverse list of vehicles for you to consider, and we think it’s well worth taking the time to peruse.

Click either image (or here) to begin this journey through the decade that’s just about to conclude. Have fun, and be sure to nominate your own choices in the comments section.

[Source Image: piterart | CC2.0]

Top 10 Forward-Thinking Vehicles of the Decade originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 17 Dec 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Italy, Tony Timmins Associates

Wind Farm Development Manager – Italy

My client is a leading, international wind farm development company based in Germany. Their portfolio of services includes location, development, planning, design, financing + the construction & operation of wind farms.

Due to ongoing business expansion they are currently looking to recruit a Wind Farm Developer for Italy.

Key Responsibilities & Overview

Duties will involve site screening & selection as well as planning & co-coordinating resources to deliver projects, including engineering & technical support, environmental impact assessment studies & commercial support.

The ideal candidate will probably have a degree in an engineering, business, planning, environment or a science based subject or equivalent. While experience of working in the renewables or wind farming industry is highly desirable it is by no means essential.
Candidates with a background in civil engineering, construction, telecoms i.e. land acquisition for mobile communications, project management will clearly be of interest. You will need to demonstrate strong entrepreneurial & commercial flair as well as effective negotiation & organisational skills.
The client relationship aspect of this role is paramount since you will need to communicate & negotiate effectively & diplomatically with planning authorities, landowners and farmers etc. Furthermore, any experience of land law and lease contacts would be highly beneficial.
Fluency in Italian & English is essential. Additional European languages are obviously beneficial.
Candidate must be IT literate with experience of working with Microsoft Applications Word, Excel etc.
A current clean driving licence is essential.
 

The Rewards
 

In return, you can expect to be rewarded with a competitive base salary + bonus + car allowance + benefits package as well as the opportunity of working for a key player in the growing & exciting wind farm sector.
Interested candidates are kindly invited to submit their CVs in Word format + covering letter please to Tony Timmins, Executive Search Consultant or call him for furthe info on +44 (0) 118 945 1025

Wuhu, China, Tony Timmins Associates

PHP Developer

This client is a fast growing renewable energy information company with offices in the UK and China. They have the world’s most popular website for information about companies in the solar power industry & have a team of people making market research reports profiling companies in the industry plus a trade team assisting Western companies to purchase from Chinese manufacturers.

Recruitment is very high on their agenda and a key hire is for a PHP Developer to work within their IT Department.

The role will be based in Wuhu, China (central east China) & will start as soon as possible. This is a Permanent role but client is willing to offer a fixed 12 month contact for a PHP Developer who doesn’t want to be away from home for too long.

Job Overview

The company has the world’s most popular website for information about companies in the solar power industry (website is in English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Chinese & Japanese). .

The job will primarily involve developing their multi-language PV directory – making new advanced modules for the website and improving their custom-built back-end systems

The Person

The candidate doesn’t need to be able to speak any Chinese as all employees are fluent in English.

The ideal candidate will have extensive skills in the following areas:

– PHP
– Javascript
– MySQL
– CSS

Strong PHP skills are essential since you will be working on fairly difficult programming tasks. You should be able to work with minimum supervision.

The Rewards

Client will provide accommodation within a shared apartment with other employees. Salary will be low compared to UK but allows for a comfortable lifestyle in this part of China. Client will also pay for your flight to and from China + your visa application fees.
Although the salary is not competitive compared to UK jobs, this can be a very nice way to ride out the recession working in a completely new culture and helping to save the world at the same time (their free directory is regarded as the best in the world and helps the solar power industry be more profitable).
Please note there will be salary reviews every 6 months.

Interested candidates are kindly invited to submit their CV + Covering Letter to Tony Timmins, Executive Search Consultant.
Should you require any further information please feel free to call Tony on +44 (0) 118 945 1025.
 

While U.S. equity markets are doing superb since the March rally began, we’ve undergone tough times in this past decade.

Two bubbles, near-systemic collapse, and a credit crunch have really taken their toll upon our economy.

Hence, as we examine the world’s best performing equity markets over the last 10 years, we find that no U.S. or Western-European-based exchange can be found.

Instead, Russia, China, and Eastern  European nations take the cake.

Imagine getting a 900% return on your investment by plunking down a few thousand on an emerging markets index fund or ETF. You’d be ecstatic.

Click here to view the world’s best performing markets ->

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• The BRICs Will Power A Huge Year For Base Metals
• JPMorgan: Emerging Markets Will Surge 30% In 2010
• No Matter How Expensive Oil Gets, Emerging Markets Will Demand More And More Of It

Some Getting Real-ish lessons from “The Accidental Empire of Fast Food,” a story about the success of Danny Meyer’s Shake Shack:

1. Have an enemy. In Meyer’s case, the enemy is fast food that strips away the human experience.

“The whole experience is to cram people into a cookie-cutter space, to feed them as many unhealthy calories as possible — then get them to leave,” said Mr. Meyer, the president of the Union Square Hospitality Group and the Yoda of Shake Shack. “That stripping away of human experience? That is where fast food went astray.”

Contrast and compare, then, with the three Shake Shacks in New York City, where patrons are cheerfully welcomed at the counter of a neighborhood-centered, urban-fantasy version of a burger roadhouse. On the menu? Whole-muscle, no-trimmings, fresh-ground, antibiotic-and-hormone-free, source-verified-to-ranch-of-birth, choice-or-higher-grade Black Angus beef.

Furthermore, “people have to wait in line just to place their orders,” Mr. Meyer, 51, said on a recent afternoon. “After that? They have to wait for us to cook their orders. And then? We hope they’ll stay awhile, as they eat. To enhance the communal experience.”

2. Resist growth just for the sake of growth. (Shake Shack is opening more locations now, but slowly and only after years of refusing to expand.)

The Shake Shack rollout is precedent-shattering for the Union Square Hospitality Group. “We’ve always resisted expanding anything, ever,” Mr. Meyer said. “We resisted offers in Las Vegas. We resisted reality TV shows. And it took six years with Shake Shack before we decided to go forth and multiply.”

3. Get real with it, put something out there, and see how people respond.

Mr. Meyer’s accidental empire began with a hot dog cart in 2001, part of an art installation in Madison Square Park. “To our astonishment, every day, a line would form,” Mr. Meyer said. The cart expanded into a burger stand, “and none of us had any idea that that could be a success.”

4. Keep things simple.

Shake Shacks “are profitable,” Mr. Meyer said. “They don’t need a robust economy to work. They have a highly focused menu. They are replicable. There is no reservation operation. There is no florist. And it’s a fun thing.”

5. Focus on quality not quantity.

“Our focus is not on how many you do,” [Meyer partner David] Swinghamer said bluntly. “If we can’t do it right? We won’t do it.”

Mr. Meyer commented that “we will grow as broadly as we can, without losing the quality, the hospitality, the community. And the sense of humor.”

And it’s working. Each of the Manhattan Shacks makes more revenue per location than either McDonald’s or Five Guys Burgers and Fries.

Related:
Choosing the right things to say no to [SvN]
Danny Meyer: Hospitality is king [SvN]

During C-ROADS development, we explored several ways of accounting for cumulative per capita emissions. One practice that seems to be widespread is to accumulate (integrate) emissions divided by population, i.e.

cumulative emissions per cap	= INTEGRAL( emissions per capita(t) )
	= INTEGRAL( emissions(t)/population(t) )

This is physically meaningless. Emissions per capita is an intensive variable, and you can’t average or accumulate intensive variables in this way. It’s like averaging the temperature of a duck and a supertanker without accounting for the tankers 100,000x greater mass.

A proper thing to do is integrate emissions, then divide by population:

cumulative emissions per cap

= INTEGRAL( emissions per capita(t) ) / population

That yields a physically meaningful number, interpreted as cumulative emissions of a nation per current inhabitant. That’s a bit like per capita national debt.

A big question is what population to use as a basis. If you use current population, that’s fine, but it’s important to recognize that a comparison of per caps in 2100 between countries with slow and rapid population growth in effect gives credit for creating more people – possibly not a desirable incentive. Here are cumulative per capita emissions for developed and developing countries on a current basis, along a hypothetical 2C path with stricter commitments for developed countries:

If you don’t want your metric to credit future population growth, you can freeze population in the denominator at current levels, which looks like this:

If you wanted to ponder history, you could use a 1900 population basis:

For the third straight year, we preview the upcoming college football postseason. Here are our picks for bowls 1-17, which takes you from the New Mexico Bowl in Albuquerque to El Paso, Texas for the Sun Bowl.

Leave your thoughts on any of the first 17 matchups below.

 

New Mexico (December 19)

Matchup: Fresno State (8-4) vs. Wyoming (6-6)
The Line: Fresno State -11.5

The Lead: Wyoming makes only its second trip to a bowl this decade while Fresno State makes its 9th bowl appearance in the last 10 years. Fresno State returns to New Mexico for the second straight year (losing to Colorado State 40-35 last year).

Brian Pick: Fresno State -11.5
Jeff Pick: Wyoming +11.5

 

St. Petersburg presented by Beef ‘O’ Brady’s (December 19)

Matchup: UCF (8-4) vs. Rutgers (8-4)
The Line: Rutgers -2.5

The Lead: Rutgers just making a bowl game game is no longer exciting for their players and fans who had higher hopes coming into this season than to finish 3-4 in the Big East. UCF meanwhile will be playing less than three hours from their campus and should be thrilled to be there.

Jeff Pick: UCF +2.5
Brian Pick: Rutgers -2.5

 

R + L Carrier New Orleans (December 20)

Matchup: Southern Miss (7-5) vs. Middle Tennessee (9-3)
The Line: Southern Miss -3.5

The Lead: Southern Miss returns to the New Orleans Bowl for the second straight year. Last year, Southern Miss blocked a field goal in overtime to defeat Troy 30-27 in one of the more entertaining 2008 bowl games. Middle Tennessee State is one of the hottest teams in the country, having won 6 straight and reaching the 9 win plateau for the first time since joining Division I-A in 1999. Southern Miss has a perfect 3-0 record in the New Orleans Bowl.

Brian Pick: Southern Miss -3.5
Jeff Pick: Southern Miss -3.5

 

MAACO Las Vegas (December 22)

Matchup: Oregon State (8-4) vs. BYU (10-2)
The Line: Oregon State -2.5

The Lead: BYU was on top of the world after beating Oklahoma to start the season. Oregon State was on top of the college football world in the final Thursday night of the season when playing Oregon for the Pac-10 title. Things didn’t work out as either team had hoped from those points on though and they both fell to the pre-Christmas Las Vegas Bowl. Oregon State has plenty to prove though as they attempt to beat BYU, TCU and Boise State in the next 11 months and serve as the non-BCS school killer.

Jeff Pick: Oregon State -2.5
Brian Pick: Oregon State -2.5

 

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia (December 23)

Matchup: Utah (9-3) vs. California (8-4)
The Line: California -3

The Lead: With BC losing to Vanderbilt last season, Utah now owns the longest active winning streak in bowl games, having won their last 8 games including last year’s Sugar Bowl over Alabama. Cal is riding a seven game streak for bowl apperances, the longest in school history.

Brian Pick: Utah +3
Jeff Pick: Utah +3

 

Sheraton Hawaii (December 24)

Matchup: Nevada (8-4) vs. SMU (7-5)
The Line: Nevada -15

The Lead: This game features a very good WAC team against a very good C-USA team but does that mean that they are actually good teams? It’s tough to say. Neither team has a very impressive win this season and both seemed to lose all their games when they had opportunities to prove themselves. Will anyone watch the Christmas Eve game in Hawaii? Other than Brian?

Jeff Pick: SMU +15
Brian Pick: Nevada -15

Little Caesars (December 26)

Matchup: Marshall (6-6) vs. Ohio (9-4)
The Line: Ohio -2.5

The Lead: This game renews a rivalry game between the two schools located only 80 miles apart. Ohio and Marshall used to compete in the Battle for the Bell which is set to be renewed in 2010. Ohio leads the all-time series 29-17-6, however Marshall has won 8 of the last 10 matchups between the two geographic neighbors.

Brian Pick: Ohio -2.5
Jeff Pick: Ohio -2.5

 

Meineke Car Care (December 26)

Matchup: Pittsburgh (9-3) vs. North Carolina (8-4)
The Line: Pittsburgh -3

The Lead: What a disappointing finish to the season for Pittsburgh. Pitt lost to their backyard brawl rival West Virginia before losing to Cincinnati in a de-facto Big East Championship game. The Panthers led the entire game against Cincinnati but could not finish so now instead of the Orange Bowl they get a trip to Charlotte to play North Carolina in a “road” bowl game. Good luck getting your team fired up for this one, Dave!

Jeff Pick: North Carolina +3
Brian Pick: Pittsburgh -3

 

Emerald (December 26)

Matchup: Boston College (8-4) vs. USC (8-4)
The Line: USC -9

The Lead: The 8-4 Eagles travel to San Francisco for the second time this decade to take on the 8-4 USC Trojans. This is the first time in seven years that USC hasn’t played in a BCS bowl game (5 Rose Bowls, 2 Orange Bowls). Good news for the Eagles is the last time Pete Carroll found himself in a non-BCS bowl game, the Trojans lost 10-6 to Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl. You don’t think we would pick against BC now, do you?

Brian Pick: Boston College +9
Jeff Pick: Boston College +9

 

Gaylor Hotels Music City (December 27)

Matchup: Kentucky (7-5) vs. Clemson (8-5)
The Line: Clemson -7.5

The Lead: If Boston College’s 2008 performance in the Music City Bowl is any indication of how Clemson might play this year after the disappointing ACC Championship Game, it’s is going to be tough to watch for Tiger fans. But after losing to South Carolina, the ACC really doesn’t need Clemson, or any of its top programs, to lose to mediocre SEC teams. Clemson ticket sales for the bowl have been soft but hopefully Dabo can rally this team to victory.

Jeff Pick: Kentucky +7.5
Brian Pick: Clemson -7.5

 

AdvoCare V100 Independence (December 28)

Matchup: Texas A&M (6-6) vs. Georgia (7-5)
The Line: Georgia -7

The Lead: Georgia wraps up an otherwise disappointing, up-and-down season in Shreveport, Louisiana. For every quality win for UGA, there seemed to be an equally puzzling loss this year. Defeat Arkansas, get crushed at Tennessee. Defeat Auburn, lose to Kentucky at home, come back and defeat in-state rival Georgia Tech. Texas A&M has had a similar up-and-down season, but seemingly backed into the postseason having lost 3 of their last 4 games.

Brian Pick: Georgia -7
Jeff Pick: Georgia -7

 

EagleBank (December 29)

Matchup: UCLA (6-6) vs. Temple (9-3)
The Line: UCLA -4

The Lead: UCLA had to wait to see the result of the Army-Navy game before getting officially invited to this bowl game. In the bowl’s second season, I don’t imagine that their will be much hype this year compared to last year’s geographically favorable matchup of Wake Forest vs. Navy. Look for Temple to surprise some people and possibly knock off a BCS school in this one.

Jeff Pick: Temple +4
Brian Pick: Temple +4

 

Champs Sports (December 29)

Matchup: Miami (Fla.) (9-3) vs. Wisconsin (9-3)
The Line: Miami -3

The Lead: This year’s Champs Sports Bowl is a matchup of 9-3 ranked teams. Both teams are coming off strong finishes, each winning 4 of their final 5 games. Wisconsin finished the season with a 51-10 drubbing of Hawaii on the road, while Miami took care of USF 31-10. Miami is 2-0 all-time in the Champs Sports Bowl. Wisconsin played in Orlando last season, losing to Florida State 42-13. This is the last year the Big 10 will be represented in this bowl as the Big East will send a team to face an ACC opponent starting next season.

Brian Pick: Miami -3
Jeff Pick: Miami -3

 

Roady’s Humanitarian (December 30)

Matchup: Bowling Green (8-5) vs. Idaho (7-5)
The Line: Idaho +1.5

The Lead: Another game that might set an attendance record this season but not the kind of record that you want to be setting if you are putting this bowl together. Boise fans might already be on their way to the Fiesta Bowl so even getting a few locals to come out for this game will be difficult. Bowling Green has a pretty good WR, and Idaho plays home games in a dome. That’s all I have for this one.

Jeff Pick: Bowling Green -1.5
Brian Pick: Idaho +1.5

 

Pacific Life Holiday (December 30)

Matchup: Arizona (8-4) vs. Nebraska (9-4)
The Line: Arizona -1.5

The Lead: Arizona – having defeated the Trojans 21-17 to move to 6-3 in conference – will represent the Pac-10 as its #2 team in the Holiday Bowl. Nebraska won the Big 12 North, finishing the season at 9-4, 6-2 in conference. The Cornhuskers are coming off a heartbreaking 13-12 loss to Texas in the Big 12 Championship Game.

Brian Pick: Arizona -1.5
Jeff Pick: Nebraska +1.5

 

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces (December 31)

Matchup: Houston (10-3) vs. Air Force (7-5)
The Line: Houston -4.5

The Lead: The mighty Houston Cougars who knocked off Oklahoma State at home are only 4.5 point favorites against Air Force? Oh right, we later found out that Oklahoma State was not nearly as good as anyone thought the would be and failed to make a push for a BCS bowl by nearly losing to Colorado and then getting destroyed by Oklahoma to end the season. Air Force had another nice season but only managed a 1-5 record against bowl bound teams this season.

Jeff Pick: Air Force +4.5
Brian Pick: Houston -4.5

 

Brut Sun (December 31)

Matchup: Oklahoma (7-5) vs. Stanford (8-4)
The Line: Oklahoma -8

The Lead: This should be an intriguing matchup between the unstoppable force (Heisman runner-up Toby Gerhart and the 15th ranked Stanford Cardinal offense) and the immovable object (Oklahoma’s 7th ranked defense). Oklahoma has had an otherwise disappointing season, that is, up until they put a 27-0 hurtin’ on in-state rival Oklahoma State in Bedlam. Stanford may or may not be playing without the services of starting freshman quarterback Andrew Luck.

Brian Pick: Stanford +8
Jeff Pick: Oklahoma -8

His wardrobe may look like it suffered a major malfunction, but he sure as hell can kick ass like nobody’s business. His name’s Ashley Riot, he’s a Riskbreaker, and he’s crashing into the European PlayStation Store this

Maybe the bull argument — that the market is barely down despite all the bad news — won’t hold up.

The Dow is now down triple digits.

Gold is down over $30 and may not hold $1100/oz.

One trader we we talked to acknowledged a noticeably “different feel” to the market today.

Between the amazing, surging dollar, and all the other fears, we’d have to agree.

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See Also:

• Gartman: Here’s How To Go Long Gold In Another Currency
• China’s Dumping Of The Dollar Has Begun
• The US Dollar Is On Fire Today!

With FIMPXL (Fiber Industrial Mini Patch) eks Engel has successfully taken a step that brings IT into harsh industrial environments.

FIMPXL is just unsignificantly taller than its older brother, but it is designed for up to 24 fiber optic cables.
A special feature of this new development: The MPO-technology with its high packing density which has long been used in the IT-sector, can now be used in harsh industrial areas in automation technology, too.

This is possible with a specially designed MPO-set called FIMPO which makes it suitable for industry. The MPO-coupling can either be used outside the housing or inside it. This new technology is also available for FIMP as of now.

Regarding the couplings in the frontpanel, the new box is really flexible. Users can choose between classic SC-duplex or compact couplings.

Furthermore, FIMPXL proves its flexibility regarding cabl-ing. Three cuttings at the top and at the bottom side make it possible that the box can also be used as dis-tributor for up to 24 fibers.

One of the interior qualities is that the splice box can contain two splice holders.

With FIMPXL eks Engel combines two totally different worlds, so that innovations from the IT-sector can now also be used in harsh industrial applications without any problems.