news about the all: August 2011

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Behind the NOTlabs Bentley Experiments

Nothing quite like new toys, new cars, good friends, and a day of experimenting in beautiful LA weather with Mister C being the home base for the day… two weeks ago we brought our new Contour+ mini HD action cam with us to meet up with Bentley’s fleet en route to Monterey… armed with suction cups, we had far too much fun mounting the camera and driving all over beverly hills, bel air, and late night through the tunnel in santa monica and on pch… take a peek at the setups, as well as the beautiful 1936/37 Mercedes Roadster we found!

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Behind the NOTlabs Bentley Experiments
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(Want more visual goodness? See NOTCOT.com + NOTCOT.org)

NOTlabs Bentley Experiments #1-6

NOTlabs Bentley Experiments #1-6:

So you’ve seen the Making Of… well, here is a look at our 6 playful experimental mini videos of new ways to look at Bentleys! Watch them all. We had fun finding the perfect clips and fun music to set the mood for each one…

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NOTlabs Bentley Experiments #1-6
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(Want more visual goodness? See NOTCOT.com + NOTCOT.org)

Sinu River House by Antonio Sofan

Sinu River House by Antonio Sofan:

Architect Antonio Sofan designed the Sinu River House in Monteria, Colombia.

Visit Antonio Sofan’s website – here.

Photography by Carlos Tobon

Michael Kors Suggests That Models Possibly Lied to Him About Their Ages

Michael Kors Suggests That Models Possibly Lied to Him About Their Ages:

Lauren Hutton spoke to Michael Kors for the new issue of Interview, in a long Q&A that includes amusing anecdotes about taking acid in the sixties (Hutton), a childhood love of beads and cutoff shorts (Kors), and the state of modeling today.

KORS: I still think it’s weird when models come in on go-sees. I don’t understand how anyone can think that a model is a mannequin. I like to think of them as just women.

HUTTON: As people.

KORS: People. When they come in, I’m always like, “Where are you from? Tell me about your life.” That’s the first thing I say. We were laughing, though, because two seasons ago, I said, “You know what? These girls we’re seeing are too young. They are children.” It’s silly.

HUTTON: Well, I started at 21, but most of the girls I was modeling with were 18 or 16 — sometimes even 14.

KORS: Yeah, and the 14-year-olds are really tricky. I mean, they’re children. I said two years ago, “No models under 16.” Well, of course, right after I said that, we started seeing all of these girls from Eastern Europe, and every girl who’d walk in, you’d say, “Hi. What’s your name?” And she’d be like, “I’m Svetlana.” I’m like, “Svetlana, where are you from?” “Ukraine.” “Svetlana, how old are you?” “16.” Next girl walks in—she’s from Eastern Europe and 16. Next one? Eastern European and 16. I was like, “Was there a bus?” [Hutton laughs] But I still think it’s a tricky thing because no matter how beautiful you might be at 15 or 16, the simple truth is that you haven’t lived enough to really know how to project anything in a photograph. It’s like a kind of blank beauty.

Maybe not a bus, but a boat?

MICHAEL KORS [Interview]

Edible Selby | Chez Panisse Turns 40

Edible Selby | Chez Panisse Turns 40: In the second of four reports on the weekend-long festivities, The Selby documents two of the food-filled gatherings.

South Africa: Stage 6 Genocide!

South Africa: Stage 6 Genocide!:

Ik heb gereageerd op een YouTube-video: If you want to see pictures and details reports of this ongoing silent genocide, access censorbugbear org

South Africa: Stage 6 Genocide!

South Africa: Stage 6 Genocide!:

Ik heb gereageerd op een YouTube-video: info can be found in great detail on Censorbugbear org

Irene wasn't overhyped for rural areas on East Coast - Kansas City Star

Irene wasn't overhyped for rural areas on East Coast - Kansas City Star:

Globe and Mail

Irene wasn't overhyped for rural areas on East Coast
Kansas City Star
While many in major East Coast cities wondered whether officials over-prepared the public for Hurricane Irene, the answer from the mostly rural areas hardest hit by the storm was unequivocally no. ...
NY, NJ need faster federal aid after Hurricane IreneReuters
NYC region starts to count Irene's costHouston Chronicle
Irene leaves hard times for East Coast farmersThe Associated Press
The Star-Ledger - NJ.com -Watertown Daily Times -CNN
all 13,770 news articles »

Vince Cable: disingenuous bankers are trying to derail reforms

Vince Cable: disingenuous bankers are trying to derail reforms:

Banking sector using economic turmoil to argue against regulatory change, says business secretary

Vince Cable has accused bankers of using the economic turmoil in Europe to try to derail reform of the financial sector.

The business secretary said that "louder and louder voices" were being raised among some of the big British banks giving warning that regulatory change in Britain would put the recovery at risk.

The Independent Commission on Banking is expected to recommend separating banks' retail operations from their investment arms when it reports on 12 September.

There have been attacks on the proposals from the director general of the CBI, John Cridland, and British Bankers' Association's chief executive, Angela Knight.

Cridland has said taking action to reform the banks now would be "barking mad", while Knight warned imposing the measures on lenders risked denting confidence and cutting the supply of credit.

However, Cable said in an interview with the Times that the fact that there were still fears about the collapse of big financial institutions was "all the more reason for grappling with this issue".

"It is disingenuous in the extreme to use the current context to argue against reform. Banks are in a way trying to create a panic around something which they know has got to happen," he said.

Cable has long favoured the separation of retail and investment banking. He added: "The governor of the Bank of England and many other people have been arguing that we have to deal with the 'too big to fail' problem. We can't have big global banks with balance sheets bigger than British GDP underwritten by the taxpayer; this can't go on and it has got to be dealt with."

The business secretary also said that he did not expect another 2008-style meltdown in the banking sector, but acknowledged that difficulties could still lie ahead for the British economy.

"To my mind, the greater worry is not a massive financial crisis again but it is a general slowing down of western economies, with all the problems that presents for employment and long-term dynamism," said Cable.

In comments reported in the Financial Times, Cridland had said: "Taking action at this moment – this moment of growth peril, which weakens the ability of banks in Britain to provide the finance that businesses need to grow – is just to me barking mad."

He added that a perceived political need for action after banks were bailed out in 2008 was driving the scale and pace of reform, and warned that "there's an own goal here about to be scored if we get this wrong".

Ben Quinn

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The Lede Blog: Protests in Iran Over Disappearing Lake

The Lede Blog: Protests in Iran Over Disappearing Lake: Two dozen environmental protesters have been arrested in demonstrations in recent days after Iran's Parliament failed to adopt measures to stem the gradual drying of a vast salt lake.

A First Week of Class Platonic Dialogue

A First Week of Class Platonic Dialogue:

Adeimantos: Did Glaukon make it back from Jackson Hole yet?

Thrasymakhos: Yes, but his contribution was overshadowed by that of IMF honcho Christine Lagarde.

Adeimantos: I heard about that. She really took a left-wing fringe position, didn't she?

Thrasymahkhos: Calling for highly-leveraged banks to be adequately capitalized is a left-wing fringe position these days?

Adeimantos: It seems to be. The response from the Great and Good of Europe was that she did not understand the difference between "illiqudity" and "insolvency"--that the banks are not undercapitalized but merely illiquid.

Thrasymakhos: And if nobody doubts their solvency the reason the banks are illiquid is…?

Adeimantos: I agree. She is not the one who was confused. And, meanwhile, Charles Evans of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago calls for faster growth of nominal demand.

Thrasymakhos: Now that is a left-wing fringe position!

Adeimantos: So to require that nominal GDP follow a stable and predictable track is now part of left-wing beyond-the-pale radicalism these days?

Thrasymakhos: Touché…

VIDEO: Irene floods claim lives in Vermont

VIDEO: Irene floods claim lives in Vermont: Vermont is reeling from its worst floods since 1927, leaving at least three people dead, and officials have warned that some rivers and creeks there have yet to crest.

Cube divider

Cube divider:

Strasburg will return to Nats for Tuesday's start

Strasburg will return to Nats for Tuesday's start:

Washington manager Davey Johnson on Tuesday confirmed plans for Stephen Strasburg to make his first 2011 start for the Nationals on Sept. 6.

VIDEO: Designer diapers improve bottom lines

VIDEO: Designer diapers improve bottom lines: Plain white may be on the way out as diaper firms' designer nappies are increasingly popular.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Residents Clean Up After Irene Drenches East Coast

Residents Clean Up After Irene Drenches East Coast:

This morning, when Tod Clissold walked into Poor Richard's, the bar he owns in Manteo, North Carolina, the first thing he noticed was the smell. Like a lot of East Coast residents, Clissold is in recovery mode after Hurricane Irene left homes and businesses flooded and powerless from North Carolina to Massachusetts. Weekends on All Things Considered guest host Laura Sullivan talks with Clissold and several others, plus the latest from NPR's Jennifer Ludden, Joe Palca and Joel Rose in New York.

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Orioles 2, Yankees 0 (1st Game): Colon Impresses, but Yanks’ Bats Slumber in Opener

Orioles 2, Yankees 0 (1st Game): Colon Impresses, but Yanks’ Bats Slumber in Opener: The veteran right-hander Bartolo Colon allowed two runs in seven and two-thirds innings, perhaps quieting talk of a late-season fade.

Miranda and Flynn Stick Together While Orlando Takes a Break From The Hobbit

Miranda and Flynn Stick Together While Orlando Takes a Break From The Hobbit:

Miranda Kerr and baby Flynn Bloom arrived in Melbourne Friday night before her schedule KORA Organics appearance at David Jones yesterday. Flynn and Miranda returned from a trip to New Zealand where they were visiting Orlando. He's currently on location shooting The Hobbit, reprising his role as Legolas in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings prequel. Orlando's likely to return to his incredible platinum blond locks for the film, though last night he kept his own hair hidden under a black beanie arriving into Sydney's international airport. Flynn and Miranda are expected to meet up with Orlando tomorrow where Miranda's scheduled to make an appearance on behalf of David Jones in Sydney.

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Hurricane Irene evacuation defended by New York mayor Michael Bloomberg

Hurricane Irene evacuation defended by New York mayor Michael Bloomberg:

Politicians issued dramatic warnings but their fears were unfounded and some say they went too far

Hurricane Irene dumped vast amounts of water on the eastern US at the weekend, cut electricity to millions of people and prompted warnings of extensive flash flooding further inland.

But ultimately the storm failed to deliver the catastrophic blow politicians had feared when they ordered the evacuation of more than 2 million people, shut down public transport in New York and other cities, and put the military on alert.

The category 1 winds – the lowest on the hurricane scale – may not have packed as much of a punch as other storms, but Irene's vast size, more than 400 miles wide, and slow speed, made it particularly threatening. It took 12 hours or more to pass overhead, wreaking damage estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

The hurricane, downgraded to a tropical storm shortly before it reached New York as its winds fell to about 65mph, delivered up to eight inches of rain in places, leading to warnings of river floods over the coming days. It caused some flooding in coastal towns and in homes in parts of New York, with water up to people's thighs, but fell far short of what had been predicted by some officials.

Fifteen people were confirmed dead, including two children. The US homeland security chief, Janet Napolitano, attributed the lower than expected death toll to extensive warnings and mass evacuations. But as Irene proved to be less dramatic than had been predicted, some questioned whether the authorities had gone too far.

The mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, defended the mass evacuation and the dramatic warnings.

"We were unwilling to risk the life of a single New Yorker. The bottom line is that I would make the same decisions again, without hesitation. We can't just, when a hurricane is coming, get out of the way and hope for the best," he said. New York was expected to be back to business on Monday, with markets and offices open, but officials were warning that travel would be difficult.

The preparations for Irene were made with half an eye on the damage wreaked on New Orleans six years ago, when Hurricane Katrina claimed nearly 2,000 lives, wrecking entire neighbourhoods and political careers.

Caution was the watchword as people from the Carolinas to New York were ordered to leave their homes.

Bloomberg ordered the mandatory evacuation of 300,000 people from low-lying areas of New York and threatened to have the police kick down the doors of people who refused to leave.

"Time is running out," he said hours before the storm arrived. "If you haven't left you should leave now. Not later this evening, not this afternoon, immediately."

Chris Christie, the governor of neighbouring New Jersey, was even blunter: "Get the hell off the beach."

The warnings were repeated by politicians and television stations along the coast. Get out of your house, this is worse than you imagine, don't expect us to come and rescue you if you don't.

The mood was not helped by last week's unusual earthquake which rocked buildings along the east coast, from Virginia to New York.

People pulled back from the North Carolina coast and the seaside resorts of Virginia Beach, Ocean City in Maryland and Atlantic City in New Jersey. Some defiantly painted "Come on, Irene" – a play on the Dexys Midnight Runners hit of the 1980s – on plywood hastily nailed over windows before getting out of town.

New York shut down its subway system, a rare event. So did Boston.

Airports closed and intercity trains stopped running. Grey warships sailed out of the military dock in Norfolk, Virginia, to ride out the storm at sea.

Television reporters positioned themselves to appear live on camera clinging to poles as the storm lashed around them.

Some did not bow to the pressure. About 600 elderly people living in high rise flats in Atlantic City refused to move.

"I can't make you ... I'm not going to arrest you (but) let us walk you downstairs and put you on those buses," Christie pleaded.

Instead, residents of the 13-storey Best of Life Park held a "Goodnight Irene" party on Saturday as the storm moved in.

In New York, ABC News estimated that more than 20% of people living in the mandatory evacuation zone had refused to move, despite police and city officials going door to door.

Irene finally slammed into the North Carolina coast near Cape Lookout after daybreak on Saturday.

Bit by bit it claimed lives.

There may be undiscovered fatalities. The known 15 included a surfer caught in a rip current off the Virginia coast as he made the most of the huge waves. Two children died in the storm – an 11 year-old boy hit by a tree that fell on his house and a girl, 15, in a car crash. In New Jersey on Sunday a woman was found drowned in her car hours after she called the emergency services because she was trapped on a flooded road. A firefighter died trying to save another person.

Others were lucky. Two men were rescued off Staten Island after they capsized while kayaking as the first tentacles of the storm began to lash the area. Bloomberg was angry, saying that rescue workers had risked their lives to save the men who were then given tickets.

The waters washed through town after town. In Darby, Philadelphia, the waters rose so high that the mayor, Michael Nutter, said they were sending "couches, furniture, all kinds of stuff floating down the street".

The winds were strong enough to rip trees out of the ground and tear off branches, which in turn tore down power lines.

More than 3 million people were left without electricity as the storm passed over, mostly in Virginia, New York and New Jersey. It is likely to take days to restore power.

In Maryland, the hurricane forced an emergency shutdown of a nuclear reactor after it was hit by debris thrown around by the winds. The owners issued a statement saying there was no danger, but some people felt a flicker of doubt fuelled by the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan earlier this year.

In a sign that the storm both proved not to be as fearsome as once threatened and that the evacuations had paid off, the cost of Irene was mostly being assessed in dollars not human lives.

Christie said: "I've got to imagine that the damage estimates are going to be in the billions of dollars, if not in the tens of billions of dollars."

However, he added that there is likely to be more damage yet.

Even as the storm moved on, the danger had not passed. The torrential rains come on top of a particularly wet summer. The additional water is expected to take a day or two to cause rivers to crest, creating a concern of flooding far inland from the coast.

"Inland flooding of our rivers is at record levels," said Christie. "It's only going to get worse in the next few days. Do not leave your homes. Flooding is going to be the big problem. There's saturated ground, swelled rivers."

Warnings of flash floods were issued as far north as Vermont on the Canadian border.

Still, to the relief of politicians and every one else, Katrina it was not.

Chris McGreal

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California stuns Japan to capture LLWS title

California stuns Japan to capture LLWS title:

Nick Pratto singled with two outs and the bases loaded to give Huntington Beach, Calif., a 2-1 victory Sunday over Hamamatsu City, Japan, and win the Little League World Series.