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LOS ANGELES, Iowa - The fearsome guns of the USS Iowa protected FDR from torpedo attacks and helped destroy the Japanese military in World War II. They shelled North Korea in the 1950s and patrolled the Central American coast during the Cold War. On Saturday, with the grand opening of the country's newest battleship museum in the Los Angeles community of San Pedro, the artillery that struck so much fear in America's enemies got a new role: photo op. More than 3,000 people walked up the Iowa's gangplank on its inaugural day and nearly every one seemed to want a photo with its 16-inch guns. "I want them to be part of history," said retired Marine Brian Tisdale of his two children, whom he captured posing at the gun barrels. Whether a snapshot on the Iowa deck will become as mandatory to a southern California vacation as a picture in front of the Hollywood sign remains to be seen. Officials said they were pleased with the museum's first day, especially given the breakneck pace of the project. The opening came just a month after the Iowa, one of the largest battleships ever, arrived in Los Angeles' harbor and just 10 months after the Navy selected San Pedro as the site of the museum. "It's unheard of. It usually takes about three years," said battleship enthusiast Robert Kent, who led the campaign to bring the Iowa to L.A. and now serves as director of the non-profit that runs the museum, Pacific Battleship Center. Built in 1940, the Iowa was an important part of the Navy fleet for five decades. It ferried President Franklin Roosevelt to Casablanca during World War II and later fought in the Pacific, sailing victoriously into Tokyo Harbor. The Iowa served in the Korean conflict and plied the Persian Gulf in the 1980s. Only about 15 percent of the ship is open to the public so far. Visitors are funneled down a single route that passes through a wardroom where officers ate and relaxed, around the vessel's upper decks and thr

South Korean police said Tuesday they were investigating 27 North Korean refugees for swindling private insurance firms out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in bogus medical claims. Police said the refugees faked illness in collusion with hospitals to claim a total of 1.04 billion won ($909,000) from insurance firms between 2007 and 2010. While listed as hospitalised, they frequented saunas, restaurants and even nightclubs. The scam also involved a 71-year-old doctor and five hospital employees who conspired with the refugees to claim a separate 104 million won from the state health insurance agency, police said. Police are also investigating two brokers on suspicion of helping the refugees send some of the proceeds to relatives in the North. Fraudsters involved in medical insurance rackets have previously made use of North Koreans. In 2008, police charged 41 refugees involved in bogus medical claims. More than 23,500 North Koreans have settled in the South since the 1950-53 war. They get government financial help along with job education but many fail to adapt to their new environment.

The move came after the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) obtained information that a Thai company had struck a deal to buy 10 billion pseudoephedrine-based cold tablets from a Chinese firm. Previously, the DSI obtained information that the firm also signed a deal to buy 850 million tablets, or 40 tonnes of the medicine, from South Korea. The DSI found that 87 million cold tablets were transported into Thailand from South Korea by plane on nine occasions since 2010. They had false air cargo manifests to avoid attracting attention from the authorities. The DSI suspected the medicines were smuggled in from South Korea. The DSI is investigating two companies suspected of being involved in the smuggling of the pills from overseas. The companies are UTAC Thai Co Ltd, a supplier of integrated circuits, and TVR Group Co Ltd, a car dealer and vehicle hire firm. Some information relating to the drug purchases was uncovered at the companies during recent searches of their premises but the firms denied any involvement. Mr Tarit said yesterday DSI officials also discovered a contract to buy 10 billion pseudoephedrine-based cold tablets from China during the search at UTAC Thai Co Ltd. Under the contract, the first batch of 2 million tablets was to have been shipped to Thailand on July 31, 2009. He said the DSI also found a photo showing a man collecting the pills from Suvarnabhumi airport cargo warehouse. The cold tablets from China and South Korea have the same brand name of COLCOLCO, he said. Mr Tarit said DSI officials also searched the company's factory but there was nothing amiss.

The Australian Crime Commission has estimated that 2600 Australians have lost more than $113 million due to investment fraud, in the last five years. The findings come in a new report, published yesterday, titled Serious and Organised Investment Fraud in Australia (PDF). The report was put together by Taskforce Galilee, a consortium of 19 government departments, including the Crime Commission, the Attorney-General's Department, the Australian Tax Office, the Department of Human Services and the Australian Communications and Media Authority. In addition to offers for shares in companies, the fraudsters offer green energy investments, new technology shares, lotteries and sweepstakes and foreign currency trading, among others. The report found that most of the operations targeting Australians were based overseas. Many were based in Asia, but were not run in Asia. Those who cold-called victims were generally Australia, English, Scottish, Kiwi or South African. The report stated that the fraudsters commonly used Voice-over-IP, email, phone, mobile phone or SMS to contact victims, and developed fake websites with log-ins that would displace fake balances, to keep the victim investing money in the scam. The victims tended to be male, aged over 35 years, but generally over 50. Small business owners, self-funded retirees and those who are socially isolated were common. The report said that Australian victims were found to be well-educated and computer literate. Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare said in a statement that people could be strung along for months before catching on. "This is what happens. The criminal syndicate cold calls the investor, refers them to a flash website and sends them a brochure, promising strong investment returns. After taking their money, they string them along for months or even years, and then the money disappears," he said. "People's entire life savings are stolen by criminals, with the click of a mouse. This type of

LOS ANGELES, Iowa - The fearsome guns of the USS Iowa protected FDR from torpedo attacks and helped destroy the Japanese military in World War II. They shelled North Korea in the 1950s and patrolled the Central American coast during the Cold War. On Saturday, with the grand opening of the country's newest battleship museum in the Los Angeles community of San Pedro, the artillery that struck so much fear in America's enemies got a new role: photo op. More than 3,000 people walked up the Iowa's gangplank on its inaugural day and nearly every one seemed to want a photo with its 16-inch guns. "I want them to be part of history," said retired Marine Brian Tisdale of his two children, whom he captured posing at the gun barrels. Whether a snapshot on the Iowa deck will become as mandatory to a southern California vacation as a picture in front of the Hollywood sign remains to be seen. Officials said they were pleased with the museum's first day, especially given the breakneck pace of the project. The opening came just a month after the Iowa, one of the largest battleships ever, arrived in Los Angeles' harbor and just 10 months after the Navy selected San Pedro as the site of the museum. "It's unheard of. It usually takes about three years," said battleship enthusiast Robert Kent, who led the campaign to bring the Iowa to L.A. and now serves as director of the non-profit that runs the museum, Pacific Battleship Center. Built in 1940, the Iowa was an important part of the Navy fleet for five decades. It ferried President Franklin Roosevelt to Casablanca during World War II and later fought in the Pacific, sailing victoriously into Tokyo Harbor. The Iowa served in the Korean conflict and plied the Persian Gulf in the 1980s. Only about 15 percent of the ship is open to the public so far. Visitors are funneled down a single route that passes through a wardroom where officers ate and relaxed, around the vessel's upper decks and thr

The move came after the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) obtained information that a Thai company had struck a deal to buy 10 billion pseudoephedrine-based cold tablets from a Chinese firm. Previously, the DSI obtained information that the firm also signed a deal to buy 850 million tablets, or 40 tonnes of the medicine, from South Korea. The DSI found that 87 million cold tablets were transported into Thailand from South Korea by plane on nine occasions since 2010. They had false air cargo manifests to avoid attracting attention from the authorities. The DSI suspected the medicines were smuggled in from South Korea. The DSI is investigating two companies suspected of being involved in the smuggling of the pills from overseas. The companies are UTAC Thai Co Ltd, a supplier of integrated circuits, and TVR Group Co Ltd, a car dealer and vehicle hire firm. Some information relating to the drug purchases was uncovered at the companies during recent searches of their premises but the firms denied any involvement. Mr Tarit said yesterday DSI officials also discovered a contract to buy 10 billion pseudoephedrine-based cold tablets from China during the search at UTAC Thai Co Ltd. Under the contract, the first batch of 2 million tablets was to have been shipped to Thailand on July 31, 2009.

The Australian Crime Commission has estimated that 2600 Australians have lost more than $113 million due to investment fraud, in the last five years. The findings come in a new report, published yesterday, titled Serious and Organised Investment Fraud in Australia (PDF). The report was put together by Taskforce Galilee, a consortium of 19 government departments, including the Crime Commission, the Attorney-General's Department, the Australian Tax Office, the Department of Human Services and the Australian Communications and Media Authority. In addition to offers for shares in companies, the fraudsters offer green energy investments, new technology shares, lotteries and sweepstakes and foreign currency trading, among others. The report found that most of the operations targeting Australians were based overseas. Many were based in Asia, but were not run in Asia. Those who cold-called victims were generally Australia, English, Scottish, Kiwi or South African. The report stated that the fraudsters commonly used Voice-over-IP, email, phone, mobile phone or SMS to contact victims, and developed fake websites with log-ins that would displace fake balances, to keep the victim investing money in the scam. The victims tended to be male, aged over 35 years, but generally over 50. Small business owners, self-funded retirees and those who are socially isolated were common. The report said that Australian victims were found to be well-educated and computer literate. Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare said in a statement that people could be strung along for months before catching on. "This is what happens. The criminal syndicate cold calls the investor, refers them to a flash website and sends them a brochure, promising strong investment returns. After taking their money, they string them along for months or even years, and then the money disappears," he said. "People's entire life savings are stolen by criminals, with the click of a mouse. This type of c

The latest Brookings Institution tracking index shows that the world economy is still on life support from central banks and has worsen since the last autumn even with some current signs of stabilization. According to the TIGER (Tracking Indices for the Global Economic Recovery) index, economic flaws extends crossways the Group of 20 leading economies but advanced economies have deteriorated more than developing countries. As reported in Springhill Group Home the outlook for growth and jobs has become more hesitant almost everywhere except in the US although financial markets recovered significantly in the first quarter of the year as investors welcomed the European Central Bank's massive injection of liquidity into the euro zone's banks. Professor of the Brookings Institution, Eswar Prasad stated on the latest news of Springhill Group Home that due to the lack of robust demand, policy tools that are stretched to their limits and unable to muster much traction and enormous risks posed by weak financial systems because of such scams and political uncertainty remains stammering. The TIGER index joins actions of real economic activity, financial variables and indicators of confidence according to what is the degree to which they are all moving up or down at the same time. With the use of refined statistical methods it can take the co-movements of data which are taken on a very different basis and across many countries specifically, South Korea. The reliable economy component of the index has been hard hit based from the Springhill Group Home as growth prospects in Europe, already fragile after the 2011 crisis, have been further undermined by brutal severity plans in many countries. Prof Prasad adds, that this oppressive growth, worsening debt to GDP ratios in the short run, and generating an unsustainable political situation at the domestic and pan-European l

Embattled Rupert Murdoch's empire, News Corp. appears to be planning a spin-off of its core businesses. Its own flagship newspaper, The Wall Street Journal, has reported this week that the company's board is considering a proposal that will make its publishing arm into a separate company. Springhill Group Home analysts expect such separation of assets would appease regulators and could help it to avoid selling a USD 6.9 billion stake. Fortunately, the same became true for investors as the announcement was met with the rallying of News Corp's stock to 8.3% high - the highest level it has reached since 2007. "News Corp. has one of the best TV businesses, but some people like musty, dusty publishing companies that pay great dividends. It's a good thing for shareholders." said an analyst from Lazard Capital. The media conglomerate has not yet specified which business units would be grouped together but the company is reportedly mulling to separate the entertainment operations from the book and newspaper publishing one. News Corp's publishing business brought in USD 8.8 billion in profit last year, accounting for about 7% of the company's enterprise value or 24% of the revenues. This division includes a number of prominent newspapers (Times of London, The Wall Street Journal, New York Post, The Australian and the Sun) and HarperCollins book publisher, all of which are valued for around USD 5 billion. Meanwhile, its entertainment business is more profitable with revenues of USD 23.5 billion last year, accounting for around 75% of the firm's profit and almost all of the operating revenue in the first half of the fiscal year. News Corp's television and film business consists of the Fox News channel, Fox broadcasting network and 20th Century Fox film studio. Experts are saying that the move to split the news and media o

The move came after the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) obtained information that a Thai company had struck a deal to buy 10 billion pseudoephedrine-based cold tablets from a Chinese firm. Previously, the DSI obtained information that the firm also signed a deal to buy 850 million tablets, or 40 tonnes of the medicine, from South Korea. The DSI found that 87 million cold tablets were transported into Thailand from South Korea by plane on nine occasions since 2010. They had false air cargo manifests to avoid attracting attention from the authorities. The DSI suspected the medicines were smuggled in from South Korea. The DSI is investigating two companies suspected of being involved in the smuggling of the pills from overseas. The companies are UTAC Thai Co Ltd, a supplier of integrated circuits, and TVR Group Co Ltd, a car dealer and vehicle hire firm. Some information relating to the drug purchases was uncovered at the companies during recent searches of their premises but the firms denied any involvement. Mr Tarit said yesterday DSI officials also discovered a contract to buy 10 billion pseudoephedrine-based cold tablets from China during the search at UTAC Thai Co Ltd. Under the contract, the first batch of 2 million tablets was to have been shipped to Thailand on July 31, 2009. He said the DSI also found a photo showing a man collecting the pills from Suvarnabhumi airport cargo warehouse. The cold tablets from China and South Korea have the same brand name of COLCOLCO, he said. Mr Tarit said DSI officials also searched the company's factory but there was nothing amiss. However, it was found that the company had three South Korean executives and one Thai executive, Mr Tarit said. He said the Korean Food and Drug Administration recently sent information regarding the nine shipments of pills which showed the contract to buy the cold tablets from South Korean was signed by UTAC Thai Co. Mr Tarit

Springhill Group-Blogs posted by ashtonwil 61 days ago under group of springhill leaders south korea, springhill group-blogs Mechanical & Boiler Room Repairs - Zera Construction Link: http://www.zeraconstruction.com/s_mechanical.php Cracks and leaks in both mechanical room and boiler room concrete floors can lead to equipment damage and failure and leaking into condos below. Zera can have everything patched up before you can say "new boiler" or "screaming tenant." ZERA GETS IT DONE Whether you need cracks routed & sealed, epoxy injection, or waterproofing, Zera can do the floor & wall repairs to prevent equipment problems and leaks. If your floor looks like the picture below, give us a call. Contact us to learn more about mechanical & boiler room repairs to floors & walls Please note: Zera Construction does not repair boilers. 1 views ShareThis Upcoming auditions at the Boiler Room, Pull-Tight and more - Springhill Group - Zimbio posted by cainxueyen 61 days ago under group of springhill leaders south korea, group of springhill south korea, upcoming auditions at the boiler room, pull-tight and more, zimbio Image courtesy of the Boiler Room There will be an open call for theBrighton Beach Memoirs at the Boiler Room Theatre (230 Franklin Rd., Bldg Six, Franklin) on March 21st at 2 PM. Unlike their usual by-appointment audition process, all auditionees need to attend the open call at 2 PM. Actors will read from the script in groups; no need to prepare any audition material. Call backs will be held the same day. Bring (2) copies each of your headshot and resume. The show is scheduled to run My 7th through the 29th. For audition questions, call 615-794-7744. Auditions for Pull-Tight's Father of the Bride will be held Sunday and Monday, April 11 and 12 at 7:00 pm at the Pull-Tight Theatre. There are 13 roles available. 1 man age 40-55, 3 women age 40-55, 2 women age 18-25, 2 men age 18-25, and 2 boys age 12-15. There are

India's Competition Commission confirmed that Google is undergoing an antitrust investigation after a match-making website filed a complaint against its "alleged discriminatory practices" in AdWords. An Indian dating website has filed the complaint against the search engine giant, alleging that it has breached the country's antitrust laws for its advertising unit, AdWords. The complaint accused Google of luring 2 Indian dating sites into a bidding war over its ad keywords in online search. Consim Info, the company operating BharatMatrimony.com has filed the antitrust suit with the Competition Commission of India in February against Google, which, according to CCI, could last from 2-12 months. The probe aims appears to be aimed at determining if there is any merit on the complaint filed against Google after the discovery of "prima facie evidence" showing how it had allegedly abused its market position by selling adwords to the complainant's rival. "We have asked the Director General (Investigations) to complete the probe and give a report on it within 60 days. Prima facie, we found evidence that suggests that Google did abuse its dominant market position," said a senior official of CCI. Like what had happened in other markets, Google has become a target by competitors who wish to crack its prominent ranking. On the other hand, Google defended itself by saying that it has always cooperated with investigators. It has given a statement to Springhill Group Counselling: "Though competition is always a click away, we understand that with success comes scrutiny. We have not received any communication from the CCI, but we're always happy to answer questions about our business, and we're confident that our products are compliant with competition law in India." Google seems to be getting used in being the subject of regulatory scrutiny worldwide as more companies become irked by its business in online advertisement. In February, a separate inv

If you've got a junk email folder full of spam, there's nearly a 10 percent chance it came from a computer in India, the world's new top spam producer. India claimed the unwanted crown from the U.S. in the security firm Sophos' most recent "Dirty Dozen" report of the top spamming countries between January and March. Rounding out the infamous top five are South Korea, which accounts for 8.3 percent of spam, and Indonesia and Russia, both of which distribute 5 percent of the spam clogging up inboxes. Trailing Russia are Italy (4.9 percent ), Brazil (4.3 percent), Poland (3.9 percent), Pakistan (3.3 percent), Vietnam (3.2 percent), Taiwan (2.9 percent) and Peru (2.5 percent). [The 10 Biggest Online Security Myths - And How to Avoid Them] According to Sophos' chief technical officer Graham Cluley, the computers in these high-spamming countries might be sending out their junk messages without the complicity of the computers' actual owners. "The vast majority of spam comes from home computers that have been compromised by hackers, and commandeered into a botnet," Cluley explained. Botnets, short for "robot networks," function like automated zombie armies; infected with a malicious piece of software that puts them under the control of a remote operator, they carry out the orders of the command-and-control server - including sending mass amounts of spam emails - all without the computer owner's knowledge. Cluley said total spam output has actually decreased since the same time period last year. He credited this decline to cybercriminals switching up their approach; they are crafting more targeted email scams, and taking advantage of the massive popularity of social networks like Facebook and, more recently, Pinterest, to do the scam-spreading work for them. Fortunately, whatever country you're in, you can download anti-virus software that can help prevent these spam-spewing armies from enlisting

India's Competition Commission confirmed that Google is undergoing an antitrust investigation after a match-making website filed a complaint against its "alleged discriminatory practices" in AdWords. An Indian dating website has filed the complaint against the search engine giant, alleging that it has breached the country's antitrust laws for its advertising unit, AdWords. The complaint accused Google of luring 2 Indian dating sites into a bidding war over its ad keywords in online search. Consim Info, the company operating BharatMatrimony.com has filed the antitrust suit with the Competition Commission of India in February against Google, which, according to CCI, could last from 2-12 months. The probe aims appears to be aimed at determining if there is any merit on the complaint filed against Google after the discovery of "prima facie evidence" showing how it had allegedly abused its market position by selling adwords to the complainant's rival. "We have asked the Director General (Investigations) to complete the probe and give a report on it within 60 days. Prima facie, we found evidence that suggests that Google did abuse its dominant market position," said a senior official of CCI. Like what had happened in other markets, Google has become a target by competitors who wish to crack its prominent ranking. On the other hand, Google defended itself by saying that it has always cooperated with investigators. It has given a statement to Springhill Group Counselling: "Though competition is always a click away, we understand that with success comes scrutiny. We have not received any communication from the CCI, but we're always happy to answer questions about our business, and we're confident that our products are compliant with competition law in India." Google seems to be getting used in being the subject of regulatory scrutiny worldwide as more companies become irked by its business in online advertisement. In February, a separate inv

As the rapid aging of Asia's population creates challenges for governments and societies, new opportunities are emerging for businesses serving the needs of the elderly and their caretakers. While population aging is a global phenomenon, the Asian-Pacific region is expected to see a particularly drastic demographic change over the next few decades. The number of elderly persons in the region-already home to more than half of the world's population aged 60 and over-is expected to triple to more than 1.2 billion by 2050, when one in four people in the region will be over 60 years old, according to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. Across Asia, large corporations and entrepreneurs in various industries are racing to come up with new products and services for the elderly, while health-care- related businesses are seeing soaring demand. Among various fields of health care for the elderly, nursing homes represent one of the fastest-growing sectors. In Japan, companies that previously had little to do with the issue of aging have jumped on the bandwagon. In 2005, Watami Co., which operates Japanese- style izakaya pubs serving food and drinks, entered a new business of running nursing homes. In the most recent fiscal year, the nursing business was more profitable than its izakaya business. Demand for Watami's new business is robust because Japan's population is the world's grayest, according to a 2009 United Nation report, with nearly 30% aged 60 or older. Other parts of Asia, such as China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore, are also anticipating a surge in the percentage of elderly citizens. In China, people over the age of 60 now account for 13.3% of the country's population of 1.34 billion, up from 10.3% in 2000, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, and the aging trend is expected to accelerate. In January, China's state-run Xinhua news agency wrote about challeng

Everyone here keeps telling me how great this blog is supposed to be but I don't see any of the fairy dust. The writer needs much room for improvement to compel to read an article of his again.

I don't know if this is related to Warren Buffett's March visit to South Korea but General Re, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, is planning to bid for South Korean insurer Tong Yang Life Insurance. Tong Yang's majority shareholder private-equity firm Vogo Fund is planning to sell its up to a 60.7-per cent stake in the insurer valued at about 937 billion won ($809 million). In March, Warren Buffett visited South Korea to help open a new plant for Iscar Metalworking, which Berkshire owns 80%. At the same time, he was on the hunt for what he calls "Elephants", or large well run companies that he could potentially acquire at a good price. "We're looking at a number of big businesses in Korea, the U.S., the U.K. We hope to find good companies wherever they may be. Basically, the bigger, the better," he said at the time. About Tong Yang Life Insurance Tong Yang Life Insurance is part of the Tongyang Group which has 31 divisions across various industries such as utilities, manufacturing, and financial services to name a few. On its insurance website, Tongyang states: TONGYANG Life Insurance was founded in 1989 to provide social security and specialized insurance services. Total assets are currently 12.8 trillion won, with premium income of 3.5 trillion won. (source)

GPS jamming signals coming from North Korea has forced South Korea to order its military and civilian air transports to switch on alternative navigational devices to avoid disruption. A statement from the ministry has confirmed that they were able to warn airlines and pilots of the 241 affected South Korean flights along with the 11 foreign airlines like Thai Airways, AirPhil, FedEx, Japan Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways. But even as the GPS jamming signals continued, South Korea sees no serious threat to navigational safety. Korea Communications Commission confirmed that the GPS jamming signals have been coming from a city on North Korea side of the border. "We've traced the jamming signals to the direction of Kaesong," a commission deputy director told Springhill Group. According to the transport agency, planes that suffered from GPS signal jamming were instructed to use the alternative navigation systems and were not delayed in their schedules. The signal jamming appears to be focused on air traffic at Gimpo and Incheon airports, both of which are around 30 miles from the border. Despite the GPS disruption, Springhill Group reports that there was no serious threat to flight safety as airplanes are capable of using other navigation devices like inertial navigation system and very-high-frequency omni-directional range (VOR). Meanwhile, military communications and transportation were not greatly affected as they do not primarily depend on the GPS system.

Cracks and leaks in both mechanical room and boiler room concrete floors can lead to equipment damage and failure and leaking into condos below. Zera can have everything patched up before you can say "new boiler" or "screaming tenant." ZERA GETS IT DONE Whether you need cracks routed & sealed, epoxy injection, or waterproofing, Zera can do the floor & wall repairs to prevent equipment problems and leaks. If your floor looks like the picture below, give us a call.

Cracks and leaks in both mechanical room and boiler room concrete floors can lead to equipment damage and failure and leaking into condos below. Zera can have everything patched up before you can say "new boiler" or "screaming tenant." ZERA GETS IT DONE Whether you need cracks routed & sealed, epoxy injection, or waterproofing, Zera can do the floor & wall repairs to prevent equipment problems and leaks. If your floor looks like the picture below, give us a call. Contact us to learn more about mechanical & boiler room repairs to floors & walls Please note: Zera Construction does not repair boilers. 1 views ShareThis Upcoming auditions at the Boiler Room, Pull-Tight and more - Springhill Group - Zimbio posted by cainxueyen 61 days ago under group of springhill leaders south korea, group of springhill south korea, upcoming auditions at the boiler room, pull-tight and more, zimbio Image courtesy of the Boiler Room There will be an open call for theBrighton Beach Memoirs at the Boiler Room Theatre (230 Franklin Rd., Bldg Six, Franklin) on March 21st at 2 PM. Unlike their usual by-appointment audition process, all auditionees need to attend the open call at 2 PM. Actors will read from the script in groups; no need to prepare any audition material. Call backs will be held the same day. Bring (2) copies each of your headshot and resume. The show is scheduled to run My 7th through the 29th. For audition questions, call 615-794-7744. Auditions for Pull-Tight's Father of the Bride will be held Sunday and Monday, April 11 and 12 at 7:00 pm at the Pull-Tight Theatre. There are 13 roles available. 1 man age 40-55, 3 women age 40-55, 2 women age 18-25, 2 men age 18-25, and 2 boys age 12-15. There are additional smaller roles for men or women of any age. Auditions will consist of readings from the script. For more information, please contact director Alan Mancuso directly at 708-6288 (cell) or 794-4045 (home). Actors, reenactors and muscians are d

Wallabies star pens Chiefs deal Exeter Chiefs boss Rob Baxter was delighted with the capture of Wallabies star Dean Mumm who has penned a two-year deal at the club. The south west outfit announced the signing on Monday, with the 28-year-old set to move to the English top flight from New South Wales Waratahs after the conclusion of the current Super 15 season. The 27-year-old made his Waratahs' debut back in 2004 and has won more than 30 caps for the Australia national side. He can also operate at flanker but prefers to do his work in the boiler room, and Baxter feels he has everything required to be a massive part of the club's future over the next couple of seasons. "He's a very good signing for us and a very good player," he told reporters. "He is a back five forward coming into his physical prime. "We've looked at lot at him and we believe he has got a lot of ingredients that we want him to bring to the club." Exeter finished eight in their debut season in the Premiership but are currently fifth in the standings this season with just one regular-season game to go. Victory over Northampton at the weekend would have guaranteed them a play-off berth but the 18-15 defeat means they must now win at Saracens to have any chance of making the top four. Despite the disappointment, Baxter feels that it is testament to how far the club has come that top players now want to come and ply their trade in Devon. "Personally, I think it's a great credit to what the players have achieved this season, and where we are as a club right now, that a guy of that standing wants to come and play his rugby here in Exeter," he added.