Curtain comes down on KDF meet.
Nanyuki-based sprinter Maurice Wasike set a new national record in men’s 100 metres on Thursday as the curtain came down on Kenya Defence Forces Athletics Championships at Nyayo National Stadium.
At the same time, Marsabit-based 10,000 metres runner Joyciline Jepkosgei led big names in winning their races at the championship.
Wasike clocked 9.9 seconds to erase Mike Mokamba’s record of 10.23 seconds set in July 2015 at Kasarani Stadium. Wasike also met the qualifying time for World Championships of 10.12 seconds.
Jepkosgei continued her record-breaking performance this year after she bagged the 10,000m title in 32 minutes, 26.3 seconds in the process erasing the previous KDF record of 32:51.26 held by J Ngotho since 1990.
Last month, the 23-year-old broke the 10km, 15kms, 20km and World Half Marathon records at the Prague Half Marathon in Czech Republic. She also set a new course record at the Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon in Japan.
“It was a tough race. I thank God I came out on top. This was my first race on the track this year and I’m happy to have won,” she said in an interview after emerging victorious and predicted that competition will be even tougher at the national championships in June.
Africa 5,000m champion Sheila Chepkirui and 2006 World Junior 3,000m champion Veronica Nyaruai took second and third positions in 32:35.0 and 32:51.0 respectively.
Alphas Kishoyian, the 2011 World Youth 400m silver medalist, reigned supreme in his specialt, winning in 45.7 seconds. He also triumphed in men’s 200m race, where he timed 20.3 seconds for victory.
Kishoyian said he has now trained his eyes on winning the 400m race in 45.2 seconds at the nationals to qualify for World Championships slated for London in August.
He missed the 400m qualifying time by two seconds. He met the entry standard for 200m, which is 20.44 seconds.
Olympic 400m hurdles silver medalist Boniface Mucheru won his category in 51.2 seconds. Willy Mbevi was his closest challenger, finishing 0.3 seconds behind.
Former African champion Abel Mutai won the 3,000m steeplechase title.


The first teaser for the new Pixar film Coco was basically a two-minute movie, telling a story about a boy who likes to play guitar and accidentally finds himself transported into the Land Of The Dead. This new trailer loses a bit of style points by resorting to a traditional narrator for the setup, but it does feature a deeper glimpse into the place where dead people live (so to speak), showing some kind of dead train station, an office where dead families are reunited, and a dead checkpoint between the living world and the dead one—along with a solid “jaw drop” gag. It all still looks a bit too reminiscent of the classic adventure game Grim Fandango, but the vast majority of moviegoers have probably never heard of that game anyway.
Coco stars Benjamin Bratt, Gael García Bernal, and newcomer Anthony Gonzalez. It was directed by Toy Story 3’s Lee Unkrich and Monsters University’s Adrian Molina, and it will be in theaters on November 22 (which should give you plenty of time to play Grim Fandango).


Developer Dudley Webb said the changes were made in response to concerns raised by the board at the August meeting.
"We're tweaking the designs to make them better," he said. Webb said changes to the office building — making it a flat, reflective surface — also were made at the request of the building's main tenant.
The new design will be discussed at a special Oct. 9 meeting.
Webb said the project could have gone forward under the designs approved in August. But The Webb Companies wanted to make the changes to address the board's concerns.
After the Aug. 21 meeting, EOP Architects, the architects for the development, announced that it was pulling out of the project. CMMI of Atlanta, the original architects for the project, filed the latest designs Wednesday.
The project has gone through several architects since it was announced in 2008. It also has been followed by controversy. Properties on the block were razed, but the development stalled for years after an unnamed European financial backer died.
Webb said Wednesday that a ceremonial groundbreaking was scheduled for mid-October; construction could begin in early November.
He has said that all construction — except the inside of the hotel — would be completed by June 2015. Webb has said he has a tenant for the office space but has not disclosed the tenant's identity. The $393.9 million price tag includes construction and financing costs.


A MIND-boggling video of a woman juggling three balls has gone viral, with viewers jokingly claiming she has three arms.
The video, which was uploaded to Twitter on Tuesday, shows a woman juggling three lit up balls, two of which are blue with the third coloured red.
Graphics onscreen instruct viewers to follow the red ball.
At first, all seems fine in the video as the woman begins only juggling with the blue balls.
She turns it up a notch and introduces the red ball, which turns blue shortly after.
People can only answer HALF of these questions – can you do any better?
Parents are STRUGGLING with this seven-year-old’s homework – can you work it out?
The woman manages to juggle two of the balls in her right hand while catching the third in her left hand.
She then drops the third ball into her right hand creating a mind-boggling illusion.
Throughout the 25-second clip, the woman passes the extra juggling prop between her right and left hand proving it difficult for viewers to keep their eye on the original red coloured ball.
At the end of the clip, the woman holds all three balls in her hand, giving the viewer an opportunity to guess which was the red one.
But the answer isn't given.
Within days of being uploaded, close to 3million people had watched the clip.
Many of which claimed ball one was the right answer, with others stating they thought different.
“This is crazy, but it’s one right?” one asked.
Optical illusions are often hitting the headlines after leaving viewers confused.
Researchers from Harvard University developed a new optical illusion leaving people questioning the difference between two colours.
Spot-the-pea puzzle leaves internet users scratching their heads – can you find it?
Puzzle features flying object among planes – can you spot it in less than 28 seconds?


RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A winter storm on Sunday dumped several inches of snow on a band of southern states, triggering accidents on slippery roads and knocking out power to tens of thousands.
The storm brought wet snow to parts of Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.
In northern Tennessee, about 20 vehicles were involved in crashes along a three-mile stretch of Interstate 75 near the Kentucky border on Sunday afternoon.
Tennessee Highway Patrol Sgt. Stacy Heatherly said the crashes were reported shortly before 2 p.m. Sunday in near "white-out" conditions caused by heavy snowfall and fog. Police said a juvenile was seriously injured. All lanes of Interstate 75 had reopened by early evening.
Dozens of wrecks were also reported in North Carolina as snow, sleet and rain fell with little accumulation, according to The Winston-Salem Journal.
In Virginia, the northbound lanes of Interstate 95 were shut down following a two-vehicle crash that critically injured one man, The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported. The accident was reported at about 6:20 p.m. on I-95 near the interchange with Interstate 295 in Prince George County. The male diver of one vehicle suffered life-threatening injuries, and an adult male passenger in his vehicle was hospitalized.
Snow began sticking in the Richmond area after dark, and Virginia State Police had responded to about 350 crashes by early evening.
Appalachian Power was reporting that 52,000 customers were without power Sunday night in central and southern Virginia, as well as West Virginia. Light snow was also falling on some parts of the Washington, D.C., area.


SINGAPORE - One in two million meals costs, well, $2 million for a willing couple at Singapore's high-end Ce La Vi restaurant, as part of a dining event claiming to offer the world's most expensive dinner.
At a preview for the dinner Wednesday, which included samples of slow-cooked pigeon and sea bass with orange glaze sauce an epa journalist reported that the food was flavorsome and very well crafted from seasonal ingredients.
The dinner will be a joint effort between the Russian World Of Diamonds Group and Ce La Vi, according to a press release on the gala.
Though there were no reports yet of who has booked the dinner, the first couple to do so will on that evening enjoy a 45-minute helicopter ride and a luxury private cruise.
The pair will then dine at Ce La Vi, surrounded by 10,000 fresh roses, and indulge in an 18-course Modern Asian dinner consisting of various meat and seafood delicacies sourced from around the world.
As they eat, they will hold personalized diamond-studded chopsticks worth $17,000 a pair.
Forty-four and 55-year-old vintage wines and champagnes will be on hand to wash down the delectable dishes.
The final course includes an exquisite French pastry dish, a dark chocolate croquembouche, and a 2.08 carat Jane Seymour diamond ring.
Topping off the evening will be servings of fine cognac and a fireworks display.
Bookings for this pricey evening must be made at least one month in advance, but lucky winners of the lottery, or those with $2 million kicking around, might be disappointed, because as the press release states, "the experience will only be sold to a qualified individual - at the discretion of both World Of Diamonds Group and Ce La Vi."


The right PJs make everything easier.
Sure, not everyone is seeing your pajamas—but that doesn't mean it isn't worth getting a good pair. Not only will you not embarrass yourself in front of overnight guests (surprise, or otherwise), but clothes dedicated to sleeping actually help your mind get into relaxation mode. Here are some of your most stylish options.
Every man has a place in his lounge drawer for a solid set of Hanes.
There's a reason people love slippers: They really are that comfortable.
For hanging around, or for laid-back trips to the store.
Tommy John's signature stretch joggers are so comfortable they don't require a shirt (though you can still wear one if you like).
Who needs Egyptian cotton sheets when you have a silky shirt like this one?
Sweatshorts are just as comfortable as boxers—and much more appropriate for pre-sleep lounging on the couch.
A crisp navy PJ shirt is the most mature version we can think of.
Not a fan of pajamas? A socks-and-boxers set should do the trick.
And this is what you should answer the door in, if you're only wearing those boxers.
Cleverly Laundry's goods are straightforward and comfortable. The brand also makes sheets, if you're in the market.
These are meant for sleeping, but they're also ideal for weekend lounging.


A man with an apparent penchant for yard work told lawmen he intended to return a shopping list of items he "borrowed" from an Okaloosa County Road Department facility, including grass seed and a pipe-setting laser.
CRESTVIEW � A man with an apparent penchant for yard work told lawmen he intended to return a shopping list of items he "borrowed" from an Okaloosa County Road Department facility, including grass seed and a pipe-setting laser.
During the months of July and August, the man, 25-year-old Dennis Randazzo of Crestview, allegedly took four bags of rye grass seed (which he spread on his property), a weed whacker, a generator, a seed spreader, a chain saw, a demo saw, miscellaneous tools, a tripod, and a pipe-setting laser.
When questioned by the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office, Randazzo admitted to "borrowing" the items but said he planned to return them. He said once he heard he was under investigation for stealing the items, he gathered them all � except the laser � and returned them. He then turned that over, too.
Total value of the items was $6,480.
He was arrested Nov. 7 on a grand theft charge. His court date is Jan. 15.


Donald Trump and Theresa May are struggling to keep their handholding relationship special. This time they're bickering over proposed steel taxes, adding to a growing feeling that a conscious uncoupling may lie ahead.
Insiders have revealed that the British PM was forced to confront US President Donald Trump again, after POTUS revealed plans to impose tariffs on metals imports. The Donald wants to add a tax of 25 percent on imported steel, and 10 percent on aluminum to save the flailing US industry.
Trump also said that, if the EU retaliated over the proposed tariffs, the US would put a tax on cars made in the European Union. Insiders say UK PM Theresa May expressed her fears over the proposed taxes (and subsequent threat) to him by telephone yesterday afternoon. “The prime minister raised our deep concern at the president’s forthcoming announcement on steel and aluminum tariffs, noting that multilateral action was the only way to resolve the problem of global overcapacity in all parties’ interests,” a spokeswoman said.
This isn’t the first time that May and Trump have disagreed. In recent months, Trump’s canceled state visit to the United Kingdom symbolized the deterioration of the previously unbreakable UK-US special relationship. Under the guise of issues with the new US embassy in London, Trump snubbed May’s offer of a state visit.
Citing senior current and former government officials as sources, Bloomberg News reported that phone calls between Trump and May have since headed south. They said that May now “finds it impossible to make headway and get her points across. Trump totally dominates the discussion, leaving the prime minister with five or 10 seconds to speak before he interrupts and launches into another monologue,” the insider told Bloomberg.
The US president – in his usual form – has also been unafraid to take swipes at Theresa May on Twitter (albeit the wrong Theresa May). Trump hit back at the person he thought was Britain's leader when the UK PM condemned his retweeting of anti-Islamic videos that were initially shared by Jayda Fransen, deputy leader of the far-right political group Britain First. In reality, he tweet-attacked an innocent woman from Suffolk with only six followers, who also unfortunately had the name Theresa May. The tweet was deleted 14 minutes later by the US president, before being reposted, tagging the right Theresa May.
According to anonymous sources cited by the Daily Mail, Trump complained to May about criticism he has faced in the British media. He told May in one phone call that he “would not be coming to the UK until she could promise him a warm welcome,” amid threats that the president would face mass street protests upon his visit.


When I was working on the Badnarik campaign, Kevin Zeese was my counterpart in the Nader camp. Rumors have abounded for some time that he is running for US Senate in Maryland. They were confirmed today yesterday (I’m back in campaign mode and don’t realize what time of day it is) by the Baltimore Sun and the Business Gazette.
Zeese, 49, an attorney, is running as an Independent in the hopes of galvanizing support from the Green, Libertarian and Populist parties while attracting voters from the Democrat and Republican candidates.
He plans to make the war in Iraq a central theme of his campaign, and drew a parallel between the war and the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina.
“Katrina is the Iraq war coming home to roost. Instead of taking care of our crumbling infrastructure, misplaced federal spending priorities have made our entire nation vulnerable,” Zeese said in a statement.
He said anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, whose son was killed in Iraq, is going to headline an event for him at the University of Maryland later this month.
I’ve met with Zeese before (pertaining to a C-SPAN panel I was on, but mostly related to Ohio recount issues), and consumed a couple of cell phone charges with him, too. He’s a good guy, knows his stuff, is well connected, and presents himself well. I’ll be watching the fundraising, but an early prediction is that this may well be a race to watch closely.


Presidents of Tanzania and Uganda launched a presidential campaign calling on the European Union (EU) to lift sanctions against neighbouring Burundi.
Tanzania’s Magufuli and Uganda’s Museveni spoke on Saturday in the Tanzanian capital, Dar es Salaam, where leaders of the East Africa Community (EAC) met for the 18th Ordinary Summit of Heads of State.
They (Europeans) are taking sanctions against Burundi when they are also facing difficulties at home like the Brexit.
He added that the group also firmly objected to threats by the EU to harm Kenya. He said the failure to sign the EPA was partly because of sanctions on Burundi.
Burundi is our member and no action should be taken against it without our input. Our house is our house.
Also, we don’t agree with the EU placing unilateral sanctions on Burundi. It’s part of why we have not signed the EPA.
The call was, however, immediately rejected by the EU diplomat who was present at the summit, reiterating that sanctions will remain if the current situation pertains. “The sanctions will remain in place as long as the situation does not change,” EU ambassador to Tanzania and EAC, Roeland van de Geer said.
The Tanzanian President for his part advised Europe to focus on their own problems. “They (Europeans) are taking sanctions against Burundi when they are also facing difficulties at home like the Brexit,” he said.
Burundi is experiencing a serious political crisis which started since April 2015 when President Pierre Nkurunziza presented himself as a candidate for a third controversial mandate. He was subsequently re-elected in July of the same year.
The violence has already claimed 500 to 2,000 lives, according to UN and NGO sources. Hundreds of cases of enforced disappearances and torture have forced more than 400,000 Burundians into exile.
Travel ban and assets freeze: has the EU renewed sanctions on Burundi?


Mississippi State quarterback Nick Fitzgerald was named Monday as the SEC Co-Offensive Player of the Week, the league office announced.
Fitzgerald accounted for 329 yards total offense and four touchdowns, including a career-long, game-clinching 76-yard TD run with 2:17 to play, as the Bulldogs knocked off No. 17 Texas A&M, 28-13, Saturday in Starkville.
“It felt good to go out there and have a good game,” said Fitzgerald, who threw four interceptions in a 19-3 loss at LSU two weeks ago.
He bounced back against the Aggies, throwing for a season-high 241 yards and two TDs on 14-of-22 accuracy. Fitzgerald’s passing yardage was his most in an SEC game since throwing for 328 on Nov. 19, 2016 as a sophomore against Arkansas.
“That’s the way we expect Nick Fitzgerald to play,” MSU coach Joe Moorhead said.
Fitzgerald also tied the MSU career record for rushing scores with 42, matching running back Anthony Dixon (2006-09).
Monday’s honor was the third time this season that Fitzgerald won the league’s Offensive Player of the Week and the seventh time in his MSU career.
Previous State starting QB Dak Prescott won the award five times in his career.
Fitzgerald shared the award this time with Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm, who threw for 240 yards and three touchdowns in the Bulldogs’ 36-17 victory over Florida.
Among the other weekly award winners are a pair of South Carolina brothers.
South Carolina senior end South Carolina end D.J. Wonnum was named Defensive Lineman of the Week. Younger brother Gamecocks’ freshman offensive tackle Dylan Wonnum was tabbed as Freshman of the Week.
Other SEC weekly winners are Kentucky linebacker Josh Allen (defense), Kentucky punt returner Lynn Bowden (special teams) and Vanderbilt tackle Justin Skule (offensive lineman).


LOS ANGELES Patty Andrews, the last surviving member of the singing Andrews Sisters trio whose hits such as the rollicking "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B" and the poignant "I Can Dream, Can't I?" captured the home-front spirit of World War II, died Wednesday. She was 94.
She could also deliver sentimental ballads like "I'll Be with You in Apple Blossom Time" with a sincerity that caused hardened soldiers far from home to weep.
From the late 1930s through the 1940s, the Andrews Sisters produced one hit record after another, beginning with "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen" in 1937 and continuing with "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar," ''Rum and Coca-Cola" and more. They recorded more than 400 songs and sold over 80 million records, several of them gold (over a million copies).
The Andrews' rise coincided with the advent of swing music, and their style fit perfectly into the new craze. They aimed at reproducing the sound of three harmonizing trumpets.
Bette Midler's 1973 cover of "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" revived interest in the trio. The two survivors joined in 1974 for a Broadway show, "Over Here!" It ran for more than a year, but disputes with the producers led to the cancellation of the national tour of the show, and the sisters did not perform together again.
Her father, Peter Andrews, was a Greek immigrant who anglicized his name of Andreus when he arrived in America; his wife, Olga, was a Norwegian with a love of music. LaVerne was born in 1911, Maxine (later Maxene) in 1916, Patricia (later Patty, sometimes Patti) in 1918, though some sources say 1920.
Their only disappointment was the movies. Universal was a penny-pinching studio that ground out product to fit the lower half of a double feature. The sisters were seldom involved in the plots, being used for musical interludes in film with titles such as "Private Buckaroo," "Swingtime Johnny" and "Moonlight and Cactus."
Their only hit was "Buck Privates," which made stars of Abbott and Costello and included the trio's blockbuster "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy from Company B."
"We had been together nearly all our lives," Patty explained in 1971. "Then in one year our dream world ended. Our mother died and then our father. All three of us were upset, and we were at each other's throats all the time."


WASHINGTON, Nov 13 2013 (IPS) - Asylum seekers who travel to the United States to escape persecution in their home countries receive no assistance from the U.S. government and are not allowed to work for months, which activists say lead many to live on the streets or work illegally.
And despite a recent high-level judicial decision on the issue, many say only action by Congress will be able to fix the problem permanently.
Current U.S. law bars asylum-seekers entering the United States from applying for work authorisation for at least six months, a timeframe that is often only a minimum. In fact, waiting times can typically extend for several additional months due to what is known as the “asylum clock”, a term used to describe the six-month period during which asylum-seekers wait for their claims to be adjudicated by U.S. immigration laws.
The issue is discussed at length in a new report from Human Rights Watch, which notes that the main feature of the clock is its ability to start and stop because of what are also called “applicant-caused delays” (ACD). These can range from an applicant’s inability to find an attorney, to his or her decision to postpone a hearing.
“The [ACD] provisions are actually a result of regulations implemented by the two main federal agencies that deal with asylum-seekers,” Mary Kenney, a senior attorney at the American Immigration Council (AIC), a non-profit here, told IPS.
The two federal agencies Kenney refers to are the U.S. Citizens and Immigration Services (USCIS), which is a part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR), an agency of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) that adjudicates immigration cases.
On the other hand, the asylum clock regulation is a result of the way the legislation was implemented by the USCIS and the EOIR, she notes.
Although it declined to comment on the report itself, a USCIS spokesman told IPS that the recommendations brought forward by HRW, which include legislative amendments to two U.S. statutes, would require legislative action, a process which USCIS, as a federal agency that implements congressional legislation, is not a part of.
Nevertheless, things seem to be moving in the right direction for asylum seekers. In light of the difficulties of going through the legislative process, some have opted for a less direct approach by attempting to change some of the regulations that implement current U.S. law.
Last week, a judge in the state of Washington ordered the approval of a nationwide class action settlement agreement, which originated from a case filed in 2011 by the AIC and the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP), an organisation based in Seattle that assists immigrants and refugees.
Due to this settlement, beginning Dec. 3 some of the “clock” hurdles currently faced by asylum seekers are going to give way to a fairer and more transparent process, advocates say.
Another major improvement has to do with those instances in which a judge denies the application and the applicant appeals to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), the highest administrative body that interprets and applies immigration law. Prior to the recent settlement, handed down Nov. 4, an appeal immediately brought the asylum clock to a halt, even if the BIA later reversed the judge’s decision and sent the case back down for consideration.
This is a major change, she says.
The settlement contains other improvements, as well, including more flexible and transparent USCIS practices likely to contribute to fewer bureaucratic problems for people who apply for asylum status in the United States.
The Nov. 4 settlement will make it easier for asylum seekers to obtain work authorisation within a reasonable time. But according to Human Rights Watch, much remains to be done to permanently rectify this issue.
Often, he says, asylum-seekers find themselves with no work and are forced to live on the streets, subsisting off of food provided by charities.
The report calls on the U.S. Congress to repeal the provisions concerning work authorisation in the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA), and amend Section 208 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), by allowing asylum seekers to apply for work authorisation as early as 30 days after filing their application.
For now, the settlement amends some of the regulations, but the IIRIRA and INA have remained untouched.
The EOIR declined to comment on these recommendations, but told IPS that the agency stands by the Nov. 4 settlement agreement. On Nov. 21, the EOIR will hold a teleconference to assist stakeholders in understanding the terms of the settlement, with more information available here.


The Mesilla Valley Christian volleyball team won the District 3-2A tournament title on Saturday.
The Mesilla Valley Christian volleyball team won the District 3-2A tournament title on Saturday with a 3-0 win over Capitan (25-18, 25-20 25-14) at Mesilla Valley Christian School.
The SonBlazers (16-2) should get a high seed for the Class 2A state tournament when the field is announced on Sunday.
LAS CRUCES – New Mexico State volleyball hosted California Baptist in a conference clash at the Pan American Center on Saturday, The Aggies reached the 20-win mark by downing the Lancers 25-16, 11-25, 25-8, 25-20 in the match.
"I thought we attacked the ball pretty well. Except the one stretch in the second set, we were pretty balanced" NM State head coach Mike Jordan said. "We defended a lot better than we did the first time we placed this team. Also, to serve 10 aces against what I believe has been the best passing team in the league is impressive. Overall, it was a great team win."
NM State reached the 20-win mark with the victory, making it the 15th time in the last 17 seasons that the Aggies have reached the milestone. In the victory, New Mexico State tallied 51 kills on hitting .290 for the match. Savannah Davison led all players with 14 kills and posted a double-double when she added 12 digs in the win. Tatyana Battle led the NM State squad with 20 digs and her 13 kills gave her the 17th double-double of her senior campaign. Natalie Mikels led the team with 23 assists and four aces while Brigette Lowe had a squad-best three blocks.
The Aggies close out the regular season with a pair of matches at home. NM State hosts UMKC on Thursday at 6 p.m. before welcoming Chicago State for a Senior Day match next Saturday at 2 p.m.
The Santa Teresa volleyball team won the District 3-4A tournament title with a 3-0 win over Silver (25-15, 25- 20, 25-19) on Saturday.
The Desert Warriors (15-6) will find out their seed for the Class 4A state tournament on Sunday.
Area prep cross country runners competed at the state championships at Rio Rancho High School on Saturday.
The Oñate boys finished in 10th place (259 points) with Centennial 12th (281) and Las Cruces 14th (367).
Mayfield's Nickolas Yacone was the highest finishing area runner at 15th at 17:04.80.
The Oñate girls finished in ninth place (261) with Centennial 12th (282).
Oñate's Sage Payne (20:10.00) was the highest finishing area runner at 17th.


Howard Rheingold is truly a digital elder, and I mean that in the most respectful, old-school way. All of the fetishizing of the "digital native" can distract us from the wisdom of those who experienced and shaped the birth of internet culture, and Rheingold was right there, in time and in space. His new TED Book, Mind Amplifier: Can Our Digital Tools Make Us Smarter? traces the history of mental augmentation in its social, cognitive and technological forms.
Things were far more idealistic and countercultural in the early days of the digital revolution. I was most intrigued in Mind Amplifier by Rheingold's mention of Ivan Illich's idea of "convivial tools." To be convivial is to be social both inwardly and outwardly—playful and open with oneself and others. "I consider conviviality to be individual freedom realized in personal interdependence and, as such, an intrinsic ethical value," wrote Illich. "I believe that, in any society, as conviviality is reduced below a certain level, no amount of industrial productivity can effectively satisfy the needs it creates among society’s members."
Even more pointedly, Illich believed that, "The future depends more upon our choice of institutions which support a life of action than on our developing new ideologies and technologies." This is a helpful thought in a society that has placed more attention on the fact of digital technologies (the new iPhone!) than on what we do with them. Rheingold writes that "only a fraction of those who have access to networked mind-amplifiers know how to use them convivially." I asked him if he could give a contemporary example of an online community whose members have a high degree of convivial literacy?
"Any disease support community is a place of deep bonds and empathy, and there are thousands if not tens of thousands of them," Rheingold replied. "I direct my students to a few conversation threads that exemplify substantial, civil, intelligent online discussions. Here is one about online identity. Here is one on Atlantic.com commenting on Nicholas Carr's article, "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" Here is a thread on a blog about The Dark Side of Digital Backchannels. The conversations on edge.org are generally very high quality. Local neighborhood discussions on nextdoor.com are generally, although not always, friendly and informative."
So, he makes clear, there is plenty of intelligent life in the universe, but not in the most obvious places. I thought his raising of disease support communities as a prime example was telling. In general on the internet, good behavior is positively correlated with real name identity. But disease communities often require pseudonymity or anonymity to protect its members, but the participants do not abuse the privilege. The dustup over the weekend where Reddit moderators blocked Gawker posts in retaliation to Adrian Chen's outing of uber-troll ViolentAcrez, pointed out to me how anonymity is more likely to be abused when what is being communicated doesn't really matter. The lives of people in online support groups literally depends on their participation in these "mind amplifiers."
For people who design these tools there is always the question of whether you can make tools that "teach people how to use them" or whether it's better to focus your energy on building social structures that make the use of the tools more "convivial." I asked Rheingold if this a false distinction.
"When most people think of technology, they think about the visible parts—the iPods and aircraft, skyscrapers and power plants—but all technologies, to some degree or another, are enmeshed in what Langdon Winner calls 'regimes,'" he said. "The environmental requirements and effects (mobile telephones require coltan, a 'conflict mineral' that costs lives as well as treasure), the political aspects (from AK-47s to nuclear weapons), the institutions that emerge or are destroyed (think of climate change or epidemiology), and the social arrangements that the technologies necessitate or strengthen or weaken. Surely there will be great benefits when the designers of technologies and those who finance them have some understanding of the potential effects of the tools they create on the physical, social, and mental environments."
"When designers replaced the command line interface with the graphical user interface, billions of people who are not programmers could make use of computer technology," he continued. "The market has driven designers to make smartphones and laptops easier to use, but now we have more complex environments as a result of the Internet as a platform for innovation. Schoolchildren are not taught how to distinguish accurate information from inaccurate information online—surely there are ways to design web-browsers to help with this task and ways to teach young people how to use the powerful online tools available to them. Design of tools has—as Illich pointed out—been accomplished in the absence of any consideration of their effects on social, cognitive, and political regimes. Designers can be better educated. And so can the users of their tools. So although it is not a false distinction, I believe that we'll see better tools with more convivial effects when both design and social institutions are taken into consideration."
But there must be other disciplines outside of computer science and social science that can help us to cooperate in ways that lead to emergent results. I've written a lot recently on music as something that is both an individual and social phenomenon and that encapsulates both openness to process and meta-cognitive self-awareness.
"Music and dance are great examples—and although we have no physical evidence, it is most likely that they preceded even speech," amplified Rheingold. "In fact, William Benzon in his book, Beethoven's Anvil, makes a case that music and dance originated as ways to coordinate human activities, and in turn laid the foundations for speech. The old model of learning—the sage on the stage—is being challenged by cooperative forms of co-learning in which teachers act as facilitators and students use the tools available, from search engines to smartphones, to learn collaboratively, with teachers acting as facilitators. The whole notion of meta-cognition, of treating attention as a trainable aspect of everyday thought, is a potential new discipline—although, of course, the contemplative traditions that teach mindfulness meditation are ancient. The emerging social-technical phenomenon of social production that has enabled the creation of the Web, Wikipedia, and open-source software is one part of an emerging theoretical and practical discipline of collective intelligence."
The notion of open source knowledge and collective intelligence reminds me of my conversations with Lars Hard at Expertmaker in San Francisco. He is developing tools for "knowledge design" that both help individuals capture and manipulate what they know, but that also help connect individual intelligence to different models and sources of knowledge. Lars gave me a demo of the software a few weeks ago and, although I wasn't thinking about it before I read through Mind Amplifier, the tools are indeed convivial. When you apply quantitative tools to your own qualitative knowledge you have to be open to what you don't know and open to what others may know better. I wondered if this was the kind of thing Rheingold is advocating?
"I had not been aware of Expertmaker, but it looks interesting indeed," he replied. "There is a lot of talk about 'big data' in regard to the huge amounts of information collected by services like Facebook and Googleand emerging technologies like sensors. Why not apply the quantitative tools that big data is driving to personal and collective knowledge augmentation?"I'm glad to say that in a recent post, The Knowledge Revolution Is Not About Big Data, It's About Well-Connected Little Data, I come to a similar conclusion. And, as Douglas Rushkoff argues in Program, or Be Programmed, if we don't actively use and shape these new digital knowledge tools for our own human purposes, we will be shaped by them in ways we will only realize later were not in our best interest.In keeping with my ongoing theme about the relevance of musical practice to technology, here is a quote from minimalist composer Philip Glassinterviewd in the context of a collaboration between himself and the pop musician Beck (who, in turn, curated a bunch of other collaborators) on an album of remixes of classic Glass compositions.
When I talk to young composers, I tell them, I know that you’re all worried about finding your voice. Actually you’re going to find your voice. By the time you’re 30, you’ll find it. But that’s not the problem. The problem is getting rid of it. You have to find an engine for change. And that’s what collaborative work does. Whatever we do together will make us different.


With the passing of British writer The Right Honourable The Lord Rees-Mogg, a voice that for more than 60 years resonated in the freedom firmament was stilled.
Upon graduation from Oxford in 1951 (as president of Oxford Union), William Rees-Mogg began his journalism career at The Financial Times in 1952. He moved to the Sunday Times in 1960, where he became editor in 1967, serving until 1981. He left the Times after the paper was purchased by Rupert Murdoch, returning years later as an occasional columnist on current affairs.
I saw Lord Rees-Mogg for lunch just several months ago in London. As always he was sharp, questioning me about the upcoming American election and giving [me] his take on world events and the global economy. His mind never slept.
In The Great Awakening, Rees-Mogg and Davidson thundered in 1991 about the coming recession that overtook the American economy just nine years later with the bursting of the dot.com bubble in March, 2000, when the NASDAQ peaked at 5,132 (at this writing it remains at just 3,000).
In extreme circumstances, paper money can lose all its value, [while] gold is still acceptable as payment.
We need ... to have permanent money, which can be relied upon to survive.... The historic value of gold has been astonishingly stable over centuries.
This [present system] is a system which could be blown away because there is nothing in it to gain confidence. Even a return to paper money would raise the level of reality attached to world currencies. There is a problem of raising the reality level of all currencies — a problem which nineteenth century economists solved by convertibility to gold.
He knew many of the great figures of his time, but was by no means persuaded that all was right with the world.
He was a very good writer. I will miss him.
Using his considerable influence as editor at the London Times and thereafter, he helped to blaze a trail into the future that has made the efforts and voices of others in the freedom firmament more credible, effective, and persuasive. Indeed, he will be missed.


SAN MARCOS, TX – Central Texas Medical Center’s volunteer auxiliary is hosting an upcoming book fair to support unfunded needs of the hospital.
On Friday, Nov. 14, Books Are Fun will be selling books, toys, CD’s and other items in the main classroom on the first floor at CTMC. The auxiliary recently hosted its first jewelry fundraiser which raised approximately $1,200 for the hospital. Wirewood Jewelry sold various pieces of handmade, natural stone jewelry and demonstrated several jewelry-making techniques.
The gift shop at CTMC is another way the hospital’s auxiliary raises extra funds for unmet needs. Items can be purchased for patients and delivered to their rooms by a volunteer. Delivery is free of charge and will occur within hours of placing the order. Popular items include flowers, balloons and stuffed animals.
For more information about how you can help, call (512) 753-3685. If you would like to purchase an item from the online gift shop, visit www.ctmc.org and click the Gift Shop link under the Care and Services tab.


A white woman shown on a viral video blocking a black man from entering a loft to his downtown St. Louis apartment was fired from her job Sunday, KMOV reported.
In a cellphone video posted to his Facebook page, D’Arreon Toles documented a confrontation between himself and a female tenant at the Elder Shirt Lofts. Toles, 24, said he was returning from a late shift Friday when the woman, who was walking a dog on a leash, asked what unit he lives in, the Post-Dispatch reported.
In the video, Toles can be heard telling the woman, "You are blocking me into my building. This is my building as well. So, I need you to get out of my way."
“I’m uncomfortable," the woman says in the video.
"OK, you can be uncomfortable," Toles says in the video.
In the video, the woman follows Toles to the front door of his apartment, KSDK reported.
Thirty minutes later, St. Louis police appeared at his apartment, according to Toles’ Facebook post. No citations were issued.
A St. Louis police sergeant confirmed a 911 call was made to the building, but no report was written, KSDK reported.
"Did this really just happen to me? It happened to me. I am really taken away by the moment," Toles told KMOV. "I was kind of blown away, shocked and like ‘Wow.’ I am just glad I had my camera out. If I did not have my camera out, I feel it could have gone a totally different way."
“To Be A Black man in America, & Come home,” Toles wrote on Facebook.
Tribeca-STL, a luxury apartment company that says it is a minority-owned business, confirmed that the woman worked for the company, KMOV reported. In a statement, the company’s owners said they were “disturbed” by the video. The company also said in its statement that the property did not belong to Tribeca-STL and that the employee was interacting with Toles at her own private residence.
“We do not and never will stand for racism or racial profiling at our company, Tribeca-STL said in its statement.
The woman, who has not been identified publicly, did not respond to requests for comment by several news organizations.


The Prime Minister has released the schedule of responsibilities that has been drawn up for the myriad Associate Ministers that this government has spawned. There are no fewer than 18 different ministers (out of an Executive of 26) running around associating themselves with other ministers. They span a mind-boggling 38 portfolios.
There’s the odd trouble shooting role moulded around the personal attributes of the minister in question. Trevor Mallard’s associate finance role is ominously described as “assisting the Minister with bilaterals conducted as part of the Budget process”.
Translated into the vernacular Albanian, this means cutting off the arms, legs and ears of unfortunate spending ministers in the pre-budget carnage that the Treasury sponsors each year as a way of staying within pre-agreed fiscal limits. Bill Birch personally savoured this role in the last government. It says something for Michael Cullen’s squeamishness that Trevor is to be hauled back from the gulag of chief executive terrorisation squads to impose fiscal discipline.
Then there are a raft of associations that are consolation prizes for those who didn’t make it through the cabinet door – Ruth Dyson handling replies to letters from embittered ACC claimants, Judith Tizard doing all the arts things Helen won’t have time to do as well as mysteriously “overseeing the Heart of the Nation”.
A bland series of delegations have Tariana Turia and Parekura Horomia tripping all over everyone as they involve themselves in “general policy development with particular regard to Maori”.
 working with the revenue minister on the arcane complexities of child support policy, compliance and penalty issues and the proposed “General Inquiry” into taxation.
There will be so many people informing on one another and getting in the way of any decisions ever being taken that they will need to install temporary bunks and a fast food counter outside the cabinet committee room on the 8th floor of the beehive to accommodate the hundreds of officials that will have to be on hand to help these associate ministers argue with one another.
Last week we described the basic, Darwinian dynamics of the House in Question Time. As a result of popular demand we have decided to report weekly From the Plains of the Serengeti.
As we commented last week, the cast is still only coming into focus. But from upton-on-line’s binoculars the key players are already marked out. There is the plain dwelling, vegetarian herd led by Helen Clark and the carnivores at the top of the food chain led by Jenny Shipley. There are one or two big game hunters like Rodney Hide and Gerry Brownlee. And there are the scavengers led by Winston Peters. Mr Speaker appears to be a large, occasionally fierce and immovable object with thickened skin and ancient mien who has stumped the savannah over more years than any of the other animals can remember.
And yesterday (Wednesday) there was a visitor from outer space (or was it Westport) who rose in the Gallery facing the Speaker and declared her undying love for Winston Peters. The menagerie loved it and an embattled minister was saved from attack as mirth erupted.
There have been two notable predatory raids so far this week. The first, on Tuesday, involved the unfortunate Marian Hobbs. This amiable herbivore continues to attract a high level of interest. Her inability to pull the word ‘operational’ from her hard disc (leaving it to be supplied by helpful opposition members) had the government front bench grimacing. Yesterday they closed ranks, put their heads down and hid their injured colleague from the snipers.
The second incident involved a timid, forest margin dweller rarely sighted by observers. Sandra Lee found herself surrounded by an inquisitive pack as she tried to explain why her car had been impounded and its driver charged with a string of traffic offences. Never straying far from the watchful eye of the leader of the herd, she stuck to her lines about it being inappropriate to comment further while an investigation was under way.
As the list of responsibilities held by associate ministers shows, there is plenty of big game hunting in store!


Battery technologies have improved and Prof. Ulrich Hackenberg is at the steering wheel again at Audi, so the R8 e-tron is reportedly back from the dead. Good times.
I was looking at the reasons why the R8 e-tron was cancelled, and one was the range – about only 140-150 miles. Now with the team we found the possibility to go beyond that, between 250 and 300 miles.
We are thinking maybe to release the R8 e-tron as a production car. I personally need such a car as a technology vehicle to bring in new technologies, step by step – every half year or every year there will be something new.
At Volkswagen (where I was development chief) I used the XL1 as such a car. For Audi, the R8 e-tron would be good car for doing such things, so I am fighting for that.
The production decision would be made shortly, and the expectation is the Audi board will give it the green light. If everything goes as Hackenberg planned, expect a very fast zero emission ride indeed using a carbon-aluminum hybrid chassis and enough torque to move a mountain.


Jimmy Wopo may be dead, but the rapper is still releasing music.
Jimmy Wopo was tragically gunned down on June 18, 2018.
This was the same day XXXTentacion was also murdered by gun-violence.
Meek Mill performed on the 2018 BET Awards with a shirt in the rapper's remembrance , XXXTentacion on the front of the shirt) and Jimmy Wopo on the back.
Wopo’s team announced the project should drop by the end of the year.


Everyone seems to ponder the lyrics of Train's song "Drops of Jupiter," so perhaps it's about time a songwriter includes the "Snowflakes of Mars" in their next ballad. MIT scientists might be able to add prose to the lyrics by describing their study into the very alien snow that falls from Red Planet skies.
After collecting the vast quantities of data gathered by orbiting Mars spacecraft, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology team has uncovered some rather interesting facts about Martian snow.
But before you start dreaming about snowball fights and reindeer grazing on the slopes of Olympus Mons, think again -- this snow is like nothing we can ever experience on Earth.
For starters, as the majority of the Mars atmosphere is composed of carbon dioxide, the snowflakes are made from CO2 ice -- basically tiny particles of 'dry ice.' Also, the snowflakes are very small -- approximately the size of a red blood cell.
"These are very fine particles, not big flakes,” said MIT assistant professor Kerri Cahoy in a press release. If you saw these 'snowflakes' fall, "you would probably see it as a fog, because they're so small," she added.
Using data from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), the team also found that the Martian snow buildup in the south arctic regions is 50 percent larger than the snowfall over north arctic regions. There are also seasonal variations -- during the winter, the CO2 snow clouds spread to very low latitudes, about half-way to the Martian equatorial regions (much like on Earth).
But how did the team manage to measure the quantity of snow over the Martian arctic regions in the first place? The researchers made an estimate based on seasonal gravitational variations as detected by satellites in orbit. The tiny fluctuations in Mars' gravitational field over the course of a year corresponded to the buildup of snow.
But they didn't stop there. With a good understanding of the atmospheric conditions and the mass of snowfall, graduate student Renyu Hu (and lead author of the paper published in the Journal of Geophysical Research) was able to get a handle of the size of CO2 ice particles locked in the snowfall. In the north, CO2 'snowflakes' measure 8 to 22 microns wide, whereas in the south, the particles measure between 4 to 13 microns wide.
Getting intimate with the characteristics of the CO2 snow is a testament to the detailed measurements that are continuously being made by the armada of satellites that orbit Mars.
"It’s neat to think that we've had spacecraft on or around Mars for over 10 years, and we have all these great datasets," Cahoy says. "If you put different pieces of them together, you can learn something new just from the data."
Although understanding snowfall and snow cover reveals some wonderful science, this work will also help us understand the dust that is blown around the planet. For the CO2 ice crystals to form in the first place, they need something to condense around -- such as dust particles.
"What kinds of dust do you need to have this kind of condensation?" Hu asks. "Do you need tiny dust particles? Do you need a water coating around that dust to facilitate cloud formation?"
For me, only one more question remains: When will human eyes witness the first flurry of Martian 'snowflakes' as winter sets in during a manned expedition to the Red Planet? If this guy has anything to do with it, we may only be a couple of decades away.


Small business owners in Drayton Valley are putting more pressure on governments. They say a bad economy has become unbearable. They have asked the prime minister to come and see just how bad it is. Fletcher Kent reports.


or when sounded like "ay"
"CIEN words" are another exception to the rule. These include ancient, efficient, and science.
Have you heard the expression "When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking?" This means that when there are two vowels in a row, the first usually has a long sound and the second is silent. That's why it's team, not taem; coat, not caot; and wait, not wiat. Remembering this rule will help you to put vowels in the right order.
In general, though, memorizing rules isn't the most effective way to learn spelling. Most rules have exceptions—and besides, you are best at learning words that you have made an effort to understand. A good way to understand a word is to break it into syllables. Look for prefixes, suffixes, and roots. Practice each short part and then the whole word.
After you break apart a word, ask yourself: How is this word like other words I know? Spelling the word traditional may make you think of spelling functional and national. Finding patterns among words is one of the best ways to learn spelling.
Last week a teacher got into a huge debate about the spelling of words like analyse and analyze. The Champs21 Spelling Bee, like most other official institutions here in Bangladesh follows the British spellings.
While your MS Word spell check might say emphasize is spelled with a z, it will get you knocked out of the competition. Same goes for words like colour: while the Americans use just an O, the British spelling uses OU.
There are other nuances of spelling for both the nations, so if you are serious about the competition, it is advised to look into them. Notable examples are the use of l (traveller and traveler)and ae (encyclopaedia > encyclopedia).
Thus, the zonal activations of the Spelling Bee began from last week with events in Tangail and Mymensingh, one in Pabna even with a countrywide hartal on that day and unfortunately a cancelled one in Bogra due to more serious nature of that day's hartal.
If you've been reading the reports in the paper you'd already know by now that these events have been creating quite the buzz around the visited districts with more than impressive turnouts, due to the stalls, the mascot and the whole carnival-like nature it.
So I won't go into much detail, but rather talk about my experience pronouncing during these activations. I'd be lying if I said I didn't love it but I'd also have to say that reading Bangla is not my forte or area of expertise (but then I do sometimes wonder what really is), but I guess I didn't do as bad as some initially predicted or as well as I'd personally have liked to.
I haven't had to go into the hard or verbose set of words so I can't really say how good my pronouncing would be when and if that does happen in any of the future zonal activations. But I have tried to add in some humour (at least for me and my sake) to the competition with wordplay and by trying to interact with the participants as much as I can to reduce their stage fright or at least try to. The impromptu TV shoot in Mymensingh was a bit of a shocker because I clearly did not bother to suit-up. Oh well, at least I was in my element with my beloved cap and all.
Popularity comes at a price – just ask the Spelling Bee mascot the aptly named “The Bee” and he, or should I say it, will tell you that getting followed by a herd of school kids in the field and getting your picture taken is not as rosy as it sounds, especially when these adorable children decide to punch and kick your bee-hind and unzip your costume's chain.
So far, Mymensingh has been the pick of the lot as far as the quality of the spellers go and even in terms of participation and crowd enthusiasm, with them making it clear that they wanted to see students from their school get the nod, and were quite happy to cheer the ones from the other schools that would not. They also have a few potentially good writers in the Divisional Round qualifiers. Some of them sent me their write-ups and I guess one of them got selected for this week's issue.
At the time of this writing (Sunday) I'm in Dinajpur, with another zonal activation left before I return to Dhaka. I'll have more for next week, hoping I'm able to reach Dhaka safely by Tuesday morning, cause these darn hartals conveniently decide to show up every time there is a zonal activation, or so has been the case from Pabna onwards. Conspiracy? Hmm.
You wouldn't expect that word to be up there. Pretty harmless for a word. But the uproar of laughter it created during the School Activation Rounds in Mastermind School is enough to give it a chance.
The pronouncer gave the word. Once. The participant could not understand it clearly. The prnouncer gave the word again. And again. And again. But for heaven's sake, the girl just could not understand the word.
She got eliminated from the round. She left in good spirits though, telling everyone that she was glad to make everyone laugh.


The Ouachita Parish Sheriff’s office will be conducting a critical incident joint training exercise with the Louisiana State Police, Ouachita Parish Fire Department and the Ouachita Parish School Board Thursday morning.
The training exercise will take place at East Ouachita Parish Middle School beginning at 9:00 a.m. Residents in the area have been made aware of the training.
The area surrounding the school and the school will be closed for the incident training, but will reopen after its completion.
Ouachita Parish students are not in school today. Classes will begin Monday.


Chris Jackson is the guitarist for Antarctic, a Jacksonville-based instrumental rock group that recently released a self-titled album on Hello Sir Records. The band will play Friday, July 9, at the Lomax Lodge in Five Points with Victor! Fix the Sun and The Reptilian.
1. "Canto de Xango" by Baden Powell: It has one of the most joyous melodies I've ever heard! Brazilian percussion instruments rumble underneath finger-picked notes of the guitar while female voices harmonize with a flute in the foreground. You can almost hear the big smiles on their faces.
2. "My Name is Daniel Pearl" by Steve Reich: Repetition is good for the mind! String melodies soar over a patchwork of pulsing chords from four vibraphones and two pianos. It's a song for the patient mind.
3. "Limehouse Blues" by Quintette du Hot Club de France: This tune always makes me want to skip. I have discovered very few musical relationships like that of Stephane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt.
4. "India" by Shakti: This song is easy to get lost in. I'm always expecting the neck of Mclaughlin's guitar to snap and Zakir Hussain's fingers to pierce through his tabla heads when I hear them play.
5. "Man With the Movie Camera" by The Cinematic Orchestra: The drummer's disjointed rhythms, the improvised cry of the clarinet, and the smooth texture of the horns at the end make for a very moving tune.


I get emails from Saks 5th Avenue.
to see any money from it. Mostly I just ogle the shoes.
I did buy a sweater on sale there once.
I felt was important to share with you.
+Offer valid with purchase of $150 or more through Monday, April 12, 2010 at 11:59 PM (ET). To redeem, select Standard shipping and enter promotional code: SHIPFREE2. Limit of two promo codes per order. Offer valid for Standard shipping only. Offer valid at saks.com only. Gift card purchases, gift wrap, taxes, and shipping cannot be applied towards the qualifying amount. Offer may be used when shipping to multiple addresses. Valid on shipments to U.S. addresses only. Not valid on international shipments. Offer not valid on Rush, Overnight, or Saturday delivery orders. Not valid in Saks Fifth Avenue stores or Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH stores. Not valid on purchases of Gift cards. This offer is non-transferable.
*Results may vary with each original coat or jacked based on condition, color and size. Offer ends June 30, 2010. May not be combined with any other offer.
**Not valid on clearance merchandise and accessories. Monogrammed furs are non-refundable.
This e-mail was entitled FUR STORAGE.
That lady sure seems happy about it.
Like now that she's thought about the fur salon, she can finally get on with her life.


A reader who goes by the moniker “David_notascynical” posted a comment to my dismayed view of “Toy Story 3” asking for recommendations of “films that successfully capture the wonder of childhood without pandering sentimentality.” He himself started the ball rolling with Chaplin and Tati.
they were hooked on the amazing side business (the gum-chewing and wisecracking and hearty roughhousing) and captivated by the sharp slang, slyly delivered by Spencer Tracy and Joan Bennett. Louise, who’s eleven [now she’s thirteen], said she wished she were alive then, “when everybody was sassy.” I reminded her that it was the screenwriters who were sassy, then as now.
I also called attention to a gesture of Tracy’s that, once seen, will never be forgotten—his flick of his hat brim and call of “Jake!” There are some harsh and low late-Prohibition pratfalls involving an importunate alcoholic (the following year, Walsh would direct the gay-nineties comic drama “The Bowery,” in which Carrie A. Nation and her dry crusade were depicted) and lots of textured turbulence, criminal and romantic, around the busy, grungy waterfront. A native New Yorker, Walsh serves up a wisecracking brace of local characters and a spicy batch of local mores. His 1915 (!) gangster film “Regeneration” depicted a shockingly ugly and crude city; by 1932, he was long-resident in Hollywood, and an exuberant nostalgia had kicked in.
P.S. Next week, I’ll be out of the office and will be blogging more sparsely.


Performers include: Lucas Till, George Eads, Sandrine Holt, Tristin Mays, and Justin Hires.
A reimagining of the classic television series from the 1980s, this action-adventure drama centers around a twenty-something problem-solving adventurer.
Angus “Mac” MacGyver (Lucas Till) creates a clandestine organization within the United States government where he uses his extraordinary talent for unconventional problem solving and vast scientific knowledge to save lives.
MacGyver’s team of experts join him on high-risk missions around the globe. They include maverick former CIA agent Jack Dalton (George Eads); Patricia Thornton (Sandrine Holt), an ex-field agent turned director of operations; and Riley Davis (Tristin Mays), an unpredictable computer hacker with a chip on her shoulder. At home, MacGyver is entertained by his ambitious roommate, Wilt Bozer (Justin Hires).
Under the aegis of the Department of External Services, MacGyver takes on the responsibility of saving the world, armed to the teeth with resourcefulness and little more than bubble gum and a paper clip.
What do you think? Do you like the MacGyver TV show? Do you think it should be cancelled or renewed for another season?
MacGyver: Season Two; Will You Keep Watching the CBS TV Show?
Where are you Macgyver? When will we see you again?you are my favourite!come back please!
This show is hilarious!!! Keep this show going. Always loved the original Macgyver so I was skeptical about this one.. But boy was I wrong.. Two thumbs up.
Bring back richard dean anderson. Best macgyver ever.
Keep it going. I like this show alot. 5 star.
Is macGyver coming back for season 4?


Government teachers instruct students regarding the fundamentals of the governmental system.
3 What Kind of Education Is Needed to Teach Kindergarten?
4 What Is the Next Step if I Have a BS Degree & Want My Teacher Certification?
If you want to be a high school teacher, you’ve certainly picked a career with lots of job opportunities. There were over 1 million high school teachers in the United States as of 2010, and the number of jobs is growing, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. All states require secondary teachers to meet strict educational requirements to teach in public schools. Private schools can set their own standards, but usually follow state requirements.
All states require secondary school teachers to earn at least a bachelor’s degree. To earn a bachelor’s degree, you have to take a core or general set of classes in addition to the major courses your program requires. Core curriculum classes include English literature, science, mathematics, history and social sciences. Depending on the college or university, you might need to take classes in a foreign language as well.
High school teachers don’t instruct students in just any subject. Most states require secondary teachers to major in a content area. For example, a prospective high school teacher might choose to major in physics, mathematics or history. A foreign language teacher would choose a particular language such as French, Russian or Spanish. The major classes a secondary teacher takes depend on her chosen content area. For instance, if she picked history, she would take classes in historical methodology, in United States history, and in the histories of particular world regions and countries.
Prospective secondary school teachers must complete a state-approved teacher preparation program in addition to their chosen content area major. A teacher preparation program includes classes in child development and child psychology. A prospective teacher will also take classes in educational methods to learn how to effectively communicate ideas and instruct students with diverse backgrounds and talents. Teacher preparation programs include practical experience in the form of student teaching under the supervision of experienced high school teachers.
Every state requires public school teachers to be licensed or certified. To receive her license, a high school teacher typically has to pass a general teaching skills examination and a competency examination in her chosen content area. The license usually allows her to teach in her content area in grades seven to 12. Licensed teachers in most states must take continuing education or professional development classes on a periodic basis in order to maintain certification.
Adkins, William. "What Classes Do Secondary Teachers Have to Take?" Work - Chron.com, http://work.chron.com/classes-secondary-teachers-take-5753.html. Accessed 21 April 2019.
What Degree Do I Need to Be an Elementary Teacher?


DETROIT – Electric-car maker Tesla (TSLA) swung to a $671 million loss in the third quarter as it struggled to ramp up production of its new Model 3 small car.
The loss, of $3.70 per share, compared to a profit of 15 cents per share in the July-September period a year ago.
That was far bigger decline than Wall Street had predicted. Analysts polled by FactSet forecast a loss of $2.85 per share.
Sales of Tesla's Model S sedan and Model X SUV rose 4.5 percent to 25,915. But investors' eyes were on the Model 3, the $35,000 car that's intended to move Tesla from a luxury niche automaker into the mainstream.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk had promised that the Model 3, which has more than 500,000 potential buyers on its waiting list, would be simpler to make than Tesla's previous vehicles and not plagued with the same delays. But Tesla produced just 220 Model 3s in the third quarter, far lower than the 1,500 Musk promised.
And the problems will continue. Because of delays at its battery facility in Nevada, Tesla said it now expects to be making 20,000 Model 3s per month by the end of the first quarter of 2018. Musk had initially set a target of December for that level of production.
Tesla's revenue rose 30 percent to $2.9 billion for the quarter, in line with analysts' expectations. The company said installations for its energy storage business more than doubled from a year ago.
Tesla's shares fell 3 percent to close at $321.08 Wednesday, but in after-hours trading following the earnings release, the stock fell an additional 4 percent, or $12.83, to $308.25. The shares have risen 45 percent since the start of this year.


CEDARVILLE — Two men who were killed in a shooting in Cedarville early Sunday morning will be remembered by friends as caring fathers who loved sports and sharing laughs.
Kyle Tucker, 35, and Shaun Bradbury, 36, were shot as they walked out of the Cedar Inn at about 1:45 a.m. Sunday. Tucker was pronounced dead at the scene, while Bradbury later died at a hospital in Rockford. Mike Steinhauser, 35, was also shot and taken to FHN Memorial Hospital.
The men went to the bar with two other friends who they frequently spent time with. Tom Keyes, who was lifelong friends with the men, was right behind them as they exited the bar together.
"Usually we're either in my garage or at Shaun's house," Keyes said. "We were supposed to go to a Super Bowl party on Sunday, and once in a while we'll do an '80s-themed party. This was just kind of an impromptu, 'Hey, let's get a drink.'"
Keyes did not want to share many details about the shooting itself, but said his group had no contact with the shooter before the incident.
"A lot of people are saying there was some type of altercation," he said. "We had never seen this person before, none of us knew this person and none of us saw him at the Cedar Inn.
"I just want to make sure that they're remembered correctly and it's not portrayed that these guys were out looking for trouble or causing trouble. These guys were great fathers and great friends."
Keyes went to Freeport High School with Tucker, Bradbury and Steinhauser — each of them graduating between 2000 and 2002. Keyes was particularly close with Bradbury, he said.
"Shaun loved sports," Keyes said. "He was a really good athlete in high school and just a really warm guy.
"He loved having a laugh and was really just a great, great father to his (two) daughters."
Delbert Bunker, who played softball with Tucker for several years, said he was shocked and heartbroken when he heard about the shooting.
"(Kyle) was a guy's guy and a great family man," Bunker said. "He loved his girls, loved his wife, loved to have fun and always had a smile on his face.
"I can hear his voice right now. Kyle had a personality where if you met him, you liked him, and he didn't even have to try."
Steinhauser is recovering in the hospital from injuries he sustained from a bullet that struck his fourth vertebrae and exited out of the back of his neck, Keyes said.
"Mike is doing well," Keyes said. "I went and saw him earlier today.
"He was able to eat today for the first time. He's walking and he's moving around."
Devin Marcum, 23, of Freeport is accused of shooting the men, according to the Stephenson County Sheriff's Office.
Marcum was apprehended in Freeport by the Freeport Police Department and held for sheriff's deputies. He was allegedly in possession of a firearm that matched the caliber of shell casings found at the scene. Marcum was at large for about two hours after the shooting, Mark Marti, the Stephenson County sheriff's chief deputy, said at a news conference Monday.
"We have a good working relationship with the agencies around us," Marti said. "We assist each other as much as possible. This case was handled very well."
Marcum is being held in the Stephenson County Jail. His bail is $600,000. He is charged with murder and attempted murder.
"I'm kind of sad to see where our generation's minds are at," Keyes said. "For somebody not to care about someone's life or their family, it's sad.
"It still doesn't feel real."
GoFundMe pages have been set up for the three shooting victims to help their families pay for funeral and hospital expenses.
To donate, visit gofundme.com and search for the title of each fundraiser.
• For Kyle Tucker, search "Jen Tucker and Girls"
• For Shaun Bradbury, search "Bradbury Family"
• For Mike Steinhauser, search "Mike Steinhauser"


Here’s how badly the state’s health insurance companies want to kill a bill in the Legislature giving state officials the power to put the kibosh on excessive premium increases.
Not content to fight the measure on the merits, they’ve mustered bogus facts and figures against it and tried to convince the public that a measure allowing regulators to limit premium increases will actually cost people money.
The column links to the health insurers’ arguments against the bill and then challenges them.
Massachusetts already requires prior state approval for individual and small-group rates — one among 34 states to do so — but as the state debates the next phase of health care reform, the desirable extent of government regulation remains a hot issue.
As the L.A. Times column sees it, regulation is good for the public, but lawmakers may not pass it because so many are so beholden to campaign contributions from the health insurance industry. Readers, thoughts?
seemed worried that an elected insurance commissioner might use his powers under prior approval to benefit the public interest, as opposed to placing what’s best for the health insurance industry front and center.


I pray that Canada will come up with a much more humane incentive to help those tormented, war-afflicted people.
Like many Canadians, I am also acutely overwhelmed by the refugee crisis in Europe, in particular by the misery and agony suffered by women and children. Being a woman and a mother, I understand much too well what those hapless women holding young children in their arms, running or walking in such desperate circumstances must be going through.
Your editorial and Paul Clarke’s article “Suddenly one picture changed everything” (Opinion, Sept. 10) have consumed me so much. I feel so proud of Premier Philippe Couillard as well as Canadians like Paula Kline (“Petition calls for Canada to accept 50,000 Syrian refugees” (Montreal Gazette, Sept. 10)) who are encouraging other Canadians to do the same.
I came to Canada to study 44 years ago and then decided to stay, urged by Canadian friends to take up residency here. Today, I still remain a very humbled and grateful immigrant who not only built a great life here for myself, but also helped my parents and siblings to immigrate here. All of them are doing wonderfully well. I pray that Canada will come up with a much more humane incentive to help those tormented, war-afflicted people.
As a Syrian-Canadian who served on the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, and having worked for the last three years as a refugee resettlement expert with the UNHCR in Ankara, Turkey, I am dismayed at Stephen Harper’s resistance to allowing in more Syrian refugees.
First, recognizing a refugee does not mean ignoring effective security checks. Canada has the experience and resources to do that. What is lacking is the political will to help those who are different from us.
Second, to grant preference for religious and ethnic minorities in being admitted to Canada echoes the myth that minorities are the only targets of extremists. All Syrians are victims of regime repression and the terrorism of ISIL.
Finally, referring to the refugees as “migrants” is wrong. Syrians fleeing the civil war may be considered “refugees,” but are not migrants. A migrant is someone who seeks better life in another country. A refugee is someone who is unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin owing to a well founded fear of being persecuted or killed for reasons of religion, race, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion. These are the refugees from Syria seeking protection elsewhere.
I recently sent a message to my MP asking how I could sponsor a refugee family. Instead of giving me this information, her party has been bombarding me with daily messages welcoming me on board and asking me for money.
It reflects the incoherence of this election campaign. It’s a race to the bottom.


Kashmiri journalist Shujaat Bukhari is no more. But he has left behind countless stories as he lived a life of courage and valour – true to the meaning of his first name – despite all the oddities of life in Srinagar, a city that has been under siege for decades.
I can’t stop thinking of him and his family having dinner at an Islamabad restaurant in December last year, when Shujaat was on a tour of Lahore, Islamabad and Muzaffarabad to see his extended family.
Friends at home and abroad helped him in developing the newspaper, but suspicions and accusations around sources of funding for the paper always accompanied him. He also got labeled as ‘pro-Indian military’ for his nearly 22-year-old acquaintance with General Husnain, a former commanding officer in Kashmir. This amounted to the most ludicrous allegation for a person who grew up in profession in extremely hostile socio-political conditions, went on to embrace journalism as a source of livelihood, and made a name for him through sheer hardwork and thorough professionalism.
Little do the finger-pointers realise that maintaining contacts with military, militants, and even criminals, is a requirement of the profession. “Using such associations to brand a professional like Shujjat is extremely unfortunate and totally uncalled for,” said Dr. Nazir Gillani, in his reaction to the brutal murder of the journalist.
Coincidentally, the idea of ‘remote monitoring’, that became the basis of the UN Human Rights report, sprang from a meeting between a six-member delegation led by Syed Nazir Gilani, the president of the Jammu and Kashmir Council on Human Rights, and the UN Commissioner on Human Rights at Geneva in September 2016.
Remote monitoring, Gilani said, was the only way to monitor and document the state of human rights, particularly since the killing of Burhan Muzaffar Wani in July 2016.
As family and friends mourn and wail his loss, one wonders who could be responsible for the gruesome act? And why? Did the first-ever UN report on human rights in Kashmir become the primary motivation to get rid of Shujaat through militants linked to the Ikhwans? – This, according to most Kashmiri observers, is a government-sponsored counter-insurgent group. The Ikhwans are known for targeted killings of all those considered detrimental to Indian interests in the embattled state.
“Yes it’s a tragedy beyond words. Hope the killers are found. Truth is at gunpoint,” wrote the veteran Hindustan Times journalist Vinod Sharma in one his reaction tweets.
The crude matter of fact is: humanity has been on the receiving end since Wani’s execution nearly two years ago. The issue of young and old blinded and bruised by pellets ever since has hardly raised eyebrows in capitals that matter for global politics. Nor did the UN Security Council take up this pressing issue. As the unrest in Srinagar, and its surroundings devours Kashmiri sons like Shujaat Bukhari, geo-politics, it is obvious, trumps human rights in the held Valley, with no end to atrocities.


'DWTS' Recap: Lea Thompson Steals the Show!
This week's episode of DWTS was a special My Jam Monday edition, where the songs were chosen by contestants who were able to dance to any music they chose. The routines were hot, the judges were excited, and the stars were ready to show how much they had improved from last week.
Let's take a look at the individual dance numbers and see whose gotten better and who the judges think need more work.
As new host Julianne Hough said, "What a great way to start the night." The audience loved the military-themed routine and were on their feet cheering their hearts out as the number ended. It energized the crowd. Len, Julianne and Bruno all agreed that it was tremendously entertaining, but Couture needed to round off some of the rough edges. Carrie Ann, however, said she the dance wasn't passionate enough - much to the dissatisfaction of the audience, who loudly disagreed.
Janel and Val's gorgeous, black-tie foxtrot saw the pair dancing their hearts out while dressed to the nines – with Janel in a flowing white gown and Val in a full-on tuxedo. The judges responded with a lot of love, which was reflected in their generous score.
In this 50s themed dance, Lea wore cheetah print dress and Artem rocked out in a black leather jacket while. As Bruno put it, "Viva La Lea!" But the chemistry and affection between Lea, Artem and all the judges radiated out with intensity. It was so good, Carrie Ann even fell out of her chair.
In a beach theme, the 51-year-old racecar driver had a fun, light-hearted dance number that was very fun, even if it wasn't particularly exciting. Carrie Ann was the first judge to acknowledge how entertaining his personality is, but many pointed out that wacky wasn't the same as technically accurate.
Tavis and Sharna showed their stuff with a 70s boogie theme – he was in a bright gold jacket while she was in a revealing, turquoise, form-hugging, bell-bottomed pant-suit that made you remember why the 70s were both the best and the worst time in American fashion simultaneously. However, Len said it "lacked a bit of polish," which the audience might have disagreed with, but the other judges seemed to feel the same way.
It's clear that Alfonso has mad skills – he was at the top of the leader board last week, after all – and this week he danced to his former Fresh Prince co-star's hit 1997 single, and samba-ed his way into the hearts of America. The judges all said that he needed to work on his technical skill in the Samba, but that the performance was great. As Len put it, "You were popping like buttons on a tight shirt."
Taking the title literally, Derek and Bethany performed with an actual Bass at the top of their routine and they ended up turning the song into a lovely number that didn't once look like her damaged ankle was causing her pain. Bruno raved by saying it was a "Bob Fossi Foxtrot" and Len even said, "That was a great number. The best I've seen tonight."
The 72-year-old Fashion Designer floated around on the stage with Tony in a way no one was expecting, and it even blew the judges away. "Last night was a night to forget, tonight is a night to remember… I have never seen you look so great."
This simple, sensual Rumba was brimming with simmering sexuality that had the room wrapped up in the passion on stage. Each judge praised Antonio for his vast improvement over the previous week, and Bruno even said, "The Latin lover is starting to smolder."
This super-bright Salsa – complete with feathered fans and neon shirts – perfectly accented the comedic and fun personality of the famous Tommy Chong, and really showed that he wasn't a person who was afraid to get into the rhythm, despite being 76. As Bruno put it, "You are really proving age is a state of mind. You're as young as you feel."
Black and gold can be one powerful combo, and when it's being worn by two astoundingly talented and good looking people, it works even better. It was a rock and roll explosion that worked for some of the judges, but a few felt that it was too sharp and jerky for a Cha Cha Cha.
As Mark Ballas explained in the pre-recorded segment before the routine, it's challenging to choreograph a Jazz number to a country song, but he managed to pull it off, despite it "not gelling" for Len. However, Bruno was incredibly excited, saying "That was great my darling." Sadie and Mark's numbers ended up being lower than last week, which clearly didn't sit well with them.
For more DWTS fun, check out this look at the best and worst moments from the first episode of Season 19.


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Beijing: India and China are expected to hold the next round of talks on border issues as well as on other bilateral topics next month, the first between the two countries after Chinese President Xi Jinping began his second term as the chief of the ruling Communist party.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said today that the 20th round of the India-China Special Representatives border talks as well as the Russia, India and China (RIC) Foreign Ministers meeting will be held in "due course".
Yang Jiechi, who currently holds the rank of the state councillor which is few notches higher than the foreign minister, has now been elected to the powerful 25-member Politburo of the ruling Communist Party of China at its recent once-in-a-five-year Congress.
Hua Chunying, however, said Yang Jiechi continues to be the Special Representative for the India-China boundary talks.
"Resolving the border disputes has stagnated and the Dokalam standoff has led to a rethinking on the ties of the two countries, which will be reflected in the talks," Qian Feng said.
The talks, coming months after the Dokalam standoff, will put managing a crisis on the top agenda as future disputes remain possible, and both sides need to manage the disputes and avoid confrontation, Qian Feng added.
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying also hinted that the next round of the RIC meeting will also be held soon.
The talks will be the first round of dialogue after the CPC endorsed a second five-year term for China's Xi, with renewed powers.
Besides Dokalam, a host of issue including differences between the two countries over the USD 50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) are expected to figure in the talks.
Trump held extensive talks with Xi Jinping during his three-day trip here which ended today.
Hua Chunying yesterday said both Trump and Xi discussed antiterrorism issues related to South Asia and reached a consensus to uphold peace in the region.


James Brown has dreamed of becoming a professional black bass angler some day. He and his wife, Tessa, have dreamed about getting out of debt and onto a steady financial foundation some day.
Last week in Columbia, S.C., their dreams came closer to reality when the 37-year-old Lodi resident, who works for Central Valley Septic, finished in second place in the FLW Fantasy Fishing competition, out-pointing a legion of online participants to claim a $52,200 boat and motor.
Brown, who had been in first place since May, came up just short of winning the $1 million top prize. Still, he was stoked.
"I'm always on the Internet looking at FLW tournaments, seeing results and checking schedules," Brown said. "That's when I discovered it on the Web - Fantasy Fishing - and thought it wasn't real. Boy, was I wrong. It is very real."
Playing against tremendous odds - more than 15 million people world-wide are expected to play Fantasy Fishing next year - Brown entered all seven FLW Fantasy Fishing tournaments, which began in February. The competition is free.
Brown selected a fantasy team of 10 bass fishing professionals he figured would do well in each FLW Tour event, the nation's premier professional bass fishing circuit that opened in Lake Toho, Fla., and concluded at Lake Murray, S.C.
Brown did well and finished among the top 15 fantasy fishing participants that would be flown to Columbia and then asked to walk across the Colonial Center stage and pull a tab on a large placard that would show the world what they had won. Everything was secret until then. Brown and the other finalists knew how many points they had racked up in the contest, but they were not allowed to share the information.
"When the top-three finishers were given cards, I was the first to uncover my prize," Brown said. "When they saw I got second place, the crowd went wild."
Michael Thompson of Minneapolis, who is studying to become a law enforcement officer, won the $1 million first prize, the largest payday in fantasy sports, including fantasy football.
Ironically, Brown will not keep his new Ranger Z19 bass boat. He will sell it to help pay off debts.
"I'll have no more bills, except a payment on my old Ranger boat, so I can concentrate on bass fishing," he said. "It's like getting out of headaches and not battling with high interest rates anymore. It's absolutely great."
Earlier in the competition, one of Brown's fantasy team finished precisely where he had predicted, earning him a $5,000 gift certificate to Wal-Mart. He used it on items for his 9-month-old daughter, Tatim.
Brown fell in love with black bass fishing about three years ago on his first trip to the Delta. He caught one bass.
Undaunted by his modest success, he began fishing competitive tournaments but gave them up to save money after his daughter was born. Instead, he joined a local bass club, Valley Back Lashers, and his luck catching fish has improved.
"Ever since my daughter was born, I got my first 30-pound stringer (five-fish limit) in the Delta and my first double-digit fish, a 10.2-pounder on Don Pedro Lake," Brown said. "Things are looking up."
Irwin Jacobs, chairman of FLW Outdoors and creator of Fantasy Fishing, said players from 122 countries took part in this year's inaugural competition.
"Imagine," he said, "winning a million dollars with the click of a mouse from the comfort of your living room."
"Playing FLW Fantasy Fishing has been a lot of fun," he said. "I can't wait until the start of next season in February 2009."
To take part go to the contest Web site: fantasyfishing.com.
Contact outdoors columnist Peter Ottesen at pottesen@recordnet.com.


Incredible rental value in this very large 2+den, 2nd floor coach home. Den has doors and a Queen sleeper sofa. This beautifully appointed spacious condo has a 1-car garage, gorgeous lake & fairway views overlooking Arrowhead golf course. Tenants can play golf and pay as they play with a 7 day advanced tee time. Great location in North Naples. ( King size bed in master / two twins in guest / Queen size sleeper sofa in den ).


Roger Federer is preparing himself for a barrage of Kevin Anderson big serves after the Swiss superstar sealed his place in the Miami Open quarter-finals in just 61 minutes on Wednesday.
Federer, 37, is celebrating 20 years at this tournament and edged closer to his fourth title in South Florida as the up-and-coming Russian Daniil Medvedev was swatted aside 6-4, 6-2.
Next up for the 20-time grand slam-winning legend is the South African world No 7, who famously beat Federer at Wimbledon in 2018 over five dramatic sets.
• Can Roger Federer overhaul Jimmy Connors' mark of 109 career titles?
That triumph was Anderson's only win over Federer in six attempts - and the only time he's won a set.
But having classily dealt with Medvedev, the former world No 1 knows it won't be as straightforward with Anderson at the other end of the Hard Rock Stadium's center court.
"I think if you beat me at Wimbledon, you've got my attention," Federer said. "He's got a great serve and I'm happy he's playing again after his injury.
Defending champion John Isner, meanwhile, powered his way to the semi-finals as Roberto Bautista Agut, who sent world No 1 Novak Djokovic crashing out in the previous round, was seen off 7-6, 7-6.
Isner will face Canadian teen sensation Felix Auger-Aliassime in the last four. The 18-year-old Auger-Aliassime became the youngest ever Miami semi-finalist after seeing off world No 13 Borna Coric 7-6, 6-2.
In the women's draw, Simona Halep moved closer to reclaiming the world No 1 ranking after a well-executed 6-4, 7-5 triumph over China's Wang Qiang.
Halep's recovery from 1-5 down in the second set showed the kind of mental toughness displayed by only the very best, and the Romanian is looking in good shape to land her first Miami title, even if she's not overly consumed about the prospect of reclaiming the No 1 tag.
"It doesn't mean everything to get back to No 1. It's more important to finish the year in that position," said the second seed. "But if I do it, I will be very proud."
Halep will meet world No 7 Karolina Pliskova in the last four on Thursday after she won the battle of the Czechs with Marketa Vondrousova 6-3, 6-4.
"The first set was very close, she played well but I just tried to be more aggressive, " said Pliskova after reaching her third semi-final of 2019. "A match against Simona is always intense."


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Jered Weaver throws no-hitter against Twins By Eric Sondheimer, This post has been updated. See the note below for details.


(CNN) -- Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor has been handed a three-match suspension for his stamp on Arsenal's Robin Van Persie last weekend.
Adebayor has also been charged for his goal celebration in last Saturday's defeat of Arsenal.
The Togo captain decided not to challenge the charge of violent conduct, so received a fast-track punishment from the English Football Association, which means he will miss this weekend's Manchester derby.
The 25-year-old still faces another charge, of improper conduct, relating to City's 4-2 Premier League victory against his former club on Saturday.
Adebayor -- Hero or villain?
Adebayor raced the length of the field at City's Eastlands stadium to celebrate in front of the visiting Arsenal supporters after scoring the third goal, and was pelted with items including a plastic seat.
The hearing for the second charge has yet to be set by the FA.
The ruling body said in a statement on Thursday: "A regulatory commission today considered the charge of violent conduct issued against Manchester City's Emmanuel Adebayor under the fast-track disciplinary procedure following an incident with Robin van Persie during their fixture against Arsenal on September 12.
"Taking into consideration Mr Adebayor's acceptance of the charge of violent conduct, the regulatory commission have ordered that he serve a three-match suspension from all football, commencing September 17.
City have until September 30 to indicate whether the club and player will contest the second charge.
As well as missing Sunday's eagerly-awaited trip to Old Trafford to face Premier League champions United, Adebayor will also sit out next Wednesday's League Cup tie at home to Fulham and the visit by West Ham to Eastlands on September 28.
Adebayor has been a key figure since his $41 million summer switch from Arsenal, scoring in each of the club's first four Premier League games -- two of them being the only goal of the match -- to help the team to a 100 percent record.
However, his ugly attack on the grounded Van Persie left his former teammate with facial injuries, and his ill-advised goal celebrations have only further alienated from Arsenal fans -- many of whom were happy that he left after the player publicly courted Barcelona and AC Milan last season.
City manager Mark Hughes faces a striker crisis this weekend, with only Craig Bellamy of his front-line forwards likely to be available.
Robinho, Roque Santa Cruz and Benjani have already been consigned to the injured list and Carlos Tevez is rated extremely doubtful to face his old club.


Nate Silver: Only way Democrats win Senate is a "systematic polling error"
Democrats' prospects of winning the Senate continued to slip this week despite generally good news for their chances of winning control of the House of Representatives.
FiveThirtyEight election forecaster Nate Silver writes that the only way the Democrats will win control of the Senate is a “systematic polling error” among all of the surveys in every race.
The FiveThirtyEight projection model gives the Democrats about an 85 percent chance to win the House, but the same model gives the party just a 15 percent chance to win the Senate. For comparison's sake, President Donald Trump had a 30 percent chance to defeat Hillary Clinton in 2016, based on Silver's model.
The problem for Democrats days ahead of the election is the same problem they had at the start of the midterm cycle: there aren't enough winnable seats available. Even if Democrats win every race rated a “toss-up” by election forecasters, they would still need to win one more race in a red state carried by Trump in 2016, such North Dakota, Texas, Tennessee or Mississippi.
In North Dakota, two new polls show incumbent Democrat Heidi Heitkamp trailing Republican Rep. Kevin Cramer by nine points, though the state is notoriously difficult to poll.
In Tennessee, polls have generally shown Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn ahead, though several polls have also given Democrat Phil Bredesen, a former governor, a slight edge.
The widely-watched Texas Senate race may be getting closer, as two new polls put incumbent Republican Sen. Ted Cruz's lead at 3 to 4 percent. But the former presidential candidate, who once described Trump as a "sniveling coward, has led Democratic challenger Rep. Beto O'Rourke in nearly every poll.
The Mississippi special Senate election is expected to go to a runoff, with no candidate polling close to the required 50 percent of the vote. Republican incumbent Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, who was appointed to succeed Cochran, will be heavily favored in any such runoff election. Democrat Mike Espy is currently polling in the 20s.
There is a decent chance the Democrats could win one of those four races, but they would still need to pick up key toss-up states where polls have not been all that favorable in recent weeks.
In Missouri, every poll since Oct. 2 gives Republican Attorney General Josh Hawley a slight advantage over Democratic incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill.
In Indiana, polls have shown both incumbent Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly and Republican challenger Mike Braun with slight leads in the last two weeks.
In Arizona, both Democratic Rep. Kyrsten Sinema and Republican Rep. Martha McSally have seen polls showing them slightly ahead in the last two weeks, though more recent polls have favored Sinema.
In Nevada, incumbent Republican Sen. Dean Heller trails Democratic Rep. Jacky Rosen in most October polls, except for one outlier that showed Heller up by 6 percent.
In Florida, every poll released in the last 10 days gives incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson a slight edge over Republican Gov. Rick Scott, albeit by fewer than 3 points.
To have any shot at a Senate majority, Democrats would have to hold Nelson's seat in Florida and also hang onto their seats in West Virginia, Montana and Minnesota. Those three races look safer: Incumbent Sens. Joe Manchin, Jon Tester and Tina Smith, respectively, appear to be ahead.
All these moving parts make for a difficult uphill climb for Democrats next Tuesday, and Silver writes that unless the polls are flat-out wrong, Democrats are unlikely to win the Senate.