Daulton blog

Subaru's Forester still garners praise

just one more mile per gallon in city and highway driving. Some other smallish SUVs have higher fuel mileage ratings.

Starting manufacturer's suggested retail price, including destination charge, is $21,220 for a 2011 Forester 2.5X with manual transmission. The lowest starting retail price for a 2011 Forester with automatic transmission is $22,420. In comparison, an all-wheel drive, 2011 Hyundai Tucson has a starting retail prices of $24,440, while a 2011 Toyota RAV4 with all-wheel drive starts at $24,235.

The 2011 Forester is a no-fuss vehicle to drive. There were nary any gimmicks and distractions in the tester, and seats were supportive and provided a high ride height that lets drivers have good views through and around many other vehicles ahead. Yet, driver and passengers don't have to climb up to get into the Forester. They just turn and set themselves on the seats.

Passengers felt some vibrations over road surface imperfections and definitely were jostled over speed bumps and potholes. But overall, the ride was pleasant and the Forester maneuvered through traffic with ease. Steering had a bit of a light feel.

Considerable noise came inside, though. I heard road noise from the 17-inch tires and the racket of semi-haulers and delivery trucks as they passed by. The Forester doors felt and sounded less than impressive, with a lightweight, tinny character.

The driver doesn't do anything to activate the all-wheel drive. The system operates on its own to ensure good, four-wheel traction.

The revised, 2.5-liter four cylinder comes with double overhead cams and is the traditional "boxer" engine layout, which means that pistons move in a horizontal plane.

Horsepower remains the 170 that it was in last year's base engine. But the engine stroke now is longer and compression ratio is up, so there are 4 more foot-pounds of torque — to 174 — and peak torque is available sooner than before, at 4,100 rpm.

The manual transmission is a five-speed, but the automatic is a four-speed that worked smoothly in the test Forester but seemed a bit outdated by competitors' standards.

For example, the 2011 Nissan Juke with fuel-conscious continuously variable transmission (CVT) has a federal government combined city/highway fuel mileage rating that's 15 percent higher than that of the base Forester.

Specifically, the 2011 Forester 2.5X tester with new engine is rated at 21 mpg in city driving and 27 mpg on the highway. This is the rating for both manual and automatic transmission models. But in the test car, I scarcely managed 20.4 mpg in driving that was 65 percent city and 35 percent highway.

In comparison, an all-wheel drive Juke with turbo four cylinder and CVT is rated by the U.S. government at 25/30 mpg, and a 2011 Tucson with naturally aspirated four cylinder, six-speed automatic and all-wheel drive is rated at 21/28 mpg.

Note that the Forester has a 224-horsepower, turbocharged four-cylinder engine offering for upper models, with lower fuel mileage rating of 19/24 mpg. Subaru has not brought to the United States the fuel-efficient diesel engine that it uses in cars in Europe.

I liked the Forester 2.5X Premium tester's black roof rails, which added an SUV look. Many other crossover SUVs have taken the rails off low-end models.

The test vehicle also had heated front seats that were cloth-covered, so I didn't have to opt up for leather to get the seat heaters.

Overall, the Forester has a no-nonsense, non-glitzy appearance with good proportions. But the car never got a second glance from passersby.

My major complaint is the optional TomTom navigation system that's part of an unbelievably tiny and idiotic radio faceplate. The little knob to change band and stations felt so flimsy I was afraid it would break off.

The TomTom unit with 4.3-inch screen is removable from its spot atop the center of the dashboard. But so many cell phones now offer GPS aids with screens that size, I wondered about the logic of this offering.

Cargo space at the back of the Forester is flat and wide. While the key fob on the tester had a button for the liftgate, it only unlocked it; I had to manually disengage the latch and pull it up.

Predicted reliability, per Consumer Reports records, is average for the 2011 Forester.

Standard safety features include frontal and curtain air bags, electronic stability control, traction control and brake assist.

The 2011 Forester is rated four out of five stars in overall federal government crash testing, with side crash protection rated three stars out of five.

Note that in calendar 2010, the Forester ranked as the No. 1 imported vehicle from Japan in U.S. sales, tallying 85,080 sales, according to industry trade journal Automotive News.

U.S., Global Health Care Leaders to Convene in Washington D.C., April 4-6, for 8th Annual World Health Care Congress

Whole Foods Market CEO John Mackey, Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini, U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, among 1,800 senior leaders from all sectors of health care industry to attend

WASHINGTON, March 29, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The 8th Annual World Health Care Congress (WHCC)will convene next week, April 4-6, 2011 in Washington D.C. with more than 1,800 health care leaders to address the challenges of health reform, cost, quality and delivery. This event presents leading-edge news and insights from all industry sectors, including Fortune 500 companies, insurers, hospitals and health systems, pharmaceutical and biotech executives, academics, analysts and government officials.

WHAT: The 8th Annual World Health Care Congress

WHEN: April 4-6, 2011

WHERE: Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, National Harbor, MD

For a more detailed Congress agenda, keynote sessions and key speakers available for interview, please visit .

The faculty of 200 speakers includes:

John Mackey, CEO, Whole Foods Market

Mark Bertolini, CEO and President, Aetna

David Cordani, CEO, CIGNA

U.S. Sen. Max Baucus (D-Montana)

Douglas Elmendorf, Director, Congressional Budget Office

Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, PhD, Chair, Clinical Center Department of Bioethics, National Institutes of Health

Toby Cosgrove, CEO and President, Cleveland Clinic

George Halvorson, Chairman and CEO, Kaiser Permanente

Todd Park, Chief Technology Officer, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Phil Bredesen, 48th Governor, Tennessee

Jonathan B. Perlin, MD, President, Clinical Services and Chief Medical Officer, HCA

New focuses for 2011 include:

The Status of health reform after one yearAccountable Care OrganizationsState health policy issuesStrategies for prevention, wellness and health promotionNext generation health IT and mHealthThe World Health Innovation SummitThe 8th Annual World Health Care Congress (WHCC) is World Congress' flagship event in which more than 1,800 health care, government and corporate leaders formulate solutions to the challenges of health care cost, quality and delivery. WHCC convenes the major sectors in health care to determine actionable goals and implementation strategies to demonstrate quality, consumer choice, cost-effectiveness and transparency. The 8th Annual World Health Care Congress is organized with support from: Presidential Sponsor Alere, Official Well-Being Sponsor Healthways, Official Healthcare Decisions Sponsors Health Dialog, Official Innovation Series Sponsor UnitedHealth Group, and educational underwriters, McKessson, VITAS Innovative Hospice Care, Kaiser Permanente, Cisco, TriZetto, Accretive Health, Booz & Company, GE healthymagination, Alcatel-Lucent, Healthstat, Access MediQuip, Allscripts, VSP Vision Care, Eliza, Aetna, AmericanWell, Thomson Reuters, Companion Data Services, CareLogistics, Ortho-McNeil, HealthHub powered by PayFlex, and Healthwise.

Contact: Patrick Golden, Director of Communications, World Congress

SOURCEWorld Health Care Congress

8db - Various Artists .Majestad Negroide - La Sista .Dohr and Mangold | Sunrise 5.30 A.M. .Various Artists - Beatmart presents .Dimitri from Paris | In the mix (13 august 2006)

'Wimpy Kid' knocks out 'Sucker Punch' at box office

"Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules," the second screen adaptation from the popular kids book series, earned $23.8 million at the weekend box office, industry data showed Monday.

The original film, "Diary of a Wimpy Kid," was released just last March, opening to $22.1 million and ultimately grossing $64 million in the United States.

Box office tracker Exhibitor Relations reported that second place went to "Sucker Punch," an action fantasy flick about a group of young vixens busting out of an insane asylum, which debuted at $19.1 million dollars.

Last week's box office winner "Limitless," a sci-fi film starring Bradley Cooper as an author who taps his brain's full potential after sampling a revolutionary new drug, fell to third with $15.1 million in sales.

Fourth place went to the Matthew McConaughey-starring drama "The Lincoln Lawyer" which grossed $10.8 million.

Paramount's eccentric animated film "Rango," with the voice talent of Johnny Depp in a tale about a chameleon who becomes sheriff to clean up the town of Dirt, was fifth with $9.8 million in ticket sales.

Science fiction romp "Paul" took in $7.9 million to make sixth place, followed by "Battle: Los Angeles" about a unit of alien-fighting US Marines, which made $7.6 million in tickets sold across North America.

The gothic fairytale retelling "Red Riding Hood," was eighth with $4.3 million in sales.

The ninth spot went "The Adjustment Bureau" with $4.3 million, while "Mars Needs Moms!" fell two places to take the number 10 spot, with $2.3 million.

Dice-K donates $1 mn to quake aid

Boston pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka is donating $1 million to the Red Sox' official charity for victims of the earthquake and tsunami in his native Japan.

The Red Sox said Friday that his gift to the Red Sox Foundation will be sent to the Japanese Red Cross Society to aid response to the March 11 disaster, which also spawned an atomic crisis thanks to damage to the Fukushima nuclear plant.

Boston's other Japanese hurlers, Hideki Okajima, Junichi Tazawa and Itsuki Shoda, have also made personal donations and joined Matsuzaka, team captain Jason Varitek and others in collecting donations from fans at two spring training games in Florida.

The death toll from Japan's worst post-war disaster had topped 10,000 by Friday, and there was scant hope for 17,500 others still missing.

Matsuzaka, a native of Tokyo, was already a star in Japan when he joined the Red Sox in December 2006, inking a 52 million-dollar, six-year contract.

He became the first Japanese pitcher to start a World Series game as Boston won the Fall Classic in his first Major League season.

"Our efforts on the field are dedicated to all who are suffering from this catastrophe," Matsuzaka said in a videotaped message released by the Red Sox earlier this month. "We are in this together, so we must overcome tragedy together."

NASA's Comet-Hunting Probe Takes Aim at Icy Valentine

A NASA spacecraft is fine-tuning its approach to an icy comet and has already snapped photos of it ahead of a planned Valentine's Day visit.

The space agency's Stardust-NExT mission is just one week away from zooming by the comet Tempel 1 Feb. 14 to see what's new since the comet was last visited by a spacecraft in July 2005. Comet Tempel 1 is a ball of ice and rock that orbits the sun every 5½ years.

Scientists say the spacecraft is on track for next week's encounter after firing its thrusters last week to refine its path.

"Encountering something as small and fast as a comet in the vastness of space is always a challenge, but we are very pleased with how things are setting up for our Valentine's Day flyby," Joe Veverka, a Cornell University researcher and principal investigator for the mission, said in a statement.

The Stardust spacecraft snapped its first photos of Tempel 1 Jan. 18-19 from distances of 16.3 million miles (26.3 million kilometers), and 15.8 million miles (25.4 million km), respectively.

"This is the first of many images to come of comet Tempel 1," Veverka said.

The upcoming rendezvous is a bonus mission for the Stardust spacecraft, which completed its primary goal in 2006 when it flew past comet Wild 2 and sent a sample of particles from its coma to Earth. The probe was launched in February 1999. The NExT mission stands for New Exploration of Tempel 1.

Stardust will fly within 124 miles (200 kilometers) of comet Tempel 1 during its closest approach, which will occur at 11:56 p.m. EST on Feb. 14 (0456 GMT Feb. 15).

In addition to capturing high-resolution images of the comet's surface, Stardust-NExT will measure the composition, size distribution and flux of dust particles in the coma, the tenuous atmosphere around the comet's nucleus.

Tempel 1 was visited by NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft, which deliberately sent one of its components crashing into the comet, then took photographs of the cloud of debris that spewed out from the impact. The mission was unable to get clear pictures of the newly formed crater because the dust cloud obscured the view.

NASA hopes to complete that unfinished business by imaging the crater with Stardust-NExT. This second encounter with Tempel 1 also could teach scientists more about comets in general, and how they formed along with the rest of the solar system around 4.6 billion years ago.

The Stardust-NExT science mission is operated out of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Lockheed Martin Space Systems of Denver built the probe and manages the day-to-day spacecraft operations.

You can follow SPACE.com senior writer Clara Moskowitz on Twitter @ClaraMoskowitz.