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Sales
San Clemente, California

The iFinancial Group is looking for highly motivated individuals with experience originating equipment lease transactions .  We offer a relaxed work environment, provide leads and offer above industry standard commission. Call Todd Clark 888-852-5155 x223
email: tclark@ifinancialgroup.com

Ten years providing financing nationwide

Friday, May 15, 2009

Singer/Guitarist Trini Lopez (born Trinidad López III) 15 May 1937, Dallas, Texas: "If I Had a Hammer," "Lemon Tree," "Michael," "Gonna Get Along without Now." Very popular in the 1960’s and nightclubs such as in Las Vegas, Nevada. Great singer and entertainer.
http://www.trinilopez.com/bio.htm
http://www.amazon.com/Trini-Lopez-Greatest-Hits/dp/B00006AFR9

Headlines---

Classified Ads---Controller
    HL Leasing Investor Blog
        HL Leasing $132 Million Fraud? What’s Next?
CalFirst National Leases up 8.2% 3rd Quarter
    Classified Ads---Help Wanted
        Major Bank CEO: “Run this by me again”
    Leasing Companies Out of Broker Business
Tyson/Treeless Mountain/Valkyrie
My Bloody Valentine/Wise Blood

Fernando’s View By Fernando F. Croce
  Freddie Mac Loses $10 Billion for Quarter
    Foreclosure Filings Still At Record Levels
    GM says sell assets to new company Chapter 11
    Nordstrom 1Q profit falls 32%
    Chrysler dealers across country react to closures
News Briefs---
    You May have Missed---
        California Nuts Brief---
    Sports Briefs---
"Gimme that Wine"
    Today's Top Event in History
        This Day in American History
Baseball Poem
    SuDoku
        Daily Puzzle
GasBuddy
    Weather, USA or specific area
        Traffic Live----

######## surrounding the article denotes it is a “press release”

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Classified Ads---Controller

Controller

Boca Raton, FL
CPA w/ Sarbanes Oxley/ 15 years management exp. as CFO/ Controller/5 yrs w/ PWC Extensive exp providing accounting/ tax guidance for the equipment lease industry. Willing to relocate.
Email: bltushin@hotmail.com
Chicago, IL
experienced in lease accounting, operations, management, and Sarbanes-Oxley. Seeking position with equipment lessor. Would consider contract assignments or relocating.
Email: leasecontroller@comcast.net
Southeastern, MI
Controller & Management experience w/ equip lessors &broker. MBA, CPA w/ extensive accounting, management, securitization experience with public and private companies. Willing to relocate.
Email: Leasebusiness@aol.com

For a full listing of all “job wanted” ads, please go to:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Classified/Jwanted/Jwanted.htm

To place a free “job wanted” Leasing News ad:
http://www.leasingnews.org/Classified/Jwanted/Jwanted-post.htm

ELFA Career Center: Job Seekers ( free ):
http://careers.elfaonline.org/search.cfm

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HL Leasing Investor Blog

http://johnottohlleasing.blogspot.com/

[headlines]

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HL Leasing $132 Million Fraud? What’s Next?


John Otto

Investors in John Otto’s company HL Leasing, Inc., Fresno, California claim fraud. The claim the “American Express” leases they lent money as collateral did not exist. They want their “principal” investment back. There may be over $128 million owed. There also may be claims by other Otto’s enterprises and creditors as well as those who want to protect their interest or involvement.

None of the investors had ever heard of a UCC let alone knew how to ask for a copy of their “security.” It places them last in line as an unsecured creditor. All they got was a loan number and monthly interest payment. Until April, 2009.

How did this happen? The guessing is as the economy turned soar, less business was coming from Heritage Pacific Leasing, cut back over two years ago to a skeleton crew, to other investments, yet to hear about, as well as HL Leasing investors asking for principal back due to the economy (their agreement said they could get it back any time with a written thirty day notice, one of the draws of investing, the cash was running out and interest payments could not be met. The man considered the "big bucks" of the leasing industry, well-liked, welcome all the time, even spoken highly by people he let go, appears was leading a double life.

John Otto’s main business was a separate leasing company,
Heritage Pacific Leasing, which he started in 1984. At one time he claimed he was doing $36 million a year, primarily in agriculture equipment leases that he sold to banks. Two years ago he let almost everyone go from this operation.
 
Somewhere in this period he decided to skip the banks and raise money from investors.  At one time, he may have operated in this manner, but appears to have grown into a Ponzi skim.

The story appeared in Leasing News on Monday, it was read by John Otto. He was to return a Monday morning telephone call about the article, “American Express” leases, interest payments, UCC filings, but left his house never to return.

It seems many believe HL Leasing President Dan Ramirez is "innocent," many claiming he said he and his family also invested. Both he and John Otto not only worked the telephones, but also appeared at investor meetings, where new and old prospects were brought together to learn more about investing in leasing.

Leasing News asked veteran attorney Tom McCurnin, Los Angeles, who won the prosecuting cases involving the CMC Leasing Ponzi scheme (remember them?). He also had the unique experience of representing American Express in the past, who John Otto said he had purchased leases from and was offering them as collateral for the investments for the last ten years.

“I have handled about a half dozen investment scams and ponzi schemes over the past three decades for both the government and the victims. While there is certainly an urge for immediate aggressive action, there are simply too many investors with divergent interests to formulate a single correct strategy.

Receivership? This is a possible outcome, either by the Department of Corporations or the SEC. The problem with this strategy is that the Receiver works for all the investors, not just a few. So victims that pay a retainer to an attorney could find out they are funding 500 other investor’s claims. Moreover, the Receiver has the ability to set aside fraudulent conveyances, and those include payments to the investors. Yes, you heard me right, there is a whole body of law which allows the Receiver to pursue payments made to the investors as fraudulent conveyances. The lawyers could email me for a short article I wrote on Receivers, fraudulent conveyances, and the dichotomy of “winning investors” and “losing investors.”

Involuntary Bankruptcy? This is certainly the cheapest alternative, but again, the Trustee works for all the investors, and has the same authority to prosecute fraudulent conveyances, including against the very investors that form the backbone of the unsecured creditors. It is a bit of a Robin Hood strategy (“rob from the rich and give the poor”).

Civil Actions? I represented American Express from about 1998 to 2004, and will tell you that there were no new lease generations from about 2003 forward. All their lease assets, including physical locations, pools, and employees were transferred to Key Credit. I doubt there is a stream of payments against which the investors can tap. This sounds like a ponzi scheme to me. Moreover, if any lawyer hits it big, what would prevent a jealous investor from filing an involuntary bankruptcy and getting all that money back as a preference or fraudulent conveyance? If you think the principals of HL Leasing are both culpable and collectable to pay a multi-million dollar judgment, you may miss your mark.

While there is an urge for immediate action, be careful what you wish for—you may get it.

Tom McCurnin
Barton, Klugman & Oetting
350 South Grand Ave.
Suite 2200
Los Angeles, CA 90071
Direct Phone: (213) 617-6129
Fax: (213) 625-1832
Email: tmccurnin@bkolaw.com
Visit our Web Site at: www.bkolaw.com

Investors suspect Heritage Leasing $132 Million Fraud
http://www.leasingnews.org/archives/May%202009/05-13-09.htm#fraud

Heritage Pacific Leasing, Fresno, California
by Christopher Menkin
http://www.leasingnews.org/archives/May%202009/05-11-09.htm#hpl

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CalFirst National Leases up 8.2% 3rd Quarter

California First National, Irvine, California reports business up their third quarter:

"New lease bookings of $117.3 million for the first nine months of fiscal 2008 increased 8.2%, and along with commercial loans boarded of $48.2 million contributed to a 33% increase in loan and lease assets booked to $165.6 million during the nine months ended March 31, 2009, compared to $124.3 million for the first nine months of fiscal 2008. As a result, the net investment in leases and loans of $286.5 million at March 31, 2009 increased 9.2% from June 30, 2008 and increased 14.1% from the balance at March 31, 2008."

"The Bank s investment in leases and loans of $203.7 million at March 31, 2009 represented 71% of the Company s consolidated investment, and was up 21% from June 30, 2008."

"The Leasing Companies and CalFirst Bank focus on leasing and financing capital assets through centralized marketing programs designed to offer cost-effective leasing alternatives. Leased assets are re-marketed at lease expiration. CalFirst Bank also provides business loans to fund the purchase of assets leased by third parties, including the Leasing Companies and provides commercial loans to businesses, including real estate based and unsecured revolving lines of credit, and participates in commercial loan syndications. CalFirst Bank gathers deposits from a centralized location primarily through posting rates on the Internet."

“For the third quarter ended March 31, 2009, net earnings of $2.4 million increased $899,000, or 61%, compared to $1.5 million for the third quarter ended March 31, 2008. For the first nine months of fiscal 2009 net earnings of $6.7 million increased $1.4 million, or 26% compared to the nine months ended March 31, 2008."

Full Report:
http://www.gurufocus.com/StockLink.php?type=sec&symbol=CFNB&date=2009-05-14&report=10-Q

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Classified ads---Help Wanted

Sales


Sales
San Clemente, California

The iFinancial Group is looking for highly motivated individuals with experience originating equipment lease transactions .  We offer a relaxed work environment, provide leads and offer above industry standard commission. Call Todd Clark 888-852-5155 x223
email: tclark@ifinancialgroup.com

Ten years providing financing nationwide



VENDOR SALES SPECIALISTS
LEASING SALES PROFESSIONALS

Like selling vendor programs and large transactions?
Enjoy international financing programs?
Prefer the advantages of a commission only environment with the security of health and welfare benefits?

CLICK HERE to find out how to have fun again.

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Major Bank CEO: “Run this by me again”

Getting in when others lack capital is ideal. You only need capital to do it. Easy to talk about. Difficult to do today. Bank leasing is in big trouble for a while. Every day there seems to be another story, getting out of leasing, “re-alignment” such as at US Bank, Bank of the West, Bank of America, and look at old line companies such as CIT. Even mighty GE. There seems to be a new headline of cutting back, letting people go, more scandals and fraud, scaring more and more creditors.

So those on the side line say if they could only get cash, join together, raise the money…but how much? Certainly when others are getting out, getting in seems like a great opportunity to get in. So what are you talking about. In this marketplace, the writer of the following scenario believes $100 million of capital is necessary. That's not so much money, especially when the headlines talk about billions, but then again, try to unlock $100 million. Editor)

Scenario: Major Bank CEO’s office with his top Senior Credit Officer:

Major Bank CEO: Run this by me again.

Very Senior Credit Officer: Those leasing department guys want to ramp up again.
CEO: There are still leasing guys who work here? I couldn’t have been more clear about how I wanted that handled.

SCO: Well, they moved around but it’s far from them all being gone.
CEO: So what is the bright idea this time?

SCO: Some thought that we could get higher returns in leasing in this environment, it's perfect.
CEO: I don’t remember saying I wanted higher returns by putting money out, I want to get money in so I can get out from under this TARP crap. I can’t make any scratch with these Treasury guys reading everything.

SCO: Well let’s think about it, if they are pressuring us to put out money, why not look at leasing?
CEO: I am listening.

SCO: With leasing we get collateral and can easily make like 300 bips more annually. 
CEO: Easily?

SCO: Sure. The way it works is that we own the equipment and get to keep the residual value upside if we do it right.
CEO: What kind of equipment?

SCO: You must remember skipper, we had like 2 bil of this stuff when we ramped up last time.
CEO: We did? Why in the world?

SCO: Early on ITC, later on tax bennies, then of course we farmed the leasing portfolio for earnings for years. Early on we were so afraid of equipment we assumed the equipment wasn't much. Anyway, everything known to man that’s tangible could be leased.
CEO: How’s the appreciation on this equipment? You telling me the world hasn't figured out residuals?

SCO: Well, I can tell you that actually it depreciates pretty much guaranteed.
CEO: Well we got hosed on real estate, they pretty much guaranteed that would always appreciate, so I guess it’s refreshing to know that this stuff is going down. Still, why would I want to have another depreciating asset on the books whether planned or accidental?

SCO: Oh its all good, it comes out of the economics. You get so much rent during the lease term that it’s no problem.
CEO: Fully amortizes the loan?

SCO: Oh it’s not a loan, it will pay off a lot of it, we get the rest of it back from equipment residual values.
CEO: Seems to me a company with excellent access to capital isn’t really going to want to lease, why not keep the equipment if the economics are good for the owner?

SCO: They tell me this is better for lesser credits. It used to be that there were some tax efficiency and off balance sheet angles to this, from what I can tell everything is in flux in that regard.
CEO: Oh goodie bring on lesser credits and non-fully amortizing loans. [Shouts to outer office] Sally, get Geithner on the line. We’re solving this crapstorm.

SCO: Wait, Skipper we get the depreciation, there’s that.
CEO: I got enough losses around here to last until we put a man on Mars. Keep trying.

SCO: These are good companies trying to be the foundation of the new economy, we are supposed to help, won’t the Treasury guys like that? Forklifts, machine tools, all this stuff they call yellow or dumb iron…
CEO: Yellow? Dumb? What’s the color of: I pass?

SCO: There’s another play I am being told to talk to you about. There are these small and medium sized leasing companies, we could lend to them. Then they can be the lessor and we kinda sit back and enjoy the fruits.
CEO: Listening, but really, c’mon now.

SCO: Its pretty good business, I think we are secured by an assignment of their leases, and we lend like 80% of the thing. If they go chest hairs up we can swoop in, collect what’s left.
CEO: That sounds worse not better. They get the profit and we get a coupon? I don’t think we should lend 50% against that s***. Hey, chest hairs up, that’s funny I coulda used that in the Chrysler meeting.

SCO: Listen, if some of these leasing companies can find a hedge fund or sugar daddy to provide 50% equity, would you play? There must be some clueless pockets of capital that believe leasing provides outsized risk free returns.
CEO: This is like asking if I would play if Giselle Bundchen rang my doorbell. Not much point answering.

SCO: There’s another aspect too, these leasing companies can build up plenty of assets and go public when the IPO market opens. Its pretty fat for all in every cycle, this feast and famine thing has been going on for a generation. What a world!
CEO: Send the Treasury guys in on your way out.

SCO: You are basically saying that without a pile of capital these leasing guys are smoking something.
CEO: Get me some of that stuff, how blissful it would be to smoke it too.

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Leasing Companies Out of Broker Business

Advantage Business Capital, Lake Oswego, Oregon
AEL Financial, Buffalo Grove, Illinois
*(No longer taking new broker business)
Balboa Capital, Irvine, Ca
Bankers Healthcare Group, Weston, FL.
C and J Leasing Corp, Des Moines, Iowa
CIT Group (limited)
Columbia Bank Leasing, Tacoma, WA
Court Square, Malvern, Pennsylvania
Creative Capital Leasing Group, LLC, San Diego, CA
Diversified Financial Service, Omaha, NE
Equipment Finance Partners, a division of Altec, located in
Birmingham, Alabama
Evans National Leasing, Inc., Hamburg, NY
Excel Financial Leasing, Lubbock Texas
First Republic Bank, San Francisco, Ca
GE Capital, Conn (limited)
Global Funding LLC., Clearwater, FL
Greystone, Burlington, MA
Heritage Pacific Leasing, Fresno, CA
Huntington Equipment Finance, Vendor Finance Group,
Bellevue, Washington
Irwin Financial (not in the U.S.)
Lakeland Bank, Montville, NJ
LaSalle Systems Leasing
LEAF Third Party Funding, Santa Barbara, Ca.
Marlin Leasing, Mount Laurel, NJ
M&T Credit (Bank)
Merrill Lynch Financial
Mesa Leasing, San Diego, California
National City, Cleveland, Ohio
Pentech Financial, Campbell, CA
PFF Bancorp, Inc, Pomona, CA
Pinnacle Business Finance, Fife, Washington
PredictiFund, a subsidiary of Capital Access Network, Inc
Popular Finance, St. Louis, Missouri
Radiance-Capital, Tacoma, WA
Sandy Springs, Olney, MD
SunBridge Capital, Mission, Kansas
Textron Financial
Union Capital Partners, Midvale, Utah
Velocity Financial Group, Rosemont, Illinois
Wachovia Bank Leasing
Washington Mutual Financial

It should be noted Bulletin Board Complaints and information regarding IFC Credit Corporation, Morton
Grove, Illinois and its affiliates, such as Pioneer Capital, Addison, Texas

Bulletin Board Complaint
IFC Credit Corp. dba First Corp.

http://www.leasingnews.org/archives/April%202009/04-29-09.htm#bbc

Bulletin Board Complaint
IFC Credit, Morton Grove, Illinois
http://www.leasingnews.org/archives/April%202009/04-08-09.htm#bbc

IFC Credit-Pioneer Leasing Up-Date
http://www.leasingnews.org/archives/March%202009/03-18-09.htm#ifc

 

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Fernando’s View
By Fernando F. Croce

Even non-fans of boxing will be fascinated by the documentary “Tyson,” while viewers may want to give the controversial “Valkyrie” a second chance on DVD.

In Theaters:

Tyson (Sony Pictures Classics): Mike Tyson is a fascinating camera subject in acclaimed director James Toback’s (“Fingers”) documentary. Reclining on a sofa, his head shaved and face aged, the former world’s heavyweight boxing champion faces the camera and talks about the successes and troubles of his life. Tyson remembers his early days in the streets, which earned him a stay at Juvenal Hall, as well as his apprenticeship with Cus D’Amato, the legendary boxing trainer who took the young hopeful under his wing and became a father figure for him. Toback alternates between Tyson’s often candid ruminations and footage of his rise and fall in the ring. The one-sided nature of Tyson’s comments can be problematic, especially regarding the women in his life, yet even non-fans of boxing should find this an absorbing project.’

Treeless Mountain (Oscilloscope Pictures): The world is seen through a child’s eyes in this exceptionally graceful South Korean drama about family bonds and the flow of life. Six-year-old Jin (Hee-Yeon Kim) and four-year-old Bin (Song-Hee Kim) have to spend their summer with their gruff aunt (Mi Hyang Kim) when their mother (Soo Ah Le) takes off to locate their father. The two girls count the days for their mother’s return, but will their innocence hold out as they have their first brush with the strangeness of the outside world? Displaying a fresh eye for the spontaneity of children, director So Yong Kim creates a resolutely unsentimental yet deeply moving portrait of how the innate hope of children can guide them as they enter harsh and often perplexing new stages of life. With subtitles.

New on DVD:

Valkyrie (MGM): Though it created some controversy regarding the casting of all-American Tom Cruise as famous German colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, this WWII-set drama is a solid choice for viewers just looking for some thrills and suspense. Growing more disenchanted with the way the Nazi party is running Germany in the 1940s, von Stauffenberg (Cruise) becomes the driving force behind a daring plot to kill Adolf Hitler and save the country from its own evil rulers. The outcome of his plan might not surprise anyone who knows WWII history, but director Bryan Singer (“Superman Returns”) nevertheless creates a tense atmosphere of intrigue and betrayal. And, though Cruise is too much of a superstar to vanish into the role, he’s surrounded by strong performances by a cast that includes Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, and Tom Wilkinson.

My Bloody Valentine (Lionsgate): The title may lead viewers to lump this movie in with the rest of terrible horror flicks nowadays, but don’t be fooled: Bloody it may be, but it’s also engaging fun for those who like their scares laced with smarts. The story focuses on brutal doings at a mine town, where Tom (Jensen Ackles) and Sarah (Jaime King) try to mend their old relationship in the midst of a series of murders. Unlike the “Scream” films of the 1990s, director Patrick Lussier keeps smirking irony to a minimum and focuses instead on skillful frights that make imaginative, often funny use of 3-D effects. Keep an eye out for a cameo by genre staple Tom Atkins (“The Fog”).

Wise Blood (Criterion): John Huston was as much of a character as a director. Known for his brawling lifestyle as much as for his movies, he went through many valleys and peaks over the course of his life and career. So it’s a testament to his stamina and creativity that in 1979, at an age when most other filmmakers are ready to retire, he came up with this exceptional dark comedy-drama. Adapted from Flannery O’Connor’s book, it follows the bizarre travails of Hazel Moses (Brad Dourif), a traveling preacher who, beset by the strange characters of the Depression-era South, decides to start a church of his own. The superb supporting gallery, Huston’s strongest since the days of “The Maltese Falcon,” includes Harry Dean Stanton, Amy Wright, Ned Beatty, and Huston himself.

[headlines]

#### Press Release ##############################
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(Leasing News provides this ad “gratis” as a means
to help support the growth of Lease Police)

News Briefs----

Freddie Mac Loses $10 Billion for Quarter
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/12/
AR2009051203410.html?nav=rss_business

Foreclosure Filings Still At Record Levels
http://www.creditcollectionsworld.com/article.html?id=200905141KB7YONI&from=
creditandcollectionnews

GM says it could sell assets to new company in Chapter 11
http://www.mercurynews.com/businessheadlines/ci_12373366?nclick_check=1

Nordstrom 1Q profit falls 32% but tops forecasts
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009220618_apusearnsnordstrom.html

Chrysler dealers across country react to closures
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/may/14/chrysler-dealers-impact-051409
/?business&zIndex=99662

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You May have Missed---

Broadband May Save the News
http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3820421/Obama+Aide+Broadband+
May+Save+the+News.htm

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Sports Briefs----

Source: Favre looking for options
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4167747

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California Nuts Briefs---

Feinstein brings back bill to legalize farm workers
http://www.contracostatimes.com/top-stories/ci_12370678?nclick_check=1

Governor’s Plan “A” and Plan “B”
http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/1862279.html

• Cutting the school year by from 5 to 7.5 days; increasing class sizes, and laying off more teachers.

• Slicing $510 million each from the University of California and California State University system, and replacing the money with federal stimulus funds.

• Selling state property, including the Los Angeles Coliseum, Cal Expo, the Cow Palace in San Francisco and the state prison at San Quentin.

• Reductions in monthly aid to low-income elderly, blind or disabled.

• Lowering the amount paid to in-home health care workers and limiting services to the most needy.

The worst-case budget also calls for remanding about 19,000 illegal immigrants in state prisons to the federal government, saving the state about $182 million, and transferring "low-level" inmates who were convicted of lesser crimes to county jails. That would save the state about $100 million, but drive up the counties' costs.

The plan also calls for sending layoff notices to 5,000 state workers, with the intent to have them off the payroll by the July 1 start of the fiscal year. It was unclear whether notices would be sent to some of the 20,000 state workers who were warned of possible layoffs earlier this year.

First lady's speech helps put Merced on the map
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/05/14/MNK517JUPR.DTL&tsp=1

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“Gimme that Wine”

Hinterland Vineyards Opens in Minnesota
http://www.winesandvines.com/template.cfm?section=news&content=64520&htitle=Hinter
land%20Vineyards%20Opens%20in%20Minnesota

Glass by glass, Michigan wines need to expand their market
http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20090511/FREE/305119992/1075

Struggling French pawning off grands crus
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/05/13/international/i065328D23.
DTL&hw=wine&sn=004&sc=358

English vineyard wins wine gold medal
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/may/12/camel-valley-wine-gold

Never Buy a Bad Bottle of Wine Again
http://www.slate.com/id/2217806/

Wine Prices by vintage
http://www.winezap.com
http://www.wine-searcher.com/
US/International Wine Events
http://www.localwineevents.com/
Winery Atlas
http://www.carterhouse.com/atlas/\
Leasing News Wine & Spirits Page
http://two.leasingnews.org/Recommendations/wnensprts.htm
The London International Vintners Exchange (Liv-ex) is an electronic exchange for fine wine.
http://www.liv-ex.com/

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Today's Top Event in History

    1856-The Vigilance Committee was formed to clean-up San Francisco
( lower half of http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/may15.html )

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This Day in American History

    1602- Captain Bartholomew Gosnold, who left Falmouth , England on March 26,1602 landed on the southern Maine coast near what is now Cape Porpoise . He became the first Englishman to explore the United States . He anchored his ship at what is now New Bedford , Massachusetts . He named Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard , and other landmarks.
http://www2.magmacom.com/~cgosnell/geneal/gosnold3.html#BART1
http://www.vineyard.net/vineyard/history/dukes/bnk2go_3.htm
    1856-birthday of Lyman Frank Baum, American newspaperman who wrote “The Wizard of Oz,” originally as a political polemic, born Chittenango , NY . He wrote many other books for children, including more than a dozen about Oz. He died at Hollywood , CA., May 6, 1919.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/may15.html
    1856-The Vigilance Committee was formed to clean-up San Francisco
( lower half of http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/may15.html )
    1857--Williamina Paton Stevens Fleming, Scottish-born U.S. astronomer who discovered white dwarf stars. She developed the Draper Catalogue of Stellar Spectra and classified more than 10,000 stars. She identified 222 variable stars, discovered 10 novae, and 94 Wolf-Rayet stars. After emigrating to the U.S. , her husband abandoned her when she was pregnant. She got a job as a maid in the home of the director of the Harvard Observatory who, angry at his men for their sloppy work, hired her to show them up at the observatory. She was the first American woman elected to the Royal Astronomical Society in 1906.
http://www.astrogea.org/surveys/Williamina_Fleming%20.htm
    1862-the first enclosed baseball park was the Union Grounds, Brooklyn , which opened on May 15,182, on a site at Lee Avenue and Rutledge Street that had been formerly used as a skating rink.
http://www.colby.edu/~edkearns/basestadium/History.htm
    1863- American author Annie Fellows Johnston birthday; her Little Colonel series of more than 50 novels and sold more than a million books. She didn't get a chance to write until her husband died.
http://www.littlecolonel.com/annie.htm
http://www.littlecolonel.com/bio.htm
http://www.culbertsonmansion.com/AFJ_room.htm
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/6303095232/
fast-videoasin-20/103-1190042-2158241
    1869-this is quite a collector's item today, the first stamp depicting the American flag, the 30-cent blue and carmine stamp. It depicted an eagle with outstretched wings, facing to the left, resting on a shield with flags grouped on either side.
    1872-Julia Ward Howe declares the first Mother's Day as an anti-war holiday.
http://www.countryjoe.com/juliawardhowe.htm
    1885-thirst first forest reserve by a state prohibited the sale of state lands in certain counties in the Adirondack Mountains . It was designated as a state park, where logging and other commercial forms of exploitation were prohibited.
    1890-birthday of Katherine Anne Porter, American prose writer, born at Indian Creek , TX . Her one long navel, Ship of Fools(1962) is considered by some to be one of the greatest allegorical works in English. She won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award in 1965 for Collected Short Stories. Died September 18,1980k at silver Springs, MD
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/kaporter.htm
    1901-birthday of clarinet player Edmond Hall,Reserve, LA
http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/hall_edmond/bio.jhtml
http://ubl.artistdirect.com/music/artist/bio/0,,440188,00.html?
artist=Edmond+Hall
    1901- Dorothy Hansine Andersen, American pathologist and pediatrician who in 1938 identified the disease cystic fibrosis and later developed a simplified diagnose. Graduating from Johns Hopkins Medical School , she was unable to get a residency in surgery. After recognizing CF in autopsied baby hearts, her prestige and responsibilities grew, but she was continually maligned (there were always efforts afoot to get ride of that troublesome woman) - a cigarette was usually hanging from the corner of her mouth (she died of lung cancer) and her hair was always a mess - and because she did "unladylike"-things like rebuilding her cabin getaway with her own hands, as well as not being properly deferential. DHA perfected a course on open heart surgery and conducted seminars throughout the country. She had been orphaned at 19 without a single close relative.
http://www.whonamedit.com/doctor.cfm/46.html
    1902 – Birthday of Richard J. Daley, former mayor of Chicago ) born Chicago ; died Dec 20, 1976—the last of the “Boss of the City.”)
http://www.chipublib.org/004chicago/mayors/daley1.html
http://www.chipublib.org/004chicago/timeline/daley1elect.html
http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/wired/975/daley.html
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0316834033/
103-9368180-9796616
    1906-birthday of guitarist Rev.Johnny “Uncle” Williams, Alexandria , LA
    1918-Country crooner Eddy Arnold was born on a farm near Henderson , Tennessee . Arnold is said to have sold more records than any other country artist - about 60 million - and he has done so by appealing to people who normally wouldn't even think of buying a country record. His big break came in the early 1940's when he joined Pee Wee King's Golden West Cowboys. That gave him exposure on the Grand Ole Opry, and in 1944 he signed a contract with RCA Victor. Arnold had his first million-seller, "I'll Hold You in My Heart," in 1947, soon followed by others such as "Bouquet of Roses," "Anytime," and "Cattle Call." Eddy Arnold was still topping the country charts in the 1960's with such hits as "What's He Doing in My World" and "Make the World Go Away."
http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/arnold_eddy/bio.jhtml
http://www.eddyarnold.com/
    1926 - The New York Rangers became the newest franchise to be awarded by the National Hockey League. Two years later, the Rangers won their first Stanley Cup.
    1928-birhday of trumpet player Joe Gordon, Boston , MA Died Nov 4., Santa Monica , Ca.
http://www.52ndstreet.com/reviews/mainstream/blakey_gordon.html
    1930-Ellen Church became the first airline stewardess( today's flight attendant), flying on a United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Cheyenne, WY.
    1931-if we only had video then to record the famous time at Beta Theta Pi House, Yale, which brought the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra featuring both Bix Biederbecke and Bunny Berrigan on trumpet.
    1937-May 15- Trini Lopez
http://www.trinilopez.com
Total eclipse of the moon 9:05pm,reaches middle of eclipse at 11:40m, and leave penumbra at 2:14am,EDT.
www.deg.com, this is "Hug Your Cat Day."
    1937- automation was taking the U.S. to storm as the internet was doing the turn of this century. Foodomat and Automat restaurants were the rage, including the first Keedoozle store that opened this day in Memphis, Tennessee. Clarence Saunders was the president. Sample merchandise was displayed behind rows of tiny glass windows. The customer made purchases by inserting a noticed rod into a keyhole beside the items desired. the mechanism automatically recorded the selections. The merchandise was automatically collected and wrapped when the insertion of the key in a final slot released the contents to a conveyor for wrapping. Keedoozle is a coined word for “Key-does-all.” He is best known for his first self-service stores: Piggly Wiggly. He changed the way people purchased things at stores. He died in 1953 working on the first “Foodelectric” store. It is not known how he chose the name Piggly Wiggly ( I have heard my first wife's mother-in-law, still alive at 96, living on a ranch in Lamoille ,Nevada, call the pigs to order with “Here, Piggly Wiggly.” Maybe it is an old farm call to bring the pigs into feed.
http://www.frugalfun.com/customerservicepart3.html
http://www.pigpower.com/pig1916.htm
http://www.pigglywiggly.com/cgi-bin/customize?aboutus.html
    1937- Madeleine Albright birthday, the first U.S. Secretary of State who is also a woman. When President Bill Clinton first appointed MA as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations in 1992 he made it a full cabinet post to show his high regard for Albright. It was also a signal that she would be an important part of his administration since she sat in on the major foreign affairs meetings. When Clinton's first secretary of state resigned, Albright was promptly moved up. Clinton and Albright go way back to when she held weekly political discussions at her home when she was with Georgetown University (where Clinton studied). A noted expert in foreign affairs, she was one of the first to advocate new relationships with the Soviet Union and Mikhail Gorbachev which led to the fall of the Iron Curtain. /// She also argued that economic sanctions would force Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait and she opposed the Gulf War. Born in Czechoslovakia, Albright speaks Czech, French, Polish, and Russian as well as English. She is the divorced mother of three daughters and because of the traditional/fearful secrecy - her father was exiled from his homeland - she did not find out she was part Jewish until she was at the U.N.
http://abcnews.go.com/reference/bios/albright.html
http://www.celebrity-photos-crazy.com/c6596-madeleine-albright.html
    1938-birthday of singer Lenny Welch, Asbury Park, NY
http://www.allbutforgottenoldies.net/lenny-welch.html
http://www.cdmo.com/cgi-bin/cdmo/83785-10132-
    1940- Nylon hose went on sale at stores throughout the country. Competing producers bought their nylon yard from E.J. du Point de Nemours. W. H. Carothers of Du Point developed nylon, called "Polymer 66" in 1935. It was the first totally man-made fiber and over time substituted for other materials and came to have wide-spread application.
    1940-Donald Arvid Nelson, basketball coach and former player, born Muskegon, MI.
    1945--COURTNEY, HENRY ALEXIUS, JR. Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Major, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. Born: 6 January 1916, Duluth, Minn. Appointed from: Minnesota. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as Executive Officer of the 2d Battalion, 22d Marines, 6th Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Okinawa Shima in the Ryukyu Islands, 14 and 15 May 1945. Ordered to hold for the night in static defense behind Sugar Loaf Hill after leading the forward elements of his command in a prolonged fire fight, Maj. Courtney weighed the effect of a hostile night counterattack against the tactical value of an immediate marine assault, resolved to initiate the assault, and promptly obtained permission to advance and seize the forward slope of the hill. Quickly explaining the situation to his small remaining force, he declared his personal intention of moving forward and then proceeded on his way, boldly blasting nearby cave positions and neutralizing enemy guns as he went. Inspired by his courage, every man followed without hesitation, and together the intrepid marines braved a terrific concentration of Japanese gunfire to skirt the hill on the right and reach the reverse slope. Temporarily halting, Maj. Courtney sent guides to the rear for more ammunition and possible replacements. Subsequently reinforced by 26 men and an LVT load of grenades, he determined to storm the crest of the hill and crush any planned counterattack before it could gain sufficient momentum to effect a breakthrough. Leading his men by example rather than by command, he pushed ahead with unrelenting aggressiveness, hurling grenades into cave openings on the slope with devastating effect. Upon reaching the crest and observing large numbers of Japanese forming for action less than 100 yards away, he instantly attacked, waged a furious battle and succeeded in killing many of the enemy and in forcing the remainder to take cover in the caves. Determined to hold, he ordered his men to dig in and, coolly disregarding the continuous hail of flying enemy shrapnel to rally his weary troops, tirelessly aided casualties and assigned his men to more advantageous positions. Although instantly killed by a hostile mortar burst while moving among his men, Maj. Courtney, by his astute military acumen, indomitable leadership and decisive action in the face of overwhelming odds, had contributed essentially to the success of the Okinawa campaign. His great personal valor throughout sustained and enhanced the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
    1951---Top Hits
If - Perry Como
Mockingbird Hill -Patti Page
On Top of Old Smokey - The Weavers (vocal: Terry Gilkyson)
Cold, Cold Heart - Hank Williams
    1953 - World heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano collected his 44th pro boxing victory on this night, knocking out former champ, Jersey Joe Walcott, at Chicago Stadium in two minutes, 25 seconds of the first round
    1953-Charlies Parker-Dizzy Gillespie jazz concert at Massey Hall, Toronto
( Bud Powell, Max Roach, Charles Mingus , the first fusion of Bop with what was then called “Modern Jazz.”)
http://www.musthear.com/reviews/masseyhall.html
http://www.torontojazzlive.com/
    1959---Top Hits
The Happy Organ - Dave ‘Baby' Cortez
Sorry (I Ran All the Way Home) - The Impalas
Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb) - Edward Byrnes & Connie Stevens
White Lightning - George Jones
    1962 - After five years on "Wagon Train", Robert Horton let his performing contract expire and left the popular TV series. Robert Fuller replaced Horton as the trail scout who rode with wagon master Chris Hale, played by actor John McIntire.
    1964 - The Smothers Brothers, Dick and Tom, gave their first concert in Carnegie Hall in New York City.
    1965--The Byrds enter the Hot 100 for the first time with their version of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man", which will climb to #1 by June.
    1967---Top Hits
The Happening - The Supremes
Sweet Soul Music - Arthur Conley
Groovin' - The Young Rascals
Sam's Place - Buck Owens
    1969-Governor Ronald Reagan sends in National Guard to reclaim People's Park from 6,000 protesters in Berkeley, California. Police gunfire kills a bystander, James Rector, blinds another, and injures dozens.
    1969-birthday of Emmitt Smith, III, famed Dallas Cowboy, born Pensacola, FL.
http://emmitt22.com/
http://www.texnews.com/cowboys/proemmitt.html
    1970-The Carpenter's second album was released by A&M Records. The title song, "(They Long to Be) Close to You", became a pop music standard and the first of six million-sellers in a row for Karen and Richard. In all, The Carpenters would have 10 gold records for singles and a dozen top ten hits to their credit. The duo won Best New Artist honors at the Grammy Awards in 1970.
http://www.2xtreme.net/roberta/html/carpenter.html
    1972 - Glen Campbell earned a gold record for his "Greatest Hits" album on this day.
http://www.glencampbellshow.com/
    1972-Goerge Wallace, a former governor of Alabama and a symbol of segregation, was shot by Arthur Bremer while Wallace was at Laurel, MD, campaigning for the US presidency. For the remained of his life ( until he died in 1998), Wallace was paralyzed from the waist down. On August 4, 1972, Bremer was sentenced to 67 years in prison for the shooting.
    1975---Top Hits
He Don't Love You (Like I Love You) - Tony Orlando & Dawn
Before the Next Teardrop Falls - Freddy Fender
Jackie Blue - Ozark Mountain Daredevils
She's Actin' Single (I'm Drinkin' Doubles) - Gary Stewart
    1981-Len Barker of the Cleveland Indians pitched a perfect game, the first in major league baseball in 13 years, defeating the Toronto Blue Jays, 3-0, in Cleveland. Barker finished the year at 8-7, and was traded to the Atlanta Braves during the 1983 season.
    1982-Five weeks after first appearing on the Billboard Pop chart, "Ebony and Ivory" reached #1. The Paul McCartney / Stevie Wonder duet would stay at the top for seven weeks.
    1983---Top Hits
Beat It - Michael Jackson
Let's Dance - David Bowie
Overkill - Men at Work
Whatever Happened to Old Fashioned Love - B.J. Thomas
    1991---Top Hits
Joyride - Roxette
I Like the Way (The Kissing Game) - Hi-Five
Here We Go - C + C Music Factory Presents Freedom Williams and Zelma Davis
If I Know Me - George Strait
    1998-Golfer Notah Begay III, a college teammate of Tiger Woods, shot a 59 in the second round of the Nike Tour's Dominion Open in Richmond, VA. Begay thus became the third golfer to shoot a 59 in a US professional event after Al Geiberger and Chip Beck. Begay, however, did not go on to win the four-round tournament. Bob Burns did, shooting a 14-under-par 274. Begay tied for sixth place with a score of 277.
    2002 - The White House acknowledged that in the weeks before the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush was told by U.S. intelligence that Osama bin Laden's terrorist network might hijack American airplanes, but that officials did not know that suicide hijackers were plotting to use planes as missiles.
    2008--Two weeks after he appeared on American Idol, Neil Diamond topped the Billboard Hot 200 album chart for the first time in his career when "Home Before Dark" went to number one. The closest he came before was with the 1973 soundtrack to "Jonathan Livingston Seagull", which reached #2.

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Baseball Poem

Stop Action

Slowly as in an underwater dance
the shortstop dips to take the ball
on a low hop, swings back his arm, balancing
without thought, all muscles intending
the diagonal to the first baseman's glove.

As the ball leaves his hand, the action stops —
and, watching, we feel a curious poignancy,
a catch in the throat. It is not this play only.
Whenever the sweet drive is stopped
and held, our breath wells up like the rush

of sadness or longing we sometimes feel
without remembering the cause of it.
The absolute moment gathers the surge
and muscle of the past, complete,
yet hurling itself forward — arrested
here between its birth and perishing.

Written by Conrad Hilberry, published in
“Line Drives,” 100 Contemporary Baseball
Poems edited by Brooke Horvath and
Tim Wales,
published by Southern Illinois University Press

 

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SuDoku

The object is to insert the numbers in the boxes to satisfy only one condition: each row, column and 3x3 box must contain the digits 1 through 9 exactly once. What could be simpler?

http://leasingnews.org/Soduku/soduko-main.htm

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Daily Puzzle

How to play:
http://www.setgame.com/set/puzzle_frame.htm

Refresh for current date:
http://www.setgame.com/set/puzzle_frame.htm

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http://www.gasbuddy.com/
http://www.gasbuddy.com/GB_Map_Gas_Prices.aspx
http://www.gasbuddy.com/GB_Mobile_Instructions.aspx

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Weather

See USA map, click to specific area, no commercials

http://www.weather.gov/

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Traffic Live---

Real Time Traffic Information

You can save up to 20 different routes and check them out with one click,
or type in a new route to learn the traffic live

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