KUALA LUMPUR: Family members of Federal and state government top brass should be barred from bidding on government contracts, said the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) Consultation and Corruption Prevention Panel (CCPP).

They also said top brass should be prevented from influencing applications from their family members for government contracts.

“This can help avoid conflict of interests as well as plug loopholes and opportunities that could lead to corruption.

“It will also allay public perception that those who walk in the corridors of power could influence government decision-making,” said CCPP chairman Datuk Johan Jaaffar in a statement Tuesday.

He said the panel also proposed that MPs and state assemblymen make a mandatory declaration of their assets to the MACC at least once in three years.

This will help reinforce their commitment in the fight against corruption and clear doubts about their assets during their term as elected representatives, he said.

Johan said the CCPP had also proposed imposing a one-year cooling-off period on top civil servants after they retire before they can enter professional practice or hold top posts in the corporate sector. Meanwhile, the panel welcomed the appointment of Transparency International Malaysia president Datuk Paul Low Seng Kuan as a Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department responsible for weeding out corruption. – Bernama

Article source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2013/5/21/nation/20130521212005&sec=nation

Article source: http://www.malaysiandigest.com/news/36-local2/350182-proposal-to-curtail-families-of-top-brass-from-vying-for-govt-contracts.html

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Article source: http://www.deccanherald.com/content/333690/bjp-top-brass-discuss-ls.html

By DOUG WILSON
Herald-Whig Senior Writer

Ammunition sales at local sporting goods stores have slowed in recent weeks, but retailers are not ready to relax limits on how much a customer can purchase.

“It’s starting to lighten up. Demand seems to be softening a bit,” Don Taylor, a co-owner of GameMasters in Quincy, said.

Taylor said ammunition sales spiked in January as Congress was debating gun control measures. There was a national run on .22-caliber long rifle cartridges, munitions for 9 mm and other handguns, and other types of ammo.

Yvonne Thomas, manager of the Wal-Mart store in Hannibal, Mo., agrees that the pace of buying eased from what she saw a few weeks ago.

“For a while, we had people waiting in lines if they knew we had a shipment in. We had to limit quantities so more people could get what they needed,” Thomas said.

Demand for ammunition has been on the rise nationally.

Winchester Ammunition’s Web page cites “extremely high demand for our products” and assures visitors that the company is trying to produce an increased supply of quality ammunition.

Taylor agrees that congressional debate about gun and ammunition magazines bans fueled part of the rush to buy ammo. He also sees positive developments boosting demand.

“I do feel the shooting sports are in a growth process,” Taylor said.

The National Shooting Sports Federation has found anecdotal evidence to support Taylor’s opinion. According to a national survey of firearms retailers, 84 percent of the outlets reported that sales in 2012 were up from the previous year. Retailers reported that 25.8 percent of customers were first-time buyers, and 78.6 percent of the retailers said more women are coming into their stores.

Taylor said Illinois residents are watching to see what form of concealed-carry law will be adopted by the Legislature or imposed by courts. That could boost firearm and ammunition sales even more.

John Boeing, president of the Quincy Pistol and Rifle Club, is glad the club bought two cases of .22-caliber long rifle ammo a few months ago. Some of those 10,000 rounds will be around when the club resumes Tuesday night shooting leagues. Boeing also wonders whether inflated prices for ammo will hit the club.

“I think it will take several months” for the demand and supply to balance out, Boeing said.

“Once people get enough, it will slow down and the stock will build back up and the run will be over.”

Boeing said the prices of reloading supplies — bullets, brass, lead, smokeless powder and primers — also have risen in recent months. Shooters with centerfire arms often reload brass cartridges and shotgun shells. Reloading usually usually offers a cost saving over purchased ammo. It also lets shooters tailor special loads.

Taylor has been through frenzy buying sessions before. He said it can happen in any retail market when people perceive that supplies are short.

“This can happen for milk or bread or ammo,” Taylor said.

— dwilson@whig.com/221-3372

Article source: http://www.whig.com/story/22297416/local-retailers-say-ammunition-shortage-easing-but-quantities-still-limited

ELKHART — A recent episode of the NBC series “Chicago Fire” featured a product made in Elkhart.

Elkhart Brass makes more than 2,000 products used in the fire-fighting industry, including nozzles for hoses, controls, monitors and valves. Established in 1902, it is the oldest of only three manufacturers nationally to produce these parts, which it ships all over the world.

It’s not surprising then, that its name was invoked on an episode of the TV drama, which focuses on the lives of the firefighters, rescue squad and paramedics of Chicago Firehouse 51.

In the episode, two characters talk briefly about the Select-O-Matic nozzle, which firefighters use to control the water flow on hoses. One says: “Still using the Elkhart Brass nozzles I see. Is that a 75100?”

While the show wasn’t completely accurate in what it called the product — 75100 is actually the psi (pounds per square inch) and not the model number — the interaction is pretty typical, said Tom Holt, marketing manager at the company.

“People say, ‘Oh, I remember Elkhart Brass,’ ” he said, explaining that it’s a connecting point for those in the industry.

In the local community, however, there is some confusion about what the company does.

“Many people in town still think we make band instruments,” said Joshua Twitchell, vice president of operations at the company, explaining, “We’ve always been pretty humble; we don’t do a lot of self-promotion.”

For 111 years, Elkhart Brass, which never made band instruments, has remained at its Beardsley Avenue location, though it has expanded its original building to 125,000 square feet of space.

The company’s first catalog sold parts for bicycles, “essentially to get a guy to the fire,” Twitchell said. Eventually Elkhart Brass became known for its canister fire extinguishers, and the business began to grow.

“We’ve always been on the leading edge of developing good solutions that the fire service needed and being connected to the end user,” Twitchell said.

Through the years, Elkhart Brass continually led the industry in new technology, inventing about 90 percent of the products it makes. One of its first inventions to revolutionize the industry was the ball-type valve, which came out about 100 years ago.

“It’s a gate-valve that allows the firefighter to turn the water on and off at the nozzle (on the hose),” Holt said. “Previously, everything was handled at the truck — or at the horse.”

As firefighting vehicles transitioned from bicycles and horse-drawn fire engines to firetrucks, Elkhart Brass continued to invent products. It created the fog nozzle, which creates a wall of water between a firefighter and the fire, and an electric monitor, which gives firefighters the ability to control water remotely or with a joystick, so that they don’t have to be in proximity to the fire.

Today, the family-owned company is in its fourth generation and its product line also can be found in building systems, off-shore drilling sites, military,

marine and industrial firefighting applications.

Because firefighters need their equipment to be reliable, Elkhart Brass focuses on the quality of its products.

“Everything we do is tested,” Holt said. “Every part that we send is hand-assembled, hand-machined and hand-founded right here. We run everything through a very stringent battery of tests to make sure it meets or exceeds the quality standards that the fire service needs. The safety of the firefighters is our primary concern.”

Once a new product has been tested and approved in-house, the company sends it to a fire department to have it beta-tested. Currently Clay Fire Territory in St. Joseph County is testing one of its new products.

Article source: http://www.southbendtribune.com/business/sbt-elkhart-brass-built-to-last-20130520,0,3642429.story?track=rss

Click to enlarge

Brass-O-Mania! (photo provided)

TROY — Brass-O-Mania!, “The World’s Most Dangerous Big Band,” will perform in concert at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall on June 8 as part of the Flag Day weekend festivities.

Sponsored by The Record and the Troy Flag Day Committee, the free concert will be held at 8 p.m.; the hall will open at 7 p.m. and all ticket holders must be seated by 7:45 p.m.

Gratified by the support from local residents, organizations and businesses, the committee has decided that all systems are go for the 46th annual tribute to our nation’s flag. The parade will step off at 1 p.m. June 9, rain or shine, and proceed from south Troy, north along Fourth Street, into downtown.

While a military band normally is the headliner for the free Flag Day Parade-Eve concert, no military bands were available this year because of the federal sequestration.

It was then that Brass-O-Mania!,” a 19-piece big band made up of professional musicians and music educators, stepped in to help.

In an interview with The Record, Tom MacDonald, band business manager, said, “In speaking with Ed Manny (president) of the Parade Committee, I learned that the Marine Band was not able to come up for the parade this year; which also meant no free concert for the Troy public, the night before the parade. I thought that we could make a small contribution to help out the Flag Day celebration, by stepping up with a free concert in the absence of the Marine Band. We’ll present an eclectic mix of tunes, covering 70 years of great American Swing, Blues and Pop tunes. I hope that everyone finds something in the concert to enjoy.”

The band, which was formed in 1994, also includes two vocalists and, in addition to Big Band standards, it plays hits from the 1950s through the 1980s.

Tickets to the free concert will be available from The Record starting Wednesday. To obtain tickets, mail a stamped, self-addressed envelope to The Record, 501 Broadway, Troy, NY 12180 ATTN: Marine Concert. Please include the number of tickets requested.

No more than four tickets may be requested.

Tickets may also be obtained in person at the newspaper’s downtown Troy office starting Wednesday. Continued…

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Article source: http://troyrecord.com/articles/2013/05/19/news/doc51994c75d6971579611383.txt

Lapua products are very well respected, and have gained a great reputation for their incredible accuracy and dependability. We’re excited to be carrying every product they offer.

Brooklyn, Iowa (PRWEB) May 14, 2013

Crow Shooting Supply – The World’s Leading Source of Wholesale Ammunition and Reloading Components – is pleased to announce it is now a full-line distributor of Lapua® brass, bullets and ammunition.

Known for their “Passion for Precision,” Lapua manufactures some of the world’s finest brass for reloading, plus bullets and ammunition sought after by target shooters, competition enthusiasts and hunters alike.

“Lapua products are very well respected, and have gained a great reputation for their incredible accuracy and dependability,” said Steve Crow, Founder of Crow Shooting Supply. “We’re excited to be carrying every product they offer.”

Many Lapua products are currently in-stock and available for immediate shipping.

Crow Shooting Supply is a family-owned, Iowa-based wholesale distributor of high-quality ammunition, reloading components and shooting accessories. Proudly serving retail gun shops, major sporting goods stores, gun clubs, shooting ranges and government agencies for more than 25 years, Crow is a full-line supplier of nearly 100 of the world’s premier ammunition and reloading manufacturers. For more information, or to inquire about partnering with Crow Shooting Supply, call 800-264-2493 or visit http://www.crowshootingsupply.com.

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Article source: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/5/prweb10727920.htm

India, May 19 — Concerned over slowdown in business, the brass of the city’s IT and BPO firms are now emphasising on innovation.

“We have hit an air pocket. Despite having niche expertise and strong fundamentals, innovation has stopped in the last couple of years which is a question of worry,” said Nitin Seth, chairman of the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) regional council, Haryana, here on Friday. Seth was addressing a gathering of chief executive officers and senior executives of over 25 firms during a Nasscom workshop and seminar.

Gurgaon, a city synonymous with IT and BPO industries – over 500 of them work out of here, including over 200 major American and European firms – contributes to more than 80 per cent of the IT and ITes (IT enabled services) exports from the country’s northern region. The city’s IT-BPO firms employ about 2 lakh people.

Amid the rise of alternative outsourcing locations like China and Philippines, the overall growth of the sector has plummeted to nearly 12 per cent from the 20 per cent during the heydays, rued the industry leaders.

“It’s time stress is laid on building a systematic innovation capability. Innovative ideas are getting stuck. If it continues, businesses will get stuck, too,” said Dr Rishikesh Krishnan, an author and professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.

In face of competition, the Indian firms have diversified into being high-end analytic and research centres and the services they render are at attractive operational costs. A large number of engineers, PhDs, chartered accountants, statisticians and doctors are now engaged in BPOs. While five years back voice services constituted 85 per cent of business, today it is only 25 per cent with the rest being data services.

Vinod Sood, managing director, Hughes Systique Corporation, pointed that such innovations have helped keep the business afloat. “However, now is the time to bring innovations in a more concerted and continuous manner,” said Sood.

Published by HT Syndication with permission from Hindustan Times.

Article source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/bpo-industry-top-brass-bat-innovation-fight-slowdown-183000192.html

Police ought to know what pepper spray or a taser feel like before they use them on other people. Right?

In hindsight, it may not have been such a good idea. No, Constable John Burton isn’t hungover. He’s not thirsty, nor just in a bad mood.

In January 1998, the police use of pepper spray was a hot topic. Was it cruel and unusual punishment? No, it wasn’t, said police top brass. How could they prove that? Well … newspaper photographers capture cops in a variety of scenarios – in the heat and drama of emergencies, in buttoned-down press conferences, in the long hours beside crime scenes fenced off with bright yellow tape.

But Herald snapper Mark Mitchell says he hasn’t forgotten the police pepper spray demonstration in Wellington on January 27, 1998.

“These guys at the time had to go through it themselves to understand what it did,” Mitchell said. “All these guys for about half-an-hour or an hour were sticking their heads in buckets of water. It was quite amusing, to be honest.”

Seeing police officers lining up to be pepper sprayed was a first. The experience was not pleasant. Some journalists volunteered, too.

“My eyes closed, my sinuses erupted and waves of nausea turned my stomach upside down,” an Evening Post reporter described on January 28 that year. The nasty effects lasted an hour.

Fifteen years after Burton was sprayed with oleoresin capsicum, cops are demonstrating the new X26 tasers, hoping to show the public that stun guns are effective without being lethal.

Twenty Wellington police officers have been training to use the new tasers.

The stun guns fire two barbed metal darts at the victim, handing out a powerful electric shock. The new taser model can fire twice before it needs reloading. It has been shown off around the country this autumn.

Mitchell went along to a taser show, too. One of the policemen there had the unfortunate honour of having been voluntarily victimised with both devices.

“The cop demonstrating it made the comment he’d rather be tasered than pepper sprayed,” Mitchell said.

- Herald on Sunday

By John Weekes Email John

Article source: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10884527

DLF raises Rs 1,863 cr through IPP

The funds will be utilised primarily to reduce debt, at Rs 21,350 cr as on December 31, 2012

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Article source: http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cong-top-brass-discusses-way-aheadfood-security-bill/244898/on

09:56  Sensex up 54 points in early trade:  

The BSE benchmark Sensex today extended gains for the fourth straight day by adding over 54 points in early trade on continued foreign funds inflow, amid a firming trend in the Asian region.         

The 30-share barometer rose by 54.25 points, or 0.27 per cent, to 20,301.58, a level last seen in January, 2011 with stocks of IT, oil and gas, realty, auto and capital goods sectors leading the gains. The index had gained 555.66 points in the previous three sessions.         

Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index, Nifty, moved up by 8.55 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 6,178.45. Brokers said sentiments on the domestic bourses continues to be buoyed by sustained buying by foreign funds and retail investors on hopes of a rate cut as inflation eased.    

Besides, a firming trend in the Asian region supported the upside, they said.          Stocks of ITC Ltd rose 0.21 per cent to Rs 337.50 ahead of fourth quarter earnings, to be released later today.         

Meanwhile in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei up by 0.35 per cent, in early trade today, while Hong Kong’s market remained closed. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.28 per cent lower in yesterday’s trade.  

WOOSTER, Ohio, May 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ – In March, the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) rallies college basketball fans for the excitement of March Madness. For the second year in a row, Akron Brass sponsored a March Mayhem contest for the best fire department.

(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130517/CL16301 )

Fire departments entered the contest and voted from the “Sweet Sixteen” through the final matchup. The final two fire departments remaining in the competition were Bridgeport Volunteer Fire Department (Bridgeport, OH) and Fremont Fire Department (Fremont, IN). Throughout the competition, these two fire departments developed a strong bond despite being competitors. Yet, in the end, on April 9^th, Fremont Fire Department was crowned the winner.

“When we go in, we go all in. One of our men stayed awake for 48 hours to vote, another used two computers and his Wii game system for voting, and many voted all day on their computers and cell phones. We were exhausted by the end of it, but we’re proud of the camaraderie developed amongst our department and with Bridgeport Volunteer Fire Department,” said Eric Hufnagle, Fire Chief of Fremont Fire Department.

On Friday May 10, 50 fire department members and their families enjoyed a pizza party and admired their plaque touting them as the champion of the 2013 Akron Brass March Mayhem champions.

For more information about Akron Brass, visit http://www.akronbrass.com.

About Akron Brass Company

Founded in 1918, Akron Brass is a worldwide marketer and manufacturer of high performance life safety, fire fighting and emergency rescue equipment. A Premier Farnell company, Akron Brass is ISO 9001: 2000 registered and has an excellent reputation for developing and manufacturing innovative products.

For more information on Akron Brass products, please contact a local Akron Brass Distributor, visit http://www.akronbrass.com or call the Akron Brass Customer Service Department at (330) 264-5678.

Article source: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/akron-brass-announces-winner-second-193000502.html

D-Town Brass bandleader Andy Magowan’s pre-rehearsal routine should come with its own movie soundtrack number, perhaps one from his Durham group’s songbook.

It’s easy to imagine the band’s “Mystery Town” playing over the scene as he pulls his Volvo out of Geer Street Garden, the popular downtown restaurant and hangout where he is owner and chef.

Written by the band’s co-leader and chief sax player “Crowmeat” Bob Pence, it’s the opening number of the band’s newly self-released EP (which comes out concurrently with the full-length release “Golden Belt”). With its throbbing post-punk-ish, opening bass line and the sinister but somehow comic swell of the horns, the listener can tell there’s a wild ride ahead.

A passenger in Magowan’s car could be forgiven for having that same feeling. On this particular Tuesday evening, Magowan has corralled 12 members for a rehearsal at tenor sax player Matt Busch’s home in the Forest Hills section of Durham.

The 15-member D-Town Brass, a self-described “friendly psychedelic jungle-jazz dance band” is playing a show at The Pinhook Saturday to celebrate the two releases, and before they get down to practicing for that, Magowan has some quick errands to run. And there’s not very much time to run them, so cue the crazy music.

Magowan makes a quick stop to buy three six-packs of band beer at Trinity Food Mart.

Then he goes to pick up the Brass’s newest member, percussionist Ken Moshesh, who met the rest of the guys in July 2012 as they were loading into their practice space near his video studio at the old Golden Belt mill, repurposed as a mixed-use development for retail, restaurants and art studios.

“He told me, ‘I was in “Space is the Place,’ ” says Magowan, referring to the 1974 science fiction film, written by and starring jazz legend Sun Ra. “I was like, are you [expletive] kidding me?”

Moshesh appeared in that movie as a member of Ra’s Arkestra, and played conga on the soundtrack album.

“That’s the last time I played in a large band I really wanted to play in,” Moshesh says later. After spending some time listening to D-Town Brass, he’d discovered another one.D-Town Brass has existed since 2008, when McGowan was still chef/owner at the Foster Street restaurant Piedmont. (He sold it to Eno Hospitality Group in 2010.)

Magowan, once a member of the popular Durham band Malt Swagger, had been out of music for a while, partly because he was so busy with chef duties.

“I was kind of at loose ends,” he recalls, “and I had a song that seemed to suggest horns. So I contacted some people I knew, to play horns. They contacted people that they knew to play horns.”

They got together to practice at Piedmont when it wasn’t open. Three weeks later, they had recorded the music they’d been rehearsing – and they did that at Piedmont, too, just by turning on a tape machine and playing.

“It was so easy, and so fun,” Magowan says.

It was so much fun, they kept doing it. After about a year and a half, they had about 10 songs – enough to play a show.

Since then, the band that includes members of many favorite local musical groups and organizations (The Wusses, The Wigg Report, Le Weekend, Savage Knights, and Durham Symphony, to name a few) has a routine of doing two or three practices, and then either recording some new tunes or playing a show.

Over the years, the downtown club shows have made D-Town Brass a beloved Durham institution, and it’s gratifying that crowd favorites such as Magowan’s “The Hectic Metric” (with its hand claps and shouts of “ho!”) are finally documented as recordings.

The EP, recorded at Piedmont during off hours, represents the first two years of the group. “Golden Belt” was recorded in July 2012 with the current lineup.

Watching the group practice, one can’t help but be impressed at how easy Magowan and Pence make it look, when it comes to controlling potential chaos. The horn players, lined up one side of the converted garage, read off charts.

The rhythm section’s parts, however, are worked out mostly by those players to complement the horns. In this rehearsal, bassist Bob Wall sits between the brass and percussionists, right across the room from McGowan (who gets up from behind his keyboards to hand out beers every so often).

To Wall’s right, Robert Biggers plays the anchor beats on a drum kit, while Matt Vooris (xylophone, wood block, conga) and Ken Moshesh (talking drum, conga) provide spacy colorations and funky syncopations.

They get through 11 songs with barely a hitch. At one point, Pence even expresses satisfaction with a mistake made by one horn player: “Somebody was late, but it echoed everybody else, so it was cool.”

After practice, some members of the band re-converge at Geer Street Garden for more beer, some wings, fries and conversation. When asked to describe the band’s music, Pence says he thinks of “movie soundtrack jazz, prime jazz, like from the ’40s through the ’70s. And Duke Ellington and Sun Ra.”

There’s some disagreement between band members on whether D-Town Brass plays actual jazz (Moshesh thinks so), but saxophonist Steve Cowles has a pretty good resolution to that question.

“We don’t necessarily fit into the jazz paradigm, but I feel that there is something elementally correct about the sound of the band,” he says.

Article source: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/05/16/2895464/d-town-brass-makes-its-own-kind.html

It’s nine o’clock on a Friday night and abnormally cold for May. Four members of Brass Connection are camped out at the intersection of Trade and Tryon, seemingly oblivious to the dozen or so passersby who have now stopped and are waiting for the band to play. Casual conversation between band members suddenly turns into an argument over creative differences. Two bandmates begin shouting at each other as the band’s founder, Bill Jones, remains silent in his seat behind his drums.

“You may be a fucking star, but you are not the fucking leader,” Poo, the band’s lead trombonist, shouts at Sticks, the band’s accessory percussionist. As quickly as the argument escalates, it ends as Sticks digs into an aggressive and blindingly fast run on his drum set. This is just part of being in a band. It’s the sort of typical backstage stuff you don’t see when musicians perform on a stage with a curtain.

Although they’re scrappy and rough on the edges, the members of Brass Connection are probably some of the better-known street performers in Charlotte. But the band is just one example of that thriving scene. Filmmaker April Denée explores street performance, or busking, in the Queen City in her documentary Busk!, to be released May 19. As the film is poised to show us, all street performers have a story. They’re out there on the streets for a reason.

For Brass Connection, sheer need was the initial motivating factor. The band was started four years ago during the worst of a bad economy, when joblessness battered the nation. Jones and his nephew Mike Taylor needed money and figured playing music on the streets of Uptown might pay off. Over time, Jones’ own children, Jamaal, Kyle and Kylvin (who range from middle school age to 21 years old) have gotten involved. Even Jones’ 7-year-old godson, Mike Mike, occasionally plays trombone in the band.

Around 9:45 p.m., the band packs its instruments into a waiting car and a minivan and makes their way one block over. Again they set up, but this time for the real night’s work: entertaining people in front of the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center’s Belk Theater. Throngs of patrons will begin exiting the theater in a few minutes.

Although they are a mainstay in Charlotte, Brass Connection takes its show on the road part of the year. Jones keeps Brass Connection’s schedule booked a month out. “We tour from March through probably November,” he says. “In D.C., we play in Chinatown and DuPont Circle. In New York, we play in Central Park, and in Florida, we play in Clearwater at the pier.”

When they’re in town, you can find the band planted in one of a handful of locations. “I like to play at the Blumenthal and Knight Theater all the time. Usually, we play Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday and when they have shows. We stay out there and entertain most of the day on Saturdays,” Jones says. The folks at the Blumenthal, Jones says, reached out to Brass Connection and asked that they perform in front of the theater.

Douglas Young, vice president of programming for Blumenthal Performing Arts, says Brass Connection is just what our city needs. “They sort of showed up one day a few years ago, and people loved them. Now they play regularly. We’re big fans of their music,” Young says. “Busking is a great tradition, and the Brass Connection is part of that. Cities like Charlotte that have this sort of sharing of talent recognize how the arts can inspire.”

The band also performs regularly at Bobcats games and the Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Jones says overall, the city of Charlotte has been exceptionally kind to the group. “[Former] Mayor McCrory said we are, like, good for the city’s culture,” he says. “That was inspiring. [And] Charlotte police have been very nice to us; I don’t have any complaints about that. They look [out] for us and joke with us. It’s awesome.”

On this particular night, Brass Connection is comprised of two trombones and two drum kits. During Sticks’ drum run, a crowd packs the sidewalk. Few are able to remain still as a wall of sound screams from the well-worn instruments.

The band plays songs its older members have heard through the years. When younger members need some coaching, Jones is at the ready. “We try to play a lot of Top 40, and we go to different areas when we see what the crowd is like. Oldies but goodies. ‘Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch.’ They like that. KC and the Sunshine Band,” Jones says. “There’s so much, you know. We have like 75 to 80 songs on the list. We play all by ear.”

In spite of unusually wintry weather, the band’s music hasn’t stopped, and the crowd hasn’t dissipated. People are dancing and smiling. More important for Jones and his crew, a steady stream of onlookers are making their way toward the band’s setup, pulling dollar bills from pockets, wallets and purses. “When we started out, we realized people liked our music, so we put out a hat,” Jones says.

The hat has since grown into a bucket — a clear indication that our buttoned-up banking city craves this brand of culture.

Article source: http://clclt.com/charlotte/in-the-streets-brass-connection/Content?oid=3089949

Brass Tacks straddles a corner of Airport Way South in Georgetown’s rapidly gentrifying business district, but it would look right at home on Ballard Avenue.

The red-trimmed corner storefront occupies a block-long, brick edifice called The Miller Building, date-stamped 1929. Inside you’ll find exposed masonry, mottled cement floors, rough-hewed wood and twisting metalwork. The design-build was largely the work of Jonathan Parisi, who owns Brass Tacks along with his brother, Alex, and their business partner, Skylar Keith.

The bar exhibits so many bottles and jars of steeping liquids it looks like a science project run amok. Drinks range from Rainier Tall Boys to keg wines to sophisticated concoctions like the Catalina: a lemon-kissed, Campari-tinted tequila cocktail made with a dash of rosemary-infused agave nectar.

Fresh blooms and quirky art grace the dining area. The furnishings look either repurposed or purposely retro. Near a tiny stage where bands perform on weekends, an old trunk and a trio of theater seats serve as an ad hoc lounge.

Of course there is a counter where you’ll sit on metal lab chairs and stools facing the shiny, stainless-steel kitchen. Executive chef Chris Opsata runs the culinary show, with a big assist from sous chef Luke Randall and Thomas Fredrickson, a young cook who expedites with impressive aplomb. All three made the leap from Sodo’s Urban Enoteca, which shuttered just before Brass Tacks’ early January debut.

The menu roams familiar gastropub terrain dropping surprises along the way. A prosciutto chip and a cornichon poke from the creamy, mustard-sharp middles of deviled duck eggs. Bread and butter accompany an array of crisp, pickled vegetables; the ciabatta slices are toasted and the pale green butter hints of lemon and thyme.

Small canning jars serve as vessels for smoky bacon strips candied with maple syrup, for fried okra in loose cornmeal jackets, and for pork “fries” with apple butter. Fashioned from braised belly meat that’s been breaded and deep-fried, the pork is rich, yet curiously bland, and much improved by liberal applications of the sauce, which tastes divinely like apple-pie filling puréed.

Spring lamb pie goes from oven to table in a small cast-iron skillet. So does macaroni and cheese; made ultra-decadent with soft chunks of house-smoked brisket, it’s finished brilliantly with fine breadcrumbs toasted with chile powder and cumin. The lamb cavorts with carrots, celery and haricots verts in a lavish béchamel sauce under a puff-pastry lid as jaunty as a beret.

With a lemon slice tucked under its bronzed wing and a rosemary sprig pinned to its taut, golden bosom, half an applewood-smoked hen looks equally dashing, and tastes exquisite. Sweet banana ketchup and lime zest dress up meaty chicken thighs imbued with warm jerk spices.

The chickens hail from Ephrata’s Mad Hatcher Farm; the beef from Oregon’s Painted Hills. I bypassed the impressive-looking burger in favor of steak frites. (They are about the same price if you add bacon and an over-easy duck egg to the burger — and who wouldn’t?) I was plenty pleased with that hefty hangar steak, attended by roasted cippolini onions and excellent fries — everything benefiting from the intense demi glacé. An equally robust demi is ladled over poutine — a bowl of fries topped with melted cheese curds.

You expect that kind of full-bore comfort food in a place like this, where the napkins are paper, bunches of flatware protrude from jars, and you can play shuffleboard and foosball in the dining room. But I didn’t imagine such a delicately wrought spring-onion soup (French onion’s lighter cousin) or so many alluring salads, among them: white anchovies whipped into a creamy sauce for pecorino-dusted charred romaine hearts; orange-kissed pea vines and shaved fennel cradling grilled asparagus; and crushed pistachio underscoring multihued beets dotted with ricotta.

Nor did I expect to find excellent cannoli, edged with dark chocolate and crushed pistachio, and filled with a sweetened, creamier version of that house-made ricotta. But now that I’ve gotten down to Brass Tacks a few times, I wouldn’t be surprised to find myself getting down to Georgetown more often.

Providence Cicero, Seattle Times restaurant critic, co-hosts “Let’s Eat” with Terry Jaymes at 4 p.m. Saturdays on KIRO Radio 97.3 FM. Listen to past shows at www.KIRORadio.com/letseat. Reach Cicero at providencecicero@aol.com.

Article source: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/restaurants/2020997868_brasstacksxml.html?syndication=rss

The reaction continues to pour in after former MLS star David Beckham announced his retirement from professional soccer on Thursday.

Tops on that list is his former MLS club, the LA Galaxy, which he led to two back-to-back MLS Cup titles in 2011 and 2012.

“Today is a day to celebrate David Beckham and the completion of his fabulous career,” LA manager Bruce Arena said in a club statement. “In addition to being such a great player, David is also a great personality, a great teammate, a great friend and family man. He is a person that you cannot replace, on the field or off and our club is in a better position for having him play for us in the six years that he did.”

READ: Beckham announces retirement after 20-year soccer career

Galaxy president Chris Klein spoke about the club’s interest in maintaining a “relationship” with a club icon.

“David was a tremendous ambassador for our club and our league and it was an incredible honor in having him wear the Galaxy colors,” Klein said in a club statement. “We join the world in celebrating all of his achievements in the sport and look forward to continuing his relationship with our club.”

Article source: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/la-galaxy-brass-react-retirement-150612361--mls.html

Democrat heavyweights moved Thursday to quell rumours about an internal rift involving party reforms in anticipation of a snap election.

Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva appeared at a press conference with party executives, including his deputy Alongkorn Ponlaboot, whose tweets on Monday triggered speculation about internal conflicts.

Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva told the media that there is agreement to revamp the party as a whole. Deputy leader Alongkorn Ponlaboot suffered a setback when the Democrats refused to accept his plans for reform.

The press conference was initially set for Tuesday, but was postponed after Mr Alongkorn failed to show up.

The party called reporters together to announce its course of action after its executive board debated Mr Alongkorn’s blueprint for reforms on Monday.

Mr Abhisit told reporters yesterday the party’s board had agreed on the need to revamp the party as a whole.

• Abhisit’s military case: At Constitution Court
• Alongkorn interview: Divided? No way!

The proposed reforms are not designed to benefit the party, but rather to turn the party into an effective mechanism to drive the country forward, he said.

Mr Abhisit said the reforms would position the Democrats to serve as a strong opposition or as the core of a future government, whatever the political situation and regardless of the current conflicts.

“The reform process will not affect the party’s responsibilities as the opposition to monitor the government’s performance and to present itself as the people’s choice in the future,” he said.

He said Mr Alongkorn’s blueprint was not adopted as the basis for the party reforms and the party would be open to further suggestions.

“Mr Alongkorn believes his proposals should be a starting point [for the reforms], but the board agrees that it will remain open to suggestions. Mr Alongkorn’s blueprint is not final,” he said. “And while the working group gets to work, I want all parties concerned to avoid creating confusion.

Mr Abhisit said a working group would be assigned to develop the elements of the reforms, particularly over the structure of the executive board.

The group would compile opinions drawn from all the party’s resources, complete its work in 30 days and forward its suggestions for changes to the party board.

The board would then consider the proposals and submit them to a meeting of MPs and the general assembly, if necessary.

The entire process is expected to take three months, Mr Abhisit said.

The reform process is an internal affair to strengthen the party’s mechanisms, and should not be seen as an internal conflict, he said.

Mr Alongkorn yesterday thanked Mr Abhisit and the party board for their decision to go ahead with the party reforms.

He defended his tweets, saying he was forced to use social media because a certain party member made comments to the press that distorted his blueprint.

Mr Alongkorn said the party member claimed in the interview that Democrat chief adviser Chuan Leekpai disagreed with his blueprint because it favoured populism.

He insisted his blueprint did not call for the party to adopt populist policies.

Mr Alongkorn’s proposals called for the establishment of new political units including a research office and an office to develop strategic policy for national development.

“We don’t have these units and that’s why we couldn’t fight our opponents in the election,” he said.

The blueprint also calls for structural changes to the party’s regional offices, with more branches to be set up in the provinces.

He said he would submit the blueprint to Mr Chuan and to the meeting of MPs on Monday.

The blueprint remains open to changes, he said.

However, he said that from now on he would discuss the reforms in public only when necessary.

He acknowledged that his tweets could have suggested that he wanted the party to use his blueprint.

Mr Chuan yesterday downplayed reports he was in conflict with Mr Alongkorn.

However, he admitted that he told Mr Alongkorn not to discuss certain issues in public because it could frustrate other members.

Mr Chuan said he was not aware of the details of Mr Alongkorn’s blueprint.

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WASHINGTON
– The nation’s top defense leaders were summoned to the White House Thursday to talk about the military’s escalating sexual assault crisis as the Pentagon’s top general said women in uniform were losing confidence the problem will be solved.

President Barack Obama planned to meet Thursday afternoon with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the civilian and military leaders of each service, and the military’s senior enlisted advisers to discuss the issue, the Pentagon announced.

Allegations of sexual assault in the military have triggered outrage from local commanders to Capitol Hill and the Oval Office. Yet there seem to be few clear solutions beyond improved training and possible adjustments in how the military prosecutes such crimes. Changing the culture of a male-dominated, change-resistant military that for years has tolerated sexism and sexist behavior is proving to be a challenging task.

“We’re losing the confidence of the women who serve that we can solve this problem,” the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, said Wednesday.

“That’s a crisis,” Dempsey said in remarks during a flight from Europe to Washington that were reported by the American Forces Press Service, which is the Pentagon’s internal news agency. Dempsey suggested that a deepening of the sexual assault problem may be linked to the strains of war.

“I tasked those around me to help me understand what a decade-plus of conflict may have done to the force,” he said. “Instinctively, I knew it had to have some effect.”

Dempsey added: “This is not to make excuses. We should be better than this. In fact, we have to be better than this.”

The Pentagon had scheduled a briefing for journalists Thursday with Hagel and Dempsey, but after the White House meeting was announced, they said the Pentagon news conference was being postponed until Friday.

As new sexual assault allegations emerged this week involving an Army soldier who was assigned to prevent such crimes — the second military member facing similar accusations — the Pentagon said Hagel is working on a written directive to spell out steps aimed at resolving the escalating problem.

But Obama, fuming at a news conference last week, warned that he wanted swift and sure action, not “just more speeches or awareness programs or training.” Sexual offenders need to be “prosecuted, stripped of their position, court-martialed, fired, dishonorably discharged. Period,” he said.

“The president has made very clear his expectations on this issue,” said Pentagon press secretary George Little, adding that Hagel told Obama on Tuesday about an Army sergeant first class at Fort Hood, Texas, who faces allegations of sexual misconduct. The case involves the soldier’s activities with three women, including an allegation that he may have arranged for one of them to have sex for money, according to a defense official.

Those allegations come on the heels of a Pentagon report last week that estimated that as many as 26,000 military members may have been sexually assaulted last year, based on survey results, out of 1.4 million in the services.

That report, and a recent series of arrests and other sexual assault problems across the military, have triggered a rush of initiatives from the Pentagon and proposed legislation on Capitol Hill.

But experts warn that stemming an increase in assaults will require concrete changes, both in law and in military culture.

“There is not a quick fix,” said Anu Bhagwati, former Marine captain and executive director of the Service Women’s Action Network. “The military can’t train its way out of this problem.”

She said that changing the prosecution system is critical but that victims also have to be convinced they won’t be punished if they come forward. Changing the culture in the military to foster greater respect, she said, may require using outside groups and advocates to deal with assault cases so that victims don’t feel intimidated by having to go to senior officers with their assault allegations.

According to Little, Hagel is considering changes to the Uniform Code of Military Justice that would prevent commanders from reversing sexual assault convictions, along with other efforts to improve training, assist victims and strengthen discipline.

Hagel has also ordered the retraining, recertifying and rescreening of all sexual assault prevention and response personnel as well as military recruiters, who also have been accused in recent sexual misconduct cases.

“He is going to spare no effort to address the problem,” Little said, adding that additional training is “foundational” to any credible effort against sexual assault. He said Hagel is “open to any and all” ideas about how to improve training, and he said this will be just one element in a broader effort to fight the problem.

On Capitol Hill, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., planned to introduce legislation Thursday taking top commanders out of the process of deciding whether a sexual misconduct case goes to trial. For sexual offenses with authorized sentences of more than one year in confinement — akin to felonies in the civilian judicial system — that decision would rest instead with officers at ranks as low as colonel who are seasoned trial counsels with prosecutorial experience.

“`What we need to do is change the system so victims know that they can receive justice,” Gillibrand said Thursday on CBS “This Morning.”

And, Sens. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., introduced legislation Wednesday to require the Pentagon to establish strict new criteria for service members who can serve in sexual assault prevention programs throughout the military.

In the latest case, the Texas sergeant, whose name has not been made public, was assigned as a coordinator of a battalion-level sexual assault prevention program at Fort Hood. He has been suspended from all duties but has not been charged with any crime.

A defense official in Washington said it was not yet clear if one of the three women was forced into prostitution, adding that the sergeant is being investigated for allegedly sexually assaulting one of the other two women. The allegations involving the third woman were not known.

Another U.S. official said that the sergeant had served in both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and that there were no obvious problems with his military record on an initial review.

Both officials spoke only on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

The soldier was being investigated by the Army Criminal Investigation Command. No charges had been filed, but officials say they expect them fairly soon.

Just last week, an Air Force officer who headed a sexual assault prevention office was himself arrested on charges of groping a woman in a Northern Virginia parking lot.

Little said Hagel was angry and disappointed at “these troubling allegations and the breakdown in discipline and standards they imply.” He said Hagel had met with Army Secretary John McHugh and ordered him to “fully investigate this matter rapidly, to discover the extent of these allegations and to ensure that all of those who might be involved are dealt with appropriately.”

In the recent Pentagon report, officials said that of the estimated 26,000 military members who may have been sexually assaulted last year, fewer than 3,400 reported the incidents. Nearly 800 of those simply sought help and declined to file formal complaints against their alleged attackers.

___

Associated Press writers Donna Cassata and Nedra Pickler and AP Radio correspondent Sagar Meghani contributed to this report.

___

Follow Robert Burns on Twitter: https://twitter.com/robertburnsAP

Follow Lolita C. Baldor on Twitter: https://twitter.com/lbaldor

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Article source: http://www.startribune.com/nation/207696271.html

Knicks coach Mike Woodson has a weekly radio spot
on ESPN-98.7. Or rather, he had one until his last-minute cancelation on
Wednesday. Now it seems his one open forum with the media may have been
dismantled from within the Knicks organization.

For those who don’t know, Woodson is usually
buffered by a phalanx of MSG’s PR staffers during all interactions with the
media. Unlike other coaches—such as P.J. Carlesimo—who frequently have a
friendly, off-the-record conversation with beat writers, Woodson’s interactions
with the media are regulated like a congressional hearing.

That regulation has apparently poured over into
his weekly radio interview with ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith.

“Mike Woodson was supposed to be coming on,
ladies and gentlemen. We didn’t lie to you. The New York Knicks organization
backed out,” Smith said, as
quoted by Bob Raissman of the New York
Daily News. “The coach didn’t back out because Mike Woodson wouldn’t do
that — no matter what he says.”

Raissman went on to
write that “An industry source said Woodson called Smith prior to the
show and told him he would not be making his scheduled appearance.”

Practically, the
Knicks have no real reason to censor Woodson. He’s never said anything
controversial and has an uncanny ability to fain positivity in the face of
unrelenting disaster.

But the Knicks aren’t
practical. At least not when it comes to dealing with the media.

Raissman
(in another piece for the Daily News):

Garden suits knew the station had been promoting
Woodson’s appearance all morning long and still would not allow the coach to
fulfill a commitment, which he is paid (very well) for.

Worse still, the Knicks “organization” knew
Woodson would be speaking with writers who went to Greenburgh for practice. In
that setting, the organization’s PR operatives can closely monitor and control
the interview, ending it in a moment’s notice, something they can’t do on
ESPN-98.7.

None of this should come as a surprise. The
Knicks, after all, neglected to have a press conference when they signed
Woodson to an extension last year, instead choosing a more regimented
conference-call approach.

Woodson did speak to reporters at Wednesday’s
practice, taking the blame for the Knicks’ recent issues.

“I’m the head coach,” he said, as
quoted by Marc Berman of the New York
Post. “Blame it on me. I don’t look at it in that light. The bottom
line is we’re all trying to do the right things to win basketball games. If we
don’t have the slippage to start the series, we’re feeling pretty good about
ourselves. But right now our backs are against the wall and my job is to get us
out of this hole.”

But on a day when the Knicks Coach was avoiding
the media, Filip Bondy of the Daily News came to Woodson’s defense, suggesting
it’s the Knicks’ shooting that’s making him look bad.

Bondy:

You can certainly critique some of Woodson’s
decisions in this series, no argument. He probably shouldn’t have brought back [Amar'e]
Stoudemire, even for limited minutes. Woodson’s big lineup didn’t work at all
in Game 4, but then the small lineup didn’t do much for him, either, in Game 3.

He’ll almost certainly return to the smaller
group again for Game 5, go with [Pablo] Prigioni to start. None of this will
matter, though, if the shooters keep missing, which is what happens a lot in
the playoffs to jump-shooting, three-point teams.

Woodson may have dodged some tough questions on
Wednesday, but if the Knicks lose tonight against the Pacers, he won’t be able
to avoid them much longer. 

Article source: http://www.nj.com/knicks/index.ssf/2013/05/knicks_keep_mike_woodson_from.html

Brass Jaw, National Centre for Early Music, York, May 17

1:54pm Thursday 16th May 2013 in Theatre

BRASS Jaw arrive at the National Centre for Early Music, York, tomorrow night on the back of their nomination in the Small Group category of the 27th British Jazz Awards.

Up against Digby Fairweather’s Half Dozen, The Great Wee Band and Tipitina, they await the announcement on July 10, having previously won the Ensemble Of The Year prize in the 2011 Parliamentary Jazz Awards.

The Glasgow four-piece of Allon Beauvoisin, baritone sax, Ryan Quigley trumpet, Paul Towndrow, alto sax, and Konrad Wiszniewski, tenor sax, bring a vibrant new sound to the world of jazz, full of momentum and drive.

Working with a traditional rhythm section, Brass Jaw “reach out into the unknown towards new musical territory”, their philosophy being that music should be as engaging, entertaining and humorous as it is virtuosic, cerebral and progressive.

• Tickets cost £12, concessions £10, students £5, on 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk

Comment now! Register or sign in below.

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Article source: http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/leisure/theatre/10424638.Brass_Jaw__National_Centre_for_Early_Music__York__May_17/?ref=rss

Topics: 

brass and wine day,

miniature horse,

robert channon wines,

stanthorpe,

winery

EVEN the miniature horses at Robert Channon Wines want to get in on the act and learn to play the trumpet for the Stanthorpe winery’s Brass and Wine Day this Saturday.

The annual event will include food, wine and free musical entertainment for guests.

Winery owner Robert Channon said while his pet horses may be talented; they possibly wouldn’t be up to scratch by the weekend.

“Our little horses are quick learners but I don’t think they will be ready to play by this Saturday,” he said.

Brass band music will be provided by the Stanthorpe RSL Brass Band while jazz will be performed by the Ormiston College Jazz Band with conductor Danielle Logan.

Contempo Singers will also appear for the first time.

The music is outdoors, however in the event of wet weather, will be moved indoors.

The entertainment is free while there will be food available all day from the barbecue, plus picnic lunch boxes, coffee and cakes from the Singing Lake Cafe.

The music will start at 11am.

For information call the winery on 4683 3260 or just head along to Robert Channon Wines, 32 Bradley Lane off Amiens Rd.

Article source: http://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/brass-jazz-and-wines-flow-stanthorpe-weekend/1870266/?utm_source=rss+thechronicle&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS+distribution

Topics: 

brass and wine day,

miniature horse,

robert channon wines,

stanthorpe,

winery

EVEN the miniature horses at Robert Channon Wines want to get in on the act and learn to play the trumpet for the Stanthorpe winery’s Brass and Wine Day this Saturday.

The annual event will include food, wine and free musical entertainment for guests.

Winery owner Robert Channon said while his pet horses may be talented; they possibly wouldn’t be up to scratch by the weekend.

“Our little horses are quick learners but I don’t think they will be ready to play by this Saturday,” he said.

Brass band music will be provided by the Stanthorpe RSL Brass Band while jazz will be performed by the Ormiston College Jazz Band with conductor Danielle Logan.

Contempo Singers will also appear for the first time.

The music is outdoors, however in the event of wet weather, will be moved indoors.

The entertainment is free while there will be food available all day from the barbecue, plus picnic lunch boxes, coffee and cakes from the Singing Lake Cafe.

The music will start at 11am.

For information call the winery on 4683 3260 or just head along to Robert Channon Wines, 32 Bradley Lane off Amiens Rd.

Article source: http://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/brass-jazz-and-wines-flow-stanthorpe-weekend/1870266/?utm_source=rss+thechronicle&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS+distribution

For this occasion the ensemble, which performs as the Metropolitan Opera Brass, was padded with additional musicians to a total of 44 players including 4 tubas, 16 trumpets and as many trombones. The first half of the program was given over to the music of Giovanni Gabrieli, whose antiphonal motets the ensemble recorded on their latest CD, “Sacrae Symphoniae.”

Those recording sessions, too, took place in this gigantic church, which, with its 124-foot-high nave and occasional vocal interventions from the cathedral grounds’ peacocks, must offer a giddy change from the orchestra pit. But even Gabrieli’s majestic compositions, which were intended for spatially separated ensembles in St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, suffered in these soupy acoustics. The concert was presented as part of the series Great Music in a Great Space, but while the playing was genuinely magnificent, the enormous reverberations, which muddied the harmonies and then amplified the resulting dissonances, quickly became grating.

In Gabrieli’s “Mass” the perfectly voiced brass chords sometimes sounded as if played by an organ. The sound was most satisfying in the “Toccata” from Monteverdi’s “Orfeo,” in which the jubilant trumpet flourishes and quick repeated notes in the trombones managed to come through with majestic grace.

Mr. Sheppard’s arrangements skillfully wove ever-changing textures with one group of players while allowing individual soloists to stand out. A selection of opera scenes, which the ensemble previously recorded, showed off the multifaceted colors that brass instruments can produce, including velvet-soft horns and lyrical trombones.

The touching sweetness of Mozart’s “Soave Sia il Vento” from “Così Fan Tutte” was beautifully translated into hushed, woodwind-like horns. But the heavy reverberations clouded the gently undulating textures and one chromatic modulation turned garish as neighboring keys clashed in space.

The unpretentious charm of “Vilja Lied and Waltz” from Franz Lehar’s “Merry Widow” fared better, with exquisitely delicate dabs of tuba underpinning, but never overpowering, the waltz, and a final chord puffed up with just a touch of crescendo. Thanks to the admirable clarity of Mr. Sheppard’s conducting — himself a trumpeter — entrances were always precise and harmonies perfectly voiced.

For the concluding “Spem in Alium” by Thomas Tallis, the players stood in a semicircle with the sound gradually moving in a rolling wave from one side to the other until it crested in a glorious, rib-shaking fortissimo that settled in the listener’s body long after the final reverberation subsided.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/16/arts/music/metropolitan-opera-brass-at-st-john-the-divine.html

For this occasion the ensemble, which performs as the Metropolitan Opera Brass, was padded with additional musicians to a total of 44 players including 4 tubas, 16 trumpets and as many trombones. The first half of the program was given over to the music of Giovanni Gabrieli, whose antiphonal motets the ensemble recorded on their latest CD, “Sacrae Symphoniae.”

Those recording sessions, too, took place in this gigantic church, which, with its 124-foot-high nave and occasional vocal interventions from the cathedral grounds’ peacocks, must offer a giddy change from the orchestra pit. But even Gabrieli’s majestic compositions, which were intended for spatially separated ensembles in St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, suffered in these soupy acoustics. The concert was presented as part of the series Great Music in a Great Space, but while the playing was genuinely magnificent, the enormous reverberations, which muddied the harmonies and then amplified the resulting dissonances, quickly became grating.

In Gabrieli’s “Mass” the perfectly voiced brass chords sometimes sounded as if played by an organ. The sound was most satisfying in the “Toccata” from Monteverdi’s “Orfeo,” in which the jubilant trumpet flourishes and quick repeated notes in the trombones managed to come through with majestic grace.

Mr. Sheppard’s arrangements skillfully wove ever-changing textures with one group of players while allowing individual soloists to stand out. A selection of opera scenes, which the ensemble previously recorded, showed off the multifaceted colors that brass instruments can produce, including velvet-soft horns and lyrical trombones.

The touching sweetness of Mozart’s “Soave Sia il Vento” from “Così Fan Tutte” was beautifully translated into hushed, woodwind-like horns. But the heavy reverberations clouded the gently undulating textures and one chromatic modulation turned garish as neighboring keys clashed in space.

The unpretentious charm of “Vilja Lied and Waltz” from Franz Lehar’s “Merry Widow” fared better, with exquisitely delicate dabs of tuba underpinning, but never overpowering, the waltz, and a final chord puffed up with just a touch of crescendo. Thanks to the admirable clarity of Mr. Sheppard’s conducting — himself a trumpeter — entrances were always precise and harmonies perfectly voiced.

For the concluding “Spem in Alium” by Thomas Tallis, the players stood in a semicircle with the sound gradually moving in a rolling wave from one side to the other until it crested in a glorious, rib-shaking fortissimo that settled in the listener’s body long after the final reverberation subsided.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/16/arts/music/metropolitan-opera-brass-at-st-john-the-divine.html

The Weatherby Vanguard Series 2 RC TRR Rifle (henceforth called the TRR-Threat Response Rifle) is a threat engagement tool in .308 WIN that balances portability with a stable platform for precision shooting. The bolt-action repeating rifle with a five-round box magazine is available in .223 and .308. I picked the .308, my favorite caliber for law enforcement precision rifles. A .308 can be used at carbine ranges to moderate distances, which fall within the majority of law enforcement scenarios.

My TRR came with a 22-inch contoured barrel with a 1/12-inch twist and a generous recessed crown. This rifle has the same type of attention to detail that established Weatherby’s reputation as THE hunting rifle many years ago.

Weatherby makes a couple of other tactical bolt guns. Both are higher priced than the one I tested, but they offer more cartridge choices. The Mark V TRR has a 26-inch Krieger Custom Cut, No. 3 contour free-floated barrel and a hand-honed action. For agencies using the .338 Lapua cartridges, this is your Weatherby. There is a similar Mark V TRR using magnum cartridges designed for extended ranges. This model also comes in .338 Lapua and has an aggressive muzzle brake. I don’t know about the cartridge for this gun, however. There is a version that sports a 28-inch barrel that’s chambered for the .338-378 Weatherby magazine.

Rule of thumb: if the gun says Weatherby on it, shoot the Weatherby cartridge. I did a little calculation on the specs of the .338-378 Weatherby magazine, by the way. Using bullets weighing 200 to 250 grains, they are still supersonic at 500 yards.

Shoot the Weatherby cartridge.

The TRR has an adjustable trigger, which comes factory tuned between 2.8 and 3.5 pounds. For a tactical rifle, this range is just right. Weatherby triggers tend to leave the factory with hand-honed quality, and this one was crisp and smooth.

The TRR has a particularly safe bolt and chamber system. Every manufacturer has a different method to prevent overpressure in case of a cartridge failure. First, Weatherby Vanguards have three longitudinal gas ports along the bolt body. The bolt body itself is machined out of a single steel blank, using a two-lug design.

An overpressure is statistically uncommon in cartridge manufacture, but a single failure can be catastrophic. Overpressure can be caused by a variety of reasons, but cartridge inconsistency is usually the culprit. You know, “one of these things is not like the others.”

To be fair to ammunition manufacturers, my experience with overpressure cartridges has been rooted in faulty reloading, not commercial manufacture. If readers find that I usually use ammo with familiar names like Winchester and Black Hills, this isn’t a coincidence.

If the cartridge fails, the gases normally contained by the vessel, made by the primer and brass case, escape somewhere other than the muzzle. The escaped gas is under higher-than-normal pressure. This kind of pressure can rip a gun apart, which is dangerous for the user.

Manufacturers engineer methods to rapidly vent these gases away from the user with chambers that can hold many times the normal chamber pressures. Weatherby uses a design that adds layers of steel in critical areas, plus a generous recess in the bolt face.

Article source: http://www.officer.com/article/10923672/would-you-reach-for-this-in-a-tactical-intervention

The Kensington Brass Band will be performing in Hornchurch

Tim Dickens, Reporter
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
4:10 PM

Not content with recently “bringing down the house” at the Royal Albert Hall’s Elgar Room and accompanying London marathon runners in their final mile, renown band Kensington Brass are set to play at Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch later this month.

The versatile band, which was formed by 10 students from the Royal College of Music in 2011, are looking forward to bringing their wide repertoire to Billet Lane on May 29. Their programme for the Queen’s includes Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks, Dvorák’s ‘New World’ Symphony, Harry James’ Trumpet Concerto, Williams’ theme from JurassicPark and many more.

According to the secretary of the Royal Albert Hall, when they played in the historic Elgar Room recently the group “played with great professionalism and verve, and brought the house down.” Kensington Brass were the Royal College of Music Brass Ensemble Competition winners 2011-12 and several members of the ensemble have played with the Philharmonic Orchestra, London Sinfonietta and Konzerthausorchester Berlin. The band has also given recitals at Southwark Cathedral and in the Royal College of Music chamber music series.

It is one of a packed programme of event at the Queens this month, including the London Swing Orchestra and We’ll Meet Again.

Tickets are £14 and can be booked through the box office either in person or by calling 01708 443333 or book online at www.queens-theatre.co.uk

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Article source: http://www.romfordrecorder.co.uk/what-s-on/theatre/kensington_brass_band_to_perform_at_queen_s_theatre_hornchurch_1_2193064

Take Note: M.A. Brass in Concert at Savanna Museum Cultural Center

The Savanna Historical Society is pleased to announce a Brass Quintet concert on Friday, May 31, at 7 p.m. The M.A. Brass are an emerging musical group from the Sauk Valley Region. The group was founded in 2012 by Aaron White, (lead trumpet) and Mark Bressler (tuba).

The performance goals of the M.A. Brass include concerts, cultural events, and weddings. The repertoire of the M.A. Brass is as diverse as the members themselves.

These five classically trained musicians are just as comfortable playing jazz, Broadway, rock and even heavy medal (pun intended).

The members of M.A. Brass include: Aaron White Jon James on trumpet, Elizabeth Judd on French horn, Mark Dempsey on trombone and Mark Bressler on tuba.

The concert will be at the Savanna Museum and Cultural Center at 406 Main Street in Savanna. A $5.00 donation would be appreciated.

Article source: http://www.prairie-advocate-news.com/5-15-13/shs5_15_13.html

Crow Shooting Supply Offers Full Line of Lapua Brass, Bullets Ammunition

Crow Shooting Supply

USA --(Ammoland.com)- Crow Shooting Supply – The World’s Leading Source of Wholesale Ammunition and Reloading Components – is pleased to announce it is now a full-line distributor of Lapua brass, bullets and ammunition.

Known for their “Passion for Precision,” Lapua manufactures some of the world’s finest brass for reloading, plus bullets and ammunition sought after by target shooters, competition enthusiasts and hunters alike.

“Lapua products are very well respected, and have gained a great reputation for their incredible accuracy and dependability,” said Steve Crow, Founder of Crow Shooting Supply. “We’re excited to be carrying every product they offer.”

Many Lapua products are currently in-stock and available for immediate shipping.

Crow Shooting Supply is a family-owned, Iowa-based wholesale distributor of high-quality ammunition, reloading components and shooting accessories. Proudly serving retail gun shops, major sporting goods stores, gun clubs, shooting ranges and government agencies for more than 25 years, Crow is a full-line supplier of nearly 100 of the world’s premier ammunition and reloading manufacturers. For more information, or to inquire about partnering with Crow Shooting Supply, call 800-264-2493 or visit www.crowshootingsupply.com.

Article source: http://www.ammoland.com/2013/05/crow-shooting-supply-offers-full-line-of-lapua-brass-bullets-ammunition/

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NEW YORK
– A New York police official secretly recorded in a heated exchange with a subordinate over a performance evaluation testified Monday that he never punished his officers for failing to meet quotas and did not tell them to make race-based stops.

Deputy Inspector Christopher McCormack is at the center of one of the biggest issues in the federal civil rights challenge to the New York Police Department’s stop, question and frisk policy. His voice was heard in the courtroom weeks ago during Officer Pedro Serrano’s testimony telling Serrano that he should be stopping the right people, at the right time, in the right location.

Serrano said he interpreted the exchange to mean his bosses wanted him to stop only blacks and Hispanics, and they were angry with him for not making enough stops. He testified that he was docked vacation time, given poor performance evaluations and eventually transferred to a different precinct because he refused to adhere to illegal quotas.

But McCormack, who leads the 40th Precinct in the Bronx, testified Monday that “the right people” were people who fit the description of crime suspects, at a time when the crime was known to occur in a location where there was a spike. He said he was upset with Serrano’s performance — the officer had stopped two people in all of 2012, but more than 500,000 stops were made department-wide — because it seemed like he wasn’t being pro-active enough as a police officer. But he said he did not set illegal quotas and he did not punish Serrano.

“To stop two people, I just thought it was unfair to the public,” he said.

When City Law Department attorney Brenda Cooke asked McCormack whether he was telling Serrano specifically to stop only minorities, U.S. District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin would not let him answer, and said she would interpret the recording herself. McCormack said in general he doesn’t allow race-based stops. “No. Never,” he said.

McCormack accused Serrano of falsifying his monthly patrol records to reflect fewer days on patrol, so it would seem like his enforcement activity wasn’t as low. But Serrano’s performance evaluations said he had deep integrity, high morals and ethics and would make a good leader someday.

The class-action case is a bench trial and lawyers for men who have sued the city say the department unfairly targets minorities. There have been about 5 million street stops in the past decade, mostly of black and Hispanic men. About half of those people were frisked.

The lawsuit seeks major changes to how police use the tactic and requests a court-appointed monitor to oversee those changes.

Since the spotlight has increased on the tactic, and some departmental changes were made, the numbers have dropped. There were about 530,000 stops last year, up from a high of more than 685,000. And there were 51 percent fewer stops for the first three months of 2013 — about 99,000 down from 203,000 last year.

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Article source: http://www.startribune.com/nation/207288071.html

SCHAUMBURG, Ill., May 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ – Global Brass and Copper Holdings, Inc. (the “Company”) today announced the launch of its initial public offering in the United States of 9,375,000 shares of its common stock. The initial public offering price is currently expected to be between $15.00 and $17.00 per share of common stock. The shares have been approved for listing on the New York Stock Exchange and will trade under the ticker symbol “BRSS.”  The shares being offered are being sold by the Company’s sole stockholder, which is an affiliate of KPS Capital Partners, LP, and the Company will not receive any of the proceeds of the offering. In addition, the underwriters have the option to purchase from the selling stockholder up to an additional 1,406,000 shares of common stock, on the same terms and conditions.

Goldman, Sachs Co., Morgan Stanley, William Blair and KeyBanc Capital Markets will act as underwriters for the offering, with Goldman, Sachs Co. and Morgan Stanley acting as representatives for the underwriters. A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) but has not yet become effective. These securities may not be sold nor may offers to buy be accepted prior to the time that the registration statement becomes effective.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities described above, nor shall there be any sale of such shares of common stock in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. The offering of these securities will be made only by means of a prospectus, copies of which may be obtained from the offices of either:  Goldman, Sachs Co., Attention: Prospectus Department, 200 West Street, New York, NY 10282, Telephone: 1-866-471-2526, Facsimile: 1-212-902-9316 or by emailing prospectus-ny@ny.email.gs.com; or Morgan Stanley Co. LLC, Attention: Prospectus Department, 180 Varick Street, 2nd Floor, New York, New York 10014, Telephone: 1-866-718-1649, or by emailing prospectus@morganstanley.com.

About Global Brass and Copper

The Company is a leading, value-added converter, fabricator, distributor and processor of specialized copper and brass products in North America. It engages in metal melting and casting, rolling, drawing, extruding and stamping to fabricate finished and semi-finished alloy products from processed scrap, copper cathode and other refined metals. The Company’s products include a wide range of sheet, strip, foil, rod, tube and fabricated metal component products that it sells under the Olin Brass, Chase Brass and A.J. Oster brand names. The Company’s products are used in a variety of applications across diversified end markets, including the building and housing, munitions, automotive, transportation, coinage, electronics/electrical components, industrial machinery and equipment and general consumer end markets. It accesses these end markets through direct mill sales, its captive distribution network and third-party distributors.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” that involve risks and uncertainties. You can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as “believes”, “expects”, “projects”, “may”, “would”, “should”, “seeks”, “approximately”, “intends”, “plans”, “estimates”, “anticipates” or similar expressions that relate to the Company’s strategy, plans or intentions. All statements the Company makes relating to its estimated and projected earnings, margins, costs, expenditures, cash flows, growth rates and financial results or to expectations regarding future industry trends are forward-looking statements. In addition, the Company, through its senior management, from time to time make forward-looking public statements concerning expected future operations and performance and other developments. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may change at any time, and, therefore, the Company’s actual results may differ materially from those that the Company expected. The Company derives many of its forward-looking statements from its operating budgets and forecasts, which are based upon many detailed assumptions. While the Company believes that its assumptions are reasonable, it is very difficult to predict the impact of known factors, and, of course, it is impossible to anticipate all factors that could affect the Company’s actual results. These factors are discussed in the “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” sections and elsewhere in the Company’s registration statement on Form S-1 filed with the SEC. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based upon information available to the Company on the date of this press release.

In addition, the matters referred to in the forward-looking statements contained in this press release may not in fact occur. Accordingly, investors should not place undue reliance on those statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law.

Article source: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/global-brass-copper-holdings-inc-215200447.html

Global Brass Copper Holdings Inc., a Schaumburg-based distributor and processor of copper and brass products, is planning an initial public offering of nearly 9.4 million of its shares for $15 to $17 a share.

The company, whose chief investor is New York-based private equity firm KPS Capital Partners LP, is expected to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol BRSS. The shares are being sold by KPS.

• Maps

• 475 North Martingale Road, Schaumburg, IL 60173, USA

Global Brass’ brands include Olin, Chase and AJ Oster. The company, which had 2012 sales of $1.65 billion and earned $12.5 million, won’t receive any of the proceeds from the IPO.

Global Brass has more than 1,700 customers in 28 countries across five continents. It has about 1,900 workers and runs 11 plants and distribution centers in North America, including ones in East Alton and Carol Stream. It generates 94 percent of its sales in the United States, but has joint ventures in China and Japan and distribution agreements in Europe.

The U.S. Mint accounts for 16 percent of the sales of its Olin unit. Global Brass hopes that $1 bills will become less prevalent.

In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, it said it anticipates “a significant increase in the size of the coinage market if the U.S. transitions to the $1 coin and eliminates the dollar bill.”

It also believes that new regulations designed to reduce lead content in drinking-water plumbing provides an opportunity for growth, as its Chase business supplies lead-free and low-lead products.

The company’s risks include $400 million in debt.  Underwriters include Goldman Sachs Co., Morgan Stanley, Chicago-based William Blair and KeyBanc Capital Markets.

byerak@tribune.com | Twitter: @beckyyerak

Article source: http://chicagotribune.feedsportal.com/c/34253/f/622842/s/2bde95fe/l/0L0Schicagotribune0N0Cbusiness0Cbreaking0Cchi0Eglobal0Ebrass0Eipo0E20A130A5130H0A0H3870A1490Bstory0Dtrack0Frss/story01.htm

INSPIRATIONAL music teacher Tom Barlow was fondly remembered at a reunion of the youth brass band he founded,

Members of the Longton and Fenton Youth Brass Band reunited for a special concert at Longton Central Hall.

1. ​

   CONDUCTING: Tom Barlow’s granddaughter, Louise Lingard-Snape. Right, cornet player Isaac Moody. Pictures: Mark Scott

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It was an opportunity for old friends to meet and swap stories, as well as dusting off their old brass instruments and once again harmonising together.

It was also a chance to raise funds for the newly created Tom Barlow Foundation – a charity which will support local musicians.

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Organiser Christine Snape, aged 66, of Bentilee – Tom’s daughter – said: “Dad was an enthusiastic and skilled musician who enjoyed teaching and encouraging young people to play brass instruments.

“He started teaching part-time as a peripatetic teacher for Stoke-on-Trent Music Service in around 1966. After obtaining his teaching qualification, he worked full-time until he retired in 1988.

“He was instrumental in setting up the Stoke-on-Trent South Brass Band in the 1970s and was the band’s first conductor.

“He continued working as a supply teacher until his death in 1995.

“There has always been a feeling in the family that there should be some sort of lasting memorial to dad and his love of music, and his particular enjoyment of encouraging young people to play.”

It was Tom’s granddaughter Louise Lingard-Snape who suggested an annual fund-raising concert.

Louise was principal cornet player with Stoke-on-Trent South Brass Band and was an army musician for 12-years after joining the Royal Logistics Corps in 1987.

Louise, who was born in Fenton and grew up in Hanley, but now lives in Barnsley, is now bandmaster of the Yorkshire Band of the Royal British Legion.

Her ex-military band performed the first half of Saturday night’s concert, before former youth brass band members took over after the interval.

Louise, aged 45, said: “Tom was patient, really committed and a fun guy. He was inspirational. Lots of us served in the forces and continued throughout the brass band world. If you get a teacher like that it inspires you to do well.

“I don’t think I was ever pushed. I was given a cornet at the age of five or six. He was a fantastic teacher and very modest, with no ego.

“I got to the age of 13 and I thought I didn’t want to carry on. He said, ‘that’s fine, but it will be your loss’. That was his stock phrase. I decided to stick with it.

“He inspired me to carry on and do as well as I could.”

Tom, of Weston Coyney, was aged 75 when he died. His wife Eleanor is now 89 and was a guest of honour at Saturday’s concert, which saw a lively mix of popular music, marches and audience favourites belted out by the two brass bands.

The Tom Barlow Foundation will continue to fundraise, to help a new generation of brass band musicians.

Louise added: “It has been suggested we set up an award in Tom’s name to support musicians. For example if you study brass band music at diploma level, the costs are £400 or £500. Maybe we could cover that.”

Article source: http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/Band-tune-tribute-Tom/story-18970645-detail/story.html

Global Brass and Copper Holdings, a fabricator and distributor
of copper and brass products used in housing, transportation, and
coinage, announced terms for its IPO on Monday. The Schaumburg,
IL-based company plans to raise $150 million by offering 9.4
million shares at a price range of $15 to $17. At the midpoint of
the proposed range, Global Brass and Copper would command a fully
diluted market value of $338 million.

Global Brass and Copper Holdings, which was founded in 2007 and
booked $1.7 billion in sales for the 12 months ended 3/31/2013,
plans to list on the NYSE under the symbol BRSS. Goldman Sachs
and Morgan Stanley are the joint bookrunners on the deal.

Article source: http://www.nasdaq.com/article/global-brass-and-copper-sets-terms-for-150-million-ipo-cm245532

HELENA – Newly-proposed national gun control laws are triggering gun owners to stock up on guns and ammo, but as some are finding out, supply isn’t meeting the demand, including in Helena.

Congress is now considering proposals that would require background checks for almost all sales and may include a ban on assault weapons or high capacity magazines for automatic weapons.

The fear of infringing on the 2nd Amendment right to bear arms has created a race to local gun shops.

“You know the demand is high and the supply is low. People are just worried that if some of these laws pass they won’t be able to get some of these firearms,” said Capital Sports co-owner David Tobel.

While some people are looking to buy weapons before the new regulations might take affect, others are simply looking to find something to put in them.

Ammo has been flying off the shelves faster than the store owners can stock them, so some retailers has imposed a limit.

“We limit customers to what they can buy, we like to try to give everyone a chance,” said Tobel.

Not only that, but the price of some ammo has more than doubled.

The most popular weapons being purchased these days are semi-automatic handguns and rifles; “Mainly the military style rifles and the handguns are extremely, extremely popular,” explained Tobel.

Because of the shortage of ammunition, many people have been reloading their own brass, but even those supplies are dwindling and simply unavailable in some cases.

“We’re looking for bullets for reloading and same thing that’s been going on for several months, can’t find anything. We’ve been checking in other states and and it’s the same thing everywhere,” said customer Brendan McCormack.

While the debate continues in the nation’s capital, it appears that people in Montana and other states are fearing the worst.

Article source: http://www.krtv.com/news/helena-feelings-effects-of-ammo-shortage/

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WASHINGTON — Generals say the darndest things.

Especially when it comes to issues of gender and sexual assault.

Witness the comments of Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh at a hearing last week before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Questioned about the increasing number of sexual assault cases in the military, Welsh deftly shifted the blame elsewhere. At society in general. Even worse — although I would grant that he did not consciously intend it this way — at the victims.

Listen to Welsh in his own words, quoted at length to provide the full context:

“It’s a big problem for our nation. It may be as big or bigger elsewhere. . . . Roughly 20 percent of the young women who come into the Department of Defense and the Air Force report that they were sexually assaulted in some way before they came into the military. So they come in from a society where this occurs. Some of it is the hook-up mentality of junior high, even, and high school students now. . . . The same demographic group moves into the military.

“We have got to change the culture once they arrive. The way they behave, the way they treat each other cannot be outside the bounds of what we consider inclusive and respectful.”

The hook-up mentality? Talk about not getting it. General, the hook-up culture is lamentable but consensual. Sexual assault is, by definition, not consensual.

So please explain, exactly, how one leads to the other. Indeed, please explain, exactly, how pinning the increase in sexual assaults on a willingness to engage in casual sex is not classic blame-the-slutty-victim thinking, dressed up in 21st century lingo. She hooked up, so she asked for it? She was already a victim when she enlisted?

“It’s beyond belief that those statements were just uttered,” New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat, told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell. “This is a violent act; this is not a date gone badly.”

Welsh’s comments got lost in the bigger news about the Air Force officer in charge of sexual assault prevention programs being arrested for sexual assault, and an explosion in the estimated number of service members who were targets of “unwanted sexual contact,” up 35 percent from two years ago.

But they are worth highlighting because they illustrate the military’s continuing difficulty in dealing with the problem of sexual assault in its ranks. Welsh seems earnest enough — he spoke with passion at the hearing about how the military could lead the way in addressing such crimes, and hosted a screening of “The Invisible War,” the documentary on sexual assault in the military, for commanders last year. Yet he seemed clueless about how his comments could be perceived.

Just hours after Welsh’s remarks, President Barack Obama was assuring military victims of sexual assault, “I’ve got their backs. I will support them.” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel was decrying sexual assault as “one of the most serious challenges facing this department,” adding that the military “may be nearing a stage where the frequency of this crime and the perception that there is tolerance of it could very well undermine our ability to effectively carry out the mission and to recruit and retain the good people we need.”

And so, the secretary continued, “All of our leaders at every level in this institution will be held accountable for preventing and responding to sexual assault in their ranks and under their commands.”

Accountability, great. And yet, not a peep from the secretary’s office or the White House about Welsh’s remarks. Does the secretary, does the president, believe that hook-up culture is to blame?

Welsh’s broader point, about the military versus the culture at large, is similarly misplaced. The military has a particularly egregious set of problems — in the frequency of assaults, in victims’ fear of coming forward, and in the track record of how abuse complaints are handled.

The Defense Department’s own study found that, of the estimated 26,000 assaults last year, only 3,374 complaints were filed, in large part due to fears about the consequences of coming forward. And those fears were justified: In the survey just released, nearly two-thirds of those filing complaints reported suffering retaliation, either professionally or socially.

“That’s a huge barrier for reporting,” said Maj. Gen. Gary Patton, director of the Pentagon’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office.

Something needs to change — starting with attitudes, and understanding, at the top.

Contact Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post Writers Group at ruthmarcus@washpost.com.

Article source: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2013/may/12/ruth-marcus-the-brass-just-dont-get-it/?partner=yahoo_feeds

More than a dozen community members turned out for the Great American Brass Band Festival steering committee’s public forum Thursday evening at the Boyle County Public Library.

GABBF Executive Director Niki Kinkade talked about the importance of volunteerism and community to the festival. Also on hand was Ronald Holz, professor of music literature and instrumental music at Asbury University, who serves as a consultant, particularly on programming, for the GABBF.

“It’s amazing how the community comes together. We’re very happy to have this community helping us along,” Kinkade said.

She outlined the events for the 2013 festival — including the return of Bayou and Brass, and the Grand Finale, both of which were new to the festival in 2012 — as well as a few changes this years, such as the revamped food market. Kinkade also mentioned a few works in progress for future festivals: an expanded children’s area and working more closely with the Kentucky Music Educators Association to put in place an activity or activities geared toward school-aged children.

A few of the participants had questions for the steering committee. One focused on the military band’s dropping out of the festival due to budget cuts. Holz said the cost of bringing in quality musicians is rising, and it’s hard to mesh the talent base with a constrained budget. The military bands attend the festival with little or no cost to the festival, so their loss is significant.

Holz noted the band wants to return to the festival. It has requested impact statements it can take to the budget-makers to show the band’s importance to the GABBF.

Liz Orndorff mentioned early festivals had a surprise element, such as an 1890s baseball team or an elephant, and wondered what happened to that addition.

Committee member John Albright indicated those surprises often were last-minute choices made by festival co-founder George Foreman, calling them the “George Foreman effect.” He added the committee started focusing more on the bands and less on surprises.

Other concerns and questions presented to the GABBF steering committee included:

n A concern that fewer bands are participating in the parade, which one attendee considered to be as important as the bands’ concerts. Holz said the bands were requesting more money than the festival could afford — significantly more — and there were scheduling conflicts, as well. Holz added many bands are not “parade-oriented.”

The lack of a Civil War band at last year’s festival also was noted. Kinkade echoed what Holz said — that the increase those bands wanted was significant and wasn’t feasible with the festival’s budget of about $180,000.

n Holz also talked about the impact of the Great American Brass Band Festival outside the local community. He said in the past 24 years, many different countries have been represented at the GABBF. Today, the GABBF is recognized as the premier festival of its kind in the United States. “We’re the granddaddy of it (in America),” Holz noted.

He added the festival is besieged by requests from bands to perform at the festival. “Wherever I travel, I am asked about the festival. … You’re on the map,” Holz said.

n Steve Knight said young musicians were under-represented at the festival, adding an outreach component to the festival would be an asset “because it’s such a wonderful thing.”

Holz said high school bands from throughout the state have been invited for many years. A significant problem is the festival is in June and most schools have been dismissed for the summer. “The bands scatter after school is out,” he noted. Kinkade and he both explained educational programs associated with the festival have been discussed for years, and the realization of those discussions is on the horizon.

n Bill Baas said he was concerned the festival was going to eliminate the British-style brass band that is prominent in the GABBF. Baas cited an April article in The Advocate-Messenger that, to him, indicated the committee was moving in that direction. Kinkade and several other members of the committee assured Baas they have no intention of getting rid of the British-style brass bands.

Also mentioned at the meeting:

• The Little Red Wagon contest is undergoing a name change to Wagons and Wheels.
• Kinkade said a good portion of the money the festival raises comes back into the community. She cited as examples payments to the Advocate Brass Band, The 10th Planet and City Art signs.
• The Community Arts Center is creating a GABBF-related, temporary mural on the Gilcher Building. Work on it begins at 10 a.m. Monday.
• Kinkade said she will do an economic survey about the festival in the next few years.
• The steering committee wants to expand the festival’s presence in the community. The Advocate Brass Band will perform at McDowell Place this year as part of the festival, Kinkade said.

“Next year, we’re looking at getting a band into Batewood Park,” she noted, adding they’re also looking at streaming (online) parts of the festival next year.”

Members of the steering committee at the meeting included president Martha King, David Maynard, Bill Pollom, Jerry Boyd, John Albright, Tom Tye, Jennifer Kirchner, Myrna Miller, Pat Liebschutz and Jim Rankin.

Article source: http://www.centralkynews.com/amnews/news/local/amn-great-american-brass-band-festival-steering-committee-fields-questions-at-public-forum-20130510,0,5089620.story

A week after a powerful new federal court overseer of Oakland police issued a scathing report about the department’s executive leadership, Oakland Mayor Jean Quan and City Administrator Deanna Santana replaced virtually all of those commanders.

The overhaul Friday included a demotion to captain of the acting chief, Anthony Toribio, who had held the position for just two days after Police Chief Howard Jordan shocked city leadership when he stepped down, citing health problems.

Sean Whent, a 17-year department veteran, was named the new acting chief as the city prepares to conduct a national search for a new chief. Whent has been a deputy chief overseeing internal affairs, risk management and personnel assessment – areas at the center of the decade-old court order on police misconduct the court overseer is trying to enforce.

Along with Whent being elevated, three new deputy chiefs with experience in internal affairs were named – meaning that only one of the five top people in the department a week ago remain in their position.

Meeting with consultants

Quan and Santana said they made their decisions after meeting Wednesday afternoon with Thomas Frazier, the federal court-appointed compliance director who began overseeing the department in March, and Robert Warshaw, the long-standing court-appointed monitor.

In a report released last week, Frazier repeatedly faulted Police Department executive leaders for various problems, particularly their failure to hold themselves or their subordinates accountable for misconduct.

It was unclear whether the staffing changes were suggested or ordered by Frazier – Quan and Santana refused to discuss those details.

51 reforms

Frazier has broad powers to bring the department into compliance with 51 reforms listed in a 2003 court settlement stemming from the police abuse case of a group of rogue officers known as “the Riders.”

Under an agreement between the city and plaintiffs’ attorneys, Frazier was given the power to seek the firing of the police chief and demotions of others in the department. Both Quan and Santana refused to answer whether Frazier wanted Jordan’s removal.

In a letter to the rank and file on Wednesday, Jordan said he was departing because of a medical condition, which he did not specify.

“I take Howard at his word,” said Quan. “I think he loved his job. He loved this city.”

Plaintiffs’ attorneys who negotiated the 2003 settlement said the command staff overhaul was essential.

Federal court oversight began in 2003 and was expected to last only a few years. But the city has been unable to comply fully with the reforms, and the compliance director was appointed to get that job done.

“The people of Oakland have a right to see this come to an end with the department in compliance,” said Jim Chanin, an Oakland resident and one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys in the case. “If these changes can make that happen, then I am all for them. Something has to be done to get us into compliance.”

John Burris, an Oakland resident who is the other plaintiffs’ attorney involved in the case, said Frazier’s report last week made it clear change is needed.

“Because of his criticism of the command staff, it only stood to reason that there were going to be changes,” Burris said.

Frazier has already said he is reopening closed internal affairs investigations. He did not specify the cases, though there have been a number of high-profile shootings by police in recent years, and allegations that unnecessary force was used during Occupy protests.

“There should be no comfort level here for officers in terms of what they thought they could get away with in the past,” Burris said. “This is a new day.”

Problems detailed

In addition to Frazier’s report last week, a police consultant group hired by the city issued its report this week that revealed problems with the Police Department’s investigation – or lack thereof – of crime.

The team, led by former New York Police Commissioner William Bratton, reported that:

– An investigation team assigned to all of the city’s 4,100 robberies last year had one lieutenant, a sergeant and eight investigators. But they only worked day shifts on weekdays – limiting their ability to respond to many crimes.

– There is only one investigator assigned to cover non-gun assaults.

– There was only one part-time investigator assigned to handle 13,000 burglaries in 2012.

– Even though evidence technicians working burglaries have found fingerprint matches on half of prints taken from scenes, more than 200 good prints were never even entered into a database.

The Bratton consultants are suggesting a significant restructuring that would create investigative teams in five police districts.

Turmoil in the Oakland Police Department

July 2000

Rookie officer Keith Batt, 23, files a report with Internal Affairs that alleges four West Oakland officers who go by the nickname “the Riders” beat suspects, plant evidence and lie on police reports.

November 2000

Alameda County prosecutors file criminal charges against the four officers, one of whom goes on the run.

December 2000

A federal lawsuit is filed by 119 plaintiffs claiming the Riders violated their civil rights from 1996 to 2000.

January 2003

City attorneys sign the Negotiated Settlement Agreement to resolve the federal lawsuit, pay plaintiffs $11 million and agree to complete 51 court-ordered reforms within five years.

September 2003

A jury acquits three Riders officers of eight charges and deadlocks on 27 others. The judge declares a mistrial.

June 2005

A second jury fails to convict the officers, and a judge dismisses all charges.

January 2007

U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson extends the deadline after finding that OPD has not fully complied with the 51 reforms.

July 2009

Henderson extends the deadline a second time.

January 2012

Henderson extends the deadline a third time. He also orders the department to seek approval of all major policing initiatives from independent monitor Robert Warshaw.

June 2012

Thomas Frazier, a consultant hired by the city to look into the handling of the Occupy Oakland protests, rips the department for its “flawed response” based on “years of diminishing resources, increasing workload and failure to keep pace with national current standards and preferred practices.”

December 2012

Plaintiffs attorneys and the city agree to create a “compliance director” position to ensure that Oakland will comply with all 51 reforms by 2014. The director will have tremendous power, including the ability to seek the firing of the police chief.

January 22

Responding to rising crime, the Oakland City Council hires former New York police Commissioner William Bratton to develop a crime suppression plan.

March 5

Henderson appoints Frazier to the position of compliance director, giving Frazier unprecedented authority.

May 3

Frazier calls for sweeping changes, including spending $1.8 million on training and equipment. He describes a department leadership that fails to supervise officers properly and discipline them when they break rules.

May 8

Police Chief Howard Jordan abruptly retires. Assistant Chief Anthony Toribio becomes acting chief.

May 9

Bratton’s crime suppression plan reveals problems with the internal structure of the department, including that only one part-time investigator was assigned to handle 13,000 burglaries in 2012.

May 10

Toribio voluntarily steps down and is demoted to captain. Deputy Chief Sean Whent is named interim police chief.

- Compiled by Justin Berton, Chronicle staff writer

Matthai Kuruvila is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: mkuruvila@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @matthai

Article source: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Oakland-police-brass-in-major-shakeup-4506142.php

Passengers at Salt Lake City International Airport failed to get brass knuckles and martial arts weapons on board airliners this week.

Since last Saturday, Transportation Security Administration officers have discovered two brass knuckles, two Kubotans (a short, pointed weapon attached to a key ring) and a wooden Bo staff in five passengers’ carry-on bags at the security checkpoint.

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The two male passengers who tried to bring the brass knuckles on board — one last Saturday and another on Thursday — were interviewed by the airport police and cited, according to a TSA news release.

“There is no indication that the discovery of these items is linked to anything other than passengers not knowing what is in their carry-on baggage,” the release adds.

The TSA wants to remind passengers to be aware of the contents of their carry-on bag before they reach the security checkpoint. For more information on which items are prohibited, visit tsa.gov/traveler-information/prohibited-items.

mmcfall@sltrib.com

Twitter: @mikeypanda

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Article source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/56293457-78/passengers-tsa-brass-items.html.csp

Top military brass from around the world will gather in Singapore next week for the International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference.

• PHOTOS

SINGAPORE: Top military brass from around the world will gather in Singapore next week for the International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference (IMDEX).

Thirty navy chiefs, coast guard directors-general and maritime agency heads will take part in the biennial event.

A myriad of ships and defence hardware will be on display.

Over 350 delegates are also expected to discuss security issues at conferences.

This year’s event will be held from May 14 to 16 at the Changi Exhibition Centre. 

- CNA/ms

Article source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/top-military-brass-to-gather-in-s-pore-f/670604.html

Cockerton Prize Silver Band appeal for members

12:37pm Friday 10th May 2013 in News

By Joanna Morris

A BRASS band is recruiting for new members.

The Cockerton Prize Silver band, who recently reached the First Section of the British Brass Band Championships, is searching for Eb and BBb bass players.

The band rehearse on Wednesdays and Sundays from 7.30pm to 9.30pm and undertake a varied programme throughout the year.

Anyone interested in joining the band should call 07500 866535.

The band will perform at Holy Trinity Church on Woodland Road in Darlington on Sunday, May 12 from 7.30pm.

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Article source: http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/10412506.Brass_band_appeal_for_members/?ref=rss

Saturday. Introduce a youngster to the joys of music at “Tiny Tots Love Music,” presented by the Denver Brass. The last “Tiny Tots” of the season is a program geared toward the littlest music fans—expect lots of wiggling, clapping and dancing with the Denver Brass5 ensemble. The focus of the show is “Animals,” including tunes like “Carnival of the Animals” and the “Pink Panther” theme. Can’t make it on Saturday? Hang in there — a new “Tiny Tots” season will begin in fall 2013. 10:30 a.m. Saturday. Wellshire Presbyterian Church, 2999 S. Colorado Blvd.; 303-758-2233. Tickets are $8 for adults, $5 for children. 303-832-4676 or denverbrass.org. Kathleen St. John

Article source: http://www.denverpost.com/entertainment/ci_23201391/music-denver-brass-tunes-animal-loving-tiny-tots?source=rss

FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT: I don’t know who this Josh Flock fella is. I’m sure he’s a stand up dude. But his recent proposition to get rid of the Blue-White game for a few years is something I will NOT stand for. Does he make a logical case, mostly centering around “hey let’s not have anyone get hurt?” Of course he does. But this is the internet, AND WE DO NOT DO THINGS RATIONALLY (especially when it’s an Olivia Wilde v. Olivia Munn debate).

THE NEW STYLE: PSU Hockey’s conference schedule has been released. A brief internet search shows that three teams PSU plays (Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan) were all ranked at the end of last season. Oh, and their last home game is against Ohio State. I don’t even like hockey and I’m getting excited.

GIRLS: Maggie Lucas and Candace Agee have been invited to Team USA basketball tryouts for the upcoming World University Games. Some very attractive person wrote about it for Onward State. You can find it here.

DON’T PLAY NO GAME THAT I CAN’T WIN: rugbyrowe requested someone mention this in last week’s Pickin’ Nits, and since I’m a man of my word from time to time, here it is — Women’s Rugby messed around and won a national title last week. It was their eighth title and their fourth in five years. Also, on the topic of national titles, a friendly reminder that Matt Barkley got drafted in the 4th round of the NFL draft because he wanted to return to school to win a national title.

POW: David Taylor is a modern day Rocky Balboa (the main differences are Taylor speaks fluid English and his biggest rival has never tweeted at me about Burger King before). Taylor has been selected to wrestle against Russia at the Rumble on the Rails at Grand Central Station. The last major wrestling event in the greater New York area featured Chris Jericho losing to a no-name guy with a kick-ass entrance song. So hopefully this goes a bit better.

PROFESSOR BOOTY: Are you or anyone you know an “outstanding professional journalist” who wouldn’t mind living in Happy Valley for the next five years? Well, tell them they should look into being the new Knight Chair in Sports Journalism and Society for PSU’s College of Communications! As someone who will be a member of this soon, my wish list is Scott Van Pelt first, Robin Roberts second, Wright Thompson third, Uncle Ron second to last, Rovell last and Skip Bayless somewhere in the deepest layer of hell.

HERE’S A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR YA: Joe Jurevicius is awesome and nobody will despite that fact. So let’s catch up with him, shall we? JJ is currently opening up a series of laundromats in low-income areas of Cleveland. So not only is Jerevicius being an awesome guy, but he’s also doing everything possible to get into the next Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Video.

THE MELEE: Penn State is the best school in the country at partying and being sexy…PSU has rekindled its romance with Adidas…WOAAAAAAH WOAH WOAH WOAH WOAH WOOOOOAAAAH WOOOOAAAAAAH…My buddy Devin wants me to shamelessly promote this for him…Your Curley/Schultz trial update can be found here…Student Bird Scientist, sounds cool, right?…#fail…When Zach Lowe writes NBA stuff, you should read it…Matt Kemp is awesome…Bacon helped this woman live to be 105…Shaq vs. Jose Canseco (with a cameo by the Iron Sheik) is the best f’ing thing ever.

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Article source: http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/sbnation/penn_state/SBNation_20130509_Success_With_Hyperlinking__Brass_Monkey_Style.html

FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT: I don’t know who this Josh Flock fella is. I’m sure he’s a stand up dude. But his recent proposition to get rid of the Blue-White game for a few years is something I will NOT stand for. Does he make a logical case, mostly centering around “hey let’s not have anyone get hurt?” Of course he does. But this is the internet, AND WE DO NOT DO THINGS RATIONALLY (especially when it’s an Olivia Wilde v. Olivia Munn debate).

THE NEW STYLE: PSU Hockey’s conference schedule has been released. A brief internet search shows that three teams PSU plays (Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan) were all ranked at the end of last season. Oh, and their last home game is against Ohio State. I don’t even like hockey and I’m getting excited.

GIRLS: Maggie Lucas and Candace Agee have been invited to Team USA basketball tryouts for the upcoming World University Games. Some very attractive person wrote about it for Onward State. You can find it here.

DON’T PLAY NO GAME THAT I CAN’T WIN: rugbyrowe requested someone mention this in last week’s Pickin’ Nits, and since I’m a man of my word from time to time, here it is — Women’s Rugby messed around and won a national title last week. It was their eighth title and their fourth in five years. Also, on the topic of national titles, a friendly reminder that Matt Barkley got drafted in the 4th round of the NFL draft because he wanted to return to school to win a national title.

POW: David Taylor is a modern day Rocky Balboa (the main differences are Taylor speaks fluid English and his biggest rival has never tweeted at me about Burger King before). Taylor has been selected to wrestle against Russia at the Rumble on the Rails at Grand Central Station. The last major wrestling event in the greater New York area featured Chris Jericho losing to a no-name guy with a kick-ass entrance song. So hopefully this goes a bit better.

PROFESSOR BOOTY: Are you or anyone you know an “outstanding professional journalist” who wouldn’t mind living in Happy Valley for the next five years? Well, tell them they should look into being the new Knight Chair in Sports Journalism and Society for PSU’s College of Communications! As someone who will be a member of this soon, my wish list is Scott Van Pelt first, Robin Roberts second, Wright Thompson third, Uncle Ron second to last, Rovell last and Skip Bayless somewhere in the deepest layer of hell.

HERE’S A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR YA: Joe Jurevicius is awesome and nobody will despite that fact. So let’s catch up with him, shall we? JJ is currently opening up a series of laundromats in low-income areas of Cleveland. So not only is Jerevicius being an awesome guy, but he’s also doing everything possible to get into the next Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Video.

THE MELEE: Penn State is the best school in the country at partying and being sexy…PSU has rekindled its romance with Adidas…WOAAAAAAH WOAH WOAH WOAH WOAH WOOOOOAAAAH WOOOOAAAAAAH…My buddy Devin wants me to shamelessly promote this for him…Your Curley/Schultz trial update can be found here…Student Bird Scientist, sounds cool, right?…#fail…When Zach Lowe writes NBA stuff, you should read it…Matt Kemp is awesome…Bacon helped this woman live to be 105…Shaq vs. Jose Canseco (with a cameo by the Iron Sheik) is the best f’ing thing ever.

Follow @BSDtweet on Twitter
And join us on Facebook
All BSD community members should review our current Posting Commenting Policies before creating any posts or commenting.

Article source: http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/sbnation/penn_state/SBNation_20130509_Success_With_Hyperlinking__Brass_Monkey_Style.html

A company’s own top management tend to have the best inside view into the business, so when company officers make major buys, investors are wise to take notice. Presumably the only reason an insider would take their hard-earned cash and use it to buy stock of their company in the open market, is that they expect to make money — maybe they find the stock very undervalued, or maybe they see exciting progress within the company, or maybe both. So in this series we look at the largest insider buys by the ”top brass” over the trailing six month period, one of which was a total of $224K by Stacy Locke, CEO at Pioneer Energy Services Pioneer Energy Services Corp (NYSE: PES).

Click here to find out which other top insider buys by the ”top brass” you need to know about »

Locke bets big on PES:

Locke’s average cost works out to $6.72/share. Shares of Pioneer Energy Services Corp were changing hands at $7.69 at last check, trading up about 1.1% on Thursday. The chart below shows the one year performance of PES shares, versus its 200 day moving average:

Pioneer Energy Services Corp Chart” width=”450″ /

Looking at the chart above, PES’s low point in its 52 week range is $5.91 per share, with $9.91 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $7.69.

According to the ETF Finder at ETF Channel, PES makes up 2.37% of the Dynamic Oil Gas Services Portfolio ETF (AMEX: PXJ)which is trading lower by about 0.7% on the day Thursday.

See what other ETFs contain PES »
See what other stocks are held by PXJ »

Special Offer: Establish a secure stream of income during your retirement years by following the Retiree Income Portfolio with this free 30 day trial

Article source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/dividendchannel/2013/05/09/top-buys-by-top-brass-ceo-lockes-224k-bet-on-pes/

A company’s own top management tend to have the best inside view into the business, so when company officers make major buys, investors are wise to take notice. Presumably the only reason an insider would take their hard-earned cash and use it to buy stock of their company in the open market, is that they expect to make money — maybe they find the stock very undervalued, or maybe they see exciting progress within the company, or maybe both. So in this series we look at the largest insider buys by the ”top brass” over the trailing six month period, one of which was a total of $224K by Stacy Locke, CEO at Pioneer Energy Services Pioneer Energy Services Corp (NYSE: PES).

Click here to find out which other top insider buys by the ”top brass” you need to know about »

Locke bets big on PES:

Locke’s average cost works out to $6.72/share. Shares of Pioneer Energy Services Corp were changing hands at $7.69 at last check, trading up about 1.1% on Thursday. The chart below shows the one year performance of PES shares, versus its 200 day moving average:

Pioneer Energy Services Corp Chart” width=”450″ /

Looking at the chart above, PES’s low point in its 52 week range is $5.91 per share, with $9.91 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $7.69.

According to the ETF Finder at ETF Channel, PES makes up 2.37% of the Dynamic Oil Gas Services Portfolio ETF (AMEX: PXJ)which is trading lower by about 0.7% on the day Thursday.

See what other ETFs contain PES »
See what other stocks are held by PXJ »

Special Offer: Establish a secure stream of income during your retirement years by following the Retiree Income Portfolio with this free 30 day trial

Article source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/dividendchannel/2013/05/09/top-buys-by-top-brass-ceo-lockes-224k-bet-on-pes/

A company’s own top management tend to have the best inside view into the business, so when company officers make major buys, investors are wise to take notice. Presumably the only reason an insider would take their hard-earned cash and use it to buy stock of their company in the open market, is that they expect to make money — maybe they find the stock very undervalued, or maybe they see exciting progress within the company, or maybe both. So in this series we look at the largest insider buys by the ”top brass” over the trailing six month period, one of which was a total of $108.9K by Thomas J. McInerney, CEO at Genworth Financial Genworth Financial, Inc. (NYSE: GNW).

Click here to find out which other top insider buys by the ”top brass” you need to know about »

McInerney bets big on GNW:

McInerney’s average cost works out to $10.89/share. In trading on Thursday, bargain hunters could buy shares of Genworth Financial, Inc. (NYSE: GNW) and achieve a cost basis lower than McInerney, with shares changing hands as low as $10.60 per share. Shares of Genworth Financial, Inc. were changing hands at $10.70 at last check, trading down about 0.1% on Thursday. The chart below shows the one year performance of GNW shares, versus its 200 day moving average:

Genworth Financial, Inc. Chart” width=”450″ /

Looking at the chart above, GNW’s low point in its 52 week range is $4.06 per share, with $11.02 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $10.70.

According to the ETF Finder at ETF Channel, GNW makes up 2.97% of the KBW Insurance Portfolio ETF (AMEX: KBWI)which is trading up by about 0.4% on the day Thursday.

See what other ETFs contain GNW »
See what other stocks are held by KBWI »

Special Offer: Find out how Dave Moenning is trading around the most recent insider transactions with a free 30 day trial and a special 20% off coupon from Forbes.

Article source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/dividendchannel/2013/05/09/top-buys-by-top-brass-ceo-mcinerneys-108-9k-bet-on-gnw/

A company’s own top management tend to have the best inside view into the business, so when company officers make major buys, investors are wise to take notice. Presumably the only reason an insider would take their hard-earned cash and use it to buy stock of their company in the open market, is that they expect to make money — maybe they find the stock very undervalued, or maybe they see exciting progress within the company, or maybe both. So in this series we look at the largest insider buys by the ”top brass” over the trailing six month period, one of which was a total of $108.9K by Thomas J. McInerney, CEO at Genworth Financial Genworth Financial, Inc. (NYSE: GNW).

Click here to find out which other top insider buys by the ”top brass” you need to know about »

McInerney bets big on GNW:

McInerney’s average cost works out to $10.89/share. In trading on Thursday, bargain hunters could buy shares of Genworth Financial, Inc. (NYSE: GNW) and achieve a cost basis lower than McInerney, with shares changing hands as low as $10.60 per share. Shares of Genworth Financial, Inc. were changing hands at $10.70 at last check, trading down about 0.1% on Thursday. The chart below shows the one year performance of GNW shares, versus its 200 day moving average:

Genworth Financial, Inc. Chart” width=”450″ /

Looking at the chart above, GNW’s low point in its 52 week range is $4.06 per share, with $11.02 as the 52 week high point — that compares with a last trade of $10.70.

According to the ETF Finder at ETF Channel, GNW makes up 2.97% of the KBW Insurance Portfolio ETF (AMEX: KBWI)which is trading up by about 0.4% on the day Thursday.

See what other ETFs contain GNW »
See what other stocks are held by KBWI »

Special Offer: Find out how Dave Moenning is trading around the most recent insider transactions with a free 30 day trial and a special 20% off coupon from Forbes.

Article source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/dividendchannel/2013/05/09/top-buys-by-top-brass-ceo-mcinerneys-108-9k-bet-on-gnw/

A Transportation Security Administration spokesperson tweeted a picture Wednesday morning of brass knuckles.

The weapon was found in a passenger’s carry-on bag at Sea-Tac Airport by a TSA agent on Tuesday, according to the tweet from @TSAmedia_Lorie.

For safety and security, the TSA prohibits certain items in carry-on and checked bags.

A list of items that are not allowed in carry-ons and checked bags is available at tsa.gov.

According to the list, brass knuckles, as well as billy clubs, nunchucks and throwing stars, are prohibited in carry-ons but allowed in checked bags.

Dynamite, hand grenades and fireworks, however, are not permitted in either carry-ons or checked bags.

Article source: http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/tsa-confiscates-brass-knuckles-passengers-carry-se/nXkjr/

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Article source: http://www.deccanherald.com/content/331279/bjp-brass-admit-bsy-exit.html

Toews to lead brass concert

McPherson Community Brass Choir, directed by Jerry Toews of Goessel, will perform 4 p.m. Mother’s Day, at the McPherson Church of the Brethren.

The concert will feature two guest soloists, world-renowned euphonium player Timothy Shade and organist Steven Gustafson.

Shade is the director of the wind ensemble and orchestra at Bethel College in North Newton.

Gustafson has held music positions at McPherson College and is currently the director for planned giving for the college.

The brass choir, which formed in 1973, is the longest active McPherson musical organization. Members come from a variety of backgrounds and all have a passion for playing brass instruments.

Many have full time careers outside of the music profession and play with the choir as a way to continue having fun with music.

The McPherson Church of the Brethren is located at 200 N. Carrie Street in McPherson. There is no charge for admission.

Toews formerly instructed band and choir at Goessel High School.

Article source: http://www.starj.com/direct/toews_to_lead_brass_concert+4433brass+546f65777320746f206c65616420627261737320636f6e63657274

Fire owner Andrew Hauptman and top executive Javier Leon met with Robbie Rogers on Tuesday in Los Angeles as part of an effort to convince him to play in Chicago.

Rogers confirmed the meeting on Twitter.

“Great meeting with the owner and president of Chicago today,” Rogers tweeted at around 6:15 p.m. Tuesday. “Genuine and amazing people.”

The Fire also confirmed the meeting but did not specify when or where it took place or if there was any change in Rogers’ previously stated preference not to play in Chicago.

Rogers formerly played for the Columbus Crew and for the for the U.S. National Team.

The Fire acquired rights to his services in a February trade that sent Dominic Oduro to Columbus. He is not currently under contract with Major League Soccer, a prerequisite for resuming his MLS career.

Shortly after the deal, Rogers announced he was gay and retired from soccer. He softened his stance last week, working out with the Los Angeles Galaxy and expressed interest in playing again.

Earlier Tuesday, Fire coach Frank Klopas again said that he wanted Rogers to play for the Fire. But if Rogers would not play in Chicago, Klopas said he wanted some “value” in exchange for trading Rogers rights to the Galaxy or any other Major League Soccer team.

Article source: http://chicagotribune.feedsportal.com/c/34253/f/622872/s/2ba2d077/l/0L0Schicagotribune0N0Csports0Cbreaking0Cchi0Efire0Erogers0Emeeting0E20A130A50A70H0A0H43565370Bstory0Dtrack0Frss/story01.htm

The Chatham Brass, an ensemble of the Chatham Community Band, will perform during Millburn’s Girls’ Night Out on Thursday, May 9, from 6 to 8 p.m., on Millburn Avenue.

The Chatham Brass (Quintet) has performed at area nursing homes, Runnells Hospital, Sage Eldercare and other retirement facilities. The ‘brass’ has participated in church services in Chatham Borough, Green Village, Essex Fells, Short Hills, Little Falls, at the 2012 Chatham Borough Farmers’ Market, and at the Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms’ Family Day in Parsippany.

During the summer of 2011, the Chatham Brass performed its “Senior Friendly Live Music for the Friendly Seniors” at Boonton’s Victoria Mews Assisted Living. The Chatham Brass also performed in Boonton this past Friday for Music on Main.

Article source: http://www.northjersey.com/arts_entertainment/music/206488351_Chatham_Brass_performs_at_Girls_Night_Out.html

Kind of a scary thought, isn’t it?

The Angels could very well have built themselves a $150 million cellar door. And there’s some players on this team that, being the shiny brass hinges of the door, are locked in. Others are rough-and-tumble youngsters trying to bust the door down. They stay too. There are, I believe, ten non-rookie players that are to be deemed untouchable in any fire sale, for those two reasons. They are:

Albert Pujols

Mike Trout

Mark Trumbo

Josh Hamilton

Jered Weaver

C.J. Wilson

Ernesto Frieri

Peter Bourjos

Erick Aybar

Sean Burnett

Some of those players are locked in due to no-trade clauses and/or expensive contracts. Others are untouchable due to the young presence and fire they bring. There’s two starting pitchers, two relievers, our entire starting outfield, both of our first basemen and our starting shortstop. Around these ten, we rebuild Castillo de Moreno, and we rebuild it strong and new.

The first step to this, I believe, will be firing the ENTIRE coaching staff. Well, maybe not the entire staff. Tom Gregorio and Dino Ebel can stay. Ideally speaking, though, the coaching staff would be rebuilt of Omar Vizquel as the manager, Darin Erstad as the hitting coach, Troy Percival as the pitching coach, Dino Ebel as the bench coach, Scot Shields as the bullpen coach, and then Tim Bogar and Tim Salmon manning first and third bases. Vizquel and Erstad could, however, be interchangeable.

Now, for the trades.

Our biggest attractions are going to be Howie Kendrick, Chris Iannetta, Alberto Callaspo, and any pitcher with more than two full years of service. Jason Vargas and Scott Downs will be stellar deadline rental pieces. Pitching-hungry teams will grovel and overpay, and Dipoto will jump all over it.

Focusing on those five mentioned names (plus a filler piece here and there as package deals), let’s see where it leads.

Howie Kendrick can be marketed as the cheap, cost-controlled alternative to Robinson Cano, minus some power in the bat. In a hitter-friendly environment (i.e. Colorado, New York, Philadelphia), you could probably count on Howie as a .300 hitter with 20+ HR per year. Even in a neutral environment, his offense could slightly increase (getting out of marine layer hell here in Anaheim).

To the right team, Howie can net us three prospects. This would be to a team starving for consistency at second base, with flashes of brilliance on occasion defensively. Most hitter-friendly teams are already set at second base, or have guys on the cusp of free agency that would still be upgrades if kept. However, neutral environments such as the Marlins, Twins and Orioles would love Howie’s relatively cheap cost.

I sense the Orioles, at this point, as the most likely of the three; Brian Roberts is injured all too often, and Ryan O’Flaherty isn’t exactly an offensive presence. Baltimore acquiring Kendrick would be a moderate boost to the lineup, and they could depend on a .280 average and decent pop out of him. We could EASILY get two prospects for him, MAYBE three. Assuming Dipoto pushes it whilst including a close-to-ready pitcher that we’ve not yet promoted, I see a trade where the Angels get a close-to-ready pitcher, plus two guys that can still develop in A-ball. Like so:

Orioles acquire 2B Howie Kendrick and RHP Matt Shoemaker in exchange for RHP Parker Bridwell, C Michael Ohlman and RHP Michael Belfiore.

Bridwell and Ohlman are in A-ball right now, and could both be MLB-ready come 2015. Belfiore is in AAA Norfolk right now, and is a possible candidate as a September callup this year. As for replacing Kendrick immediately, the Angels do have Brendan Harris for the short-term, until Andrew Romine can develop with the bat. Romine would likely man second base until Alex Yarbrough is major-league ready. Why not have Callaspo man second? Because…he’s next.

Alberto Callaspo is…a very unique third baseman. Therefore, he will command a unique trade market. Assuming he’s moved within the season, he’d have around one and a half years at a cheap and controlled rate. He’s not a power hitting corner guy, and he’s not even a speedy, Figgins 2009 type. He’s an OBP boost to any lineup, a relatively patient eye that, in the right environment, can even hit for average (see 2009 in Kansas City). A return to KC is never going to happen, however, with the Royals firmly committed to Mike Moustakas. Who would want Callaspo? Well, a team that will be in need of someone that won’t ring up triple-digits in strikeouts, and moreover, a team that has somewhere to put him. I’m thinking the Phillies, whose commitment to Michael Young ends in October. Young is still remarkably capable with the bat and will price himself right out of Philadelphia, who is likely waiting on Cody Asche, their top 3B prospect, to be MLB-ready, which will likely be about the same time as our Kaleb Cowart. Therefore, Callaspo makes a great one-year stopgap while Asche learns to improve upon his patience at the plate (his .330 OBP in AAA at the moment is not terrible, but translates to sub-.300 in the majors). They also have a young 3B prospect in Maikel Franco, who would be a backup should Asche not pan out.

Callaspo would probably net us one decent prospect, or two low prospects (like those received in the Vernon Wells trade). Being optimistic, I’d wonder if Philadelphia would be willing to part with right-handed pitching prospect Mitch Gueller. He’s likely to start in the GCL this season, as he was one of Philly’s top picks in 2012. Scouts love his fastball, which current sits consistently at 93. The concern is for whether or not he can build a secondary pitch. If he can, he has the potential to develop not just into a stellar pitcher, but likely one that could be good enough to replace C.J. Wilson as soon as his contract expires. Dipoto got a pitcher from them for free already; let’s see if one more favor isn’t out of reach.

Phillies acquire INF Alberto Callaspo in exchange for RHP Mitch Gueller.

Chris Iannetta’s current contract is one that Jerry Dipoto constructed very smartly. He didn’t short Iannetta any as far as money goes, but he also didn’t overpay; three years at $15.55 million is a light enough contract to be completely assumed in any trade with a team not based in Houston or Miami. Offensive-minded catching isn’t easy to come by; Iannetta, in the right environment, has 20-HR pop across a full season, and puts up respectable OBPs year in and year out. A team that seems to CONSTANTLY be looking for answers behind the plate, and also has a rich arsenal of talented minor league pitching, is Tampa Bay.

We haven’t done any major deal with Tampa Bay since the Kazmir massacre (save for the Geltz/DLR swap, which I’ll call a wash for the time being), and with a smarter GM in place, Dipoto would not let Iannetta go for less than every penny he’s worth. It’s likely he’d demand at least ONE top-20 prospect from Tampa Bay, and a likely candidate is RHP Jeff Ames. Already a three-pitch pitcher in A-ball, he possesses a sweet fastball alongside a slider and changeup that, with development, will become, at the very least, serviceable in the majors (serviceable being better than Joe Blanton). Iannetta would not be a Callaspo-type deal; Iannetta would likely net either another piece alongside Ames, of his caliber, or two other lower pieces. Parker Markel is another right-handed piece that could accompany Ames, similar in talent but with inconsistent control. Tossing in a low-level pitching piece–a halfway decent one, mind you–to venture to Florida with Iannetta will likely net us a third prospect. Throw in low-level prospect Spencer Edwards at shortstop, and we could have us a deal.

Rays acquire C Chris Iannetta and RHP Eric Cendejas in exchange for RHP Jeff Ames, RHP Parker Markel and SS Spencer Edwards.

Next on the list is Jason Vargas, who, if the Angels continue down the current road and DON’T do the fire sale, will probably still be dangled as a rental for a playoff contender anyway. That list of teams is likely longer than the ones aforementioned. But not that much larger–don’t expect a team like the Nationals, Reds or Tigers to jump on Vargas. Look to a team that has made marginal trade deals in past deadline moves–nothing to grab headlines, but something to at least help them out a bit. Or, also look at teams typically inactive at the deadline, be it by choice or by bad luck. I’m looking right now at the Pirates and Yankees. The Pirates, at the past two deadlines, have made deals that have not shown a particular risk being taken, not a giant leap of any kind that would scare division rivals. Case in point? Derrek Lee, Gaby Sanchez and Ryan Ludwick have been their past deadline acquisitions as buyers. Not bad players, by any means. These are guys, though, who weren’t exactly topping people’s wish lists in their deadline years. Lee and Ludwick both were rentals, showing that the Pirates, in the right season and with the right position, will go win-now. Vargas is going into a free-agency year–any team he goes to that subsequently makes the playoffs has a much better shot at signing him long-term. He will NOT be a cheap sign this offseason if he hits the open market. Likewise, he will not be a cheap trade.

Not many pitchers figure to be dangled at the deadline. I could predict a Doug Fister-like haul for the Angels, should Vargas be among the top three available starting pitchers come July. We can demand the moon and quite possibly get it. Fister, formerly Vargas’ Seattle cellmate teammate, went to Detroit in 2011 with reliever David Pauley (briefly an Angel thereafter) and netted four prospects. If Vargas is in the same situation, he and a reliever could easily get us three decent guys and a PTBNL (as was the exact case for Fister).

What team, though, is that desperate for pitching AND that desperate to win? Pittsburgh would surely LOVE to be in the playoffs after getting buttercupped in 2011 and 2012, but are they willing to part with four players to get a guy that may or may not help them get there, plus a tagalong bullpen piece? The Yankees certainly would love pitching help with their 5-man emergency room of a rotation, and prospects are no object with them, but can Dipoto call in another favor with them after the Wells miracle?

At this point, my money would be on neither of those teams, but rather the Mets. Vargas was very briefly a Met, but at that point in time, Omar Minaya was still the team’s general manager, and foolishly traded him to the Mariners in the J.J. Putz deal, choosing to give up on him after his brief time in Flushing was uninspiring. Vargas is a much different pitcher now, and could be a solid addition amongst the likes of Jonathon Niese, Dillon Gee and Matt Harvey. Should the Mets ride the stellar arm of Harvey towards a decent fight in the NL East, they could be in a buying position–and they definitely have the pieces to float a monstrously sweet deal.

Mets acquire LHP Jason Vargas and RHP Jarrett Grube in exchange for RHP Cory Mazzoni, C Kevin Plawecki, LHP Josh Edgin and a player to be named later.

Mazzoni could have the potential to become a mid-rotation starter for us within the next two seasons, with an above-average fastball with low-to-mid-90s zip, plus a late-breaking slider and an average-functioning splitter (which is his offspeed pitch of choice). Likewise, Kevin Plawecki could be an immediate Iannetta replacement, if we don’t have enough faith in the likes of Hank Conger or Jett Bandy. Edgin is already a bullpen piece with the Mets, though he frequents the shuttle back to Buffalo. He could wind up directly in our bullpen, or as MLB-ready depth in Salt Lake. The Mets, meanwhile get Vargas and Grube, a solid righty with Harvey-like stats for AA Arkansas, giving them help in the short-term and the long-term.

Finally, we come upon Scott Downs. Downs is another rental piece, whose potential trade I could base off of the Mike Adams deal…if I were that optimistic. Downs would probably only net us one prospect, but one young arm in the minors is better than none. Most teams are always hungry for veteran bullpen help, and one team that can’t get enough help in the bullpen, especially right now, is the Cardinals. Fans and reporters alike seem to be going insane with the repetitive use of Mitchell Boggs up in St. Louis. GM John Mozeliak would be fond of any help he could find. ANY help he could find. And we, in return, would probably get a rookie-ball arm that would toil in our system for a few years and maybe wind up in our bullpen. Basically, it’s like getting rid of Justin Speier, except with something in return other than peace of mind.

The Cardinals have SEVERAL nice minor league arms, though we wouldn’t be getting any of their top five pitching prospects without a little something sweeter. And if we already traded Kendrick, Iannetta, Callaspo and Vargas, no chance the Cardinals get anything other than Downs. A one-for-one here is certainly respectable. The Cards have a young gun in rookie-level Johnson City with one of the most fun last names EVER: Samuel Tuivailala. Drafted a shortstop, he converted to pitching after two hideous offensive years. After his move to the mound, he put up a K/9 rate of 15.9. His fastball touches 97 at the moment, and could possibly even gain velocity as he rises through the system. His curveball and changeup are good enough to get by, but would need definite work if he aims to be anything other than a one-trick bullpen pony. He’d have about 3-4 years of work to put in before winding up in Anaheim–this, of course, depending on our pitching depth at the time. If this is the only move the Angels make, he may be our closer in 2014, which is more an insult to ourselves than a compliment to him.

Cardinals acquire LHP Scott Downs in exchange for RHP Samuel Tuivailala.

With just these five players moved, let’s see the haul overall:

SEVEN right-handed pitchers, TWO catchers, ONE left-handed pitcher, ONE shortstop and ONE player to be named later.