text:
Thursday, 7 April 2011
The Millipede Engine
There's a general rule of thumb that the older you get, the more jaded you become. No more so than in the world of music; where new bands try harder and harder to win your approval, but so many fall into the 'seen it all before' category. But every now and then, something drops on the mat to knock your cynical socks off, and make you realise once again just how great music is. The current ray of sunshine here at Piley Towers comes courtesy of The Millipede Engine, and their album 'Bye Bye... We're Melting', which I've been playing non stop for the last couple of weeks.
Initially released as a 'download only' album at the back-end of last year, it finally got its 'hard copy' release last month. Creating an album as accomplished as this would be a remarkable achievement for any artist, but as this is their debut album, it's even more so.
The diversity of each track is simply stunning, so much so, that you could be forgiven for initially thinking it's a compilation album. But rather cleverly, after you've heard it a few more times, themes and links start to build, and you soon realise that this is the work of two very versatile and contrasting musicians. Yes, it's clear that Brill Nudie and Honey Lane are serious music lovers, and their wide and varied influences can be spotted throughout. A journey through this album conjours up images of literally dozens of artists, but The Milepede Engine are no lazy 'cut n paste' machine, they are much too smart for that. Despite numerous bands dancing across your brain whilst you listen, you couldn't say that The Millipede Engine sound like any of them, and there is the real trick....
A snippet of bass brings Joy Division to mind, the wail of a guitar reminds you of Carlos Alomar period Bowie, a moment of dark ambient swish sees Eno, there's the faintest whiff of a 1980's Edge guitar solo, a burst of vocal has the smudged lipstick of Robert Smith all over it, and so it goes on.... Arcade Fire, Adam and the Ants, Blur, Ultravox, The Virgin Prunes, My Life Story, Syd Barrett, Killing Joke and many more are all fleetingly brought to mind. But apart from a very few exceptions (notably Bowie, The Cure and Eno) these influences are only ever really noticeable in one of the 12 tracks. Sparing use of piano, strings and brass all add to their ever-changing sound, and give this album a huge sweeping feel at times.
And as if this album isn't good enough on it's own, the limited edition physical release comes with a bonus 4 track EP ('The EP of Unconditional Love') that is every bit as good, containing 2 remixes and 2 non-album tracks. It's almost a crime to not include the 2 'new' songs on a proper full-blown album, but it certainly makes for an impressive collection of music.
Even the packaging of this release deserves a mention. Without doubt the best I've seen in decades, and reminiscent of those good old days when you'd buy a vinyl album with all sorts of nifty inserts, gifts and clever ideas inside. I can still vividly remember the excitement of repeatedly thumbing through the A4 size booklet that unexpectedly came with my early copy of Kings of the Wild Frontier! (anyone remember Elastica lifting the exact same design for their own debut album booklet some 15 years later?!).
The 2 CD's (which each come in their own separate packaging) are contained within a slightly over sized wraparound sleeve and PVC wallet. But that's not all you get.... There's an envelope containing a pre-printed 'thank you' note from the band, 5 glossy postcards (most of which are loaded with band info on the reverse), 2 postcard sized fridge magnets and a fold out containing all the lyrics. Even the cardboard mailer that it comes in has been thought out, and the nicest touch is an actual Royal Mail Millipede Engine Stamp! How cool is that?! All for just £9.99!
Art rock it certainly is, but it comes without any of the trappings that can often dog that label. It's not pretentious, over-blown or over-long (not a single track breaks the five minute barrier). Just 12 well written, multi-layered and extremely accessible songs. Pop songs for real music lovers if you will.
Like all the best albums, you get a little bit more out of 'Bye Bye... We're Melting' every time you play it. But I'm still no nearer putting this album into any category, genre or pigeon hole, and in these days of so much dumbed down, manufactured dross, I think that's a great compliment. If this isn't the 'Start the Revolution Without Me' album of the year come 31 December, I'll be shocked. Get one while you can.
The band have kindly allowed me to stream a track here for your listening pleasure: SKYSCRAPER:
Keep tuned for a Millipede Engine interview coming very shortly, and don't miss your chance to win a copy of the album right here in an exclusive competition!
You can visit the official Millipede Engine website HERE, where you can read more about the band, hear all 12 tracks streamed, and purchase a copy of the limited edition CD pack.
22 comments:
- Dan said...
Well, you've sold me on it!
Sounds like an intriguing album and I think I'll have to get my wallet out. Love the track that you've included and I know exactly what you mean - it sounds very familiar in lots of ways, but manages to be new and vibrant at the same time.
Love the idea of the packaging too. Over the course of the last couple of years, I've moved to almost exclusively purchasing downloadable versions of albums, due mostly to my impatience at waiting for physical products to arrive through the letterbox. But, making the effort to produce a package like you've described encourages me to fork out for a proper physical copy. To paraphrase a movie quote, "You had me on fridge magnets". ;o)
I'll be keeping an eye on these fellas. Thanks for the tip off, chief.
- Thursday, April 07, 2011
- Mondo said...
You've nailed the tone of album P. It's a peach and almost cinematic - sort of prog-pop. It's a great bundle , and a return to the tactile experience of vinyl..
Skyscraper is the killer track, although it's a cert others from 'Bye Bye' will be appearing on our end of year 'best of' comps..
- Thursday, April 07, 2011
- John Medd said...
Skyscraper sounds big and full of bombast. I'm guessing that when they play live they take no prisoners. Thanks for the heads up as I think you're meant to say at times like this.
I love albums that come with 'packaging.' I know it's not very green but what can you do? A simple slip sleeve just wouldn't cut the mustard here, would it?
- Thursday, April 07, 2011
- Piley said...
Dan/JM - Delighted that it's caught both your imaginations.
For me, this is a real hark back to the glory days of 'record collecting'. I have been collecting now for almost 40 years (yes, really!), but there was a special buzz in the late 70's, 80's and (perhaps a little less so) early 90's. The packaging and general presentation of an album\single was every bit as important as the content back then. I loved that 'complete experience', and the obvious care that went into it.
But like everything these days, corners are cut and trimmed to save money\make more prifit, but always to the detriment of the customer (mags scrimping on cheap papers, hotels taking away your complimentary biscuit etc etc).
So it was a real delight to receive such a wonderful 'full package' once more, and it simply oozes with the love and care that's gone into it. No major label would ever have allowed it, so top marks all round.
Mondo - A real cracker isn't it? And one that has really provided a much needed injection of enthusiasm.
- Thursday, April 07, 2011
I'm sold purely on your enthusiasm for it! Sounds like an exciting little bundle of joy.
Having heard the track you have here I definately want to hear more!!
- Thursday, April 07, 2011
- E F RICE said...
Oh that's what they sound like ! Remember you telling me about this band down the pub a few weeks back. I like Skyscraper and I have had a scoot through the streamed tracks on their site, doesn't seem to be a weak track and I am loving those bass lines. I will be another one with the wallet out soon !
Must say what an excellent look the their website has by the way, love the player with the steam coming out !
- Thursday, April 07, 2011
- Martin said...
Love the track you have on here. Like everyone else who's commented on here I'm going to have to check out the rest of the tracks. Doncha just love a bit of packaging? Takes me back to the good old days when it was difficult to lose your new purchase down the back of the sofa or because of a disk crash.
- Thursday, April 07, 2011
- Lawrence said...
Hmm not overly sold on Skyscraper, but still like what I'm hearing. I'll have to listen to more by them. Interesting for sure.
It's all about the music isn't it? Except of course it's not, I'm tempted just since I love 7"'s in plastic bags that have stickers. I love it when people make an effort. I'll have me another listen and see.
- Thursday, April 07, 2011
- Piley said...
JJ - You spotted it??!! Yes, I have been rather taken with this album now you mention it!
E.F Rice - I agree, the website has a great look to it, and I love the way it navigates sideways!!
Martin - you can hear all the tracks over on their website if you fancy trying more.
Gary - because every track is so different, it was hard to single just one out to put here. Also it perhaps works best alongside the other 11 tracks. But you may find it a grower.
- Thursday, April 07, 2011
- Lawrence said...
That's what I was thinking Ian. I like to hear an album from start to finish, the way God intended. :D
- Friday, April 08, 2011
- Kolley Kibber said...
It's a good solid sound, and kudos to them for having the imagination to put that fab packaging together, but I just can't get past his voice - he sounds like Hurricane Smith! (to me. This is entirely subjective. I fully "own my stuff.")
I'll give it a couple of hours and try again.
- Friday, April 08, 2011
- Piley said...
thanks ISBW!! Maybe check out a few of the other toons, and incredibly, even the vocals are quite varid.... You may find one or two that are less Hurricane Smith! ;-)
- Friday, April 08, 2011
- Coop said...
Gonna have a listen now.
New drunken podcast available today, with songs about body parts, murder and fighting. Check it out - http://polyvinylcraftsmen.blogspot.com/
Might see you at The Railway on Sunday?
- Friday, April 08, 2011
- Heff said...
Hey, like what's happenin' & shit ?
- Friday, April 08, 2011
- Piley said...
Cheers PVC, let me know what you think. Am way behind on your podcasts, I can't keep up with your output rate! Yeah, all being well, should be there for the Dave Woodcock gig.
Heff??!! A blast from the bloggin past! I assumed Obama had got too much for you, & you & Donna had dropped out of society?! You are stil alive then?! Great to hear from you!
- Saturday, April 09, 2011
- Martin said...
Well, the deed is done. Credit card details have been entered and the submit button clicked. Just waiting on Mr. Postman now.
- Tuesday, April 12, 2011
- marmiteboy said...
I was reminded of Boyswonder strangely Piley. I like what I have heard so far.
- Saturday, April 16, 2011
- Piley said...
Martin - great stuff, hope you enjoy. Let us kniw what you think of the whole package.
Thanks Marmite. There's lots going on in there, not heard Boys Wonder myself, but will keep an extea ear out now!
- Sunday, April 17, 2011
Cheers mate. Had a chance for a proper listen now - really like this album ...and I haven't liked anything new since 1987 :)
- Sunday, April 17, 2011
- Piley said...
Wow! PHsend in first liking of new music in almost a quarter of a century shocker! I'll ring the papers now!! ;-)
- Sunday, April 24, 2011
- thisnighthasopenedmyeyes said...
Love it, love it love it. Simple as.
- Tuesday, May 10, 2011
- Rednik said...
I too heard this album for the first time the other week - awesome album - here's my tuppences worth below...
The Millipede Engine
Bye Bye... We're Melting
I'm listening without trying to disphere the lyrics too much. I prefer to do that later. Every time I listen to something new I can't help but make associations with other artists and songs. Then later that kind of disappears.
This review is based on the fourth hearing via speakers. Again I hear stuff different in the car or via headphones. So listening via computer speakers. Highly quality, expensive ones mind you.
I get and can hear feelings of Bowie, Placebo, Suede, TV On The Radio, Japan, Roxy, Devo, Iggy Pop, New York Dolls, Arcade Fire, OMD, Gabrels, oh and that Bowie geezer.
Overall in music reviewer standard ratings I give it 4/5 stars.
01. Fifteen Forty Three
The beginning and end obviously has a Bowie 'Heathen' feel which works really well, then I absolutely love the opening riff and bass. The build up part just before vocals start reminds me of something I can't quite place at the moment, not sure if Bowie? but sounds great. I can't stop whistling at the opening... I should rephrase that it sounds a bit pervy doesn't it? The vocals are excellent throughout, love the vocal harmonies and backing as well. Piano works really well and the lead guitar fill ins. Nice chorus. Easily my favourite track so far. 9.5/10
02. Angry Aeroplanes
Totally Placebo guitar opening riff... I like it... me like Suedesque vocals... Lead guitar is awesome. Lifts and soars really well. All fits together perfectly. Excellent. 9/10
03. Magic Robot
Nice Bowiesque Hunky Dory/hours opening riff. Nice use of horny horns. Again fits together really well. 7/10
04. The Cup Of Unconditional Love
Bowie's Untitled No.1 and 5:15 The Angels Have Gone both come to mind - dreamy and floating on water. Good drumming and bass. Good vocals and lead vocals hit some really nice notes, there's some good breathing going on there. 8/10
05. The Harpy
Really beautifully sung. Love the chorus. Nice lead guitar after 2nd chorus. I can hear parts of Boys Keep Swinging and Be My Wife on both piano and bass towards the end. The song is really well constructed from beginning to the end. 9/10
06. Skyscraper
Love the vocal opening and closing. Nice chorus. I like parts of it, but not all. 6/10
07. Killing Time
The New York Dolls and Iggy tamed down into soft retro glam punk. My least favourite so far. Sounds kind of dated but that's probably because of my age, but I like the chorus. I don't feel the horns fit in with the song. Not too keen on lyrics. 5/10
08. 1001 Nacht (Objektsexualitat)
Like parts of this. Need to listen more. 6/10
09. The Man Who Gave Everything
Sung well. 'I will take you on the sea - honestly' it's a really great pun. Love that lyric. I guarantee that Bowie would nick that. Like it but not keen on the OMD 3 note synth that runs throughout, that only works for me when the strings come in at the end. Strings are beautiful. Maybe I need to hear this more. It's a grower, kinda catchy and hopefully the thought of OMD will eventually disappear. 7/10
10. Home
Again nice guitar, especially the beginning. Reminds me of early Roxy. Me like quite a lot. Hang on... f**k I just heard a Bryan Ferry warble going on, take it out immediately! Put me right off! ;) LOL. Nice lyrics. 8/10
11. The Planet Tasters
David Sylvian opening vocal, but then changes. Drumming is excellent. Me like lyrics. Sung really well. Absolutely love the female vocal ending. Who is that noisy f**k? ;) LOL. Lead guitar at end is f**king great, reminds me of Reeves before he joined Tin Machine! I like this more and more each time I hear it. In fact I shall listen to it again. My second favourite track at the moment. 9/10
12. Bye Bye... We're Melting
Love it. Perfect closing track. 9/10
- Saturday, July 09, 2011


text: Primary Image No content available. Catherine Boeckmann May 2, 2022 For daily wit & wisdom, sign up for the Almanac newsletter. Email Address Body Our lives are ruled by cycles—night and day, the seasons, the biological rhythm within our own bodies, and many others. Advertisement Edward Russell Dewey (1895–1978) was a Harvard economist who identified a number of cycles in the U.S. economy and started the Foundation for the Study of Cycles. Here are a sample of quirky cycles that apply to nature, gardening, astronomy, and other fields: One hundred years worth of records show that grasshopper abundance rises and falls rhythmically every 9.2 years. Historically, sunspots have been on a 12-year cycle, coinciding with the amount of rainfall in London, England. There is a 7.4-day cycle in the ability of bean seeds to take up water, which corresponds with the phases of the Moon. Peaks in water uptake occur at new moon, full moon, and intervening quarters. This lends credence to the age-old practice of planting by the Moon. Strangely, UFO sightings occur every 61 months, and in a regular pattern that is about 1500 to 2000 miles apart. Over a span of 133 years, bank deposits vary on a clear 9-year cycle, as does the number of cows kept for milk on U.S. farms. Every 9.6 years in Canada, there is a peak in the abundance of lynx, snowshoe rabbits, coyotes, martens, mink, muskrats, fisher cats, red foxes, and skunks. The index of international war battles shows a 6-year cycle recurring over a period of 2557 years. Also on a 6-year rhythm are steel production and whole-sale sugar prices. Precipitation in the U.S shows an 8-year cycle over 145 years of data. Also, oddly, cigarette production falls into the same cycle period. Records kept for more than 1300 years reveal that the Nile River floods highest on a regular 17 1/3-year cycle. Perhaps understanding natural cycles can help us predict certain events in the future, such as natural disasters. It certainly underscores the fact that all things in life are interrelated—often in unexpected ways! Calendar ADVERTISEMENT More Like This Solar Cycle 25 Predictions Can a Full Moon Affect Your Mood? Full Moon Names for 2023 Why the Week Has Seven Days What on Earth is Epact? Santa's Weather Get Almanac's Daily Updates Free Email Newsletter Email Address BONUS: You'll also receive our free Beginner Gardening Guide! ADVERTISEMENT Comments Add a Comment ADVERTISEMENT

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Steven Schwarzman is the CEO of the Blackstone Group, a multi-billion dollar money management firm. He is worth billions of dollars, and isn't afraid to spend his money lavishly:
He often spends $3,000 for a weekend of food for Mr. Schwarzman and his wife, including stone crabs that cost $400, or $40 per claw.
Mr Schwarzman pays a lower tax rate than police officers, firefighters, soldiers, doctors, and teachers. This is the due to the fact that money managers' "carry fees" are treated as capital gains instead of ordinary income.
Last week the House passed a bill that would partly close this loophole. Sadly, with few exceptions, VC's are lobbying against this bill, arguing it would hurt innovation, small businesses, and lots of other good stuff. As one prominent VC recently said:
[H]aving those higher taxes be levied against venture capital investments in small businesses strikes me as self-defeating when it is the single largest job growth area.
The argument seems to be that this tax will hurt small businesses. The phrase "small business" is chosen deliberately by VC lobbyists: most people, when they hear it, think of hard working immigrants pursuing the American Dream. In reality, the only thing this bill will hurt are money managers. As Fred Wilson says:
Changing the taxation of the managers will not reduce the amount of capital going to productive areas. The sources of the capital; wealthy families, endowments, pension funds, and the like, will still put the capital in the places where they will get the highest after tax return. And these sources of capital, if they are tax payers, will still get capital gains treatment on their investments in hedge funds, buyouts, and venture capital. And the fund managers will still have to compete with each other to get access to that capital and their incentives will still be to produce the highest returns they can produce, regardless of whether they are paying capital gains or ordinary income on their fees.
As Fred also argues, removing this tax break will encourage more people to go into jobs that produce tangible goods:
We have witnessed financial services (think asset management, hedge funds, buyout funds, private equity, and venture capital) grow as a percentage of GNP for the past thirty years. The best and brightest don't go into engineering, science, manufacturing, general management, or entrepreneurship, they go to wall street where they will get paid more. And on top of that, we have been giving these jobs a tax break. That seems like bad policy. If we force hedge funds and the like to compete for talent on a more level playing field, then maybe we'll see our best and brightest minds go to more productive activities than moving money around and taking a cut of the action.
Fred is absolutely correct. For me, though, removing this loophole just comes down to basic fairness. A fireman who runs into burning buildings shouldn't pay a higher tax rate than a financier sunbathing on a yacht eating $400 crabs.
Chris Dixon is Cofounder of Hunch. He's also a personal investor in early-stage technology companies, including Skype, TrialPay, Gerson Lehrman Group, ScanScout, OMGPOP, BillShrink, Oddcast, Panjiva, Knewton, and a handful of other startups that are still in stealth mode. He is a member of Founder Collective.


text:
The City of Riverside has an active Graffiti Program, but we rely on our residents and businesses to be our eyes in the community. Our graffiti crews spend 70 percent of their time responding to and removing graffiti from service requests that are generated by reported graffiti.
Anyone can get involved in the graffiti program! Residents can do anything from reporting graffiti for clean up to organizing a community paint-out event! Every effort helps, and every tag removed is one wall closer to a clean and graffiti-free Riverside.
How much money has the City issued in graffiti reward(s) since the Rewards Program started?
a) $73,000
b) $730,000
c) $7,300
d) $730
3900 Main St. 4th Floor
Riverside, CA 92522
Phone: (951) 351-6128
|Mon - Fri
|7:30am - 5:30pm
|Closed on Weekends and Major Holidays*
* Graffiti Removal Crews work 7 days per week


text:
Multitools have been around for a long time and even before Tim Leatherman came out with original PST the multitool had a purpose; it was a pocket tool box. For years companies have made multitools a jack of all trades and cram as much as they could into a tool so someone didn't have to go back to the tool box unless they really needed too. That's the reason we love multitools, they are our constant companion that can tackle any task.
Things have changed over the past few years and there is a trend developing to meet a niche or demand in the tool market. Companies are releasing minimalist style tools that feature a basic set of tools and leaving out stuff that they feel a person would not use on a daily basis. I'm not sure if the design changes are because of culture or city/urban life but they they seem to be a hit with people concerned with needing a multitool no matter what their profession.
An often-overlooked entry into the keychain size MT market is the SOG Crosscut. I was talked into buying one from 'Sharper Image' or some such mall shop many years ago, and as overpriced as it was, I would have paid it again. The original Crosscut was an absolutely excellent tool. It has been replaced by the Crosscut 2.0, with only a few refinements, and a fairly major drop in build quality since production switched from the United States to China. While it's not what it used to be, it's still an excellent option for keychain carry.
The Power Plier is one of those tools that seemed to disappear from the collective conscious when it was discontinued. The predecessor to both the Pocket Power Plier and the PowerLock the Power Plier is well worth tracking down. And not just for collecting purposes; but as a great EDC tool that has some advantages over the PowerLock. Don't be mistaken, it does show it's age during use; the tools clump, implement finish is slightly lower quality than current production tools and none of the blades lock. But it has the sleek simplicity of an earlier time and the rugged functionality that the industry was born of.
SOG Specialty Knives and Tools has been one of the top competitors in the multitool market for a long time. In my opinion they are second in status, with Leatherman of course being the top dog. They have come along way since their toolclip and they continue to produce models that are nothing short of unique. SOG is one of those companies however that does not release new models every year and is slower to innovate than most people in the industry today. I believe SOG has the philosophy; that "if it's not broken then don't fix it."
For the longest time we thought SOG would never release anything new into the tool market. Then they totally surprised us with the release of the Powerlock 2.0. The new model was not much different than the original model but had some key features that showed that they were willing to do some innovating. The new Powerlock featured a gear cover, so the teeth don't dig into the palm of our hands as much and what SOG calls "Piano Keys". The keys are there to aid in preventing the tools from clumping when getting a tool out of the handles. Both designs that were introduced on the Powerlock 2.0 were a testing ground for a new breed of SOG tool they had in the works. Dubbed the PowerAssist it was to be the first tool in the world with dual spring assisted blades. Needless to say the public was divided in two; those who thought this was a cool idea and those who thought this was just a marketing gimmick from the folks at SOG. Only time would tell if the PowerAssist lived up to the hype and would help launch SOG into a future that is full of mystique.
The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) recently (circa 2007/2008) began issuing a customized version of the SOG PowerLock EOD Black Oxide to its troops. As far as I know, this is issued to ALL recruits entering Basic Military Training as P.E. (Personal Equipment), which means its yours to keep and not something you have to draw and return from your unit's Quartermaster. It can also be purchased from the SAF eMart (SAF equivalent of the PX) if you want it for about S$70, either using your own money or eMart credit. (eMart credit is a credit-only stipend for purchasing military equipment that gets worn out such as uniforms, boots, webbing, packs, etc).
What I've gathered so far is that this is an SOG PowerLock EOD Black Oxide (not the 2.0) that was procured by ST Logistics (Singapore Technologies Logistics) via Sheares Technologies Pte Ltd for the Singapore Armed Forces. Singapore Technologies is a publicly traded company that amongst other things, manufactures arms, ammunition, military vehicles, naval vessels for Singapore's military and for export. Sheares Technologies is a private company with a storefront that deals mainly with the gadgetry most of us are familiar with, such as tactical flashlights, knives, multi-tools, etc.
This is what the package comes with:
What kind of people would write collect and review multitools? Quite simple really- we are designers and do-ers, outdoors types and indoor types, mechanics, doctors, problem solvers and problem makers. As such, we have, as a world spanning community, put every type, size and version of multitool, multifunction knife, pocket knife and all related products to every test we could manage in as many places and environments as there are.


text:
Vice President (Women's Fellowship)
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
Comment *
Name *
Email *
Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
CSI Christ Church
On Going Parish Hall in 2020
Old Church at 1910
© C.S.I Christ Church 2023, powered by clickersindia.com


text:
Marc Marquez was heaped with praise in the media after his first laps on the Repsol Honda at Valencia on Wednesday. So much praise that some MotoGP fans grew sceptical, questioning whether ending the test over a second behind his new teammate and fastest man Dani Pedrosa was the great result that was being touted by the press. After all, Marquez had finished just 7th, behind all of the prototype riders from last year, and that was without the presence of Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi on the factory Yamahas.
So who is right? Are the media right to be excited about the times Marquez posted on Wednesday, or are they still blinded by his performance on Sunday, winning the Moto2 race from the back of the grid? Are the fans correct to point to his position, behind the satellite bikes despite being on a factory Honda? One answer may lie in the times.
Perhaps the best way of measuring Marquez' debut is by comparing his times with those set by others on their first test in MotoGP. Comparing the times directly should be pointless, as conditions varied significantly between the tests in recent years. A more appropriate way of comparing times is to compare the difference beween the fastest time posted by each rookie, and the fastest time set at the test that year. The fastest time set at each test then acts as a benchmark, with each rookie measured against that, instead of directly between years. In theory, the better a rider, the closer they will be to the fast guys from the very start. The table below makes that comparison for the highest-profile rookies who entered the class since 2009.
That comparison clearly vindicates Marquez. Though the young Spaniard is over a second off the time of Pedrosa, that is four tenths closer to the front than any other rider making their debut in MotoGP. Cal Crutchlow was the next fastest man on his debut, getting within a second and a half of Jorge Lorenzo in his first test in MotoGP. Compare Marquez to Marco Simoncelli, a rider closing in on MotoGP success before his tragic death at Sepang, and Marquez comes out even more favorably: where Marquez was over a second off the pace, Simoncelli was nearly two seconds slower than fastest man Casey Stoner in November 2009. Compare Marquez against Stefan Bradl, the man he lost the 2011 Moto2 championship to, and the Spaniard is even better, Bradl ending the 2011 Valencia test 2.3 seconds slower than Dani Pedrosa's fastest time that year. Crutchlow and Simoncelli both went on to podium in their second year in MotoGP, and Bradl came pretty close in his first year in the class.
Yet there are even more factors that speak out in Marquez' favor. Marquez is not just fastest in relative terms, he is fastest in absolute terms as well. And this is not just down to the 1000cc bikes being faster than the old 800s, especially now they have an extra year of development on them: if you order the times set by the fastest rider each year, then Pedrosa's 2012 lap is actually the slowest of the lot, over half a second slower than his time from 2011, four tenths off the pace of Casey Stoner in 2009, and three tenths slower than Jorge Lorenzo's fastest lap from 2010. That is down to the conditions: in previous years, the test has taken place on a dry track, though with often cold and windy conditions. By the time the track closed on Wednesday afternoon in 2012, the Valencia circuit was almost completely dry, with still just a few damp patches in the first corner.
It is true that Marquez is the only rider to have a factory bike - with the exception of Alvaro Bautista, who went straight into the factory Suzuki team and ended the test just under a second slower than his erstwhile teammate Loris Capirossi - and the Honda is clearly an outstanding bike. Just how much faster the factory RC213V is than the satellite bikes ridden by the other rookies on their debut is a bone of contention: at the first test for each rider, most of the work being done is familiarizing the rookie with the machine and the tires, helping them adapt their riding style to the bike and tires and get their heads around a far more complicated MotoGP machine. Little time is spent chasing an ideal set up, and looking for the final few tenths which a factory bike might offer, that only comes once the season gets underway.
But the real measure of how impressive Marquez' time was comes when you take into account just how quickly Marquez got up to speed. The Spaniard went out late on Wednesday afternoon, the second day of testing, having missed all of the first day and the morning of the second due to the weather. He completed 28 full laps, his 28th and final being the lap that brought him back to the pits, in four exits. By any measure, Marquez' debut was severely curtailed by the weather.
That was not the case for riders in previous years. Simoncelli, for example, had two full days of testing spread over three days, completing a total of 165 laps. Crutchlow had 133 laps spread out over two full days, while Bradl had a 'mere' 123 laps in two days. Even Andrea Iannone has had more laps, a full test at Mugello earlier in the year, and 96 laps in different conditions at Valencia. Though it is impossible to say how fast Marquez would have been had he also had two full days of testing, the margin by which he improved his time on each exit suggests there was much more still to come: 1:35.846, 1:35.201, 1:34.522, 1:33.403.
The enthusiasm with which the press reported on Marquez' MotoGP debut was not just hype, meant to boost the profile of another Spanish rider who has been carefully groomed for success, with the backing of Spanish oil giant Repsol. Watching Marquez learn his way around a MotoGP bike in just a few laps was impressive enough, but when you stack his numbers up against any entrant into the class, it is clear that it is a very special talent we are watching.
Rookie times at end of first MotoGP test:
|Best time
|Fastest rider
|Marc Marquez1
|Dani Pedrosa
|Cal Crutchlow
|Jorge Lorenzo
|Andrea Iannone2
|Dani Pedrosa
|Karel Abraham
|Jorge Lorenzo
|Hector Barbera
|Casey Stoner
|Marco Simoncelli
|Casey Stoner
|Bradley Smith3
|Dani Pedrosa
|Alvaro Bautista
|Casey Stoner
|Stefan Bradl
|Dani Pedrosa
|Hiroshi Aoyama
|Casey Stoner
1: Marquez posted just 28 full laps due to the rain
2: Iannone also had a prior test on the Ducati at Mugello earlier in the year
3: Smith posted just 43 full laps due to the rain
Year: The year of the rider's first test
Rider, Bike: The name of the rider and the manufacturer of the bike they were riding
Time: The fastest time they set throughout the test
Best time: The fastest time set by any rider at that test
Fastest rider: The name of the rider setting the fastest time at that test
Diff: The difference between the fastest lap set by the rookie, and the fastest time sat at that test
Previous: The difference of differences, i.e. how much slower each rookie was than the fastest rider at the test the rookie made their debut
Times were compared for the tests for the years 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012, as those were the data which were most readily available.
If you enjoyed this article, please consider supporting MotoMatters.com. You can help by either taking out a subscription, supporting us on Patreon, by making a donation, or contributing via our GoFundMe page. You can find out more about subscribing to MotoMatters.com here.
Nice work. Dammit, I like
Nice work. Dammit, I like this site.
Dang . . .
David you out did yourself with this one! Quantifying something so variable over so many years into a meaningful chart of information is very impressive indeed! My hats off to you my friend. And it really puts MM's lap time into a whole new perspective!! Thanks
In reply to Dang . . . by camchannell
This must have taken you some time!
In reply to This must have taken you some time! by Lo
Are you really doing this?
Seriously... I know there's a lot of time to kill, but all you gotta do is look at the kid ride. He's fast, really fast.
Give it a break until the flag drops for real and then you can toss all this B.S. out the window.
Unless there's a "First Test Rookie of the Year" award I'm unaware of... then by all means, have at it.
Aren't there a few apples amongst the pears?
Marquez is a talent. No question. But I think the jury is still out on how good he is. And, sorry David, I'm not sure, unless I have missed something, what this comparison really shows. For example, how relevant is it to include data from the 800 era. With the tyres that were being used then, for example, many would argue they were far more difficult to master than the 1000s. And even in 1000 era, Honda's gearbox has made a huge difference in the ride-ability of the bike. And the tyres have become easier to come to terms with too. And what about changing track conditions? But most of all, how do we know how hard Dani was trying. Why, without Jorge (and Casey) at the test, would he feel the need to really go for it and show his hand. Remember it was Dani who was showing Marc the lines in the early laps. And the Dani we are seeing now - winner of more races than the 2012 MotoGP Champion, is a more canny guy than I for one had previously thought. Marc's good though. Roll on 2013.
In reply to Aren't there a few apples amongst the pears? by Cloverleaf
i think this is very helpful.
I think your over-thinking this a little. The comparisons are actually very good. If you are mapping the rookies' performance to the fastest rider at a given test, you are getting a sense of the speed of the rookie. The fastest rider's time at any test and track will contemplate track conditions, pavement, track,tires and displacement. The gap, or lack there of from the front, will give an idea as to how the rookie performed.
This is a better way to do it than to take Nickey Hayden's time on a 990 with Michelins in 2003 and compare it to Jorge Lorenzo's time on an 800; you would get no real insight doing it that way.
imho of course.
PS, like KRKA said, this all goes out the window when the lights go out. Ben was fast this year in lots of QPs and practices but saw himself get psyched out when he wasn't being boobie trapped by the Tuning Forks.
PPS, what the hell else do we talk about until February?!!!
dani and stoner
i dont see dani and stoner's first motogp test times for comparison?
Why start at 2009?
The table is a good comparo but would be nice to see ,Rossi,stoners and Jorge's debut times also since they went on to be world champs in pretty quick order. You could add to that pedrosa and Hayden also since the former in an alien and the latter is a world champ. Even Doohan would be interesting.
Good article nonetheless. Food for thought.
In reply to Why start at 2009? by jkplanb
I started at 2009 because I had easy access to all of the data from that period (it's all on the MotoGP.com website, and as I was at the test myself, I have the full timesheets for each rider). I couldn't find the data from before 2009, and so I didn't post it. I really wanted the times for Pedrosa, Lorenzo and Stoner for comparison.
In reply to 2009 by David Emmett
Mr Emmett's opinion
I find it hard to believe with Marquez having been apart of the repsol team for the last two years that this is his first time on the bike your thoughts
In reply to Mr Emmett's opinion by Bepscam
His first time
He may have been with Repsol, but he wasn't with Honda. I watched his first few laps from the side of the track, and I can assure you, those were his first laps with a MotoGP bike. He missed a gear change, was adapting to the bike, and changing his style.
Even before he even rode the bike, you could see it was his first time. He looked like a teenager on a promise, like his girlfriend had phoned him and told him tonight was the night. It was almost pornographic, the way he looked at that bike. That only happens before they get to ride the bike, in my experience.
In reply to His first time by David Emmett
I want to compare with some older data
there is some over there, and the outstanding rookie is not exactly surprising:
Looking at the data and comparing Bradl and Simoncelli vs Barbera and Abraham and all I can say is that how fast you are at the Valencia Test doesn't correlate to how good of a MotoGP rider you will be. And don't forget that Barbera/Abraham were on Ducati's which is generally considered not nearly as competitive as the Honda's Bradl and SuperSic were on.
In reply to Inconclusive by synfinatic
I'm not sure what you're trying to say here. Are/were Bradl and Simoncelli better riders than Barbera and Abraham, or are you saing the opposite?
I don't think you can really compare riders on the Ducatis with the others. Getting to grips with it certainly won't be as easy as the Hondas or Yamahas.
I've no doubt that Marquez is
I've no doubt that Marquez is fast, but I think you're glossing over the difference between a factory and satellite bike a little too much - Marquez moves into a team with an excellent crew alreday, taking the place of one of the fastest riders ever. I'm sure they simply started at Casey's base settings and let Marquez ride that bike. He's starting with one of the top 3 fastest racebikes in the world, with a crew that helped their last rider win a championship last year and several races this year. Setup time or not, he started with a much, much better base than anyone else on your list. Again, it's obvious Marquez is a great talent, but let's not forget that he certainly has a bike and team that can get him much nearer the front than anyone else had.
In reply to I've no doubt that Marquez is by ghostdog6
And this is why I posted
And this is why I posted elsewhere Rea's experience. Casey's bike, Casey's crew, in the hands of a very experienced and talented World Superbike rider = nowhere near Marquez' tiny gap to the front. And that was after a full day of testing. I'm not sure that Rea EVER got this close to Pedrosa's times, even after two full race weekends.
In reply to And this is why I posted by morbidelli17
Not comparable
WSBK is another world compared to MotoGP. Moto2 is much closer to the way MotoGP is ridden these days, with a lot of corner speed. The tires are completely different in WSBK as well, as is the way those bikes are ridden. That means what Rea had to do was to "unlearn" a lot the things he's gotten used to in WSBK. Marquez did not have to do that at all.
If anything you should compare Reas times with Crutchlows or Spies, seeing as those two also came from WSBK, and you'll see its much more similar.
In reply to Not comparable by taliz
True, but a Moto2 bike also
True, but a Moto2 bike also has completely different tires, no electronic rider aids, and less than half the horsepower of a MotoGP bike. And it weighs 22 kg less than a MotoGP bike. I think a WSBK machine - with well over 200 horsepower, full rocket ship electronics and 165 kg minimum weight - is far closer to a 157 kg MotoGP bike than a Moto2 bike.
My opinion.
Gahhh, I hate the off-season.
I feel like gaging on all the
I feel like gaging on all the Marquez worshipping already.
As mentioned above, the tyres were significantly more difficult to come to terms with in 2011 and earlier so it is hardly comparable to rank those riders rookie tests against a rookie now.
It is also worth noting that those other riders were all riding satellite bikes and were no doubt under instructions to not go out and bend them on day 1. Marquez would have been under instruction to go and put in the fastest lap possible to feed the media frenzy.
In my opinion the real eye opener is Iannone who was only 0.43 off Marquez on a bike that finished no where near the front on race day. If we want to see how much faster the Honda is then the Ducati all we have to do is look at qualifying for race day.
Pedrosa 1:30.8
Hayden 1:32.5
Rossi 1:32.8
So the Honda is nearly a 2 second faster bike than the Ducati which really puts into perspective how Marquez did in comparison to the real star of testing Andrea Iannone.
The problem is Andrea Iannone is not the lead character in the Dorna/MotoGP Soap Opera. Therefore regardless of how good he is you and the other Journo's will still just repeat the same mistakes made for the last decade and spend all your column inches on just one rider and forsake all the others who have had to try harder with less to get there and be successful.
I fail to see why we should applaud journalism that is so unbalanced and manipulated by "group think".
In reply to I feel like gaging on all the by Mental Anarchist
Iannone did an outstanding job at Valencia, no doubt about it. But you are wrong about one thing: he is being lined up to be a star in the Dorna soap opera, after all, he is the next fast Italian, and needed to sell TV rights in Italy.
As for myself, there is no doubt Iannone is fast, but he lacks consistency. The briefest glimpse at his results sheet will show that. The late, lamented MotoGPNews.com used to call Marco Melandri MRNG, Marco the Random Number Generator, because he was capable of winning one week and finishing 12th the next. Iannone fits as his rightful heir in that respect.
In reply to Iannone by David Emmett
MRNG = awesome! And one of
MRNG = awesome!
And one of the fun things about Moto2 this season was trying to predict whether Iannone would be first or 21st. Sometimes he was both in the same race.
I'm pretty sure that Dorna arranged the weather to make for the most dramatic possible ending to the season. They sent Rossi to the track where they were sure it would rain on day two, thus ensuring that no one would know exactly how Rossi would do on the M1, and told Dani and Marc to keep the gap small enough to generate excitement but not too close, thereby avoiding generating suspicion that the numbers were rigged.
But I'm too smart. I see right through their little shenanigans.
p.s. For everyone who keeps talking about the difference in the machine, the crew, etc., in the Repsol camp as a way of explaining Marquez' speed, how do you explain how much faster (relative to Pedrosa) he is than Rea was?
In reply to Iannone by David Emmett
Late, lamented, indeed!
In reply to I feel like gaging on all the by Mental Anarchist
Iannone has had several days
Iannone has had several days of testing on the Ducati, the Bridgestones, and top-level electronics.
Marquez has about 45 minutes on a MotoGP bike in his life. And those were on a track that was never completely dry.
david = nerd! thank you :)
david = nerd!
thank you :)
How about we just wait till the season actually starts?
This time last year everyone was convinced Honda will completely annihilate the field, yet it was Lorenzo that finished 1st or 2nd in every race that he finished.
In reply to How about we just wait till the season actually starts? by BigCHrome
True, but Hondas did do the
True, but Hondas did do the majority of the winning. Problem was it just got split up between two riders.
In reply to True, but Hondas did do the by morbidelli17
Actually predictions might have been more accurate
if Bridgestone had indeed used the tires on which the Hondas set the best times during testing, instead of imposing a new tire a few races into the season.
Nothing wrong with introducing a new tire, but why imposing it and forbidding the old one on which the bikes have been developped?
In reply to Actually predictions might have been more accurate by frenchie
Bridgestone/Dorna politic was the major reason why Honda were struggling with the new front tyre. Could this be the final straw that made Casey walked? It's interesting to notice that both times he won the championship, Dorna had to tweak some curveballs into the tyre equation.
David, Excellent
Excellent work.
Thanks- my subscription is certainly assured for the foreseeable future.
You are the man.....
John in New Hampshire
How many of those Rookies
How many of those Rookies debuted on a bike with a seamless shift gearbox said to be worth (at least) 0.2 a lap? I think the difference between the factory RCV213v and other bikes is vast. MM is a massive talent but don't gloss over that he's sitting on one of the finest Premier class weapons ever produced in the history of Racing.
Look at Karel Abraham's debut on the sattelite 2010 Ducati, 0.3 from Marquez best time on the 2013 RCV213v. I don't think much can be gained from comparisons this early, but it is good to fire up debate, sure.
I do think that MM is a worthy successor to Casey though, and I wouldn't want to see anyone else in that seat. MM is so exciting to watch and a bit mad, just like Simoncelli was and how MotoGP misses his brightly burning talent. I can't wait to watch MM shake up the established order in 2013.
In reply to How many of those Rookies by pooch
The Ducati has Seamless Shift also...
The Ducati has the Seamless Shift gearbox also.
Honda went to the seamless shift to smooth it's corner entry.
If I remember correctly, Casey and Dovi said yes and Dani said no during testing.
Also, if MM is sitting on "one of the finest Premier class weapons ever produced in the history of Racing"....why do they only have just one only World Championship and then only with the talents of the finest Premier class weapons (Casey Stoner) as the rider?
I think the adulation of HRC has been misplaced and misplaced for many years now.
The Yamaha is a far, far better bike, only lacking outright HP and a rider with the cojones to ask for a screamer engine.
In reply to The Ducati has Seamless Shift also... by BrettS69
Well - Casey himself says it
Well - Casey himself says it is the best sorted MotoGP bike he ever rode. (at least the '11 version!) so excuse if I believe him, and not you about Yamaha. Karel didn't have a seamless shift gearbox when he debuted as a Rookie on the '10 Ducati and got a time within .3 of what Marquez rode on the RCV just now - that was my point...
In reply to Well - Casey himself says it by pooch
Fair call.....but,
Fair call .......but HRC doesn't have the WC's on the board like Yamaha does in the last few years. Hey, I'm a Stoner and HRC fan, but HRC just does hasn't had the success like Yamaha has.
In reply to Fair call.....but, by BrettS69
I do not think we can make a good conclusion based on the last few years. Here's the winning constructor list for the last ten years:
2011 MotoGP Honda
2010 MotoGP Yamaha
2009 MotoGP Yamaha
2008 MotoGP Yamaha
2007 MotoGP Ducati
2006 MotoGP Honda
2005 MotoGP Yamaha
2004 MotoGP Honda
2003 MotoGP Honda
2002 MotoGP Honda
Honda is the winning constructor for the last two years, so is it fair to say that Yamaha just doesn't have succes like Honda?
You just can't compare Yamaha with Honda in constructor titles or in World Gran Prix success in general, Honda is in the league of his own. Honda has nearly twice as many victories and titles.
In reply to Well - Casey himself says it by pooch
'Casey... says it is the best sorted MotoGP bike he ever rode.'
Ergo: he has never ridden the M1.
Conspiracy? MM Building the Marquez Myth?
Have you ever noticed that this site has kind of a Repsol color scheme?
Ahh....R0$$! free articles
Nice to read a R0$$! free article!
Great that the future talent of MotoGP is getting a run.
Ianonne's speed, as well as Dovi's is pleasing to see.
Every intelligent (<=> intellectual) human being sees nothing in this article but pseudo-logic and "blabla" (the need of the site owner to have enought "clicks" by the so called "supporters").
The quality of the logic in this article can be compared to a deduction like: "Lets analyse the brightness of the sun an its consequences for the earth in terms of: ´is it day or night?`...".
This article does and says nothing because it has to ignore (they are simply not ascertainable) variables, causalities and oversimplifies to an absolutely immature degree.
Congratulations ... (P.S. Mathematics is not the explanation of life/truth, it´s just the fundament - precise architecture - of the universe; therefore please don´t try to explain every fact in life - even first laps/times on a MotoGP bike - just with numbers ... there is so much more behind/on top of it).
In reply to Pointless by Chris Pheros
whatever, smart guy.
let me guess. you must drink skinny mocha lattes and hate iPhones for their being a closed-source platform instead talking about designing your own software but really just running your mouth...
if you don't like the content feel free to contemplate your navel elsewhere.
In reply to Pointless by Chris Pheros
MotoGP is just numbers
The point of motorcycle racing is to go faster than everyone else. The contest is purely mathematical: the rider who arrives at the end of a set distance in the shortest time wins.
In reply to Pointless by Chris Pheros
Conspiracy !!!!!!
Hey.....you're the owner of crash.nut and you're jealous of this fantastic site and have come to reduce the comments to the same level as your site ????
It's not gonna work. LOL :O)
First of all, I have to
First of all, I have to acknowledge David's splendid statistic review, but, IMHO, these first tests are not very trustworthy in order to learn whether a rider will be up front or not.
Different bikes (I've read somewhere that Marc registered his best laps on a 2012 bike and not on the 2013 unit, which will be heavier), and short dry track time available made these tests just a press preview to take the first pictures of the riders on their new bikes for the next season.
I usually rate Marc as a great rider, but I would like to take some time before I dare to place my bet in his favour. The jump from Moto2 to MotoGP is very big, and I want to watch him on his final bike and see if he is able to keep Dani's, Jorge's and Crutchlow's paces.
On the other hand, being able to lap just one second slower than a lap record breaking Dani Pedrosa is quite impressive, no doubt.
It's bullshit
but very high quality, interesting BS.
David never said he had the absolute accurate analysis but like most of his neutral(ish) 'make your own mind up' reporting you can make of it what you will. For me, it's nice to see the effort he makes.
The key question for me is how hard DP was trying – he either wasn't (keeping his powder dry), or he was (wanting to make MM understand who was boss). This will give us all something to ponder over the winter.
The partial answer, for me, are Stoners times. He was on a different bike and tyres, but if you look at the times over recent years they aren't that far out and it probably tells a story that fits the track too. Stoner wasn't known for slacking, he made laps count.
The JR analogy fits too – he was being sensible and had an eye on a future contract/opportunity not a wish to crack on regardless, which MM clearly does at any time he is on track (and gets much criticised and penalised for it too).
This article may not qualify as highly as Einstein's theory, but it isn't about a Hadron Collider either. Just an Aragon (ant) Collider.
Sorry – couldn't resist.
I thought that the Qatar podium prediction was a bit of a joke/high aspiration. I don't now. Hayden's joke about MM needing a couple more years in Moto2 said a lot too. There's going to be a lot of physical and mental training going on over these next few months. 2013 could be good.
In reply to It's bullshit by motomann
You and others are correct to point out that Pedrosa's times are the real question mark here. Just how hard was he trying, and was it hard enough to put the times in context?
Pedrosa said that most of what he had been testing was where to put the extra 3kg of weight on the bike for 2013 (minimum weight goes up from 157 to 160kg). To make that test useful, he has to push pretty hard to see how the weight affects the front tire, the suspension, the braking loads, the acceleration. You can't do that if you are not circulating fast enough, you have to be pushing fairly hard. Could Pedrosa have gone faster? Probably. Was he taking it easy? I don't believe so.
It seems reasonable to speculate that on a completely dry track, and with plenty of time to test, Pedrosa would have gone faster, and pushed hard for a fast lap. However, it would also seem reasonable to speculate that with more track time on a dry surface, Marquez would have gone faster too. I don't think the gap would have increased between the two in that case, but I have no evidence for that.
In reply to Pedrosa by David Emmett
I think it's also reasonable
I think it's also reasonable to assume that Pedrosa was trying just as hard as he usually does during testing. I think most of the pros have a "testing" setting, a "race" setting and a "brain in the toolbox, it's rostrom or hospital" setting in their minds - and I think they're pretty consistent within that rider's skull.
In other words, I'd suggest that this comparison to Pedrosa's testing time is valid against any other Pedrosa testing time.
I'm not a mind reader, though.
In reply to Pedrosa by David Emmett
Dani was primarily interested in not injuring himself
I think the primary focus in Dani's mind was leaving the test uninjured. He's just finished a season with no injuries and a high number of wins as a result of not getting hurt. I can't imagine he was interested in pushing for a really fast time on a not quite dry track with the sole prize of turning a fast time, especially since Lorenzo and Rossi were not there to compare against. With how he performed this season, especially the 2nd half, he has nothing to prove to anybody.
Marquez seems to have only one speed while on track regardless of if it is practice, QP or the race: dangerously fast. He also needs to make as much use of each session as possible to learn the bike, tires, brakes and electronics. He had no reason to not push hard and every reason to. And given that he went faster in each out he was trying.
Given those opposing viewpoints I think Dani could have gone a lot faster (as would Jorge and maybe Rossi) while Marc didn't have much left in his quiver (yet). Add Lorenzo and Rossi to the mix and MM would be 9th. Include Stoner and its 10th. Its a long way to the podium.
That said, it would be nice to have written about other impressive rookie debuts too. The series is already suffering from the media having focused on one rider above all, let's not repeat the same mistake.
Good fun that
Well done David.
Still, as we all know (often forgotten here though) there are no certainties in this sport, that's why I keep watching. We'll see at the end of next season, and the one after that how good he is at this level; winning a junior championship is NOT a guarantee of success at senior level.
He's damn fast and an excellent racer, time will tell....
Roll on next year, I'm bored now there's no racing; have to go back to decorating the house at weekends.
Follow the series
Roots to branches. I anticipate the junior class as much as I do the senior class.
Marquez has been astonishing. Was it Estoril some years back in 125. Was it Red Bull rookie.
Okay. Marc is a little shy of Stoner's debut test on a 3rd tier sat bike,but he is the real deal in terms of raw tallent.
Test times aside,don't expect Marquez to play to the media,roll out 'Sorry I'm L8' stuff. Don't expect Iannone to pander to the hype either.
Off topic for sure, but what I would like to know about is Audi/Ducati/Preziosi.
Preziosi got crucified for comming up with the most powerfull bike the game has ever seen,encompassing technology I ride every day. Desmo vs unobtainable pnuematic junk.
Man,am I looking forward to supporting the Ducati team next year. Its been a long 2 years of misery.
Taglioni Desmodue,Bordi Desmoquatro(With MV Agusta now),Preziosi Desmosedici. I like it.
I can already see this site is going to become oh so very entertaining after Marquez's first time beating Rossi. Which will hopefully be at Qatar.
Either way, nice article. I don't normally enjoy idle specualation but since it's the offseason we don't really have anything else...
"Marquez the second coming" - hype over the top
While there's not doubt the young fella has shown great performance, all the hype is a bit over the top.
Interesting enough, it's a bit like Valentino Rossi in the late 90s, when jumping to 250cc, then to 500cc. The difference is, Rossi had that "bigger than life" and enjoyable and funny "juvenile aura" to complement his outstanding performances, which made it easy to sugar coat everything and make him 'appealing'.
Call me sceptic but, looking at the current state of the class, the whole economy crisis thing, the departure of Stoner and Rossi going old very soon, it looks like Dorna and "the bigger interests in the sport" are desperate to have a "new star" (or a new goose that lays golden eggs). It feels like M.Marquez is almost forced down our throat.
M.Marquez may have the speed, the titles, the sponsors and everything in his favor (a whole infrastructure behind him), but the way some victories and atitude on track came up (Wilairot, Luthi, Espargaro, Corsi), I still think the kid needs to work a LOT on his behaviour at the track before going all out in Qatar next year.
Simoncelli had some sort of excuse for the type of persona he had, some big stupid mistakes but with something that I would consider with inocence, almost naivety. M.Marquez doesn't have that, on some of those episodes a borderline dangerous side was shown.
The rookie rule being conveniently pulled out on his purpose, when other riders were prejudiced in recent past by it, makes it all the more "forced" (sorry but that's how I feel about it).
Let's see how Pedrosa and Lorenzo (two big complainers on "dirty moves") will see Marquez next year.
In reply to "Marquez the second coming" - hype over the top by Luc Marqs
And let's not forgive than in this last season the chosen one send off kalio too, in the upcoming season if the chosen on blast off his own teammate or lorenzo looks like than will be the harakiri for marq.
Much hype around the guy, well it's normal than some persons start to dreaming about this guy, his only problem is than the guy didn't recognize his mistakes when he blast off another rider.
What happend than SuperSic cause the problem in LeMans with pedrosa, all the world wanted to burn Sic or sending him to execution, after that SuperSic Apologizes, late but apologizes and started to change, Marq how many troubles causes to another riders, well starting with wilaroit, luthi, espargaro, kalio, corsi, then you have 5 troubles the guy cause, ¿apologies? falses apologies or inexplicable excuses.
Man, Stoner Punch against de puniet in Le Mans and people wanted to send Stoner to his ranch, Sic and Stoner has cause less troubles than marq cause in one year.
Also the chosen one will be not the only guy to watch, Bradl has do the things good and he will start to receive support from HRC, The disappointment will come if marq do an elias in the leader class, but only time will tell.
It's good to dreaming and start to flying, but first the foot in the earth.
In reply to +1 by Taerkasten
Hype isn't entirely unwarranted
I'm not a huge MM fan (I'd like to be, but I need to see him consider other rider's safety a bit more first), and I agree that there's certainly some hype around his arrival in the top class that can only be proven to be warranted or not as we actually make our way through the upcoming season, but let's not say it's just complete hype and artificial manufacturing of excitement on the part of Dorna, fan clubs, blogs and motorcycle online sites, etc. He did finish the season by winning from the very back of the grid in a very competitive class on a bike that isn't generally considered to be any better than many others on the grid. Whether I like the guy or not he's earned at least some of the hype.
That Mr. Emmett should focus an article on him as testing for the new season starts hardly exposes bias or hype on his part. He's following one of the biggest stories in MotoGP at the moment. Whether the story falls flat half way through the upcoming season is anyone's guess, and that's what we're all doing here - coming up with the best guess we can, because it beats doing all those other things I'm actually supposed to be doing right now.
In reply to Hype isn't entirely unwarranted by scottwiebe
In reply to "Marquez the second coming" - hype over the top by Luc Marqs
Totally agree
There is more to being a star in any sport than just being a winner.
It will never be fully realised how big a loss Simoncelli was; he was an exciting racer, and had bags of charm and fun about him; was a good looking lad with the big wild hair. None of the last of that list made him faster or better, but once you'd seen him or heard him interviewed, he was never forgotten.
He was truly a 'star' in the making and the sport misses him.
I don't see anyone else on the horizon who has that star quality, even though there are some excellent riders (all the obvious names). Dorna must be crossing everything that the Rossi gives them a couple of good years respite, even if its only a few wins.
And Luc, yes, as Lorenzo is not on the team, there is one 'certainty'; he will be shouting from the rooftops at the 1st sign of the MM antics.
By only going back to 2009 and not just a few years further, that would give a much more highly accurate comparison - this time span becomes misleading & unfair. It excludes the fabulous debut of Casey Stoner. Let's "assume" - always dangerous, I know - but in this case quite valid - that the 990cc bikes are a "better" comparative yardstick than the 800's are to the present 1,000cc Senior Class bikes.
If you want to show a "Rookie" who was really FAST straight out of the blocks, you simply can't go past Stoner's first ride on the Pons Honda RC211V @ Valencia in 2005 in Testing for 2006 ...
As with Marquez, having never been on a Senior Class machine ever before, Stoner lapped @ only 0.64 seconds behind the fastest rider of the entire 2005 Test!
To put that into perspective:- Marquez @ Valencia also - but in 2012 on the 1 x Litre Honda, lapped @ 1.081 seconds slower than the quickest rider. Back in 2005 also @ Valencia, Dani Pedrosa was plus 1.1 seconds - but had the advantage of spending time & distance on the "big" bike prior. Stoner shades them all, yes?
There appears to be a definite, distinct & noticeable trend by the GP media hack pack (unintentionally or otherwise) to deify Marquez already & prepare the ground to create a second coming or latter-day Valentino Rossi. The problem with this sort of thing is that for the counterpoint to the HERO - there is the cartoon-ish necessity for the VILLAIN - the role the taciturn & plain-speaking Aussie, Casey Stoner was so unfairly cemented into for having the initial surprise then ongoing temerity to thoroughly beat their media darling Valentino Rossi - as the statistics 2006 - 2012 (when in the same Class) so clearly demonstrate.
Therefore, wiser, more rational & dispassionate heads should be very circumspect as to how & why opinions & reportage end-up as they do & the proven media ability to change & shape public opinion.
Can I give another example? When Casey Stoner set his very first Senior Class Pole in 2006 @ Qatar in only his 2nd race on the 990 - he achieved this despite being stuck in an airport the entire overnight prior & also suffering the 'Flu or a very heavy cold. I cannot recall that these facts or circumstances were even "reported"- anywhere! I only know because of people that were there. Is it any wonder that hardly anyone out in Joe Public Land had heard of or even saw Casey Stoner coming ...???
In reply to BY TRUNCATING THE TIME-FRAME THIS BECOMES VASTLY MISLEADING ... by Cletus Purcell
Availability of data, and favorite riders
If you had read the footnote at the bottom of the table, you would have seen that I only used data I had available to me. I had not yet made a complete effort to assemble all of the data for all of the post-Valencia tests. This means that I could not make the comparisons with proven riders such as Jorge Lorenzo, Dani Pedrosa, Casey Stoner or Valentino Rossi, which would have made it more interesting.
I realize that there are times for those older tests out there, but I wanted to be as consistent as possible with my data sources, to ensure that they were reliable and comparable. Hence, I only used the data from the MotoGP.com results and statistics page. In a couple of days, I shall resume a hunt for more data, and try to go back as far as possible.
As to your point about Stoner at Qatar, if you go back and read the press reports, there was plenty of space given to Stoner's late arrival at Qatar, and the fact that he was sick. I distinctly remember it being mentioned during the Eurosport commentary at the time.
In reply to BY TRUNCATING THE TIME-FRAME THIS BECOMES VASTLY MISLEADING ... by Cletus Purcell
Are we seriously still defending Casey Stoner from how he was treated in the media?? Can we please finally give it a rest. We all get it... Stoner did not get the credit he deserved. But the story ended well!! He got vindicated when he hopped on a Honda, and got vindicated when Rossi's eyes crossed his first time on a Ducati.
Stoner won the war. Can we stop sticking up for a grown man please and move on? Shoot, he doesn't even race motorcycles anymore (unfortunately).
As far as the Marquez hype... I watch motorcycle racing and come to this site because I love to watch super fast dudes on super fast bikes. I like being excited about the races. I like looking forward to the next season. I love the idea of a young kid coming in to the series to shake things up a bit. And I like being excited about it.
Does it mean he is the second coming? No, he has yet to prove anything.
But, it drives me nuts, when things get exciting, that so many people come out of the woodwork to do everything they can to kill the buzz. I appreciate your right and want of accurate facts and discussion, but man, the article clearly stated the facts given are speculative.
So... relax, smile, and enjoy the racing!
- Will MM be subjected to highly intensive media training 'off-season' ?
- Was Casey 'paid off' to retire like Mike Hailwood was?
- I'm all for keeping sponsors happy, especially Tissot :-) but must we be subjected to every single 'high caffeine energy drink' manufacturer out there as a sponsor? I hadn't realised my perceived was 16, again!!!!
Are they the new 'big tobacco' sponsors?
Good article David, even after considering all the known/unknown variables!
//- Was Casey 'paid off' to
//- Was Casey 'paid off' to retire like Mike Hailwood was?
As I understand it, Honda paid Hailwood not to ride when they withdrew from GP. I'm not seeing the parallel with Stoner. Personally I don't believe for a second that anyone made Casey's decision for him.
yes its all very exciting but we all need to come down and be patient for the lights to go green in Qatar and for next years season to unfold. as we know testing is not a great indicator of true form.
all my fellow fan brothers know he is going to be fast, no doubt, his determination says enough but he is prob going to crash too..
I'm an obsessed fan of this sport and love this website to bits but honestly with all the hype produced by all the media and how far ppl are reading into it, it really is a little over the top..
Austin F1 Track..
Off-Topic, but is anyone else watching the F1 race from Austin? It looks like an amazing track! Very undulating, loads of sweeping bends, amazing looking stands, big wide track. Few stupid tight hairpin type corners, but looks great other than that. Live stream on (http://www.eplsite.com/stream1.html)
In reply to Austin F1 Track.. by BoB-DoG
I usually don't watch F1 but did today and was gladto have. Not only was it a good race but seeing the facility from the perspective of an F1 production was amazing. The track looks awesome with lots of turn variety. The shots of the cars going through the esses was thrilling. I can imagine the angry caterpillar of a first lap GP grid coming through!
And yet another difference between F1 and MotoGP- nobody is building $400million racetracks to attract MotoGP races.
Aliens & Shanghai..
While Marquez' Valencia test time is impressive for a debut ride, it could be argued that a better indicator of race pace be taken from..a race!
To be fair, we can't do this for Marc.
According to the slightly better researched article over on crash.net (wash my mouth out) Lorenzo was 1.982 off the pace in his first test. He qualified on pole for his first race at Qatar, 4 months later, 8 tenths faster than WC Stoner.
I looked at the recognised Aliens race debuts in the premier class and their fastest race laps.
Stoner - Jerez 2006(RCV990) - 5th/+0.475
Pedrosa - Jerez 2006(RCV990) - 2nd/+0.049
Lorenzo - Qatar 2008(M1-800) - 2nd/+0.375
Rossi - Welkom 2000(NSR500) - Fastest
What does this prove?..buggered if I know!
Also..we keep hearing that Dorna and MotoGP should be breaking into emerging markets to benefit the sport?
Why has Shanghai been axed?
Wouldn't be anything to do with extortionate sanction fees and a short term blinkered business outlook, would it?
Different spec bikes, no comparison
I dont know about this... Shouldn't we be comparing MM's times with rookies who were also straight on factory bikes, not rookies who are on inferior customer bikes. Sorry but that definitely contributes to making Marquez look good.
For example if he jumped on the Ducati that Iannone is on i guarantee he will be setting similar times to what Iannone is doing, not what he is doing on the Honda.
Thats my opinion anyway, you shouldn't really be doing direct comparisons between these bikes.
Someone gave David a drop of
Someone gave David a drop of water and he's using it to tell us what the ocean is like (with charts!). Let's wait until we at least get to the coast, yes?
Then again we don't have much else to think about :)


text:
Reliability and performance at any time
With 30 years of experience in the Training & Simulation industry, we know the importance of reliability to guarantee the quality of the training and the safety of trainees. Our ruggedized visual solutions perform flawlessly in extreme environments and stand the test of time – with each pixel being processed to perfection.
Designed for tomorrow – and beyond
Barco solutions are more than state-of-the-art products. They are also designed for future upgrades and the next requirements. Our projectors and displays are ready for increasing computing power – with more complex environments and higher resolutions and details. The image processing platforms of our visualization solutions (Pulse for projectors, Infinipix for direct-view LED and WallConnect for LCD video walls), guarantee great image quality and include many extra features that keep the content look great under all conditions, and at any time. What's more, Barco's projector platform Pulse also ensures common electronics and interfaces across projectors, reducing installation time with standard interfaces and control protocols.
At home in any environment
Our extensive visualization portfolio is deployable in many simulation environments, including racing & driving, maritime, fixed-wing and rotary wing, fast jet, and ground training.


text:
All official European Union website addresses are in the europa.eu domain.See all EU institutions and bodies
Do something for our planet, print this page only if needed. Even a small action can make an enormous difference when millions of people do it!
The food system, in general terms, includes all the materials, processes and infrastructures relating to agriculture, trade, retail, transport and consumption of food products. Like water and energy, food is a basic human need. In addition to being available, food needs to be of high quality, diverse, accessible, safe for consumption and affordable. There is also a strong link between our health and well-being and food. Both malnutrition and obesity are health problems directly linked to the way we produce, market and consume our food.
Europeans' food consumption has changed considerably over time. For example, compared to 50 years ago, we eat more than twice as much meat per person. But also, since 1995, beef consumption per person has declined by 10 %. At the same time, Europeans are eating more poultry, fish and seafood, fruits and vegetables.
The EU is one of the biggest food producers in the world. It employs modern agricultural production systems and has land suitable for agriculture. Productivity per hectare has gone up considerably, particularly in the second half of the 20th century. Given its diversity of agricultural land and climates, Europe produces a wide range of products. But it also relies on imports to meet its demand for food.
Agricultural productivity, in terms of crop yield, has increased owing to growing monoculture (i.e. producing the same crop in larger areas) and irrigation, better machines, and more chemical inputs such as pesticides and fertilisers. This intensification has allowed Europe to use less land to produce more food.
However, these modes of production have not been without their environmental costs. Intensification in this manner exerts higher pressures on the environment, resulting in higher nitrogen pollution and CO2 emissions, greater biodiversity loss in farmlands and contamination of soil, rivers and lakes. Furthermore, increasing the use of external inputs in order to obtain higher yields in food production often decreases its overall energy efficiency. That is, when we invest even more energy to produce food, we actually get less and less energy (calories) out in terms of actual food energy provided to society.
(c) Gülcin Karadeniz
It is clear that Europe needs to reduce the environmental impacts of agricultural production. And at the same time, Europe needs to continue producing similar amounts of food to meet the demand both in the EU and globally.
The EU is one of the largest food producers and exporters in the world. Any significant reduction in its output would affect global production and consequently food prices. How can Europe continue producing high quality food in sufficient quantities and at affordable prices, while reducing the environmental impacts of agriculture?
Adopting more sustainable farming practices can help. For example, agro-ecological methods offer a means of intensifying agriculture without synthetic chemical inputs (i.e. fertilisers and pesticides) by utilising natural products and leveraging ecological processes in its production. Precision farming techniques offer the means to reduce the use of chemical and hence some of the environmental impacts.
Regardless of the method, food production needs to remain sufficiently intensive so that productivity keeps up with food demands. In this way, land use and biodiversity will not become further compromised.
Moreover, in many regions, agriculture is the main source of income for local communities, not to mention being part of the social fabric and the local culture. Any measures aiming to improve the food system would have to take such social aspects into account.
Measures only targeting the production side would fall short of 'greening' the entire food system. Nevertheless, additional efficiency gains are needed at other stages, such as transport, retail and consumption. A dietary shift from less meat towards more vegetables would ease the pressure on land use.
In Europe, it is estimated that about one third of the food produced in Europe is not consumed and waste occurs at all stages of the chain. The European Commission estimates that in the EU alone 90 million tonnes of food (or 180 kg per person) are wasted, much of which is still suitable for human consumption. Food waste is identified as one of the areas to tackle in the EU's Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe.
Many of us try to reduce the amount of food we throw away at home. One way is to try to prepare just the right amount of food for dinner — not too much; not too little. Another way is to be creative with the leftovers from the day before. Yet, no matter how hard we try, some food is inevitably thrown away: fruits rot and milk sours. Food waste from households represents only a fraction of the total amount of food we waste. Large amounts of food have already been wasted before ever reaching our refrigerators.
With regards to how much food is wasted at various stages, there are no EU-wide estimates. Reliable and comparable data does not exist, especially for food waste generated in agricultural production and fisheries. However, some country-specific analyses are available.
Food waste analysis in Sweden
According to a study by the Swedish Environment Protection Agency, in 2012 Swedes wasted 127 kg of food per person. This estimate does not include the food wasted in the production phase (agriculture and fishing) and the inevitable food waste from the food processing industry.
Of this amount, 81 kg per person was generated in households. Restaurants generated 15 kg per person, supermarkets 7 kg per person and catering facilities 6 kg per person. The Swedish study also estimated how much of this food waste was 'unnecessary'. The findings point to areas of potential gains: 91 % of the food waste generated in supermarkets, 62 % in restaurants, 52 % in catering facilities and 35 % in households were qualified as unnecessary.
Some food waste occurs as part of the attempt to ensure compliance with existing legislation protecting public health and consumers. Contaminated meat taken off the shelves is a waste of resources, but it is also a preventive measure necessary to safeguard human health.
Other measures are less straightforward. For example, the 'best before' dates on food products do not necessarily mean that the product goes bad from one day to the next but that its quality decreases from that point forward. That is, some products are still safe to be consumed after the date displayed, but retailers cannot sell them, consumers do not buy them. Meeting consumer expectations (for example regarding ample choice and full shelves, or aesthetics) can also drive food waste at the retail phase.
The fate of unsold food depends on waste management practices. It might be used as fodder, composted or recovered as energy, or end up in landfills.
Every time we waste food, we are also wasting the land, the water, the energy and all the other inputs used to create the food we are not consuming. Therefore, any decrease in food waste actually means potential gains for the environment. If we reduce the amount of food we waste throughout the food system, we will need less water, less fertiliser, less land, less transport, less energy, less waste collection, less recycling and so on.
To put this in the broader context of green economy, increasing resource efficiency in one system helps reduce resource use in other systems. It is almost always a win‑win scenario.
For references, please go to https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/signals-2014/articles/from-production-to-waste-food-system or scan the QR code.
PDF generated on 01 Apr 2023, 02:06 PM
Engineered by: EEA Web Team
Software updated on 12 March 2023 21:56 from version 23.1.28
Software version: EEA Plone KGS 23.3.11


text:
ANDALUSIA, Ala. — A south Alabama woman is defending a decision she and her husband made to name their newborn son after their favorite sports team.
Summer Steele of Andalusia told AL.com that she and her husband are big Alabama fans. Steele says the two thought the name Krimson Tyde would be a unique one for their son, who was born Dec. 17.
Steele says she's been surprised with negative reactions to the name, and that if people have nothing nice to say about it they shouldn't say anything at all.


text:
Update: A report from Digital Music News claims that Financial Times got the story about YouTube's upcoming service wrong, and offers an alternative perspective. According to Digital Music News' anonymous source, YouTube will not block the videos that don't sign on with the subscription service. However, the source says the correct intepretation of YouTube's statements are that the site will be blocking music videos from YouTube's monetization program, as whole, if labels can't agree to make their videos available to both the free and premium tiers of the subscription service.
Hence, labels and artists will still be able to post videos, but cannot monetize them through YouTube unless they are onboard with the subscription service. This could have the long-term effect of artists at odds with the subscription service choosing not to post their videos to YouTube at all. That type of resistance to modern digital distribution methods does tend to be rare, on the whole. The original story is below.
YouTube is getting ready to block music videos from artists that haven't agreed to the contract terms for its upcoming subscription service, the Financial Times reported Tuesday. The videos set to get the boot include those from independent record labels and artists including Adele and Arctic Monkeys.
The new subscription service for videos will charge a monthly fee but will let users watch videos on YouTube without ads. FT noted that the service will also allow users to watch videos "even when not connected to the Internet" on any device, suggesting some sort of pinning or downloading infrastructure to go with the platform.
Robert Kyncl, YouTube's head of content and business operations, told FT that record labels representing 90 percent of the music industry have agreed to the contract terms that include provisions for the subscription service. But YouTube will apparently not be able to let the 10 percent that have resisted carry on as ad-supported-only videos, and Kyncl told FT that the blocking will begin in a matter of days.
The news of the subscription service and YouTube's tense relationship with indie labels comes just weeks after The Information reported that Vevo, a video-hosting service centralized on YouTube that deals primarily with major musical artists, is up for sale. Vevo, which is owned in part by Google, Universal Music Group, and Sony Music Entertainment, splits its YouTube ad revenue between the investors.
The Financial Times reports that the 10 percent soon to be cut out of YouTube if they don't sign up with the new contract terms are fighting back through Impala, the "independent music companies association." Impala has made a plea to the European Commission for assistance, stating that YouTube is abusing its dominant market position. Google will start internally testing the subscription service in the next few days, FT says, with a launch time frame of late summer.


text:
Corporations are the dominant force in modern life, surpassing even church and state. The largest are richer than entire nations, and courts have given these entities more rights than people. To many Americans, corporate power seems out of control. According to a Business Week/Harris poll released in September 2000, 82 percent of those surveyed agreed that business has too much power over too many aspects of our lives. And the recent revelations of corporate scandal and political influence have only added to such concerns.
Where did this powerful institution come from? How did it get so much power? In Gangs of America: The Rise of Corporate Power and the Disabling of Democracy, author Ted Nace probes the roots of corporate power, finding answers in surprising places.
A key revelation of the book is the wariness of the Founding Fathers toward corporations. That wariness was shaped by rampant abuses on the part of British corporations such as the Virginia Company, whose ill-treatment killed thousands of women and children on forced-labor tobacco plantations, and the East India Company, whose attempt to monopolize American commodities led to the merchant-led rebellion known as the Boston Tea Party.
Because of such attitudes, the word corporation does not appear once in the United States Constitution. At the Constitutional Convention, all proposals to include corporations in that document were voted down by delegates. Corporate attorneys persisted in seeking legal protections for their clients by means of sympathetic court rulings, but until the Civil War such attempts largely failed.
After the Civil War, the tide quickly turned, as lobbyists secured key changes in corporate law and as corporate attorneys won a series of decisions from an increasingly pro-corporate Supreme Court. Nace recounts the key figures who engineered the corporate bill of rights, in particular two brilliant strategists: railroad baron Tom Scott and Supreme Court Justice Stephen Field. The book explores in depth the bizarre intrigues that resulted in the infamous corporations are persons ruling of 1886, and how that ruling affected the subsequent development of Supreme Court doctrine.
Nace charts the growth of corporate power through the Gilded Age, including the bloody repression of organized labor and the rise of social Darwinist thinking among American elites. He recounts how that expansion came to a halt under the New Deal, as organized labor gained legal protections, social Darwinism fell into disrepute, and Franklin Roosevelt asserted a vision of American society that placed democratic limits on corporate power. To many observers, it seemed that the corporate Frankenstein had finally been tamed by countervailing power.
According to Nace, that optimistic view was dashed in the final decades of the twentieth century, as Big Business mounted a remarkable comeback. The corporate political resurgence began with a 1971 memorandum written by Lewis Powell, Jr., shortly before Powell was appointed to the Supreme Court by Richard Nixon. In the memorandum, Powell urged corporate America to apply its full organizational and strategic resources to politics, a course of action that proved highly successful.
Gangs of America describes the expansion of corporate legal empowerment onto the global stage through international agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement, which boosted the legal powers of corporations to the level of sovereign nations. The book pays special attention to recent events, including campaign finance reform, the financial scandals of 2002, and the growing movement to redefine the corporation and limit corporate power.
Ted Nace worked as a researcher on electric utility policy for the Environmental Defense Fund and as staff director of the Dakota Resource Council, a grassroots group seeking to protect farms and ranches from strip mines and other energy projects. In 1985, he founded Peachpit Press, the worlds leading publisher of books on computer graphics and desktop publishing. After selling Peachpit Press to British publishing conglomerate Pearson, Nace felt driven to understand the historical roots of corporate political power. Gangs of America, the result of that quest, features Naces engaging, personal, and complex voicethat of a writer, a businessman, and an activist.
What Theyre Saying About the Book
A beautifully documented and readable history.
Ben H. Bagdikian, author, The Media Monopoly
A brilliant page-turner revealing how powerful, greedy corporations wage institutional terrorism. Reading it is the first step to saving our communities, our democracy and our planets environment.
John Stauber, author, Toxic Sludge Is Good for You
A valuable resource for understanding the origins of corporate power in this country. It offers an acute analysis of how the legal system became more and more a protector of corporate interests over human rights.
Howard Zinn, author of A Peoples History of the United States
The essential guide to the history of the American corporationit explodes the myth of inevitability surrounding the corporate takeover of our lives.
Maria Elena Martinez, executive director, CorpWatch
Nace documents the evolution of the corporate beast, step by step.
Jim Hightower, author of If the Gods Had Meant Us to Vote, Theyd Have Given Us Candidates
Copyright info - Publishers site - Site design by Daniel Will-Harris


text:
Dean Bair accused of pulling gun, yelling racial slurs at driver who cut him off
Port St. Lucie men tells police they were being harassed, suspect had AR-15
A Port St. Lucie man was arrested Monday after he flashed a gun and started yelling racial slurs at the driver who cut him off, police said.
"I was just like, 'Wow, don't shoot.' I was scared there for a second," said Tyriel Scott, who admitted to cutting off Dean Bair while driving on Port St. Lucie Boulevard with his passenger, Jabari Andrews.
Scott said he rolled down his window and tried to apologize, but was instead greeted by racial slurs and a loaded handgun, police said.
Bair allegedly drove off, but Scott called police and followed him to get the license plate number. Three of Andrews' small daughters were crying in the back seat.
"The man pointed a gun at Daddy's face," Trinity, 3, told WPBF 25 News.
Scott said he followed Bair to Shea's Pub, and when Bair realized the men had followed him, he pointed a gun at them again, police said.
According to the police report, Andrews told Bair, "Go ahead and shoot me. I'm on the phone with police."
Andrews said Scott put the gun away, but then attacked him. Andrews admitted to fighting back.
At one point, the police report said, a patron from the pub came outside and joined in the fight.
Arnold Hashtani, who was arrested on a charge of simple battery, said he didn't witness the road rage incident, but he went outside to back up Bair.
Police said Bair admitted to pulling the gun, but said he was being harassed. Police said that when they searched Bair's pickup truck, they found a Glock semi-automatic handgun and an AR-15 assault rifle.
Bair faces charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and unlawful exhibition of a firearm during an altercation, as well as concealed weapons charges.


text:
July 19th, 2012
Fred Willard arrested for lewd conduct, released
It's probably fair to say that funnyman Fred Willard isn't laughing this morning.
CNN has confirmed that the "Anchorman" actor was arrested in Los Angeles Wednesday night for lewd conduct.
The Los Angeles Police Department was doing a routine inspection on Santa Monica Boulevard when officers came across Willard "engaged in lewd conduct" in an adult theater, a police spokesman confirmed to CNN.
(TMZ has a more detailed description that we can't run on a family-friendly blog ... but essentially, it sounds like Willard was caught with his pants down.)
He was arrested at about 8:45 pm and transported to the Hollywood division police department, police said. The 72-year-old "For Your Consideration" and "Best in Show" star has since been released.
Update, 4:59 p.m. ET: Willard's counsel tells CNN in a statement, "With all [due] respect to the individual officer, our belief [is] that Fred did nothing in any violation of any law. We will be working vigorously to clear his name in this matter."
soundoff (351 Responses)
Post a comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
About this blog
Our daily cheat-sheet for breaking celebrity news, Hollywood buzz and your pop-culture obsessions.


text:
Wolf Blitzer delivers the most important breaking news and political, international, and national security stories of the day. Tune to The Situation Room weekdays 5-7pm ET on CNN.
CNN's Brian Todd reports on the Syrian rebels' capture of regime's weapons.
Great for the rebels.I hope they keep moving forward.Just donot give up.God Be With All Of YOU.Jim Thomas Phx.Az.
Is CNN saying that tis news is nothing to hear about?
the Syrian rebels', need a lot equipment and we pains and directions, but no American Booths we should have learn with the Iraq and Afghanistan, this will war we last for a long time, we can not afford it, our harts go out for them. Last year their were 45000 live lost in Mexico drug war right, America look the other way.
You must be logged in to post a comment.