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The Latvian conductor Mariss Jansons, of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra has quickly retracted a remark made to a Telegraph interviewer in which he said that women conductors ‘are not my cup of tea’. In a statement on Friday he said: ‘I come from a generation in which the conducting profession was almost exclusively reserved to men. Even today, many more men than women pursue conducting professionally. ‘But it was undiplomatic, unnecessary and counterproductive for me to point out that I’m not yet accustomed to seeing women on the conducting platform. ‘Every one of my female colleagues and every young...

TRENTON -- A tech company is choosing to relocate to Trenton over Wilmington, Delaware, after securing more than $17 million in state tax credits. The state Economic Development Authority on Thursday approved the Grow New Jersey tax credits for Maestro Technologies, a technology consulting and data management systems firm. Now headquartered in Edison, Maestro has a small office in Watchung and several employees who work remotely or at client sites across the country. CEO Kamal Bathla says the company wanted to centrally locate the staff into a new headquarters to better facilitate training, efficiency and product development. Maestro was deciding...

Nice song.

For those who know Phil, or simple like watching a maestro fluent with his instrument. I've seen Phil play for the past 38 years. God has blessed him with his talent and creativity. Here's a video my brother sent me of Phil doing an acoustic set for a small audience. Since the early '80's Phil has been using digital loopback but I just laugh at the fluency and creativity he has. Enjoy!

Archaeologists have unearthed the remains of a complex in Tuscany they believe was once a bustling staging post on a major trade route mentioned by the ancient Roman writer Pliny. The building, which runs parallel to the River Ombrone in the Maremma Natural Park, was probably built in around 200 AD and functioned for at least a couple of centuries. The size and layout of the building, as well as its location next to a river and a major Roman road, has led archaeologists to conclude they have probably discovered a well-known 'mansio', or staging post. Pliny and another Roman...

When, during the invasion of Iraq, the United States Government issued its famous deck of playing cards with the 52 arch villains of the Iraqi police state, Saddam Hussein's face adorned the Ace of Spades. If the Obama Administration wanted to engage in a similar public relations campaign for the real estate crisis, the top card should be reserved for Alan Greenspan. Yet in a speech this Tuesday before the National Association of Realtors, Sir Alan "the-bubble-blower" claimed that his low interest rate policies in the early and middle years of this decade had no effect on mortgage rates or...

Former Fed Chairman and longtime free-market icon Alan Greenspan now says nationalization of U.S. banks might be the “least bad” way forward in the ongoing financial system collapse. In making the comment, Greenspan joined Republican Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, in testing the waters for support of the idea of letting government simply take over failing banks. Germany also this week cleared the way for bank nationalization as a last resort. “It may be necessary to temporarily nationalize some banks in order to facilitate a swift and orderly restructuring,” Greenspan told the Financial Times...

Miguel Antonio Garcia Garro of Coon Rapids billed himself as "The Maestro," the man who could help a struggling teenage couple smooth out their rocky relationship with the girl's father. But after conducting a Tarot card reading with the couple in his Minneapolis office, authorities say, the man charged them $750 for more "help" — then told them to have sex on his desk and apparently videotaped the whole thing. That's the story as laid out in a criminal complaint filed Monday in Hennepin County District Court. The couple, a 16-year-old girl and her 19-year-old boyfriend, told police they answered...

Toshiyuki Shimada was looking for inspiration as his tenure at the Portland Symphony Orchestra came to a close. He has found it as a Yale University professor in pursuit of long-forgotten musical treasures at the Vatican.The mild-mannered maestro believes that deep within the Vatican Library's archives are pieces of music that have not been heard in modern times.Under a licensing agreement, Shimada hopes to bring some of this music to the masses through a series of compact discs carrying the library's seal."We know that there's a lot of music that has not seen the daylight," said Shimada, his eyes lighting...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A decision by Federal Reserve Governor Edward Gramlich to step down from his post in August underscores the rare degree to which President Bush will have a hand in molding the U.S. central bank. Bush has already named five of the seven members of the Fed's Washington-based board, although one of them, Vice Chairman Roger Ferguson, was initially chosen by President Bill Clinton. Only two members do not owe their seat to Bush: Gramlich, who said on Wednesday he will step down Aug. 31, well ahead of the expiration of his term in 2008, and Chairman Alan...

Maestro of the Treasury? The White House used the front page of Monday's Washington Post to cashier a Cabinet member. A story headlined "Bush to Change Economic Team" said: "One senior administration official said Treasury Secretary John W. Snow can stay as long as he wants, provided it is not very long." Obviously the office will need filling before "very long." The president should fill it with Alan Greenspan. He has headed the Federal Reserve system under four presidents -- since August 1987. Now he is needed elsewhere. Historian Allan Nevins, Grover Cleveland's biographer, said that Cleveland's problems "never came...

Download the Public Version of the Software NASA Uses to Operate Mars Rovers Keith Cowing, Friday, January 02, 2004 This Saturday, January 3, the first of NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers will arrive on Mars and begin its mission. The Maestro team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory has created a public version of the primary software tool used by the mission scientists to operate the rovers. By visiting the Maestro website, you can download a scaled-down version of the program that NASA scientists use to operate Spirit and Opportunity rovers. During the mission, updates will be released on this site...