Leasing News

The PFF Bank press release was inadvertently left out of the Friday story on PFF Bancorp, Rancho Cucamonga, CA. No one complained about it, or the story itself, but the editor’s intention was to
have the full press release available to readers, as this is done on purpose for readers who want to learn more.

PFF is a provider of leasing lines to many story credit leasing companies and others, plus a direct leasing company itself, reporting a quarterly loss of $7.5 million. The story was correct and did note that the loss was primarily due to construction and land development loan troubles, but really needed the full press release, in my opinion as editor.

This bank is in "strong" shape, and the financial statements in the press release will indicate it. Other banks and financial institutions have been reporting problems with subprime mortgage loans, commercial and consumer, for over a year. California has its own unique problems, as can be see in the News Briefs in today edition.

In the original text versions of Leasing News, full press releases were open, but readers objected to their space. While they are written to the advantage of the subject, these press releases contain more information than is printed in a few paragraphs. This means not only other quotes and information, but the financial statements (FS) with the footnotes.
To read just brief information can be misleading.

To those who can read them, the FS can tell you a lot not only about the company, but about their subsidiaries, and to readers, lease activities. As I remember on CIT, Marlin, MicroFinancial, and Pawnee are publically traded. Almost all the rest are a subsidiary of a larger company, not counting the privately owned, so their information may be in their parent's financial statement.

To those who don't understand FS, the footnotes and explanations are often more revealing than the numbers themselves, so that is why Leasing News attempts to always include the full press release in its edition for readers to open. Often we try to highlight the leasing numbers, but these press releases have valuable information, and if you have the time, Leasing News recommends you open them rather than rely on a one or two paragraph "synopsis" to tell the whole story.

In this case, PFF Bank is in "strong" shape, well-managed, and has been around a long time. They have also been very "kind" to many leasing entities, and in turn, these leasing customers should not only value their relationship, but send them good business, and refer new bank customers, if they are in the position to do so.

While the story had a correct synopsis, the press release contained Kevin McCarthy, President and CEO comment: "While the housing market in our region is continuing to undergo a significant correction, we remain confident in the underlying economic strength of the Inland Empire to provide the engine that will allow our community banking franchise to continue to prosper."

This was also in the press release:

"The $79.4 million is comprised entirely of sixteen first trust deed loans to eight borrowers with the largest loan balance being $34.0 million. A $38.1 million increase in non-accrual single family loans was attributable to eighty-five first trust deed non-owner occupied loans aggregating $36.3 million to a common borrower. This borrower also has commercial loans of $8.3 million secured by leases and other real estate collateral and $3.7 million in commercial and real estate loans with the Bank, all of which have been placed on non-accrual during the quarter ended September 30, 2007. $9.8 million of the $34.0 million provision for loan and lease losses during the quarter was attributable to this relationship. Our next largest concentration of single family non-owner-occupied loans to one borrower is comprised of 29 loans aggregating $15.6 million. We have one other single family loan borrower relationship in excess of $10.0 million and two in excess of $5.0 million. These loans are performing and paying as agreed."

The idea of having the press release available was for the readers to be able to read more, if they were inclined to do so, thus the press release should have appeared, as it does now:

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East Windsor, NJ
Skilled Manager in credit, collections, training, documentation, policy and procedure, lease and finance operations. Get results and keep the customer coming back.
Email: rgmorrill@comcast.net
Resume

Boulder, CO
(Available after 12/31/07) A proven Director acknowledged for the ability to creatively troubleshoot situations, and to develop/implement turn around programs in both start-up and established operations.
E-mail: scottroessler@comcast.net
Resume

The last of the cigar smoke from one of the traditional Cigar and Cordials parties is drifting away and the 46th Annual Convention of the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) is well under way. Although the evening cocktail reception typically is the major kickoff event, convention activities actually began on Saturday with numerous board and committee meetings.

Today, however, was the official start and, as always, there was golf and tennis available for those who weren’t spending time at Disney World with the kids. New this year, however, was an afternoon session on human capital which was attended by over 40 people. The inclusion of sessions such as this underscores the ongoing concern within the industry on replacing veterans and keeping the industry vibrant.

The marquee event of the day, though, was the cocktail reception. Although well attended, the crowd did not seem as large as in previous years. Some of this could have been the size of the meeting space, however, as ELFA was able to accommodate a record high number of exhibitors (roughly 40). Even so, attendance this year is less than 1,000. Some of the people I talked to attributed this lower number in part to the reduced format. Given an overall cost consciousness in a period of shrinking margins, there were those who did not feel enough value was being received for the cost, both in dollars and time out of the office.

In this regard, most of the attendees I spoke with did not like the shortened format being offered. Some exhibitors, for instance, felt that the costs and effort to get there and set up was disproportionate to the amount of face time received. The concern of the attendees was along the same line – the amount of time for networking, easily the most important aspect of the convention for many, was not enough. The schedule was making people feel rushed. I will be interested to see if this feeling continues as the convention progresses.

The mood in at the cocktail party was buoyant, if not jubilant. Yes, everyone knows that margins are tight, but most of the people I spoke with expressed confidence with their business, especially the niche players. Some (dare I say it) are even seeing a slight up tick in rates. Overall, those I spoke with were upbeat about their business. This feeling was confirmed by several exhibitors, who told me their clients were running strong.

Of course, everyone was looking for the latest news, trends, and any market intelligence they could gather. Several discussions focused around the situation at CIT and if there was going to be any news regarding possible acquisitions or changes there. Interestingly enough, Rick Wolfert, former co-chair of CIT is in attendance at the convention this year. His company affiliation? Just Rick, although there will be some news to follow regarding his future activities, as it is rumored he still wants to be involved in the equipment financing industry.

I was told to expect several other announcements this week, including some from the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation and news about Netbank. All in all, it looks like a great convention. I know the ELFA staff has certainly worked hard to make it another success. More news to follow regarding issues, workshops, and interesting topics.

Shawn D. Halladay, Managing Principal, Alta Group, his
office out of Salt Lake City, Utah, also a member of
the Leasing News Advisory Board, will have a report on
Wednesday from the ELFA Conference at
the Walt Disney World Dolphin in Orlando, Florida.

EFD Direct Lease
Sr. Lease Contract Specialist
Walnut Creek, CA

You will create all necessary lease and loan documentation for complex direct equipment leases. Requires a BA or equivalent & 6+ years of leasing and contract experience. CLICK HERE for a detailed description and resume submission info.

Visit www.bankofthewest.com , for more information. Bank of the West and its subsidiaries are equal opportunity/affirmative action employers.

www.bankofthewest.com

Sales Professional

Sales Professional
San Francisco, CA

Mid to large ticket market/Fortune 1000-- prefer min. 5 yrs. sales exp. in finance. Will consider all applicants w/equip. finance exper. click here.

www.atel.com

[headlines]

I have been teaching commercial equipment leasing for over thirty five years and it still amazes me that lessor’s think leasing is like lending and no one needs to learn about how it functions; or that typical manager that states his twenty years in the business has taught him all there is to know. Ignorance is golden when you do not know what you do not know. True professionalism is knowing everything about your lease product and everything about how your competitors approach leasing. One thing is for certain “all the rules and all the competitors change everyday” and staying on top of the changes is a full time job and it is an impossible job if you do not. Plus your organization, when poorly trained can destroy you.

Marketing and sales require a clear understanding of the rules including income tax, accounting, and contract law whereas the back office requires training on documentation, operations, and organizational behavior. Proper polices and procedures need to be in place and a clear understanding of the company’s business plan, if one even exist, should be presented to staff each year. If every one understands the goals and direction of the company then they are all pulling the wagon in the same direction.

If you think your firm, regardless of size, is trained and efficient, I suggest that you devise a written test to be administered to you staff on each of the above mention subjects and then prepare yourself for the results. If you are not surprised at some of the answers you will be in the minority. If you need help preparing these tests contact me because I have lots of them.

Usually an outside trainer is best because the teacher is not handicapped by the restrictions of companies’ outlook and current and new approaches can be presented. There are many good seminars provided by the leasing trade associations that can give great overviews but if you need specific training then an in-house presentation would be best. These programs can be tailor made to fit your needs and usually can be very reasonable in costs. The family of lease trainers is many and you only need to check around to discover the one best suited for your market.

There are many books and CD’s out there that you can read and then use parts of to pass on to your people so they can improve their performance to your benefit. Training should be at lease 5% of your work week because it will improve your staff’s performance many times that. Also perhaps you can learn a few things too. Product knowledge about the rules and regulations separate the boys from the men.

And please remember to thank your staff on occasion so they understand you care. More employees leave a company because of work conditions than do because of salary.

Mr. Terry Winders, CLP, has been a teacher, consultant, expert witness for the leasing industry for thirty years and can be reached at leaseconsulting@msn.com or 502-327-8666.
He invites your questions and queries.

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### Press Release ###########################

NEW YORK -- Paris-based SG Equipment Finance today announced the launch of SG Equipment Finance, USA. The new company extends SG Equipment Finance's expanding global network to twenty three countries worldwide.

Philippe Mathe, who has been with parent company Societe Generale for the past 25 years, will serve as CEO of SG Equipment Finance USA. Previously, Mathe was Head of Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Banking's Coverage group for the Americas. Earlier he served as the Head of Coverage for Europe, as well as a number of other positions around the world including, in the early 1990s, Managing Director of Trilease, a leasing company based in Hong Kong with affiliates in China and Thailand.

Mathe has assembled a seasoned management team to assist SG Equipment Finance in building a leading U.S.-based equipment and vendor finance businesses.

Tony Coscia will assume the role of Chief Information Officer. Coscia comes to SG Equipment Finance after ten years of service at CIT. During his years at CIT Tony supported several divisions that provide leasing and financial services for companies in a variety of industries. He has held IT positions with Newcourt, Simon & Schuster and M&M Mars.

Juergen Jonczyk has joined SG Equipment Finance USA as Head of Risk and Operations. Prior to joining the team, Jonczyk was Executive Vice President of Credit and Operations for CG Commercial Funding. He also served as Vice President/Head of the Equipment Finance Group for Deutsche Financial Services and as Director of Credit and Operations of its successor company.

Richard Scannell will serve as Controller and joins SG Equipment Finance from IDB Leasing, a leasing subsidiary of Israel Discount Bank, where he was First Vice President and Controller. He has also held financial management positions with US Express Leasing, Fleetwood Financial Corp. and Portfolio Acquisition Corp. Scannell previously worked at Societe Generale from 1984 to 1993.

Larry Scherzer has joined SG Equipment Finance as the Head of Sales and Marketing from CIT where, in his most recent position as Senior Vice President, he was responsible for the Dell Financial Services global relationship. Previously, Scherzer held the position of SVP Corporate Business Development, and held positions with the Newcourt Credit Group and AT&T Capital Corporation.

"With these latest additions to our group, our senior management team is now in place," said Mathe. "The SG Equipment Finance USA team is looking to tap into the largest equipment finance market in the world by supporting key SG Equipment Finance International vendors in the transportation and industrial equipment industries, serving its largest US vendors in the high tech sector and putting its balance sheet at the service of the Bank's corporate customers."

SG Equipment Finance complements the Group's Specialized Financial Services presence in the USA, which includes operational car leasing and fleet management activity with ALD Automotive and Consumer Finance activity with CGI.

The new entity will be fully operational by the end of 2007 and will be based in Jersey City, NJ.

Societe Generale is one of the largest financial services groups in the euro-zone. The Group employs 120,000 people worldwide in three key businesses:

Societe Generale is included in the five major socially-responsible investment indexes.
www.socgen.com

SG Equipment Finance is the equipment and vendor finance business line of Societe Generale. SG Equipment Finance is one of the leading institutions in Europe for equipment and vendor finance.

Combining the expertise of its industry sectors specialists with the in- depth knowledge of its local staff, SG Equipment Finance offers value added sales financing solutions to international capital equipment manufacturers and distributors.
www.sgef.com

The FBI and other law enforcement agencies around the country have reported the resurgence of an old trick known as the jury duty scam.

In this scam, potential victims receive calls from people posing as court officers. The caller informs the victim that he or she failed to appear for jury duty and that a warrant has been issued for his or her arrest. After alarming the victim, the caller then seeks to "confirm" the victim's Social Security number and other personal information. After divulging this information, the victim is often told that the entire matter can be instantly dismissed by paying a fine. All the victim needs to do is provide a credit card or checking account routing number.

By the time the call ends, the scammer has all the information necessary to open lines of credit under the unsuspecting victim's name. Identity thieves can quickly empty the victim's bank accounts or run up staggering credit card bills.

As with many ploys to obtain consumers' personal information, it is likely that many of these identity thieves are actually thousands of miles away, often in other countries and out of reach of U.S. law enforcement. Under this scheme, criminals simply go through the phone book hoping that sooner or later someone will provide the sensitive information they need to steal an identity.

This ploy is particularly effective because it causes victims to react immediately out of fear, rather than taking the time to reflect about the information being requested. While citizens could face legal consequences for failing to respond to a valid jury summons, legitimate court officers would never leave threatening messages on someone's voicemail to demand personal information and immediate payment of a fine.

Consumers who receive such a call can verify whether they must appear for jury duty by calling their local courthouse or district court. Consumers should NEVER hand over personal information in response to an unsolicited telephone call or e-mail, no matter how legitimate it might appear.

For more information, contact the Office of the Attorney General at (800) 252-8011 or visit the Attorney General's Web site at
www.oag.state.tx.us.

### Press Release ###########################
--------------------------------------------------------------

Karva Chauth
In India, A married woman celebrates Karva Chauth by observing a fast for the long life of her husband.
http://www.karwachauth.com/

(research indicates this applies to Osteopathic Medicine, although Main Line Health is large and trains many doctors. Editor)

1929- Major Stock Market Crash as prices on the New York Stock Exchange plummeted and virtually collapsed four days after President Herbert Hoover had declared “The fundamental business of the country ... is on a sound and prosperous basis.” More than 16 million shares were dumped and billions of dollars were lost. The boom was over and the nation faced nearly a decade of depression. Some analysts had warned that the buying spree, with prices 15 to 150 times above earnings, had to stop at some point. Frightened investors ordered their brokers to sell at whatever price. The resulting Great Depression, which lasted until about 1939, involved North America, Europe and other industrialized countries. In 1932 one out of four US workers was unemployed.

1969 -- The U.S. Supreme Court orders immediate desegregation, superseding the previous "with all deliberate speed" ruling.

1969-Historians consider this the day the Internet was created. The first connection on what would become the world wide web was made on this day when bits of data flowed between computers at UCLA and the Stanford Research Institute. This was the beginning of ARPANET, the precursor to the Internet developed by the Department of Defense. By the end of 1969, four sites were connected: UCLA, the Stanford Research Institute, the University of California, Santa Barbara and the University of Utah. By the next year there were 10 sites and soon there were applications like email and file transfer utilities. The @ symbol was adopted in 1972 and a year later 75 percent of ARPANET traffic was e-mail. ARPANET was decommissioned in 1990 and the National Science Foundation’s NSFnet took over the role of backbone of the Internet.

    1682 -William Penn lands in Chester, Pennsylvania ( did not have a name at the time, as the surrounding land area will become Pennsylvania.) He originally called it Sylvania, but the King changed it to Pennsylvania in granted the charter. He founded the area as a “Holy Experiment” based on Quaker principles.
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~CAP/PENN/pnintro.html
http://www.2020site.org/penn/pennsylvania.html
    1815-Birthday of Daniel Emmett DeCatur, creator of words and music for the song “Dixie,” which became a fighting son for Confederate troops and unofficial “national anthem” of the South, born Mt. Vernon, OH, and died there June 28, 1904.
    1837-Birthday of African-American folk artist Harriet Powers, now nationally recognized for her quilts, born in rural Georgia.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/oct29.html
    1849--In San Francisco, Rowe's Olympic Circus and the Ethiopian Serenaders opened today. The circus was situated in the block bounded by Kearny, Clay, Montgomery and Sacramento streets. Admission $3.
    1850- Grand celebration ball given by the citizens of San Francisco in honor of the admission of California into the Union. Col. Jonathan D. Stevenson was Grand Marshal. Elizabeth Maria Wills sang an ode written for the celebration.
    1863-Battle of Wauhatchie (Brown's Ferry) concludes: The troops of Union General Ulysses S. Grant open a supply line into Chattanooga, Tennessee, when they drive away a Confederate attack by General James Longstreet. Although the Confederates still held the high ground above Chattanooga, the new supply line allowed the Union to hold the city and prepare for a major new offensive the next month. After the Battle of Chickamauga in northern Georgia on September 19 and 20, the defeated Union army of General William Rosecrans fled back to nearby Chattanooga. Braxton Bragg's Confederates took up positions along Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge to the east of the city. The Rebel lines made a semicircle around the city, and Confederate guns closed traffic on the Tennessee River. As a result, Union supplies had to come over a rugged mountainous route from the west. This line was vulnerable to a Confederate attack, and it made the Union's hold on Chattanooga tenuous at best. On October 23, Grant arrived as the new commander of all western forces. He immediately ordered two brigades to attack Brown's Ferry, where the Confederates were blocking river traffic to Chattanooga. The Yankees captured the ferry on October 27, then held off a counterattack to maintain control. On the night of October 28, Longstreet mounted a much larger attack to retake the crossing. The Confederates possessed superior numbers but could not pry the Union troops from the river. In the dark, the Yankees held and Longstreet withdrew his forces before dawn. The Union suffered 78 killed, 327 wounded, and 15 missing, while the Confederates suffered 34 killed, 305 wounded, and 69 missing. The Battle of Wauhatchie was one of the few Civil War engagements that took place at night. As a result of the battle, the Tennessee River was reopened for the Union and supplies reached Grant's troops. One month later, Grant drove the Confederates from the mountains around Chattanooga.
http://www2.cr.nps.gov/abpp/battles/tn021.htm
http://roadsidegeorgia.com/int/1471
http://www.149th-nysv.org/Battles/wauhatchie_cr.htm
    1902 -- Fredric Brown, American writer birthday.. One of the most ingenious American crime, mystery writers, and also wrote science fiction to overcome — as he said — the too real aspect of detective fiction. He also wrote television plays for Alfred Hitchcock series. “Martian Go Home” was one of his best sellers. His other notable novels include Night of the Jabberwock (1951) and The Deep End (1952)
http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/fbrown.htm
http://www.hycyber.com/SF/brown_fredric.html
http://www.ebookmall.com/alpha-authors/Fredric-Brown.htm
    1917 - The temperature at Denver, CO, dipped to zero, and at Soda Butte, WY, the mercury plunged to 33 degrees below zero, a U.S. record for the month of October.
    1921 – Birthday of Bill Mauldin (Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist: [1945, 1959], created G.I. Joe and Willie) Killed in action.
http://www.stlouiswalkoffame.org/inductees/bill-mauldin.html
    1922-Composer/arranger/trumpet player Neal Hefti Birthday
    1923 -- "Runnin' Wild" (introducing the Charleston) opens on Broadway.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000058RB/avsearch-musicasin-20/
002-4023470-8873669#product-details
    1925- tenor saxophone player Zoot Sims born, Inglewood, CA. http://members.aol.com/plabjazz/zootsims.html
    1925- History records “Howard Johnson’s “ as the first franchise chain. The chain got it s started when Howard Dearing Johnson, the proprietor of a drugstore in Quincy, MA, began making ice cream with a hand-held crank to sell at the soda fountain. Unable to finance additional restaurants on his own. he began franchising his name and the formulas for his ice cream and other specialties. The first restaurant to which he granted a franchise, in 1932, was on Cape Cod. Eventually, the chain had 600 restaurants across the country. Johnson’s innovations included the use of a central commissary to supply all franchises with food of consistent quality and the sitting of diner along highways.
    1929- Major Stock Market Crash as prices on the New York Stock Exchange plummeted and virtually collapsed four days after President Herbert Hoover had declared “The fundamental business of the country ... is on a sound and prosperous basis.” More than 16 million shares were dumped and billions of dollars were lost. The boom was over and the nation faced nearly a decade of depression. Some analysts had warned that the buying spree, with prices 15 to 150 times above earnings, had to stop at some point. Frightened investors ordered their brokers to sell at whatever price. The resulting Great Depression, which lasted until about 1939, involved North America, Europe and other industrialized countries. In 1932 one out of four US workers was unemployed.
    1930 - The Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson) is born in Sabine Pass, Texas. He later dies in the same 1959 plane crash that claims the lives of Buddy Holly and Richie Valens.
    1934-Birthday of alto sax player Jimmy Woods, St. Louis, MO
http://shopping.yahoo.com/shop?d=product&id=1927008906&clink=dmmu.artist&a=b
http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=519095601/
ut=0cea001161ce67c0
http://www.mediawars.ne.jp/~mundo/collect/file/jimmy-woods.html
    1936 -- Singer Hank Snow makes his first recordings, "Lonesome Blue Yodel" & "Prisoned Cowboy."
http://www.hanksnow.com/
    1953—Top Hits
You, You, You - The Ames Brothers
No Other Love - Perry Como
Oh - Pee Wee Hunt
I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know - The Davis Sisters
    1953-The sale of the St. Louis Browns from Bill Veeck to a group of Baltimore investors was completed, and the American League’s most hapless team became the Orioles.
    1954- Dizzy Gillespie and Roy Eldridge record “Trumpet Kings” album, Verve.
    1956 - John Cameron Swayze and "The Camel News Caravan" were replaced by Chet Huntley and David Brinkley on NBC-TV. The "Huntley-Brinkley Report" clicked so well that the respected newsmen reported nightly until July of 1970. “Good night Chet. Good night David. And good night from NBC News.
    1959- First performance of the R.G.Davis Mime Studio and Troupe.
The Troupe performs "Mime and Words" at the San Francisco Art Institute.
    1960 - Cassius Clay won his first pro bout -- over Tunney Hunsaker -- in six rounds in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.
    1961 - The top, pop song on the charts belonged to Dion (DiMucci). "Runaround Sue" was in its second week at the tiptop of the top-tune tabulation (it was in the top 40 for three months).
    1961—Top Hits
Runaround Sue - Dion
Bristol Stomp - The Dovells
Big Bad John - Jimmy Dean
Walk on By - Leroy Van Dyke
    1962 – John “Buck” O'Neil is the first black coach in major-league baseball, for the Chicago Cubs.
http://bestofbuck.com/800/bio.htm
http://www.nlbpa.com/o_neil__john_jordan_-_buck.html
    1962-Actor Sydney Poitier testifies before the House Committee on Education and Labor, condemning the lack of opportunities for black actors in Hollywood. Poitier was born in 1924 to poor farmers in the Bahamas. He dropped out of school at age 13 and later joined the U.S. Army. After his army stint, he became interested in performing and joined the American Negro Theater. He debuted on Broadway in 1946 and three years later made his film debut in a U.S. Army documentary. By the late 1950s, he was the leading African American actor in the country. In 1964, he became the first African American actor to win the Best Actor Oscar, for his role as a laborer who helps build a chapel in Lilies of the Field (1963). Other films include In the Heat of the Night (1967) and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967). He began directing in 1971 with Buck and the Preacher. In 1992, he won the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award, the first black actor and director to be so honored.
    1963---CAPTAIN HUMBERT R. VERSACE Medal of Honor
UNITED STATES ARMY for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty: Captain Humbert R. Versace distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism during the period of 29 October 1963 to 26 September 1965, while serving as S-2 Advisor, Military Assistance Advisory Group, Detachment 52, Ca Mau, Republic of Vietnam. While accompanying a Civilian Irregular Defense Group patrol engaged in combat operations in Thoi Binh District, An Xuyen Province, Captain Versace and the patrol came under sudden and intense mortar, automatic weapons, and small arms fire from elements of a heavily armed enemy battalion. As the battle raged, Captain Versace, although severely wounded in the knee and back by hostile fire, fought valiantly and continued to engage enemy targets. Weakened by his wounds and fatigued by the fierce firefight, Captain Versace stubbornly resisted capture by the over-powering Viet Cong force with the last full measure of his strength and ammunition. Taken prisoner by the Viet Cong, he exemplified the tenets of the Code of Conduct from the time he entered into Prisoner of War status. Captain Versace assumed command of his fellow American soldiers, scorned the enemy's exhaustive interrogation and indoctrination efforts, and made three unsuccessful attempts to escape, despite his weakened condition which was brought about by his wounds and the extreme privation and hardships he was forced to endure. During his captivity, Captain Versace was segregated in an isolated prisoner of war cage, manacled in irons for prolonged periods of time, and placed on extremely reduced ration. The enemy was unable to break his indomitable will, his faith in God, and his trust in the United States of America. Captain Versace, an American fighting man who epitomized the principles of his country and the Code of Conduct, was executed by the Viet Cong on 26 September 1965. Captain Versace's gallant actions in close contact with an enemy force and unyielding courage and bravery while a prisoner of war are in the highest traditions of the military service and reflect the utmost credit upon himself and the United States Army.
    1963 - The Hollies begin recording sessions for their first album.
    1967 - Hair, An American Tribal Love-Rock Musical, opened at the Public Theater in New York City. The composer was Galt MacDermott. The musical, which appeared during the Vietnam War, carried an antiwar message and aroused some controversy for its glorification of “hippie” values, including a nude scene at the end of the first act. The production moved to Broadway’s Biltmore Theater in April, 1968.
    1966- formation of the National Organization for Women to "bring women into full participation in the mainstream of American society NOW!"
http://www.now.org/
    1969 -- The U.S. Supreme Court orders immediate desegregation, superseding the previous "with all deliberate speed" ruling.
    1969-Historians consider this the day the Internet was created. The first connection on what would become the world wide web was made on this day when bits of data flowed between computers at UCLA and the Stanford Research Institute. This was the beginning of ARPANET, the precursor to the Internet developed by the Department of Defense. By the end of 1969, four sites were connected: UCLA, the Stanford Research Institute, the University of California, Santa Barbara and the University of Utah. By the next year there were 10 sites and soon there were applications like email and file transfer utilities. The @ symbol was adopted in 1972 and a year later 75 percent of ARPANET traffic was e-mail. ARPANET was decommissioned in 1990 and the National Science Foundation’s NSFnet took over the role of backbone of the Internet.
    1969—Top Hits
I Can’t Get Next to You - The Temptations
Hot Fun in the Summertime - Sly & The Family Stone
Suspicious Minds - Elvis Presley
The Ways to Love a Man - Tammy Wynette
    1970 - Neil Diamond received a nice package: a gold record for the hit, "Cracklin’ Rosie".
    1973 - O.J. Simpson set two NFL records this day. The Buffalo Bills’ star running back ran 39 times for 157 yards -- and he rushed for a total of over 1,000 yards in only seven games.
    1977—Top Hits
You Light Up My Life - Debby Boone
Nobody Does It Better - Carly Simon
That’s Rock ’n’ Roll - Shaun Cassidy
Heaven’s Just a Sin Away - The Kendalls
    1981 - Loretta Lynn received a gold record for her album, "Greatest Hits, Vol. 2".
    1982- Car maker John DeLorean indicted for drug trafficking in a government sting operation; later acquitted
http://www.babbtechnology.com/Collect/index.htm
http://www.deloreanstore.com/
http://www.who2.com/johndelorean.html
http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20010927.html
    1983 - After four weeks at #1 on the pop music charts, Bonnie Tyler’s "Total Eclipse of the Heart" slipped to #2 -- replaced by "Islands in the Stream" by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton.
    1984 - Golfing great Tom Watson won his sixth PGA Player of the Year title; the most won by any golfer since the award was first given in 1948. Jack Nicklaus had accumulated five of those titles.
    1985—Top Hits
Saving All My Love for You - Whitney Houston
Part-Time Lover - Stevie Wonder
Miami Vice Theme - Jan Hammer
Touch a Hand, Make a Friend - The Oak Ridge Boys
    1987 - Severe thunderstorms in Arizona produced wind gusts to 86 mph at the Glendale Airport near Phoenix, baseball size hail and 70 mph winds at Wickenburg, and up to an inch of rain in fifteen minutes in Yavapai County and northwest Maricopa County. Arizona Public Service alone reported 2.5 million dollars damage from the storms.
    1988 - Wintry weather prevailed in the Upper Midwest. South Bend, IN, equaled their record for October with a morning low of 23 degrees. International Falls MN reported a record low of 11 degrees in the morning, then dipped down to 8 degrees above zero late in the evening.
    1989 - Thunderstorms developing along a cold front produced severe weather in Oklahoma and north central Texas during the late afternoon and evening hours. Thunderstorms in Oklahoma produced weak tornadoes near Snyder and Davidson, and produced hail two inches in diameter at Altus. Large hail damaged 60 to 80 percent of the cotton crop in Tillman County OK. Nine cities in the northeastern U.S. reported record high temperatures for the date as readings warmed into the 70s. For Marquette MI it marked their fifth straight day of record warmth. Arctic cold invaded the western U.S. Lows of 7 degrees at Alamosa CO and 9 degrees at Elko NV were records for the date.
(My daughter in nearby Lamoille said it was zero degrees.)
    1996-The National Basketball Association got set to launch its 50th anniversary of all time, ten of the 50 spent significant portions of their careers with the Boston Celtics.
    1998 - Hurricane Mitch (Oct 22-Nov 4, 1998), one of the strongest Atlantic storms ever, made landfall, slamming into Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and other Central American countries. The real story was not the wind but the rain. Slow movement of the storm caused heavy rain, resulting in widespread flooding and mudslides. Over 10,000 people were killed, another 10,000 were missing, and some two million people were affected in some way by the storm.
    1998 - The space shuttle Discovery blasted off, returning 77-year-old U.S. Senator John Glenn to space some 36 years after he became the first American in orbit. Glenn was part of a crew of seven astronauts shepherding scientific payloads on the shuttle mission.
    2001-- Matt Williams becomes the first player in World Series history to hit home runs with three different teams. He homered in the Fall Classic for the Indians in 1997 and the Giants in 1989.
http://worldseries.mlb.com/ws/index.html
http://www.sportingnews.com/archives/worldseries/2001.html

Anonymous

It all started
when Pedro threw a no-hitter on Opening Day.
Nomar backed him up
with a triple play deep in the hole
and Manny Ramirez smashed
the first of 90 home runs.

Suddenly things got brighter.
Flowers sprang whole from the earth
and the cod swarmed to George's Bank.
The war ended. U.S. Marines
danced in the streets with handsome Fedayeen.
(Jerry Falwell married them off
while the Pope and the imams cheered.)

Israel and Palestine agreed
to share everything: beds, cities, streets,
temples and mosques,
falafel and coffee and tea.
Air pollution stopped
along with global warming and gum disease.

The Sox won it all of course,
beating the Yankees in three
and the Yankees in four
and the Yankees in five
(they lost one just to keep the Series alive).
Mia Hamm hit a grand slam
to put it away in the ninth.

Boston exploded with joy.
Babe Ruth signed the game-winning ball
and nobody sold it on E-bay.

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