Vildosola races across campers off track
Even in the heat of a fierce competition, this is low. Speed by far not reduced enough racing across an area - off track after missing a turn - where spectators camp, even take down a sun-shade. It sheds a different light on to the smiling, professional face mostly shown at interviews. No race in the world is worth to run over a bystander because one is not willing to reduce speed and consider safety of spectators after a driving error. I personally consider that reckless driving! Our sport can not afford incidents with spectators based on reckless driving just make up on personal errors. SCORE Rule Book 2006-2010: GPT3, Page 20: Any pit vehicle running on or near the race course that is endangering the entrants, race officials, or spectators, could call for the disqualification of the particular vehicle for which they are servicing or pitting. No pit vehicle may follow or lead a race vehicle on the race course. Some other stuff/guildeline of penalties levied to competitors (these guidelines are a minimum only). GP3, Page 18, 19: * Disqualification (12) Reckless driving or endangerment of support crews, officials and/or spectators by support crews or race vehicles. Credits for this clip, a segment of a longer video, belong to Carlos Alberto OrozcoFrom:TecateSCOREBaja1000Views:7 0ratingsTime:00:32More inAutos Vehicles

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Vildosola races across campers off track - Video

Guy ask people,rides to Paterson for $.Car on left
Some same drivers ask passages if they want a ride to Pattison for $ at the New Jersey Transit sheds at the Willowbrook Mall Wayne New Jersey. His car is on the left of the screen, BY ITSELFFrom:nicholas8njViews:0 0ratingsTime:00:40More inPeople Blogs

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Guy ask people,rides to Paterson for $.Car on left - Video

Rainbow Building Solutions - Garages and Sheds Feature (720p)
We #39;re not simply experts at building garages; we #39;re experts at building garages to suit your needs. From versatile garages to spacious sheds, our entire range can be customised to suit your personal specifications.From:RainbowBuildingSolnViews:0 0ratingsTime:01:45More inHowto Style

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Rainbow Building Solutions - Garages and Sheds Feature (720p) - Video

(Gallery by Michael DeMocker, NOLA.com and the Times-Picayune)

Grand Isle Shipyard Inc., the company whose workers were aboard the West Delta Block 32 platform Friday morning when an explosion and fire killed one worker, left another missing and injured 11 more, is facing charges of abusive and exploitative working conditions akin to slavery in a federal lawsuit filed by former workers from the Philippines.

The allegations surfaced as the federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, which regulates the oil and gas industry, began its investigation into Grand Isle Shipyard and Black Elk, the Houston-based owner of the oil platform that caught fire 18 miles southeast of Grand Isle.

The independent federal Chemical Safety Board announced it also was considering an investigation into the accident and served two subpoenas on Black Elk on Monday.

More information about the crew aboard the platform has emerged as the Coast Guard continues to search for the missing crewman, Jerome Malagapo. The body of contract worker Ellroy Corporal was recovered Saturday night; it is being prepared for return to the Philippines after an autopsy.

Both Malagapo and Corporal are Philippines nationals, according to DNR Offshore and Crewing Services, a job placement and recruitment firm with an office in Manila that brought both men to Louisiana. DNR also is a defendant in the lawsuit alleging widespread mistreatment of Grand Isle Shipyard's workers.

One of the four workers suffering burns during the platform fire, Wilberto Ilagan, 50, also from the Philippines, is now in good condition at the Baton Rouge Medical Center, center officials said. The other three men remain in critical condition.

There are more than 150 Filipino welders, pipe fitters, scaffolders and riggers working in the Gulf, according to the Philippines embassy, and many of them apparently work for Grand Isle Shipyard.

Twenty former employees of the firm, all from the Philippines, filed the lawsuit last year accusing the company of improper treatment of its workers. The suit claims the workers were required to pay between $2,000 and $3,500 a month to live in 10-by-10-foot rooms, six to a room -- some in a work barge in Lafitte and others in a Galliano bunkhouse that had been converted from a bowling alley.

An attorney representing the workers said she didn't believe any of those involved in the lawsuit are still employed by the company. "I know workers on the platform were from the Philippines, but none to my knowledge are our clients," Lori Mince said.

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Accident sheds light on use of Filipino 'guest workers' in offshore industry

Conversation With: Kofi Annan
He failed to broker a peace treaty in Syria earlier this year, but the former Secretary-General of the United Nations is still keen to take on the mission impossible of resolving the world #39;s most difficult conflicts. Just who is the real Kofi Annan? The Nobel laureate sheds light in this exclusive interview of Conversation With. Catch the full interview at http://www.channelnewsasia.com/tvshowsFrom:channelnewsasiaViews:1 0ratingsTime:02:06More inNews Politics

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Conversation With: Kofi Annan - Video

November 21, 2012

Image Credit: Polytechnic Institute of New York University

redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports Your Universe Online

New research sheds light on the nascent field of ethorobotics, the study of bioinspired robots that interact with animal counterparts.

Scientists from Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly) studied the role of real-time feedback in attracting or repelling live zebrafish in the presence of a robotic fish.

The findings revealed that zebrafish show increased attraction to robots that are able to modulate their tail movements in a way that mimicked the live fishes behavior.

The experiments were conducted in a three-chambered instrumented water tank, in which a robotic-fish was juxtaposed with an empty compartment. The team used image-based tracking software to analyze the motions of the live zebrafish and provide real-time feedback to the robot.

Lead researcher Maurizio Porfiri, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at NYU-Poly, and colleagues found that zebrafish were most attracted to the robotic member when its tail beating motion replicated the behavior of informed fish trying to lead naive fish.

The zebrafish were most likely to spend time near the robotic fish when it accelerated its tail beat frequency as a live fish approached, the researchers reported.

The results of this study show that zebrafish respond differently to the pattern of tail-beating motion executed by the robotic-fish. Specifically, the preference and behavior of zebrafish depend on whether the robotic-fish tail-beating frequency is controlled as a function of fish motion, and how such closed-loop control is implemented, the researchers said.

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Study Sheds Light On Emerging Field Of Ethorobotics – The Interaction Of Robots And Animals

SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco shed a vestige of its free-spirited past as local lawmakers narrowly approved a citywide ban on public nudity.

Casting aside complaints that forcing people to cover up would undermine San Francisco's reputation as a city without inhibitions, the Board of Supervisors voted 6-5 on Tuesday in favour of an ordinance that prohibits exposed genitals in most public places, including streets, sidewalks and public transit.

Exemptions would be made for participants at permitted street fairs and parades, such as the city's annual gay pride event and the Bay-to-Breakers street run, which often draws participants in costumes or various states of undress.

Supervisor Scott Wiener introduced the ban in response to escalating complaints about a group of men whose bare bodies are on display almost daily in the city's predominantly gay Castro District. He said at Tuesday's meeting that he resisted for almost two years, but finally felt compelled to act.

"It's no longer an occasionally and quirky part of San Francisco. Rather, in the Castro, it's pretty much seven days a week," Wiener said. "It's very much a, 'Hey, look what I have' mentality."

Wiener's opponents on the board said a citywide ban was unnecessary and would draw police officers' attention away from bigger problems. Supervisor John Avalos also expressed concerns about what the ordinance would do to San Francisco's image.

"We are a beacon of light to other parts of the country, and sometimes there is a little bit of weirdness about how we express ourselves," Avalos said.

Boos and calls for Wiener's recall filled the board's chambers after Tuesday's vote. Gypsy Taub, a nudist activist who organized naked protests and marches in the weeks leading up to Tuesday's meeting, disrobed in protest before sheriff's deputies escorted her from the room.

Under Wiener's proposal, a first offence would carry a maximum penalty of a $100 fine, but prosecutors would have authority to charge a third violation as a misdemeanour punishable by up to a $500 fine and a year in jail.

The law still must pass a final vote and secure Mayor Edwin Lee's signature to take effect early next year.

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San Francisco sheds part of free-spirited past as city lawmakers approve ban on public nudity

Hovis owner Premier Foods has announced it will close two of its bakeries, putting 900 jobs up for redundancy.

The biggest impact will be in Birmingham, where 511 jobs are to be lost with the closure of a factory and distribution operation.

Another 196 jobs will be lost in Hovis operations at Greenford, west London, as well as another 95 job cuts from distribution sites at Plymouth and Mendlesham, Suffolk.

The job cuts won't take effect before Christmas, as a consultation process will have to be completed first, but will take place next year.

The news wasn't a surprise for most, as Premier Foods has spoken regularly about the increased competition Hovis faces in the UK market, and the troubles which have hit the price and production of bread in the past few years, such as poor grain harvests.

Almost half of Premier Foods 10,000 employees work in the bread division.

The loss of a lucrative 75m-a-year contract with a major grocery chain, reported to be the Cooperative according to the Mirror, was revealed earlier this year, after Premier said it had been unable to secure suitable conditions.

According to the Mirror, the deal went instead to Allied Bakeries, which makes Kingsmill and Allinsons and is part of Associated British Foods.

The Premier chief executive, Michael Clarke, said: "We recognise the impact these actions will have for our employees at the sites affected.

"Decisions will not be taken lightly, but they are necessary if we are to build a strong and successful future for the bread division and those who remain with our business."

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Hovis Sheds 900 Jobs

By Kate Gibson, MarketWatch

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) U.S. stocks on Tuesday closed nearly unchanged after a two-session surge as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke urged lawmakers to make a deal and end uncertainty over the so-called fiscal cliff of scheduled spending cuts and tax hikes.

This is a classic fear-driven market. It seems like people in Washington are much more willing to play nice together, but a lot of folks on Main Street and Wall Street just dont trust them yet, said Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Banyan Partners LLC.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average /quotes/zigman/627449 DJIA +0.38% fell 7.45 points, or less than 0.1%, to 12,788.51, with Hewlett-Packard Co. /quotes/zigman/229301/quotes/nls/hpq HPQ +1.96% pacing losses that included 12 of the indexs 30 components.

H-Ps shares skidded 12% after the Dow component reported fourth-quarter revenue below expectations and earnings above estimates, but only after excluding a large accounting charge tied to alleged fraud by an acquired company. See: How Hewlett-Packard was duped in Autonomy deal.

The S&P 500 index /quotes/zigman/3870025 SPX +0.23% rose nearly 1 point to 1,387.81, with technology the poorest performer and health care faring the best among the 10 industry groups.

The Nasdaq Composite /quotes/zigman/123127 COMP +0.34% added 0.61 point to 2,916.68.

Advancers edged just ahead of decliners on the New York Stock Exchange, where 641 million shares traded. Composite volume neared 3.2 billion.

In a speech Tuesday afternoon in New York, Bernanke said Washington needs to resolve the uncertainty over U.S. tax and spending policy weighing on consumers, businesses and markets. Read more of what Bernanke had to say.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warns of the dangers of the fiscal cliff in a speech Tuesday, saying all the automatic tax increases and spending cuts would pose "a substantial threat to the recovery."

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U.S. stocks open lower as H-P sheds 13% of value and trades at 52-week low

San Francisco shed a vestige of its free-spirited past as local lawmakers narrowly approved a citywide ban on public nudity.

Casting aside complaints that forcing people to cover up would undermine San Francisco's reputation as a city without inhibitions, the Board of Supervisors voted 6-5 on Tuesday in favor of an ordinance that prohibits exposed genitals in most public places, including streets, sidewalks and public transit.

Exemptions would be made for participants at permitted street fairs and parades, such as the city's annual gay pride event and the Bay-to-Breakers street run, which often draws participants in costumes or various states of undress.

Supervisor Scott Wiener introduced the ban in response to escalating complaints about a group of men whose bare bodies are on display almost daily in the city's predominantly gay Castro District. He said at Tuesday's meeting that he resisted for almost two years but finally felt compelled to act.

"It's no longer an occasionally and quirky part of San Francisco. Rather, in the Castro, it's pretty much seven days a week," Wiener said. "It's very much a, 'Hey, look what I have' mentality."

Wiener's opponents on the board said a citywide ban was unnecessary and would draw police officers' attention away from bigger problems. Supervisor John Avalos also expressed concerns about what the ordinance would do to San Francisco's image.

"We are a beacon of light to other parts of the country, and sometimes there is a little bit of weirdness about how we express ourselves," Avalos said.

Boos and calls for Wiener's recall filled the board's chambers after Tuesday's vote. Gypsy Taub, a nudist activist who organized naked protests and marches in the weeks leading up to Tuesday's meeting, disrobed in protest before sheriff's deputies escorted her from the room.

Under Wiener's proposal, a first offense would carry a maximum penalty of a $100 fine, but prosecutors would have authority to charge a third violation as a misdemeanor punishable by up to a $500 fine and a year in jail.

The law still must pass a final vote and secure Mayor Edwin Lee's signature to take effect early next year.

Read more:
San Francisco Sheds Part of Free-Spirited Past