The Ottawa Senators signed McCleary as an undrafted free agent upon his graduation, and he spent the majority of the 1993–94 season with the Thunder Bay Senators of the Colonial Hockey League (CoHL). He moved up to the Prince Edward Island Senators of the American Hockey League (AHL) in 1994–95 but missed three months of the season after suffering retinal damage to his right eye when he was hit in the face by a stick. Upon his recovery, McCleary returned wearing a visor that he would retain throughout his career.
He made his NHL debut in Ottawa in 1995–96, scoring 14 points in 75 games. The Senators traded McCleary, along with a draft pick to the Boston Bruins for Shawn McEachern following the season. He appeared in 59 games with the Bruins but was unable to come to an agreement on a new contract for the 1997–98 season. As a result, he signed to play in the International Hockey League (IHL), splitting the season between the Las Vegas Thunder and Detroit Vipers.
His rights ultimately released by the Bruins, McCleary signed with the Montreal Canadiens as a free agent in 1998, appearing in 46 NHL games in 1998–99. Early the following season, he again suffered a severe injury to his right eye, suffering a severed tear duct when he was hit in the face by an errant skate. He recovered, splitting the early part of the season between the Canadiens and the Quebec Citadelles in the AHL.
During a game between the Canadiens and the Philadelphia Flyers on January 29, 2000, McCleary dropped to the ice in an attempt to block a Chris Therien slapshot. He was critically injured when hit in the throat by the shot which fractured his larynx and resulted in a collapsed lung. Unable to breathe, McCleary rushed to the bench, collapsing upon his arrival. Medical staff worked to partially open his airway in the hallways of Molson Centre, actions which McCleary credits with saving his life. He was then rushed to a waiting ambulance and transported to hospital where surgeons performed an emergency tracheotomy. He remained in full equipment during the procedure; hospital staff did not even have time to remove his skates.
Unable to speak immediately following his surgery, McCleary sent a written note to his teammates explaining he was all right while his surgeon revealed that he came "as close ... as you could come" to dying in the moments after he was struck. He met with the media two weeks following his injury, responding to questions via note pad, stating that he hoped to return to his career upon recovery. He regained the ability to talk after six weeks and several surgeries.
McCleary attempted a comeback at the start of the 2000–01 season. Despite doubts he would be capable of returning, the Canadiens signed him to a one-year, US$300,000 contract. He appeared in exhibition games with the Canadians, but found he was unable to play a full shift without running short of breath. He was examined by his doctor, who noted that because his air passage was left 15% narrower than before his injury, it was too dangerous for him to continue playing. As a result, on September 20, 2000, McCleary announced his retirement, calling it the "toughest day" in his seven year career. The Canadiens kept him in the organization, naming him a WHL scout.
McCleary's parents Kyle and Leah still live in Swift Current. He has an elder brother, Scott, and a younger sister, Shannon. He and his wife Tammy have three children.
Pirate Party Germany
The Pirate Party Germany (German: "Piratenpartei Deutschland"; short: "PIRATEN", "Pirates") is a political party in Germany based on the model of the Swedish Piratpartiet.
The party opposes the loss of civil rights in telephony and on the Internet, in particular the rules for keeping information about telephone calls and Germany's new Internet censorship law called "Zugangserschwerungsgesetz". It also opposes artificial monopolies and various measures of surveillance of citizens.
The party favours the civil right to information privacy and reforms of copyright, education, computer science and genetic patents.
It wants more open and transparent government, and the electronic inspection and control of government operations by the citizen.
The party was founded on 10 September 2006. Party leader has been Patrick Schiffer since August 2016. Previous leaders were among others Sebastian Nerz, Dirk Hillbrecht, Jens Seipenbusch and Christof Leng.
In February 2009, the village spokesperson of Hohenstein, a city councillor in Strausberg, Jens Knoblich joined the Pirate Party Germany. In June 2009, Bundestag member Jörg Tauss, who has been charged with the crime of child pornography possession and distribution, left the SPD and joined the Pirate Party after the "Zugangserschwerungsgesetz" was passed. He said that while he supports the fight against child pornography, the means are unacceptable. In late August 2009, Herbert Rusche, one of the founding members of the German Green Party and, in the 1980s, the first openly homosexual member of parliament in Germany, joined the Pirate Party.
On 27 September 2009, the PIRATEN received 2.0% (845,904 votes) in the 2009 German federal election. This result means that the party failed to secure any seat in the Bundestag, however this was also the best result among the parties who did not achieve the required 5% threshold. Among the first-time male voters the party received 13%.
The election results in 2009 means the party still qualifies for some government funding of campaign finance.
It received 229,117 votes in the 2009 European Parliament election, which was 0.9%, but not enough (at least 5%) for a seat. The number of party members has increased since then. As of March 2010, the party had over 12,000 members.
On 30 August 2009, the PIRATEN received 1.9% in the 2009 Saxony state election. On the same day, the party also received one seat in each council in the local elections of Münster and Aachen, although candidates of the party ran for office only in some constituencies of both cities.
Support for The PIRATEN differs between States. The party received 1.8% in the 2009 Schleswig-Holstein state election and 1,5% in the 2010 North Rhine-Westphalia state election (though without securing seats), but only 0.5% in the 2009 Hesse state election and did not participate in the 2009 Brandenburg and Saarland state elections
Opossum
Opossums are the largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, the Didelphimorphia.
They are often called possums, though that term is more properly applied to Australian fauna of the suborder Phalangeriformes.
The Virginia opossum was the first animal to be called an "opossum": the word comes from the Algonquian language, and means "white beast." It was one of the few South American marsupials to establish itself permanently in North America after the Great American Interchange, and the only one to survive there today.
Opossums can help slow the spread of Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever because they eat deer ticks and other ticks that carry the germs for these diseases. One opossum can eat 5000 ticks each year. They also eat garden pests, for example slugs, and animals that can carry disease, for example mice and rats.
Marsupials like opossums are born before their jaw bones have grown enough for them to drink their mothers' milk the way other baby mammals do. Scientists from King's College London found that opossums and other marsupials use tissue from their inner ear to make a temporary jaw so they can feed and grow.
Damian Jackson
Damian Jacques Jackson (born August 16, 1973 in Los Angeles, California) is an American baseball player. He is a second baseman for the Orange County Flyers of Golden Baseball League.